You’ll need:

Blank coir welcome mat (I got mine from IKEA, Target and other stores should have them too.)

3 cans spray paint  in various Valentine’s Day shades(I used a combination of both flat and shiny paint textures. It didn’t seem to matter and you can’t tell which were which on the coir. The darkest pink was a shiny finish and the lt. pink and white were matte finish.)

white contact paper

masking tape

Scrap paper

Tape around the edges and then divide the center into 3 equal horizontal lines with your tape. (Masking tape works best for this, blue painter’s tape doesn’t have enough stick to work well. From your contact paper, cut out your X and O shapes (Or try heart shapes!) and apply them to the mat.

Place scrap paper over the parts of the mat you don’t want to paint just yet.

Paint the exposed part.

Come back in a few minutes when dry and move your paper to another section. Paint. Repeat with the last section.

When dry, remove all the tape, paper, and contact paper shapes.

Place in front of your door and enjoy!

Happy crafting,

Erin

You’ll need:

Dish towel (I get mine in a 4 pack from Home Goods. Less than $10.)

Scrap fabrics

Pencil, Scissors

Heat’n Bond Heavy – paper backed fabric adhesive

Ready to get going?

On the paper side of your heat’n bond, sketch or trace your image. (Remember that if your image has a direction, like a letter, make sure you trace it backwards so it will be the right way when we’re done. Some XOXO’s would be cute on the towel too!)

Roughly cut around your image.

Then iron it to the wrong side of your fabric scrap. (The plastic side of the Heat’n Bond should be placed down facing the wrong side of your fabric.)

Cut around the shape and remove the paper backing.

Place your fabric images where you’d like them on your dish towel and iron them on.

Let them cool and they are ready for use!

(If you’d REALLY like to add some stitching, use the Lite Heat’n Bond and then add hand or machine stitching around the shapes. If you used the Heavy Heat’n Bond it’s a permanent adhesive and there’s no need to sew. Light washing will be just fine for your finished towel.)

Happy Crafting,

Erin

This is a fun color wheel clock I made for my mom’s sewing room. It’s a great intro into hand embroidery too if you want to give it a try!

You’ll need:

7″ Embroidery Hoop

1 Clock Kit

1/4 yard linen (or other fabric) I used linen because I liked the texture, but a plain cotton would work fine too.

1/4 yard extra firm fusible interfacing

Embroidery needle

Various colors embroidery floss

Fabric transfer pen or pencil (My favorite is the FriXion Gel Pen. Draw on your fabric, then erase it with the heat of the iron. As with any fabric marking tool, test in an inconspicuous area first!)

Clock Number Pattern (Download the PDF here for free.)

Ready? Let’s begin:

Start off by printing the number pattern. Make sure that it’s printed at 100% and is not scaling so that it’s too large or too small. The little red box in the center should measure exactly 1″.

Place the pattern underneath your linen and use your fabric transfer pen/pencil to trace the numbers onto your fabric. Also mark the center. The center is where the cross hairs are in the red box. We’ll use this marking later to determine where our clock hands will be. (I had to tape mine to the window to make my own light box so tracing was easier.)

After tracing you’re ready to stitch away. Layout your floss colors to make sure you like how it looks before you start. Use your embroidery hoop and fill in the numbers with the floss however you’d like. I used a variety of stitches (including the backstitch and satin stitch.) Try this website if you need a refresher on your stitches. On the left column is a directory to a large variety of embroidery stitches.

When you’re finished punch a small hole in the center where the cross hairs are. Remove it from the hoop and press your clock front to get out any wrinkles left from the embroidery hoop.

Cut out a 7″ circle from the interfacing, center this over the back of your embroidery and iron in place. Poke a hole in the center of the interfacing circle.

Place your clock front into your embroidery hoop and tighten. Trim your extra fabric off . (Leave about 1″ all the way around.)

Tuck the extra onto the back and glue into place.

Insert your clock kit.

I hope you enjoy this!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own star banner:

1 package Heat N Bond (I used Heavy, but Lite will work too.)

White fabric

Ribbon (Cut out the length you’d like to have, plus 24″ extra to allow room on both ends to tie.)

Iron

Fabric Scissors

Star template (Click link to download.)

Decide how long you’d like your completed banner to be. *Warning:  A smidgen of math is required. You’ll place stars approximately every 6″, so if you want a 5′ banner, you’ll need 10 completed stars. Since each completed star takes two shapes you’ll need to cut out 20 stars. (Basically each foot of your banner needs 4 star shapes to make 2 completed stars.)

Print the star template and trace as many as you need onto the paper side of your Heat N Bond. Following the instructions on the package, iron the Heat N Bond onto the back of your white fabric. Using sharp scissors, cut out the star shapes and peel off the paper backing.

Now it’s time to iron it all together!

Grab your length of ribbon and all your star shapes and head to the ironing board. (Have I told you that I don’t ever use my ironing board for clothing?  It has a permanent spot in my craft room!)

Measure in 12″ from one end of your ribbon.  This is where you’ll start attaching your stars. Lay one star shape right side down.  Lay the ribbon on top.

Place another star shape on top. Your ribbon will now be sandwiched between the two star shapes. Both of the Heat N Bond (Plasticky sides) should be facing each other with the ribbon in the middle. Use the iron to press the two together. The stars will stick to one another and hold your ribbon in between them. Continue ironing star shapes onto your ribbon about every 6″. Make sure you leave about 12″ on the other end for tying/hanging your banner up.

Smile and figure out where you want to hang your patriotic star banner!

Happy Crafting,

Erin

You’ll need some fabric paints, dish towels (I like the flour sack ones…they seem to be the easiest to stamp on.)  a foam brush, and stamps.  For this project I used the Joyeux Noel set.

You’ll want to put some paint on your foam brush, but not too much!  It should look something like this:

Then use the brush as an ink pad for your stamps.  Instead of rubbing your stamp on the brush, dab it, exactly like you do to get ink onto your stamp from an ink pad.  The stamp should look like this:

Then lay your towel on a flat, solid surface and stamp away!  See, told you it was super easy!!  Just let it dry, and follow the instructions on the paint bottle to set the paint.

Happy Crafting,

Erin

If you visit Burda Style this week you’ll see my reversible Halloween and Thanksgiving table runner and placemat project there available for download!  (Yep, I said reversible, and it’s free too!)  It includes the basic instructions, fabric requirements, and piecing diagrams as well as the hand embroidered pattern (full sized!)

Happy Crafting,

Erin

Find some of your favorite images online, print and trace them on the vinyl.  Cut it out and place on your glass piece.  Easy peasy!

Happy Crafting!

Erin

Hope you have a fantastic weekend and don’t forget to let your heart soar!

Erin

I also love how versatile it is.  This could easily be changed to make an anniversary gift, graduation gift, or a teacher gift!

Supplies used:

Cardstock and patterned paper from American Crafts and Bazzill

Adhesives from 3L Scrapbook adhesives

Frame from IKEA