Burlap Pom Pom Tutorial

About 1 month ago was Homeboy's birthday. To celebrate his Fourth year on this earth, and my Fourth year, of surviving this child's presence within our home, we threw him a little shin-dig. It was a cowboy themed shin-dig! He would would have much preferred a Lego themed party, BUT, I was much more excited to make cowboy themed, party, attire. Wasn't it nice of me to be democratic that way?

Anyhooo, I made a burlap banner, tissue-paper pom poms, and burlap pom poms, for some of the Cowboy themed, party, decor. Cause as you may know, pom poms and Cowboys go hand in hand! True story. I should know. I was born and raised in the land of Wyoming. Land of Cowboys, trucks, and chewing tobacco.

One of my dear friends, that also resided in the land of tobacco-chewing, cowboys, asked me how I made my burlap pom poms. Her name is Tiffany. Tiffany is awesome. Tiffany is talented beyond believe. Infact, her entire family is talented AND they are ALL gorgeous. And quite frankly, they make me sick! :) Sick, I tell ya!

Tiffany is also the author and creator of a down-right cute blog, Raising Lemons. www.raisinglemons.com

Check it out, you will love it!

Here is the burlap pom pom tutorial. It is so darn right easy, you will be rolling your eyes at the end of this post and think to yourselves, "Really?!?! You really needed to post a tutorial about this? I could have figured this out, no problem!"

 

Was I right, or was I right?

*eyes-rolling*

Flower Topiary Tutorial - It's gorgeous, it's easy!

This lovely topiary took me around 30 minutes TOPS to make! True story, no lies. It's so easy Homeboy could make one. But then of course, during the process of making this topiary he would have managed to paint his feet, stick the flower stems up his nose and there would also be a major glue gun catastrophe.

You will need the following supplies:

Flowers (I have 7 in my topiary) - you can find silk flowers at most craft stores

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  A clay pot


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  Antique white colored craft paint


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  Floral foam (you can find this in the floral section of a craft store)


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  Ribbon


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  Sheet Moss


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  Floral tape (you can find this in the floral section of a craft store, also)
  


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  Oh, and a glue gun
  

The first step to make this lovely topiary is to paint the entire outside (except for the bottom) of the clay pot with the antique white craft paint.

I had to paint the outside of my pot 2 times so that you could not see any of the pot show through.

The second step is to place the floral foam inside of the pot. You will most likely need to trim the corners and sides of the foam. You can easily do this with a butter knife. It doesn't need to be perfect - as long as it is close. Then smash the foam into the pot. The top of the foam will need to be even with the top of the pot.

Once the floral foam has been placed in the pot you will need to secure the flowers together with floral tape and trim the stems, if needed.

The key to working with floral tape is to stretch it as you wrap it around the stems.

Hold the end of the tape with your thumb, against the middle of the stems. With your other hand, begin to wrap the tape around the stems, being sure to stretch it a little, as you wrap. I only wrapped about a 2 inch section. When you are done wrapping, tear of the end of the tape and rub it securely on top of the wrapped section of tape.

Next, you will need to trim the stems of the flowers, if needed. The easiest way to do this, is with wire cutters. Usually, silk flowers will have a wire stuck in the middle of the stem.

My pot is 5 inches high, and my topiary stands 8 inches above the top of the pot. There is about 2 inches of the stems stuck in the foam. I actually did not need to trim the stems, which made this project that much easier!

Push the stems of the flowers into the foam.

After the flowers are placed into the foam, wrap the ribbon around the stems and then tie in knots in the front. Trim the ends of the ribbon, if needed.

The very last step is to squeeze some hot glue on top of the foam and then tear off small sections of the sheet moss and place firmly on the glue.

Then this is usually the place when I end up with a glob a hot glue on my fingers, I scream in pain, say a cuss word, quickly run my fingers under cold water, peel off the glue glob, and then suck my thumb. Old habit, from my earlier years.

And there you have it. People, will admire your mad crafting skills, and may even ask where you purchased your lovely flower topiary. Which is the best compliment, one can get!

