Dutch Girl Originals

A Tiny Forest

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 20:25:00 +0000

Are you familiar with the meme about wanting to make all your loved ones homemade Christmas presents, and come Christmas, it turns out you love two people? That's usually me. But last year, I made holiday sweater pins for all my co-workers, and this year the muse showed up again. With a recycled project to be fair, but still, every one of my colleagues received a homemade Christmas pillow.

I freehanded a Christmas tree shape on paper, 20" high and 20" wide at its widest point, and cut out the trees. I can get three double-sided trees out of a yard and a half of fleece. Sew the two sides together leaving a 3" opening, turn the tree inside out, stuff with poly-fil, and sew the tree closed by hand. Behold, a tiny forest of Christmas cheer.

Merry Christmas!

Jack In The Bag

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 21:37:00 +0000

Like a lot of makers, I suffer from ICTMTM syndrome in stores and at fairs: I Can Totally Make That Myself. Consequently not much gets made because of the sheer volume of projects I can totally make myself. But once in a while, a project breaks through.

National Craft Month Project: Square Pouf

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 21:26:00 +0000

While it is still very cold where I live and large parts of my state remain covered in snow, spring fever is slowly setting in. I have put away all the winter decorations and my six year old and I are starting to bring out the spring and Easter paraphernalia.

Naturally I feel compelled to craft new things, especially since March is National Craft Month. This year’s spring trends, as I learned from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, have nautical, geometric, floral, and radiant orchid (Pantone Color of the Year) elements. And to make spring crafting easy during National Craft Month, Jo-Ann offers a $5 off $25 or more purchase coupon and a spring crafting inspiration website.

After some much needed spring cleaning and organizing in my daughter’s room, it was decided she lacked seating. She told me she wanted a pouf. Since we have something of a woodlands theme going in her room, and because it’s her favorite color, we looked for mostly green in the home décor fabric aisles at Jo-Ann. We found some lovely floral and geometric patterned fabric and paired that with a beautiful solid green.

A pouf, or a large floor pillow, is really easy to put together. For a 14” square pouf, which is bigger than you think, this is what you’ll need:

One and a half yards of fabric in three different prints, half a yard of each. I used home décor fabric because it’s sturdier.
Matching thread
Matching zipper (optional)
Stuffing material
Sewing tools (machine, pins, scissors, seam ripper, ruler)

To make a 14” square pouf, measure and cut six 15” squares, including a 1/2” seam allowance, if you plan to sew the pouf closed by hand. If you want to include a zipper panel, add an extra inch to one square and make it 15” by 16” (technically no longer a square). Cut your zipper panel in half (15” by 8”) and pin the two halves lengthwise together, right sides facing each other.

Sew the zipper in your panel, following this fabulous tutorial on Design Sponge. I use it every time and could not do a better job showing you how to do it. Upon finishing your zipper panel, you will have six 15” squares.

I chose to alternate my fabric prints and have the solid green panels as the top and bottom of my pouf. After I created the zipper panel, I pinned and sewed two print panels together, right sides facing. Repeat with the other panels and then sew them all together.

Once all the side panels were sewn into a big square tube, I sewed in the top, followed by the bottom.

The corners are a bit tricky but if you go nice and slow, you should end up with a beautiful and consistent 1/2” seam.

When you sew the bottom, remember to open the zipper slightly or, if you don’t use a zipper and plan to close the pouf by hand, leave a large enough opening for turning the fabric and stuffing the pouf.

Trim your threads, iron your seams and turn your pouf inside out. Stuff it with whatever you have available, I used an old king size duvet. It’s amazing how much stuffing a 14” pouf takes. Like I said, it’s bigger than you think.

That’s all there is to it. I am very happy with my spring pouf and I am sure Lola will love it as well. The girl is so easy to please.

If you too would like to craft your way into spring, be sure to take a look at the Jo-Ann inspiration website. And don’t forget the coupon!

This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores as part of the National Craft Month campaign. I received a gift card to purchase materials and write this post. The opinions are my own.

Bag It Up

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 21:53:00 +0000

I have a pile of vintage and not so vintage blankets in my house.

Some are in boxes in my craft room, others in my bedroom closet.

There are baby blankets, army blankets, striped blankets, and reversible blankets.

Blankets in pink, blue, green, brown, yellow, and white.

I also have lots of lovely cotton fabric, in assorted colors and prints.

Fabric to line bags with, and bag pockets.

The pile of blankets has shrunk somewhat.

In its place is a growing pile of messenger bags.

You can find them in my Etsy shop.

Custom Covers And Slick Sleeves

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 03:13:00 +0000

My Kindle Fire passed away. While it was not an unexpected passing, it was a very sad moment for me because I used it daily. For some time it had had trouble charging. Unfortunately the problem was not with the charger, that would have been an easy fix. No, it was the charger receiver thingy. For a while I was able to wiggle a charge, but at some point last month that stopped working, too.

