Crafting Felt Flowers

My sister gifted me a 1950s spaghetti poodle pulling a little cart. After deciding that she is too fancy to join my other novelty planters in the backyard, I knew felt flowers would be the perfect bouquet for her little cart. I had just finished putting together felt brooches for my family and still had not only the felt flower bug, but plenty of felt to work with. I’ve been trying my hardest to use what craft supplies I have at home before purchasing new supplies, but I was out of black felt so I found myself also bringing home a beautiful red coral and light peach felt.

In the floral section, I found green wood sticks that were the perfect height for the flowers. I was going to use wood kabobs, but the floral sticks saved me the time of cutting them down to the right size and painting them green, plus they were inexpensive. Armed with my felt, wood stems and glue gun, I was ready to get crafting. I just had to figure out how to make some buds.

Since I already knew how to make felt roses, I started searching for other tutorials for felt flowers. Luckily my search was short, since my friend Lisa of The Makery had just pinned a felt flower tutorial from SomethingTurquoise showing how to make felt ranunculus, anemone and peony. I also wanted to add a couple of Marigolds for some pre-Dia de Los Muertos practice and tried a tutorial from Jones Design Company and Momnivor’s Dilemma.

I love how the flowers came out, and am loving how great they look in my poodle planter. I even made a few extra rose buds for my poodle cigarette holder that I was planning on using as a vase.

Have you crafted any felt flowers lately?

So Happy at Craft Happy Retreat

I am exhausted and all crafted out! I am writing this Sunday night after spending the day learning new crafting techniques at Craft HappyRetreat. Lisa Cherry, owner of The Makery, is the brain child behind the day retreat and gathered some pretty talented instructors to show how it’s done. I had entered a giveaway for tickets to the retreat and was so excited to find out that I had won. With my sister Stacie in tow, we headed to Community to get crafty!

After coffee and donuts for breakfast – my favorite – and a little mingling we headed over to our first workshop: Art Journal Making. The class was taught by Rachel Hillberg who I had recently met at a crafting event at Look in Anaheim. We had also connected and collaged just last Thursday at the OC Etsy Craft Party. We got the 101 on bookbinding from scratch, with basic materials like paper and wax string. Rachel also talked about how to fill our new journals with art using different mixed media techniques. Busting out stamps, markers, crayons, scissors and colorful paper, we went to town on brightening some pages. Rachel left us with some prompts to continue our art journaling experience, and I left really needing to buy this awesome jar stamp she had for us to use. I hear she teaches a bookbinding class that teaches how to make some awesome leather journals…

 

 

During our first break we headed over to A Little Known Shop’s make and take station where we got to screen print an ampersand onto vintage book pages. During lunch we returned to screen print the cutest little red fox. Note: My Papillon Oliver looks like a fox and I am without question his human. As a joke (because it is funny at least to me) I screen printed my red fox on a page that talks about marriage.

 

Leaving our screen print art to dry, we went to learn about block printmaking with Morgan Culture. Morgan showed what legit printmaking is all about and now I know what a brayer is. After demonstrating how to properly carve and ink on linoleum block, she described the modifications we would need to make for our block printmaking while using potatoes on fabric. I’ve heard of potato printmaking before but had never actually tried it, so I was pretty excited. She had a variety of potato sizes to choose from and I decided to go big. I wanted to print my tote bag with a bow and dog pattern and set about cutting out the negative. It was a bit easier than I had expected, and was also able to try out my design on paper before committing to my tote. While testing my design someone commented that they liked my dog design so it wasn’t that bad! I finished my dog and bow pattern and even borrowed my neighbor’s heart design to add a little flair at the top of my bag. Stacie’s bag turned out bad ass. She printed the planets in our solar system and it looked amazing.

Reaching the halfway point to our day we were getting a bit hungry and could smell deliciousness from our designated eating area. Catered by The Lime Truck, they offered a Crav On French Fry bar with delicious pulled pork and steak toppings. I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant on loving the French Fry lunch option until I tried it. The pulled pork was delish and the steak was amazing. The chipotle honey sauce was really tasty too. As a side we got a bag of Lundberg Farms sea salt rice chips – yum.

