Things I've Been Up To Lately!

 My first prom corsage

Flip Flops

Hair roses

Easter

My cute girls on Easter.  I wanted to do something a bit different and this is what I came up with.

Rose Headbands

Doll Trunk

What girl doesn't love dolls?  I admit there are a few that probably don't, but my girls do.  I'm sure you have all seen the 18" American Girl Dolls.  Wow, they cost a pretty penny and so does the furniture and clothes etc.  My girls have a few 18" dolls from New generation etc., and of course love to have clothes and furniture for them.

Here is a very cost effective way to add a doll trunk to your daughters collection that they will absolutely love.

Believe it or not, I got this trunk for $7.00.  Yup, you heard me right.  Of course, it was plain wood with rope handles, but hey it had potential.  I don't know about you but I looooooooove

May Arts hot pink and black combo ribbons, and that's where it all began.

First I painted the wooden box black, and took out the rope handles.

    YD93 1.5"x25y - GROSGRAIN/CENTER POLKA DOT BAND

 I chose to use Glue Arts ribbon adhesive to attach this ribbon.  Simply measure and cut your ribbon.  Cut a piece of the adhesive and put on the outside edge of  both sides, on the backside, of the ribbon.  Use a Popsicle stick and press down over the backing to make sure the adhesive really adheres to the ribbon before pulling the backing off.

Find some paper you love, measure and cut it to fit where you want.  I double layered paper and then trimmed it with May Arts HA10 3/8" double faced satin. I used fast drying decoupage to glue the paper to the trunk.  Make sure you go back over the top to seal it completely. 

 Here you see the 3/8" HA10 cut to fit around the edge of the paper I put in the middle.  

To finish it off, instead of putting back in the ugly rope for the handles,  I used the gorgeous...... 

            NV10 1.5"x10y - FAUX SUEDE /RUFFLE EDGE

So, cute!!  My girls were devastated when they saw I had painted the trunk black.  I reassured them they would like it when it was finished.  I will tell you I had awwwes and huge hugs. "Mom, it's soooo cute!"

There you have it. The plain wooden box turned 18" doll trunk.

What will you make for your girls 18" dolls??

Send us a picture we'd love to see it!

Ta-ta, Andrea

Little Felt Birthday Bag

Hello all!  I've got a really fun, really cute and really simple project for you today! 

We are going to transform this cute little felt bag into an extraordinary cute little felt bag with a coordinating present and card to boot!  Let's get started.



Supplies used are:
Little felt bag purchased from my local craft store for 99 cents,
hot glue and gun, scissors, ruler, lighter
card stock, 1/2" plastic headband, 
Ribbon NV27 1.5" ruffle
RG17, 27, 34, 46 3/16"
and a few other embellishments.



I decided I wanted to make a weave pattern on the front so I

started by cutting my first piece of ribbon at an angle, heat sealed with a lighter, and glued to bag.

Little Tip from a ribbon pro....

Heat sealing makes for nice clean ribbon edges that won't fray.  Fray check only works short term.  Every ribbon is a little different so when heat sealing a new ribbon make sure there's a little extra length.  Grosgrain, satin and suede heat seal really well.  It actually makes the ribbon melt which is what prevents the fraying. Thinner ribbons such as sheers etc. burn easily so hold your lighter further away or you may need to blow your ribbon out.  Wink, wink!  The cheaper the ribbon the more you'll have a problem.  I love May Arts ribbon for this particular reason.  It's a very exquisite  product and even the thinner ribbons heat seal nicely with out melting to quickly. Don't let me scare you, just practice and you'll see what I mean about your nice edges.  Candles will turn your ribbon black!  Don't use a candle in my opinion.  I have not had good success with them.

Now that the first layer of ribbons is glued on let's start the second layer.  Felt melts too, so once you're done gluing the ribbon run your lighter up and down the edges to make the felt, ribbon and glue look nice and neat.

Instead of doing the criss-cross all over the bag I cut and glued ribbon straight and added some cute glitter butterflies to kind of give it the Merry Go Round look.  I then added the yellow ruffle ribbon over the top all the way around.  Having the additional cut piece of ribbon I glued to the inside gives it a nice clean look from the top.

Now, we will make a cute head band using the 1.5" ruffle ribbon.

I had technical difficulties with a few pictures so these next two will be with the Sea foam ruffle ribbon.

Head bands are usually about 14 inches from one end to the other. 

Cut two pieces of ribbon, one 15 1/2" and the other 13 1/2". 

Put hot glue just below the ruffle (top and bottom one side at a time) to glue your two pieces of ribbon together.  

  This will give you a pocket you can easily slide the headband through.

You will also need approximately 1 yard (depending on how full you want your flower) of uncut ribbon to create a second flower that will be glued beneath this one.

