Treasury Tuesday: Housewarming

So the plan was to make a wreath throughout the month of September and then have a big picture show of all our wreaths on October 4. Then my schedule got all whomper-jawed and I really didn't hear a lot from you guys on your wreaths so I haven't pushed the show-and-tell end of the deal.  However, a dear friend did write to tell me she was enjoying the wreath process immensely and was so happy to have rediscovered the stress relief that is crafting. Awww! Thank you! I haven't seen her finished wreath yet, but I definitely commend her choice of fall colors!

Now that I (and presumably you) have something to make your front door a little more inviting, I thought I'd share some ideas for making your house comfy, cozy, and equally as inviting for the autumn months.

Housewarming, a treasury by Never a Plain Jane Designs

Do you do anything to up the autumn in your home?

Craft-along: Putting it all together

To see the craft-along from beginning to end please click here.

Oh I wish you could all come over and see my pretty front door! Since it is a long drive for most of you a photo will have to do.

Are you ready to wrap up your wreath?  Well, go fire up your glue gun!

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to find a cheap picture frame. Weird, right? Finally I came across this framed print at JoAnn's for $4.99.  Still a bit steep, but I was getting sort of desperate.

The back was papered, but nothing a craft knife couldn't handle. I cut/peeled off the backing and popped the print out. Thus ends our frame prep.

At this point I realized I didn't have nearly enough flowers. Whoops. FYI, if you are making flowers with a three inch circumference you will need about 38 to cover a 16 by 20 inch frame.

I laid my frame flat and arranged my flowers around the outside edge so I could get a feel for the layout. Mostly, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to [put two of the same flower right next to each other.

Starting in the bottom right corner glue a leaf and a flower.  I like to put the leaves in conjunction with their respective bloom. It just helps me make sure all the glued ends are completely covered and the leaf cups the flower just right. At the very end I did end up adding a leaf here and there to fill in some areas that looked a bit naked.

I found it best to apply the glue to the flower and then press it onto the frame. Do this all the way around your frame.

And voila!

Now you are the envy of the neighborhood.  I cannot wait to see how your frames turned out. Be sure to send me photos at neveraplainjane@gmail.com.

Happy crafting!

Craft-along: Leaves

Hello, darlings!  Ready to get back to our craft-along?  I am! My front door looks so sadly naked. If you are just joining us and want to see the previous tutorials you can do so here.

Today's "tutorial" is easy peasy. I wanted to make my wreath entirely out of scraps, but, alas, I felt this little touch needed to be felt.  I shelled a whole $0.80 for two sheets of green felt because I honestly don't know any other fabric that will work.

And what are we making with this felt?  Leaves!

Step 1:

Cut out a leaf shape roughly three inches by one and a half inch.  Mine is pretty much a pointy-ended oval.

Step 2: 

Cut a slit from one point roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the way into the leaf.* Also, consider a quick manicure before posting close-up photos of your hand.

 Step 3:

Place a dot of fabric glue or hot glue on one side of your split.  Place the non-glued side on top of the glue - bottom side to top side.

Now you have a sweet little cup in your leaf so it has a bit of dimension. *Note, the longer you make your cut the more your leaf will cup.

Easy, right?

How is your wreath coming along? Are you just about ready to put it all together?

Craft-along: Flower tutorial 4

For other blossom tutorials and the more info about this craft-along please click here.

I'm sure this will come as a huge shocker, but sometimes I start making something and it ends up being something else entirely. That's what happened with today's flower.  I set out making a flat-ish bloom and ended up with a fabulously frilly carnationesque number.  And I love it!

I like it so much, in fact, that I'm changing my whole flower wreath blossom scheme. Do you want a ruffly carnation for your wreath? Well let's go, then!

Craft-along flower 3: Marigold (not actually gold)

For other blossom tutorials and the more info about this craft-along please click here.

I think today's flower looks like a marigold.

via

Except that it's navy.

And if I can make a navy marigold, you can make an any-color-you-want marigold. Ready?

Craft-Along: Rolled Rose Tutorial

Miss the first flower tutorial?  Check it out here.

