creative gift wrapping

if you're stuck for ideas on making your gift wrapping stand out from the 'crowd' here's an idea i tried a few months back for my friends' (Amy and Toby) engagement gift...old school pipe cleaners shaped into the recipients' initials (can you make out the pink A and blue T amongst all the yellow raffia in the pic?). i was so happy with how it turned out!

I also used lettered beads on their other gift which my friend Mel help put together.

if you have any original gift wrapping ideas to share drop me a note, i need to start planning my christmas gift wrapping theme for 2012 (see my 2011 christmas wrapping theme here).

diy upholstered bed head

so, not that long ago i promised a diy post on how to make an upholstered bed head. finally, here it is.

what you'll need:
1. bed head frame (mine was a metal frame) - i.e. this won't work for an ensemble
2. staple gun & staples
3. a piece of thin MDF (as wide and high as the existing frame - your local hardware store should cut to size if you ask)
4. foam, approx. 5-10mm thick, enough to cover 3 sides of the MDF (i bought mine in a pack from spotlight)
5. fabric (enough to cover the MDF)
6. sewing pins

steps
1. staple the foam, piece-by-piece, around 3 edges (or just the top edge and approx.  30cm on each side as i did - see below) of the MDF
2. place MDF board between mattress and bed head
3. wrap your fabric around the MDF & bed posts of existing frame, folding corners neatly and pinning so you have one side of the MDF presenting with a flat neat finish and all pins & folds on the reverse side - voila!


here's some step-by-step pics...

felt love - diy

recently i blogged about some inspiration for a handmade valentine gift (see here).

inspired by some felt text art on castle & things which i found on a weekly check of designlovefest blog here's what i made...

what you'll need...
1. assorted felt pieces* in any colour of your choice. i selected 10 different colours
2. piece* of vliesofix (a double sided adhesive paper to stick fabric together) unless you want to sew your letters?
3. piece* of fabric (i used a grey cotton voile)
4. scissors
5. access to wordart on Word (or similar program), paper, printer and computer
6. frame

* the size of each piece will depend on your quote length and frame size

how to...
1. cut the fabric to size based on your frame size
2. select your quote and type it up in block capitals on a word program and print (make sure the font size is selected to fit within the frame you've picked)
3. cut the paper letters out
4. hold or pin (depending on how much you trust yourself) the cut out paper letters to a piece of felt and a piece of vliesofix then cut around them both together so you end up with a paper, felt and vliesofix version of each letter (all the same size hopefully)
5. discard paper letters
6. using your frame or matt board inside your frame place the felt letters on the fabric and play around until they're in the perfect position
7. using the vliesofix iron each felt letter onto the fabric
8. frame

here's to an arty new year

i never make new year resolutions but after 2011, which was a year of great plans and little action, i decided to make a list of resolutions for 2012. i’m not sure how or if i’ll achieve all the goals i’ve set myself but it’s worth a try. my list reads (in no specific order):

1. SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!

2. arrange an island holiday for 2013

3. back-up and organise all music and photo files (sounds simple but this was not done for the whole of 2011 and possibly 2010)

4. art journal once a week (per Rachel and Elsie's Art Journal All Year E Course)

5. get skirting boards for my house (this has been a plan since October 2009)

6. update family photos around the house (this has also been on the cards since 2010)

7. try harder to get friends to visit me in Singleton (not fun for them, but fun for me)

8. visit the Hunter Valley Wine Region more often (it’s only 20minutes away!!!)

9. EXERCISE! EXERCISE! EXERCISE!

i’m in the process of completing item 6. i've selected the pics and saved them to a USB, now i just need to print and frame them...

i've had 3 friends come to my home town in the last 2 weeks so item 7 is off to a good start.

item 4 is going well also. i've completed my first journal entry. its on recent day dreams which for me have largely been about the beach, relaxing and the idea of having a more chilled lifestyle which ideally feels more like a permanent holiday. i did say it was a journal entry on "dreams"...

my friend's Amy and Mel are also creating an art journal so they will help with my motivation to keep at it when i find excuses not to. 

today i decided to keep my journal looking pretty for when i leave it lying around my house. i decided to make a book cover (as suggested by Amy).

here's how i made my fabric sleeve for my journal...

supplies:

1. A4 diary/or other book 2. fabric 3. iron on facing 4. scissors 5. sewing machine 6. thread 7. overlocker

instructions:

1. cut the iron on facing to the exact size of the A4 book (size when fully opened) 2. cut the fabric with approx. 2cm overhang at the top and bottom and approx.  4-5cm overhang at each side of the book 3. hem all 4 sides of the fabric with approx. 1cm hem 4. iron on facing to fabric (centre) 5. using the overlocker stitch the long edges ensuring you fold over a sleeve for the book cover to fit (see pictures - make sure you measure before you sew)

NOTE: i also attached a heart to the cover using a zigzag stitch.

here’s to a creative and fun 2012…and on to those other resolutions.