A New Flag To Fly

Prayer flags have been a tradition in Tibet and India for thousands of years.  I decided to put a little Ticklish Moose spin on convention and make a few of my own. 

 Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.

Given the recent events in Aurora, CO I thought this idea I have had floating around in my head was apropos, but these can be used in so many ways- as a banner in a sick friends room, for good wishes to be written at weddings or birthdays, a project for kids to decorate at VBS.....the possibilities are endless.

 I did my project with simple machine sewing, but this could be a hand sewn or no-sew project just as easily. For no-sew just use steam-a-seam type products in place of the sewn areas. 

You will need:
Basic sewing supplies
 2 sheets plain cardstock 
Temporary adhesive spray like Easy-Tack
Laser or inkjet printer
Iron to heat set images
11 feet or longer rope, twine etc.
Fabric as detailed below 

 Woodcut Printables Freebie (click on links)

Prayer Flags Page 1  

Prayer Flags Page 2 

 This could also be old sheeting, broadcloth, lightweight cotton

 I upcycled mens shirts for this because the oxford cloth is pretty on both sides. 

Use whatever lightweight cotton fabric you have on hand. Also- I threw my shirting pieces into the washer and dryer after cutting to get a 'softer' frayed edge look- totally not necessary.

Spray the cardstock with adhesive spray and smooth your muslin onto the tacky side of the cardstock. Trim off the excess with scissors or rotary cutter.

 Print the Prayer Flag images onto your muslin, remove from the cardstock and heat set (press from back side!) and use a press cloth so the ink doesn't transfer to your iron and ironing board cover.  I use a teflon sheet for this purpose.....LOVE it!


Cut each image sheet into 4 equal individual images.

While your iron is hot, fold over 1 long side of the flag pieces by 1", press and pin.

I used a decorative zig-zag stitch to make the pocket for the rope/twine- here is where you can also hand sew or use a thin strip of steam-a-seam to create the pocket for the twine if you choose.

Select one of your images and center (mostly) on the face of the flag. Sew or use steam-a-seam to keep it in place.

Now the fun part- hand them out to family members or guests and have them add their prayers/wishes/hopes and dreams to the Prayer Flag with a Sharpie or other permanent marker.  String them onto your rope/twine and let them fly!

 

And help us, this and every day, to live more nearly as we pray.  ~John Keble 

If you make this craft, please let me know- I would love to post a picture of your project!  

Linking Here:

  An Original Belle
Serendipity and Spice 
Mad In Crafts 

Button, button....

who's got a button?  ME! 

As usual- it's been a busy few weeks.  I helped my daughter get moved into her new apartment, fixed up a few frames for new apartment, helped pick new furniture for new apartment, and on Sunday I will (probably) help hang frames and shelves in new apartment. (whew!!)  So who on Earth has time for any crafting?? Well.....ME!

Kinda.

I have been fascinated with buttons of all kinds for a long time, and as you can imagine, I have a fairly substantial button collection.  So it seemed a natural progression to make a few of my own!  This go-round I am using Premo` polymer clay, but I'm pretty sure I will try my hand at a few wooden buttons before it's all said and done.

 This group of buttons (and a heart-shaped pendant or two) is from one small package of Premo`.  I experimented with a few different kinds of cutters and embossing tools to get a feel what worked and what didn't.

Here is what I found so far:

• actual 'cutters' work best
• stamps or embossing plates with deep, small impressions give the best detail/results
• use a toothpick or fine knitting needle to poke the holes
• poke the holes from both sides

I used Stazon black ink to highlight (is that the correct word?) the detail on one button after it had baked and cooled, then painted it with latex paint from one of those little jars I told you about, and lightly rubbed the wet paint back off to show some of the black details through the blue paint. 

I plan to try a few more paint and topcoat combos on the rest of the buttons in a few days when I have a little more time to get out "the works" and play.

I'll be sure to show you the results!

Just a Quickie Re-do

Just when I think I can stay focused a project drags me into it's lair.  I'm not sure where I first saw this brainiac idea for a portable, folding, pretty-much-perfect-height ironing board upcycle but I thought I would do a quick share.  

What is great about this ironing board is you can add some quick table-top area close to where you are working!

First you need an old but sturdy folding TV table.  I have a few around- at the last neighborhood garage sale I picked up a set of 4 for $2.  I had this in mind, but will also more than likely also top one with a flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth for small messy projects.

Next you will need some padding.  You can buy the fancy ironing board cover fabric if you wish, but it is a little pricey and not necessary.  I had some scraps of polyester batting left from an old upholstery project, some smooth white cotton sheeting and I purchased a small/craft size piece of Warm & Natural batting for about $2.50. 

