Friday, December 20, 2013

DIY Basswood Trees




So excited to share this inexpensive and easy project with you!  All you need is a sheet of basswood, a craft knife, a rule, pencil and some paint!


First - Decide how big you want your tree to be.  My first one I made 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide.  Mark the wood and draw your triangle


Second - Use your ruler and craft knife to cut along the lines you drew.  It may take several scores with the knife to get through the wood.  Don't press too hard or you may crack the wood.


Third - Draw a line half way up from the middle of the base on one triangle.  Then draw a line half way down from the tip of the triangle on the other.  Use your craft knife to cut a slice about 1/16 to 1/8 inch where the line was. 


Fourth - Slide your pieces together to make sure they fit.
Fifth - Paint a fancy little design on it!



These take little time to make, but turn out so adorable! It would even be fun to cut them out and let the kids paint/color/glitterfy them.


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Cranberry & Feta Cole Slaw Lettuce Wraps (Vegetarian, Organic & Gluten Free!)


Today I'm going to share with you a delicious (and very pretty, if I may say so) cole slaw recipe.  This is perfect for holiday gatherings or even just for no reason at all!  I chose to use all organic products. And not only is this organic and vegetarian, but it is also gluten-free.


Measurements:
1/2 cup Cranberries
6 cups chopped Cabbage
1 Carrot
1/3 cup Mayo
1 tablespoon Honey
Fresh Ground Black Pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon Celery Seed
1/2 Squeezed Lemon Juice
Feta
1 teaspoon Raw Sugar

1 - Slice and dice your cabbage and carrot
2 - In a food processor, chop up your cranberries and Raw sugar.
3 - In a bowl, mix your cranberry/sugar into the mayo, lemon juice, and honey.
4 - Pour cranberry/mayo mix onto cabbage and carrots.  Add celery seed and black pepper - MIX.


5 - Once your cole slaw is done, clean and lay out one leaf of butter lettuce.  Fill it with your cranberry cole slaw, drench with feta and wrap it.
6 - Enjoy!




 
 


Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!
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Monday, December 16, 2013

Grandma's Kitchen Towels (Anthropologie Knock-Off)


Oh Anthropologie, how I love you - and how I detest paying full price for your products. I just can't bring myself to pay $60 for a shirt. I mean, I could buy 5 shirts from Target with that money; although, I always seem to get caught up in the black hole that is Target and end up walking out of the store spending way more than I intended to when I only planned on buying socks in the first place, so maybe it's a losing battle either way. Anyway, the only time I'm able to get anything from Anthropologie is by shopping their sales.....or by knocking them off! And who doesn't love a good Anthropologie knock off?

I found these adorable towels on Anthropologie awhile ago (they don't make them anymore) and fell in love with the gingham and bold floral print, and I knew I wanted to recreate them.


I think they came out just as cute as the Anthro version, don't you? And for a fraction of the cost. So want to make some too?
 
SUPPLIES: 1/2 yard main fabric, 1/4 yard accent fabric, scrap of fabric with a design to fussy cut for your applique, sewable interfacing, disappearing ink marker, embroidery needle and thread, iron and board, sewing machine and basic sewing supplies, sharpie marker or paint pen.


ONE: first, cut around the design you want for your applique. Follow the instructions on the back of your interfacing to attach it to the wrong side (or side without the print) of your applique. Then, carefully fussy cut (which means to target and cut out a specific motif, in my case the bunch of flowers) your design.
TWO: cut a square from your accent fabric several inches larger than what you want your final design to be. Iron your applique to the center of your accent fabric.
THREE: use your sewing machine to carefully sew around the edges of your applique. You could use a zig-zag stitch to encase all the edges, but I decided to just go with a straight stitch because I like the look of the slightly frayed edges.
FOUR: here is what your applique should look like so far!


FIVE: (not shown) iron sewable interfacing to the back of your accent fabric.  Next, draw a bracket shape onto card stock that you want for your applique. Center it on top of your applique.
SIX: use your disappearing ink marker to trace your bracket design onto your accent fabric, and cut around the lines you traced.
SEVEN: cut a rectangle of fabric 29 inches long and 22 inches wide. Iron your applique onto your main fabric where desired.
EIGHT: sew around the edges of your applique to attach it to the main fabric.


