What you’ll need to make one pouch:

Print the PDF pattern pieces from here. (Make sure that the 1″ box on the pattern actually prints at 1″ square.)

1 Fat Quarter (or 1/4 yard fabric) per pouch front

1 sheet coordinating felt

1/2 yard lightweight fusible interfacing (I used Pellon SF101, my favorite!)

1 – 12″ (or longer) coordinating polyester zipper

EDITED:

You can also use scrap fabric for the front and back, and fusible fleece instead of the Pellon SF101. Pictures are from one of the first ones I made, but everything is the same. If you use the fabric on back instead of fleece, just be sure you attach fusible fleece to the back of this piece also.

Cut out the following pieces:

Heart Top – 1 Main Fabric, 2 Interfacing

Heart Bottom – 1 Main Fabric, 2 Interfacing

Apply Interfacing:

Following the directions on your interfacing, iron the pieces to the back of your main fabric. By adding two layers we get a good thickness, without using the super firm interfacing that’s more difficult to sew with.

Attach the Zipper

Lay the zipper, right side down, with the pull on the right, along the top edge of your bottom heart piece.

Use your zipper foot on your machine and attach the zipper to this piece.

Fold the zipper up and press the seam flat.

Place the heart top face down, on the other edge of your zipper.

Attach this side of the zipper to your heart. Press this side up as well.

Top stitch on your machine (or do a running stitch by hand) along the top to hold this seam down.

Cut the Back

Zip the heart up and use this as a guide to cut the back felt piece.

Make the Arrow Pieces

Cut out the arrow tip pattern piece. Place small edge along the fold of your felt. Pin the pattern in place.

Stitch around the pattern.

After you’ve stitched it, go ahead and cut closely around your stitching line. (It’s easier to stitch this way!)

Repeat the process to make the arrow zipper pull.

EDITED:

After making this project with my after school group yesterday we found it easiest to attach the pattern to the felt,

sew directly on the lines,

remove the paper,

then cut out your shape. (If you use this method, don’t worry about placing the pattern piece on the fold, just sew along that line instead.)

Finish Up

Unzip your zipper half way. (Don’t forget this step, otherwise you’ll be stuck with a pouch that’s inside out!) Place your front, right side up, on your table.

Place your arrow tip piece lined up on the edge where your zipper is on the left side of your heart. Pin.

Place your felt back on top of this.

Pin.

Stitch 1/4″ all the way around the edge. Clip off the extra zipper ends. Finish your edges with pinking shears or a zig-zag stitch on your machine. (I forgot to do this on the one pictured.)

Clip the bottom excess fabric and snip around the curves. Turn right sides out through the zippered opening. Press flat.

Attach your arrow tip to the zipper pull. I used a little jump ring on the one above. Needle and thread works just fine too!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

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

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

To make your own necklace you’ll need:

7- 3/4″ wooden balls

2- 3″ x 14″ fabric strips

7- 3″ x 3 1/2″ fabric rectangles (These will be the fabrics that your wooden beads will be in.  You can do them the same if you want, or switch up the fabrics so it looks similar to the one I made.)

(If you want to make a bracelet instead, cut 5 of the rectangles and use only 5 beads, and make the strips 7″ instead of 14″.)

First I arranged the fabric pieces in the order I wanted them to be when I sewed them.  I paid attention to the colors and the balance of the fabrics making sure not all the light or dark ones were together.  Remember that only about 1 square inch of your fabric will show so you’ll end up seeing more color than specific patterns.

Next, overlap the pieces 1/4″ and stitch using a 1/8″ seam.  By overlapping them instead of stitching right sides together you’re making the seam less thick, which will be better for knotting it later on.  Yes the seams will be raw edges..but you won’t even notice it later!  After you’ve pieced the center together, stitch the two strips to either side of your pieced necklace center, overlapping the pieces instead of stitching right sides together.

After you’ve got it pieced together, fold it in half, lengthwise, with the right sides together.  Stitch 1/4″ seam along the long edge.  You should have a really long fabric tube at this point.  Turn this tube right side out.

The final step is to insert the wooden beads and knot the necklace.  The easiest way to do this is to put in one wooden bead at a time and knot either side, making sure that your seams are in the knot.  Keep adding and knotting beads until you’ve got the center of your necklace finished.  Knot the ends of the necklace and you’re done!!  (If you want to make a bracelet, the fabric pieces you’ll need are listed under the material list above.  Follow the same set of instructions to complete your bracelet!)

