Peeps Garland

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Ginny

I have been cleaning out my craft room and trying to get it organized, and I had a huge stockpile of colored paper. Since Easter is coming, I decided to make some pretty Peeps garland.

It was pretty easy to make, so I thought I would share the template and how-to, so you can make your own. You just need a few supplies: colored card stock, scissors, an exacto knife, a sharpie, and some 1/8″ ribbon.

Print out this template directly onto the paper.Cut out the individual bunnies.I used 4 different colors, but you could do any colors you like.Once you have a big pile of bunnies, draw on the eyes and nose with a sharpie. It’s fine to have a little bit of variation, real Peeps do too!Then make slits on each ear with your exacto knife.And string the ribbon through the slits, one after another until your garland is as long as you want it to be.

Enjoy your Peeps!

New Year’s Nails

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Ginny

Right before Christmas, I picked up a Martha Stewart Glitter set of 24 different colors. I am currently searching for things around the house to cover with glitter, and the first thing I thought of was a fun glitter manicure for New Year’s Eve. I did mine 2 days ago and it’s still going strong. Last night I asked my cousin Michele to be a model so I could share the tutorial.

Start with clear nail polish and fine glitter in any color – we used Rose Quartz, a really pretty light pink. Paint your nails with the clear polish, working on two nails at a time so that you can sprinkle on the glitter before it dries.Hold your hand over a piece of paper and sprinkle on the glitter to cover the whole nail, then tap off the excess. Once all of your nails are covered in glitter, top with an extra coat of clear polish and wash your hands (they’ll be covered in glitter at this point). Ta-da! You’re ready for the new year!

Easy Kitchen Curtains

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Ginny

It took me a while to decide on the kind of curtains I wanted to make for our kitchen. I finally made them yesterday after looking at tons of different pictures for inspiration, and I am pretty happy with the result.
I was kind of making it up as I went along, so I took pictures and wrote down the steps just in case I ever want to make them again. I started with 3 yards of Amy Butler Midwest Modern print, plus an equal amount of lining fabric. I used a little less than a yard for each window.

The window in the picture is 33″ wide (measured from the outside of the frame), so I added an inch for seam allowance and cut 34″ lengthwise and used the width of the fabric with just the selvedge trimmed off. Then I cut an equal size piece of lining fabric and pinned the 2 pieces together with the right sides facing.
Then I sewed down 3 sides (left, right and bottom), and turned it inside-out like a pillowcase. Once the piece was inside-out, I pressed the edges.
I sewed the edges again, just to make sure that the curtain would lay flat, then I decided to add some pleats to the bottom.
I folded over the bottom edge 3 inches and pressed the fold, then sewed 1 inch in to create a pleat.
Then I folded the fabric over again, 3 inches from the previous pleat, pressed and sewed 1 inch from the fold again.I repeated the pleating step again, and added a third one.

That was enough for me, so I finished up by creating a rod pocket on the top of the curtain and I was all done! I am definitely still a beginner at sewing, and this project could not have been easier.

The kitchen still needs some work, and I need to paint the window frames over the kitchen sink before I can hang the curtains.

How I Cheat at Flower Arranging

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Ginny

My wonderful aunt Susie had a birthday last week, and I brought her some flowers. I picked up a few different bunches of flowers from the grocery store, and put them in a vase that I already had at home using a trick from Martha Stewart.

First, start with a basic vase or bowl – mine was a 6″ round short glass cylinder.

Then, make a grid using scotch tape. It doesn’t have to be perfect (mine obviously isn’t). Trim the tape so it doesn’t hang too far over the edges. The flowers will cover up a bit, but not too much.

Next, trim the stems of your flowers so they are the right length for the vase and start filling in the holes, starting with the biggest flowers first. Hydrangeas are great for arrangements like this, since a few stems fill up a lot of space, plus they aren’t too expensive.

As you add the other flowers, you might have to do some more trimming of the stems to make sure they are the right height. The tape helps the top flower stay standing up, and it also helps ensure that the flowers stay in place when you move the vase around.

Pretty Paint Cans

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Ginny

My sister is having a party for my nephew on Saturday, and she was looking for cute, cheap centerpieces. Since I have lots of free time on my hands these days, I decided to make some. I bought some small paint cans from Home Depot and some polka-dot wrapping paper.

I had a serious Mod Podge addiction when I was in college, and I decorated everything in my dorm room with pictures from magazines. It is seriously the best stuff ever.

I started by cutting out a piece of wrapping paper in to fit the can.
Then I painted the can with the Mod Podge, and carefully placed the paper over it. (Be careful while you are doing this, because the paper will get wet and wrinkle if you move it around too much).

Once the paper is in place, I painted over it with more Mod Podge.

Once the cans dried, they looked nice and shiny.
One of the things I like about Mod Podge is the brushed look of the finished product.

You can reduce the texture by adding more coats, or by using a foam brush, but I like the way it looks.

We’re going to put small potted plants in these over the weekend, so I’ll take more pictures then.

New Invitations

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Ginny

I was very busy this weekend making 2 different sets of invitations. The first one is for a shower that my mom is having for one of her co-workers. I got to try out the print and cut feature on my Silhouette and I was so happy with the result.

It was a ton of work, but I figured it out and can’t wait to find more projects to print and cut.

Here are some of the things that I learned:

1. The weld feature is super helpful in creating complex shapes. I created small individual boxes, then added the long skinny box connecting them. I selected them all and selected Object > Modify > Weld, then they became one shape.

2. PNG files work best for printing. Once you have your cut lines set, create the print section in Illustrator (or whatever you like to use) and export as a PNG. I tried PDFs, but the printing was blurry for some reason.

3. Registration marks are your friend. When I was imagining this project in my head, I could not figure out how I was going to line up the printing with the cutting. Luckily, the Silhouette is a genius and has an eye that sees the registration marks and knows exactly where to cut. Open the Registration Marks window before printing from Silhouette Studio, and click on the Show Registration Marks box before printing.

Your printed pages will have the registration marks, then before you send them to the Silhouette to cut, choose Detect Registration Marks.

4. Make sure you cut hard enough. The first few pages that I sent to cut were trouble. I didn’t set the right cut pressure, so I ended up having to punch out a lot of the little pieces. Once I got the pressure right, It was super easy. I just ended up with a pile of confetti when I was done.

Once I had all of the pieces cut, I left them under a big stack of books overnight, since they curled up a bit when I peeled them off of the carrier sheet. The next day I glued them to a solid piece of cardstock cut to fit, and they were all set!

If you are interested in in making them on your own, here is the file I created – Box Invitation Pattern. Let me know if you end up trying it! It is set up for 6.5″ square envelopes, but it can be scaled to any size.

Felt Flower Tutorial

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Ginny

These are my favorite flowers to make – quick, easy and cheerful. All you need is 2 small pieces of felt (one for the petals, one for the leaves), matching thread and a needle.

First, cut 6 petals using a quarter as a template. Then cut 2 leaves from the other color (I did mine freehand).

Then fold each petal in half and stack all six.

Then stitch through all 6 petals at once.

And stitch through again, making a circle with the thread.

Then pull the thread tight – the petals will spread out and form a flower, and you may have to arrange the petals a bit to make them look nice. Once they look good, make a knot to secure the flower.

Attach the leaves to the bottom of the flower with a few stitches.

Ta-da! You made a flower!

Invincible Inc.

Making Things is Awesome!

Category Archives: Tutorial