Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Scrap Wallpaper Christmas Tree Ornament

Make Christmas Tree OrnamentsWith Wallpaper Scraps

Items Needed:

Wallpaper scraps
Scissors, straight and pinking edged
beading needle
thread
tiny beads
white glue
scrap ribbon or string
tape
quilt batting or other stuffing material

How to make these:

1. Cut shapes from your wall paper scraps using the straight edge scissors, and leave an enough design to cut later with pinking scissors.  You will need a two pieces of paper for each ornament  (front and back.

2. With your top piece, or front piece of ornament paper, thread the beading needle, and carefully, and gently sew beads to the front in any design or pattern you wish.  Be very careful to not rip the wallpaper with your needle.  You can use a tiny piece of tape to secure the thread on the backside of it.  Knotting the thread is too difficult, as you will rip the ornament.

3.  Place a thin line of glue around the backside edges of the cut wallpaper shapes, but before you place them together, lay the ends of the scrap ribbon inside for the hanger.  Also stuff a tiny bit of quilt batting, or other scrap materials inside to give the ornament shape.  You will need very little stuffing material.

4. Carefully place the top paper over the bottom, gluing backsides together, starting with the top where you added the hanger.  Pinch the sides shut and wipe away excess glue if any should run out the seams.  You may need to hold the edges a few minutes to secure the glue.  This is a bit difficult if the sides do not dry quickly.

5.  Allow the ornament to completely dry.

6.  Optional:  Trim the edges with pinking scissors or other decorative edged scissors.

These take a bit more time and patience to make, but are fun to give as Christmas gifts, participate in an ornament exchange, or tie onto a larger gift.  These are very light and are inexpensive to mail for gift giving as well.

Recycle Old Jeans ~ Shower Curtain or Curtain

Using the basic instructions here:

How to sew a curtain using old jeans

The above link inspired me to sew a shower curtain or doorway curtain from old jeans.  My tips, in addition to this article are:

*Cut a 10 x 10 inch square from an empty cereal box for a template.  Use a rotary cutter on a cutting board, to cut your squares easily.
 You can sew a seam at the top to push a shower rod through, or sew tabs along the top with smaller pieces of leftover denim.  You could also sew quilt backing using an old sheet and use this for picnics or camping. 

These new curtains are nice and thick for keeping cold air in or out of a room, depending on the season.  So don't throw your ripped, tattered, and stained jeans in the garbage.  Find fun and creative ways to make something new.