I called Amazon Kindle Support, lovely people by the way, but they could not help me and time of death was quickly called. Since my Kindle was two years old, it was no longer under any sort of warranty but the good folks at Amazon made me a rather generous replacement offer. After waiting to see if Santa had anything up his sleeve – alas, he didn’t, I took them up on their offer this weekend.

My first Kindle Fire had a 7” screen. To protect it, I created a sturdy felt owl cover for it. It was made with 3 mm thick gray and white wool felt and a pair of black buttons for its eyes.

My new Kindle is the bigger 8.9” screen version and the owl no longer fits. Time for something new. While I loved my owl, I wanted something a little snazzier for my new cover.

Felt will always be my first love, especially thick wool felt, but I am on a self proclaimed craft materials purchasing stop and wanted to use what I had on hand for my prototype. I also wanted to try and incorporate elastic in my design.

I share a love of maps with my mother-in-law and when she wanted to get rid of an old Rand McNally road atlas, I was happy to take it off her hands. Since this first cover was an experiment, I did not want to use the map of Wisconsin, my current home state. I intended to save that one for the real thing. Instead I used Washington State, my previous home state, for the outside.

I fused the paper map to the wool felt lining, couldn’t forgo on felt entirely, with Heat ‘n Bond Lite (the kind you can sew through) and finished it off with Pellon’s Vinyl-Fuse to make it water repellant. Then I attached the elastic and sewed the two pieces together.

All that’s left is wait for the Kindle to arrive and see if it fits. What do you think?

Fabulously Festive Cardboard Chandeliers

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 13:00:00 +0000

When I was still living in Holland, my mom, my sister, and I would get together every year at the beginning of December to do something Christmas-y. We would make a wreath, needle felt a Santa Claus, or visit a Christmas market. I miss that. So, after we moved back to Wisconsin, I introduced this lovely tradition to my family here.

I get together with my aunt and my cousin’s wife, kids are included, every first weekend of December and we do something crafty. This year we made Finnish Stars. Since I already have a Christmas tree full of them, I tried my hand at origami Christmas trees while supervising the folding, weaving, and gluing of strips of sheet music.

The origami tree turned out very cute, but it wasn’t what I had hoped it would be. I just couldn’t see my Christmas table full of them in various colors and sizes.

But then my eye fell on the stack of cardboard from my aunt’s recent shopping trip for Swedish dining room furniture and I immediately thought: “Cardboard chandeliers, how #fabulouslyfestive!” And a perfect project for Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts’ Celebrate The Season campaign.

I am hosting Christmas dinner for twenty this year. The twelve big people will dine at the ping pong table in the living room, and the eight smaller people, I cannot call them little anymore, will sit at the kitchen table. My plan is to make three cardboard chandeliers, two for the adult table, and one for the kitchen.

If you would like to work along with me, here is what you’ll need:

Cardboard, two pieces of 20” by 20”
X-acto knife
Paint in the color of your choice
Paint brush (I used a small sponge brush)
Glue gun
White glue
Glitter, not too fine
Clear coat spray
Clear beading wire or fishing line
Large beads or chandelier parts
Awl
Decorating materials
Fairy lights (optional)

My chandeliers are approximately 18” by 18”. I started out by making a rough sketch on a piece of paper, making sure my design was not too intricate. I then copied the drawing onto a clean sheet of cardboard. To ensure symmetry, I drew a 1” grid on the cardboard, making all my male relatives (engineers and physicists the lot of them) proud, no doubt. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of this so I cannot prove it. I have witnesses, though.

Once I was happy with the result, I cut out the chandelier with my X-acto knife. This is a laborious task, I have to say. I cut until my fingers hurt from pushing the knife, and blisters started to form. This is when I quickly adjusted my plans to make three chandeliers down to two, and then down to one. What. A. Chore.

Ah, but when the cutting was done, it turned out so awesome and I immediately readjusted the number of chandeliers. In fact, I now want to make four, as soon as my hands heal. But first, we paint!

I use DecoArt’s Elegant Finish metallic paint in Glorious Gold. Fabulous paint, people! You can find it in the paint aisle at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts. Covers well, dries fast, and has a beautiful shimmer to it.

Once the painting is done, it is time to break out the glitter to make the flames extra sparkly.

Lather on the white glue:

Sprinkle on the gold glitter:

And secure with a few spritzes of clear coat to keep the glitter from falling off.

Heartless mother that I am, I deprived my six year-old who lives for this stuff-of adding the glitter to the flames. What can I say, I still have not gotten over the Great Glitter Explosion of 2011. I know, I should let it go already.

Once everything is dry, it’s time to decorate. For the trim I wanted lightweight strands of gold beads. I found the perfect stuff in the Great Deals aisle at Jo-Ann. They have the beads in two sizes and three colors: red, silver, and gold.

I cut small sections of the beads and secured them to one chandelier half with a drop of hot glue. Then I put the two chandelier halves together and glued the beads in place on the other half.
While I think they look great, they are a little wonky. I tried straightening them by adding weights and making the strands wet, but to no avail. Wonky beads it is then.

If, when you slide the two halves into each other, there is a large gap, secure that with a little hot glue.

