Giant Paper Flowers!!!

Posted on July 11, 2016 by jewelsathome

Oh, I honestly love any project that involves paper!

For a friend’s bridal shower, I offered to set up a photo booth and make some other decorations, which was the perfect excuse to try making these giant paper flowers.

Materials:

12×12 Cardstock – I used 3-4 sheets for the outer petals and one more sheet for the inner petals on each flower; you can cut two leaves from a sheet of green cardstock
Muffin cups for the centers
Cardboard for the backing
Tacky glue or hot glue

Instructions:

I started with this template and tutorial for giant paper roses
Because my cardstock was 12×12, I used the template to cut one each of sizes 1, 2, and 3 out of each sheet of cardstock. I made a smaller size 4 and used that to cut out the inner color
I varied the tips of the petals to get some variety (the pink-red and purple flowers follow the template; the blue has pointed petals, and the yellow and pink-yellow flowers have heart-shaped petals)

Here are some close-ups of the flowers:

They look really impressive grouped together:

And while I was taking pictures, it was so cute that Finn came over to smell the flowers!

Here’s how the flowers looked in our photo booth. The backdrop is a striped shower curtain.

Any ideas of where to put the flowers until our next event?

“Jewels”

Faux Birch Branches

Posted on December 11, 2013 by jewelsathome

They say, there’s a fine line between genius and insanity… I think I got a deeper understanding of this when I took on this faux birch branch project.

I saw these a year or two ago in a department store, and I’m not sure what possessed me, but I decided to make them for our house. It’s the kind of fantastic paper creation you might see at Anthropologie, which always has the best art in their store displays… It makes me want to buy a cute sweater… Now! But I digress.

I’m working on creating outdoorsy and white-themed Christmas decorations this year, like these felt poinsettia ornaments and homemade clay ornaments. I had several large cardboard tubes left over from buying fabric, and I got inspired to transform them into a little homemade forest. I have to say that I was super-excited when I started, and by the end, I was going blind from visions of decoupaged tissue paper, but I think it was worth it in the end.

Materials:

Cardboard tubes. The “trunks” are made from large tubes for rolling fabric. The “branches” are smaller tubes, including toilet paper and paper towel rolls.
Brown paper
White tissue paper
Mod Podge or glue for decoupage
Embroidery floss in black and gray
Patience

To get started, created the shapes of the trees. I used brown paper and Mod Podge to join some long tubes together, so that the lengths would vary. I also used the same technique to add branches to some of the trunks (pictured below).

Next, I started creating the look of birch bark, inspired by instructions on making fake birch bark over at Kitsch Designs. The first step is to cut the tissue paper into strips – I made a variety ranging from about two to four inches wide. Then, paint some Mod Podge on the cardboard and wrap strips of tissue paper around the tube (pictured below). I overlapped the paper in places and left gaps in other places, to give a textured look to the branches.

It looks cool when you tear the wet paper and get a rough edge like this!

Keep adding layers of paper, overlapping them, so the “bark” is textured and natural-looking (right two pictures below). I estimate I used a total of about 4 layers. On the top one or two layers, add some short strips of embroidery floss (left picture below). I cut this into different lengths and also separated some into strands, so there was a lot of variety. The floss stuck well to the paper using the Mod Podge.

I “planted” the finished birch branches in a pot wrapped in fabric in our font hall. I think it would look great with the addition of some greenery and/or ornaments, so I’ll fiddle with that a bit more, but so far, I’m excited with these wintery additions to our foyer.

After the hours that went into this project, I’ll be keeping these faux birch branches around. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep them long for next Christmas or maybe cut them short to display in the fireplace. Let me know what you think!

“Jewels”

Decoupaged Mirror Frame (Ikea Malma)

Posted on April 14, 2013 by jewelsathome

These wide-frame mirrors from Ikea have so many possibilities! You could hang them as they are, of course, but what fun to decorate them with a tile mosaic, paint, or paper!

In setting a theme for our tween boy’s new room, I found this fun and colorful Heroes and Villains wrapping paper. I’m using it for some DIY pencil tins and also covered some Ikea Malma mirror frames for his wall.

