Tag Archives: Home Decor

Remodel Your Lamp

1
by Arts & Crafts, Home Decor • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

By Goldie

Here is another way to add your own personal touch and style to your home from what you already own. I would like to share with you two quick and easy ways to remodel your lamp.

I used:

Directions:

  • Start by choosing your trim.
  • Once you have decided on your trim you can glue the trim to the lamp, for this project E600 would hold the trim best.

  • For the first lamp I decided to go with a funkier look with a feather trim. 
  • Then I glued a braided trim over the feather trim to give it a neater look.

 

  • My second idea was more traditional, using this black brush fringe.
  • You also have the option of cutting the extra string off the bottom to give it a more elegant look.

Recreate Your Pillows

by Uncategorized • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

By Goldie

Seeing the results of your creative work in your home can be very satisfying. You can add your own personal style  to just about anything; I would like to share with you two simple ideas you can use to recreate your own pillows by which you can express your own personal style. You can spruce up one of your own old pillows or you can purchase one. I purchased these inexpensive pillows at Kmart.

I used:

Directions:

Organza rosettes pillow:

 

Greek key jacquard pillow:

  • Sew the trim onto the pillow. It is not necessary to stitch all around the trim fold the trim at each end of your pillow into a triangular shape and sew it together this will give your  pillow a clean cut look.

Decorate Your Own Napkin Holders

3
by Uncategorized • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Goldie

Here is a way to give your table décor the perfect final touch. Although you can make napkin holders out of just about anything, I would like to share with you some ideas I have created.

Material I used:

 

Directions:

These directions are very simple and quick. Start by deciding on which color combination you like, your napkins should be in front of you. Take the ribbon you have chosen and wrap it around your napkin and make sure it shapes it well you will sew the ends of the ribbon together. If you have chosen an appliqués you can attach it buy using hot glue.

Decorative Placemats

2
by Arts & Crafts, Home Decor • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

By Goldie

The Holidays are finally here, so I suspect that many of you will be doing a lot of entertaining at home.   Part of being a great host is creating a festive and inviting environment.  Table setting preparation is key, so to help you out I have created a couple of easy DIY placemats that will look great on your holiday table.  Not only are these projects quick and easy they can also be done pretty inexpensively.  I purchased these mats for under a couple of dollars and if you are handy with a sewing machine you can create your own from some colorful fabrics purchased at your local fabric store.

  

  

 

 Faceted Fringe

 

Jacquard Ribbon

 

 

 

 Cord Edge

Sewing is not necessary for these projects.  I used my glue gun to attach all the trims listed above.  M&J Trimming has a wide variety of trims to choose from, so be creative.  We’d love to hear about any of the looks that you’ve designed.

Happy DIY

Halloween Costume Series: No-Sew Medieval Cape

1
by Arts & Crafts • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Roseann

robe

Take a walk down the costume aisle of any Halloween store and you will find the same unimaginative costumes year after year.  I believe that the best costumes are the ones we make ourselves.  Our Halloween costumes should speak volumes for our own personalities.  Over the next several weeks I will show a couple of quick and easy DIY Halloween costume ideas in the hope that it will stimulate your own imaginative DIY pieces.  Please share with us what you too have created.

 A very popular theme for Halloween costumes is medieval and renaissance.  This is a great theme for DIY if you are detailed oriented and can be easily be done with treasures from an attic or thrift store finds.  Interestingly home décor trims are quite suitable for detailing your medieval garments.   I purchased in inexpensive robe (under $20) and added a rabbit fur trim style: 41563-WT and 2” wide gimp style: 36808-10 both can be purchased by calling 1-800-9-mjtrim.  I replaced the ties with 5/16″ rayon twist cord style: 00618 in old gold and added imported fancy key tassel style: 50015 also in gold at the end of the new ties.  All of the trims were added by using fabric glue, since I know that not all of us are so inclined to sewing and I don’t want that to hinder anyone’s creative side.

robe1

 Check back through out the week as I will try and post a couple times each week leading up to Halloween.  And again, we are very interested in your own thoughts and ideas, so please share.

 Have a happy DIY!

