The Violet Hours

8 Days 'til Christmas: 3 Crafty Feather Ornaments

 


Maybe this trend is so 2012 (don't say 2011, please) but I can't get past my love of feathers. I love them in decor, I love them in kids' craft, and, really...who can resist a boa? There's no reason in the world that feathers and Christmas can't hang out together. Which is why I crafted these 3 different DIY feather ornaments. Here's how you make 'em...

          


SUPER-EASY PAINTED FEATHER ORNAMENT

What you'll need:

• White feathers
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Glitter glue

Make it:

1. Paint stripes, dots, or zig-zags on your feather in various colors of craft paint. Let dry.
2. Embellish design with glitter glue.
3. Tie string to the feather's needle and hang from the tree.

EASY PASTA FEATHERS

What you'll need:

• Colored paper
• Linguini
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Glue
• Scissors
• String

Make it:

1. Cut a leaf shape, about 6" by 2" (at the widest point). 
2. Paint 7 to 10 pieces of linguini to match your paper. Let them dry.
3. Glue one long piece down the center to make the spine.
4. Glue short pieces from the spine outward, breaking them at the ends. 
5. Leave some spaces between noodles to cut out little slits or sections.
6. Tie string to the spine and hang from your tree!

WASHI TAPE FEATHER ORNAMENT

What you'll need:

• Pencil and paper
• 3-5 rolls of washi tape; various patterns of the same color
• Cutting mat
• X-acto knife
• Clear transparency
• Scissors
• String

Make it:

1. Draw a 6" line on paper and lay transparency on top of it. You might want to tape it down to keep it in place.
2. Adhere 3" pieces of washi tape to cutting mat and with a straight edge, slide the tape with X-acto knife into very thin strips, about 1/16" to 1/8" thick.
3. Begin laying tape from center line outward, tearing the middle pieces to about 1" long. (You can lay a photo of a feather underneath the transparency as a guide.)
4. Work up and down the spine of the feather until it's full. 
5. When finished with step 4, adhere a 1/8" by 6" strip of colored tape on top of the drawn line to create the spine. 
6. Cut out the feather shape from the transparency and tape a string to the center spine end to hang. 

String-Art Halloween Wreath

I have been known to love a wreath in my day, and more than ever, I feel that Halloween is a very wreath-worthy holiday. Now that my kids are of the Halloween-appreciation age, I'm so into making Halloween crafts (Full disclosure: I used to not be the biggest fan of crafting for this day!).

Like many other pinners on Pinterest, I am obsessed with string art! And I must say, it is so beyond fun to do. It looks hard and tedious but I swear to you it's not! Scroll down to read how to make this wreath and the super cute and friendly pom-pom spider!

What you'll need:

• 14-inch round foam wreath
• Spray paint
• Small black nails
• 3 colors of yarn (including black)
• Scissors
• 4 black pipe cleaners
• 1/2-inch white pom-poms
• Tiny black pom-poms
• Tacky glue

Make it:

1. Spray paint wreath and let it dry.
2. Insert 31 nails, evenly spaced, around the circle about 1 every inch.
3. Take the darkest yarn and tie it to nail number 1 (abitrarily chosen). Now loop the yarn around nail number 24 then to nail number 2 then to nail 25 until you have made it all the way around.
4. Take your next color and tie it onto nail 1 and loop it around nail 25, then 2, then 26, then 3, again until you have made it all the way around.
5. Tie your 3rd color to nail 1 and loop it around nail number 26, and so on. You notice that each level of yarn has created a narrower band around your wreath. Tie each yarn off on nail 1, knot, and trim.
6. To make the spider, wrap thick black yarn around your hand about 50 times and cut it from the skein.
7. Cut an 8-inch piece of yarn, slip the bundle off of your hand, and tie the yarn around the bundle securely.
8. Take all four pipe cleaners and slip them under the center tie and pull until they are even on each side.
9. Snip through all of the yarn loops, then trim the pom-pom until he is nice and round.
10. Glue small black pom-poms to white ones, and glue them in place as eyes. Glue spider to the wreath to cover nail number 1 where you tied off your 3 yarns.

 

Time for Crafter Humor

This is so very much how I feel right now! So much so, that I'll come back tomorrow with the full update from my daughter's birthday party! (You can buy this cute tote on Handmade and Craft on Etsy.)

Time for DIY Play Money

I saw this adorable fabric play money on Estefi Machado's blog (one of my favorite craft blogs that happens to be in Portugese), and it inspired a search for other clever homemade play money. She used a really cool technique...she coated a piece of cotton in spray mount, let it dry, then ran it through the printer. (At least this is how I understood the google translation.) Being on fabric save them from wrinkles and rips. Here are a few other clever DIY money crafts that caught my eye...

These homemade wooden coins by Lil Blue Boo are super cute: I love that they are in denominations of treats, rather than money amounts.

 

What's better than a kid seeing her own mug in the center of currency? I love the iron-on and stitched details of this homemade play money.

Time for 3.14 ~ Pi ~ Pie Day!

