Make Your Own Decorative Christmas Trees

Posted on November 15, 2012 by jewelsathome

Don’t get me wrong, I pretty much love craft projects just for the joy of making something with my own hands. But, to be honest, there are DIY projects that look just like you DIY’ed them, those that turn out as well as something you would buy, and then there are those that turn out to be truly beautiful, unique pieces of art. When I saw these handmade Christmas trees by Shauna Mailloux, I knew they fell into the last category, and I couldn’t wait to try them myself.

There are a hundred ways you could customize these trees. I used a few of Shauna’s ideas and came up with some of my own, browsing the craft store and my own odds and ends. I encourage you to try making your own unique holiday creations!

Make your own decorative Christmas trees. Easy, inexpensive, and unique holiday decor!

Like Shauna, I made my own tree bases by rolling cardboard boxes into cones of varying sizes.

Here are the first few trees I made. (With some luck,) I’ll add more later. I call these the “instant gratification” trees, because they were quick and easy. The “blood, sweat, and tears” trees will take a little longer…

Feather boa tree
This is my absolutely favorite of Shauna’s trees. It has a great funky elegance. When i was looking for supplies, I wasn’t sure about the quantities of materials needed, so I’ll list what I used to help you with your sourcing.

For this tree, I used 4ft of feather boa for a 14″ tall tree. It was simple to tuck one end of the boa in the top of the cone and wind it around, securing it with some hot glue once in a while. You can leave quite a bit of space between the rows, since the boa is so fluffy. I used a white cardboard cone, in case any cardboard showed in between the rows.

Make your own decorative Christmas tree from a feather boa. Easy, inexpensive, and unique holiday decor! From Jewels at Home.

White feather boa Christmas tree.

Eyelash yarn tree
I loved the look of the white boa, but all the other boas at the craft store came in rather non-Christmasy colors. Luckily, this glitter eyelash yarn gives a very similar look!

One ball (0.88oz ; 39 yards) of glitter eyelash yarn covered a 12″ tree. I used two strands (pulled the yarn from both ends) twisted together, as it’s actually very fine yarn. The technique is the same – tuck the end in the top and wind the yarn around, but since the yarn is so fine, I used the toothpick end of my tree topper to help push it inside the cone.

I absolutely love this one, too! The tinsel strands reflect light and make it sparkle. I’ll show how to make the little beaded tree topper below.

Use glitter eyelash yarn to make your own decorative Christmas tree. Easy, inexpensive, and unique holiday decor! From Jewels at Home.

Glitter eyelash yarn Christmas tree with a beaded topper.

And then, there were two!

Use eyelash yarn or a feather boa to make your own decorative Christmas trees. Easy, inexpensive, and unique holiday decor! From Jewels at Home.

The fluffy ones! Feather boa tree and glitter eyelash tree.

Cording and braid trees

Not just for Marie Antoinette’s curtains, the trim section of our local craft store had some more great finds. I found some cord in red and also these green and gold braids. Because of the lacy edges of the green and gold braid, I spray-painted the cardboard cones to match first. The rest is the same as the others, sticking the end in the top of the cone and winding around, with hot glue applied along the way.

In terms of supplies,

the red cord tree used 2.5 yards for a 9.5″ tall cone
3 yards of the green covered a 9.5″ high cone, with a few inches to spare
the gold is a bit narrower, and I used 4 yards to cover a 12″ tree, with some space between the rows, as shown

DIY Christmas trees made with braided trims.

Beaded tree-topper

I also got this idea from Shauna’s trees, though she didn’t explain exactly how she made it, so here’s what I did.

Glue a large bead onto the end of a toothpick (top left picture below)
Spread tacky glue over the surface of your large bead (top right picture below)
Dip your glue-y tree topper into a bowl of small beads (bottom left picture below)
Insert the toothpick into the top of your tree. Ta-da! (bottom right picture below)

I have some ideas for more tree toppers, though I think that many of the trees look great on their own, too.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

“Jewels”

Retro Travel Art and Accessories for Kids’ Rooms

Posted on October 12, 2012 by jewelsathome

Every time I walk into Lavish in Hayes Valley, I find a great piece of wrapping paper to use for a new project. At just $4 a sheet, these provide a lot of creative bang for the buck. First, there was the graphic red print I used to line J’s nursery bookcase. Next, I found a sweet hydrangea paper for my craft studio. Most recently, I was inspired by this retro air travel print from Cavallini & Co..

