Wednesday, January 25, 2012

"Pillow Talk"

Okay its not what your thinking.

About a year ago i was making pillows. Just cute little decorative pillows to sit on the couch or spruce up a bed. I put them up on Facebook and everyone loved them ! People kept trying to put their order in and i didn't think they would be a huge hit like they were. I was excited but i wasn't prepared for orders and making tons at a time. If you have ever made a pillow that has a lot of detail you know its quite time consuming, but I'm thinking about starting up again and actually selling them this time. Pillows go on Etsy for $30 and $40 ! (So I'm glad I'm able to make them).

Really it's quite simple. Everyone has a creative side, so im going to show you one of my pillows and tell you how i made it.
I like to do team pillows since college football is so big. And im an Alabama fan so the first pillow i made was an adorable little white pillow with a crimson A in the bottom corner, with a black lace (doily) design around the A. (ROLL TIDE)

All you need is :

fabric (color of your choice)
Paint (again your preffered colors)
Doily ( yeah im doily obsessed if you could tell.)
Pillow stuffing
Paint brush or sponge paint brush
Freezer paper for logo ( i free handed mine but freezer paper makes it easier)
Sewing machine
spray adhesive

Okay now that youve gathered all your items decide how big youll want your pillow.
Cut two identical squares and put one square aside.
One the square you have decide where youll want the doily design. you can do it on the corner or the middle its all up to you. (Im pretty sure i used the largest doily in the paper Wilton doily pack that has 3 different sizes.)
Take the spray adhesive and spray the back of the doily all over and press onto the fabric wherever you choose.(keep in mind the only part that will show after you paint it will be the outer lace design.)
Now take your paint you have chosen for the color of the lace design and pour some onto a plate.
Use your  paint brush or sponge and get some paint on it. make sure you dab off excess, you dont want it  piled on there too thick. You would rather have too little paint on there than too much, you can always come back and go over it and if your using a paper doily too much paint will bleed through the doily defeating the purpose.
Start painting on top of the lace design until you have the desired area covered.
LEAVE DOILY ON WHILE IT DRIES.
You can blow dry it or just wait for it to dry.
Once its done peel the doily off.
For the team logo get some freezer paper. Since its only waxed on one side you can trace your logo on the unwaxed side and cut it out with an exacto knife. Then you have an iron on stencil !
Iron it on using the lowest heat setting on the iron.
Paint inside the area you cut out with your exacto.
Let it dry and peel away the freezer paper.
Now take the designed square and put it face down on the other square. Sew the outer parts of the square all the way around EXCEPT a small hole to flip it right side out and stuff it. Once stuffed close it up using your preffered stitch.
Now you should have a beautiful pillow for all to behold !


I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Love & Pillows,

D




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

"Pinday"

There is no way around it, so I'm just going to come out and say I'm addicted to "Pinterest' !
I spend countless hours on the website pinning things ( I call it gaining inspiration ), and anyone who has an account probably feels like they need "Pinner's Anonymous" sometimes (all the time).
My boyfriend gets somewhat aggravated that i NEVER make Anything i pin. I can see where he's coming from. I show him the food i pin and he used to get excited thinking i would whip some of that stuff up, but now when i show him he's kind of like okay whatever...
Which brings me to my point. I need to make things i pin ! Even if its just once a week. So I'm thinking about making Sunday "Pinday". Simple enough, every Sunday ill make something off Pinterest, anything, not just food but all the cute little crafts too ! I have sooooo many awesome things pinned so i should get started..now.
Oh yeah, i even have a pinning song. I'm sure other people have made these to the same tune.
(Sing to the tune of DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win")

"All i do is pin pin pin no matter what,
got pinning on my mind i can never get enough,
every time i log into my homepage every body's pin's pop up,
and i scroll down, and i scroll down."
http://youtu.be/GGXzlRoNtHU

Yeah I'm lame but i couldn't help myself..

Follow my Pinterest boards here :
http://pinterest.com/dakotaj23/

Here's a few things I'm dying to make :

Pinned Image
Pallet Daybed

Pinned Image
Zipper Clutch

Pinned Image
French Pouf

Pinned Image
Sheer Maxi Skirt

Pinned Image
french Dip Crescents


Happy Pinning,

D
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Friday, January 20, 2012

It's "Fifteen / Eleven" & i'm obsessed !

I have the incredible urge to decorate a room. An office if you will.
If you read "RUE Magazine" you'll know why.
The lovely ladies decided to make their January issue all about decorating small spaces, and me being a sucker for pretty pictures of rooms (or just about anything for that matter) wants a blank room to go crazy in. Dont we all ?
One place really caught my attention. Its this great little paper company in Washington, DC called "Fifteen/Eleven". When it comes to their decor (and inventory) they can do no wrong ! If you havent heard about them click here now ! http://www.ruemag.com/january-2012/ and then flip to page 28. Go ahead and read the whole thing at the risk of wanting to buy a New York apartment and "fix it up".

A few pictures so you understand my obsession !



Perfect color scheme to allow pop's of color throughout.
(Look at that bowl of pink's, yellow's and navy's !)




If you are as infatuated with their product's as you are the decor heres a link to their website.




Love,

D

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Boot socks D.I.Y.

So they're not boot socks literally, but they do give off a great appearance your wearing some.

All I did was took a little trip to Goodwill, found some old ( cheap)
sweaters and cut the sleeves off !

When choosing sweaters there are a few things to look for.
1. Fabric that won't fray easily.
2. Make sure arm holes are stretchy.
(you want then to fit up your calf)
3. Make sure the fabric isn't too thick.
( if your boots zip up you don't want a really chunky cable knit you can't put your boots over)

Remember, if your a sewer you can sew some actual socks onto the bottoms of the sleeve and voila, boot socks !


Yours truly,

D

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Lovely Doily Journal D.I.Y.

This is my first ever D.I.Y. post !
(I'm also counting it as my very first "real" post considering my past two post's were two years ago.
I obviously wasn't ready to commit to blogging then. Let's see how round two goes shall we ? )



    Being a beginner i wanted something pretty to keep my blogging ideas in and keep me organized.
I found a black notebook and thought "Hmmm, this would look great with a doily on it".
So with that thought i created this little beauty...











Here's how..






Tool's:
Black Notebook
Doily
Spray Adhesive
(you might want something a little stronger so the doily REALLY stays put)


Fit the doily to the cover of the notebook.
You'll want half the doily on the cover and the other half on the inside cover.
I used one of the smallest doilies in the Wilton pack with the three different sizes. They are paper.




After you fit it lay it face down on a surface covered with something like paper or an old magazine you don't want spray adhesive on.

 

  
                                   

After you've sprayed it really good with the adhesive, fit it to the cover of the notebook again and once it's on close the notebook and press down on the doily to ensure it sticking. I would suggest finding something heavy and flat to lay on top for a while and leave it alone to adhere.







And there you have a lovely little notebook to keep your great ideas !

I hope you enjoyed this D.I.Y. !




Yours truly,



Dakota