Gift Ideas – Page 21

Easy Crochet Shawl Pattern

Are you working on your handmade Christmas gifts yet? This “8-hour” shawl is a quick, simple, and beautiful gift to mark some girlfriends off of your list. I found the pattern by A la Sascha on ravelry, and it is free to download, here.

The yarn I used for this project is a lovely worsted weight, soft wool blend; Lion Brand Amazing in Ruby. The vivid colors and a light softness are irresistable. The pattern calls for 3 skeins, but I wanted the shawl larger, so I used 4 skeins, and crocheted 33 rows before beginning the edging, which I did as the pattern instructs. I love the ruffled edging. I finished this project in 3 days, and my niece is gonna love her new shawl.

What is on your hook today?

Rolled Paper Bead Necklace

by Johnnie Collier

Are you planning your handmade gift lists? Today’s project is a lovely penny saving piece of unique jewelry, made from paper beads, wire, and glass beads. This piece is a two stranded necklace that can be casual or dressy. The general concept can be applied to bracelets, earrings, eyeglass holders, bookmarks and more.

Supplies:

Paper beads (see this post for instructions)
Round nose pliers, wire cutters
glass beads (I used crystals and rock beads)
Closure Mechanism
Small chain length (to connect beaded strands to closure)

Instructions:

Make loop on one end of 2 inch wire segment, add beads in desired order, then loop other end using round nose pliers.

Make as many of them as you need to get the desired length of your chain, and connect them, loop end to loop end.

For a double stranded piece, connect both strands to a small segment of chain (or jump rings), then connect that to your clasp. See pictures to better understand!

Recycled Magazine Page Bowl

by Johnnie Collier

At it again. Today I have some new tips to share with you that will make these projects easier. They are still time consuming as all get out, but with a couple of extra steps you can be sure to get beautiful results with your magazine strips everytime.

Here I showed you how to fold and coil strips. I have been folding and gluing for awhile now, and I am finding it much easier to use 1/4 magazine page sections to make the strips. They are easier to fold, and look neater (since they are not as thick) than the 1/2 page method I showed you in the link above. I use a paper cutter to cut a stack of magazine pages into quarters lengthwise (the vase in the pic is sitting on 1/4 pages).

The next tip is so helpful. If you dip each strip in glue, let them dry, then spritz them with water, they become easier to work with and shape into your desired creation. It kinda becomes like working with clay! To do this, I put 2 parts elmers glue, one part water in a vase like the one above (which I got at the dollar tree). I dipped the strip in, flipped it over and dipped the other half and ran it through 2 fingers to remove excess glue. Then I placed each strip on a non stick craft sheet. Wax paper would work too.

I let them dry for a couple of days, spritzed them with water in a mister bottle, and began coiling and shaping. SO much easier this way. I still sealed the final piece for durability and strength.

For the bowl, I started with a coil at the center, then made a rounded corner square by cutting strips in graduated lengths and creating the four corners. Once I had the corners in place, I began coiling around the entire shape, working up and out to make the bowl. Hard to explain, but you can see what I did in the pics. Working on a video tutorial!

Drop a Harvest Bomb

by Johnnie Collier

Have a college student, or friend/relative in a situation that prevents them from decorating for fall, even thought they would love to boast a festive porch? I say harvest bomb them. Go ahead. You must have seen the yarn bombers by now? Apply that philosophy to autumn decor and surprise your loved one.

This all came about when my stepdaughter, admiring our fall porch, expressed how nice it would be if her house were festive on the outside. As soon as she left, I pulled out the glue gun and wreath form and went to work. Here is a step by step photo montage of Harvest Bomb day one. Stay tuned for more. I plan to add things daily over the next week, and will update this post with a final picture.

Customizable Monogram Wedding Printable With Tutorial

by Johnnie Collier

Do you want to skip the registries and opt for a unique, personalized wedding gift that is sure to stand out as a treasured token of the special day? In this article you will find a free digital download of the layered photoshop file used to make the framed monogram you see here, as well as a simple, detailed photo tutorial showing you how to personalize the text for your bride and groom.

