Category Archives: Stuff to make

Pinterest Round-up: Setting the Table

Posted in Fabric printing, Holiday, Home Design, Sewing by

Thanksgiving approaches, and with it, thoughts of a long, sumptuous meal set on a beautiful table.

Notice I didn’t say, “thoughts of planning and preparing a meal.” Are you kidding? I wouldn’t be rhapsodizing if work were involved. But if you’re up to it, here are some great projects to inspire your Thanksgiving table.

Top row:

Stenciled runner by Lotta Jansdotter (Lotta Prints)

Running stitch napkins from the Purl Bee

Middle row:

DIY foxy rubber stamp by Zana

Table cloth from the Alabama Stitch Book

Bottom image:

Linen napkins from the Purl Bee

Make: Little Ghastly Peg People

Posted in Holiday, Kids by

 

 

Boo. These miniature spookies aren’t going to scare anyone, but they were fun to paint and a good workout for my fine motor skills/eyesight.

Little ghastlies by homemadecity.com

I bought the unfinished peg dolls at my local craft store and used acrylic paint plus a coat of high gloss Mod Podge to cover.

Here is a list of some of my online inspirations:

Abby Jacobs’s peg vampire on etsy

This monster mash on Craftster

Pegged etsy shop–Halloween and Day of the Dead peg dolls (plus very sweet pilgrim peg dolls)

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Tried It: Strawberry Pompom!

Posted in Kids by

I had to try. Pom poms are the perfect combination of uselessness and frivolity that I look for in a craft (time-waster). Plus, pom poms evoke the sweetness of sixth grade when my friends and I twirled yarn on forks and glued on google eyes to make pom pom creatures that lived inside our desks.

strawberry pom pom by homemadecity.com

I followed the instructions at the Mr. Printables blog. But make sure to review the Mr. P instructions for making flower pom poms first–they include the basic steps you’ll need.

pom poms by homemadecity.com

I also made some regular pom poms.

pom poms by homemadecity.com

Then I gave them to my favorite middle schoolers to live inside their desks.

pom poms by homemadecity.com

 

 

Make: Scandinavian Cross-stitch Hama Bead Coasters

Posted in Stuff to make by

IMG_3285

Call ’em what you like: Hama, Perler, fuse, melty. These little plastic beads are weird, but I dig them. I like how traditional cross-stitch patterns translate perfectly to melty-bead peg boards.

I sketched a vaguely Scandinavian pattern on graph paper, and then tried it out with different color schemes of melty beads. The plastic squares turned out to be a good size for coasters, and they have a satisfying chunky density to them.

IMG_3525

Pinterest Round-up: Paper Chandeliers

Posted in Paper, Stuff to make by

Paper chandeliers (and some pom-pom varieties) are popping up on all my favorite Pinterest bulletin boards. They are so celebratory, so cheerful. I can imagine the paper creations draped decadently all over my apartment–or the big-windowed, high-ceilinged library where I work. The chandeliers are pajaki, literally “spiders of straw,” a holiday folk art that originated from the Lowicz region of Poland.

I found a DIY from A Beautiful Mess. The instructions call for wooden straws, which seem hard to find, but apparently Swedish straws will do–you can purchase them at Imagine Childhood.

The super-fun pom pom chandelier comes from Small for Big, which offers complete DIY instructions.

Or you can buy one! They ain’t cheap but would make a happy purchase, I’m sure. I found some on Ebay for $150 or at the Polish Art Center for $125.