By the way, should you run into a very large dog that, with one sweep of his tail, breaks off one of the chandelier arms, don’t fret. With a thin piece of wood, such as a match or even a toothpick, and some glue, this is easy to fix. Just dab some glue, I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue for this, on the wood and insert it into the broken pieces of cardboard. While it may wobble a little bit, it will not go anywhere after that and once you put the chandelier together, you’ll never be able to tell an arm was broken.

For the finishing touch, I made a small hole in the bottom of the chandelier and attached a crystal chandelier part. I happened to have some on hand from a previous project, but you could easily use large beads for this.

I hung my #fabulouslyfestive cardboard chandelier with some clear beading wire and stood back to enjoy the final result.

Fabulous!

And festive!

To make the chandeliers even more fabulous, you can add some battery operated fairy lights if you have them. Alternatively, you could use gold wire lights, found in the bridal department at Jo-Ann. Since I have no place to hide the battery pack, I didn’t do so for the chandelier in the kitchen. The living room is another story, though. We have big beams, perfect for setting a battery box on.

What do you think? #Fabulouslyfestive, or what? I am so pleased with how they turned out. Our Christmas will be merry and bright, for sure.

Find more #fabulouslyfestive inspiration at Jo-Ann and use a coupon for a fabulous 50% off.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. I received craft products and a gift card to write this post.

Tic-Tac-Tinsel

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 20:10:00 +0000

I took one look at Molly Moo’s project for Spoonful and I knew I was going to recreate her tic-tac-toe game made from champagne corks. I have a box full of those babies and this was the perfect project.

Since I am hosting Christmas dinner, I thought this would make a fun project for the kids table. I did not model my players after Olaf and Sven of Disney fame, having never heard of them until now, but adjusted them a little bit to better fit in our family.

Of course one game wouldn’t do, since there are eight kids seated at that table. And so I created a few more teams until I ran out of corks.

There are angels.

Santas.

Toy soldiers, lead by an accidental angry bird.

Christmas trees.

Gingerbread men.

And gringy-ish elves.

Four games in all. I used paint, puffy paint, pipe cleaners, pompoms, felt, acorn caps, flower pots, spools, ribbon, buttons, beads, stars, disks, and pearl string to create the players. And hot glue, lots and lots of hot glue. The little swords are made of bamboo appetizer fork tines. The board is a square piece of red wool blend felt with white zig-zag stitching.

Let the games begin. It will be a tic-tac-tournament! Lola and I are already trying them out. She has a blast with them. I am too, if I’m honest. If I had more corks, I would keep on going. I could open a bottle or two, I suppose, but I find that drinking copious amounts of bubbly impairs my painting skills, which are mediocre to begin with.

Is it wrong for the hostess to want to sit at the kids table?

Handmade Gift Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 13:00:00 +0000

My partner in this year’s handmade gift exchange hosted by Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous lives in sunny California and loves bright colors and polka dots. She and I freely perused each other’s Pinterest boards trying to learn about our tastes and preferences.

I noticed right away she seemed to like chunky jewelry. It so happens I love making chunky jewelry. After playing around with different colors, sizes, and textures, I settled on cheerful felt balls, some of them beaded, alternated with gold plated resin nuggets, yellow pressed glass beads, green wooden disks, and (died) turquoise spacer beads.

For L.’s home I made some jewelry, too. A six or seven ft. garland made from brightly colored polka dots, sewn together with yellow thread.

Of course I couldn’t just send off her gifts. I always like to have some fun with the giftwrap as well. Last year I discovered the fun of sewing paper stockings for Lola’s teachers to hold their gifts. For L. I sewed her necklace into a paper ornament. The only way to open it, is to rip it apart. A real Christmas tree ornament made from vintage sheet music holds a small card, and a little bottle brush tree and a red felt snowflake adorn the paper stocking that holds the garland.

I very much enjoyed creating these gifts for L. and I hope she will enjoy them, too. I will show you what L. made for me tomorrow. I can tell you now it is fabulous. She definitely spoiled me.

Merry Christmas, L.!

Finnish Stars

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 16:09:00 +0000

I have never been much of a paper crafter. My idea of scrapbooking is sticking pictures in an album in a pleasing composition and adding the date the picture was taken. Possibly the location. Those years that I decide to make my own Christmas cards, it almost always involves ornaments made of fabric or wood (this year is no different), and my die cutting supplies are used for cutting fabric pretty much exclusively.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like paper crafts. On the contrary, I have devoted an entire Pinterest board to it. I just never seem to get around to making some. Until a few weeks ago. We were all up north visiting my parents-in-law. While my husband and his dad were out putzing in the woods, prepping for the upcoming hunting season, Lola and I tried our hand at making Finnish Stars. It couldn’t have been easier. And since all you need is one sheet of paper, it’s a pretty cheap craft, too!

What you will need:

One sheet of 12” by 12” paper, preferably printed on both sides
Glue stick
Paper cutter (optional)
Scissors
Cutting mat (optional)
Ruler
Paperclips
Small hole punch
String

Begin by cutting your sheet, I used vintage sheet music, into 3/4” strips. You’ll need twelve strips in total, two sets of six strips.

