Bella Dia

Egg Carton Wreath Inspiration & Tutorial

I made this egg carton wreath for a tutorial on The Crafty Crow
but thought I would share a link here too. It's one of those crafts
that adults can enjoy just as much as kids and maybe even a
little bit more. The egg cartons take some time to cut up so I do
that on a separate occasion - like while watching The Walking Dead -
and then the rest of the project goes a lot faster. I took my  
inspiration from this vintage plate that I love. I only have this one
piece but I always hope to find more on one of my thrift shop visits. 

Mandala Tote

Do you like my little mandala tote? I was totally inspired by a
hand-drawn tote bag created by Yasmine in the latest issue of
Parasol Craft. I used a black fine pointTee Juice fabric marker
and it went on beautifully. I already had the totebag but
I got it at Michael's.


The tote is small but it's the only one I had on hand when
inspiration struck. I'd like to do a bigger one like Yasmine's too.

So I tried needle felting...

I have been wanting to give this a try forever! The needles, the roving,
and the foam pad have been in my stash at least two, maybe three
years, but I never sat down and just began. Well, I received a copy
of Felt Me a Smile to review and that was just the jump start that
I needed. These three little creatures are my first projects and were
gifts to my children in their Easter baskets.


A brown bunny with a white belly holding
a bouquet of flowers...


a cream bunny with a blue flower and long ears...


and a standing brown bear with a blue checked bow
and flower. They are all less than 3" tall.


I love the cover project, so cute! The little hugging bears below
were my first attempt and inspiration for my standing bear. Actually,
my very first bear ended up being torn apart by kittens during the
night - oh so sad to see little bear's nose and arms ripped off and
lying in the middle of the floor looking up at me with only one good
eye! So be forewarned if you have cats in the house and keep your
needle felting projects well hidden. After I finished the bear, I went
out on my own and made the two bunny variations.


I have to say needle felting is almost magical to me - you keep
poking this little barbed needle into a ball of fluff and before long
a sweet creature appears! I think anyone who enjoys sculpting
would love needle felting and it doesn't take long to get the hang
of it either. What's fun about Felt Me a Smile is that not all the
projects are needle felting, you'll also find several methods of wet
felting and projects that combine both, like the one on the cover.

I wanted more roving colors and after a little research I found
that Weir Crafts has very good prices, a beautiful selection of
colors and types of roving and they shipped super fast too so my
experience couldn't be any better. (Just so you know, I'm not receiving
any remuneration I just wanted to pass along a good experience.)

Cereal Box House Tutorial

I have had this tutorial on my mind for so long!
I love little houses and creating wee villages, definitely
a carry over from my childhood, and have been wanting
to make some of my own to play decorate with. I figured
I could make houses from all the cardboard boxes in
my recycling so now I have finally taken pictures and
written up a tutorial to share with you!
There are a lot of pictures but the tutorial is actually
very simple. Once the house is made it can be painted
or covered with paper or even left plain. You can also
leave one flap open and use it as a gift box, part of an
advent, or just a hiding place for treasures :)

Supplies:
cardboard box from the pantry
straight edge
pencil
scissors
thick white glue
something to score with

Optional:
clamp, clothespins, or painter's
tape for holding pieces until
they dry

*click on pictures to enlarge*

#1: undo all the seams and lay your box out flat with the
unprinted side facing up

#2: draw a line across the box at least
one inch below the mid line

#3: cut the original vertical fold lines from the top to
the marked line; lines to cut are marked with a
white dot in the picture

#4: score across the box on top of your drawn line

#5: cut off the little flap at the arrow; cut off two of the
top flaps - where the X's are in the picture

#6: turn over and apply glue to the small side seam flap

#7: fold up box in reverse and clamp or hold
until side seam is dry

#8: fold and glue the bottom of the box

#9: here's the box all glued up in reverse and the top is
cut and ready to make the roof

#10: fold all four sides down on the score line you made
earlier in #4 then fold back up straight
 #11: apply glue to the small flap at the top of the short
side panel (see arrow in picture #10); put glue on the
unprinted side and glue together as above

#12: lay box on its side, then mark and score angled
roof edges against the front and back panels of
the box (all four angles)

#13: cut off top section of each front and back panel
at the peak of the roof

#14: cut side panels along the angled roof line about
3/8" away from your marked and scored line
(do this for all four angles)

#15: cut off an angled tip at the peak of the
sides (four times)

#16: fold all four flaps that you just cut towards the
box; apply glue on all the flaps and tuck into the roof

#17: here's your house all glued and
ready to be decorated!


