Woven Ribbon Coasters

 Happy Fall!

Today I have a fun fall craft for you using Gwen Studios ribbons.  They have a great assortment of types, colors and sizes from which to choose at all the major craft chains. These woven ribbon coasters or mug mats are quick to make and you can choose the colors you like.  I love designing with fall colors, so I chose a selection of those. They'll add bright color to your morning cup of coffee.

Woven Ribbon Coasters

For this coaster I used the burlap ribbon as a base and wove the colored grosgrain ribbon through the burlap ribbon.  

To create the base, I laid five 5" pieces of burlap ribbon next to each other.  To hold these in place while weaving, I cut two strips of adhesive-backed felt and laid them across the ends of the burlap ribbons.

Lengths of grosgrain ribbon were woven through the burlap base ribbons.  Go around the coaster and lift and glue all the free ends of ribbon, front and back.  Then you can remove the sticky felt.  You can also back the coaster with felt.

You can also use masking tape to hold the base ribbons in place. In the photo below, the tops of the base ribbons are taped down making it easier to lift and weave.

Trim the ends as you like.  I left mine long, but you could also trim them close to the burlap ribbon. To make the fringe on the burlap ribbon, clip with scissors and pull out some strands.

Here's another version of the coaster:

I like this one for all the bright fall colors, but one problem is noticeable if you look closely. On this one, the glue I used was too liquid and I used too much which caused it to bleed through the ribbon.  So, a note on the glue you use - use a heavy tacky glue and don't use too much to avoid this problem.  You can also use glue dots or small squares of double-sided tape.

On this coaster, I cut the ends closer and straight across.  Add a no-fray liquid to the ends of the ribbon if you wish.  

And, here's one last version.  It's a little smaller and the ends are trimmed diagonally at different lengths.

Find these great ribbons at Walmart.com. Joann.com or Michaels.com. Here are some links to get you started.

Burlap ribbon

5/8" grosgrain

3/8" grosgrain

For more fall ribbon fun, head to the Designer Crafts Connection blog. Have fun creating with Gwen Studios ribbon!

(As a member of the Gwen Studios design team, I receive samples of their fine ribbon for use in my designs.  I find it to be of excellent quality.)

Scarecrow Shelf Sitter

 Hi Crafty Friends!

I love fall and I love to create items to decorate my house for the season.  This month I created a little scarecrow shelf sitter. This easy scarecrow can sit among the pumpkins and other fall decorations. He's easy enough for any age to make with adult supervision on the glue gun.

Scarecrow Shelf Sitter

This scarecrow uses a plaid burlap ribbon from Gwen Studios, which is perfect for fall designs.

Here are the materials I used:

3" terra cotta pot

1 3/4" wood ball knob (this has a flat side)

Gwen Studios 1" burlap ribbon

4" circle of burlap for the hat

Twine

Sewing needle and tan thread

Hot glue, white glue

Wiggle eyes

Acrylic paint for the pot and features (or permanent pens for face), paintbrush

Craft wire (optional)

Instructions:

Paint the pot and let dry. 

Cut lengths of ribbon for legs and arms (4 - 6" pieces and 4 - 3" pieces).  Cut twine to be glued between the ribbon lengths (12 - 7" pieces for the legs and 12 - 4" pieces for the arms.)

Lay 6 pieces of twine on a ribbon and glue the other ribbon on top sandwiching the twine between the ribbons.  If desired, add a matching length of craft wire for more poseability.

Glue a length of ribbon around the lip of the pot.  Pull up the top wire of the ribbon to gather and fit the lip and glue.  Glue a patch to the front.

For the head, glue wiggle eyes in the center of the ball.  Glue short pieces of twine on for the hair.  Trim and fringe hair. Add more features with pens or paint.

For the hat, loosely sew a 1 12" circle with the tan thread in the center of the burlap circle.  Pull up the ends of the thread to create a crown for the hat.  Tie off and trim. Glue a patch to the brim of the hat.

Hot glue the head to the bottom of the pot.  Hot glue the arm edge next to the head.  Hot glue the legs inside the pot.

Here's the scarecrow with the arms and legs, hair and hat.

Cut small lengths of twine and fray one end.  Glue the unfrayed ends under the head.

The burlap ribbon comes in several colors.  Here is a link:

Burlap ribbon from WalMart

For more fall designs with Gwen Studios ribbon, head over to the Designer Crafts Connection site.

Disclaimer:  I am on the Gwen Studios design team and receive their beautiful ribbons for use in my design work.

Fall Designs in Plastic Canvas

 Hi folks!