Towel Bag

Over the weekend I sewed these cute towel bags for my boys. I got my inspiration from this clever gal's blog, The Idea Room .

Swim season is upon us! Which means soaking wet towels and chlorine drenched swim trunks will soon be decorating my laundry room floor.

Growing up, all of the kids would roll their undies, toiletries, and suits in a towel. This was risky. It was risky because there was always the chance of an "undie escape". It was common to find a pair or two of frilly panties and tighty-whities laying on the floor of our local swimming pool. If no one was looking during an "undie escape", you could quickly swipe and tuck your undies back into the folds of your towel. But if there were witnesses...well, you just walked away. And then some obnoxious boy would usually yell, "Ewwwwwww! Someone dropped their panties! And there's streaks! Ewwwwwww!" All of the kids would "Ewwwww!" in unison and laugh. The victim would then usually pipe up and claim, "Sheesh! I wonder who's panties these belong to? What a dork!"

I'm still scarred about that experience.

I purchased these cute towels from Wal-mart for only $3 dollars and something cents! You can easily make two bags from one towel, if you'd like.

You can make the bags any size you want. Mine are 17 inches wide and 19 inches long. I only have 2 seams in my towel bags. I folded the towel in half, by doubling the width measurement.

Step 1. Lay the towel on a flat surface and cut the width at 35 inches. (Once folded and sewn, the width of the bag will measure around 17 inches)

Step 2. Measure the height of your towel at 21 inches and cut off the excess towel material from the top.

Step 3. Sew on or iron on some trim on the right side (or outside), 4 inches from the top of towel. (I found this cute trim that you iron on. I also zig zagged it with my sewing machine)

Step 4. To make the casing for the drawstring, fold down the top of the towel about 1 1/2 inches. Pin in place.

Step 5. Sew the casing, using your presser foot as a guide.

Oooops!

I accidentally switched steps 6 and 7. So imagine the step 7 image being at the top!

Step 6. With right sides together, fold the towel in half and pin the bottom and side openings.

Step 7. Sew the bottom and side seams, being sure to NOT sew through the casing. I also zig zagged the seams to prevent fraying.

Step 8. Turn the bag right side out and pull the drawstring through the casing. I like to use a large safety pin to do this. Once you have pulled the drawstring through the entire casing, cut the ends to your desired length. (I cut mine to around 8 inches) Then insert the ends through a cord stop (these can be purchased at JoAnns and Hancocks).

The ends of the drawstring can be tied together in a knot or you can fold over the ends and sew them to prevent the drawstring from unraveling.

All done! Enjoy your towel bags and have a wonderful summer!

Pom Poms!

There are a few things in this world of ours, that make my heart flutter.

A clean and organized home, my kids acting silly, my husband's bulging muscles, and these...

These are going to be part of the decor for an up and coming RS birthday dinner!

Pom poms!!!

I stole this idea from the queen herself, Martha.

These are so easy and can be made in many sizes!

Step 1. Get a pack of tissue paper. Usually a pack contains 10-14 pieces of tissue paper, which is perfect for this little project. Depending on the desired size, you can either cut a few inches off of the side of the paper or don't cut it if you want a large pom pom.

Step 2. Next, fold the pack of tissue paper like you would a fan. Approximately 1 1/2 inches wide. Easy peasy.


Step 3. Wrap a cloth covered piece of wire (these can be purchased at any craft store) around the center of your fan and twist tight.

Step 4. Once you have folded the pack of tissue paper, you will need to cut the ends. You can cut the ends in a point or a heart shape, or a rounded ended! It's up to you! Use your creativity!

Step 5. Fan out the folds then pull one sheet of the tissue paper up to the center. One sheet at a time. Once you have pulled up about half of the stack of papers, turn it over and repeat the same process. Rinse and repeat.

Step 6. Fluff away baby! Fluff, fluff, away!

Oh! Gorgeous!

Tie a piece of clear fish line to the wire and you can suspend these lovelies from the ceiling!

If you want to kick things up a notch, you can alternate colors. Ooooooo, oooooo, awwwww.