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Valentine Ladybug Mint Cookies

January 24, 2012 By Laura 4 Comments

valentine-ladybug-cookies-12

These adorable Ladybug Cookies I came up with, come right in time for Valentine’s Day, and I promise you, they couldn’t be easier to make! (There’s not even baking involved!) I think you are going to love what they are made with, too!  (You know…besides LOVE.)  I’m talking ingredients.  These cookies are also a sweet idea for a little girl’s birthday party, or to send in with your kids to school, to share with their class.  You’ll look so clever. (You don’t have to tell a soul it was my idea. ; )

Does the word fondant scare you?  Ever heard of the stuff? I know it makes more than a few nervous. But it can actually be a LOT of fun to play with! (Think Play Dough. ; )  Truth be told, in this recipe, we did make and dye our own marshmallow fondant, simply because we knew how, and we think it tastes a little better than store bought. But you don’t have to!  Rolled and ready fondant is available in craft and baking supply stores, and even comes in colors! I know Wilton sells ready-made fondant, but I heard a brand called Satin Ice, tastes better. I see that the Satin Ice brand is available to order online. I’ve seen it in a container so you probably roll that out yourself. I have not tried it yet, but I will.  But if you’d like to learn how to make your own marshmallow fondant like we did, we have a tutorial coming up on that.  For today, we’re just going to show you how simple it is to put together these cookies, with some light pink fondant all ready to go!

valentine-ladybug-cookies Participating Ingredients: 

      • Keebler Grasshopper Fudge Mint Cookies *(peanut safe)
      • Junior Mints Candy (*peanut safe)
      •  Fondant – in light pink (rolled and ready)
      • Any kind of icing (for piping glue)
      • Sprinkles in Valentine shapes/colors (*peanut safety varies with brands)
      • Confectionery Sugar
      • (Mini marshmallows and color dye seen are for making your own fondant, if you are.)

* One of our boys has a serious peanut allergy, so we are always checking ingredients carefully, for his safety.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-1 We rolled out our fondant on wax paper and a little dusting of confectionery sugar, making sure to roll it thin and even. 

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-2 Next, we cut circles out of the fondant.  These will be the wings.  We started with this small cookie cutter, but it turned out to be a little bigger than we wanted the circles to be, as the cookies were smaller than this.  It was the smallest actual circle cookie cutter we had, so we needed to improvise. And so the search began throughout the house, to find something that will cut the circles smaller.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-3 Phew!  Good think we have a drink now and then! ; )  This shaker/mixer top turned out to be just right!

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-4 Cut the circles in half, and the wings are done! 

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-5 I told you! Easy, right? 

 

It’s mere assembly, from here on out, Friends.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-6 Put some of that icing in a piping bag, with the smallest tip, and just put a little on each side of the cookies.

(These cookies do tend to come a little stuck together in the packaging, so we made efforts to pipe on the messy sides, leaving the smoothest and nicest part of the cookie at the bottom, where it will show between the wings.)

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-7 Put the wings on, as shown above. Like a ladybug’s wings, slightly spread.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-8 Pipe a little dab of icing on the back/flatter side of a Junior Mint candy…..

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-9 ….and stick on the head.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-10 All that is left to do, is decorate the wings a little!  We tried to arrange them, like the dots usually on the wings of a ladybug, as we recalled.  You do want to be sure, that you press the decorative sprinkles down into the fondant.  You may even want to add a dab of water? (Didn’t try that).  If the sprinkles aren’t pressed down enough, they’ll fall off when the fondant sets up more.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-11 THAT’S IT!!  How CUTE are these?  How EASY are these? 

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-13 You can make a whole bunch, in no time at all.  And it’s fun!

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-14 Our kids all got in on the action!  They were on their own (the three younger ones are 9 years old here.).  But even younger ones can put these cookies together with a little help! 

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-15

valentine-ladybug-cookies-16 We used the red cots from Confetti Sprinkles too.

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-17 If you think about it, you could use some alternative ingredients, to make these cookies similarly as well. Oreo cookies could be cute. Dark brown M&M’s can be used as heads. (They are not peanut safe, for us.) Use your imagination!

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-18 Just for fun, can you spot the ladybug, who’s wings were cut too big?

 

valentine-ladybug-cookies-19 We hope you liked this cute little idea. Share it.  🙂  And thanks for stopping by the House!

Stay tuned, for more thoughts and shares on the way!  Valentine’s Day related, and otherwise.

