Bow Holders for My Girls

Last year before we had our sweet baby girl I was looking for decorating ideas on Pinterest. I found a fabulous tutorial on how to make bow holders that look like tutus. I fell in love, pinned it and set it aside.

Then last fall when I was getting the supplies I needed to make for the CTR shield, I decided to get enough to make the bodices for the bow holder too. Initially we were going to just go with pink bodices, but we really liked how the green coordinates with bedding in the girls room.

I took photos of most of the process. You can see the original tutorial here. I will post my pictures and give additional notes on the project.

First of all, I got waaaay too much fabric. After some digging, I found the comment where she says the bodice is about 12" high for a large bow holder.  Plan accordingly. 

I think my neck opening needed to be a little bigger so I could pull the fabric well.  I think trying to work in a tiny space added to the puckering.

Closeups of the green "dress"

Before I decided on the flowers, I played around with my options with ribbon and center flowers.  I personally like the top one the best, but my oldest daughter really wanted a combination, so in the end, that is what we did. 

 

 

To tie the bow ribbons into the bodice more, I hot-glued smaller roses on the end of each ribbon.

This is the pink one in her room. The fabric is the same as her CTR Shield.

Remember I said I got too much fabric?  I made another one for her friend.  This time I was smart and the flower on the bodice is actually on a clip (and attached to the ribbons via the clip).  The above "dress" has a glued-down flower. 

CTR Wall Art

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can't.  I think it is a variation of the baptism towels I've seen on the web.

This project began as a "Souper Saturday" project in the fall.  Quick Primer: "Souper Saturday" is a play on "Super Saturday" which is the name female members of my church congregation  lovingly give to the day in the fall when we can sign up and make multiple crafts in one day (about four hours worth).   In my congregation, we also bring potluck soups to share. 

I ended up not working on my own crafts so much, but helping others work on their vinyl projects.  And silly me, I forgot to take pictures of them.

This last weekend, I decided to get caught up on my projects.  I completed this picture mat project, and some church-related activity books.  I then wanted to tackle this project, but could not find a tutorial online.  I had forgotten the instructions in the nearly six months since I had picked up my fabric at the store.

I decided to create a tutorial for everyone else.

Materials needed:

2-3 types of fabrics.  You'll want one of the fabrics to be big enough for your background.  The green shield is on a background slightly larger than 8x10 so I could tape the sides to the mat.  The pink one is adjusted or the larger frame and mat.

2 types of interfacing.  You want one sided interfacing for the background fabric to give it stiffness.  The second type needs to be two sided to act as your glue" between layers.

2 copies of the CTR shield.  (Find it here).

x-acto knife

sharp scissors

Iron

Damp cloth and dry cloth

For this project, I used three fabrics.

1)  Either create a mirror copy of the shield on a copy machine, or trace the lines with a pen on the back.  I did the latter.

Original

Mirror version in pen

2)  Using your double-sided interfacing, trace the backwards shield in three parts. You could trace the just the 1/2 inch shield outline and the letters, but I thought it was easier to trace the small shield, the large shield and the letters separately.

3) On the second paper copy of the CTR shield, use your x-acto knife to cut out the letters and part of the shield.  You'll need this later.

4)  After you've traced everything, do a rough cut of the interfacing and place on the backside of your iron fabric for pressing.  Press with a hot iron for a few seconds--just long enough to adhere the interfacing to the fabric.




5) Cut the "fused" interfacing and fabric with sharp scissors. This is reason you needed to trace the letters backwards.  Do this for both the large and small shields as well. 








6)  On the background fabric, iron on the fusible web using a cloth to cover the web and fabric.  (The kind I used was like plastic-like and would have melted if it had come into direct with the iron). 

Before

 Using the cloth

 After

 7)  Peel the paper backing off the large shield and center it on the background fabric.  Press.  Some types of double-sided interfacing require you to use a wet cloth over the top. 

8)   Check the fit of the smaller shield.  Make any cutting adjustments while the paper is on.  If it looks good proceed to the next step. 

9)  Peel the paper backing off the smaller shield and position it for ironing.  Press.

10)  Using the second paper copy we cut and set aside earlier, place it on top of both shields for correct position.  

11)  Peel off the paper backing on the letters and position then on the shields.  Press
 

 12)  Voila!

13)  Center the piece in your frame or behind a mat.  I used another mat.  

A close up of the background fabric.  It says, "Faith, Hope, Love, Charity" all over it.   How cool is that?

 The finished project!  I hope you enjoyed your visit today!

Family Ties

May is a month of celebration in my family (mother's day, anniversaries, birthdays, etc). So I thought it was appropriate to post a sign that I love to make. I love the idea that my family can be together forever.

I know I am blessed. I actually love and get along with my in-laws (I think they are fantastic people truth be told). And while we are not perfect and we certainly have our ups and downs, overall I think we're a happy family. I am grateful for this blessing--words really can't express it enough--so I hope my actions do let my family know how grateful I am for them.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmastime is here! I love this time of year--the snow, the red, green and gold everywhere, the songs about family and friends--I just love it. Every year I try to buy my presents a little early so I can enjoy the holidays to the fullest without having to worry about running around. (Nothing beats having all the essential stuff done and being able to enjoy your family with some downtime).

Last year I was still trying to get things sent off--this year I'm doing a little better. My kids are growing too fast and I want to focus on their enjoyment of the holidays.

Decorating is an essential tradition. This pictures above show a window decorated with vinyl. You can apply it from the inside or outside--just remember if you want it to show from inside the window, you need to order it reversed or mirrored so it looks correct when seen from the outside.