I used a large white scrap booking brad for the center.  

A matching card made from DCWV's 12x12 glitter stack cut down to 5x8 1/2 card.

Cut and glue ribbon and butterflies, and add some sticker letters.

Here you have it!  A really fun, really cute and really easy project!  For the flower on the front of the hand bag I added some pictures that I did previously to show those who haven't seen this how I did it.

For more detailed instructions visit my website at www.andreasbowcottage.blogspot.com

Thanks for joining me today!!  I hope you had fun and are inspired to create your own 

Little Felt Bag!!

Ta-ta, Andrea

Block Letters

Hi!  I have a fast and fun project for you.

I don't know about you but I love wood crafts, especially block letters!  They are so fun and versatile.  It always feels good to take all the Christmas stuff down, but what do you do for the interim between Christmas and Valentine's Day?   Here's my solution.

Winter block letters.

 These are pretty self explanatory, but I'll give you some info. on how I did these.

First, decide your color scheme.  I chose to do both paint and paper in brown and blue, and of course finished off with some fabulous ribbon.

To save time, trace your letters on your paper first.  Next paint your letters.  While the letters are drying cut out the paper letters you traced.

Whip out the mod podge or what ever glue you prefer and attach your paper letters to you block letters.

Once the glue is dry, you can sand the edges of the paper where it bumps up to the edge of the wood block.  This gives it a real finished touch.  Next, pull out the gorgeous ribbon of your choice and measure and glue to your letters.

To give them some extra flair, I also made some ribbon flowers.  The flowers are very simple to make and are really cute.  You'll take your needle and thread and make straight line stitch.  Once it's the length you want stitch it closed.  I chose to double layer these with both the PV34, light blue velvet, and NY04, two tone stripes.

 I also used ribbon 357-34-32 Ant. gold velvet corduroy.  Gluing the ribbon around the outside gives the letters some added dimension.

I love how they turned out.  I hope this inspires you to do something fun with some block letters or another wood craft.

Thanks for joining me today!! C-ya again soon.  You can also visit me at http://www.andreasbowcottage.com/



DIY Table Centerpiece

Hi Friends!  It's me, Andrea. 

 Oh, boy do I have a fun, simple, and budget friendly project to share with you today.  How many of you go to Holiday or Christmas parties?  Most of us, right!  First things first.....

Supplies needed are:  May Arts Ribbon of course- NY42 in both 1.5" and 5/8", and AG09 3/8"

small boxes various sizes

chipboard type planter box/bag

paper of your choice

paint, brushes, modpodge

ruler, paper-cuter, scissors

candles

Holiday picks

Now let's get started, shall we?!

Measure 1. The sides of the bottom of the box

2. The sides to the lid of the box

3. The top of the box

Write your measurements down so you won't forget!

Paint all the edges of the boxes and the lids.  No need to be picky most of it will end up covered anyway. Wink!

Paint your chipboard boxes too.

Now while the paint is drying take your measurements and cut the paper of your choice to size.  By the time you're done cutting your paper strips the paint on your boxes should be dry.

Roll up those sleeves and put on your apron, we're breaking out the modpodge.  I used glitter modpodge because I like sparkly things. 

Simply paint on the modpodge, press on your strips of paper and press with stick, ruler, fingers etc.  Don't push so hard all the glue comes out from underneath.  Once your done with all the strips of paper repaint modpodge over the paper and box just to make sure everything is sealed nicely and to give it the added sparkle luster.

After the paint dried on this chipboard type box I also put gold glitter modpodge over it as well.  I wish I would have taken a picture without the ribbon, because I wasn't sure I was going to use this in the end until I put the ribbon on it.  Oh, my goodness how this luxurious ribbon gave it the final touch in making it adorable.

To make the arrangement, get some holiday picks and put some Styrofoam in the bottom and just randomly shove the picks in where you want.  Again don't get to picky. 

 Now for the bow!  I like to use this nifty little bow make to hold my ribbon.  Once you've got your loops use some floral wire or thread to hold it together.This will go on top of your present boxes.  I also wrapped ribbon down the sides and taped it to the bottom.  I did not glue my boxes together and didn't permanently glue the box on top, so that when it's time to store it I can put the ribbon in the smallest box and then all of the boxes inside each other for easy storage.

You could use just the boxes as a centerpiece or if you have a larger table you can add the chipboard boxes and some candles.  Here I have a large candle plate that I covered with some gold tree trim to set my boxes on.  Tied some ribbon around my candles and found a pair of candleholders in my house to put them on. 

 Wrap the gold tree trim around the candle plate. 

 Add some snowflakes and voila! 

 What holiday centerpieces are you doing?  I hope this inspires you in one way or another.

Happy Holidays!!!

Andrea

www.andreasbowcottage.com