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Filed Under: Baking, Fun Food, Holiday Crafts, Recipes, Treats, Tutorial Tagged With: Baking, ladybug-cookies, ladybug-theme-ideas, ladybugs, marshmallow fondant, Valentine-cookies

Tips, Tricks and How-To’s to Our Halloween Decor – Crafts

October 16, 2011 By Laura 2 Comments

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I hope you all had the chance to join us, for our Halloween Decor Tour, in which we shared with you all of the festive touches I made, to put a little Halloween in the air, indoors and outdoors!  The post tour naturally consists of a ton of photos, or else how else could I show you all?  That, and my small chit-chat, made the post plenty long enough.  So I promised to share how I made some of the decor, in a separate post in the Crafts & Creations section soon. And here we are.

So I’ll start with the fact that, all of the signage design work that you see in this post (and the tour), that is similar in style and all ties together so beautifully, is part of the Halloween Party Complete Collection, which I purchased from Frosting & Ink Social Designery’s Etsy Shop.  Please note that everything that I printed out, I did so on textured white card stock. That really adds a nice touch. I also was sure that my printer printed the actual colors, being sure my settings did not allow the printer to choose the colors. (Yes, I am a color snob. I demand accuracy. )

 

001_halloween-parking-sign

One of the features I was most excited to show, was indeed the biggest hit with our readers!  That would be my Witch Parking Sign.  ; )

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To start, I printed out the sign from my Halloween Party Complete Collection on a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ textured white card stock.  The actual design was 7.5″ x 10″, so there was an inch of white paper to trim off, all the way around. For anything rectangle or square, I want a perfectly clean straight edge.  So I always use this….

011_fiskar-trimmer

….my Fiskar Trimmer for cutting paper or card stock. But using scissors, or an x-acto blade and a metal ruler on a mat, would also work.

Now for the sake of saving you from having to keep scrolling up, I am going to show you the photo of this sign again. (Because I’m thoughtful like that. : )  You need to be able to refer to it and see it as I talk here.

001_halloween-parking-sign

I wanted to mount my paper sign on a piece of old looking wood, so I asked Michael to please cut a piece of thin plywood about 10.5″ x 13″, and to try and make the edges look jaggedy, like old broken wood. To get that effect that you can see above, he used a saber saw.  Then he stained it dark grey.

Now I needed to mount the paper sign, onto the wood sign.  I had every intention of really using the sign, right at the head of my parking space outside.  So it needed to not only be applied permanently, but the whole sign needed to be weather-proofed, sealed and protected, as well.

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03_modge-podge-outdoor

To do both the job of applying the paper sign to the wood, and sealing and protecting the whole thing I used Outdoor Modge Podge!   I applied a layer of glue to the back of my paper, as well as a coat on the front of the wood sign.  Then I placed them together with the design perfectly in place, smoothed it all out being sure there were no bubbles, and let it all dry overnight.   When it wasn’t so tacky to the touch anymore, I applied another coat over the whole sign (front and back), and let dry completely, again.   When that dried, I applied one more coat, and let it all dry again.  I paid special attention to be sure I was sealing the edge of the paper, to the wood sign. Any moisture getting in between when outdoors, would ruin it.

*Note – With a past project quite similar to this one, where I was applying paper to wood, and then adding final coats, I did not allow the coats to dry enough in between applications.  I didn’t want to, you know… wait. It didn’t turn out well, People. The paper was bubbling here and there because it wasn’t dry enough in the first place, making the paper soggy and rolling up, and it was just a mess. So leaving it to dry even 24 hours or so between coats sometimes, is necessary. Having patience, or not, shows in the final piece.  Rushing things, and hoping for the best, may not end well. Don’t do it.

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004_halloween-bottle-accent I had this bottle displayed on my garden potting bench already. It was a cool indigo blue, but had faded in the sun.  So I decided to spray paint it matte black, and make a little Halloween necklace for it, by stringing buttons in colors that together, say Halloween to me: orange, black, green, and purple.  Different button sizes, and no pattern, rhyme or reason. Just string them on. I’ve made these little wrap necklaces for bottles and vases before, using beads and other elements as well. In doing so, I have used different materials to string on. But one thing I have found especially handy to use, is stretchy fishing line.  It works nice for small necks of things especially, that you may want to wrap around more than once, because if it barely is going to fit, it stretches some to prevent the string from breaking. It’s easy to work with. Of course, for a different look for indoor pieces, you may choose to use raffia, suede string, ribbon, etc.  I put a dead stick in it, and it was perfect!  It’s a small thing, but I really had fun with it, and I like how it came out.
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05_halloween-front-door-decor-bats