Start with two strips of paper, crossing one on top of the other, and securing them in the middle with a little glue. Make sure the four ends are of the same length.

Take a second strip of paper and glue it above your horizontal strip, leaving a little space in between, and making sure it is glued on the other side of the vertical strip. You will be weaving your paper strips, one over, one under.

Repeat with another strip below your first horizontal strip.

Now take the remaining two strips and weave them vertically over and under your horizontal strips, securing them at the intersections with a little glue.

Repeat these steps to make the second set.

Now comes the fun part. Take the two ends at the top, fold them towards you and glue in place. Secure with a paperclip while the glue dries. This is especially important if you are using a heavier cardstock.

Repeat this step with all four corners. Don’t worry about the middle strip at this point.

Do this to the other set as well.

When all your corners are glued in place, take one set, flip it over and place it on top of the other set, matching each middle piece of paper to a glued corner.

Carefully insert the middle paper strips into the the corners.

Glue them in place and let dry.

Once the glue is dry, take your scissors and trim the corners.

Take your hole punch and make a small hole in one of the corners and attach your string. Then go overboard and make half a dozen more.

Or bling ‘um up with a felt snowflake and some vintage costume jewelry.

Lovely, aren’t they? And so easy to make. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Table

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:55:00 +0000

Despite my longstanding wish to do so, I have yet to host a family dinner. We either spend the holidays at my parents-in-law or my brother and sister-in-law. It is definitely my turn. The plan was to host Thanksgiving this year. We have just moved into a new apartment so it can double as a housewarming. Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts asking me to design a Turkey Tablescape as part of their Celebrate The Season campaign was perfect timing, don’t you agree?

The plan has changed in the meantime however, and I will be hosting Christmas dinner instead. That does not keep me from having fun with my Turkey Tablescape.

My biggest challenge is the change in my surroundings. I like my décor to fit my house. Until recently we lived in a cute little Victorian in small town Wisconsin. Hardwood floors, light colored walls, pocket doors, covered porch, etc. Now we live in an industrial loft with exposed beams, brick walls, and the floors covered with oriental rugs. It feels rather bohemian and a lot more colorful.

My country decorating style with lots of white, galvanized steel, and natural materials must therefore change. That being said, the first thing I did was take an old grain sack and convert it to a table runner. My dining table is a very odd size, I commissioned it when I was still a single girl in Amsterdam, and it is impossible to find a table cloth or runner that fits. The grain sack has a beautiful orange print that matches the rest of the colors I picked beautifully.

I found three lovely pieces of fabric in my favorite spot at Jo-Ann’s: the remnant bin. It’s always hit or miss of course, but I love rummaging through the tidy rolls of fabric, seeing what I can come up with. In this case I found some yellow canvas and two pieces of fall fabric. The colors in the leaf fabric on the left dictated my color scheme for my Turkey Tablescape.

Using Heat ‘n Bond, I adhered the colored fabric to the canvas and ran that thru my die cutter. I cut out a few dozen leaves in different shapes and sizes. The large maple leaves were used for place cards, paired with a smaller leaf cut from kraft card stock and an acorn made from a felt ball with an acorn cap.

The rest of the leaves were for my Thanksgiving Tree. It is not an original idea by any means, but I find it such a lovely sentiment. Our tree has fabric leaves on it, felt ball acorns, and kraft paper leaves on which we can write what we are thankful for.

I brought in a dead branch, let it dry, and spray painted it gold. I used Rust-oleum American Heritage Craft and Hobby Enamel which is an absolutely fabulous spray paint. It covers beautifully, dries very fast, and is a gorgeous warm gold color. Unfortunately I am now out of paint and cannot find it anywhere. If you know of a place, do let me know.

I put my gold branch in an antique pitcher and used real acorns as filling. Then it was just a matter of hot gluing the colored leaves and felt acorns to the tree, and cutting out the cardstock leaves. To attach them to the Thanksgiving Tree, I made simple S-hooks from 20 gauge craft wire with the aid of a pencil. The paper leaves sit with the S-hooks and a sharpie in a small dish next to the pitcher, neatly covering up the stain in the grain sack I was not able to remove.

For my centerpiece I used a hollow piece of bark that I found in the woods a few years back. I usually slip it over a vase, but I thought it would look great on the table with goodies spilling out. A double-sided cornucopia if you will. I filled it with real pumpkins and squash, colorfully painted paper-mache pumpkins, dried okra pods (I was too late harvesting the pods for canning but they make very funky decorations), two year old chestnuts no longer fit for consumption, and large acorn caps.

I was never much of a gold girl, but it works really well for me here. I used gold square chargers with simple white plates and blue goblets. I even brought out the genuine silverware! Of course, now I want gold chargers for Christmas, too, but since we are talking about twenty people, that can be a bit pricy. Not to worry, I have a plan. More to come on that at a later date.