Fall is one of my favorite times of year and I love to design in fall colors.  Here are a couple of fall and harvest designs that I created for Herrschners.

This is another porch board:

Happy Fall Porch Board

And, here is a view through a window of an apple orchard and an old red pickup:

Apple Harvest Wall Hanging

You can find these kits now on the Herrschners website under plastic canvas.

Back to School Wreath

 Welcome!

For the Back to School theme for Gwen Studios, I've chosen to make a wreath. They make great gifts and I'm sure the kids would have fun creating a special one for their teacher.

I chose a black canvas from a dollar store for my background and some wood letters to spell "Back to School". You could spell the teacher's name or welcome also.

I painted the letters with rainbow colors.  The number of letters for Back to School worked perfectly.  You could also paint them white.

I glued lengths of paint sticks around the edges of the canvas to make it look like a blackboard. 

A wire wreath form from the dollar store and Decorative Mesh from Joann's will form the base wreath.

I made deco mesh bows from 12" lengths of mesh by overlapping the ends, scrunching up the mesh across the overlap and tying them with black craft wire. Since I'd never worked with deco mesh, I watched a video to learn the technique.

I used one roll of deco mesh, which was 30 feet, and 10 more sections from the next roll.  Of course, you can add more bows to make a fuller wreath.

Then, I took 6-8" lengths of assorted Gwen Studios and made sprays to go in between the deco mesh.

I tied these into the wreath in between the deco mesh bows.

To attach the canvas to the wreath, I glued wire to the back and tied it into the wreath frame.  This will make it usable for another event like a birthday party.  

To find all the colorful Gwen Studios ribbon to make your own wreath, try these sources. I've listed a representative link for all the ribbons I used, but each source has these types of ribbon.

Michaels

Sweet Shop ribbon

Joann.com

Print and solid 3/8" grosgrain

WalMart.com

Wide Satin Ribbon

And, you can also search Amazon for Gwen Studios ribbon.  

For more ribbon ideas for Back to School, check out the Designer Crafts Connection.

Designer Crafts Connection

New Plastic Canvas Designs

 Hi everyone!

Some new designs of mine have popped up on the Herrschners website.

Porch boards are a very popular home decor item and I did a couple in plastic canvas. It's a pretty large project so if you start now, it will be ready for Christmas!

Christmas Greetings Porch Board

Next up is another set of door hangers.  These are fun and designed for kids' rooms.

Welcome to My Room Door Hangers

And, here's a tissue cover and set of coasters:

Beautiful Swan Set

Herrschners has also brought back and old design of mine.  It's great to see because I have had people ask me about finding the design.  

Barnyard Tissue Cover and Coasters

It's been a busy design year and there's more to come!  I hope you look for these designs on the Herrshners website under plastic canvas.  Happy Stitching!

USA Plant Pokes

The Fourth of July will be here before you know it and these hearts are just the thing for a quick an easy decoration.  You can glue the hearts to bamboo skewers like I did here and add them to a flower arrangement or potted plant.  Or, glue them to a headband or barrette. Use smaller hearts and letters and add a pin back to wear them on your lapel.  With so many beautiful ribbons from Gwen Studios, you have a lot of options.

For this quick and easy project, you only need a few items:

Ribbons from Gwen Studios available at Walmart, Joann's and Michaels (macarons pack)

(cupcakes pack) (red and white grosgrain)

Iron-on letters

Felt

Glue:  hot glue and gun or tacky glue

Scissors

Bamboo skewers, pin back, barrette or headband

To create these hearts, hand cut or die cut a heart from stiff or regular felt.  Apply the letters by ironing them on or gluing them on with tacky glue.

Cut loops of ribbon and glue them to the back of the heart.  Adhere a stick with hot glue.

Cut another heart to cover the back.  If using regular felt, sandwich a cardboard heart in between the layers of felt.

See more great designs on:

Designer Crafts Connection

My granddaughter got in on the crafting action and used Gwen Studios bows and ribbon in her school project.  She needed a red, white and blue ribbon to wear for her presentation on Dominique Dawes, an Olympic gymnast.  She took a pre-made bow, wrapped blue grosgrain around the center and added silver ribbon to the back. 

Frosty Friend Door Hangers

 Hello!

Today I'm sharing a design from Herrschners.  It's a bit past the winter season, but it's a good time to get a headstart on stitching them for yourself or a gift for friends.

They are Frosty Friend Door Hangers:

Frosty Friend Door Hanger

Check back soon - I have a two more door hanger designs for kids' rooms coming up!  

Have fun stitching!