DIY: Billy Truffula Button

Hello there all,

I had some Townshend's Kombucha bottles that I was enamored with, but they sat on my buffet so lonely lacking company. During the Halloween season, they were adorned with black roses, but they were sitting there begging for some love. Being inspired by my love for Truffula Trees and Billy Buttons, I came across this tutorial on how to make "poof balls". It was a great jumping off point, but there are some things that I adjusted that helped me. It might be a better system for you, too.

Here's what you'll need:

• yarn 
• stick
• scissors
• hand

How to rock this:

1.) Place a portion of the yarn in between two of your fingers and tighten your grip around this piece before you start wrapping the yarn around your fingers.

2.) Wrap the yarn around your fingers. I used 4 fingers because I wanted bigger pom poms, but you can decrease the amount of fingers to match the desired size.

3.) Keep wrapping and wrapping around your finger. The more yarn that you wrap, the bigger and fluffier your pom pom will be.

4.) When you are done wrapping the yarn around your fingers, cut the wrapped yarn. You will need to cut a separate piece of yarn that is about 5 inches long. You will use this separate piece to tie around the middle of the yarn that has been wrapped around your fingers. You will probably need to loosen up your fingers to do this. When you tie all of the yarn together, the knot should be tight. I used a double knot for extra precaution, and it should make an hour glass shape.

5.) Next, you will cut the loops that are made. These are the loops that are found on the top and bottom of your hourglass figure. You will cut the loops in half, so they go from having a loop to being separate strands of yarn.

6.) When you have cut all the loops, you can attach it to a stick. I did this by putting the stick through the middle of the pom pom. You can find this by finding the yarn that you tied around the whole thing earlier, and you make sure that the stick goes through the center of that tied string.

7.) Place them in an epic vessel. I love these bottles because they fit into the mentality of reusing a grocery item like I talked about in this article.

Until next time, remember the words of the Lorax: "UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

-Autumn

DIY: Fabric Colored Button Earrings

Hello there folks,

I have a crafting obsession. No, I don't mean the obsession with making things (which oh God is this ever true). But i have an obsession with making earrings. It is an easy/quick way to implement a made craft into everyday life, and I just want to keep making them....again and again and again.

 It is far too greedy to keep the how to for these cuties a secret, so let the instructions roll.

1.) Pick which delicious fabrics you would like to rock your ears.

2.) Grab a craft cover button kit from your crafty place of choice. Your kit will include the items seen above.

3.) Use the template in your kit to draw two circles (one for each button) on your fabric. 

4.) Place your fabric on top of the mold. The fabric should be facing down, put the button shell on top of the fabric and place it in the middle.

5.) Use the pusher to insert the fabric into the mold.

6.) You will have a coffee filter looking dohickey after you put the shell into the mold. You will need to then fold the fabric into the mold.

7.) Place the back on the folded over fabric. In the picture from step 2, I showed the two different back types: one with a shank and one without a shank. In this picture above, I am using the back with the shank, but I removed the shank. You can use both back types for this project. you just have to be more strategic with where you place the earring post.

8.) After the back is placed on the to-be earring, Place the pusher on top of that and push with all of your might. If you are a weakling like me, feel free to use a clamp to push the back into the shell. Luckily, the Mr. fully supports my crafty addictions and supplied the idea for the clamp.

You should hear a little snappy snap sound when you push the back into the shell.

9.) Glue an earring post onto the back of the button. I used E600, but you could use hot glue as well. Wait 24 hours and ....

10.) BAM! You look good!

-Autumn

DIY: leaf garland

Hello there all,

One of the reasons that I started this blog in this first place is because I am constantly inspired by the work done at A beautiful Mess. I mean that blog is insane, and I can't even begin to understand where they get all of their inspiration. Let's be honest: I am a jealous fan girl. Yes, I am a fan girl. I'll admit it. First step of recovery is admitting your problem, right?

One project that they have done is here. It makes me swoon. I am not sure if it is my unnatural obsession with leaves/trees or the fact that my name is Autumn therefore, I was born to be a bit crunchy. Who knows?

Anyways, here is my own version of the garland. I chose to use embroidery thread in my version.

1.) Raid the local craft supply store and raid the felt selection in whichever colors you would like. If you want this to have more of a fall theme, you could definitely make these in autumn colors, but I wanted the option of using the garland all year.

2.) Trace an outline of a leaf onto the felt. I used a regular old pen, but I think chalk would've been more helpful for those darker colors.

3.) Start the sewing process: You will need a larger needle, your embroidery thread, your felt, and some strength. It can be rather difficult to push the needle through the felt, so put some back into it and PUSH! I would recommend putting your felt into the pattern that you want BEFORE you start sewing. Once you have your pattern decided start sewing up a storm.  Before you know it, you will have a schwing garland.

4.) Revel in your awesomeness: You are now a big deal so sit back and enjoy your homemade beauty.

What's so great about this project is that it is so versatile. It can be adapted for so many seasons and shapes. The internet has destroyed me recently and made me become smitten with garlands. It seems that every week I am trying a new garland that I saw on Pinterest, this is first one actually worth documenting :).

-Autumn