Retro air travel paper from Cavallini a& Co.

I didn’t originally plan a themed bedroom for our older boys, and I still want to keep it pretty neutral. The travel theme evolved first from these beautiful retro-style city posters by Karen Young of Loose Petals.

Retro-style city art prints by Karen Young of Loose Petals.

When I saw the wrapping paper, I knew it would tie in perfectly. I framed a section of paper as art – easy! – and then used more for DIY pencil tins and magnets for our DIY racing stripe magnet boards.

Upcycled DIY pencil tins with cool retro air travel paper.

Upcycle advertising magnets with some fun paper. Jewels at Home.

Here are those new items pictured in the boys’ room.

And here’s a summary of the fun projects I did with this new paper: pencil tins, magnets, and framed art:

There’s still plenty of paper leftover. I’m thinking it would be perfect for luggage tags!

Yay! I’m excited to see the boys’ room slowly coming together!

“Jewels”

Inspirations from Daily Life – July 2012

Posted on July 25, 2012 by jewelsathome

Okay, the month is winding down, but there’s just enough time to share some of the beautiful and inspiring things I’ve seen as we go about our daily routines.

“Do well, but do some good.”

To start, I love this phrase I saw on a utility pole today. It’s a variation on Minor Myers, Jr.’s quote: “Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” This is exactly the message I want to teach my boys about how to conduct themselves in life. I plan to put a short version framed in a cute way somewhere in their room.

“Do well, but do some good.” The perfect message for how to live life.

Potty Training/ Diapering Trick

Okay, so it’s hard to believe that I am well into toddlerhood with our third child, and I just learned this trick from a friend. To keep the tails of a onesie from getting dirty during a diaper change or potty training, snap them up over your baby’s shoulder! Now, if only the rest of potty training were so easy!

Potty/ diapering trick: snap the tails of a onesie over the baby’s shoulder to keep them clean.

Love,

“Jewels”

DIY Wall Initials – This time, for the Girls

Posted on May 31, 2012 by jewelsathome

Remember these wall initials I made for my kids? I put one up in the nursery already, using 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips. Besides hanging them on a wall, you could make these letters part of an artful arrangement on a shelf or stick them to the door. I made mine as big as a 12×12 inch sheet of scrapbook paper would allow, but I would love to make a really large one some time with wrapping paper or fabric.

DIY paper-wrapped wall initials by Jewels at Home

These oversize letters were also the May Giveaway, and Jenny won them for her two girls. While I was working on Jenny’s letters, I made two more for my twin nieces, who are turning one next month! It’s often easier to do several of any project at once, while you have the motivation and all the supplies out. You definitely learn a lot as you repeat projects, too. Don’t you wish you could always start with the second one, after all the mistakes have been made?

I already posted the instructions for making these letters, so I’ll jump straight to the final result!

DIY paper-wrapped wall initial decor by Jewels at Home

DIY paper-wrapped wall initials

With this combination of letters, I just couldn’t resist!!

DIY cardboard wall initial decor by Jewels at Home

Close-up of this pretty paper on the “C”

Close-up of some more beautiful paper on the “m.”

As you can see, I used lower case letters this time and a different font: American Typewriter Bold.

And I’ll add one tip if you have to wrap around a small opening. I cut the tabs in a zig-zag pattern, so that they don’t get too short.

Cutting tabs to wrap letters in paper

Beside the fact that I nearly glued all my fingers to each other in the process, it was so fun for me to make something for little girls, since we have a house full of (wonderful!) boys. I’m also really glad to give Jenny’s girls a piece of home that they can take as they move overseas and just as thrilled to have something unique to celebrate the big one year birthday with my nieces!

Looking forward to another fun giveaway starting next month!

“Jewels”

Scrapbook Paper Clothespin Wreaths {Inspired by Kojo Designs}

Posted on May 18, 2012 by jewelsathome

The idea for these brilliant clothespin wreaths came from Kirstin at Kojo Designs, who made it as a tea wreath, and it is one of my favorite projects.

O Tea Wreath, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You are

easy to make
inexpensive
eco-friendly, reusing items that would other get recycled or trashed
a showcase for gorgeous papers
frugal, using up small scraps of paper
the perfect gift – beautiful, unique, and useful!
versatile – start with tea and adapt for many other displays

I think Kirstin’s tutorial pretty much covers it all. I had only a few variations for making mine. I also loved thinking up new ways to use these wreaths!