NINE: fold each edge 1/4 inch then iron, then fold up another 1/4 inch and iron. Sew all the way around to encase raw edges.


TEN: use fine tip and extra fine tip Sharpie markers to make rough lines around the edges of your applique.

Stitching The Edges:
For the bottom edges, we're going to do a little hand sewing, specifically using the blanket stitch.

ONE: thread some red embroidery floss onto your needle and knot the end. Push your needle up under the fold of one of your short edges on the wrong side (the side without the pattern) as shown in the picture above to hide the knot.
TWO: bring the needle up and out the front edge of your towel, right on top of your hem line.
THREE: push your needle down through your fabric 1/2 inch to the right of your first hole leaving a loose loop, then bring your needle around and up through your loop. Pull tight to secure your stitch. This is called a blanket stitch.
FOUR: continue making a blanket stitch in 1/2 inch intervals along the bottom of your towel and knot when you reach the end. Repeat along the other short side of your towel.


When you're done, you have a pretty gift for the foodie in your life (or for yourself)!


Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!
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Friday, December 13, 2013

10 Creative Gift Wrapping Ideas

 
With Christmas a mere 12 days away (aaah!) it's time to wrap up those presents and get them under the tree. If you've managed to get all of your gifts wrapped already, you deserve an award (and you also need to come over to my house and wrap mine for me, kthanks.) For the rest of us, I've rounded up 10 pretty and creative ways to wrap your gifts!




 







Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Etsy Shop Opening Announcement!


Friends!!  We have such super exciting news for you!  We have opened Etsy shops!
This is something we've both been contemplating for quite some time and right now.. everything just seemed to be right.

Check out our super fun cyber stores...


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At Gather & Disperse you will find one of a kind repurposed and upcycled vintage items, and some rare, but oh so stylish vintage items that we have found in our wanderings around Pittsburgh.







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At Brass + Thread you will find the fun, stylish creations from Jen.  She's still building her inventory, so make sure to check back regularly to see what awesome stuff she's added to the shop!








We are so excited to share our passions with you all through a new avenue.  Check out our stuff, give us some likes.. and if you guys have Etsy shops, too.. let us know!  We want to stop by and show you the love, as well.



Monday, December 9, 2013

Faux Fur Boot Cover Up


I have a pair of boots that I call my "fake Uggs" that I've owned for years. I used to wear them a ton, but in recent years I've found new favorite boots, and now they've been sitting in my closet, lonely and forgotten. When I pulled out my fall gear recently, I found my sad little fake Uggs and decided they needed a makeover, stat.

I was inspired by all of the awesome fur lined and fur covered boots I've seen around. I really wanted a pair but didn't want to pay the hefty price tag so like the crafty girl I am, I found an easy and super cheap way to give my old boots a new look.


Here are the boots before they got the faux fur treatment:


Booooooring, right? Dig into your closets for some old boots, and let's get funky with some fake fur!

SUPPLIES: 1/4 yard faux fur, suede cording, a pair of boots, sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.

First, measure your boots at the widest part of the boot (at the top) and the skinniest part near the bottom. Also measure the length of your boot from the top of the foot to the top of the boot and add an inch.



Next, cut out two pieces of faux fur in the measurements you wrote above. Beware, fake fur will get allllll over the place. I learned this the hard way, and I was blowing fake fur out of my nose and picking fur out of my clothes for a few hours after. Unless you like that sort of thing, it would be a good idea to have a small vacuum handy while you're cutting. You'll thank me later.



With right sides together (RST) fold one of the long edges down 1/2 inch. Pin and sew. Next, fold your cover up in half with RST and pin along the short edge. Sew to make a tube.



Try your cover up on your boot to see if it fits properly, then make any changes needed before you move on. I ended up tapering my cover up a bit since the top of the boot was quite a bit wider than the bottom, making the cover up look a really baggy. You want it to be pretty fitted for it to look its best.



Finally, you'll want to complete the look by wrapping suede cording around your boot. Start by wrapping your cording around the back of your boot and crossing it in front. Continue wrapping and crossing your cording until you reach the top, then tie the remaining cording in a bow. You can leave it plain or maybe even add some beads.

Easiest shoe makeover. Ever.


Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!
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