Green is the new purple

I made a few little things this weekend while reorganizing my craft area. In the interest of "going Green", I tried to use up some things I already had.

This was a white kitchen towel I had found at Target for $1. It's very simple and basic, but looks much better with some appliqué and embroidery. It is completely hand-sewn because my sewing machines are both misbehaving.

I started by drawing the design on some scratch paper, then I traced over the leaves on velum and created a template for five or six different leaf shapes that I then used to trace onto some green linen that I already had. Prior to cutting the linen I ironed on lightweight interfacing to the back of the fabric. Lastly I penciled the design onto the towel, stitched the main vine then contined one leaf at a time until finished.

Our kitchen bar tends to collect an assortment of pens and pencils. I tried to make a place for them in the craft drawers, but a handful still ended up on the bar counter space in an ugly flourescent yellow plastic cup. I decided I needed to make something that matched the rest of the kitchen better.

I found this wooden cup at Michael's and brushed on a thin layer of "eucalyptus" acryllic paint. I like seeing the wood grain beneath the paint. Adding the leaf design from the kitchen towel in white was an easy choice.

Looking back I think I would prefer green-on-white rather than white-on-green, and I may just paint over this some day. For now, it looks cute and serves its purpose well. I think something like this could make a nice gift for a coworker or a male family member that is difficult to shop for - perhaps in a different design though.

Lastly, I used some of the same green linen as well as some old felt scraps and fiber fill that I had sitting around, and a button leftover from a quilting project to create this little emery. I actually did need a place to stick all of my "in use" needles. I have a drawer for assorted needles from sewing machine needles to embroidery needles but I usually have two or three that are currently in use for hand-sewing projects and they typically end up getting mixed in with my pins or stuck in the fabric of my ironing board.

I love how this turned out and I think I might make more, I certainly have a lot of these materials left over. Next time I want to try using a large hole punch to cut out the flower(s) though, I think that would look even better. For this one I hand-sketched a design on paper, then traced it on velum to create a template.

[Silk Floral Pew Bows] by the dozen

I created 24 pew bows for my wedding ceremony, 12 in green and 12 in blue.

Materials (for one):
1 Silk Hydrangea stem
1 Pew clip (from orientaltrading.com)
5-6 yards 6" ivory organza ribbon
2 yards 1.75" ivory satin ribbon
1 floral wire, about 1' long
3/4" masking tape

The first step was to secure the hydrangea stem to the pew clip. I cut the stem to about 6 inches so that the head of the flower sat on top of the clip with the stem pressed against the outer face of the clip. Then I wrapped masking tape over the entire stem and clip.

Next I created a bow out of the 6" organza ribbon, creating three loops on each side with a tail hanging to the floor. I used floral wire to secure the bow to the clip just underneath the flower so the clip and masking tape would be covered. Lastly I tied a length of satin ribbon in a double-knot over the center of the organza to hide the green floral wire.

It was easy to store and transport these by hanging them by the clips on three plastic hangers, eight pew bows to a hanger. This kept the ribbons from wrinkling and I think it kept things simple for my friends who were setting them up.

images by Siang of Lightphoria - www.lightphoria.com

Got [Escort Cards]?

photo by Siang of Lightphoria - www.lightphoria.com

Escort cards are a popular means to guide guests to which table they are supposed to sit at for your wedding reception dinner. It is possible to buy cards by the pack that you can print on, but this can be really expensive, like 50 cents to more than a dollar per card.

Making your own escort cards is a little time-consuming but it is a rather simple process and can save you a lot of money. Handmade cards are also a nice personal touch.

To make 200 escort cards I bought a stack of card stock from the PaperZone for around $20 and I ended up using up less than half of the paper supply. My other tools and supplies were items that I already had on hand: art markers, a caligraphy pen a shaped punch, ruler, and paper cutter.