Stencils!

You may already know about my love for stencils, but here are a few simple projects I completed around March. The first are slip-covers for my donated (Thanks sis!) couch's hideous pillows. I still want to buy a slip cover for the whole couch, but just haven't gotten to it.

Before (on the right) and after (on the left)

The couch's new look.

I bought white denim from the fabric store, measured out the size of the pillow, and marked the width on the selvage. Then, I simply tore the fabric at the marks. I wanted the edges to be clean of stray paint, so I cut the front piece of fabric out, stenciled it, and spray painted it. The whole pattern was made with this one simple shape cut out of contact paper.

After they were dry, I sewed them to the back, which I made as a simple envelope opening to slip the pillow in and out.

The other project I mentioned was to make note cards for correspondence. So, I created a stencil that I thought would look nice and sponged paint over it (see picture at the bottom of this post) onto brown shopping bags cut into flat pieces. Using an exacto knife, I measured the size I wanted and sliced the whole thing up. Ta-da!

Below is the labor of love that went into making that stencil.

Atlanta, Here I Come!

I'm moving! After spending just about all of my 23 years (wait, is it 24? Ugh! Life is passing me by!) in WNC, I'll be rolling up and moving out! Honestly, I love this place. I am fairly positive I'll return. But Asheville is not friendly to the entry-level job seeker (that is, unless you are willing to work for free). I suppose the job market is difficult anywhere, but there aren't even any jobs here to apply for.

Like I said, Atlanta, here I come!

Now to just find a job and the world' most perfect apartment...

PS- Just got into Hero's. Had no clue... feeling like I am going to lose a lot of time to it...

Summer Gardenias Necklace

This little beauty was inspired by this gorgeous Anthropologie necklace. I made one for my sister's birthday back in December, just in time for her to take it to St. Thomas. (Ok, I didn't get it to her on time, it ended up being a late b-day gift!)

When I saw this one in Anthropologie for $228 originally, I got inspired to make my own. I ran across Maegan's version (of ...Love Maegan fame... my Fav site!) a couple of months ago, and the idea's been sitting on my brain since. So, here's how I did it...!

First, get your supplies together.

I used:

1. Flowers of your choice. I used two types of gardenias

2. Needle and thread

3. Fabric for the base of the necklace

4. Rope or ribbon for the necklace, and a rope or ribbon to tie the necklace together.

Next, cut all of the flowers from their stalks, and cut their stems as close to the base of the flower as possible.

Then, stitch the flowers together at their bases to make sure the petals don't fall off.

For good measure, take the next few seconds to arrange the flowers the way you want to wear them on the necklace. Move the arrangement to the side except the one you want to start with, and hold it in place on the fabric as you stitch it on. Repeat for each flower, placing it and stitching it, until you finish.

Next, cut excess fabric off, shaping the piece. Then, stitch around the edges of the fabric, creating a loop at both ends.

Loop the rope back on itself to hold it in place just above the necklace. Stitch in place, and wrap thread around stitches to hide them. Cut the rope at the top of the necklace, where it lays on the neck, and make the same same loops, stitch in place and wrap the thread around the stitches.

Run your ribbon through the loops at the back of the necklace, and tie.

Enjoy!