Experiment with a variety of boxes; the small house
in the middle is made from two pudding boxes glued
together and the square house on the right is from a
tea box. You can also change the height of the roof by
adjusting the length of the four vertical
cuts you made in #3.


These houses were all taped instead of being glued and
then I covered them with paper.


These houses were painted with acrylic paint. They can
be drawn on after they have dried. The little house with
the green roof is made from an allergy medicine box.

I hope you'll try to make some houses. They are
easy enough for older kids to do and younger kids
can have someone else make the house and then
enjoy the painting and decorating.
Have fun with it!

Button Clips

 
This probably says something about how my gift making is
going but here is another last minute gift that is quick and
easy to make. Buttons and paperclips glued together with hot
glue make button clips! They can still be used as paperclips
but the large ones make cute bookmarks as well. 

The view from the back. You can use a shank button or a
button with holes. Lay the paperclip over the middle of the back
of the button and add some hot glue. These look really cute with
the novelty type buttons and it's a great craft for kids too!

Rocks +Transfers = Easy Last Minute Gifts

I love that scrapbooking has brought so many products into
the crafting world that can be used in other ways. I know rub-on
transfers have been around for awhile but now they come in so
many beautiful and fun designs and that's what I found on my
last trip to the scrapbook store.  Of course, I wanted to try them
out right away and since these stones were within arm's reach
this is what I did. These small ones look like they've been
stitched together and would be just right for paperweights.

This larger rock would make a nice doorstop. Did you need
last minute gifts or stocking stuffers? Here you go!

Glittery Newspaper Tree

I saw this tree on the Martha Stewart site and almost
immediately set to making it.  I'm planning on doing a whole 
landscape of recycled trees this year for a holiday display so
this fit the bill perfectly. I have a few tips for you if you decide
to make one as well. 

* I made the polymer clay base exactly as the instructions and
it came out perfectly only I used a bamboo skewer instead of
a knitting needle for the support.

* I have a large paper cutter and I am *so* glad I did! 

* Cut out all the newspaper ahead of time so you use the
same amount of each size. 

* We used a small newspaper cone for the top instead of a
star since ours is just a regular tree in the woods
and not a Christmas tree.

* I used Elmer's spray adhesive for the glitter. The glitter is
actually small opalescent flakes - a brand new bag
that I got while thrifting, woot!

* It is surprisingly sturdy and I plan to keep if for next
year so we'll see if it stores well.

* My kids were very much involved and could easily do it
on their own but it does take awhile so you may want to
have them switch out if they get bored.

Handprint Turkey Softie and Tutorial

For me, the hand print turkey is the quintessential
Thanksgiving kids craft and it is one of my favorites. I thought
it would be fun to have a more permanent version so I decided
to make a softie version. I'll be the first to say that the following
tutorial is very spare (because I'm really supposed to be working
on other things) but I had this on my mind and just had to make it!

You'll need:

*two layers of fabric large enough to accommodate your child's
hand with at least one inch to spare all the way around

*a few pins

*disappearing fabric marker or pencil

*sewing machine & coordinating thread

*scissors

*poly-fil or other stuffing

*pencil with eraser for help with stuffing

*scraps of felt (wool preferable)for feathers, wings, eyes, beak,
and wattle; I used red, orange, gold, yellow, and beige

*fabric glue, like Fabri-Tac

How-to:

With right sides of fabric together, trace your child's
hand with the marker/pencil.

Pin the fabric together and sew over marked lines
leaving the wrist area open.

Trim within about 1/8" of stitch line.

Snip between the fingers and around any curves.

Turn right side out and poke out fingers.

Using only small bits of stuffing at a time, stuff the
fingers then the hand.

Tuck in the bottom opening and edge stitch to close or hand
stitch if you've got time - I didn't.

Feathers should be about the length of the fingers. I didn't
use a pattern but cut them freehand. I used five different colors
and cut two feathers from each one for a total of ten. Snip
along one edge of the feather.

Apply glue only at the base of the feather and attach to the turkey.

Cut two wings, apply glue on one forward end only
and place appropriately.

Cut a little triangle for the beak and a little rounded strip
for the wattle and glue in place.

Take a little bit of felt and roll it between your fingers to make
the eye then glue in place and repeat for the other side.

Tip: If you don't want to machine sew then make the body from
felt. Leave a little more room around the edges of the tracing
for hand sewing and there's no need to turn it inside out.
Continue as above with the stuffing and feathers.

Your done! That was simple right?  Enjoy!

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