I think the swarming bats around the front doors around Halloween time, was an idea first featured in Country Living Magazine (?) last year, and lots of crafty home-owners all over the country were all over the idea, including me!  I just didn’t get to it until this year. There are bat templates you can download from the internet, if you do a search, and I would guess that others looked and found some to use, as I did.  They can be cut out and used to trace with white chalk onto black material, over and over. Then you simply cut them out.  I looked around for bats that looked right to me, a lot. So in the end, I can’t remember where I actually found one I liked. (Or I’d tell you.) But anyway, I did resize it to have 3 different sizes of bats.

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I made the bats out of stiffened felt. I think I got about 15 sheets or so, and got as may bats as I could out of them.  Instead of cutting the bats out of the paper and tracing them, I went about things a different way – because I could, and it just seemed easier.  Michael (my husband) has this perforation wheel, to create a pattern of holes through paper, and then you pounce that pattern onto another material, using chalk dust. So we just perforated the bat patterns on the paper, and then used our school chalk board erasers with chalk dust on them, to pounce the patterns onto the felt.

Scissors + Kids = Bats

Just so you know, my kids love cutting things out, and ask to help. I’m not into child labor. ; )

We stuck all of the bats on the house and door, using duct tape on the back.  Yes, one or 2 do blow or fall off now and then. Maybe there is a better way to adhere them, but duct tape works good enough for me. I don’t even notice if or when any are missing.  Michael does though. He tends to be the bat chaser I guess. LOL. But generally, they stay put pretty well.

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07_halloween-wreath

This funky black feather wreath itself was wicked easy!
I simply bought it as is, at Michael’s Arts & Crafts! (Where I bought all of the materials I needed, but didn’t have on hand.)

08_halloween-indoor-wreath-decor

The circle sign in the middle, was another design in the collection I bought. Frosting & Ink customizes it with your own last name, before sending you the files! How cool is that?

The middle of the feather wreath was originally empty. Just a hole. So somehow, we needed to find a way to stabilize the sign in the front middle. The feathers were not going to hold it there.  So we simply cut a square out of some leftover stiffened felt, and mounted it on the back with hot glue, covering the wreath hole.  Then we just folded some pieces more stiffened felt and used them as spacers, connecting them with hot glue from the inside of the back support felt piece, to the back of the front design circle.  Simple fix!  It needed to be an indoor wreath, no doubt about that.  But thankfully, we have a glass front door, so we were still able to use it as a front door wreath that shows on the outside, when the brave ones come knocking.  ; )

We hung the wreath by hot gluing a piece of black sheer ribbon to the wreath itself on the back, and then to the top of the door frame. Yes, we did. lol. It comes right off, without damage.

09_cutting-perfect-circles
One might wonder how I cut out all of the circle designs.  There were many circle designs to be cut, and it would surely be no fun having to do so with scissors.  I want my circles perfect, so it was high time I got a good circle cutter. (With a 50% of coupon, of course.)  I got the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter, and I love it!! The blade pops on to the fit-in-your-hand cutter, and the blade swivels, so it makes circle cutting seamless and perfect.

10_halloween-french-doors-home-decor

For all of these little mini-signs (originally cupcake/cake toppers, table signs, etc.), I again used my Martha Stewart Circle Cutter for the round designs, and my Fiskar Trimmer for the square designs. Sticky tabs were used to stick them to the black sheer ribbon strands, that run from the top of the doors to the bottom. Simple and cute!
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012_halloween-ghosts-fan-pull

Lastly I just wanted to mention how I created little ghosts on my Halloween Fan Pull. The heads themselves are simply formed by t-shirt material cut into squares, and forming it over the round beads. Then I used more clear fishing line to tie off the necks some to create the head better, and the kids drew on faces. This is all done while making the fan pull itself, which I also do using strong test fishing line, doubled. The spider element is at the bottom (center of the line), and then I used a fat needle and the fishing line to quickly string all of the beads on.  When it was time to make a ghost, I simply stuck the needle right through the middle of the square piece of material over the round bead, tied off the head with another piece of fishing line (trimmed down after knotted), and continued to string beads. When all of the beads are on for a fan pull, Michael ties on a little piece of wire and knots it up into a ball, to hook right into the ball chain clasp.  Works like a charm!  >  I hope you comprehend those directions. It’s late now. I was watching  X-Factor (2 hours this night) while doing this post too, on commercials.

