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"DIY"
So I haven’t been posting many DIYs lately, because most of my projects have been large scale and very time consuming. Here are a few things that I’ve been working on recently:
Embroidery Sampler
I made this sampler for my darling new niece, Lilly, who was born 4 weeks ago today! This was my first large-scale embroidery project (see my very first one here). It was a lot of work but I was thrilled with how it turned out. The pattern is from Posie: Rosy Little Things and is exceptionally well written!
Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt
Yep, I made a quilt! How crazy is that!! I’ve never been much of a sewing person, but lately I just can’t get enough! This quilt was a big project to start with, but I’m thrilled with how it turned out. Plus, I made it for myself, which is a nice change of pace. You can find an excellent tutorial here, which is how I figured out how to make this darn thing!
And two quick DIYs, which you’ve seen already if you follow me on Instagram (@shedabbles):
I’ve been hunting for a nice floral scarf in pinks and reds to complement this one that I wear all the time and just wasn’t loving anything. Instead, I snagged a quarter yard of Liberty lawn from Gather Here for about $9, sewed some quick (and very messy) narrow seams, and sewed the selvedge together. Voila! Circle scarf for $9…J.Crew has a Liberty scarf for $150 right now…I prefer my price point!
To fly to Barcelona, we took a red-eye. I am not a great airplane sleeper…the lights really bug me. I decided on a bit of a whim to make myself an eye mask. I used flannel leftover from this project and fabric and batting scraps from my quilt.It’s crazy to me that I can make these sorts of things now! And quickly too!
What DIYs have you been working on lately? Please share links in the comments! I’d love to check them out when I get back from Spain!
In honor of the final day of 2012, I thought I’d look back at some of my favorite posts this year. I can’t believe that my very first post was on May 3rd! It feels in some ways like I’ve been doing this forever. I love writing this blog and am so grateful to all of you that read it! It makes me feel less like I’m talking to myself…Also, let’s not talk about the photo quality at the beginning. The iPhone, while fabulous for snapshots, definitely doesn’t hold a candle to the camera I’m using now! Alright, here we go, my favorite posts from 2012. True to my dabbler fashion, I decided to pull five favorites from DIY, Food, and Style (each photo links back to the original post).
DIY:
FOOD:
STYLE:
Do you have other favorite posts? Leave them in the comments; I’d love to see them! Thanks again for all your support. See you in 2013!
This is a super fun decoration that is perfect not only for Christmas, but also for after. It’s nice that it’s not too holiday specific and can be left up for a little winter cheer. Here’s a link to the original tutorial.
Materials:
Styrofoam wreath form, styrofoam balls of various sizes, yarn scraps in various shades of cream and grey, raffia, pine cones or other natural elements, lots and lots of hot glue
Start by wrapping the wreath form in burlap and wrapping all the styrofoam balls in yarn. Sure, no big deal, right? This takes a LONG time! Or at least it took me a long time. Maybe a good movie watching activity.
Once you have your yarn balls wrapped, glue them onto the ring randomly and fill in gaps with the pinecones. Mine was looking a little bare at the bottom so I made a simple burlap bow and glued it on.
Enjoy this wreath for the rest of the winter, even after you take down your other decorations!
Chevrons, glitter, and an animal print? Sounds good to me! This is a combination of a few ideas that I have seen floating around Pinterest. I made these over the course of two days with a friend and we were thrilled with how they turned out!
Also, Franziska H. email me at ohshedabbles at gmail dot com. You’ve won the Seams to Be giveaway!
Materials:
- canvas (we used 11″x14″)
- painter’s tape
- Mod Podge and Elmer’s Glue
- glitter (I used the same mix that I used for the shoes)
- acrylic paint
- silhouette of a reindeer or other festive winter animal
Start by making the chevrons on your canvas, measuring out the first row and mimicking the angles after that. Remember, the tape will be your white lines. When your chevrons are all laid out, trace your animal in the middle of your canvas.
Paint the canvas, including the sides, leaving the reindeer roughly outlined. You could paint over the whole canvas if you wanted but I was worried that the chevrons would show through the glitter if I did that. Allow this to dry overnight, then remove the tape. Touch up the outline of the reindeer with pencil to make sure you can see it clearly. Now we’re ready to glitter!
Start by outlining a section of the reindeer with a thin line of Elmer’s and sprinkle it with a lot of glitter. Let it dry for 30 seconds or so, shake off the excess glitter gently, and repeat until the lower part of the reindeer has been outlined.
Fill in the antlers completely with Elmer’s, one antler at a time and sprinkle with a lot of glitter. Let these dry for a few minutes before gently shaking off the excess glitter.
Finally, fill the entire body with a generous amount of glue and sprinkle with a ton of glitter! If you wanted the body to be more flat, you could also use Mod Podge for this part. Let this dry for 30 minutes before shaking off the excess glitter.
Using a dry paintbrush, brush away any stray glitter. After the glue has completely dried, coat the glitter in Mod Podge to help it stay put. And there you have it, a fun, festive wall hanging!
Sweater: J.Crew Factory//Chambray: Old Navy//Velvet Pants: Target (similar)//Necklace: Forever 21//Booties: DIY Blowfish (see tutorial below, or similar for purchase)
Allow me to introduce you to my one purchase from Cyber Monday (the sweater) and my latest DIY (the mullet shoes…business in the front, glitter party in the back). Also, it was REALLY cold when we took these photos, which I’m sure you can tell! I’ve been eyeing glittery shoes for a few months now and finally decided these shoes that were free from a clothing swap would be the perfect canvas for my glitter obsession. Plus, my students went nuts for them. Coolest teacher ever? Well, maybe not, but at least I have glittery shoes! This was such an easy DIY; so easy that I feel a little silly doing a tutorial for them, but I just had to share because I’m thrilled with how they turned out.
Also, Janea please email me ASAP at ohshedabbles at gmail dot com to claim the gold & mint bracelet! And, don’t forget, today is the last day to enter the Seams to Be giveaway.
Materials:
- old pair of booties, or any shoes that need a glitter fix. Play around with color combinations; bring a shoe with you to the craft store and see what colors you like with it
- painter’s tape
- GLITTER! I used two kinds that were different sizes and slightly different shades of gold for more dimension
- Mod Podge
- foam brush
- the patience to deal with glitter dusting your floors for the next few weeks
Start by taping off the area you want to glitter. I chose to confine it just to the heel and back of the ankle. I followed some piping that exists on the shoe, but you could just as easily create a tape line anywhere you want.
I decided to use some of my gold spray paint from this project to do a base coat in case any of the glitter flaked off, but this is definitely optional. I sprayed the paint into a cup then painted onto the shoe with a foam brush. Allow this to dry overnight before moving on to the glittering.
Believe it of not, this is super easy! I mixed my two kinds of glitter together in a paper cup first. Then I started by painting a small area (about 2″ square) with Mod Podge. I used my fingers to sprinkle a very generous amount of glitter on the area, then poured the excess back into the cup (or, I should say “into” the cup). Continue doing this until you’ve covered every area, then go back and patch any places that seem too thin. Repeat with the second shoe. Allow the shoes to dry overnight and remove the painter’s tape carefully. Now you need to get rid of the excess glitter. I placed the shoes on newsprint and tapped the sole of the heels firmly on the floor. This shook off most of the excess. And there you have it! Your very own glitter booties! Let me know if you try this out! It was so easy, I’m eyeing other shoes in my closed that could use some sparkly sprucing.
Welcome to Oh, She Dabbles! I'm C and I'm so glad you're here. I'm an elementary school teacher and I started this little corner of the internet to share my personal style and fun projects.
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