We wish you a...

See you in 2011!

Free Patterns from Homespun Threads!

Aimee from Homespun Threads announced on her blog today that all 29 patterns in her shop are FREE for a limited time.  I don't know how long limited is, but I suggest you hurry on over there in case your definition is different from hers.  Spit Spot.

I managed to limit myself to a reasonable 3, a purse, a make-up bag, and this giant baby shoe pattern for 4 different styles that I've been meaning to buy for ages now.  Guess good things come to those who wait, right?  Or is that "to those who procrastinate"?

Aimee suggests that you become a follower of her blog if you are going to partake in her awesome freebies, and I agree.  Not only because it seems like the right thing to do, but because you won't regret it!  I've been following for awhile now and I really enjoy her mix of sewing, every day minutia, and outspoken faith.  In fact, just last week I found out my daughter has been accepted into a preschool for January, and I immediately went online to search for the perfect lunchbox.  Aimee had just posted about these super cool divided plastic containers and they were exactly what I was looking for.

This kind of helpful information and so much more could be yours today, for the low low price of FREE!

Thanks Aimee :)

PB Knock Off: Project Round-Up

Now it's time for the really good stuff - everything you've been making!  We honestly got more inspiration from the knock offs you sent us than from the actual Pottery Barn catalog.  Give yourselves a hand!

The first two get an award for speediest crafters.  They've already made projects from a tutorial this week!  Pass along some of that motivation, won't you?

Sara at The Pretty Pickle made a lovely poinsettia pillow:

And Emily from I Do Get Crafty Once In Awhile made glitzy ornaments using seasonally appropriate scriptures:

And if you like things that jingle...

Jaclyn of Faith Hope Love Happiness made these cute jingly twine-wrapped candles:

and Kristin at This and That Creative made these fun jingly napkin rings:

We've seen a ton of bloggers knocking off this NOEL sign.  We love them all, and we love how each one is just a little bit different.  If you've been wanting to make one too, visit the bloggers below to see all the different variations in appearance and construction.  (Susan, how do you think the USPS would feel about you sending me some hammered bronze spray paint?)

Jessica from Craftily Ever After 

Angie from Crafting in Cowtown

Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick

Sarah at Life Sweet Life

Beth at The Stories of A to Z (guest post by her sister Kim)

I'm so glad Ashley from Shanty 2 Chic tackled this Star Votive holder (check out her version here).  I really wanted to knock off this one, but didn't even know where to start looking for the supplies in this craft-delinquent country.  Living vicariously through you, Ashley!

Kim over at Second Time Furniture made this incredibly detailed advent calendar:

Jessica at Craftily Ever After also made some simple and festive potted pines (her chair and side table set-up looks like it belongs in a PB catalog, right? Love it.)

Linda at Restyled Home made a paper garland for her tree, but used the words from "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as her text.  Very creative and cute!

Emily at Finding my Aloha made these gorgeous mercury glass look-a-like ornaments:

Becky at Beyond the Picket Fence made this fun hanging pitcher decoration.  I love how she actually gave hers a purpose :)

And last but definitely not least, the motherlode.

Holly from Homebody created a once-a-month Pottery Barn Knock Off linky party!  What a fantastic idea, and a great way to archive all the great knock-offs out there for those of us looking for inspiration.  Go check it out!

Thank you everyone for participating and following along this week!  We had a fun time sticking it to the PB Man.  And stay tuned, because we (Susan) might just finish another project or two next week :)

PB Knock Off: Poinsettia Pillow

Yep, it's another pillow.  Sorry about that.  But I just couldn't pick one!  They are both so beautiful.

This one's been tackled by many talented craft bloggers already*, but I wanted to put my own spin on it.  Here's the original:

(found here) 

The Pottery Barn version has really nice wool felt hand stitched petals.  I loved that look, but didn't want to spend the money.  Instead of using craft felt, I decided to buy an actual (fake) poinsettia and glue it on.  I love that it has the texture of the original, and the fake petals are velvety like felt too.