I think a good thing to take from this post is, there can a lot of ‘winging it’ with crafting, with just a little fire-thought. Yes, sometimes you find one method works out better than another. But the process is simply figuring out what you are trying to create or do, and what kind of materials you may need or have on hand, to make it all work. (Whatever your project may be.). Just think about how you want something to look, and what you can use in terms of material, to achieve that vision. It’s not about doing everything perfectly, but learning as you go, and picking up a few tricks along the way. As you know by now, I have found fishing line to be pretty handy in my crafting!  There is some pretty strong test line that is durable, and it’s practically invisible, which can be a helpful for some projects too. There are so many tools out there that can make the more tedious parts of crafting (like cutting things out), faster and easier. And then there are lots of things right around your house, that you can use as well. Substitutions and preferences, are all part of the crafting game. If you have fun making what you do, and it makes you and/or others smile (even on the inside) when they see your creations around, then you are a successful crafter!

(Is there anything I missed?  Anything you wanted to know about our Halloween Decor that you had a question about, that I didn’t answer here? Please go ahead and ask, and I’d be happy to do my best to answer.)

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Faith/ Catholic, FALL Crafts and Creations, Fan Pulls, Holiday Crafts, Holidays, Seasonal Crafts and Creations, The Big Picture, Tutorial Tagged With: creative-Halloween-decor-ideas, Fiskar-trimmer, Halloween-crafting, Halloween-crafting-tips, Halloween-decorations, holiday-crafting, holiday-decor, home decor, Martha-Stewart-Cutter, Michaels-arts-and-crafts, Modge Podge, Outdoor-Modge-Podge

Call Us Copy Cats! | Crayon Wall Art

September 13, 2011 By Laura 16 Comments

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-20


This crayon art thing that is happening….You know, the one that’s sweeping the nation?  It’s been pinned to death, and it’s invaded Blogland, like there is tomorrow.  And although I am hardly ever one to copy someone else’s ideas, or follow trends for the sake of everybody else doing it, I KNEW I was going to do this art-craft with my kids, the very-first-time I saw it.

Even at the risk, of being called ‘Copy Cats’.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial  So I picked up a 16″ x 20″ white canvas. I knew I was going to love this piece when it was done so I wanted it as big as I thought we could manage, without buying every store in town out of Crayolas.  Oh yes! It has to be Crayola Crayons for me. IS there another brand? Huh. Not in my world. I’ve been a Crayon-Brat since I could….well, color! It’s Crayola, or bust.

So we started with a box of 64, and two boxes of 24. And then…..we got a 3rd box of 24 after that.  Naturally, we couldn’t use ALL of the crayons in every box.  Every color we did use, we needed 4 or more of, to make it across the canvas.  Some colors were just not going to work.  And some, I just didn’t like.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-1  We laid our colors in the exact order we wanted, along the top of the canvas on the table.  Then we got ready to glue them.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-2 Our initial plan, was to hot glue the crayons down.  But we quickly decided that wasn’t working for us.  The hot glue cooled and hardened too quickly.   So we broke out the ‘Amazing E-6000’.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-3 Amazing, is right.  I love the stuff!  It’s the Mac-Daddy of all super glues, in my crafting world.
It really stinks though. I recommend ventilation, because the fumes can’t be good for anyone.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-4 We just put a couple of lines of glue for a few inches at a time, and the kids helped lay down the crayons in order, as we went.   Alexis helped make sure the tops of the crayons, were as even as possible, aligned with the top of the canvas.

I wanted to just get to melting them right away.  But Alexis, often my handy voice of reason, convinced me that it really would be best, to let the glue crayons set overnight, if we were going to apply high heat to them.

I knew she was right. So I stomped away, and pretty much pouted the rest of the day.


crayon-wall-art-tutorial-5 The next day, it was all set for sure! Those crayons weren’t budging.   So we stood the canvas up on the bench, and leaned it against the table.   We put large sheets of paper underneath the canvas, because we knew we were about to make a hot mess. (Like usual, but literally this time.)  I highly advise a drop cloth or paper of some sort! The wax is bound to get dripping.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-6 Finally, we could start melting the crayons!  (Yyyipeeee!!)   I can tell you, we tried a hair dryer, for about….ohhh, a milli-second. I knew there was no way I’d have that kind of patience. If it ever got the crayons melting at all, the hair dryer would probably be over-heating by then. So we plugged in my heat gun, I have used for embossing powder, over the years. I KNEW that would work.

