DIY Baby shower Banner

This was the banner I made for my sister's baby shower. It was super easy to do! I made it out of scrap book paper.

Here's how I made it:

1. I used Microsoft word to create a triangle shape. I thought about eye balling and trying to cut my own triangles, but I decided it would probably look better if I had some uniform triangles. If you are not computer savvy here is how you make a triangle with MS word:

Under the "Insert" icon, select "shapes". Then you will see all kinds of shapes pop up. Select the triangle and draw a triangle on the full page of the paper.

Then you need to flip the triangle. To flip the triangle, hover your mouse over that second green dot at the top of the triangle and left click on your mouse. While holding it down move your mouse to flip the triangle. 

Then insert a text box and type your letters in. 

Then, print them on pretty paper! You just need some string and tape. I just folded the top of the triangle and taped the back of the triangle..... 

....................and Viola!

- I wish I would've cut the parts that I folded, but we were kinda on a time crunch! 

I used the same banner to take some pregnancy pictures:

DIY Leather Tassel Key Chains

I had a lot of left over leather from my DIY Leather Passport project. I remembered a post I saw from my hero Jenny Komenda about DIY leather tassel key chains and I decided to give it a try. It's super easy!

You simply cut a 3"x7" rectangle, then you thinly slice the fringe pieces leaving some room at the top to glue. Next you cut a 1/2" x 3" piece for the top. I purchased a key ring and jewelry clasp to make mine simply because they were cheaper, but on the Jenny Komenda Tutorial she used a trigger clasp that was about $5.

                                             

I threaded one of the key rings through the clasp of the chain clip.

 Next, I put my top piece of 1/2"x3" piece of leather through it.



Next, I laid out my fringed leather piece with the small piece of leather in the corner. For the next step you put a strip of leather glue all the way across the top of the fringed leather piece and roll it up ontop of itself.

Then I added the small accent strip using the leather glue.

For the nail head I tried an upholstery nail and I also tried a stud which I folded around the accent strip. I love the final product! I have had the on on the right on my key chain for over a month and it is holding up perfectly!

                                               

DIY Handmade Leather Passport Holder

Hello! Here is my DIY Handmade Leather Passport Holder I made for my boyfriend for valentines day

I love how it turned out!....Now here's how I did it.......

What you need:

• - Print out this passport holder PDF pattern. Make sure you un-check the print option to scale to the paper.
• - one square foot of leather (NOTE- if you want to stamp the initials in the leather, then you need vegetable tanned leather-- I just bought bags of scrap leather that had pieces large enough for the project. You can buy them at Michaels or Tandy leather factory and I lucked out that one of the pieces was veg tanned leather so I could stamp it)
• - Waxed thread
• - scissors
• - cutting board
• - stitching awl (I didn't use this-- I used the sharp part of a compass -- yes that tool from elementary school math! I just hammered that through the leather-- I dont recommend that technique though. Tandy leather factory sells tools for punching the holes I'm going to try that for the next project)
• - Ruler/ tape measure
• - old t-shirt/soft cloth
• - leather conditioner and protectant
• - 2 leather sewing needles (you need ones with big eyes for threading the thick waxed thread)

Tutorial:

I saw a few tutorials online and some youtube videos on leather making, but Jepsen Leather Goods Blog has the full tutorial for this project.

Advice:


I followed that tutorial but decided I wanted to personalize mine with initials and the studs.

I bought a leather craft stamp set at Michael's for around $10. You just dampen the leather in water, then hammer the stamp on the leather and it makes a permanent mark. Mine weren't that straight. Next time I will probably use a ruler to help me keep the lettering straight.

After I Stamped the initials, I used a staining technique called SHARPIE MARKER to color the stamped initials darker. Then I added studs by placing small holes in the leather and folding the metal clasps around on the back.

Now time for sewing. The sewing part was much harder than I expected. For sewing leather you are supposed to use a saddle stitching technique. This is difficult to explain without showing it, so I would suggest watching videos of it on youtube if you decide to try this project.

I sewed the personalization plate first.

Then I began sewing the inside pockets:

Note: the eyelashes you are seeing are the back of a magazine. You can punch holes better if you work on a porous surface like a telephone book or a magazine. I had to use pliers to pull my needles through the leather, I think if you punch good holes you shouldn't have to do that, but I need to try this project again with a slightly different technique.