If you want to make this pillow, first start with a plain, solid colored pillow.  You don't even have to make it yourself, though this is a super fast and cheap project if you have the right fabric in your stash and some fiberfill.  

Buy a few fake poinsettia flowers with large petals, and cut off the petals.  Arrange 5 of them on your pillow:  

Then run a line of hot glue down the spine of each petal and glue them in place.

Add 1 or 2 more layers in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

Add tiny jingle bells one at a time using little spots of hot glue.  After the first layer is dry, you can hot glue a few more jingles on top of them to make it more full.

That's it!  Pretty simple for a $30 pillow, huh?  I'm really loving the look of the petals here.  I know if I tried to make them from felt they would never look this realistic.

Once again, if this tutorial totally wore you out, please elect to nap elsewhere.  I think those jingles would leave a nasty mark.

*I would be completely remiss if I did not mention that Christie from A Lemon Squeezy Home totally made this first, and has a much more thorough tutorial for it also.  I missed her post because it was during my month-long trip to the states (my google reader got totally overwhelmed and I had to just delete them all and start from scratch.  Trying not to dwell on all the crafty awesomeness I missed).  As far as I know, she's the only other one who used actual poinsettia petals.  I'll be linking to the felt versions in our round-up on Friday. 

PB Knock Off: Guest Post with Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy!

When our dear friend Stacey heard about Susan's woeful bout of Ebola virus, she very graciously offered to swoop in and save the day with a PB Knock Off of her own.  We owe you big time Stacey!  Make sure you go over to Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy! to say hi to Stacey and check out all the crazy crafting she's been doing lately.  I'm constantly impressed.  Now, here's Stacey:

When Adrianna told me she and Susan were putting together a PB Knock Off week of holiday goodness, my wheels started spinning.  I realized at that point that my catalog hadn't arrived (I'm usually the dope sitting in the parking lot looking at my PB catalog because I can't wait until I get home).  I generally love what's in there, but never buy because I think the prices are outrageous, especially for things I could make for myself. Thus, all things were put aside until I completed a PB Knock Off project.  Okay, so maybe it was two.  I have a bit of an obsessive crafting problem.

One of the things that caught my eye was the paper Christmas tree garland.

Here's how to make one for yourself.

Supplies:

Computer and printer

White 8 X 11 1/2 paper

4 or 5 black tea bags 

Cookie sheet

Step one:  Type the holiday phrase of your choosing, twice, horizontally on your paper, in a cursive script.  I used the Word Art feature in Microsoft Word so that my words were a concave arch on one half and convex on the other.  

Step two: Print out the pages and cut each in half.  I needed 12 pages for my table top tree.

Step three:  Run VERY hot tap water/ or boil up a tea pot full and pour into your kitchen sink.  Put tea bags in the water and let your tea brew for 3-5 minutes.  Put in papers and let soak for 10-20 minutes.  The longer you soak, the darker your paper will be. 

** Use a flavored tea to give your paper garland a faint sent.  I used 2 Apple Cinnamon bags along with my regular, black tea bag.**

Step four:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove a few sheets from the sink and place on a cookie sheet.  Be very careful when moving your pages as the wet paper may tear.  Dab your tea bags onto the paper.  Anywhere the tea pools will have a bit darker color.  Place cookie sheet in oven.  If you have a convection oven, use top heat w/fan for faster results.  Keep a close eye on your paper,  They dry quickly.  Papers will begin to curl when they are dry.

Step five:  Once pages are dry, use a glue stick to glue the strips together into one long chain.  Make sure to alternate concave/convex writing so the phrase looks like it moves in a wave-like motion.  

Wrap your creation around the tree and admire your work!