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-7 And boy did it ever.  We learned immediately that it could really blow some hot wax around!  Oops!

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-8 Very slowly, we worked our way across, watching what was happening as it was, and adjusting our distance and angle of the blowing hot air, as we did. I really didn’t want the colors blowing sideways!  But….more ‘control’ therapy for me.  Sometimes, one cannot control the way the wind blows, completely. (I’ve tried, on many-a-photo-shoot.) Furthermore, I wanted this to be more the kid’s masterpiece, than mine.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-9 We were directing the heat onto the lower end of the crayons, and waving it around as needed.  The trick, is really to avoid getting too close to the top of the crayons, which we did not want to melt, and to not heat the middle either, as to have a crayon tip blob just fall out.  Sometimes, we started to see smoke, from the paper heating so much, so you want to be careful of that too.

We all took turns, while we all tried to verbally direct each other too. lol

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-10 WARNING though:   This is really NOT  a craft for a young child to do alone.  The heat gun is hot, and the melting wax is really hot too.  But, it’s a fun craft to do with your littles.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-11 I really kept trying to go back, to try and perfect this, or fill in that, and the kids were like, “Mama, just leave it!!  It looks good. Don’t ruin it!”.   Excellent therapy for me, to just embrace the art that happened.   Because I have ALWAYS been the kind of technically sound type artist.  The kind that brings to life something I see, exactly as I see it in my head, down to the last detail.   My ‘let-loose’ therapy started in art school, the day I had to draw a nude model on paper, with a stick that had been dipped in ink, with my mouth. Talk about lack of control!  I think that exercise actually set me back a few years. lol

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-12 We all took a step back to take a good look at out artwork, and agreed to call it DONE.

Then we waited for Daddy to come home to see it. And of course, hang it up for us.  Somewhere.

But where?  That was the question.  I wanted it in every room I thought of!  It’s colorful, and happy!  And the kids and I made it together.   It had to be in a good place.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-13
We decided on the wall over the stairwell in the kitchen, down to the lower levels, was a good place for awhile.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-14  It was on the way down to what will at some point be the kids’ Rec Room.

It’s also on the way down to the Laundry Room.  And you all know, we ALL could use a smile, on the way to the Laundry Room!

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-13
Being over the stairwell there, it can be seen from about half the house on that level.  The kitchen, the school room, and the living room.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-17 I have always said, “Colors make me happy.”  They really do.

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-18
Oh, the texture!
I wonder what the Crayola Corporation thinks about this craze.  Surely they’ve caught wind of it by now.  Probably not being able to keep their crayons in stock at stores, and all. I’d have to guess they should be pleased, with what must be a sudden and dramatic increase in sales. We helped with that!!

 

crayon-wall-art-tutorial-19 But again, it was not my idea.  I wish it was.  And although copying the latest craft happening will never be my style, I do not regret this once, for a minute.
I do want that thank, though, whoever did come up with this idea. Because we had so much fun doing it!

Have you, given this idea a try yet?  And if not, don’t you want to now?

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Kids Arts and Crafts, Tutorial Tagged With: arts and crafts, crafts, Crayola-crayons, crayon-art, crayon-wall-art, DIY-art, E-6000, melting crayons

Setting Eyelet Embellishments – A Tutorial

July 5, 2011 By Laura 4 Comments

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Several blog posts back, I shared a simple craft I did making decorative paper pennants. Part of that project was putting eyelets in the top corners of the pennants, to string ribbon through, and hang like paper bunting. I asked in that post if there was anyone interested in a tutorial on the procedure of using eyelets, and one of our readers, Lindy over at Veni Vidi Scrappy, said she would.  She is a passionate scrapbooker, as evidenced by her great site, so this would make for a very useful technique for her. But there are many creative ways you can use eyeletting for.

I’m happy to share how I set eyelets! But what I didn’t know at the time I offered is, there are new tools that supposedly make this process even easier, and quieter, that have become available in the scrapbooking industry in recent years.  I have had my eyelet/brad set, from Making Memories, for a good many years. Apparently, longer than I knew!  So for the sake of reference, the newest tools now available, and the methods in which they are used, can be seen here at this site.

