Tutorial Tuesday #9: Bridesmaid Totebags

I am so excited I can finally sit down and blog again. I am also super excited I get to share my first tutorial in forever today! I still have a lot of wedding projects that I never got to share, so don’t be surprised if that’s what most of my tutorials are for a while. Oh, and Christmas crafts. 

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite projects from the wedding. And funny, it wasn’t even a decoration. These were actually my bridesmaids’ gifts.I made a lot of handmade things for my gifts to try to keep it cheap. Because let's be honest, weddings are a rip-off. 

How I did it was really easy but a little time consuming. 

Here's what you need to make your own tote bag

Supplies:

Blank linen tote bag (Hobby Lobby)

Fabric Paints or Acrylic Paints (In whatever colors your heart desires) and Fabric Medium

Masking Tape

Ruler

Freezer Paper

Cricut or X-acto knife and Monogram Template

Foam Brushes

Instructions

1. I taped my bags front and back to make stripes. I used my ruler to help guide where I put the tape and I made my stripes an inch long. You could do any pattern you wanted really, but stripes seemed easiest to me. *Also, make sure you put paper inside of the bag to keep the paint from bleeding through.

2. I mixed 1 part fabric medium and 1 part acrylic paint (brown) and painted my stripes. I ended up doing two to three layers. But be careful, because the tape likes to buckle once you start painting. 

3. After the stripes dried, I took all the tape off. 

4. To make my monogram, I used the same technique as in my Muggle T-shirts and my Keep Calm T-shirts. 

5. I tied a large ribbon around each of them and a stamped "handmade for you" label. 

6. I filled the tote bags with a homemade pumpkin body scrub (recipe found here), a pair of brown flip flops, a hanger I made for each of them, and a makeup bag I had monogrammed with each of their initials. The makeup bag had some of my favorite things in it. Examples - Lipgloss, Essie nail polish, sunglasses (the ones we wore in the pictures), nail polish remover, a small candle, and some other stuff I can't remember. 

And there you have it. My bridesmaid totes. And just for the record, these would be great gifts for any occasion! Not just weddings ;) Hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

Tuesday Tutorial #7: Upcycled Sandals

Today's tutorial was very much inspired by a shopping trip. The other day I was out looking for wedding shoes at Macy's. But, being the shoe fanatic I am, I obviously got side-tracked by all the other cute shoes. I came across these flip flops and wanted to try them on. 

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Sadly, they didn't have my size. And truth be told, I didn't have the money. Even if they were on sale. So I went about my hunt for wedding shoes. And didn't find those there either. Although, I did end up finding some later. But that's irrelevant. I got home and it hit me that I had some super old T-strap sandals that I hadn't worn in a while and I had fabric to make some bows. So, using a technique I had used before, I set out to make my own version of these sandals. Here's how mine turned out.

I obviously could never take photos for Macy's online shoe department. But whatever. I think they turned out well, despite the dirty label and visible foot print from being worn so much.

Here's what I used and how I did it

Old T-straps
Fine glitter
ModPodge
Paint brush
E-6000 glue
Fabric

First, I mixed together a little ModPodge and about half of the bottle of Martha Stewart glitter into a small bowl.  I then painted on four coats of the mixture and let each coat dry in between.

While the coats of the ModPodge mixture were drying, I made my bows using the same tutorial I used for my bow shoe clips.  Once all my coats had dried and my bows were made, I used a little E6000 to adhere the bows to the front. And viola! My own version of the Macy's sandals. I think they turned out rather charming (even if they are a little beat up!) 

Well, that's all I have for today! Hope everyone has had a wonderful Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Tuesday Tutorial #6: Personalized Acrylic Tumblers

I mentioned in my last post that I would have a tutorial post for you soon. Well "soon" meant not even 24 hours later. That's a surprise, huh? I know I missed last Tuesday's tutorial post but I'm back with a bang. Well, sort of, not really. I want to show you how to make the acrylic tumblers that I personalized for all my girls at my bachelorette party.