You will need:

Photoshop and a basic understanding of how it works.
A color printer and glossy photo paper, or a printing service
Square picture frame

Tutorial:

Download the file I created in photoshop, here. Unzip and open the file in photoshop.
Select the text tool in photoshop either by clicking the T in the vertical toolbar on the right, or by hitting ‘t’ on your keyboard. The text of the image is separated into 3 layers as shown in the picture below. Double click the top text layer thumbnail to select the date text, then type in your desired text. Repeat for the remaining 2 text layers.

Now you have changed the date, the couple’s names and the large surname initial layer in the background. You can further customize to your liking by changing the color of the overlay effect under layer “Background Copy” as shown below.

Now you will need to size the image to fit your frame. The original size is 6.75 x 6.75 inches at 300ppi resolution (optimal resolution for highest picture quality). To do this, click on “Image”, then “Image Size” in the photoshop horizontal toolbar. Change the size to fit your frame in the window as shown below.

Now you are ready to save the file; In toolbar, go to “File” then “Save As”. You will get the following window. Save as jpg or pdf as shown.

Print at home or use your favorite printing service. I absolutely love how this turned out, and it took no time at all.

Coiled Magazine Page Round Coasters

by Johnnie Collier

Yes, you guessed it, more coiled magazine page crafts. This obsession is not leaving anytime soon. Ready for another unique, practically free, handmade gift idea. These are the easiest of the magazine/newspaper crafts I have shared so far. You are going to want to grab a captivating mini series to get lost in while you fold.

I showed you how to make the round coils in this earlier post. Just follow the instructions and make the coils coaster sized. That is it. Tie a piece of ribbon or twine around them and give them as Christmas gifts. So cute!!!

What are your favorite recycled paper projects?

Awesome Subway Art DIY

by Johnnie Collier

Don’t you just love the subway are that is so big in the blog decor world these days? I ran into an example on a Pinterest board that inspired me to create my own. Here is the original. This quote is a line from “How I Met Your Mother” – Neil Patrick Harris’s character coined it. I cracked up when I heard it and loved the idea of it hanging in my stepdaughter’s college dorm room. It is created in Photoshop, which is wonderful, because you can easily change colors and fonts to suite your needs. Follow along step by step as I guide your through the CS4 Photoshop process, a rare event here at SBLC!

UPDATE: Get free printables of all 3 colors at Printable Decor.

Instructions:

In the Photoshop toolbar, click “New” to open a new document

Set your document size. I chose 11×17. Set your resolution to 300 ppi…

Select your background color by clicking the adjustment layer icon in the layers palatte (labeled below), and choosing “solid color”. A color picker window will appear, where you can pic your color. Click on your desired color, or enter the hex code. This will leave you with a color fill layer that you can easily change (see second pic below).

Grab the text tool (shortcut is “T” on the keyboard) and select your font. You want it to be a blocky font if your are going for the subway art feel. I used 2 fonts here; Myriad Pro Condensed and Trebuchet MS Regular. You want to keep each line of text a different layer, so that you can adjust each line individually without affecting the font settings on the other lines. To make your words fit, adjust the font size, as well as the space between the letters. This requires opening the character panel (pictured below) and changing the AV setting. A smaller number means the letters are closer together…

When you are happy with the letters, grab a grunge paintbrush (keyboard shortcut B, then choose your desired brush) and in a new layer, paint over the letters in the same color as the background. I downloaded this awesome high res grunge brush set for free, here. BIG thank you to digitalrevolution. This gives a nice distressed look to the piece.

Remember the adjustable color layer I had you make for your background? Perfect for if you have 2 stepdaughters both in college, that have different color preferences. I changed the bright pink to blue for the print you saw in the teaser. Love how they look. I have seen several tutorials for these done with paint and stencils on canvas, but this is literally a 5 minute Photoshop endeavor. No mess, $0.80 per print, frames I had on hand from my obsessive garage sale frame purchasing.

I got an extra print in with a black background that I have in mind for a gift. It would be really cute made into a faux canvas print by mod podging it onto painted mdf board, like I showed you here. What do you think? I would love to hear your feedback on this tutorial. I know it assumes some comfort with Photoshop. Did you find it helpful, easy to follow, or did it give you a headache? I rarely do these and am always looking to see what you all want more or less of here at SBLC. Thanks!