Here are the simple steps with my tips.

Creating the wreath base:

Cut a cardboard wreath using sturdy corrugated cardboard or two pieces of thinner board glued together. I used a plate for tracing the outside circle and a scrapbooking template for the inner circle, though you could also use a cup. If you are using scrapbooking paper, make sure your wreath is no bigger than 11 inches in diameter, so you can wrap the 12 inch paper around.
Cut your paper in a circle 1/2 to 1 inch bigger all around than your wreath. The more room you have the easier it will be to wrap the paper around. I used a beautiful wrapping paper called Hydrangeas by Kate & Birdie. I’ll have more projects with that paper coming up!
Center your cardboard base on the paper and glue in place. I preferred to use a glue stick for this step, to give a smooth finish.
Cut tabs around the outside and the center. I didn’t cut all the way to the cardboard, so the the tabs would not show on the sides.
Glue down the tabs in the back. I used the glue stick here, also.

Wrapping the wreath base. After glueing the circle in place, cut tabs around the outside.

I used a craft knife to cut the tabs in the center and held the wreath up to the light to see where to cut.

I liked the glue stick for glueing down the tabs. It sticks quickly and doesn’t wrinkle the paper.

Creating the clothespins:

You can find wood clothespins online or at a hardware or craft store. Try the dollar store, too!
Cut strips of paper the width of the clothespins. This is a great way to use up all sorts of small scraps of paper that are too beautiful to waste. To cut the thin strips, I used the trusty quilting ruler and mat I used in making the fabric growth charts.
Glue the strips to the pins. I used white glue to attach the paper to the clothespins, because it soaks into the porous surface of the wood and leaves a smooth finish. I spread the glue on one pin and then pressed it against a second one, to get a thin layer that completely covered the side of the pin.

I used a quilting ruler and mat to cut precise strips of paper for the clothespins.

I used white glue for covering the pins with paper. By pressing two pins together, you get a thin even layer of glue.

Wow! These clothespins are so beautiful!

Finishing the wreath:

Using a glue gun, attach the pins around the wreath, with the clips facing outward.
Loop a ribbon around for hanging. You could also use some adhesive strips on the back, if you don’t want to see the ribbon. I like the 3M picture hangers I used for putting up the oversize wall initials.

Finish the wreath by glueing the pins in place with a hot glue gun and adding a ribbon to hang it.

Endless ideas!

I made several of these wreaths for Christmas and birthdays recently, including teacher gifts, and they were always a big hit. I made them in a variety of colors for many different looks

While I gave the wreaths away with tea bags, my friends and I have found new uses for these beautiful wreaths. Here are some of our ideas. I’d love to hear yours, too!

Appreciation wreath – My friend Monica used hers to write messages of appreciation to her kids. She used index cards cut in half and wrote in a different color for each child.
Inspiration board – I’m using mine to pin ideas for craft and DIY projects.
Photo display – what a pretty way to display your favorite pictures!
Card holder – for holiday cards, birthday cards, business cards.

I’m using my wreath to organize ideas for projects. I might need some more pins!

I think there are lots of great uses for the decorated clothespins themselves, too. You could

Mount the pins on a rectangular backing for a memo board or photos.
Put magnets on the back to use on fridges or magnet boards. If you don’t have a fridge that holds magnets, you can stick the clips directly on the fridge with a removable adhesive, which is what I did with these clips for kids art.
Set up a “clothesline” art gallery and use these pretty clips to easily hang and change the kids’ projects.
Clip together papers or swatches to organize your office or craft room.

Thanks again to Kirstin at Kojo Designs for this wonderful project idea. It has become a standby for me, and I hope you will let me know if you come up with new ideas for these beautiful wreaths and pins!

“Jewels”

Stenciling on Fabric – Lampshade and Pillow

Posted on May 18, 2012 by jewelsathome

Have you seen these fabulous pendant light drum shades at Room and Board? I’ve been drooling over them for years, with all the gorgeous prints and colors. They’re a splurge at several hundred dollars a shade, but they are really beautiful. Go check out all the beautiful and funky prints they have!

Galbraith & Paul drum shade from Room and Board in Zinnia Cool pattern.