 

We were ready for something sweet and headed over for a cupcake decorating lesson with pastry Chef Nika Yazdani. Nika demonstrating butter cream and fondant techniques that were actually much easier than I thought they’d be to do. Stacie is a big fan of baking and can get very creative when it comes to fondant so it is no surprised that she made a cupcake covered in yellow fondant (table cloth) and covered it with mini fruits, veggies and a turkey leg. She was called a liar after having said earlier in the day that she wasn’t very crafty. Nika was generous enough to send us home with our very own piping tip so we can continue our decorating.

Stacie and I headed to our final workshop, beginner’s letterpress. Lauren Macaluso from Creative Outlet Studios showed us a diagram of what parts make up the letterpress and how to properly ink it. Stacie and I had made gift tags on the letterpress last Thursday, but it was great to hear more in depth about the machine. We each letterpressed 5 thank you cards and got to see how the machine worked first hand. One of the most interesting facts was how the machine had to be tuned correctly to get an even print. I like that each card I pressed is different due to the antique mechanisms of the trade. It makes for a real unique print.

Thank you to the wonderful instructors I met today and big THANK YOU to Lisa for organizing such an awesome craft day!

DIY Fabric Dog Rope

 

My Australian Shepherd mix Luna has always loved her rope. When I adopted her at the animal shelter they told me she was 6 months old and wouldn’t grow much more. She was about 35 pounds then. As her first year with me came and went I found myself with a 65 pound puppy who would chew through sandals, sweaters and just about anything else left lying around. The solution to the problem was her rope.

As a puppy she used to tug the rope really hard, so hard at times it was hard to keep my balance because she was so strong. She’s not too keen on fetching balls, catching Frisbees or doing tricks beyond sit and shake, but when she wants to play she’ll bring her rope and not so gently nudge the nearest human leg. She will fetch her rope when asked to bring it and knows to leave it at the back door because it is an outside toy.

Although she still loves her rope I see her carry it around less and less. Since she and her teeth aren’t as strong as they used to be I figured she needed something a bit softer to play with. I had some old t-shirts lying around and thought they would make an awesome soft rope for old dog Luna.

Take your t-shirts and cut them into 1 inch thick strips. I just cut the length of the shirts and then cut each strip at the two existing seams. I used 12 strips total, 6 green and 6 yellow, so my ropes aren’t too thick. The more strips, the thicker the rope! I made a twist rope and a braided rope to see the difference and if the pups preferred one over the other. So far they don’t seem to care, but the braided rope is much thinner and is stiffer than the twisted rope.

Braided Rope:

Bring all of your t-shirt strips together and tie a tight knot at one end. Split the strips evenly into three sections and braid. I had my mom hold the knotted end while I braided which made it easier and neater than when I tried to hold the end myself. Leave enough room at the end for a second knot and make sure it is tight as well. Cut off extra long pieces from the ends and play!

Twisted Rope:

Again, start off by combing all of the t-shirt strips and tie a tight knot at one end.  Divide the strips so you have two equal sections and twist them tightly. At the end make a second knot to secure the strips. When let go, the twist will loosen up so make sure to twist them tightly. Cut off any extra long pieces and now you have another rope.

I love these fabric dog ropes because you can make them long, short, thin or thick, and with as many colors as desired. Oh, and it’s cheap! I just used 2 shirts that were in the Goodwill pile. My dogs usually rip apart a new toy 10 minutes after it enters the front door, so having a toy that is affordable and quick to make works for me.

Hope your pup enjoys their fabric dog rope as much as Luna and the rest of our pups did!

 

DIY Container Irrigation System

If you are anything like me you might forget to water the garden and plants every so often. And by every so often I mean that Jeremy spends more time asking me if I watered the garden and plants than I actually spend watering. When he suggested an irrigation tool to help me limit how many times I’d have to water the tomatoes we planted in our bucket containers I was all about it.

SUPPLIES

Bucket

Lunch Meat Containers

Drill

¾” PVC Pipe

Soil

Plant

PREP WORK

Grab one of those lunch meat containers that you have lying around your kitchen and drill some holes into the sides and top, turning it into a colander.  You might have to use small bits and work up to ¼” like we did since the plastic is so soft. This is going to be your water reservoir. The holes are going to allow water to enter the container and essentially feed water to the plant from the bottom up.

Drill a drainage hole into the side of the bucket, level with the top of the water reservoir. This hole acts as a guide to make sure the plant isn’t overwatered. When watering the plant, the water level inside will reach the height of the hole and seep out, letting you know you’ve added enough.

