DIY: Embroidered Cards

I know it's a little after Christmas, but I thought I'd share with you a quick tutorial on ways to sew your own cards! I embroidered some Christmas cards and one New Years card this year (inspired by Next to Nicx), but you could totally embroider cards for all occasions. I had this glorious plan to sew like 10 cards this year and I thought it was going to take no time, but the first one took me... pause... about 8 hours to complete
>.< ahh! (the one pictured above) I ended up giving it to my sister and her husband so I hope they frame it and keep it forever! So I quickly nixed that idea to make 10 cards and with such an elaborate design, figured out quicker ways to do it, and simplified it so each card afterwards ended up taking me about 30 min. each. Phew!

I don't have as many detailed photos as I usually do for my tutorials, but it's easy enough!

DIY: Makeup Brush Case

Whenever I go traveling, I always stuff my makeup brushes into a ziploc bag, which mushes the brushes and spreads my makeup onto the other brushes...but no more!

I now have a functional and cute case to store them in! Deborah Moebe's book, Stitch by Stitch, has a tutorial on how to make a picnic placemat, and I modified her instructions to make a laminated makeup brush case. I wanted to line my case with a plastic lining so that it can be cleaned easily, but I couldn't find any laminated fabric with a cute design at Jo Ann's and I was too impatient to order it online, so I used a shower curtain! It's a lot cheaper that way too, and mildew and bacteria resistant! Perfect!

The instructions below will be how I made the orange case, but I'll list out how I modified them to make the black cases. (see modification notes within the steps).

DIY: Bias Tape

My next post will be how to sew a makeup brush case, but first, I'm going to teach you how to make bias tape, which will be the first step to making the makeup brush case. This was the first time I made bias tape and honestly while I was making it I was like, this does not make sense!! but with patience and diligence, it worked out! I'm sure I'm going to be making more in the future and it'll be way easier now that I know what I'm doing!

What is bias tape?
Bias tape (aka bias binding) is basically fabric that is cut at the bias, the 45 degree angle to the selvage, into a long strip. It's a little misleading that it's called "tape" when it's not sticky at all.
Because bias tape is cut across the woven threads as opposed to along them, it is flexible and durable. It is used mainly for edging projects, especially curved ones, such as armholes, necklines, placemats, bags, etc.

You can buy them already made but the selections are pretty limited (see Wrights bias tape above), or make them yourself.

DIY: Fall Yarn Wreath

Here's a quickie post: a mini wreath for the fall!

Sorry about the weird colors... I'm getting a new camera soon!!!! ^_^

DIY: Bay Leaf Wreath

This easy DIY project was inspired by Make It and Love It and only took about 2 hours! It's very festive and perfect for this holiday season. I think what spurred this project along was mainly due to the crazy glue gun! This was the first time I used a glue gun for a project and that thing just spews out hot glue so I was working really fast so as not to waste a lot of the glue on the table. I'm happy with how it turned out!

Here is what you need to get started:

Materials:
- 1 packet of moss
- Bay leaves (I used 4 of those mini bags)
- Foam roll
- Fake berries
- Hot glue gun
- Newspaper (for the table)
- Wire cutters (not pictured)

Tip: When shopping for the bay leaves, I found that the regular spice aisle in grocery stores had bottles of bay leaves that were around $4/bottle for only 6 or 7 leaves! I went to Food Lion and went to the Hispanic food aisle and found mini bags of bay leaves for $0.50 each and most of the leaves were intact!

All Things Pumpkin!

Two years ago, I created a step-by-step pumpkin carving video, but this time I decided to take it in a different direction and create a stop motion video carving Tim Burton's Sparky from the recent movie, Frankenweenie. I downloaded the pattern from my go-to pumpkin pattern site, zombiepumpkins.com (It does cost money for the pattern) and got to work! Hope you like it!

I always feel so wasteful when I throw away all that pumpkin pulp so I saved a Tupperware container of the pulp to decide on something to make with it later. I found a cream of pumpkin soup recipe using tofu instead of cream, which works for me because I most likely always have tofu in my house and rarely have cream (and it's healthier). I modified the recipe a little because I didn't want mine to be too onion-y and I didn't have any bacon. I did have some sliced pork in the freezer so I just rubbed some salt on it... Not sure if that made it taste more like bacon..., but it was still super yummy! The bacon/pork adds a nice warmth to the soup while the tofu adds creaminess.

Whole Wheat Oat Bran Banana Muffins

I know it may seem like I have some kind of banana obsession with my post a few weeks ago being the banana coffee pie... but I don't! My family just buys bananas every week and they go bad so fast! I wanted to use the whole wheat flour I had bought previously for the pie, and based this recipe I found on SparkRecipes. It has whole wheat flour and oat bran, so it's yummy and healthy!

Time to prep: 15 min.
Time to Bake: 20 min.
Servings: 12 muffins

Cioppino

Cioppino is an Italian-American fish stew that originated from San Francisco. It typically has a plethora of seafood in it: crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, and fish. On a random whim to check out DC's Eastern Market after work one day, I bought 2 fresh cod fillets and shell-less clams and made this version of cioppino. My version only has fish, clams, shrimp, and crabmeat. A lot more affordable than the original version!

DIY: French Seamed Envelope Pillow

I discovered this amazing website called Craftsy about a month ago, an interactive platform where you can sign up for a ton of craft-related courses taught by experienced instructors. I learned how to make this french seamed envelope pillow from the course, Sewing Studio: Fashion Fitting, Home Decor & More taught by Diana Rupp. I'll show you how I did it step-by-step so you can follow along and create your very own one too!

What is a french seam? A french seam is a double sewn seam where the raw, frayed edges are enclosed within the second seam. Gives the project a nice, clean look.

What is an envelope pillow? This pillowcase has two overlapping panels in the back for a hidden opening for the pillow.

Skills You'll Learn:
- Sewing a double turned hem
- Pivoting around corners
- Sewing a french seam

Banana Coffee Pie

You know when your yellow banana gets all old and brown and you don't want to eat it anymore? and you don't want to make banana bread either? Make Banana Coffee Pie! Perfect for the fall weather. Here's my version based off of Ecualombian's recipe. (My first pie from scratch! Scroll down to read lessons learned too)

DIY: Tape Painting!

I wanted to give my best friend a housewarming gift for her new place, and was inspired by Maria Teorien's tape painting. Having never painted with acrylic paint before, I was a little nervous how it would turn out but it was surprisingly easy and really fun! and best of all, my bff loved it :)

DIY: Sew a Garter

My sister tasked me to make her a garter for her wedding, and thankfully with the help of a tutorial on weddingbee, it was pretty easy to make my own version. You basically only need to know how to sew in a straight line on a sewing machine and you're set!