As always, I was wondering if I could make something like this myself, and in browsing ideas, I found some great examples, including this one from Laura at Some Kind of Lovely Ride. She did a beautiful job on her shade and had great instructions that helped me conquer my apprehension about this project!

Yellow floral stencils on a lampshade by Laura at Some Kind of Lovely Ride. A perfect DIY inpsiration!

I was so excited to get started, I rushed to the craft store to pick up my supplies and get to work! I stenciled the lampshade in my craft studio and while I was at it, I also stenciled a piece of fabric for a throw pillow. I used Laura’s basic instructions and discovered a few tips along the way, so here’s how it went:

Supplies:

Supplies for stenciling on fabric.

Stencils – I used Mini Peony and Mini Mums by The Crafter’s Workshop.
Stencil brushes or sponges – These sponge “pouncers” are inexpensive, easy to use, and washable for reuse.
Paint – I had a variety of acrylic craft paint around, and I did mix some to get the colors I wanted. It’s optional, but I also added some “textile medium” to my paint, which makes the paint more flexible when dried. This wouldn’t be an issue for the shade, but I thought it would help on the pillow. I mixed the paints in paper bowls.
Tape – I used painter’s tape to hold the stencil in place and mask off any areas of the stencil I didn’t want to use.

Stenciling

Basic stencil:

Tape the stencil securely in place
Put a small amount of paint on your pouncer. If you load on too much paint, it will run under the stencil and smudge your pattern.
Lightly dab through the stencil, moving only up and down. Don’t brush side to side, as this will also make paint run under the stencil.
Carefully remove the stencil and blot the back on a clean piece of paper to remove any excess paint
Repeat!

Tape your stencil in place and lightly dab on the paint.

Adding a color:

Wait until the first color is completely dry.
If you are going to overlap designs, like I did, think ahead about which color you want to be “on top” and start with the colors that are on the bottom.

Finishing the fabric:

This is not necessary for a shade, but for a pillow or other fabric that will be touched and possibly washed, you’ll want to set the paint. When the paint is thoroughly dry, iron the stenciled fabric from the reverse side with a dry iron on medium-high for three to five minutes to set the colors. You can repeat this on the front, laying a thin cloth over the stenciled fabric, so the paint doesn’t stick to your iron.

Finished stencils!

Here is how the shade looked before:

A simple drum shade. Pretty, but I wanted to add some color!

And here’s the finished shade:

Drum shade transformed with floral stencils in blue, green, and silver. I dare say, I like this better than the inspiration shade!

The random pattern of stencils gives a different look from every side. And it makes it easier, because you don’t have to worry about lining up the pattern.

Lit up at night. No, I’m not tired of looking at it. Can you tell?

Here’s the finished fabric. I’ve got a lot of pillow projects lined up, so I should work on those soon!

The stenciled fabric, on the bottom, will be a throw pillow for the daybed. The colors coordinate with the hydrangea print paper I found. I’m making desk accessories and some other projects with the paper.

“Jewels”

This project is shared at:

Creative Banners and Cupcakes for a Cause

Posted on May 10, 2012 by jewelsathome

Bake sale! Don’t those words just conjure all good things? The smell of fresh baked treats, hanging out with friends at the sale table, raising money for a good cause… add to that the fact that I was asked to make some crafty signs to advertise our bake sale, and I am in heaven!

For the past four years, a group of my coworkers and our friends have formed a team for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I’ve always been excited by this event, but I was hesitant to join – partly out of the logistical hurdles of training and walking with small kids at home – and partly out of a fear that after working with people with cancer in my job and having lost my mom to breast cancer, participating in this event might lead to emotional overload. I can’t explain why, but for some reason, this seemed like the year that I wanted to make the Avon Walk a part of my journey.

As part of our fundraising and team-building, we are holding a bake sale this year. If you are in San Francisco and can come by the UCSF Cancer Center at 1600 Divisadero Street tomorrow (Friday, May 11, 2012) from 12-3, you can support our team and taste what I guarantee will be a delicious array of treats. We will be outside the cafeteria on the lower level.

The Signs:

These were certainly not works of art, since I threw them together at the last minute, but I still had fun with the design. I had some cake-themed papers from a large pack, so those were the inspiration for the colors. Of course, the pink also tied in to the Avon and breast cancer awareness colors.

I made the cakes stand out from the poster by folding a paper “spring” on the back. And the little pennants give a sweet homemade flavor, just like our desserts!