Do you see the napkins? Lola and I made them. In the goody box Jo-Ann sent me at the start of the Celebrate The Season campaign were several containers of Ink Effects, a paint that is easily transferred to fabric with an iron. You paint any design on paper, let it dry, turn your paper upside down on your fabric, and transfer your design with the aid of a hot iron.

Lola designed three of the four napkins, and I did the last one as well as the ironing.

While I may not be hosting Thanksgiving this year, we will be bringing the place cards and the napkins up north later this month. My centerpiece looks very cheerful on the table and the Thanksgiving Tree sees new leaves added every day. After all, we have so much to be thankful for.

More inspiration for Thanksgiving #turkeytablescapes and crafts can be found in Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts Celebrate The Season website. And do not forget to check out JoAann's weekly online ad. Of course we wouldn’t leave you without a nice 50% off coupon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. I received craft products and a gift card to write this post.

Horse Chestnut Spiders

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0000

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was create critters out of acorns and horse chestnuts. With help of an awl and some match sticks, we would bring all sorts of animals to life. Now that I have a child of my own, I want to pass these simple nature crafts on to her. Unfortunately I have a hard time finding horse chestnuts here in the US. Acorns a plenty, but chestnuts not so much.

Imagine my delight when I stumbled onto some chestnuts the other day when Lola and I were searching one of Milwaukee’s parks for tiny doors. Not only did we find two of the three doors hidden in Humboldt Park, we also found a plethora of nature’s craft goodies. Sycamore tree bark, beech tree nuts, acorns and acorn caps in every size imaginable, and of course, horse chestnuts.

To make horse chestnut spiders, you need just a few things:

horse chestnuts
pipe cleaners in the color of your choice
awl and/or hand drill
wire cutters and pliers
glue
beads for the eyes

Start by poking holes in the chestnut, four on each side. I used my awl for this but found that it was easier to use a small hand drill because my horse chestnuts had dried out and were quite hard. If I had made these spiders as soon as I found the chestnuts, it would have been easier.

Next up are the spider's legs. For one spider, you’ll need two pipe cleaners, one for each leg. Cut the pipe cleaner in four pieces using your wire cutters. Because pipe cleaner points are sharp, I always bend the tip back with my needle nose pliers.

Working on one side at a time, drop a little glue in each hole. I used Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. It’s perfect for working with paper but glues chestnuts and pipe cleaners just as well. It dries clear, which I like.

Insert the legs in the holes and let dry. Once the glue is dry, bend the legs upwards from the body just a little, and then bend them in an angle about halfway down the leg. Glue on two little beads for eyes and you’re all set.

Lola and I created several spiders which we used in our #spookyspace that we made as part of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores’ Celebrate the Season campaign. You can read all about that here. There is a 50% OFF coupon to use at Jo-Ann's this month, too!

I will be linking up my spiders at:
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Pin Me Linky Party at Diana Rambles
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
The Humble Brag at One Project Closer
Happy Hour Projects

Spooky Space

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 15:52:00 +0000

Lola and I were tickled orange when Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores asked us to participate in the Celebrate The Season Campaign by creating a #spookyspace for Halloween. Our original plan was to turn Lola’s woodlands bedroom into a spooky forest, but our stairwell is painted in such a lovely pumpkin orange, I couldn’t possibly pass that up as a back drop to my spooky space.

Since I could not use the tree in Lola’s room, my first order of business was to find a nicely sized dead tree. There happened to be one available on the roof deck, but any large branch would have done just as well. After cleaning the smaller branches up a bit, I brought it inside. I considered spray painting it, but rather liked the gray so I left it as it was.

Spooky spaces always have spider webs. I created one with 16 and 22 gauge wire. I started by cutting four 12” lengths of the heavier wire. To prevent poking anyone’s eyes out, and because I like the look, I curled the ends of the spokes before I weaved the thinner wire around them. To make it easier to work with, I cut the 22 gauge wire into roughly 3’ lengths. I needed about four of those.

Again, I thought about spray painting the spider web, but felt it looked perfect as it was. Some might consider this laziness, but I am all about aesthetics, honestly. After attaching the spider web to the branches with wire, I hung five cute little fleece crows, found at Jo-Ann, in our spooky tree, along with some cheese cloth ghosts from Halloweens past.

One of my favorite things to do, is make garlands with felt cut-outs. For this I use my trusted Cuttlebug® die cutting machine and Sizzix Bigz dies. I love these dies because they cut though fabric as though it were butter. The Cuttlebug® works with every brand die, so if you’re thinking about buying one, that is the one I would recommend.

I found some lovely suiting fabric in the remnant bin at Jo-Ann’s which I paired up with black wool felt. I affixed them to each other with Heat’n Bond Lite. It bonds really well while still allowing for sewing. By ironing the two fabrics together, it also takes care of any fraying edges. After creating my double layer, I cut the fabric into smaller pieces and ran them through the Cuttlebug®.

For this particular garland I used Tim Holtz’s tattered leaves die. From the pile of leaves I cut, I was able to sew two 6’ garlands. Nothing special, just line up the leaves and sew them together with a straight stitch, leaving about an inch of thread in between.