Sumptuous DIY Halloween Decorations

4
by Arts & Crafts • Tags: , , , , ,

By Roseann

Halloween3

It seems like yesterday it was summer and now Halloween is just around the corner. Maybe you haven’t even begun planning or are somewhat perplexed over your theme for your holiday gathering this year; well don’t fret because we’ve got some inspirational ideas in store for you. This Halloween try a more elegant approach to decorating for your holiday gathering. I worked up a few ideas for our decorations this year using feather trims and some inexpensive finds from your local floral or craft shop.

Halloween2

Materials for Wreath

  • • 1 wreath (I used a plain twig wreath)
  • • 2 feather boas style: 16776 (To order call 1-800-9-mjtrim)
  • • Jewelry wire Materials for Centerpiece
  • • Plastic cauldron ( the one used here has an inner diameter of 12”) you may also use a planter that you may already have
  • • Thin branches
  • • Sand or stones to fill the bottom
  • • Super moss • 3’ artificial ravens
  • • 1 yard (measurement is dependant upon the size of your cauldron) feather trim style: 27971 (To order call 1-800-9-mjtrim)
  • • Craft foam

How To Wreath:

For the wreath I just wrapped the two boas around it and secured with jewelry wire.

Halloween4Halloween1

How To Centerpiece: The centerpiece was a bit more involved, but still very easy.

  1. The first I thing I did, and this is completely optional, is treated my cauldron so that it wouldn’t look like a cheap plastic cauldron. I sprayed it with spray on stone which can be purchased at your local hardware store. Once it has set up and dried I went over is with a coat of semi-gloss black spray paint.
  2. Next you are going to want to fill your cauldron with sand or stone, you want to fill it just enough so that the craft foam will sit level with the top of the cauldron, so be sure to take a measurement.
  3. Place your craft foam inside the cauldron; you may have to trim it down if you are not able to find it in a round.  I used an 11” round dummy cake, it’s made of foam and fit perfectly inside the cauldron you should be able to find them online at nycake.com
  4. Arrange your branches in the center of the foam, you should be able to just push them in to secure
  5. Glue your feather trim around the foam so that it appears to be spilling out of the cauldron
  6. Apply your super moss around the branches to cover the exposed foam
  7. Arrange and attach your ravens how you wish
  8. Enjoy your beautiful new Halloween centerpiece

Helpful Tips for Your at Home Sewing Projects

4
by Arts & Crafts • Tags: , , , ,

By Roseann

sew_mach_are_scary

In 1982 President Ronald Reagan declared September national sewing month “in recognition of the importance of home sewing to our nation.” This could not be truer today; the theme this year is “Reuse, Remake, Restyle.” Our blog has been dedicated to the do it yourselfer since the beginning and in the spirit of the month I’d like to share some helpful sewing tips in hopes that your creative projects this month go a little smoother. I have put together a list of the most helpful tips for what I’ve found to be the most common hang ups in a sewing project.

Golden Rule

The single most important thing to do before you even cut your fabric is to wash it. If this is not done your fabric will shrink and your garment may not fit after the first wear. Keep in mind that the width will shrink more than length; consider that you will probably lose about 10% of your width after washing when deciding how much fabric to purchase. Before washing my fabric I like to serge the cut edge, you can leave the selvage as is, this prevents fraying. If you do not have a serger at home a zigzag stitch can be done along the very edge, it works the same.

Gathers

Gathering for me has always been a bit of a pain. Pulling on basting threads can often times cause them to break and cause uneven gathers. If you created a zigzag stitch over a piece of dental floss instead of basting be sure not to get the floss in the stitches, it’s much easier to control gathers and will not break.

Curves

Sewing curves can be daunting, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to pull stitches and restitch to smooth out pinching and create a smooth line. To gain more control reduce your stitch length around curves and corners. It helps greatly. Reducing stitch length can also be done at the beginning and to end seams instead of backing up which can be difficult with very thin fabrics.

Matching Stripes and Plaids

You can spend all the time you like on a project but if your fabric patterns and prints don’t match at the seams, no one will notice the rest of your hard work. There’s a easy way to match your patterns pieces so that your garment doesn’t end up looking like an unintended Picasso. Cut out your patterns pieces one at a time. Cut one side then use the fabric you just cut as the other side, be sure to flip it over you want mirrored pieces. Fabric to fabric will help you line up your lines.