I hope our homey bake sale signs with the cheerful pennants attract lots of hungry customers!

The Goodies:

The slight incongruity of selling sweets to raise money for a health-related cause has not escaped me. While I will no doubt be indulging in the brownies and truffles some of my friends have planned, I decided to offer a slightly healthier option, with the banana bread recipe my mom used when I was little. This recipe is in a notebook she gave me when I got married. It has a lot of our “comfort” recipes from childhood and blank pages to record my own. I’m so very glad I have this book. I’m sure it’s just the description she transcribed from the magazine or recipe book, but the sentence “Very ripe bananas and slow cooping are the secret of this banana bread” makes me feel like my mom is sharing a secret just for me.

I love seeing my mom’s handwriting in this recipe notebook she gave me when I got married.

Banana Bread:

Very ripe bananas and slow cooking are the secret of this bread.

4 medium very ripe bananas

1 1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

3 1/2 c flour (I mix some whole wheat in)

1/2 c oil (you can use butter for a richer taste)

2/3 c buttermilk (you can substitute yogurt or add a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of regular milk and let the milk sit for five minutes)

Peel very ripe bananas. Combine with sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat at high spee for 1 minute (can use blender)

Mix in eggs, one a time; then mix in flour

Add oil and buttermlk Combine and beat for 2 minutes

Divide batter into two loaf pans

Bake in preheated 275F oven for about 1 3/4 hours

It’s hard to get a lot of very ripe bananas, at least in this house, because they keep getting eaten. This recipe calls for four, so if we have one or two overripe bananas, we put them in a bag in the freezer to save up until we have enough for banana bread or hubby’s amazing banana waffles.

The new thing I’m trying this time is chopping some of the bananas into chunks and folding them in at the end with the chocolate chips. I had banana bread from Tartine Bakery on Guerrero, which I think is very possibly the best bakery in the city, the other morning that had the small chunks in it, and they were caramelized and delicious!

Chunks of banana mixed into the batter for a fruity flavor and sweet caramelized morsels.

I love this bread with walnuts and chocolate chips, but we appear to be out of walnuts tonight, so I will have to “make do” with chocolate chips only. Hubby recently articulated that he thinks nuts ruin baked goods, while I think they make them – they’re crunchy, rich, and I love the bit of bitter taste of walnuts against the sweetness of a cookie… obviously he’s wrong, right? He did make me a batch of chocolate chip cookies with nuts for my birthday, and he presented them to me, saying, “I put nuts in these, even though I don’t believe in it.” That’s love.

Sweet dreams!

“Jewels”

DIY Decorative Trays – Ten Great Ideas

Posted on May 8, 2012 by jewelsathome

The best decorating projects combine form and function – they add beauty to your space, serve a purpose, and when you make your own, they are one of a kind! A decorative serving tray is just this kind of project. You can use them to display or transport items on a coffee table, buffet, desk, kitchen counter, and more.

My friend Ari got me excited about decorating our own trays when we were at the flea market this past weekend. I picked up an older wooden tray there for just $5, and I know I have a couple of my own lying around the house. I want to use some for display in the living and dining room, and one for the desk in my craft room. There are so many great ideas, and here are some I would love to try or adapt for myself.

Silhouette and Silver

The botanical silhouette and silver leaf on this tray are beautiful.

Brenna at Design Sponge has a tutorial for how she made this tray from a thrift store find! You could simplify it for a similar look with silver spray paint, though the silver leaf looks amazing, and the glass makes the tray useable for serving.

Monogram

Lots of options to personalize a monogram tray from A Modern Style on Etsy.

This one is by A Modern Style on Etsy. I love the bright colors and graphic design contrasted against the wood.

Wallpaper and Lacquer

Gorgeous lacquered trays with wallpaper inserts and bold colors from iomoi.

This is from iomoi and hand lacquered, so it would be very durable and stand up to washing and heavy use. The coordinating colors on the body of the tray and the gold trim are gorgeous! I could use some more of the Imperial Trellis wallpaper I have left over from our powder room and lining our bookcases.

Painter’s Tape and Paint

Use painter’s tape to mask a design on a plain tray (or paint the tray a background color first). Follow with spray paint – looks great in metallic for a striking graphic design.