This might shock some of you, but not everyone enjoys doing projects that require a needle and thread.  And sometimes a girl just wants to play with molten glue.  Totally understandable.

 As promised, today's tutorial involves two things - fabric and a hot glue gun. Arm yourselves, darlings, and let's get started!

Craft-Along: Flower tutorial 1

A rose is a rose (might be a carnation) is a rose. And that's what I'm going to show you how to make today - a carnation-esque rose.

Cute, right!? And pretty easy so let's get started!

Craft-Along: Supply List

I know I should have a plan, but I don't. Well I do but it is pretty much limited to "make this wreath."

Since this is my first craft-along, I figured you guys would go easy on me. If I make mistakes, I make mistakes.  You like knowing I'm human, right?

That said, my "general supply list" is about as specific as my plan.  For one thing, I'm painting the NPJ Headquarters for the Creation of Pure Delight so everything is in chaos and I have no idea what scraps I have where. The other reason is that I don't want you to feel like you have to run out and buy specific fabrics or colors or a shiny new sewing machine.  I also don't want you to feel like you are crafting in the dark so following is

a list of items that will probably be handy in making your wreath.

Picture frame, 16x20 or smaller
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
Sewing needle
Thread
Fabric scraps
Scissors
*Iron (for getting out wrinkles, not the kind you get from eating a lot of red meat)
*Fray stopping liquid or spray
*Lighter
*Paint
*Buttons

And now a few notes.

The starred items are bonus supplies.  You may want to have them around, but your wreath will look fab even if you decide to forgo this part of the list.

You won't actually need the frame until assembly day (September 27) so don't fret if you can't find one lying about.  You'll want something with some heft; as in, no poster frames or other sorts of skinny rectangular nonsense. Great places to find good wood frames on the cheap include JoAnns and Micheals (they usually have cheap framed art or slightly damaged frames in their respective clearance aisles), garage sales, Goodwill-type thrift stores, antique shops, and flea markets.

If you plan to hang your wreath outdoors or if you will be storing it in an area that is not temperature controlled, you may want to consider using a high temp glue gun.  I mean, it gets pretty hot in Tampa so I could totally see the flowers of my wreath sliding to the attic floor when May's temperatures re-melt the glue holding my wreath together. Can I get an "amen" from my peeps in Texas?

If you absolutely have to buy fabric please do not buy more than a quarter of a yard. Really, I doubt you'll need more than an eighth of a yard. Also, if you are buying fabric for your wreath stick to fabrics that won't fray such as felt, cotton jersey (t-shirt material), tulle, and nylon chiffon. This is an excellent project for recycling clothing too old or too stained to donate, scraps from other projects, or bedding and curtains you never plan to use again. Likewise, you can get a ton of fabric from skirts and dresses, or large shirts (especially men's dress shirts) found at garage sales and thrift stores.

I believe that about covers it. For a vague list I got oddly specific there at the end. Has everyone picked a color scheme yet?  I still can't decide!  I like the honey + gray combo in Delia's tutorial, but I'm also feelin' Halloween-y. And I am in the middle of a love afair withh all the shades between green and blue.  Yipes! I better decide!

Square Wreath Craft-Along

When I mentioned a few days ago that we could do one of the projects on my to-do list together, I so wasn't kidding. Only two of you took me seriously, but hey, that's goo enough for me!  Two's company and three makes a craft-along.

Since this is my first time to lead a group project via la internet, we're gonna go easy. I decided to tackle the Scrappy Flower Wreath from Delia Creates.

Yeah, she totally has the directions on her blog already (click on the image above to see), but I'm planning to change a few things so you guys will have more options.  I'm pretty awesome like that.

Here's the tentative schedule:

Sept 1:   Announce craft-long (look, I'm on time for this one!)
Sept 6:   General supply list
Sept 13: Two flower tutorials
Sept 20: Two more flower tutorials
Sept 27: Assembly and finishing touches
Oct 4:    Show and tell

Y'all be thinking about the color combos you want for your wreath.  In fact, share them here! Also, let me know if there is a particular flower you are dying to learn. I have a few ideas, but you know I love your input.

So excited!