Once the garlands were finished, it was time to stage our #spookyspace. I found two beauty school heads at a thrift store a long time ago, and wrapped one in gauze. Though it’s not new, my Halloween Wreath was brought out as well since it is still one my all time favorite decorations. It looks really good against the metal door.

Lastly, I threw in a pumpkin or two, some rubber mice, a few horse chestnut spiders, and our spooky space was complete. I hope the neighbors like it, too.

If you’re feeling crafty and are looking for inspiration, take a look at Jo-Ann’s Celebrate The Season and Simply Spooktacular websites. What’s more, here is a 50% off coupon for you. Enjoy!

I was compensated by Jo-Ann for writing this post. However, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Creating A Forest – Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:45:00 +0000

When we moved to Milwaukee, I promised Lola a cool room. She deserved it. She had a very tiny one up north and we never got around to doing something fun with it. It was her turn now, we all felt. Especially after Ryan and I confiscated a large corner of her room to store our surplus of bins in lieu of an attic or a basement. (We are a bit strapped for storage here.)

She told me she wanted a jungle or a forest. And so one day she and I sat down together, and envisioned her forest. We decided we were going to build a tree on the brick wall and change out the leaves every season. She also wanted apples in her tree. The plan was to use craft paper and somehow attach that to the wall. But then I saw these in the alley behind our building:

Ten feet long cardboard tubes, perfect for building a tree. And for the first time in my life, I exchanged my trash for someone else’s. Armed with my extra long tube, I made it up two flights of stairs and enlisted my husband and his friend to cut the tube in half lengthwise.

After cleaning up the edges with some sandpaper, I cut a hole into the tree trunk with a jigsaw to accommodate future critters and/or elves, fairies, and possibly gnomes.

To attach the tree to the wall, I used small corner brackets that I fastened on the inside of the trunk, like so:

The only think I did not like about this solution was the sharp end of the screw sticking out. While this tree does not have to be perfect, and holes are okay, I don’t want it to be a hazard. So after I screwed the hole in the cardboard, I switched out the pointy screw for a blunter version.

Then it was only a matter of drilling holes in the wall and attaching my branches.

Not bad, huh? I would like a few more branches and stumps but I ran out of cardboard. Time to head back to the alley. Stay tuned for more forest construction.

I am linking my tree construction project up at:
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Pin Me Linky Party at Diana Rambles
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
One Project Closer at The Humble Brag
Shine On Friday at Happy Go Lucky
Happy Hour Projects

Summer of Jo-Ann: Ice Capades

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 20:22:00 +0000

This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.

Walking into Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts the other day, I was struck by the fall and Halloween décor that dominated the store. I am still in summer mode. Truth be told, it feels like summer has just begun. Possibly because all we have been doing lately is packing and unpacking boxes. We are moving house, you see. My poor daughter. She was so looking forward to a summer of fun filled activities and crafts compliments of Jo-Ann. Unfortunately the craft room looks this:

Lola and I had poured over Jo-Ann’s summer catalog together and picked out a few fun crafts. We were going to sew an alligator, we even have the fat quarters in funky colors. But while there is light at the end of the tunnel, the sewing machine is still very much buried in stuff. I think I have too much of it. Stuff, I mean.

However, we had picked up a Toob of Penguins, some gray, white, and blue felt, batting, and Elmer’s spray adhesive as well. A lovely Antarctic diorama was also on our to-do list. All we needed was some sturdy cardboard to set it up. If there’s one thing that you’ll have a lot of when moving, it’s cardboard. Armed with a rough design, a ruler, and a box cutter, we set out to create our landscape.

We attached a little white tissue paper to our cardboard to cover up some of the brown. Then we added a layer of batting. I found some glitter snow fabric in my stash, but it was not enough to cover the entire scene so we put regular batting on the bottom, and saved the good stuff for the mountains and the rocks.

Once the cardboard was covered in batting, I attached gray craft felt to the back, and the bottom – I get a little carried away sometimes, and hot glued silver ribbon around the edges for that extra icy sparkle.

I used a hollowed out log, perfect for an ice cave, and gave it a felt roof. I cut water out of blue felt, and used various plastic containers to create rocks and a slide.

The rocks are loosely covered with white cardboard and glittery batting, and can be placed anywhere on the cardboard. I added a few real rocks and then it was time to invite the penguins in to play.

Behold our Antarctic diorama:

While I was fussing over penguin placement and pictures, three little ones were watching my every move, ready to jump in. When I was satisfied with the results, I turned it over to the munchkins to play with.

There are so many wonderful projects to make this summer, or later, for every age and every skill level. Just browse through Jo-Ann’s Cape Discovery catalog and see for yourself.

Stars And Checkers

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Sat, 25 May 2013 12:29:00 +0000

It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the United States and that calls for a little red, white, and blue. But rather than stars and stripes, I went for stars and checkers instead. It looks very festive, I think.

I fused gingham cotton in blue and red onto navy blue and red wool felt, and cut out stars in different sizes. With a small hole punch I made two holes in my stars and strung them on a length of red and white baker’s twine.

Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend, everyone! Enjoy the extra day off. I think I'll go out and do some garage-saling.

I am linking my starts and checkers garland up at:
The Humble Brag Party at One Project Closer
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
Pin Me Linky Party at Diana Rambles

Pastel Hearts

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:02:00 +0000

A customer requested my rainbow heart garland for her mother’s wedding which she is planning. She wondered if I could make it in pastel colors. Why, of course! I love how it turned out.

Even better: I was able to go outside for a quick photo shoot without having to put on a snowsuit. Not that I would call it spring yet. Much too cold still. But I did see the first of my bulbs come up. Finally evidence of spring.

Fabric Flower Pots

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 03:37:00 +0000

My husband suggested we make flower pots out of fabric not too long ago. To be honest, I was a little skeptical at first but I have to admit I was wrong. The first pot we made turned out awesome. You’ll have to take my word for it because sadly, there are no pictures and the pot in question was a gift. We used different patterned blue fabric scraps and a piece of matching vinyl as a liner. An idea was born, begging for a repeat.

To give the pots a little more body, I wanted to use a fabric that is a little heavier than the quilting cotton we used on our prototype, such as an upholstery fabric. JoAnn’s carries the new HGTV line of home décor fabrics, which has some beautiful prints. Now I am more of a summer colors girl for flower pots, and I love the combination of hot pink and bright orange. The Urban Blossoms and Checkered Past in Berry fit the bill perfectly.

I have to stop here for a minute and tell you that JoAnn’s and HGTV sent me generous samples of the new HGTV home décor fabric line to play with. But I was genuinely thrilled to see which prints had been sent my way. I mean, look at those pots, how could I not be? It is gorgeous fabric.

I used a simple pattern for a lined bucket to make my pots. Out of each print I cut a 19.5” by 10.5” rectangle and a 6.25” circle. Because I was making flower pots I used Pellon Vinyl Fuse on the liner fabric to make it somewhat waterproof and protect it from the dirt. Great stuff, easy to work with. It makes the fabric very stiff but I had no difficulty at all sewing through it.

First you make a tube by sewing the short sides of the rectangle together with the right sides facing. Iron open the seam. A word of advice: use the protective paper backing from the vinyl fuse when ironing the seam of the fabric fused with vinyl. Use it not only on top of the fabric, but also on the inside. Your tube will otherwise melt together. Trust me on this one.

Then you pin the bottom to the tube you just made and sew it in place. Go slow.

Do not turn the inner layer inside out. Repeat these steps with the outer layer and turn that one with the right side facing out.

Place the outer layer inside the inner layer. Line up the tops and pin in place. Sew together, leaving about a 4” opening.

Pull the fabric through the opening and turn the bucket inside out. Push the inner layer into the outer layer and topstitch along the top edge to close the opening. If you like, you can fold over the inside a little, or a lot.

That’s all there is to it. Lovely and vibrantly colored flower pots. Of course you don’t have to put a plant in them, you can use them to hold whatever you want.

If you too would like to try the new HGTV home décor fabric line, there is a 10% off coupon valid through May 4. (And if you can wait a little bit longer, the HGTV line is available at 50% off starting April 14.) Enjoy!

I am sharing my pots at:
The Humble Brag at One Project Closer
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Bunnies

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:11:00 +0000

Perhaps it’s because there is still at least a foot of snow on the ground, and more falling as I type, but I am just not feeling the pastel colors this Easter. I went for navy, gray, and white instead.

The blue bunnies are made of a very heavy navy wool with gingham cotton in two sizes fused to the back. I used a small rectangular hole punch to create holes in their ears and strung them onto some lovely yellow satin ribbon.

The gray and white bunnies are made of 3mm thick 100% merino wool felt, strung on yellow and pink baker’s twine. Now all I need are some branches to hang them from. Normally I would go outside to snip a few here and there, but not today. I am staying inside.

I just listed them in the shop if you would like some, too. Happy Easter!

Linking up at:
The Humble Brag at One Project Closer
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

You’ve Got Mail

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Our local Variety Store closed last summer, making way for a Family Dollar store. Progress? I think not. But what are you going to do?

With the disappearance of the Variety Store, we also lost the touristy type postcards. Our local supermarket sells greeting cards, but that wasn’t what I was looking for when I decided to send a complete stranger a birthday card.

I resorted to making a card myself. With one or two exceptions, I am not the card making type. My mother is the one who makes elaborately embroidered cards, not me.

My new sewing machine is capable of sewing the alphabet. Actually, since it also an embroidery machine, it is capable of much more, most of which I am still in the process of discovering.

I think the white thread does not stand out enough, to be honest. The red letters are much easier to read. Other than that, I am quite pleased with how my card turned out.

Since the recipient of this card lives in Holland, I sent the card in an envelope. However, I was curious to see if it would hold up in the mail by itself. For that, I made some changes to the back.

After several failed attempts, I figured out that a 3/4” border sewn onto 3.5” by 5.5” cardstock gives the card the sturdiness it needs and enough room to write a short message.

