I’m not a big fan of faux florals and greenery, as they always look a little fake to me. It’s like a PVC picket fence: you can always tell that it’s not wood. So when I do use faux branches, I like to go for ones that look like they’re supposed to be fake- particularly in metallic shades!
So, when I pulled out my fall decorations a couple of weeks ago, I realized there was a project I had forgotten to do earlier in the summer: painting some faux oak leaves. Fortunately we still have plenty of warm days left, and this project only took about 20 minutes. If you’d like to make some yourself, here’s how!
You will need some faux leaves in a shape you like. These are some my mom bought from a dollar store nearly 20 years ago. She got her money’s worth! The colours were a bit too bright for me though, so a little makeover was in order.
You’ll need gold (or other metallic) paint. I happened to have some Krylon spray paint in the colour “Bright Gold”, but you could also use a paintbrush and gold acrylic or enamel paint. I also used some Rust-Oleum spray paint in satin black for the “tarnishing”.
First step, spray a light coat of gold paint onto the leaves. Make sure you’re wearing gloves! Do this step in light coats, I always spray too heavy and then end up with drips.
Once the leaves are gold and the paint has dried it’s time for the black paint.
Spray a very light mist of black to give the gold a more dimensional look, rather than all-over gold. Then, half-depress the spray nozzle so the paint sputters to create tiny splotches on the leaves. This will make it look more like tarnished, aged spots in the gold. Yes, sputtering the paint will create a mess on the top of the spray can, so decide whether it’s worth it!
Then, hang the leaves to dry, preferably in a nearby oak tree if you’ve got one. Spray paint is quite stinky, so I ended up hanging them in the utility room overnight until the paint smell was completely evaporated.
Then, it’s time to bring them in and finish your Fall decorating!
I love to make gifts for people! Do you? The only problem with hand making gifts is that you have to do a lot of planning ahead…which is why people used to practice “Christmas in July”…or Christmas in September, this year as the case may be! I also love to thrift shop for gifts, which can also take a long time to find the right items, so I’ve already begun planning and preparing for my Christmas gift giving this year.
So, it is time to share this post of 30+ handmade, personalized and thrifted gift ideas with you all, in time for you to begin planning your handmade gifts for this year too. I will link to any tutorials for any of the items I have shared before on the blog.
From Your Kitchen/ Consumables:
Food is always a good choice since it’s consumable, so it’s perfect for people who don’t want a lot of “stuff”. Check to make sure that your recipient doesn’t have allergies first! At this time of the year, it’s perfect to start thinking ahead whether there are any preserves you could make with produce from your garden such as…
1.) Pickles
2.) Jams, jellies and fruit syrups
3.) Herbal tea blends, such as peppermint; maybe paired with a tea infuser or a tea cup?
Baked goods are always a hit…
4.) Pair homemade cookies or cakes with a thrifted dish to make it extra special. Making something that freezes well is also nice. I made my dad a bunch of mini blueberry pies to put in the freezer and they lasted him a few months.
5.) Homemade hot cocoa or mocha mix paired with a nice thrifted mug
7.) If you aren’t able to give baked goods, how about the ingredients for the recipient to bake it themselves? One year I gave a jar of homemade cranberry pie filling and a pastry mix paired with a tart pan for a DIY gift. Write out the recipe on a pretty printable recipe card, such as these.
8.) Balm/ body butter- not something to eat, but definitely still consumable! See my tutorial here.
9.) Candles poured into a thrifted teacup, votive or tin
10.) Press flowers from your garden to decorate taper candles
12.) Zippered pouches, use up some fun fabric scraps, add some cute embroidery to a plain fabric and tie a ribbon on the zipper pull. For men, make them a toiletries/ shaving case.
25.) Covered button rings made out of fabric scraps
26.) Miniature embroidered necklace pendant
27.) A miniature of their favourite book. If you add a ribbon to hang it from, it can be an adorable Christmas tree ornament, but it could also be displayed year round. This mini Pride & Prejudice I made last year is probably my favourite thing I’ve ever crafted.
28.) Christmas ornaments of all different shapes and sizes. These are also fun to top a gift with in place of a bow.
29.) An advent calendar filled with homemade goodies. This one is made of paper origami boxes, but there are so many other types of calendars to make.
Gifts to Thrift Paired with Handmade Items:
30.) A travel cutlery set paired with a napkin that ties and can be reused over and over again.
31.) Artwork (either made by you or another artist) in a thrifted frame. I like to get greeting cards for a more cost effective option. Paint the frame or cover the mat with fabric for a fun twist. (Artwork pictured above by Jenni Haikonen, Terre Pigment Studio and Oh Jess Marie, and me)
32.) A book in a “pretty” edition, paired with a coordinating bookmark (there are so many easy bookmarks to DIY! Pressed flowers, papercrafted, ribbon with charms, painted, embroidered felt….