Courtney Kaye of Courtney on the Brink made these trays for holding jewelry. They look bold and elegant! I’ve been using metallic spray paint for a lot of projects recently, and I love it!

Tile Mosaic

A tile mosaic looks beautiful inside this tray.

This beautiful example, as well as instructions for tiling the inside of a tray, are from the Martha Stewart.

Frame and Fabric

This is an idea to make a tray from a frame and cabinet handles. You can put fabric or pretty paper under the glass.

Patrice from Lemon Tree Creations had this creative idea for making a tray from a frame and cabinet handles. The glass protects the decorative fabric or paper.

Stencil

This stenciled tray is so elegant. I love the painted grey exterior with the white and grey graphic design.

The instructions for stenciling this tray are from HGTV. Of course, it looks so much like my Imperial Trellis wallpaper, that I could use that for the same look, but there are other great stencil ideas out there, including stenciling words.

Paper Mache

A sweet little tray made from paper mache and painted different colors inside and out.

Start from scratch! The instructions for making this paper mache tray are at Everything LEB. I love how she used metallic paint inside and the sweet green-blue on the outside.

Decoupage Circles

These cute circles have text from old books on them. You could do the same with all sorts of fabrics, papers, and shapes.

A fun and unique example of decoupage from iHanna. There are so many great ways to build on this idea!

Photographs

This photo in sepia tones looks beautiful mounted inside a tray.

You could print a single large photograph or several small ones and decoupage them to the inside of a tray and/or mount under glass. This lovely example is from Merle Hillary Interiors.

All these projects would be a perfect way to re-use a tray you already have or give new life to a thrift store or garage sale find. There are also new trays that would work well for makeovers. Here are two very different examples:

Glam Base

These lacquered trays from West Elm are already gorgeous. You could dress them up in so many ways!

If you want a tray that is already beautiful on its own, these trays from West Elm are a great option. With a simple design and so many colors to choose from, they would also be easy to customize. Only trick I foresee is that it might be a little tricky to get things to adhere well to the lacquer.

Simple Base

For a simple unfinished wood base, try this Walnut Hollow Unfinished Wood Serving Tray, 15-inch x 11-inch.

Well, that’s my roundup of inspirations for trays to make yourself. I hope Ari and I can find some time soon to work on ours!

“Jewels”

Sew a Growth Chart – Tutorial

Posted on May 4, 2012 by jewelsathome

Bad news: I’m blogging and sewing tonight while sitting on a step stool. Good news: it’s because I am in the middle of making over my free Craigslist Queen Anne chairs for the sewing room. They are already repainted, and I just need to re-do the seats, which I hope to do this weekend. Wait! What was I supposed to be talking about… oh yes…

In a recent post, I brainstormed ways to help my friend preserve the record of her children’s heights marked on a door jamb in their house. I loved looking at all the great ideas out there, as well as coming up with some of my own.

At the end of that post, I included a picture of the hanging fabric growth charts I made for my kids. In case you want to make one for your family or as a gift (I first designed this as a baby shower gift!), I’ve broken down the steps here. Let me know if you have any questions!

As I mentioned last time, I’m sure there are similar growth charts out there, but I designed this one myself, keeping in mind that I wanted it to be

portable – so that we could take it with us when we moved (a feature this post proves is valuable!)
easy to store – fabric can be rolled up for compact storage and ironed later – wood, obviously, cannot, and paper could get folds and wrinkles – though you could wrap around a paper towel roll to minimize this.
complete – I wanted to be able to record my kids’ growth from birth to adulthood. Many ready-made growth charts stop around five feet. Granted, most tweens and teens may not have any interest in growth charts anymore, but their parents might, so I made mine go up about 6’2″, just in case!

The finished size of this growth chart is approximately 11.5″ wide x 54.5″ high.

For each chart, you will need:

fabric markers or sharpies
white fabric (8.5″x58″): I used white cotton twill, which I chose for its stability and weight
backing fabric: I used twill or denim, again to add stability and weight
border fabric (equivalent to 1/2 yard of 42″ wide calico): I won’t be bossy here – use whatever you like!
1/2″ diameter wooden dowel (approximately 2′ long)
two small screw eyes
ribbon for hanging

1) On a strip of white fabric that is 8.5″ wide for each growth chart, mark out inches from 1’6″ to 6’2″ (or whatever you like) by laying a tape measure on the fabric and using a ruler to draw lines with a fabric marker or Sharpie. I used a different color and longer marking every six inches. The short lines are 1.5″ and the long lines are 2″. Remember that lines on the finished product will be shorter, because a 1/2″ will be in the seam allowance.