It's March 14, hence 3/14, hence the reason to celebrate PIE! (If you are math-challenged, read about Pi here.) I'll take any excuse to eat, talk about, read about, look at pie. In fact, I think I need more pie in my life. I love this image of a potluck pie party from Bon Appetit. I could seriously get behind that. Feast your eyes on some more fun PIE play...

 

This felt pie looks good enough to eat. Found via Thursday Night Smackdown.

 

The first time I saw this pumpkin pie Thanksgiving kids' favor from One Charming Party, I nearly died. It was one of those "I wish I had thought of that" moments!

 

Cakes get stands, so why don't pies? I love the rustic look of these galvanized pie stands from BHLDN. They'd be great for the pie potluck!

Time for the 10 Best Egg Cups Ever

I never had an egg cup growing up (I think that constitutes neglect), and now as an adult, I'm a little unnaturally obsessed with them. From vintage to the handmade to the hipster (yes, there are hipster egg cups), I want all 10 11 of these egg cups!

1. My Egg and Soldiers by Takae Mizutani, found via Dot Coms for Moms.

 

2. Oak Bunny Ears Egg Cup, for sale on Hop & Peck.

 

3. Egg Nests, found via HGTV's Design Happens.

 

4. Vintage egg cups from Three Potato Four.

 

5. These are made with cups cut from an egg carton. By Zakka Life.

6. Bad boy egg cups, via Fitzsu. Beyond.

 

7. Perfectly Scandinavian egg cups, via Finnish Design Shop.

8. Do you have a habit of serving under-cooked eggs? Never again. Via Trend Hunter.

 

9. Rocket egg cup, found via Fab.

 

10. Origami egg cup. Via Breakfast Lover.

11. (I couldn't resist adding this one!) Hold On Egg Cup (it's magnetic and will hold a spoon!). Via Moco Loco.

Time for Photographs on Fabric

I guess I'm continuing the preservation-of-memories theme of the week with this post about cool ways to display photographs on fabric. I think choosing black and white photographs is a good idea because it will make a less chaotic statement in the midst of the other décor items in your home.

This stitched embroidery hoop project that I found on Pinterest inspired me to find more lovely examples. Image above via the German website, Brigitte.de.

 

Marie Claire Idées is by far the best craft magazine ever. They take every theme, idea or motif to new levels. How cute would it be to make chair-back covers with your family's black-and-white faces on them to label the chairs around your dinner table?

 

Pillows are a classic vehicle for the black-and-white photo transfer. I love how Martha Stewart mixed these vintage photos with lovely bright pillows.

 

Allergic to cats, but craving a curled-up fur ball at the foot of your bed? Snurk invented the best solution—no Zyrtec required.

Time for Clever Business Cards

{Ed Ruscha business card featured on Flavor Wire.}

The topic of business cards keeps coming up in my life these these days, and yet practically, they seem so antiquated. I mean, I can bump my phone to another and exchange contact info, so why spend the time and money to craft or print a little card that possibly ends up creased at the bottom of your purse?

Well, when you see a good business card, it makes a lasting impression, and it can really identify your brand in a big, creative way. Plus, no one would dare throw it away. If you dismiss business cards as an analog, dated form of social networking, think again.

If you're of the crafty sort, study this photo within an inch of your life. These are business cards that The Proper Pinwheel collected at Alt Summit. I'll need to start planning mine now for the summer event in NYC.

 

Peal back the painters tape to reveal the contact info for a stand-out paint service company.

 

An interior designer should only have fabric business cards like Francesca Pasini's.

 

Dilly Dally is a toy store. 'Nuff said.

Time for a Toddler's Idea of a Birthday Cake

 

My birthday has come and gone, and as planned, Oliver and I baked a cake together. It took 3x as long as it would have alone, but it was adorable and his enthusiasm for "helping" was precious. The best part, for everyone involved, is the way he decorated it. I put together a little time lapse video so you can follow his genius from beginning to end (it's only 25 seconds, I promise).

Have a lovely weekend!

Time for a Pinterest Birthday Card

Every year, I hear that I'm hard to buy for. Birthday, Hanukkah, Mother's Day...I'm a challenge. You know what it's like; we creative types that read a gazillion blogs, we have high standards. We know what's out there, and if there's nothing good, we just make it.

I'm pleased to say that I found me a husband that rises to the occasion. No matter how much I say "this year, I don't want anything," he knows that I do want a little attention. And for me, there is nothing better than the gift of creative thought.

This year, I'm all wrapped up in my craft book project and like most people, Pinterest is my best friend. So he created a private (uh-hem, how racey!) board called The Amanda Book Project, where he took vintage book covers and doctored the words or images to make them about me. I am sharing a few with you, the few that I can share (wink, wink).

Not only do I have a funny, creative, and expressive husband, but he's damn good at photoshop.

(PS...Oliver is our 2 and a half year old son. Anyone with a toddler knows that you are just their pawns in the game of life.)

(PPS...For my newer readers, check out what the husband did a few years ago. It got linked to the Brooklyn Flea's blog!)