This is an easy project. You’ll need a mirror, wrapping paper, Mod Podge, and a brush. I started by using painter’s tape (okay, I guess you’ll need that, too) to cover up the mirror in the center, so it wouldn’t get glue on it. (pictured below, left). I then spread a layer of Mod Podge over the mirror frame and carefully lay the paper on top, lining it up and smoothing out the wrinkles. (pictured below, right)

Decorating an Ikea Malma mirror frame. Decoupage with wrapping paper. {Jewels at Home}

Cover the mirror with painter’s tape (left). Spread Mod Podge over the frame and lay the wrapping paper on top (right).

To fit the paper around the mirror, I cut an “X” shape and then trimmed the paper with a craft knife (oh yes, you need that, too!). (pictured below, left) To wrap the paper around the edge of the frame, I cut squares out from the corners and then applied more Mod Podge and wrapped the paper around, smoothing out the wrinkles and bubbles. (pictured below, right)

Cut an “X” in the center and trim the paper with a craft knife (left). Cut squares out of the corners and apply the paper around the frame with the Mod Podge (right).

I finished off the mirror with a few coats of Mod Podge to seal the paper and give it a glossy finish. I hung the mirrors with my favorite Command Picture-Hanging Strips.

Here’s how the finished mirror looks:

And below are some pictures of the entire wall. Also featured on this wall are

DIY oversized wall initial
DIY art gallery clip frames, great for quickly rotating art and photos
Vintage Comic Calendar. They have several years of these beautiful calendars with different covers.

This sweet tween’s room is almost ready. His desk is on order, and I look forward to showing you the completed space, soon!

“Jewels”

Felt Christmas Trees

Posted on November 20, 2012 by jewelsathome

Here is the second group of Christmas trees I made for our mantel this year.

I haven’t put up any of the trees yet – I love Christmas, and I’m definitely catching myself singing along to the carols in stores, but I’m trying to enforce a little discipline at home. Besides, we’ve had some warm spells this November, so I might as well finish soaking up fall before celebrating winter!

I was originally inspired to make a Christmas forest by the exquisite handmade Christmas trees by Shauna Mailloux, and for today’s trees, I found inspiration from the charming felt trees made by Rebecca at the Crafted Sparrow.

Just to remind you, here’s a picture of the first decorative Christmas trees I made. They were all quick projects created by winding yarn or trim around the cone.

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

For the felt trees, I also used homemade tree bases formed by rolling used cardboard boxes into cones of varying sizes.

As predicted, this second group of trees did take longer to make, but they were still very doable projects and absolutely worth the effort!

Felt triangle trees
These trees were the ones inspired by the felt trees made by Rebecca at the Crafted Sparrow.

I made the first tree using 3 full sheets of felt for a 14.5″ tall cone. I started by cutting two inch strips of felt and then cutting those into triangles (top left picture below). I saved a little felt to hide the cardboard under the first row and a small circle to finish off the top.

Because this tree sat flat on the ground, rather than on a trunk, I wrapped some strips of felt around the bottom 2 inches of the tree, so the cardboard wouldn’t show under the first row of triangles (top right picture below). I then glued triangles, overlapping slightly, in a row around the cone (bottom left picture below). Hot glue worked better than white glue, which just got absorbed into the felt. I worked the same way all the up the tree and capped off the top with a small circle of felt.

A pretty tree, and I love this dark blue-grey color of felt.

DIY felt Christmas tree.

The second felt triangle tree sits up on a glass bottle for a trunk. I’m thinking of filling it with some silver and grey beads. This tree was made the same way, except the first row of triangles hangs off the bottom of the cone (left picture below), since there is a trunk. For some variety, I made a narrower shaped cone for the white tree, and I added also some small pearl beads I had in my craft stash (right picture below). The cone for this tree is 13″ tall and used just over two sheets of felt.

DIY felt and bead Christmas tree with a glass base.

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Felt circle tree

My friend and partner in crafting (crime), Ari, spotted these sweet felt trees from Land of Nod (and let’s be honest, what isn’t sweet at Land of Nod?!). The circles were not so hard to cut out – I used a Sharpie to trace a spool on a sheet of felt (top left picture below) and then pinned it to a second one, to cut out two sheets at once (top right picture below). This little tree used just over two sheets of felt.

Because the tree sat up on a base, I glued the first row of circles hanging just off the bottom of the cone (bottom left picture below). The cone was wider than the others, to change things up, and I decided to put a base on it, which was a large tin can wrapped in brown felt (bottom left picture below).

;

Another cutie to add to the forest!

DIY felt circle Christmas tree inspired by Land of Nod.