33.) Their favourite book paired with custom bookplates. (Also, don’t forget to check the thrift stores for books.) And you can always wrap the books like this, tucking a bag of tea, a bookmark or other goodies into the pockets.
34.) Thrifted kitchen items (I often see new-in-package items) such as baking dishes, serving ware, cookbooks etc, paired with a handmade apron, potholders or dishcloths. Arrange the items in a thrifted basket, bowl or platter, or wrap it all up with a tea towel for the finishing touch!
35.) Handmade zippered pencil case with their favourite craft supplies inside it.
36.) Propagate a cutting or divide a favourite plant and put it into a thrifted pot or a mismatched teacup.
And Gifts For Those Who Have Everything:
37.) A cheerful bouquet of flowers from your garden (maybe not possible in December if you’re in the cold North, but perfect for other occasions!)
38.) A donation to a charity they like, but give them a custom “certificate”. You can also do this with “coupons” for an experience gift (or like I did, inserted an image of butter tarts which I was going to bake at a later date). I used some free vintage Victorian Santa clip art and inserted images of the gifts into the illustrations.
My sister recently hosted a baby shower for a new mom in our church, and I was so excited to help her with the decorations. If you are looking for a quick DIY for a baby shower (or you could use these for a birthday party too) then these are so easy make in one afternoon. (Ps. I took these photos at home and the shower was held elsewhere, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get any photos there.)
This bunting was made out of double sided scrapbook paper with wooden letters glued on top. I sewed the top edge (the same method that I used for this garland) instead of using a twine, and then we pinned it to the front of the present table.
On top of the table we put Psalm 139:13-14. My sister made this cute design using Canva. The little polka dot book was for guests to write in any tips and encouragement they had to share with the new mom, and that way she could take it home with her.
We saw a similar sun floral arrangement on Pinterest which is how we came up with the sun theme. Since this shower was being held after the baby was born, we were able to do a boy theme and didn’t have to do gender neutral, so we were able to do a play on words with “sun” and “son”.
We did four arrangements with smiling suns and little banners. One banner says “You are my sonshine” and the other says “Here comes the son”.
We paired them with some dried baby’s breath flowers, tied the vases with blue ribbons and then placed one bouquet at each table on top of a doily.
And this was not part of the decor, but part of our gift- a tiny vase for tiny flowers. Both my sister and I saw this idea a while ago, and were just waiting for a new baby to be born, so we could do it! Isn’t it just the sweetest?
So if you would like to make these little suns and banners yourself, I have a free printable for you. You print out the faces on cream or light yellow cardstock, and then print out the sun shapes on a darker yellow. Cut them out, glue a bamboo skewer to the sun, then place a face on each side of the sun with foam tape (to give it some dimension). Cut out the banners and using double sided tape or glue, fasten them to bamboo skewers as well.
I got this tote bag from our church swap group, well actually it was tossed in as an extra with some other things I had gotten, and I am not one to turn down a good reusable canvas tote bag! However, this bag had a logo stamped across both sides and I don’t want to be free advertising for a company. (The only logo I don’t mind carrying around is my public library tote!)
It is a really nice canvas bag though, so, what to do? I figured I could come up with a way to cover the logo, while still making it look intentional. Because this tote had the blue striped pieces on the sides already, I figured that if I added some more fabric pieces, it would look like a patchwork.
So, it was time to looked through the fabric scraps basket, and I found a piece of canvas and a piece of gingham I have had for about….20 years? This is why you should always keep your fabric scraps- you just never know when they will come in handy! Originally I was planning to do a fabric appliqué across both sides, but because this gingham was a previously cut piece, it wasn’t wide enough for two strips. So, then I realized I could do a pocket! (Actually the pocket might have been my mom’s idea) And instead of doing the pocket in just gingham, I used some canvas and put a strip of gingham across the bottom of the pocket for interest. I discovered that the logo showed through the plain canvas, so that is why I opted to place the patterned fabric across the bottom.
For the pocket, I sewed the canvas and gingham together and then folded all of the sides in about 1/4″. The top was folded down twice and top stitched so all of the edges were encased.
If you decide to do this, make sure to measure twice and cut once. I didn’t measure at all and cut immediately, so when I went to place the pocket, I discovered that the logo was not in the centre of the bag, nor was it aligned from top to bottom, and not only that, but I had made the pocket the exact width of the logo, so there was no room to play with! I even had to sew the corners down by hand to make sure they won’t curl up and show the blue underneath! So, make your pocket an inch wider than your logo, so you don’t have to worry about that.
Once you have pinned your pocket in place exactly in place to cover the logo, then top stitch the pocket along the sides and bottom. And then that side of the bag is done.
For the other side of the bag, I decided to do a simple appliqué. First, open up the side seams just enough to slide your fabric into place.