Thank you so much for lending a hand with this fun project, Stacey!  I love how your garland gives an otherwise regular tree a beautiful vintage style.  Have to go make my own now.  Think coffee will work in place of tea?  We don't have any of that second-rate beverage in this house.  Like I explained it to my daughter, "it's like coffee, but not as good."

The 4th Anniversary of Adrianna's 25th Birthday

I've looked everywhere. I can't find the guide to celebrating a friend's 4th anniversary of their 25th birthday. Somebody help me out? In the meantime, I've decided to go with this plan:

1) Interrupt PB Knock Off week: Holiday Edition to say "Happy Birthday Adrianna!"
2) Drag self and two kids to the post office the day before said 4th anniversary of 25th birthday. Send package. Feel horribly neglectful. Hope for small miracle.
3) Remember how much mint chocolate is in that package. Feel not quite so bad.
4) Sign friend up for any and every e-newsletter targeted toward thirty-somethings.
5) Laugh hysterically.
6) Remember that what goes around comes around.
7) Laugh with a bit less hysteria.
8) Plan to complete one's contribution to PB Knock Off Week: Holiday Edition... tomorrow. Know that this will make A happy.
9) Picnik a tiara onto A looking more like a grade-schooler and less like a nearly thirty-something.

10) Post photo for global consumption.

Happy Birthday, A! Talk to you in a few hours!

PB Knock Off: Embroidered Star Pillow

Here's a very simple (though slightly time consuming) knock off.  It's just a simple pillow with a star embroidered in jute and decorative metal rivets.

The Pottery Barn Version:

(found here)

My version:

I initially tried to embroider with a hemp thread, and while it worked better than I expected, it was just way too tedious.  I was ready to go out and spend the $50 for this pillow.  When I switched to thick nubby yarn, it was much much easier.  So, yeah, I cheated.  But that's what knock offs are all about, right?  Plus, with all the supplies I purchased, this pillow came to under $10.  And I have a ton of leftover fabric, yarn, and fiberfill for future projects!

Here's a short tutorial so you can see what order and direction to make your stitches.

First, draw out a double star on your pre-cut pillow top like so:

Now draw lines capping off each point where the tip of the inner star's points reach.  That made no sense.  Just copy the red lines.

Your first round of stitching is going to be around the inner part of the star, with the satin stitch direction following the green arrows:

When you're done stitching this part, you should have something like this.  You can see that the stitches extend past your red lines if you choose to continue the stitch all the way up, and that's ok.

Now stitch over the points of the star, in the direction indicated by the red lines below:

Your stitching is done!  Sew or glue on decorative metallic buttons or brads at each point.

Now sew your pillow top to your pillow back (leaving a small opening), turn right side out, stuff, hand-sew the opening shut, and you're done!  

Just don't try to take a nap on it.

PB Knock Off: Glitzy Ornaments

This knock off is based on an ornament I saw in a Pottery Barn store, but I can't find it in the catalog or online, so you'll have to take my word for it.  It was basically a wooden disk with an initial printed in the center, glitter around the edge of the disk, and an itsy bitsy ornament dangling at the top.  Just for a visual, here's my version (which is pretty darn close, if I do say so myself):

To make your own, you'll need:

computer & printer

white or off white tissue paper

tape

scissors

hot glue gun & glue sticks

ribbon (I used wired)

miniature ornaments (~ .5 inch)

flat wooden circles

Mod Podge & brush or sponge 

glitter

We're going to be printing onto tissue paper and Mod Podging that to the surface of the wooden disk.  When it dries, it'll look like the words and images are printed directly onto the wood (it's magic).

Begin by cutting your tissue paper to equal the size of your printer paper.  Tape the tissue paper to the printer paper on all four edges.

Now use your preferred software to produce your initial, a phrase, a silhouette, a black & white image (more info at the bottom of this post), or really anything you want.  Print it out, making sure that your image will fit on the wooden circle, and that your paper is loaded so that the tissue paper side will be printed.  

