Make Linen Napkins & A Table Runner

Make Linen Napkins & A Table Runner

I love using linen on the table.

I started with a piece of linen that was 53" wide including the selvage and 50" long.

It is an odd size to purchase, but it was the end of the bolt so I took what was left.

I had thought I would use the linen for a different project where I would have had a strip left over and what would I do with that?

I had enough to make 6-17.5" square napkins plus a 15" x 35" table runner.

The napkins were a little smaller than I usually like, but they're okay.

I knew that if I frayed the edges I would lose less material than if I hemmed the edges.

I pre-washed the fabric and then dried in the dryer.

I ripped both the bottom and top edges of the fabric so that the fabric would be even to start.  

Linen frays easily, so I decided to sew a very fine zig-zag stitch about 3/8" from the edge, all around.

By sewing around the napkins, I knew that they wouldn't fray further in the wash.

This is a closer picture of the zig-zag stitching.

Some of the frays are a little longer than others.  They can be trimmed or just left, as I have done.

I like the oatmeal colour.  It goes with so many things.  I also think that the frayed edges are much less formal than hemmed napkins.

I am not very good at making mitred corners, so this was good for me.

The linen is a nice weight which makes the napkins look more rustic.  It is not handkerchief linen.

This is an easy project.  Stitching is the most time-consuming part.  Pulling threads on linen is pretty easy and can be done in good time.

This is an original Fair Meadow Place publication.

Thanks for stopping by.

Barbara

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Canada Day Door Wreath

Canada Day Door Wreath

This wreath is a fairly easy project.  I already had most of the supplies I needed, except for the ribbon, which I purchased at Michaels.

The wreath is easily adaptable to a U.S. theme.

Materials List

- A wicker or grapevine 10" wreath

- 3 toilet paper tubes (for firecrackers)

- Wrapping paper in a colour of your choice.  I used gold-coloured, but white, kraft paper, scrapbook paper, or a patriotic-themed paper would work just as well.

- Ribbon in appropriate colours to decorate the firecrackers.

- Several sprays of wired white buds.

- Red burlap ribbon for bow

- Red jute twine for fuses on firecrackers and for a loop to hang the wreath.

- Flags, I used three 8" x 6" with 10" sticks

- Glue gun and craft glue, flat paint brush

Optional - Watered down brown acrylic craft paint to age the flags and ribbons.

Method

*If you are going to age your flags and ribbons do that first so they will dry by the time you want to use them.

Use an amount of brown paint on a tray or foil plate and add water until the consistency is very watery.

With the paint brush paint the ribbons and flags until they have the aged look that is pleasing to you.

Let them dry.  The drying time is not too long.

*Start work on the tubes

Cover the tops of each tube with wrapping paper.  Cut circles of paper larger than the top and tape it down on the sides of the tubes.  

Then wrap the wrapping paper around the tubes and glue it where the paper meets at the back of the tube.

Leave one tube long, but cut a little off of each tube at the bottom so that they are progressively shorter.  Your tubes will each be different lengths.

Poke a small hole in the tops of the tubes and push a length of jute twine into the hole (approx 1 1/2" to 2" lengths).  The twine is the fuse.  Add glue so the twine does not fall out.

Wrap the tubes with ribbons.

*Assemble the wreath

With the glue gun place a few dots of glue on the inside bottom of each tube and pinch together.  This makes it easier to attach them to the wreath.

Starting with the longest tube tuck it into the wreath and add hot glue to hold it in place.  Add the next longest and so on until all three are attached to the wreath.  

I bent the smallest tube forward and added an extra bit of glue to hold it.

*Place the bud sprays on the wreath around the firecrackers and glue.

*Add a bow and place the flags, tucking them into the wicker and glueing.

HAPPY CANADA 150

Thanks for stopping by.

Barbara

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Spring - Two Easter Egg Tutorials Plus Some Favourite Things About Spring

Spring is a wonderful time of the Year and in less than One Month it will be here.

If you live in a climate that experiences Snow and Ice, it is especially Welcome when it finally arrives.

It is one season that I eagerly anticipate and so I start planning all the things I would like to accomplish in this season of renewal.  For me, it always starts with decorating various areas of the house.  It is a time to put away the things of Winter and bring out the Pastels and Happy Colours of Spring, the soft yellows, pinks, blues, greens.

