Project 11: Fabric Letters

In August last year, our little family of four headed to the United States to visit some friends.  I had a list of shops to visit but highest priority was given to Jess's suggestion of Anthropologie - temple of bohemian clothes and gorgeous homewares.  It became a bit of an obsession as we hit numerous shopping centres to kill time or escape the heat, clocking up about 6 stores in our 3 weeks abroad.  I wanted to bring something back for Jess as a thank you for introducing Anthropologie into my life so she scored a fabric covered lower case "j" for her wall and unable to stop at one, the kids earned a letter each too.

The more I looked at those letters hanging on the wall, the more I wondered how easy they would be to make.  There are a few sites that tackle the task but this one seems to be the best.  After a fraught visit to Spotlight, we had the cardboard letters (no lower case letters available sadly), wadding and various material pieces ready for a night of crafting.

Kate used leftover material and binding tape for her "L" and "J" which will stay in the family home or find their way into the present box.  She worked as fast as the wind as usual and made it look all too easy!  Jess and I were determined to replicate the Anthropologie letters so after applying wadding and front material, we laboured at the stitching before attaching the edging.  This did lengthen the whole exercise considerably but I was very happy with the final result - a "R" for my sister-in-law's birthday. Last I heard, Jess was still toiling on her beautiful "B" - will post a pic once the masterpiece is complete!

They are fiddly and using the glue gun is a hazard for your poor fingertips but I do think they make a very personal, decorative present - so choose your recipients wisely!

Amanda

Project 10: Rainbow Fabric Baskets

I am not sure in what order we did this! It seems so long ago. Do I say that every post??!

I fell in love with these baskets after reading Denise Vanderlugt's book "Where Rainbows Live" and was glad to have a chance to make some of my own.

We used plastic shopping bags, cut into strips for the structure. We used strips of fabric and wrapped and threaded them around the plastic using a darning needle. It takes a couple of rows to work out the tension, too tight and you can't poke the next row through, too loose and the basket will collapse on itself. I recommend keeping your colours together for a little bit of order. 

We didn't finish any on the night! A few days later, Amanda turned one into a shallow open basket for keys and I have one as a lidded basket. I have started another that I am planning on giving as a present, although as always I tempted to keep it and start a collection. As for Kate, I think she tempted to also keep it as an open basket but is undecided. I will have to check on her progress and get back to you. Jess

Project 9 - Lacquered Boxes - Take Two

We've done these boxes once before, and found them so easy, quick, yet incredibly beautiful and effective - we just had to revisit them. 
Inspired by the arrival of a friend's precious baby girl (welcome Mabel Abigail), we started making one as a baby gift, but then went on to finish six more in an evening. 

The highchairs and kids' stool were the perfect drying racks for works in progress.
Amanda made two in boys colours. The one for her husband with a map of London streets where they used to live is particularly special. There was a lot of cackling as we theorised about what he might decide to store in it.

Jess and I were deeply grateful to Amanda for doing the gruntwork by shopping for the many boxes at Ikea whilst heavily pregnant. Amanda, we salute you.


Kate

Crafty Friday for Sale: Botanique 2012

Brisbane folks, we currently have selected items from our blog on sale as part of Bazaar Botanique at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens from the 4th-15th July.  Swing on by the Richard Randall Studio if you are in the neighbourhood!

And if you are keen for a double dose of Botanique, the fashion parade of wearable art by Brisbane designers is on Tuesday 10th July at 7pm.

Solo Craftiness: Lacquered coasters

On a Monday night not too long ago, my sister in law was staying and we were twiddling our thumbs after dinner. I mentioned the magic words "Mod Podge" and we were off, experimenting with some MDF coasters I had lying around.  I raided my card collection and cut this delicious painting of pomegranates by Brisbane artist Raquel Redmond to size.  After several layers of Mod Podge and then a final coat of acrylic sealer, the coasters were ready to support in style a tall cool drink, or piping hot winter warmer.
Amanda. 

Project 8: More dresses for gorgeous girls

The dresses Jess made for her girls a while ago were so lovely we decided it was time to revisit them. We whipped up a couple for some friends plus a few extra for our own girls. They are quick to sew - under an hour - really cute, and comfy to wear.

They have the sweetest little pockets using contrasting fabric.

 This red and white spotty one below is using a fine winter corduroy, and it has little gathered three-quarter sleeves.

Kate.

Project 7: Lacquered storage boxes

I found this box at Ikea ($39 - above) and thought it would be the perfect storage for the hair related paraphernalia that overwhelms your bathroom when you have two daughters - clips, hairbands, headbands, school hairbands, ribbons, combs, brushes, nitcombs.....you get the picture. And after our previous success using Mod Podge on the trays, I thought it would probably work on these boxes too. And it did. Really well.

We bought a few beautiful sheets of wrapping paper and also had lots of odd bits of paper already in our craft ammunition. We simply traced the shape of each drawer onto the paper and cut it out. A coat of Mod Podge first, then we stuck the paper on carefully and smoothed out the bumps, and gave another coat of Mod Podge on top. It dries really quickly and you can build up the strength of the surface by applying several coats. You can also add an acrylic waterproof sealer if you plan on storing the object in a damp bathroom or other water exposed area.

Amanda made a four and six drawer one for each of her kids to store their treasures, and they are just beautiful.

I am just rapt at how easy this was, how effective, and how beautiful the finished product is. I have mine in my bathroom next to my new curtains and they look gorgeous together.

And despite this being my genius plan to tame the hair related carnage at home, I keep finding my one year old standing on a stool and pulling out each drawer to systematically empty their contents over the floor. Bah!!!

Kate