The lines are sewn with the sewing machine. A single, short straight stich works best. I taped the thread ends to the back, to keep the stitches from coming undone.

My cousin and his wife are working very hard on opening a new restaurant & café in Milwaukee: the Blue Jacket Bar. I butchered their logo a bit for this project, I hope they’ll forgive me.

The card goes in the mail today. I’ll keep you posted (pun intended) on its journey.

While I was busy designing cards for strangers and yet to be opened bars, I let the birthdays of one of best friends, my sister, and my sister-in-law pass me by. Hmmm. Not good. I better get to work.

I will be linking my postcards up with:

Friday’s Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Heart Warmers

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:23:00 +0000

No Valentine’s candy in this house. Well, maybe just a few conversation hearts. Other than that, we kept it simple. Partially because we care about the wellbeing of our teeth, partially because Miss Lola is recovering from a short but intense bout of Norovirus.

Instead we made heart warmers for her friends at school. Little heart shaped pouches filled with rice. Just pop them in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, put them in your coat pockets, and enjoy toasty hands all day long. I used colorful fleece scraps left over from my owl pillows.

Packers and John Deere fleece for the boys, lots of pinks for the girls. Lola wrote the tags. All by herself.

I am linking my heart warmers up at:
Friday’s Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

The post Heart Warmers first appeared at Dutch Girl Originals.

Hearts On A String

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:44:00 +0000

If you sew two 3” by 9” (or longer) rectangles of thick gray felt together along one side, turn them inside out and sew along the other side, and then cut 1/2” strips, you end up with lots of cute little hearts.

If you string those cute little gray hearts with a mixture of multicolored pompons and felt balls in all sizes and colors, some of them with beads, you end up with a funky heart garland. Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

My inspiration for the hearts came from Pinterest, where else?

I am linking up at Natural Suburbia and The Magic Onions.

Owls In The Shop

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:35:00 +0000

Sewing owl pillows is one thing, listing them in my Etsy shop is quite another. There are photographs to make, pictures to edit, listings to write, etc. It’s time consuming and therefore easily put off.

Yesterday morning I finally sat down and finished what I had started. I listed three owl pillows and one Valentine’s Day garland in my shop. Lola and I decided to name the owls from now on and she picked the names for the first batch, with a little direction from me, I’ll admit.

Meet Nathan, Leslie, and Flower. They are for sale right here.

Last Minute Gift Bags

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:04:00 +0000

We had a few small presents to wrap up for Lola's teachers on Friday. I thought I'd make some fun gift bags in the shape of a stocking.

I drew a stocking shape on a sheet of paper and cut it out. After tearing off a piece of gift wrap, I folded it in half and traced my template onto it. I sewed the stocking about a quarter inch inside the lines I drew and cut it out.

I had never sewn paper before but it was easy. I did find it's best to use a little bit heavier paper. The really thin stuff doesn't sew very well. It's easier to sew the stocking outline first and cut later. That way the paper doesn't move when you cut out the stocking.

Once I had all my stockings sewn and cut out, I punched a little hole in the top and stamped initials on them. Insert gift, and tie with pretty string. And there you go. All wrapped up.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sister Owls

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:57:00 +0000

Custom orders are such fun, I've decided. I received a request for two sets of colorful sister owl pillows from my friend S. She wants to give them to her four nieces for Christmas. I very much liked that idea but I didn't quite know what to do about the colorful bit at first.

I work mostly with felt and wool. While craft felt can be bought in every color imaginable, it does not hold up well on pillows, I find. It pills. Wool felt or a wool/rayon blend is better, but the by-the-yard stuff I can only find at Jo-Ann's in limited colors, mostly naturals. I didn't feel like special ordering wool felt online for an arm and a leg. I found a few wool sweaters at the Goodwill but the yarn was so thick, they wouldn't felt.

But then I thought of using fleece and a world of colorful possibilities opened up. Our local Wal-Mart has the best selection of funky fleece at the moment, better than Jo-Ann's even. Finished with an old wool blanket, vintage doilies, and felt eyes and a beak, these lovely bright colored ladies were on their way to New England in time for Christmas.

I am on a roll now, cutting and sewing owl pillows in an array of colors and patterns: navy blue with green circles, brown and green argyle, bright pink with multicolored flowers, and warm brown plaid. I have made them a little chubbier, too. I found a few more old blankets at the thrift store and some doilies as well. Look for them in the shop soon.

I am linking my owls up with Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday and
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions.

Classic Christmas Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (The Dutch Girl) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:52:00 +0000

For the third consecutive year I am participating in Craftaholics Anonymous' handmade gift exchange. My partner this year is a girl from Oklahoma. She doesn't blog so I cannot take a sneak peak in her life and get a feel for her tastes. That's okay, I like giving creativity free rein and see where it takes me.

This year it took me to a wreath. Which is funny because while I love wreaths, I never have the patience to actually make one. Until now. It is a moss covered wreath with felt holly leaves and berries, and a few snowflakes here and there. With my current obsession for natural colors, I started out with all white but it didn't feel right. Classic Christmas colors it is, then.

I hope you love your present, M. Merry Christmas!