If you are making more than one growth chart, you can be efficient and mark lines for two at a time, as shown below. You will need a slightly longer fabric strip and want to number from both ends, so the marks are on the left of each chart.

Inches marked on white fabric using fabric markers.

2) Cut out strips for a border. The side strips are 2.5″ wide. The chart should be 58″ long, but cut your strips about an inch longer, in case you are like me, and straight lines magically transform into uneven ones… For preparing the border, I used a rotary cutter with quilting ruler and mat. These tools are designed for quilting, where you have to piece together very precise lines and angles, but they work well for lots of other projects.

Quilting tools: rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and mat. These are so useful for getting straight lines and square angles on all sorts of projects. I even use the mat and ruler for cutting paper.

3) Sew the side strips onto the white center, using a half inch seam allowance. Iron flat, with the seam toward the border. Trim the border pieces so they are flush with the white section. Again, the quilting tools are great for getting things straight and square.

4) Next, cut strips for the top and bottom border. These are 5.75″tall, and they should be 11.5″ wide. Again, I cut the pieces a bit wider, to compensate for the nasty elves in the sewing machine. Sew these on to the top and bottom, using a half inch seam allowance. Iron with the seam toward the border. Now that the front is complete, trim where necessary to make sure it’s even (square at the corners, same height on both sides, same width at top and bottom).

After trimming the center piece, join the top and bottom borders.

You could add any decorations you want to the front at this point. I put each child’s name at the top, piecing together letters from a fun teddy bear alphabet print. I also added a “Made with love by ‘Jewels'” tag to the bottom.

I put each child’s name on his growth chart using letters from this cute teddy bear print.

5) Cut a piece of backing that is the full size of the front (should be about 11.5″ wide and 69″ long, but measure your actual piece).

6) With RIGHT sides together, pin, then sew the front and back pieces together, using a half inch seam allowance, leaving one of the short ends open, so you can turn the piece.

7) Cut diagonal triangles from the corners, so they turn neatly. Then, turn the growth chart right side out and tuck a half inch seam allowance under on the open end. Iron the whole piece flat.

Cutting across the diagonal at the corner will give a neater finished appearance.

8) Cut two pieces of doweling that are the same length or a tiny bit shorter than the finished width of your growth chart. Attach the screw eyes to both ends of one piece.

9) Fold towards the back and sew down a 1.25″ flap on the top and bottom to create a pocket for the dowels. This will also close the end you left open.

10) Insert the plain dowel in the bottom pocket and the one with the screw eyes in the top. Thread a ribbon through the screw eyes to hang the chart.

Finish: Sew 1.25″ flaps on the top and bottom to hold the dowels. Insert screw eyes in the top piece and thread a ribbon through for hanging.

Tada! The finished growth charts are hanging in the hallway outside our kids’ bath, opposite the newly organized laundry area.

Finished growth charts

Hope I made that clear. I’d love to see pictures, if you make one of these yourself!

“Jewels”
This project is shared at:

May 2012 Givewaway – A Custom Wall Initial

Posted on May 2, 2012 by jewelsathome

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for all the comments. The lucky winner is Jenny. Since her two girls share a room, she convinced me to make a letter for each of them. I’ll post those soon.

Original post:

Welcome to the first Jewels at Home Giveaway! Remember these custom oversize initials I made for the kids’ rooms?

DIY paper-wrapped wall initials by Jewels at Home

DIY paper-wrapped wall initials for my boys’ rooms!

Here’s how one of them looked in the nursery:

“J” mixing nicely with some whimsical accents in the nursery.

Well, this month, I’ll make one for a Jewels at Home reader! They are 9″ high, and you can choose the letter (duh! You mean, you don’t all want “J”s?) and color. They are great for the wall or for a door.

To enter, just comment on any post (why don’t you try exploring the blog and comment on a post besides this one) between now and May 15. I’ll get the winner’s letter in the mail to you by the end of the month.

By the way, I promise not to use your information for anything other than sending the winner a letter – no spam, no sharing of your information. I just want to thank my readers and encourage you to keep reading and sharing your ideas, too.

Thanks for all your support. It has been a fun first month!

“Jewels”