Cut a strip of fabric long enough to go from seam to seam and tall enough to cover the logo. Press 1/4″ seam allowances along the top and bottom. Pin in place securely, so there are no wrinkles or bubbles.
Stitch along the top edge, then turn the bag 180 degrees and stitch along the bottom of the strip, very close to the edge.
Sew the side seams back up, and serge them again to finish them off, and then you are done!
Here is how the pocket side turned out…
And here’s the appliqué side.
And there you have it: a nice new reusable tote bag, and no one would ever guess that there was a logo hiding underneath!
I bought this gold coloured hatstand on clearance seven years ago. Well, it was actually supposed to be a globe “objet d’art”, but when I saw it, I knew it would make a perfect hatstand. And it was..up until a few weeks ago when I accidentally snapped the globe off the top!!!
I was pretty sure I could salvage the base and figure some way to make a new top for it, since there was no way to re-attach the globe.
I also have this paper towel holder with a pretty ceramic base. I have been using it as a hat stand by adding a ball of stuffing on the top, but after I finished the gold stand, I decided to make a new top for this one as well. While I store most of my hats in boxes, I do like to have a couple seasonal ones out on display.
So, back to the original golden stand: since it was made out of metal, there was no way to fasten a wooden piece to the pole part, so I had two options for the top of the stand: a cork that I’d saved off of a broken jug, or a styrofoam ball. I opted to use the cork for the golden one, and the styrofoam ball for the paper towel stand. Another option would be one of those foam heads, although that could also look a little macabre….
If I’d had a wooden stand, I would have used a large furniture bun foot, or this thrifted wooden salad bowl flipped upside down, but because the gold stand was made out of metal, there wasn’t a way to attach it. I also didn’t want to remove the ceramic knob on the top of the paper towel stand, in case I want to one day use it again as a paper towel holder.
Method 1:
Mark the centre of the cork or foam, and then use a drill to SLOWLY drill a small pilot hole. Increase the drill bit size to make a wider hole.
I didn’t have a drill bit large enough, so once that hole had been drilled, I cut more cork out with a knife until the diameter was the same as the pole. Test fit to make sure it is deep enough to be sturdy.
Next, pad the cork to smooth out the sharp edge. This step was not strictly necessary, but I think it made covering with fabric easier. Use hot glue to attach the batting.
Now to cover the batting: I used a piece of satin fabric from an old dress. I love the pattern of the fabric, so I saved it to upcycle and it was the perfect choice for this project. (I also used a piece of this fabric to line this straw purse– it made such a pretty lining!) I traced a plate to get the correct size, leaving enough fabric around the edge to glue to the back of the cork.
Like if you were upholstering, work from side to side and pleat the fabric neatly, hot gluing as you go. I used some pins to hold it in place as I worked.
Once it is all glued in place, you’ll need to cover the raw edges on the bottom. Cut a doughnut of cardboard slightly smaller than the cork, with a hole in the centre big enough for the pole to fit through. a layer of Mod Podge on the cardboard, and let it dry a little bit before putting the fabric on: if you attach the fabric too soon, it might bleed through.
Brush Smooth it out and fold the fabric into place gluing with hot glue. Then using hot glue, attach the cardboard to the bottom of the cork, pressing it tightly in place. If you’re using foam, hot glue will melt it, so you’ll need to probably use regular glue.
Now it is time to assemble the stand. Fill the hole in the centre of your cork or foam with glue. I used this clear grip Gorilla glue which is similar to an E6000 glue, and it is stronger than hot glue.
The glue doesn’t cure immediately, so take a moment to level the cork so it’s even from side to side, and then you’re done!
Now for Method 2:
For this one, I used the 4″ styrofoam ball. I didn’t want to glue it to the stand, though, so I cut a hole in the centre of the foam, just like I did with the cork, except I didn’t use a drill, but just hollowed it out with my knife. Once I got a hole slightly smaller in diameter than needed, I pushed the ball onto the top of the stand and the foam compressed around the knob to hold it firmly in place without the need for glue.
Because it was a sphere, covering it with fabric was going to be more difficult. I played around with pieces of fabric for a while, but decided that decoupage was going to be the best bet. I used some tissue paper from an old incomplete sewing pattern. (ps. If you ever have old sewing patterns that are incomplete or damaged, the tissue paper is great for wrapping gifts and using for crafts!)
Brush a layer of Mod Podge over the foam and working with small pieces of tissue paper, layer them across. I am not very skilled and got many wrinkles!!! But I think it turned out OK, and anyway, it will not really be seen because a hat is going to be sitting on top.
And then, you’re done! That one was much quicker than the fabric version!
Maybe one day I will make a proper wooden hatstand, but until then, these will work just fine.
Which one is your favourite? How do you store or display your hats?
