Fans garland Tutorial

Remember this garland that I showed you some time ago? Its made with a charm pack from Moda Fabrics. This garland can be used in a number of ways to decorate and personalize their rooms, nooks or any space. The best part? Since we are not cutting these squares, you could totally reuse them for your next sewing/quilting project once the decorations are taken down. 

Materials

Charm pack squares - I used 15 squares but you could use as many as you want to get the desired length

Needle

Thread

Approximate Time

One hour for a garland with 15 fans

Fold a charm pack square in half. Iron

Fold both halves into half again onto themselves. Iron.

And again fold the outermost halves onto themselves ( but outward this time). Iron.

Now fold the one closest to the center to complete the accordion fold. Iron.

Repeat this with as many pieces as you want to have in the garland.

Using a needle and a thread(thread it with 2 strands of thread) , sew a stitch in the center of the folded fabric. Do it twice if you want additional strength.

Now bring together two corners of the square and sew a stitch joining them.

Your first fan is ready!

Now leave 3 inches of thread and sew another fan to it.

Now keep going until you're done with all the squares you ironed.

Your fan garland is ready to be hung. Enjoy!

Your lemonade stand, fortress, card table hideout, or just personalizing your room, the possibilities are endless, and so is fun..

And while we are talking about decorating, here is a store I didn't know about until recently ( and should have).

iVgStores is an online store for all things home. They have lot of cool decorating stuff like these wall arts and many interesting items that would help you personalize your home to reflect your tastes. Their representative pointed me to their selection of screens/room dividers and I was amazed at the number of options they have.
How cool is this New York City Scenes Screen? Love it!

Laced with love necklace: Five minutes gift for Mom

DIY gift idea: Lace Necklace

Supplies:

Scraps of Laces, satin, organza ribbons in coordinating colors
Narrow sating ribbon - 1 yd
Necklace Closure - 1 set ( Here's one place to buy it)

Construction:

1. Gather coordinating ribbon scraps together, wrap one of the scraps around the neck to get an idea of minimum length, all your scraps should be equal or bigger than this length.

2. Place them together such that one end is aligned for all the scraps.

3. Tie a knot at the end with the narrow satin ribbon such that there is a loop remaining at the end.

4. Wrap the satin ribbon around the knot multiple times.

5. Loosely intersperse the different laces and strings, like you braid hair, just 2-3 knots.

6. This is what it will look like once you're done.

7. Bring out the necklace closures, here's what mine looked like.

8. For the right hand side closure, I just placed it around the loop we made earlier at one end and gently tapped it shut with a small hammer. You could use any slightly heavy object.

9. Align the scraps at the other end. Insert a piece of narrow satin ribbon through the eye of the closure.

10. Tie a knot at this end as well, just the way we did in step 3.

11. Wrap the ribbon over the knot several times. knot it again to secure. At this point it will be a good idea to take a threaded needle and hand sew over the knot a couple of times for added strength.

12. Chop off the extra ribbon at both ends.

Now place in a pretty package and give it to the woman who loves you the most.

Options:

1. Add some metal charms or beads on the scraps and secure them with a knot.

2. Add a pretty pendant in coordinating color with the help of a jump ring.

Tulle earrings: Five minutes gift for Mom

I made these earrings a couple of weeks ago, and realized that these could be a super quick, super easy gift for Mother's day. These are also a great gift to make with kids above 5 years, no sewing or glue required ( Dads .. listen up)

Supplies:

Tulle scraps
Earring posts ( I got mine from here)
Upholstery thread or some strong thread ( not plastic thread)


Construction:

1. Cut half inch wide strips of Tulle. About a yard long. You don't have to be precise with the width of strip, tulle is difficult to cut, so don't sweat if your strip has uneven edges or uneven width, just do your best..ok?

2. Wrap the ribbon over two of your fingers.

3. Gently slip the ribbon off your fingers. Tie in the center with an upholstery thread or any strong thread.

4. Chop off the sides a bit to open up the layers.

5. Fluff the layers until it starts looking like a pom-pom.

6. Insert the earring post in the pom pom center.

7. To make both earrings same sized, Put one earring on top of others ( right sides together) and snip the sides into a circle. That will ensure that both the earrings are same sized.

Place on a pretty card, and admire.

Make some more in other colors. The pink ones above were made with a wider and shorter ribbon, so they are not as full as the white one.
Now wrap up a pair and send it to Mom.

Options:

1. You could also upcycle a pair of stud earrings or pearl earrings with this technique. That would also add some bling to the center.