However, I have rather enjoyed using my cute little hammer, and the method I have used all of these years, as noisy as it is. So regardless of the fact that this is now the ‘old fashion’ way’, I’m going to share it as promised anyway.  And most likely continue to do things the old fashioned way, for a good many years to come.  And show you now just how I do this.

 

setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial As I mentioned, the old tool set I have is from the company Making Memories (MM). The small container you see are some MM eyelets, used in this tutorial, and are brushed aluminum.  But they come in bronze as well, and a large selection of colors.  Eyelets come in 2 sizes, and the tool tips for both sizes come with this set. Also seen is my cute little hammer, and a self-healing mat I use to set eyelets on. I also use it for cutting things with an x-acto knife. You should be able to find these tools at Michael’s Arts and Crafts, and other craft supply stores.

setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial-1 On the right you see the tip of the small hole puncher, and on the left is the eyelet setter. Yes, kind of
backwards, and not in order of use. Sorry, but I did not think of that at the time I took the photo.


setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial-5 Here is a better look at the eyelets, before they are hammered. Cute little things.

 

setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial-6 The first tool you’ll need is the hole puncher. Screw the hole punching tip into your handle, and position it straight up and down, on the material you want to put an eyelet through. In this case, I am just putting one in the point of a spare paper pennant I had, for the sake of demonstration.  Also, you’ll want to work on a mat like this, a piece of cardboard, or something to protect the surface you are working on. So, holding the hole punching tip firmly where you want the eyelet, gently hit the top of the instrument with your hammer once.  It taps a clean hole through the paper very easily.

 

setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial-2 Next, place an eyelet in the hole you made, going in through the front of the material, and place it down on your protected surface.

Now it’s time to use the setter tool, to set the eyelet in the paper, by hammering & ultimately splaying out the aluminum tube.

 

setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial-3 This is the fun part, I think.  Take your setter tool, and put the point of it into the hole of the eyelet tube. Holding the setter firmly straight up & down, and being sure to keep it in in place, you are going to hammer the top of the tool several times.  This time you’ll be hitting harder than you did before, while just tapping a hole through paper. Hammering the eyelet to set it, is something you’ll get a feel for quickly, as to how hard you need to hit the hammer, and how many times you’ll need to, to get the job done. Basically, your goal is to the splay the tube open flat, making it look flower-like.

I can tell you, the process of my eyeletting has a real rhythm to it. I hit the top of the tool four times, and then I remove the tool off of the eyelet, and hit the back of the eyelet on my paper a 5th time, to make sure it is good and flat.  So the sound pattern is 4 loud hammer to tool noises, and 1 thud when I hit the eyelet on the mat. : )

((1))-((2))-((3))-((4))–(5)

setting-eyelet-embellishments-crafts-tutorial-7 That’s it! Here is what the eyelet looks like on the front of your material! It may seem like a lengthy procedure to you, explained so thoroughly here. But I assure you, it’s very quick. You’ll find yourself doing many in rapid succession.  I would just tap all of your holes first, and then set your eyelets.


Eyeletting is popular embellishment technique in scrap booking and card making, but can also be used through fabrics as well.
I believe snaps are put on clothing much the same way.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful & inspiring!

Imagine the unique ways in which you can incorporate some eyeletting into
your creative projects!

 

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Tutorial Tagged With: embellishments, eyelet-setting-tool-kit, eyelet-tutorial, how-to-set-eyelets, setting eyelets

Eyeletted Paper Pennants | Room Decor | Craft Tutorial

June 13, 2011 By Laura 9 Comments

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial_0001

Sometimes, my crafts come about in all-backwards-sorts-of-ways. This craft, these pretty eyeletted paper pennants, is one of those.
I love how they came out. And lucky for you, I took photos of the whole process.

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-12

See, I happened to be in one of my favorite crafts stores, Michael’s Arts & Crafts, and saw this pad of 12×12 scrapbooking paper, that was nothing short of stunning to me.

I had to have it.

The hesitation was, that I don’t much scrapbook these days.  I will again, one day, begin scrapping like mad very regularly, and catch up on the many years I am behind on.  But in the moment, it seemed foolish to buy the pad of paper to save, for years.   So I bought it with the promise to me, that I would find something to do with the beautiful papers, right away.