Here is one pocket done!

AND HERE IT IS!!!

Sorry for the sideways image-- I can't figure out how to rotate it in here yet!

Lack Ikea Hack in Progress

LACK IKEA HACK!

On my to-do list are some amazing Ikea hacks! I have been reading some blogs for awhile now, and I already have two in progress. Here is one of the two Ikea hacks I have in progress right now!

This project was inspired by Clementine & Olive's nail head table hack---it's a great blog, so go read it!

This is a nail head table from Clayton Gray it has a price tag of $455---ouch!!!

This is an Ikea Lack table it has a price tag of a whopping $7

 

You buy two lack tables and use two of the top pieces to make a top and a bottom like this:

PHOTO TO COME LATER

This is a picture from Clementine & Olive this is her Ikea hack finished! She did such a great job!! I LOVE her style.

Mine is still in progress, I have the two tables put together, but I must admit I have been struggling with it because I didn't read the fine print that she glued the tables together. I tried to screw them together and it's been super frustrating. I hope to finish it by the end of this week!...I'm in Jury duty now so hopefully I will get out early and have the time ;) 

I think she hammered in the individual nails, but I think I may buy nail-head trim from Hancock Fabrics. I think it may be easier. I have attempted this project on a brown lack table and I didn't finish it....here it is: I could probably do it by hand, but I think the frustration of trying to space them evenly and hammer straight would get to me by the end, so I'm going to try to buy the trim this week.

this is the nail head trim I am going to try on my white lack table. It looks much easier than the individual nails I have been hammering on the brown tables.....

Then I found this picture:

Pretty neat...I wonder if i could try something like this!!

I will have to post my picture after I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!

Photography

Photography

By: Jennifer Nack

 Ochos Rios, Jamaica July 2012


                            

Ochos Rios, Jamaica July 2012

Water Fountain- 2012

Road Trip to Boone, NC 2012

Boone, NC- Grandfather Mountain 2012

 Boone, NC 2012

Boone, NC 

Road Trip- Boone, NC

Atlanta, GA

My Inspiration

Flower

My new room....design on a dime

My Bedroom

Color Theme: Gray and Yellow

I have always loved interior design, however, I have a hard time spending a lot of money on design pieces. Plus, I have to admit that I love a good deal.  Here are some of my pieces adding to by bedroom: (p.s. I wish I had a brighter main picture! I will have to take another one this week!)

Old Time Pottery sells fabric that are pre-cut and sold by whatever yardage is there. So you often have to pick through the stacks of fabric to find something you like, and if it's more than you need you have to buy all of it. BUT--you can get great deals on fabrics there. I bought this fabric that I used to sew the two yellow pillow shams you see in the back it was $4.99/ yard. I even later saw pillows on the website One Kings Lane made out of the same fabric that were WAY more expensive then what I paid to make mine :) It is an indoor-outdoor fabric, so it's a little more rough of a fabric, but I don't sleep on them. They are only for show.

Then the sunburst mirror I got was a great deal also. I got it at the Home Depot for around $35. I found a ton of DIY projects on making one, and I bought all the supplies to make one, then I saw this one online and it was around the same price as all of the supplies, so I just decided to go with the store bought one!

The yellow Lamps I got on clearance at Target for $15 each! Those were such a great deal. I remember when I saw them in the store I was skeptical about them I thought the color alone was kinda ugly, but I decided to buy them and I could return them later if I needed to. So I bought them and the shades at target (the shades were also on clearance for $9.99!) I had to do some footwork and hunt a second matching clearance shade down at another target, but it was worth it. 

I found the lamps still listed on the target website for $54.99 just for the base!

The butterfly and dragonfly pictures are from Ikea. It cost $15 for the matted picture. The Frames are seperate.

The two small yellow geometric pillows and the pillow in the very front of the main picture are all also from Target! Below its the yellow one to the right and the brown studded pillow in the back.

You can't really see my duvet cover in the main picture, but it is a gray duvet cover I got on clearance at TJMAXX for $25! Love deals! ( that's the gray duvet cover in the picture above)