 

 Of course you can use whatever fabric you wish- if you want to co-ordinate with your sewing room etc.  Just be sure that it is not heavily textured because that would transfer to whatever you iron on top of it.

You will also need a few basic tools:

staple gun and 1/2" staples

hammer (for staples that don't lie flat)

pliers (to pull out staples that mis-fire)

scissors to cut fabric

iron to smooth fabric

 optional- drill w/ 1/2" Forstner bit

 

 

 I drilled 4 holes in the tray top to help dissipate the steam, but this is not necessary.  I just like using my drill  :D

 Clean off the tray top and iron your batting and fabrics flat.  I tacked down the poly batting first to help prevent slipping, and then flipped the tray upside down on my layer of Warm & Natural topped with my sheeting.

Now just staple down your layers to the backside like you do for any upholstery project, anchoring each side with a staple before smoothing and finishing each side, then corners.

 Just be sure you staple close enough to the outer edge as to not impede the action of the folding legs.  Trim off the excess fabric and batting.

That's It!!

You now have an easy to store, inexpensive, portable ironing board! 

Happy Crafting!!

Scarf Project

Scarf Project, originally uploaded by ticklish_moose.

Okay.....about a week and a new laptop later at least I can get my picture posted. Hoping to have the photo edits done for a tutorial soon, but I may just move on at this point, ya know??

Owlies- A Free Owl Pattern and Tutorial!

I am one of those people blessed with great family members.  Not to say we don't have our issues, fight now and then like families do or have a weirdo or two (which I am convinced is NOT me).  But all in all, through thick and thin we love each other to pieces.

So imagine my delight at finding out that one of my nieces was expecting a baby.....and a girl at that!  You know, I do love all things girly.  And who can resist a sweet little baby?  Unfortunately, my niece is full-term and has been in the path of Irene, but baby stayed put (whew!) and the power is back on in their area.  You know how the end of your pregnancy is.  And you can imagine she was thinking "Seriously?!? A freakin' HURRICANE?"

Well, enough of that.....back to me.

I wanted to make something special for baby, and much to my delight the 'theme' was owls, and the color of the nursery was to be green and brown.  I had seen a cool mobile some time back and had been wanting to try one- I just knew it was the project for me!  Originally I was going to attach the owlies by ribbons to a wooden embroidery hoop, but soon became obsessed with making it musical as well.  I scoured all of the local thrifts for gently used baby mobiles to no avail.  I was running out of time when I stopped into a Kid to Kid store to see what they had.  And wouldn't you know it- amongst  the pink Care Bears  and blue Cars mobiles I found this:

The perfect base for my newest creation!  
Couldn't wait to cut those sports figures off!!


I could not find an owl pattern anywhere that was exactly what I needed, so I made my own.  Feel free to download and use it, but please give a link back or shout out-K?  

 


Download Full Size Pattern Here


Suitable materials for this project are felt (wool or poly), suede or leather (I upcycled some old jackets), suit weight woolens (once again, I upcycled), quilt weight cotton for the tummy, and whatever buttons, embroidery threads, ribbons, etc. you would like to add.  I stuffed mine with a high quality poly fluff filling and sewed it on the machine, but you could easily also sew these by hand with a blanket or back stitch.


Cut out the pattern pieces from whatever fabrics you have chosen.  I used fusible web on the back of my cotton tummy piece to hold it in place while I stitched it on, and used a decorative stitch, but that is your discretion. 

Odds and Ends

In all my years of thrifty finds- this is one of my all time favorites!

It is 40" x 40" square and still has the World Market tag on the back!  I think it is going to look great in my daughter's new apartment.  

I am having a melancholy day.  My little doggie is at the hospital getting oral surgery and my nephew may or may not be in the people hospital after a nasty car accident on the freeway.  My oldest sister does not seem to have the ability to use any modern methods of communication including but not limited to the phone, texting, email or smoke signal.  So I am sending out a little prayer for you Tim and hope you are doing OK.

I am working on a super-secret project that I will do a tutorial on after the recipient has gotten it and it's not a secret any more  :)   This is a cabin-fever time of year for me because the heat and intense UV rays keep me from being outside too much.  You would think I would get a lot done, but I spend time obsessing on things......Like this chair:

I bought this chair and ottoman 13 years ago at a great price to fill a big corner of the library of our old house.  It is really large, not super-comfy but not bad either.  I just keep thinking it could be more "me".  But look at all of those furniture tacks!  I just don't think I have it in me to completely rip into this, plus the leather is in perfect shape, as the chair has not had any heavy use.  I have been toying with the idea of just re-doing the bottom cushion, the arm pads and the loose back pillow.  I would like to do a foam core with a down wrapped seat so that it had more of the feel my Uncle Charlie's antiques had.  So it would envelop the person sitting in it more.