Next cut a piece of PVC pipe. The piece should be the length from the top of the water reservoir to just above the top of the bucket. The PVC pipe is used to get the water to the reservoir directly. 

Since your water reservoir is holding the water delivered by the PVC pipe you won’t have to water your plant every day. Depending on how hot your summers are you can skip 2 or 3 days between watering your plant. The soil around the reservoir will actually draw the water up to the plant roots. Neat stuff right?

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

You don’t need anything fancy to keep your pieces in place. Some lightly packed soil will do the trick. Place the water reservoir in the center of the bucket and the bottom of the PVC pipe opposite and level with the drainage hole. Scoop the soil in and it all should stay in place. If it is still loose, pack the soil a little by hand.  When the bucket is ¾ of the way full with soil, add your plant. If you are transplanting from a container like we did, remember to separate the roots a bit before placing the plant in the soil. Add more soil to keep the plant in place and you’ve put together a nifty container irrigation system.

MAKING IT WORK

The last step is getting the water into the water reservoir. Take your hose and fill the PVC pipe slowly by just barely opening the hose valve. Give it time to drain so that the top of the plant doesn’t become flooded. It will take a few minutes before you see water seep out the hole on the side of the bucket. Note: it will be water seepage. I was expecting a stream of water out of the hole but as Jeremy pointed out, the water isn’t under pressure so nothing spectacular here.

Linked up: Yesterday on Tuesday

DIY Painted Bucket Planter

When you are given two tomato plants and have nowhere to plant them you can decide to turn up the creative vibes in the garden and create a colorful planter out of buckets, paint and tape! Follow along for an inexpensive project to give a pop of color to your garden.

SUPPLIES

Bucket or two

Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch spray paint

Sand Paper (emery paper works best on plastic)

Painter’s Tape

Soil for container planting

Plant

PREP WORK

For the buckets you can visit your neighborhood bagel or donut shop and ask if they have any spare ones. There's a chance they throw them away so they don’t mind giving them to their favorite customers for free. Lightly sand the entire exterior of the buckets to remove that glossy look and help bond the paint. If you are using Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch that bonds to plastic there is no need to primer your buckets. If you are using a paint that does not bond to plastic try Rust-Oleum spray primer before painting. Be sure to let the primer dry completely before continuing. Note: We primed our buckets before we bought our paint so we ended up with primed buckets and paint that bonded to plastic. Oops! Try not to make this mistake or you’ll end up with peeling paint when you remove the painter’s tape.

BE CREATIVE
Decide on the look you want – vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, two colors or three? We went with vertical stripes and chose summer squash, granite and lagoon as our color palette. Using a flexible measuring tool like a seamstress measuring tape, mark where you want your stripes and what color they will be. If you choose vertical stripes make the marks on the bottom of the bucket so they won’t get lost while painting.

SPRAY & PAINT

After choosing your first color you can paint the entire bucket or only where you marked out for that color, whichever is easier depending on your design. Don’t forget to paint on a work surface like cardboard so you don’t make too big of a mess. Make sure you let the first color dry at least overnight. Check that the paint is no longer tacky and then position the painter’s tape over the areas of the bucket that you marked off for that color. This will give you your first set of stripes. Follow these directions with the next colors and you will end up with a bucket lined with painter’s tape and great colors underneath.

THE REVEAL

When you’ve painted all of your stripes and let them dry, carefully peel back the painter’s tape to reveal your colorful bucket planter! If any of the paint peeled away with the tape don’t worry – spray some paint on cardboard and use a paintbrush to apply it to the bucket. Two coats should do a great job at covering up any imperfections. If you are a daily waterer drill a few drainage holes in the bottom of the bucket. Now you are ready to plant away!

Don't want to water everyday? Come back tomorrow for step by step instructions on the irrigation system we added to our bucket planters.

Like this post? You'll love the Scrap Wood Planter project over at J's Workbench.

Linked here: C.R.A.F.T., Craft-O-Maniac, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping It Simple, Today's Creative Blog, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Sidewalk Shoes Garden Tuesday, Someday Crafts, The CSI Project, Fireflys and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Power of Paint, The Glamorous Housewife and Garden.Cook.Write.Repeathttp://foyupdate.blogspot.com/.