These were a perfect way for all of us to know where our cup was at all times. And, since they aren't glass, we were able to use them at the pool and the beach. Even more perfect, they didn't get sand in them. I got the inspiration from some I saw on Etsy and my original plan was to make them as part of my bridemaids' gifts. So, I started searching for cheap, clear acrylic tumblers and found that I could buy 6 somewhere else for the same price as 12 on Amazon. So, since I might as well get my money's worth, I bought the ones off of Amazon and decided to use them for the bachelorette party instead since there were more girls going than are in my actual bridal party.

Here's what else I used:

9 Clear Acrylic Tumblers
Black Vinyl
Teal Vinyl
Silver Vinyl
White Vinyl
1" Circle Hole Punch
A roll of ribbon
Cricut, Font Cartridge, and Sweethearts Cartridge

*All of the vinyl was purchased at a local sign shop. It's so much cheaper than buying Cricut brand vinyl.

First, I washed the cups with soap and water. Then, I cut each of their names on the black vinyl using my Cricut and the font I so desired.  Next, it was a matter of placing the letters of their names in the correct position. I really need to learn how to use transfer paper with the vinyl. I'm sure it would make my life much easier. After I had the letters down, I punched out a bunch of 1" circles using my hole punch. I used all four colors for the dots and filled them in around the rest of the cup. Then, I used my ribbon and tied a bow around each of the straws.

For my cup, I cut a 3" engagement ring using my Sweethearts cartridge and placed it on before putting my name on. (I know, I'm a huge nerd.) Seeeee.

Ta-da! There you have it, the finished product. That's all I have for today dear friends. Have a wonderful week!

Tutorial Tuesday #5: Wedding Favor Tin

It's Tuesday and you know what that means! Another tutorial. As the wedding creeps closer, there are 1000 more things added to my to do list for every one I scratch off. I feel like I'm drowning in all things wedding. As many times as people have volunteered to help me with my extensive list of wedding crafts, I should have already jumped on that. I'm finding that my A-type personality and my crafting OCD are hindering my ability to take up peoples' offers. I really need to let go of my perfectionist personality. It doesn't seem to be working for me anymore.

As for this week's tutorial, I had some inspiration. It's something I saw on Pinterest that I thought would work perfect as a favor holder at the wedding. It's a monogrammed galvanized tin. :) 

We decided to do bubbles for our "getaway" and I figured a tin bucket would work perfect to hold these babies! I'm so excited with how it turned out. And like I mentioned before, this had some inspiration. I'm sure you've seen it floating around Pinterest.

Here's what I did to make mine.

Supplies:

Cheap galvanized tin

Spray paint in color of choice

Wired ribbon

Vinyl in color of choice

*Cricut

I found this cheap tin in the party supplies at Wally World and I used Krylon Dual Paint and Primer so I didn't have to prime it first. It worked surprisingly well! Have I mentioned how much I love spray paint. It pretty much fixes everything. I spray painted it with two coats and I did the outside and inside. 

I used my wired ribbon to tie a bow to each handle. I'm really not the best bow-tier. 

The last thing I did was cut a monogram "K" out of my vinyl with my Cricut. Making sure I put the K on straight was the hardest part. I required an extra helper to make sure all the loops didn't stick together before I got it all the way on the tin. 

And there you have it. Another Tutorial Tuesday has come and gone!

Happy crafting!

Fave Things Thursdays: Pillows

It's time again for some weekly Pinspiration. Today's fave thing is something that has been a big project on my to-do list for quite some time. Pillows! There's only one problem. I have not the slightest clue how to use a sewing machine. Teaching myself to sew is also on the to-do list. I am in desperate need for new couch pillows for our future apartment and there's so much great diy inspiration out in craft world that I would feel like I was betraying my love for crafts if I just went and bought some plain, boring, store pillows. Just saying. So, to get on with my post, here are a few a bunch of my favorite diy pillow ideas!

Word pillows

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Stenciled pillows

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Ruffled Flower pillows

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Pleated pillows

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Fringe pillows

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Rosette and Burlap pillows

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Bow pillows

My love for bows would probably be considered a problem to most people

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Fabric flower pillows

Words cannot describe how beautiful I think this is!

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And because nothing is complete without a little chevron print

Chevron pillows

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 Well, that's all I have for today's fave things post! Hope everyone has a great weekend!