A Relief Effort

A little while ago I got an e-mail from my sister where she admitted to almost buying some hair bows for my niece. Buying?!? Uh, no. So "Hairbows for Haley" was started. :)

My daughter went through her bows and chose some Haley might like. Recycling--this is a green effort! And then we made her some new ones. (Stay tuned for a tutorial on the turquoise one).

It was fun to send off this fun little package to my sweet little niece!

Newest Name Signs

Child Name Signs and Teacher Name Signs are always available in my bumblebina ETSY shop.

Nibblefest - A Dog's World

The theme for this month is A Dog's World. These three fun little cards are available now on e-bay with a starting bid of just $.99!

*SOLD

Newest Teacher Name Sign

And here's to you

Sorry, couldn't resist. :)

Teacher Name Signs are always available in my bumblebina ETSY shop.

Why

am I knitting a wool scarf in the middle of summer?

Because this pattern totally caught my eye and I HAD to make it. Can't wait to wear it...in a few months.

Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US 10

4th of July Centerpiece with Fabric Pom Poms Tutorial

Just got my new Clover XL Pom Pom Maker. It is so fun! I've make pom poms with tulle, yarn, and fabric.  I specifically bought it to make fabric pom poms. I saw them here on Prudent Baby and loved them.

I made mine with red (striped cotton blend), white (cotton) and navy (polyester) fabric for a fun 4th of July centerpiece.

A few tips for the fabric pom poms:
1. At first I was really careful to wrap the fabric flat so there were no twists. Well, then my pom poms looked like stacks of fabric--not puffy pom poms. So as you wrap either your pom pom maker or whatever else you use, let the fabric twist and overlap a bit.
2. I cut the fabric into 3/4" wide strips. You could certainly go thinner, but thicker may make it harder to tied the knot around the center. I just cut them as long as my fabric and then overlapped them as I wrapped them onto the pom pom maker.
3. I tied these with matching yarn. It seems to tie a tighter knot than other things I tried.
4. For a solid color pom pom, it's best to use solid fabrics or fabrics that are printed on both sides. You can use cottons that are printed on one side. It just gives it a different look--more homespun/country.

To Make the Centerpiece:
I just stuck dowels into the yarn at the center of the pom pom. I didn't even glue them  because I use these dowels for other things. I put floral foam in the bottom of a pot I already had. Again, I just stuck it in and didn't glue is since this pot is usually my pencil holder by my computer. I stuck the dowels in the foam at different levels and filled in the top with floral moss. No glue, just tucked it in. A little jute bow around the pot finishes it off nicely. And everything is removable after the holiday. :)

I tried the pom poms outside first in my planter, but I thought they sort of got lost in the mix. I'm thinking of taking out the pinecones and filling the entire planter with floral foam so I can add all sorts of fabric flowers and pom poms. What do you think?

Rag Wreath for 4th of July

I've been seeing these everywhere online and I love them. So I had to make my own. And with the 4th of July just around the corner, red white and blue was my theme.

I bought 2 wreath forms. The green one is for a future wreath for my daughter's room. For this Patriotic Wreath, I used the 12" craft ring (macrame--anyone remember that?). The benefit of the craft ring is it's $1.99 (the green floral form was $3.99). And with the thin metal ring, you don't have to have very long strips of fabric--I cut mine to be just 8" long. I will have to cut them quite a bit longer when I use that green wreath from!

I got 2 or three styles of fabric in red, white and soft blue. I used some printed cottons (the whites do have a slight print to them), gingham, solid linen, seersucker, striped, polka dot and solid cotton.

I ripped the fabric into strips of varying widths--from 1/2" to 1-1/2". I then cut them down to be 8" long, using pinking shears to give the end a bit more interest and to avoid more fray. I tied the strips on in good ol' American Red, White and Blue order varying the fabric each go around.

The wreath is hung by a long strip of gingham torn fabric.

New Hair Flowers

I found a $3 4th of July artificial flower arrangement at Walmart today. It was awful! But I knew for $3 I could make something fun with the flowers.

I made both of these hair flowers using this method. The Patriotic Hair Flower if for my daughter. I just layered 3 of the flowers from the arrangement and used 3 beads in the center. She's excited to wear this for the 4th of July. The white and pink one is for my daughter's friend. The white is from the Walmart flowers. I then layered a soft pink one, a soft cream and a pink button. Very feminine! I still have 4 flowers left from my bargain arrangement--$3 well spent!

ETA: 06/21/10 - I went back to Walmart and the Dollar Tree and bought more flowers... :) More hair flowers are coming.