Tag: embellish

Craft Projects

Nuno Felting

Jessica Smith

Last Christmas-related post …  I swear!

For Christmas, my dad gave my stepmom a nuno felting class at the Savage Mill. He bought two classes so she could bring a buddy, so Jill invited me along.

We went to a shop called Peaknits for the class and learned all about nuno felting. I won’t give a full tutorial because I am not an expert. But here’s the jist… first, you separate the wool. Then, you place it on a piece of chiffon in the pattern you want. I went for a mostly pinky/purple shade for mine. Once your wool is where you’d like it, you can add ribbon and all sorts of other things to the scarf. Wet all of the wool, then roll it up (there’s a lot more to this step…). You roll your project a bajillion times, which is activating fibers so the wool becomes felt. Then you get to beat the crap out of your project – my favorite part. Let the project dry out, trim the edges and you are done!

OK, wow… that was a really brief and not so great “tutorial” haha. But like I said, I am not a nuno felting expert by any stretch of the imagination. Here are photos of the process.

And here is my finished product!

Scarf

I am allergic to wool, so I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to stand this on my neck for more than a picture or two. The scarf is totally unique and I am still impressive that I made it from tufts of wool!

Scarf1

Ever felted before? I want my next felting project to be some sort of animal craft. I’m not sure if and when that will ever happen, but they are so darn cute!

If you are ever in the area, make sure to check out Peaknits and all of the other unique shops at the Savage Mill. It’s one of my favorite places!

Christmas, Craft Projects, DIY GIFT GUIDE, Gift Idea, Holiday, Wine Crafts

DIY GIFT GUIDE: Eucalyptus Christmas Tree

Jessica Smith

Eucalyptus Tree Gift Guide

Today I’m sharing a Christmas decoration that would make a great gift. This project was a pain in the butt, but SO worth it. So only make it for someone you really really like :p

Supplies:

  • 1 tree form
  • Eucalyptus (you can grab this from Michaels or any craft store that sells floral stuff)
  • Staples
  • Hot Glue
  • Corks
  • Tacks
  • Ribbon
  • Teal feathers

Steps:

  1. Rip the leaves off of your eucalyptus plant.
  2. Turn your tree base upside down and start to attach the eucalyptus. I did a mixture of staples stuck into the styrofoam, hot glue and some bent wire. Really anything I had at my workbench that would make the leaves stick. Go around and around and around and around until you reach the top.Eucalyptus Tree BaseEucalyptus Tree LeavesEucalyptus Tree Leaves2
  3. Once the leaves are covering the tree, glue corks to the bottom. I chose to place mine at the outer edge of the base of the tree so no white showed. You could place yours in the middle if you wanted it to be more like a real tree.
  4. Fill in any holes/white spots using teal feathers and small dabs of hot glue.
  5. Embellish with silver tacks to look like ornaments. You can use these to strategically pin down any loose leaves, too.
  6. Wrap your ribbon around the top of the tree and secure with glue.
  7. Stick your choice of topper into the top of the tree. I used a flower I had snagged on clearance a while ago. I stuck it into the top of the three using a nail.
  8. Admire your adorable-yet-not-too-Christmasy tree!Eucalyptus TreeEucalyptus Tree2
Craft Projects

Peacock Blue Dress

Jessica Smith

My sister and I make a dangerous pair when we go shopping together — we are both pros. We went out on Saturday to go shoe shopping, which turned into clothes shopping, which turned into shopping for the hubby, too.

I picked up this new dress from Old Navy on clearance for $11.99. 

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress Before

I loved the fit of it and the color, but there was a flaw in the fabric up front and center. For the price, I couldn’t let it slip away. So I bought it with the intentions of dressing up the top of the dress to hide the imperfection.

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress Spot

A while ago, I bought four packs of flat gems with the intention of using them to make a bib necklace. Instead, I pulled them out to jazz up my dress instead!

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress Gem

Each gem had two holes in it, so I double and triple stitched through each hole to secure the embellishments to my dress. I worked out a pattern along the top of the dress, and I would have stopped there but the imperfection was still showing. Then, I clustered the gems together in groups of two and three around the rest of the dress. This covered the flawed fabric perfectly. You wouldn’t even know it is there!

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress Beading

The dress took hours to jazz up. I “watched” half of an Indiana Jones movie and (begrudgingly) Game of Thrones before I was finished. 

My hard work paid off and the dress looks great. I’ll be interested to see how the gems hold up since there are only two holes to secure them. You can easily catch an edge and that might cause the thread to tear. Just hopefully not the fabric of the dress… that would suck.

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress After

I should apologize now for the crappy quality of these photos…. my iPhone usually does a much better job. 

Also, that picture doesn’t do this dress justice… so here I am modeling it for you (my favorite thing to do haha).

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress Complete

Yes, my phone case matches it almost perfectly. And yes, practically everything I won is some shade of blue, teal, mint green or aqua. It’s a life problem for me. 

{A Smith of All Trades} Blue Dress Complete Instagram

Cheesin’ it on Instagram. See, isn’t the dress cute? Love it!

I may have also bought this exact same dress in pink. I don’t know if I’ll embellish it or leave it be…. oh the possibilities!

Have a fabulous Monday!!