DIY Decorative Feather Throw Pillows

1
by Home Decor • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

By Roseann

feather_pillow

I was very thrilled when M&J recently began carrying feather patches.  We have been having a lot of fun with them creating all types of accessories that fit right in with this season’s hot trend.  So, you can only imagine my excitement when I discovered the new much larger version, a 20” x 15” feather mat (style #43361-Brown/Green Iris) available by calling 1-800-9-mjtrim.  I thought this would look great on a throw pillow, and since I am currently looking to change the look of my apartment this came in just the nick of time.  Throw pillows make a great accent in any room.  By mixing colors and textures you can liven up the place and create a new ambiance with out the expense of purchasing new furniture or the timely chore of painting.

feather_pillow2

Velvet Ribbon Striped Pillow

2
by Home Decor • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Eleah

This week I wanted to make an accent pillow with stripes but didn’t have any striped material on hand. What better solution than to make my own stripes! With the cool weather rolling in, I wanted it to be extra soft. I selected some leftover high-pile apoulstery fabric for the body of the pillow. For the stripes I used 22mm velvet ribbon that complimented the color of the fabric. Since I used two different fabrics for each side, I wanted something to break between them with out clashing with the ribbon so I picked out velvet cordedge in a neutral color so the stripes would not disappear.

Materials:

  • Two 13×13 inch squares of fabric
  • 51 inches of 22mm (style# 00856) cordedge
  • 3 ¼ yards of 22mm velvet ribbon in 1 color, or 1.6 yards of 2 different colors.
  • Sewing Machine, needle, thread to match ribbon
  • Stuffing

Instructions:

  1. Pin down ribbon evenly spaced on 1 of your 13×13” squares of fabric
  2. Remove pins as you hem down the ribbon. Try to keep the stitch as close to the edge of the ribbon so as not to interrupt the pile of the velvet.
  3. Refer to one of my earlier blogs for instructions on the rest of the pillow. Begin with step 8 from my textile transformation blog. FYI-you will probably want to pin the cordedge to the side of the fabric that has the ribbon sewn to it. Since that will be the front, you will want more control of a perfect hem.
  4. And you’re done!

Beaded Sequin Fringe Table Cloth

1
by Home Decor • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Eleah

 

Table looking a little drab?  Fancy it up with a tablecloth!  This week I wanted to spruce up a little a night stand with a tablecloth and fringe.  It’s a quick project and requires no sewing!

 Supplies:

  • Measure the surface of the table you would like to cover and add 5 inches to the length and width. So…if your table surface is 35″ x 30″ then you would need a piece of fabric that is 40″ x 35″. HINT: most fabric stores sell fabric that is between 44″ to 54″ wide, so for a small table you might only need 1 yard (FYI: 36″ in a yard) I picked medium weight cotton in mint green to match the ball fringe from my lampshade project.
  • Add the width and the length of your fabric measurement and multiply that number by two. Add a couple inches for good measure (Pun fully intended) and now you have the measurement for your fringe. I decided on 4.25″ Beaded Bone Sequin Fringe in black…. mostly because in combination with the mint green fabric, it reminds me of mind chocolate chip ice cream and that is my favorite.
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Unique Stitch Glue

 

Making The Table Cloth:

  1.  Once you have cut out the fabric, all you have left to do is glue the fringe to the edge. No need to hem it since the glue will prevent any fraying. You can sew this project if you like, but today I was feeling especially lethargic and sometimes there is nothing wrong with cutting corners.
  2.  Apply glue to the backside of the ribbon that the fringe hangs from. I would suggest adding it in about 5 inch sections at a time to ensure a straight application. Press the glued-up side of the ribbon to the edge of your fabric. Remember to let the dangly part of the fringe point away from the fabric.
  3. When you get to the end fold over a piece of the ribbon and secure the fold with some fabric glue. Pinch it together for a moment until the glue begins to dry. Let this finished end overlap slightly over the raw edge of where you started. Cut off access fringe.
  4. You’re done!