I am also considering making my own fabric design for the back pillow, and toying with a few ideas:

So now you know my intentions.  We'll see what happens in the end.  ;-)

Dyed to Match Buttons- Who Knew??

Evidently, dye is not just for fabric!!  I wanted to share a tutorial I ran across yesterday that really opened my eyes to some new possibilities.

 This tutorial comes to us from Rit dye, but of course you could probably experiment with some products you had around the house as well.

And- if it dyes plastic and nylon......well, just think of the things that could use a facelift!! 

 

Dyed Buttons

Whether you are a crafter or a sewing fashionista, you will enjoy dyeing buttons. It’s fun and easy to do. Most white buttons are made out of nylon or some type of plastic. Rit is one of the few dyes that will color these materials. That means you can transform ordinary buttons into colorful accents that match or coordinate with whatever you are making.

Assorted White Buttons before dyeing

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Muffin pan doubles as a button organizer when working on craft projects

Rit Dye colors shown:

• Top: Fuchsia, Lemon Yellow, Violet
• Bottom: Sunshine Orange, Evening Blue, Scarlet

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Buttons add a colorful accent to flower arrangements!

Rit Dye colors shown:

• Lemon Yellow, Golden Yellow, Sunshine, Orange, Apple Green

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 Ready to get started??

Super-de-Duper Valentines Garland

 Happy Super-Bowl-Sunday!!  Here in North Texas it is all we have heard about on the news for about a month now.  They have even had a countdown clock (I kid you not) at the bottom of the TV screen just to give us a second-by-second update.  *sigh*  I do like professional football a great deal, but having the Superbowl here at Jerry World is causing me burn out.  

This past week was certainly a trying one.  Like most of the country we had winter return in a really ugly way.  My son, who thank God is a sophomore and not a kindergartener, was home a record 4 out of 5 days last week.  So at least he can occupy himself and it kept cabin fever to a minimum around here.  We baked (and ate) chocolate chip cookies, watched movies, and I was free to work on projects all day long!  Since there is no snow removal equipment here, you just sort of have to tough it out until the ice and snow melt and things get back to near normal.  I keep the house stocked with food and toilet paper anyway, so I can hole up here for a month if need be.  

With Christmas long gone, the house seems a little bare now that the decorations are packed up and put away.  And let me tell you, after the gloom, sleet and snow we had last week, I was looking for a little pick me up in decor around here!  So, I pulled out some supplies and got to work......here is the result:

If you have a few fabric scraps and a little time on your hands, you can easily make one, too!  Here is the tutorial:

You will need basic sewing supplies and/ or hot glue

Print a copy of the Pennant Template

(note: I printed it at 125%)

I upcycled an 80's Valentines vest I thrifted, and pulled together a few remnants that complimented my decor

I started with red bias tape, but ended up using black double-fold bias tape instead.  I just liked the way it looked with my accents better.  I made 16 yo-yo's using my orange Clover yo-yo maker.  If you do not have one, it is approximately a 4 inch diameter circle made into a yo-yo.  I just mixed it up with various fabrics that I thought worked together.

I wanted to give the pennants some weight, so I cut 3 layers- the face fabric, a layer of felt and a layer of flannel.  I did that for all 5 pennants, so a total of 15 pieces. 

All you need to do is just layer them together, pin to hold them somewhat in place, and sew just over 1/4" all the way around the face.  Don't worry if they are *wonky*, you will fix that in a little bit.

New Year, New Ideas

I'm still here, for anyone that was wondering.  I customarily use January as my month to assess what worked or did not work in the previous year.  I like to re-organize things and get a fresh start.  

My specialty has always been organization, and my work with the rich and famous gave me endless ways to help people keep track of what they owned.  My designs were always what I liked to call 'living organization'- a true reflection of the person and how they lived.  I had women tell me that they would just sit in the awesome closets I designed and eat lunch, or watch TV.  Or spend hours in Butler's pantries and kitchens marveling at how it all just 'worked so perfectly'.  There were private prayer rooms, secret hidden offices, beauty salons, magnificent libraries.  So, people would always comment how my home must be so perfectly organized. Hmmm.....the cobbler's children have no shoes.

Honestly, it really is not all that bad.  However, I always see room for improvement, and when things really just blow up all around me, I realize it is time to take stock once again.

So, don't hate me for having an awesome husband and son who work hard to make my visions a reality, but let me show you my newest little "me" place in my home:

I was at a bead, button and fiber store in McKinney when I saw the antique wooden spools used to organize the trims, as well as lots of little jars.  I knew right away that it was what I wanted!  So, since last April I have been collecting different sizes of wooden spools as I see a good deal, and hoarding little jars of all shapes and sizes.