Here are are Some of My Favourite Things in Spring

Marbleized Easter Eggs
(The Tutorial for Making Marbelized Eggs is Below)

Baby Chics to Hold

Apple Blossoms

Early Spring Flowers

More Apple Blossoms

Cows with Calves On Pasture

Again with the Apple Blossoms

Kittens in the Barn

Easter Egg Tutorials

Button Egg Tutorial

Button Egg Tutorial

I enjoyed making the Button Heart so much that I started looking around to see what other shapes would lend themselves to this craft.

Easter is coming soon, so I decided to do aButton  Bunny.  After I started the Bunny I didn't like the way it was shaping up so I stopped the Bunny and started an Egg shape instead.

Supplies You Will Need

•  One 8" x 10" (20.5cm x 25cm) wrapped artist's canvas.
•  Acrylic paints in the following colours:  Turquoise, Titanium White, Peacock  Blue, Butter Cream (Yellow), Apple Tart (Bright Green) or any colours of your choice.
•  Pencil
•  Ruler
•  Glue gun
•  A lot of buttons - they can be purchased at a dollar store if you don't have enough.  I used white buttons.
• Ribbon (optional)

Instructions

1.  On a paper plate or palette pour out a 50 cent sized dollop of Turquoise paint.  To that amount add a 25 cent sized dollop of White Titanium paint.  Add two to three drops each of Peacock Blue and Butter Cream.  Mix the paints together.      
2. Paint the canvas and sides of the canvas.  
3. While the paint is still wet squeeze a few drops of Titanium White onto the palette and using the same brush lightly and sporadically paint over top of the wet paint with the white paint.  Use long strokes so that the paint looks a bit streaky and paint in one direction.   Work it a bit so that it blends in some places and does not blend in other places.  If you feel the turquoise paint is too dark work more of the white paint into it. 
4. 
5. Squeeze out a few drops of the Apple Tart and again while the paint is still wet streak the green over top.  It can also blend in spots and not in others. 
6. When the paint has dried draw or trace an Egg shape in the centre of the canvas.  Use the ruler to find the centre.
7.  Start by glueing a Soldier Course of buttons around the perimeter of the Egg and then add more buttons to fill in the centre.  
   
8.  Once the Egg is filled in with buttons it is okay to glue more buttons on top.  By adding more buttons, the background doesn't peek through as much.  Save your nicest buttons for the top.
9. I wrapped the outer edge of the canvas with ribbon and made a small bow and glued it on the top of the egg.

Note:

Use any paint colour combination you like.  I used turquoise because I had some already.  I thought it was too dark so I lightened it with white and added the blue to make it less green.

This is an easy and fun craft to do with the kids.  Instead of using a hot glue gun you could try Jewel-It or something similar.  Use enough glue to hold the buttons in place.

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Barbara

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Making Bird Nests

Making Bird Nests

I have alway marvelled at Birds making their nests.  They are just amazing.  I have a small pond with plants growing in it at the city house.  Every year the Robins fly in to retrieve mud from the pond in their little beaks.  They use it as one of their main building materials - that and grass.  Back and forth all day and sometimes into the next day gathering mud and grass.  I wonder that they have any energy left to lay eggs.

We have found the smallest nests perched between two branches of the Blue Spruce tree.  There is so little space in between the branches that it doesn't seem possible for any bird to sit on a nest in there.  The nests wouldn't measure any more than about 2-1/2 inches across.  They are built with very thin, fine grasses with no mud or anything holding them together except the weaving of the grass.  When we looked inside of these little nests we would find them to be lined with cow's hair, a cushion for the eggs and nestlings.

I found another nest last year that was made from twigs and grass.  Woven in with the twigs and grass was dog's hair.

Over the years I have made a few nests.  If you look online you can find any number of ways to build a nest and I have tried some of them.  They look just fine, but I really wanted to try building one from grass, thinking it would look somewhat authentic to the nests I see around here.

I found two ways of doing it.   

Building Bird Nests is messy, so be prepared.

My First Method of Nest Building

  

Materials You Will Need

Tinfoil

A small round bowl - I used a small sugar bowl.  (Mine was 3-1/4" in diameter                                  and 2" high.)

Soft, fine Grass - I bought some at Michael's.  It is called Rainbow Grass.  It is                             too early here to find any grass growing outside.