If you have a laser printer, this will work really well.  If you have an ink-jet, you'll want to change the settings to "normal-draft" or "normal-fast" quality and "greyscale" color.  Your goal here is to use as little ink as possible, while still producing a clear image, so you may have to play with the settings a bit.  Too much ink will run, bleed, or tear the tissue paper.

You can print out two images per page to conserve time and paper, but make sure they're far enough apart that you can cut a circle around each of them.

Now pull out your wooden circles.  You can spray paint these if you'd like, or leave them natural.  I liked the look of a slight woodgrain.

Next, paint an extremely thin layer of Mod Podge onto a wooden circle.  You won't need much more than a pea size amount.

Carefully lay your tissue paper over the circle (you don't have to trim the paper yet), and use the pad of your finger to tap down any air bubbles.  Try not to use a spreading motion, as this can tear the tissue paper.  Also, you'll want to designate an "ink" finger and a "tissue paper" finger.  If you touch the parts that have ink, it is very easy to smear it or transfer it to the white parts.  Trust me.

Once the Mod Podge is dry, carefully trim off the excess tissue paper.

Shake some glitter into a bowl.  I like to put everything on a cookie sheet, so I can pretend to limit the glitter mess.  This never works, but it sure seems like a good idea, right?

Get your ribbon and tiny ornaments on stand-by.  I chose itsy bitsy snowflakes, but I saw all kinds of teeny ornaments to choose from at the craft store (in America).

Now, carefully pipe hot glue on the perimeter of your wooden circle.  Work in sections so the glue doesn't dry before you can roll it in the glitter.  I also tried using epoxy craft glue, but it took nearly an hour to dry, got all over my hands, and stuck to the ornament in all the wrong places.  Stick with hot glue.  Plus, you won't have to worry about ventilation.  Cut a length of ribbon to your desired length and use hot glue to secure the ends together.

Now just hot glue the ribbon hanger to the back of your ornament, and slip one of the tiny ornaments over your hanger.  Done!

Once you have all your computer images made (which really is the longest and hardest part of this project), these go together really quickly.  Enlist your older kids or crafty friends and put them together assembly-line-style.  The ease, low cost, and broad appeal of these ornaments makes them really great for neighbor or teacher gifts.  And nothing says "I tried" like a personalized gift!

I got a little carried away and made 8.  Here's one for my neighbor:

A tried and true message (before I got a bit more experimental):

A holiday word collage (made using Wordle):

Pictures of my daughters:

A silhouette of me and some dude in the Witness Protection Program (no, that's my husband.  But I probably should've chosen a more distinctive profile):

And my personal favorite:

And now for my very quick, basic tech info.  Please don't underestimate the power of google if you have further questions.

If you're not super tech-y when it comes to making graphics, let me suggest Microsoft Power Point to you.  It's the most user-friendly way to produce graphics, and you'd be surprised at the capabilities.  My favorite functions are the ability to rotate pictures or text, cover up unwanted parts of a picture with a white shape, layer images so text and/or images can overlap, and resize things (hold down the shift key so they retain their aspect ratios).

For the pictures, I used Gimp, a free software download for those of us unwilling to pay for Photoshop.  There are tons of tutorials to make a silhouette if you google it.  If you want to make black and white images like the ones of my daughters, you first need a picture that clearly shows their face and doesn't have a lot going on in the background.  Solid white background is best.  First, change the picture to greyscale, or desaturate it.  It will look like a normal black and white picture.  You might find it helpful to play with the contrast at this point to really bring out the features.  Now, choose "posterize" and change the number option to "2".  This will make your picture truly black and white, with no greys. Play around with different pictures and you'll get an idea of what kind of picture you need in order to produce a good posterized image.

And of course, if you're looking for a good, simple graphic, don't forget to do a google image search, then change the criteria to "line drawing".  Just be careful about copyrights if you're going to sell anything made with these images.

Good luck and have fun!  The possibilities are endless!