This isn't all of them, but you get the gist of it.   I painted wooden lids black, and used black & white scrapbook paper to cover metal lids.  The best thing is- I can see what I have!!  I still have a little way to go with the final design on this- I would like to add a fabric covered tackboard under the upper cabinet, and some art on the wall, but all in all, I am very proud of what I have accomplished so far! 

So, that is some of the work that has gone on behind the scenes.  I have bought some great books with projects that involve spray paint (one of my favorites), and easy methods to dye fabrics.  So, there will be a lot of new fun projects this year- I promise.  

I also wanted to share a couple of things I have for sale up at Artizan's Alley right now.  They are ideas you can easily copy, or change to reflect your own tastes.  The 'Texting Gloves' are certainly not a new idea, but since I only text with my thumbs, I kept the other fingers of the gloves intact.  Why should all of the fingertips get cold??  

I used a little fray check around the edge of the cut off thumb, but if you did this project with polar fleece gloves fraying would not be an issue.

This pair is simply a silk mum disassembled, and 2-3 layers of petals held in place with a button.  A little hot pink trim just adds pizzazz!

I am still working on a way to make the file sharing easy for the embroidery fonts.  I think I have it....just bear with me a little bit longer on that.  

I would love to hear how you have eeked out crafting room in your home.  With space at a premium in so many areas, I would love to see how y'all have overcome challenges.  If you email me a photo of your space, and permission to post it, I would love to be able to share these ideas with everyone!

 

Still Time For a Homemade Gift.....

The weather outside is delightful these days.  But, being December it is not destined to last.  We have had a very mild and dry fall.  Most of our trees still have not turned colors.  It seems strange to have green leaves on many trees, and Christmas decorations everywhere.  I grew up in Michigan in the crook of the thumb and when I lived up there the first 20 years of my life winter meant SNOW!  Lots and lots and lots of snow.  Truck it down by the Tittabawassee and maybe by June it would be all gone. 

The extraordinary diversity of Texas includes 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions.  Here in North Central Texas we have 4 distinct seasons.  That means lots of clothes for everything from zero to 110 degrees!!  We are blessed with a long *flip flop* season, but we definitely also use warm coats, hats, gloves and boots.  Which brings me to this weeks tutorial.  It is a fast, fun upcycle which has a million possibilities for customization and personalization, and it is totally wearable, too!

Isn't this the cutest headband ever?? 

(Not so sure I'm giving this one away)

Here is my finished project:

Once you see how simple these are to make, and basically free, you will never spend $$ to buy one again!  I am totally working on the matching scarf!

Okay- this looks like a lot of steps, but hang in there.....once you get the pattern made it goes really fast.  

Gather some supplies:

I used an old pair of grey sweatpants that no longer fit anyone, and a scrap of red polar fleece left over from another project.  I am also considering using the wording area from a sweatshirt that no longer fits, and a felted sweater.  I hope to have some of those made to show you before Christmas, but no promises.  If you make one, I would love for you to email me the pics, so I can add it to the blog for others to see  :D

You will need basic sewing skills, basic sewing supplies, some paper to make the pattern (I used legal sized printer paper), and freezer paper for the stencil.    

I started by freehand sketching a basic headband shape on a piece of legal paper:

To make it come out even, fold in 1/2 width-wise, then fold in 1/2 length-wise, and refine the shape when you cut it out.  Use your sketch lines as a guide:

Here is the first part of the pattern cut out:

Add some ends to make it long enough:

Trim it to smooth out the shape:

Now you have your pattern!  Cut one of your top fabric (mine is the grey sweats) and one of the lining (mine is red fleece).  Be sure you cut your length with the stretch of the fabric!  I cut out a test pattern from some scraps of plaid fleece just to be sure I liked the size of the band on my head.  I have a pretty *average* sized head, so my pattern size should work for *most* everyone.  If you are the *Big Head* person in your family, (you know who you are) you may want a slightly wider band.  

 Here is the part that took me forever the most time.....picking the graphic!  Lucky you- you can copy my design if you want!

You are welcome to download a copy here:

Grapevine Leaf Stencil 

When I printed it, I used the 'landscape' paper setting, letter size paper, and I 'justified' or stretched it to the length of the paper.

I traced the design loosely onto my freezer paper.  If you want, you can print on the freezer paper.  I wanted to be able to trace it more than once.

 Carefully cut out your design, and iron it onto your fabric, using the 'wool' setting on the iron:

I used VersaCraft ink for fabric in black.  I blotted it on, using my fingers under the fabric to get the edges of the design darker.  You could also use paint for fabric, or add a textile medium to acrylic paints.  Just be sure to heat set after it has dried.