Design by Night

  For many, losing weight is a priority in the new year. Well this tutorial can help! How do you say? Well next time you want to pick up a fork to eat a piece of cake, craft with it instead. Supplies: 18" chain with findings Embroidery thread—4 Colors Scissors Dinner fork Tape Tape the chain to the the fork, keeping it towards one of the outer prongs. Using your first color of embroidery thread, start wrapping it around the fork and chain. I just kept wrapping until I thought I had enough thread to make a nice sized tassel. Cut about a 12" piece of the thread and weave it through the fork prong and around your bundle of wrapped thread (Fig. 2a). Tie the thread tightly (Fig. 2b). Weave the ends through again and around to the back and tie again, make sure to tie it tightly and double knot the thread so it does not come undone (Fig. 2c). Trim the long ends (I trimmed them the length of the tassel so they would blend in). Make three more tassels on th...

If you have scraps of leather or faux leather around these hair bows are a great way to use them. You could even recycle an old purse or leather accessory that you no longer use. Supplies : 4" x 6" piece of leather or faux leather Sharp scissors X-ACTO knife with new blade White craft glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue) 1.5" Alligator Hair Clip Print out the pattern below. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size). Cut pieces out of the leather. Note: I used a fine point Sharpie to trace the pattern on the back of the leather to cut it out On the back side of the bow body, place a dab of glue on one of the ends and fold in to the middle. Repeat with other side and hold in place until glue dries. Take the center wrap with good side down and place the front of the bow on top with the back facing up. Glue each end of the center wrap and wrap it around the center of the bow body. Hold the wrapped ends until the glue dries. ...

Sorry it has been such a long, long time that I have come up with any new tutorials. Lets just say life and family things got busy...but it is a new year and I want to start it off good. What better way to start off then with an easy felt flower tutorial? I love felt and flowers so here we go. Supplies: Hot glue gun 1/8 of a yard felt Scissors Printer Print out the pattern below. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size). Cut the felt so you have 4 of each size petal. NOTE: you can make a larger or smaller flower by increasing or decreasing the number of petals. Starting with one of the small petals, glue a line along the bottom straight edge of the petal. Roll the petal into a tube like shape, this creates the center of your flower. Take another small petal and glue along the bottom, wrap this petal around the first petal roll you just made. Continue gluing petals around the center going from smallest to largest petals on the outside. Play...

I am off to the land of the Steelers this weekend. My little Baltimore soul has been yelling non-stop since I agreed to the show, I adore Pittsburgh's Handmade Arcade shoppers but Steeler's fascinators...oh no! But I do love a good football rivalry. I hope to see as many of you guys as possible. Handmade Arcade Saturday December 7th 11am to 7pm David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburgh  See more at: www.handmadearcade.com

Skip the mall black Friday and buy handmade this weekend! Come see me and other great vendors at Baazzart Friday night and all day Saturday! When: Saturday November 30, 2013 What Time: 10am – 5pm Cost: FREE ENTRY! Where: American Visionary Art Museum, Jim Rouse Visionary Center 3rd Floor BAZAART First Dibs Preview Party: Fri. Nov. 29, 5:30–8pm, $20 / $10 Members For more information visit the AVAM site!