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial Are they not ever so lovely?  Please take a real moment, to look at that photo. Because on this particular day, it took a little more patience than I had, to arrange them in that perfect fan, you see.

 

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-1 It’s The Sasha Paper Collection.

What I decided to do with some of the paper, was make paper pennants, with metal eyelets.  My original and only intention, was just to string them in my daughter(‘)s (plural & possessive, lol) rooms, like bunting. No big project, by any means, in the end. But the project will be expanded, as you’ll soon learn.

Now, I did get the pad of designer paper on sale. But still, I as always, I wanted to get the most ‘bang for my buck’.  So this is how I utilized the space of my paper:

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-13

Remember asking yourself back in school, when in your life, you would ever need to use that math?  There it is, People. I figured it out rather quickly, and rather felt genius-like.  Of course, I’m practicing a lot with my 8 years olds triplets, these days.  ; )

I have good craft plans for the pale yellow scrap pieces, by the way.  So all you tree-huggers can be at ease.
(Nothing wrong with a tree-hugger. I’m just sayin’.)

 

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-2 Oh how I *love* my Fiskar Trimmer, in times like these!!  Zip, zip!!

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-3

Now because I was going to be putting eyelets through these paper pennants, I thought it wise to perhaps, re-enforce them, to prevent them ripping when pulled for any reason. So I just used some photo mounting stickers, and didn’t remove the the backing.

THEN, I added all of the metal eyelets. Which, you may or may not know, can be all kinds of fun!

Do you all know what metal eyelets are?  This is what they look like….see the corners of the pennants:

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-4

Perfect to attach or strong ribbon.  This ferris wheel of patterns, are the ones my oldest daughter chose, for her room, which is a color I like to call ‘Spring Rain’.  (Because I forget the real name of the paint. lol).

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-5

This wheel of designs my youngest daughter (the middle & only girl triplet) chose for her room, which is a soft pretty pink.

 

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-6
Here are the tools needed for doing metal eyelets, in case you do not know anything about this technique. (I don’t know why I feel like there will be people who have never heard of this?  So perhaps I am over-explaining to a very crafty-wise crowd….)

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-7 But just in case, I’m going to give you a little more info here.  Above, are the 2 main tools needed: the hole tapper, and the eyelet smasher.  A hammer is involved. <Eyebrows bouncing up and down.> Sounds like fun, huh?

I think it is.  : )

 

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-8 This is what the eyelets look like, post-smashing.

 

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-9 I was thinking I might do a little eyelet technique tutorial, step by step with photos, if there is anyone who would like to learn?  Eyelets can be used for a wide variety of crafts, including fabric!  It offers an awesome element to scrap booking and card making as well. Your imagination is the only limit. Let me know in the comments, if a tutorial would tickle your fancy.

I’ll do it for even 1 person.  I’m full of love like that.

I’ll even dedicate the tutorial to you, like a song.  ; )

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-10 I used the same sheer ribbon I always have on hand, to string this paper bunting, and I just hung it across {O}’s Mirror for now.

 

eyeletted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial-11 {A} chose the pale yellow ribbon.  Pay NO mind to the horrid curtain and window with no trim (in these photos).  She has an amazing room, hand-crafted by hubby, and I can’t wait to show you all sometime soon.

  eyeleted-paper-pennants-room-decor-tutorial_012

So, in closing, I have to tell you….with getting 6 pennants, out of multiple designs chosen out of this pad of paper, and the way I got carried away with my happy-hammer, I ended up with WAY more eye-letted pennants than I ever needed, for my original plan!  I have a horrible guesstimation gauge!  Ask my hubby – I can never figure out the appropriate sized container to store dinner left-overs in!  Either way too big, or way too small….never just right.Ever.

Anyway….the question is:

“WHAT TO DO WITH ALL OF THESE EXTRA EYE-LETTED PENNANTS?”

I have a few brainstorms brewing, but I would LOVE *YOUR* ideas!  It’s quite possible there are many of you who will have amazing ideas, I would never have thought of.  So give them to me!  What would YOU do with them?

*(Love this post? How about subscribing to our blog in the sidebar, ‘Liking’ our Page on Facebook, or following me (Laura) on Twitter? Or all 3? 😀 )



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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Tutorial Tagged With: crafts, eyeletted-paper-pennants, eyeletting-tutorial, paper-pennants-tutorial, pennants, pennants-craft, pretty-pennants, room-decor-pennants

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