Here are some more pictures of the new felt trees and some of their old friends:

I am hoping to get around some more trees this season, but we’ll see how things go, with some stockings and teacher gifts still on the to-do list. I’m enjoying getting warmed up for the season!

“Jewels”

I shared this project at:

Centsational Girl’s holiday Link Party

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”

Fabric-covered Decorative Boxes

Posted on August 21, 2012 by jewelsathome

It’s a bit silly that I avidly study “styled” displays of decorative items, because I have three boys who consider it their role to re-style any arrangement I make. Nonetheless, I keep my eye out for great objects and projects to bring beauty into our home. And for now, these are all placed well above the reach of little hands.

Some staples of a beautifully accessorized room are framed art, vases, books, trays, and boxes… I love the look of a stack of beautiful boxes!

I was pondering how to make a set of boxes when inspiration came from the most unexpected source! Remember those three little boys I was talking about? At the start of summer, I ordered three pairs of sandals for them. After they arrived and were unpacked, I found myself with a set of three perfectly matched boxes in small, medium, and large!

With the addition of some gorgeous fabric I found for just $2.99 a yard, those plain shoe boxes became a beautiful display!

DIY fabric-covered decorative boxes.

Here’s what you’ll need:

box(es)
fabric – I used only 2/3 yard for all three boxes. That’s a $2 project!
scissors
glue stick – I used this on the outside, for a smooth finish
tacky glue or white glue – I used this to glue the inside flaps, for extra security

Here’s the step-by-step:

Above left: Fill in any holes in the box design with scrap cardboard.

Above right: Cut out fabric to fit wrap around box, including the sides and allowing about an inch extra to wrap to the inside.

Above top: Use the glue stick to lightly attach the bottom of the box to the fabric. At each front corner, cut diagonally to the bottom corner and trim, as shown. Apply glue stick lightly and fold up the fabric onto the front of the box. Fold flaps from the front towards the side of the box and glue them down securely with the glue stick.

When cutting the flaps at the back of the box, make sure to leave some fabric to wrap the edge of the lid.

Above bottom: Apply glue stick lightly and fold fabric over the back of the box. At each back corner, cut diagonally to the bottom corner and trim, as shown. Again, fold a flap towards the side of the box and glue it down securely with the glue stick.

Above top: For the side flaps, fold in the excess, so that a finished edge lines up with the edge of the box.

Above bottom: Apply glue stick liberally, and fold up the side flaps.

Above top: Apply glue stick lightly and attach fabric to top of box.

Above bottom: At the top corners of the lid, cut the fabric diagonally to the corners and trim. Left: Apply glue lightly to the front of the lid and then glue a flap securely towards each side. Right: fold the side flaps, so a finished edge lines up with the edge of the lid. Glue securely with glue stick.

Above left: Trim excess fabric.

Above right: Use tacky glue to secure the loose fabric to the inside of the box and lid.

And you’re done!

I’m so happy that these boxes are going to add a wonderful touch of color and style to our living room. So, while my newly-crafted accessories have to stay high out of reach for a few more years, I’m tickled to know that those rambunctious boys who usually mow down all my decorating projects can be credited with inspiring this one!

What ordinary objects will you turn into the extraordinary?

Love,
“Jewels”

Fabric Banding on Bath Towels

Posted on June 19, 2012 by jewelsathome

Do you have some plain towels calling out for a bit of interest? Adding some ribbon or a beautiful fabric – or both – to some towels is an easy way to transform them. The finished products make great accents for your home and would be great housewarming gifts! The sewing is all straight lines, so a forgiving and doable project. These plush towels were lovely already, but I felt like dressing them up a bit. I used a band of fabric and some bias tape.

Before you start this project, prewash the towels and fabric, so they won’t pucker later, if they shrink unevenly.

I started by cutting strips of each fabric to the width I wanted and joined pieces end to end to make a long strip.

Make long strips of the fabrics you want for the towels

Then, I joined the strips of different fabric to each other and ironed down a seam allowance on the top and bottom.

Sew together the different fabric strips

Finally, I cut sections a bit wider than each towel and pinned it onto the towels, folding a seam allowance on the ends before sewing the fabric to the towel.

Adding fabric border to towels by Jewels at Home

Pin the fabric in place, turning under the raw edges.

This was really an easy project, and I think it makes a big impact! I used a little bit of the green and white fabric to decorate a basket in the vanity, to tie the room together.

