Skull Flower Hairclip: Text Tutorial

This hair clip is super easy to make, and super customizable.

All you need is polymer clay, fabric flowers, fabric glue, hot glue, a hair clip, and glitter.

A while back, I made about a dozen little skulls out of scrap polymer clay. They were kind of swirly mud colored, but that's okay because I knew I'd paint them eventually. They are super easy to make. I just formed a basic skull shape, then used the end of a paint brush to make the eye sockets and the back a craft knife to make the indents for the teeth.

For this clip, I painted the skull blue and sprinkled glitter on it while the paint was still wet. You could do the same, or use colored polymer clay.
I mixed a little fabric glue and glitter together and painted the edge of the petals with my fabric glitter glue. After it dried, I cut off the plastic bits in the center of the flower, leaving just enough to keep the flower together.
Next, I used my trusty hot glue gun to attach the skull to the center.
I then put a big blob of hot glue on the back to attach the hair clip. I like to use a lot so that it sort of envelopes the clip a bit, making it more secure.

Fabric Hair Bow: Tutorial

First, let me apologize for the quality of the photos. My camera is has been broken for some time now, so I've been using my phone. Secondly, this is the first photo tutorial, so I hope that it's adequate.
This is a great way to use up fabric scraps to make cute accessories.

You will need:

• Fabric
• Needle and thread
• Hair clip
• Hot glue gun + glue (optional)

1. Cut two rectangles from your fabric. The larger one should be twice as long and twice as wide as what you want your finished bow to be, plus a little extra for seam allowance. The second,
smaller piece should be twice the width of the center part of the bow and about two inches long.



2. Fold each piece in half, with the "wrong" side facing out. Sew along the open edge. This will create two tubes. I used orange thread so that it would be easy to see.




3. Turn the tubes inside out, so that the "right" side of the fabric is showing. Fold it so that the seam runs down the center of one side. You can iron the tubes at this point, but I'm lazy when it comes to things like that, so I didn't.



4. Fold the larger tube in half so that the seam is on the inside. Whip stitch the raw edges together. You can either iron it now so that the whip stitched seam is in the center, or do what I did and just kind of flatten it with your hands.





5. Fold and pinch the bow in the center, making it look the way you want, keeping the seam to the back.






6. Run a few stitches through the center, securing the folds.









7. Wrap the smaller tube around the center of the bow. Fold the raw edge over and secure it in the back with a few stitches. Your bow is now done!










8. Attach the clip to the back of the bow, using
either stitches or hot glue.






Variations:

• Layer your fabric with tulle, fishnet, or lace.
• Use less fabric by using pinking shears on the edge of the big tube. You only need to cut a rectangle of fabric twice as long, but the same width as the finished bow.
• Glue or sew a button or decoration to the center. I used Halloween favor rings with the ring part cut off.
• Embellish with embroidery, beads, or sequins.
  

Miniature Mummy: Tutorial Link

Now, this tutorial is actually for a mummified fairy. I am not exactly the biggest fan of mythological creatures, but I still think that the finished product is totally rad. Personally, I would leave out the wings and fairy accessories, but I still think that it would fit nicely on a shelf next to your bottled specimens and mounted insects. The photo I have included in this post is of the mummy before the author of the tutorial added the wings. The tutorial is nice and clear, very simple, and includes plenty of pictures.
Perhaps you could use this tutorial to make a mummy for a faked freakshow exhibit, similar to this absolutely amazing freakshow prop over at Curiomira.

Child's Color Book Update

I finished the color book for my little little brother. The laminating sheet left little circle air pockets around the circles on the cover, but I think that it looks ok. I made the cover by using a standard hole punch to punch little "dots" out of glitter card stock. Have I mentioned yet that I love glitter? I know that a lot of people don't associate glitter with little boys, but all little kids like sparkles. When I worked at a kid's face painting booth, little boys would often ask for their Spiderman mask or scary serpent to have some glitter.

Extreme Cards and Papercrafting

I wanted to share with you guys this gem of a blog I found, called Extreme Cards and Papercrafting. The pop-up cards, movable cards, and 3-D paper crafts she does are amazing. She offers tons of tutorials and lessons, like this one on how to do pop-up words in your cards. She also offers downloadable patterns, templates, and various file types for your digital cutters.

One things that I really like about this particular blog is that the lessons are neatly organized and easy to find on the right side scroll bar. So many times, I will find a blog that is very informative or inspiring, but I will abandon reading it due to not being able to easily navigate through it.

If you are at all interested in paper crafts, or just feel like being wowed and amazed, I highly recommend checking out Extreme Cards and Papercrafting. I guarantee, money-back, that you will not be disappointed.

Child's Color Book

I was inspired to make my little little brother a color book after seeing a similar project in Craft & Home Projects. I didn't care much for their version, but I thought that it was a really cute concept. I thought theirs looked, I dunno, a little too handmade and boring.

I searched high and low on the internet for a template that had multiple large tags of the same shape and size. I found plenty of tag templates, but they were of various sizes and shapes. So, I took an index card, folded it in half, and cut the corners off. I then traced the tag onto sheets of white card stock and cut them out. So far, I have the red, blue, yellow, and green pages mostly done. You can't tell from the picture, but some of the paper on the green one is glittery. I love me some sparkle! I swear, if it will hold still long enough, I'll cover anything and everything in glitter. As long as these pages don't end up too thick, I may use some sticky laminate pages to laminate these, since it is meant for a three year old. Stay tuned for the completed project!

Patchwork Scrap Scarf: Tutorial Link

If you are at all like me, you just can't bear to throw those scraps of fabric away. You know the ones - they are just a few inches square, but you LOVE that fabric and can't seem to find it anywhere anymore! Or how about that three inch wide strip you cut off of that skirt when you hemmed it up? The fabric was just so pretty! All those scraps may have been sitting in your scrap box for two years, but you just know they will come in handy one day. How could you throw them away?!?

I am always in need of projects that use up those little scraps, I really cannot throw them away. I've found a lovely photo tutorial over at Javajem's blog for these adorable and thrifty scarves. I know that it isn't quite the season for scarves yet, but it never hurts to get started early on that holiday crafting. In my world, the week leading up to Christmas is filled with a mad dash to finish crafting, visit family, and a crap-ton of baking. It doesn't help that my birthday also happens to fall on December 25th. This year, I vow to actually have some time for myself, which is why I'm already looking into some winter crafts.

Head over here to see the step-by-step photo tutorial that Jody has been kind enough to share.

I plan on making a dinosaur scarf for my little little brother and a gray + black one for my big little brother. Maybe I'll have to make one for myself using all those different colored leopard print scraps I have in my scrap box.

Felt Chips + Sandwich: Free Pattern Link

I have always loved to make felt food, but I felt kind of silly doing so because I have no actual use for them. I live in very cramped quarters, so sometimes crafting just for the sake of crafting cute things makes these quarters even more cramped. Luckily, three and a half years ago, my mom gave me a second little brother. Now, making felt food has become practical!

Anyhow, I came across this wonderful free pattern for a totally cute bag of chips and sandwich with all the fixings over at Snazzle Craft.

You can find the pattern and instructions here. She even tells you how to put ridges on your chips so that they look like Ruffles. I think it would be really cute idea to monogram the label on the chip bag, don't you think?