Ribbon Christmas Tree Towels

Remember the Ribbon Egg Towels I made back in March? I had said that I planned on making some with Christmas trees, but didn't want to think about winter just then. Well, winter is here and Christmas is just around the corner! These beautiful towels make great decorations, or great gifts!

This picture shows them in order of how I made them - First, I started by using the same process as with the Egg Towels, but working with thinner ribbon made it harder to work with the fusing tape. For the last two towels I tried the following method and loved how they turned out.

Here's what you'll need:

• Towels
• Ribbons
• Heat-n-bond
• Iron
• Wax Paper
• Scissors/Rotor Cutter

First, pick out the ribbons and the order that you want them for your tree, then cut them to about 5 inches. If you want a larger tree, more than 12 or so ribbons, you'll need to cut them longer.

Step 1 - lay the ribbons backside up on a piece of wax paper on your ironing surface. The Heat-n-Bond then gets applied. The wax paper allows the Heat-n-Bond to stick to something other than your ironing board or iron and is easy to peel off.
Step 2 - now you'll have a square of ribbons and you want to cut out the tree shape  
Step 3 - peel off the backing of the Heat-n-Bond. You should have a single piece with all the ribbons on it.
Step 4 - lay the ribbon piece right-side up on the towel where you want it adhered. Place a new sheet of wax paper over the top and iron-on. The wax paper this time, will lift off the extra Heat-n-Bond so that the towel is just lined with beautiful ribbons.

Lastly, I added a quick stitching of trim to the bottom of the towel to give it a little more holiday color.

So, what do you think - do you have some extra ribbon around to make your own?

These would make great gifts too!

Did you have a favorite style - 

the more boxed look of the first towel? no trim at the bottom of the second towel?

However you decide to make one, it will be beautiful!

Let me know how it turns out by leaving a comment or photo below!

Picture Frame Makeover #2

Here's a great before and after project! 

First, a little background -
I love Kohl's; everything about it. I have a Kohl's credit card; and with my statements I often get coupons. One of these coupons was for a free 16x20 print through Shutterfly (score!). Picking out one of my photos proved to be the hard part, but I settled on a close up of a poppy from my dad's backyard and placed my order.

I thought if I could find a thick, purple frame that it would match nicely with the center color of the poppy and make the orange petals pop. However, I had no luck finding what I was hoping for in stores. After scouring the internet, I found exactly what I wanted... for upwards of $50, plus more to ship it. That was a bit more than I was willing to pay, but it got me thinking, maybe I could make my own.

I found this frame at a thrift store, complete with an Anne Geddes poster (that I won't be keeping), for just $2.99! It had a plastic pane that had a crack, but I knew it could be exactly what I wanted once I dressed it up. I found another 16x20 frame with a glass pane that could replace the ugly plastic, for another $2.99. (So now I'm at $5.98 total.)

I was set on having a purple frame; so, immediately following this purchase, I headed over to Lowe's and picked out several purple paint samples. 

Upon arriving home (I'm not sure I even took my coat off, I was so excited), I proceeded to match up the colors with the photo, viewing them under different lighting to make sure the final choice was perfect. I settled on "Royal Plum" by Olympic.
I had to wait til the next day to get the $2.98, 7 oz. sampler of paint. (Total cost now at $8.96 and I'll have a bit of extra paint for other projects.)

With two coats of paint and a little sanding to create a weathered look, I had pretty much the exact frame I had wanted with a whole lot of savings!

Isn't it perfect? I think so! 

I love a great makeover craft; are there any gems you've found at a thrift store and made your own? I'd love to see your story!

Patchwork Pumpkin Pillow

It seems that after Halloween, retailers jump right to Christmas. Anything fall related - leaves, pumpkins, etc. - goes on clearance and the ornaments and lights come out. Thanksgiving tends to get a little passed over; and yet it's probably my favorite holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas decorations too, but the fall leaves aren't completely gone yet.

So hold off on your Christmas decorating, here's another project for fall.

I got the inspiration for my pillow from Knock Off Decor - a great place to find ways of making your own, less expensive version of name/store brand decor.
In this post, they are showing off Angie's pillow that was inspired by a pillow she had seen at Pottery Barn. If you would like to see the pictorial for Angie's no-sew version, just follow the links above or via the photo on the right.

While I absolutely love both of these pillows, I decided that I wanted some color in mine. I got additional inspiration I needed from Etsy when I found this patchwork pumpkin clip art from CherriesArtsnCrafts -


I just thought this patchwork look was too cute to pass up; and I already had some great prints to work with for my fabric pumpkin. I couldn't wait to get started!


I probably could have hand drawn a pumpkin shape faster than it took me to print this one, but I really liked the shape of the one I found at donteatthepaste.com.

First, I cut out the whole pumpkin shape in the solid orange material; then I cut out the sections of the pumpkin to use on the patterned prints.

I'm a huge fan of Heat-n-Bond for crafts like these, so I applied it to the material and then cut out the shapes and ironed them in place on the orange base.

I also cut out a green print stem and ironed it onto the front of the pillow case. Rather than using the Heat-n-Bond to attach the whole pumpkin to the pillow case, I did a quick stitch around the edge. If you want to keep it a no-sew project then the Heat-n-Bond would work just as well.

Finally, I was ready to apply the twine - my favorite part of the pillow I'd found at Knock Off Decor!
Using fabric glue, I slowly positioned the twine a little at a time and added glued it down. This part got very messy and I had to keep getting up to wash the glue off my fingers.

The end results were definitely worth the mess and time spent - I even decided to add some leaves on the vines with the same green print I had used for the stem.

A perfect patchwork pumpkin pillow!

As they say at Knock Off Decor, I hope this inspires you - and if you make your own, I'd love to see it!