DIY fabric border towels by Jewels at Home

Finished towels with new fabric border in our master bathroom.

New fabric border on master bath towels.

A funny story along the way: ever wonder what the kids think of all these craft projects? Our six year-old saw the fabric pinned to the towels in my sewing room and asked, “But won’t the pins hurt?” It reminds me that all my great ideas might seem a little crazy to others.

Now that I’ve decorated these towels for our master bathroom, I’d love to try some more. I’ve seen some very pretty versions of this idea on tea towels or burp cloths, all of which would make great and special handmade gifts.

And with these towels, our master bathroom is pretty much done, do that room tour will be coming up soon!

“Jewels”

Inspirations from Daily Life – June 2012

Posted on June 3, 2012 by jewelsathome

I’ll keep updating this post through June and plan to start a new post each month with some of the photos I’ve taken of inspiring projects and scenes I’ve encountered in daily life.

Coffee can napkin holder

This would be great for a picnic buffet. The Cafe du Monde can is especially cool, but you could print vintage labels for a similar feel. Could also cover cans in coordinating labels for utensils, and your casual summer party is complete!

Low water landscape
We only have a small patio at home, but here’s how to add a ton of beauty and charm with little maintenance. It’s a dry creek with grasses and a pergola above.

More ideas to come!

“Jewels”<

Ribbon Border Window Panels ~ Master Bath

Posted on June 2, 2012 by jewelsathome

When I bought the roman shades for our master bedroom, I almost ordered one for our bath, too. I’m very glad that I decided to go with something lighter. I ended up making a sheer panel for the bottom half and a matching valance at the top. This gives privacy while still letting in light and our view.

Since I do a lot of my projects after the kids are in bed, I got to see the nighttime view first, and I am so excited that I wanted to post it right away, so here is how our master bath window looks with the new window panels:

Tutorial for adding ribbon to window shades by Jewels at Home

Finished window panels with ribbon detail in master bath.

Daytime view is pretty foggy outside, but I’ll keep trying!

Ribbon border shade tutorial:

You will need:

plain shade or panel: you could use a ready-made shade or sew a simple panel.
ribbon: I used bias tape/ ribbon, because I had it around the house. Grosgrain ribbon would look beautiful, too.
Heat’n Bond Liteiron-on adhesive. You can buy it in strips, but I cut my own strips from a sheet I already had

Lay out your pattern:

Here’s the pattern I used. My bias tape was 1/2″ wide. There are lots of variations, some of which I’ll show below, so go ahead and get creative!
Once you know what pattern you want to use, measure out a length of ribbon, including a little extra just in case.

Ribbon layout for shade

Apply the ribbon:

Apply the Heat’n Bond Liteto the back of the ribbon according to the instructions on the package.
Peel off the backing in short sections and iron onto your fabric, following your pattern.
Mitre the corners by laying the ribbon up to your corner, then folding it back on an angle.
I cut tiny triangles of Heat ‘n Bond and slipped them under the mitered edges to help the corners lie flat. You can see in the second picture the difference between adding the extra triangle (left) and not (right)

Heat 'n Bond applied to back of ribbon - shade tutorial by Jewels at Home

Mitered corners. On the left, you can see that adding a small triangle of Heat ‘n Bond helped the corners lie neat and flat.

More inspirations!

Here are some other great examples of ribbon borders on window panels and shades. There are so many possible patterns and techniques.

These ribbon border roman shades were sold by Pottery Barn a couple of years ago. I like the use of the wide ribbon and simple pattern. This will be the inspiration for our boys’ shades.

Another simple and elegant ribbon border by Wendy at The Shabby Nest. I would love to do something like this in our kitchen, too!

Go to The Shabby Nest

I fell in love with this beautiful picture on Pinterest, but I cannot find the original source. If you find it, please let me know, so I can give proper credit. I love the detail on the ribbon border. It was too ornate for our bathroom, but I am looking for a place to use it!

roller shade with border by What the Vita

Pretty shade with border by Elisa at What the Vita. I love the orange ribbon and the way the shade looks layered with the drapes. She used glue to attach grosgrain ribbon to a plain roller shade! I’m going to look at her tips when I do my boys’ shades, since I won’t be able to iron directly onto them.

Go to What the Vita

Some other ideas would be to

add a ribbon border along the bottom or
add two rows of ribbon around the border, in different colors or widths.

Let me know what you come up with for your windows!

“Jewels”

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