Twigs and Moss

Glue gun

Scissors 

Method

* Cut a piece of tinfoil about 16" long.  Fold in 1/2, turn and fold in 1/2 again.  You should have a 4-layer, somewhat square piece of foil.  It doesn't matter if it is not exactly square.

* Form the foil around the outside of the bowl and fold it down about 1/8" from the top of the bowl.  This is the base on which you will attach twigs and the grass.  Leave the foil on the bowl until the outside of the nest is built.  

* Take a sheath 6 or 7 stems of grass and cut off the harder stem portions so that what is left is fairly pliable.

* Put a good dollop of glue on the foil near the top and press the cut ends of the grass into it.  Let it set and then start wrapping the grass around the bowl.  Dot with glue as you go and then glue well at the end.  Continue adding more sheaths of grass until the entire outside and bottom of the foil is covered with grass.  Glue down any stray pieces, hiding the glue under other pieces of grass as much as possible.  Trim as needed.

* Remove the foil nest from the bowl and continue as above on the inside of the nest.  I found that by wrapping the grass around a couple of my fingers that I could make a tight little ball of grass to attach in the bottom of the nest.

* Check to see that all of the foil is covered and not showing.  Glue in extra pieces of grass as needed.
Add moss, sticks, feathers, etc., and eggs.

My Second Method of Nest Building

Materials You Will Need

Small pliable branches such as Weeping Willow branches or Grape Vine

Twist ties

Soft, fine grass, Rainbow grass used above.

Additional twigs, moss, birch bark, feathers, dry leaves

Glue Gun

Scissors

Method

* Wrap several of the willow branches around your hand to form a circle.

Use the twist ties to hold the branches together.

Make several of these circles with the branches as above.

Put aside for one day or more.

* When ready to build the nest take the twist ties off the branches.  They will spring apart slightly but still remain in their circle shape.

* Use the glue gun to tack some of the layers together.  Add another circle on top if needed to build up the sides of the nest and tack with glue.  Some of the branch ends will poke out.  Use these to weave in and out of the nest.  This will also help hold it together.

*  Once the base has been formed as above, take several pieces of the grass and cut off the hard ends.  Roll the grass around your hand and place the bundle inside the base.  Make more bundles of grass as needed and place inside the nest.  Arrange the grass to cover the sides and bottom of the nest.

* If the bottom of the nest needs more support, use some of the hard ends of grass and crisscross them on the bottom, and tack down with glue.

* Add twigs, moss, dry leaves. etc to decorate the nest.

I am in awe and humbled by birds.  They build their nests with nothing more than their beaks and feet.  They weave it all together so that it stands up to the heavy traffic of their little families and the constant flying in and out of the parents when feeding their babies.

I can't begin to compete with their skill-set even when I am armed with two hands and a glue gun.

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Barbara

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Button Heart Tutorial

An Easy Button Heart for Valentine's Day

This is an easy craft.  I think I will try making one with my 7-year-old granddaughter.

It's like doing a puzzle.  You have to find the right sized buttons to fit into your design.

Supplies

1 - 25.4cm x 25.4cm or (10" x 10") Artists Canvas

Black Acrylic Paint - enough to paint the Canvas

Burlap fabric to cover the Canvas

One sheet of paper 8-1/2 x 11

White Buttons - they are available at the Dollar store should you not have enough in your stash.  I bought 2 packages.

Ribbon and Heart Charm

Staple Gun

Sharpie - fine

Glue Gun

1.    This step is optional.  Paint the Canvas and let it dry.  One coat should do it.

2.  Cover the Canvas with Burlap and staple it to the back of the canvas being careful to fold neatly at the corners. 

Fold an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper in half so that the folded size measures 4-1/4 x 11.  Then cut out one-half of a heart shape.  Open the paper and trace the heart onto the canvas with a Sharpie.

3.  Place the buttons onto the heart outline so that the marks from the Sharpie are covered.

4. Glue the buttons in place around the perimeter of the heart.  Continue placing and gluing buttons until the heart is covered.

It is okay to pile buttons on top of other buttons, especially if you don't want to see the Burlap underneath.  I liked the Burlap peeking out between the buttons.

Add a Bow and Charm, if desired.

Now, all you have to do is hang it on a wall, prop it up in a vignette, or give it as a Valentine to someone you love. 

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