I'm Creating!

Coming soon to Caitlin Crafting:

How I turned a pair of jeans into a purse

and

How to make jewelry out of keyboard keys

Autumn is Falling All Around!

My poor coffee table has turned orange, gold, and yellow.This past month I've become obsessed with Dollar Tree and the sheer amount of crafts I can create for cheap-cheap-cheap!

((As an aside, www.dollarstorecrafts.com is an a-maz-ing source of inspiration!))

I've created flower hair accessories for care packages sent off to Korea and Arizona much like this one I created tonight:

Items Needed:

• Faux Flower ($1 at Dollar Tree!)
• Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun
• Hair Accessory (headband, hair scrunchy, bobby pin, barrette-- or even a pin, making it a brooch!)

To create:

1. Remove a faux flower from its stem; completely take it apart
2. Using the hot glue gun, glue the flower petals together in the center
3. You have options in the center: glue down the original center of the flower, or a grouping of beads, make a ribbon bow, whatever makes you happy! Pictured is the original flower center.
4. Glue (or even sew) your flower to your hair accessory or pin

These flowers are so easy to make, so pretty, and so customizable!

Wear a lot of purple? Make a purple flower!

Want to make a bigger statement? Add in feathers, beads, ribbons as fascinators!

In addition, these flowers can be used to create a lovely Fall wreath with a little creative ribboning.

To create a wreath, such as the one I created tonight pictured above, I found and used a tutorial here. I was able to create this wreath for $6 at Dollar Tree plus the cost of a wreath form ($3 at Michael's)

Take a Vote, Choose the Style!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Nothing is attached. All pictures taken by creative folding and placing.

I personally prefer 4, 5, and 6.

2 is meant to be more lacy-leaf shaped, but creative folding can only get me so far.

I actually also like it plain.

Spring Has Sprung- Scrap Fabric Flowers

Need a use for scrap fabric? Make flowers!

These flowers can be used to embellish sweaters and shirts, or put on pin backings for convenient flower-brooches. The one pictured will be used on Belle’s capelet in a production of Beauty and the Beast- starring my little brother as the Beast himself!

For now I have only a few pictures for illustration. When I make more I will update with more illustrative pictures. The thing is, these roses are super easy to make and for that reason it is super hard to explain this how-to in step fashion. I recommend making them out of light spring-time colors to add a splash of color to your day.

Needed:

• Scrap fabric
• Hot Glue Gun + Hot Glue Sticks
• Scissors

The First Step

. . . is to cut out at least 9 petal shapes from the scrap fabric. A good size is about an inch wide by an inch tall- but eyeballing it is perfectly acceptable.

9 petals will make one good sized rose.

The Second Step

. . . is to take one petal and roll it into a tall cylinder, using hot glue at the bottom to hold the roll. This will serve as the middle petal of your rose.

The Third- and Fun- Step

. . .is to hold the rolled petal in one hand, upright. Place a tiny line of hot glue down the side, at the bottom of the roll and pinch just the bottom of a second petal into the hot glue line.

Repeat this process on the other side. The pinching adds definition to your petals, and just gluing the bottoms means you can artfully fold the petals when you complete your project. For the next petal, try gluing it where the last two overlap.

From here it’s all on you. How do you want your rose to look? Add more petals for a crowded look or fewer petals for a young, tiny rose.

If you'd like to add this rose to a pin backing, or to a garment, you may find the bottom is too pointy. Cut out a circle of scrap fabric. Using a pair of good scissors, cut the point off and use hot glue to attach the now flat bottom to the circle of fabric. This bottom circle can now be used as a base for attaching the rose to projects.

Side Project:

You can also pre- pinch your petals, by adding a dot of glue at the very end and pinching it together. Create layers for a flatter flower by gluing four petals together at the very point, the gluing more petals pressing into the center gluing point. Then add the cylindrical petal at the last, cutting or folding it in such a way to make it smaller.

In the picture below, I've rolled the cylinder then cut it in half before folding over the top and pinching the entire thing into a dab of glue at the center to cover where each petal was glued in.

Please ignore the random glob of hot glue in the middle of the flower.

This method is far more difficult for me for some reason.

I recommend the rose pattern as the easier one to follow.

Making Pretty Things

I have about a dozen posts languishing in Word, waiting for witty how-tos or clearer pictures.

Instead of being disciplined and actually getting them posted, I've moved on to yet more crafty callings.

Culling through the pages at www.oneprettything.com has kept me occupied in these days of not having a job and lacking funds for the crafting I suddenly have ample time for. I'm on page 57 and have bookmarked about 20 crafts. I have five in the works for easy Valentine's gifts using my ribbon scrap stash.

Crafting may not save my sanity or find me a job (Can I put "Makes something from nothing" as a skill?)- but it certainly is entertaining discovering exactly what I can and cannot do.

Hint: I cannot sew in a straight line to save my life. Luckily I'm just crafty enough to cover the mistakes with ruffles. :)