Recycled Newspaper Coasters

by Johnnie Collier

If you read the end of my last post, you had to know that coiled newspaper coasters were next, right?! These are quite simple to create. Not quick, as folding the paper into strips is time consuming, but easy and essentially free. For my tutorial on creating the strips, click here.

Begin coiling your strips like you are making a circle and morph into square as shown below. Or you could make round coasters!

To make the handy little coaster holder, make rectangles and attach them using hot glue and or crochet string. Don’t forget to waterproof your coasters by sealing with Mod Podge (I prefer Matte finish for these) or your sealant of choice!

Hmmm… what will I make out of coiled paper next???

Paper Embellished Clay Pendants

by Johnnie Collier

These beautiful paper adorned clay pendants are simple to make, and easily customizable for special keepsakes. Whip up several in an afternoon and use up your paper scraps and stray beads in the process. Follow my step by step tutorial, adding you own twists!

Supplies:

Black Polymer Clay
Pasta machine or acrylic roller
Clay blade
Scrap decorative paper
Wire (I used 22 gauge silver)
Needle nose pliers
Mod Podge (I used glossy)
Size 6 seed beads for wire wrapping over surface of pendant
Larger crystal or bead for bottom of pendant

Instructions:

Condition your clay and roll at a thickness of 2 (1 being thickest) in your pasta machine. Cut sheet in half and place one half on top of the other. This creates a thicker sheet, which I like for the pendant beads. It makes a pretty pendant at this thickness, and is easy to pierce with a needle to create hole for looped wire hanging mechanism later on.

Cut rectangles out of your double stacked clay sheet.

Pierce each pendant from top to bottom along the length of the pendant. I use these long needles that came with my bead baking tray. I have seen them sold separate in the clay section at Michael’s and other craft stores. Be careful piercing the raw clay. You can get fingerprints and other nicks in the clay, but imperfections are not to big of an issue with this project since the majority of the piece will be paper covered.

Bake per package; usually 275° for 25 min.

After baking and letting cool, you can wrap with paper strips. I paint the back of the paper surface with mod podge using a foam brush. Wrap the adhesive coated paper around pendant, smoothing out any wrinkles with fingers.

Print out a sheet of typed words to run along the length of the pendant. Rip the word from the page if you like the torn edge look, or cut for a clean edge. Adhere with Mod Podge. Let dry.

To finish decorating your pendant, wrap a piece of small gauge silver wire around, adding a seed bead every other wrap. I added three to mine. Put wire through where your needle hole was made and loop the top end. Place a bead or crystal at the bottom end, bending the leftover wire to keep the bead in place. You could also solder the end or use and eye pin to hold the bead in place.

Anthropologie Hairpin Knock-Off

by Johnnie Collier

I got the inspiration for these adorable hairpins from Anthropologie, here. As soon as I saw them on the website, I knew I had found the perfect project for a pack of flower embellishments I picked up awhile back for $3.39 (18 flowers). The Anthro version costs $28 for a set of 4. You can make them for about $0.20 each using the Donna Downey flowers. I also made a couple of hairpins from polymer clay flowers I created using a Makins mold for even less. Grab some bobby pins and super glue and make your very own.

Supplies:

Sculpture Flowers by Donna Downey (18 flowers for $3.39)
E6000 craft glue
Hairpin blanks

Instructions:

Yeah, so this one is pretty darn easy. Just put a dab of glue on the back of your flower and adhere it to the bobbie pin. Brilliant, I know!

Easy Crochet Shawl Pattern

Rolled Paper Bead Necklace

Recycled Magazine Page Bowl

Drop a Harvest Bomb

Customizable Monogram Wedding Printable With Tutorial

Coiled Magazine Page Round Coasters

Awesome Subway Art DIY

UPDATE: Get free printables of all 3 colors at Printable Decor.

Recycled Newspaper Coasters

Paper Embellished Clay Pendants

Anthropologie Hairpin Knock-Off

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UPDATE: Get free printables of all 3 colors at Printable Decor.

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