DIY Easter Bunting Tutorial

This week I tackled a quick project to decorate my mantle for Easter. I'll share the steps I did here in case you'd like to make one of your own!

Supplies
Burlap
Fabric of choice for letters
WunderUnder fabric stabilizer
Bias tape in colour of choice
Pencil
Scissors
Pins
Iron
Sewing machine

I printed the letters out in Word as mirror images (this is very important - always trace your letters as mirror images or the finished product will be backwards!). I then traced them onto WunderUnder fabric stabilizer.

Next, I ironed the stabilizer to the wrong side of my fabric

And then cut out the letters

I used a paper bunting that I had as a template to cut out the burlap flags. Then, I ironed the letters to the bunting. I was worried that they wouldn't adhere well to the burlap, but I didn't have any problems.

Next, I used a bias tape to stitch the flags together. I measured and pinned the letters 1" apart, and added 2" on either side of "IS" so that the word was a bit separate to help distinguish it.

I sewed a double line to stitch the flags together, and then it was ready to hang!

(The decor is a work in progress...it would've been lovely to have had fresh baby's breath in the mason jar, and some candles on the candlesticks! I'll finesse it a bit more this upcoming week)

Here's how our family room is looking these days...

And, as it's always fun to see...where it started out!

Such an improvement!

Happy Easter friends...Christ is risen - He is risen indeed!

Alicia

DIY Deer Head Wall Art

17 November 2015

DIY Deer Head Wall Art

It was a rainy Friday a few weeks ago, and I had stocked up on a few supplies at JoAnn's Fabrics previously, so it was the perfect day to tackle a project!

Here's the supply list:

• Artist's canvas
• Linen fabric (mine was from Ikea)
• Black felt
• Deer head silhouette
• Stabilizer (WunderUnder)
• Sewing machine, thread, scissors, iron

I obtained the deer head silhouette from a google search, and printed it on a regular 8-1/2x11" sheet o paper. Then, I traced the pattern onto the WunderUnder

Next, I cut out the pattern using regular paper scissors.

And ironed it onto the black felt

I used fabric scissors to cut the pattern out of the black felt

And peeled off the paper from the stabilizer

At this point, I realized that I should've traced the pattern onto the wrong side of the WonderUnder, as now my final product was going to be reversed. I was okay with it facing the opposite way, but if I were doing letters it would've needed to have been a mirror image.

I centred the deer head onto the linen fabric and fused the fabrics together by ironing them

We then headed downstairs to my sewing machine and did a blanket stitch around all of the body and head edges. Along the antlers, I just did a straight stitch in the middle.

Of course, I have an audience when I sew. This is MiniMan's latest pose! I love that he set up his friends to join the audience.

Apparently I stopped taking pictures of the process at this point!

But, to finish, I simply wrapped the linen around the canvas and stapled the back of the frame

And, here is my finish product, as part of my fall mantle display!

After fall, I think it might find a home in the boys' bedroom

So pleased with how easy the project was, and that I could complete it in one day!

Family Room Mantle

19 October 2015

Family Room Mantle

Here is a picture of our family room mantle decorated for Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving was last weekend, but I'll keep the display up until it's time to decorate for Christmas.

Carl installed the mantle a few months ago, but I'm finally sitting down to update the blog!

Here's where we started with it...

It amazes me every time I look back, just how huge the transformation is in this house!

I wrote a post about painting the fireplace, which you can read here

For the mantle, we wanted to install a rustic barn beam, and would you believe we actually had this one given to us?! We were so thrilled with it, as it was exactly what we were looking for!

It needed to be trimmed a bit to fit the space between the bricks, and Carl and his friend Brad spent some time brainstorming how to hang it without any visible hardware showing. They came up with this design...

They cut a slice in the back for the rail to then sit flat along the back

This mantel actually came with the back and top marked for us!

Then Carl used an impact or hammer drill to install the anchors and screws into the brick

This was the scene behind Carl while he was drilling!

They're so funny about noise!

Here are all 5 holes drilled

This was the how the bolt looked in the brick

Next, Carl leveled the rail and secured it with the screws

While he was working on the rail, the mantle was being used as a roadway...

It's a difficult choice to work with the kids around, but the alternative is to work on things while they're asleep at night, which is impossible because the tools are too noisy. So, I balance the kids and the camera (semi-well) while Carl tackles the project. It doesn't always work smoothly!

Now, the beam was ready to be mounted

It fit like a glove, and then I held the mantle while Carl screwed bolts from the top down into the holes of the rail

It's on my to-do list to tackle the fresh cut areas of the beam, to weather them a bit to look more uniform. Apparently I can take muddy water and scrub the areas to colour them. Someday...

Here was the finished mantle that evening

I had a lot of fun decorating it for Thanksgiving!

The bunting was one of my Pinterest DIY projects that I pinned years ago! You can find it on this blog, Simple As That. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it was a quick and easy afternoon project using leaves from our backyard

And again, how it looks today!