Spring wreaths

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Come with me today to Etsy Greek Street Team blog for some spring wreath inspiration.

Meanwhile the craft goodies giveaway is still open.

Denim and sweater fabric brooches

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Hello everyone, I have been away from my blog for many days because I am spending a lot of time trying to organize my craft supplies shop and push it one step closer to what I want to make it. Spring is here and where we live it feels really wonderful. It awakened my slightly sleepy desire for home decor projects. Last Saturday though I felt the urge to make something small and quick for myself, something girly to go with the sunny weather.

Favorites from the web

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It's been raining for days and the winter seems endless. But you know the cure, a bit of crafting can blow the blues away. 

Looking for ideas to personalize a lampshade? I love this one with the small pom poms but you will find many more here.

Kids Kubby

Make a bracelet with vintage buttons

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With the moving and all the home decor projects it has been a long time since I made any kind of jewelry and I missed it. Today I am going to show how to use a few buttons that are worth showing off to make a bracelet.

Here are the things you will need:

Red pepper garland for the kitchen

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Last summer our neighbor gave us a lot of red peppers from his vegetable garden. It was impossible to consume them all so I decided to dry what was left. I didn't know what I was going to do with them but then I remembered that traditionally peppers are hang in a row to dry and be used in winter, so I decided to make a pepper garland to decorate my kitchen.

Weekend, time for crafting

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Another week is ending, and I guess I am not the only one who hopes to squeeze  a bit of crafting among all the other things left to be done during the weekend. So here are a few crafting ideas I hope you find interesting:

A book bag 

found on Country Living. You will need a book, a bit of fabric, a button, some ribbon, a set of handles and the instructions.


The  second crafting project is for those who sew, I still haven't learn how to sew (I can add this to the to-do-list for 2011, it's still January). It doesn't seem too hard, though I have decided never to say that anymore. Nothing seems hard until you start making it.

A scarf 

made of knit fabric found on Make it and Love it.

Happy weekend everyone, even if you don't make what I suggested, make something!

A very quick and easy project

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This is a spot in my living room. I love the combination of brown and acqua but I had the feeling it needed a drop of  a warm, cheerful color to add some life to it.

So I took a branch from the garden and colorwashed it with white acrylic without covering completely its surface with color.

I bought some orange pom poms from a sewing supplies store. You can make your own if you have some wool, read how here. 

With a few drops of fabric glue I glued the pom poms on the branch. I have a blooming  branch in my vintage coffee pot now and I like this shelf  more.
 

Make with fabric scraps

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If you are a crafty person, most probably you keep a heap of fabric scraps in your closet, even if you are not a sewing expert. Good for you, because there are lots of things you can make with them and here are some ideas:

An easy  fabric ball necklace, just fabric and wire. Learn how here. 

On Make It and Love It you will learn to make this framed initial which is perfect for a kid's room but for other rooms also, depending on the fabric's pattern and color.

If you have tiny pieces of fabric and are ready to throw them away because you think they 're useless, don't until you read this tutorial about how you can decorate a plain pillow.

Little strips of fabric can become a pom pom, perfect as party decoration or as a permanent decorative item. Read the instructions here. 
 

These yo-yos could make a pretty accent on your t-shirt, your hair or your purse. They are easy to make and Heather Bailey shows you how.

This is a beautiful idea. If you have larger fabric scraps you can make a gallery of fabric "works of art" to decorate your wall. Read how you can make them on Bella Dia.

On craftstylish I found these super easy and cute hair pins.

Aren't these fabric cuffs adorable? They require more advanced sewing skills but they are worth the effort. JCasa gives a free PDF to make them.

Again a no-sew project: a bouquet of fabric flowers for the days you don't have fresh flower in your vase. You will find the tutorial on Made.

A bunting is the perfect decoration for parties. Here you will find Purl Bee's version.


And of course you should never throw away your worn out jeans. Denim fabric will add extra style to your fabric scrap creations. Here are a few ideas:

A soft book for babies. Visit Thimbly Things to find the tutorial.

 

 A very original pair of earrings made with silk and denim scraps by Tomates d' Epingles.

A way to get organized with style, found on All Free Crafts.

I hope this post gave you enough inspiration to try and make something of your own with your fabric scraps.

My favorite crafting magazine

My favorite crafting magazine is french Marie - Claire Idees. And I assure you, Marie - Claire has the best ideas when it comes to crafting. Those of you who are into crafting probably are already aware of the existence of this magazine. The rest should go and buy it immediately. It is quarterly, today I bought the spring issue. The day Marie - Claire Idees comes out, is always a good day. I haven't opened yet this issue, no no, I am going to restrain myself until I find some quite moment when the kids are asleep, to enjoy it as it deserves. You will find lots of inspiration in it with the most wonderful projects in many crafting categories, mainly decorative objects, but also knitting, sewing, furniture makeover, cooking, art de la table, jewerly and accessories making. Most of have a sweet, romantic, nostalgic style, inspired by old times, but under a fresh point of view. Even if you don't speak french, the pictures will keep you totally satisfied. There is also a Marie - Claire Idees blog. Every October the magazine organizes Le Salon Marie - Claire Idees in Paris, a crafting related exhibition, which I so want to visit some time. The pictures are from older issues of the magazine.

Free plans for your diy projects

Those of you who love to make things yourself and want to decorate your home with your handmade creations, will find Unique Projects very interesting. Their plans are free and suitable both for beginners and for more experienced. What I liked is that the creators of the site have a philosophy about what they do : they want to offer an antidote against consumerism, availability of tools and material needed is very important, the plans must be both beautiful and functional.

Sew the easy way

I saw these skirts on Print and Pattern and couldn't resist to show them here. The surprise is that these skirts and many more funky clothes are sold by Clothkits as sewing kits which include everything you need to make them easily even if you are not experienced. They also have jewelry, toys and kids clothes kits. If you hate sewing they can make it for you.

Crochet with imagination

I love it when I see talented people using old, traditional techniques, considered dated and boring by some, to make charming handmade accessories, like this romantic, mysterious mask made with crochet. You will find the pattern in Stitch Diva Studios, together with many other beautiful crochet and knit patterns.

Free clipart for your holiday crafts

If you have already started to think about your christmas crafting and you, like me, love vintage images visit Vintage Holiday Crafts to download for free lots of beautiful vintage holiday cliparts.

Beautiful fabrics

I can't sew but I love browsing the web for beautiful fabric. All these colors and patterns fascinate me. When I discovered Heather Bailey's online store I loved her beautiful florals and their delightful color combinations. Imagine what beautiful crafts you can use them for. They make me want to learn how to sew now!

Felted creations

Since two posts ago I wrote about felting, I thought of showing to you what talented crafters can make using this technique so that you see how versatile results it can have.

ingermaaike

karlita

art mind

creations by eve

stemellina

secret snow bird

shani neal

glasfaden

kneek

A (completely) altered Ikea frame

In Greece it's still summer, but since everybody is back to work and school has already started the only thing we are left with is to remember our holidays and try to keep the feeling with relevant decor and crafting. So did Plyto who made a beautiful mirror using a plain Ikea frame and the beach treasures she 's been collecting during summer: drift woods, starfishes, shells. She used a hot glue gun to adhere the woods side by side on the frame like a puzzle and wherever the woods didn't match well, she added starfishes and shells on top of the gaps to cover them and to add interest to the composition. She added a piece of mirror to the frame exactly as she would add a photograph or art ...et voilà! The mirror now hangs proudly over her fireplace in her beach house.