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. 

Finally- Folding Chair Re-Do is Re-Done!

The heat must be getting to me.  


Not that I don't feel justified- after all.....today's temps hovering at 107 degrees sets a new *high* temperature for today's date, and ties us for 2nd place in number of consecutive days over 100 (now at 31) with no end in sight.  With August being our hottest month, we will give many old records a run for the money.  


Somehow these awful wooden folding chairs called out to me while I was at my local thrift.   In a moment of weakness I purchased them and brought them home, with a revitalization plan in mind, of course.  And for the record- I don't even need folding chairs....

 

I seem to have a weakness for rooting for the underdog.

  These chairs fought me every step of the way!  From the filth and split wood to the *mysterious disappearance* of the black and white toile fabric I had to use for the seats it was one thing after another.  But here it is- VICTORY!!  

This is a Lazertran decal I made and applied to the back of the painted chairs (image from Graphics Fairy)

Oh well, all's well that ends well, right?  These are now for sale in my booth at Antique Gallery of Lewisville  :D

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.  ;-)

Ribbon Storage Idea- A 1 Hour Craft

Do you ever spend way too much time looking for something to fulfill a storage or space requirement and then think "duh.....I can just MAKE that!" ?

I have had this idea for vertical ribbon storage for some time now.  I kept thinking about possibly modifying a paper towel holder but the bases are typically too large.  Then the other day I was clearing out some stuff from a shelf in the shed and realized I had everything I already needed!  Booyah!

This is what it looks like completed

 

This is the pile of junk supplies that started the process

I also used some wood glue, a little 220 grit sandpaper, black spray paint, and ended up using a wooden spool on the top.  My husband was nice enough to put together a cute little power tool kit just for me..........guess he got tired of the endless 'honey-do's' and looking for his tools  :)   So I got to use my awesome new cordless drill on this project!  

The 2 inch diameter wooden disc is a cedar block that had lost it's scent.  Any size piece of wood would work as long as it is larger than the wheel.  The hole in the wheel was not quite large enough to push the dowel into, so I used my handy drill to make the hole the correct size, added a little glue to the bottom edge of the dowel and stuck them together.

Then I just glued the disc to the top of the candlestick, and the wheel with dowel attached to the disc.  I let the whole thing dry about an hour.

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??