Happy Crafting,

Erin

For the stand, cut a strip of paper 10″ x 1 1/2″.  Score at 1/2″, 4″, and 7 1/2″.  Fold into a triangle shape and adhere the bottom flaps together to complete the stand.  Stamp the stitched, shaped border and add to it any of the fun autumn icons in the set.  I added the oak leaf, pumpkin, and acorn.  (The little leaves make great confetti filler pieces too!)

Have some spare ribbon around?  Make these super easy coordinating napkin rings!  Takes 6 1/2″ of ribbon per napkin ring.  Just stamp the diamond border:

Stamp the stitched arglye diamond:

Overlap ends about 6″ and glue with Fabric-Tac fabric glue.  Let dry, and use for napkin rings.

I even made a pumpkin pie this weekend so I’d have the perfect “prop” to photograph it with.  Unfortunately when I went to grab the last 2 pieces to take photos with, this is what I found:

Happy Crafting,

Erin

What?  You don’t see it on my table?  This is what my table looked like while trying to figure out the pattern for that little box!  (I’m not a clean crafter, that’s for sure!)

Then I took a nap-and my brain kept working on it.  I love how your brain is always working on solutions to problems, even if you’re not consciously working on it!  I woke up with the perfect solution and sketched it out right away:

Want to make one?  I’ve got the template for you!  Just download the pdf, cut, and trace onto your best black spider paper, attach ribbon legs underneath and you’re done!

To hold it shut black velcro works perfect!  It’s a great size for a small message and a piece of candy!  Doesn’t it look cute perched atop this jam jar watching over the treats?  I wrapped the jar in white organza to give it a little spider web feel to it.

Ready for the next project?  Need some easy to make drippy and spooky votives for your Halloween get together?

All you’ll need are some glass votives and red acrylic paint.  (I used the Christmas Red Folk Art paint from Plaid.)

Wash your votives so they are free of fingerprints, oils, and dust.

Hold the votive at an angle and put a bead of acrylic paint around the inner top edge of the votive.

To get it to get a good drip shape just tap the bottom of your votive on the counter top.  The drips will appear on their own.

Just let them dry and drop in your LED tea lights!  Easy peasy!

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

In case you were wondering, yes, those are ALL brads!

But don’t worry I’ve made things easy for you!  Here’s the layout I did in Illustrator!  Just print it here and you’re ready to go!

I have lots of brads, and for some reason I had a TON of brass colored brads, which is weird because I think it’s safe to say I NEVER use brass colored brads on my projects!  I wondered if I could maybe, just maybe, make them any color I wanted.  Copic markers didn’t work too well, but you know what did?

How about some 99¢ nail polish!  It worked fantastic!  And for some reason the cheap nail polish comes in some great colors, including candy corn colors!  Let’s paint!

The easiest way I found to paint those little brads was to put them all into a block of craft foam.  (You don’t even have to unwrap the block from it’s plastic wrap.  Why have foam pieces all over the place if you don’t have to?)

Aren’t they cute all lined up waiting to dry?  Imagine all the colors you could make those little brass brads!  (I’ll be on the lookout now for brads in not so popular colors on clearance!)

While it’s drying, print your candy corn template and use this paper piercing tool:

I promise this paper piercer will make your job a whole lot easier!  I also use it to set my brads.  (I’ll show you how in a sec!)

Poke holes in your template directly on top of your little colored circles and add your brads.  (I set my template on top of the foam so it was easy to punch the holes in it.)  I found it easiest and faster to put in about 10 brads then turn it over and set them all at once.

To use your paper piercer to set your brads on back  just do this:

1. Use the tip of your paper piercer to start separating the brad back.

2. What it looks like after step 1.

3. Use the other end of the paper piercer to finish off setting the brad.

Keep going until you’re finished.  Honestly, setting all the brads didn’t take as long as I thought it would!

Happy Crafting!

Erin

I was working on a home decor project and couldn’t get enough of these cute little red poppies I was making so I knew I had to make something I could wear one with.  (Did I tell you I’m redesigning my living room/dining room/kitchen with a new color palette?  I couldn’t be more excited about it!  You can see my new color palette and the inspiration behind it at Fresh Nest Design.)  I decided on a necklace and kept it pretty simple with just a touch of black and silver.

It’s super simple, just make a few bead pieces mixing 2-3 beads, attach them to some silver chain, hand stitch your flower to the necklace and voila, you’re done!  I think it took me no more than 30 minutes!!  Don’t forget to bead up some simple coordinating earrings too!