Silk Flowers Tutorial

If you haven't made these before, you won't believe how easy they are. And fast!

(on top of my $13 thrift store side table. i really wish i had taken a before picture!)

All the supplies you need: synthetic polyester silk fabric, beads, thread, scissors and a candle.

Cut the fabric into a square or circle. It's not critical for it to be perfect because you're going to be singeing the edges using the candle.

Hold the edge of the fabric over the flame. You don't have to be very close - just close enough for the heat to singe the very edge of the fabric. This may take some practice at first.

Repeat this step 3-4 times on different sized pieces of fabric to make the layers of your flower.

Once you're done, sew your bead(s) into the middle of the flower to hold the layers together.

 Voila!

Ah, now time to go do some laundry haha! Have fun making your flowers! I know I have :)

Ta-ta for now,

Katie

Another project!

I'm constantly stopping in a Salvation Army store that is on the way home from work. I don't usually take anything home, but you have to check regularly to find something cool - And yesterday I found this adorable mirror/jewelry holder for $4.

First I took it apart and sanded it. There weren't many scratches on it, but I did have to knock down some of the shine for painting. I also had to glue one of the little feet back in. It was wobbly and about to fall out. Then I painted it with the leftover paint I used on my stool.

After it was all dry I put it back together and I'm so happy with how it turned out! And it was such a quick and easy project!

  

I just love the little feet on the bottom! ...Now I just need to finally paint the necklace holder on the wall you can see in the reflection haha. I've been putting it off, but I can't have that sitting across the room from this adorable piece now!

* On an unrelated note, my mom bought me a sewing machine yesterday. She found it on Craigslist for $30 and it was a total steal! It's a Singer and it's in great shape. I'm not sure when I'll get around to using it yet, but I'm so excited! *

Chao,

Katie

Harry Potter books have never looked so cool!

Last night my boyfriend, Tim, and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner at home. He cooked it! But I was sitting there after and thought how very boring my table is. Please ignore the fact that my dining room table (below) only has 3 chairs - Tim has one of them at his desk right now. But I felt like my table needed something but I just haven't done anything to it since I moved in.

boring

I've wanted some of those pretty, old vintage books with the wonderful designs on them and I've had my eyes out for some but just haven't found any yet. But I do have a lot of Harry Potter books! Then the idea occured that I should just cover them like we did in school! So I grabbed some scissors and brown paper bags and went to work...

I used some jute webbing to add a little character to one. I covered several books last night. I think I might stencil some designs onto some of them eventually.

So yay! I'm much happier with how my table looks now! Much more intersting. (Thanks, Harry! lol) I had everything here already. The tray had been stacked with two others under my coffee table. And those adorable, tarnished vintage candle holders, I got the set for $1 at the Salvation Army not long ago. Gosh I love that place!

more jute!

Also I should share another very simple project I did a few days ago. I brought this huge pickle jar home from work not long ago. Cleaned it up and tied twine around the top and pug some fruit in it. But it needed something else. Printed off a label from The Graphics Fairy on sticker paper (I can't tell you how much I love TGF!) and just stuck it on there. Voila!

I love it! Now I just have to get some wax fruit to put in there because let's face it, I'm too lazy to keep it stocked with fresh fruit all the time.

That's all for now!

-Katie