Easy Fabric Silhouette Wall Art

This tutorial is for one of my favorite projects and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

Silhouette Wall Art 

 

 I did this project in my youngest daughters room and absolutely L.O.V.E how it turned out!  I've had this idea in my head forever and finally worked out the kinks to get it done. 

I wanted to do some larger artwork above her crib, but wasn't comfortable hanging anything above her that was super heavy or had glass.  My kids run tall and I know she'll be reaching over the side of the crib before she's a year old.  What's so great about this project is the main material is foam board and weighs practically nothing.  So if she manages to pull one of these little guys down it won't hurt her at all.  Gotta love super easy, affordable, and safe projects, right?  Every mother's dream!

So here are the steps you'll need to make this super affordable and customizable project.

Supplies:

foam board

fabric

exacto knife or box cutter

fabric glue

spray adhesive

First, you'll need to cut the shapes out of the foam board.  I'm not gonna lie here ladies...this can be tricky!  It took me at least 5 passes on each cut to get through all the layers in the foam board.  And with some of my animals being about 2' wide/tall it took some maneuvering.  But just be patient and go slow...you'll get through the foam board eventually.

Once you have your shape, lay it on the fabric and trace it out with at least 1.5" to spare all the way around. 

**Note: make sure to trace your shape onto the back side of the fabric so you cut it out the right way...learned that lesson the hard way!**

Next cut out the fabric pieces.

Using the spray adhesive, attach the fabric to the front side of the shape.  Make sure to get any bubbles out at this step before the adhesive dries.

Once it's dry you can start to wrap the fabric around the cut out.  Slowly work your way around the cutout and glue the extra fabric down using the fabric glue.  I tried to use a brush for this part...but quickly found out that nothing works better than the tools God gave you! 

I found the best process was to (1) run a line of glue on the section you're working on (2) slightly stretch the fabric around the edge and over the glue (3) use your finger to smear/spread the glue as it seeps through the fabric.

When you get to the tricky areas where there are lots of curves you might need to add extra glue on the top of the fabric and smear it around to make sure it's all sticking down. 

Your fingers will get really sticky...so make sure the kids are down for a nap and you've already gone potty before you start gluing!  This is not an easy part of the process to hop up from!

I would also recommend lifting up the shape every once in a while to make sure everything looks good.  Especially if you are using a striped fabric and you don't want the lines to get off center.

Once all the glue is dry you are ready to hang them up! 

**Note: These foam board hangers work perfectly for a project like this!** 

I went with a cluster/cloud shape centered over Baby Girl's crib.  I also thought about a long photo shelf across the whole wall to stand all the animals on.  Really, the options are unlimited!

I hope this project inspires you to add some easy quick artwork to your walls.  The options are endless!  You just have to find the time!

This post has beed featured on these great blogs!!!:

I AM LINKING TO AS MANY OF THESE PARTIES AS POSSIBLE:

SUNDAY The DIY Showoff - Under the Table and Dreaming - Mad in Crafts - I Heart Naptime MONDAY Home Savvy A to Z - 1929 Charmer - Be Colorful - TheSouthern Institute - DIY Home Sweet Home - Singing Three Little Birds - Homemakeron a Dime - Between Naps on the Porch - Cottage Instincts - It’s So Very Cheri - Keeping it Simple - Making the World Cuter - Sumo’s Sweet Stuff - The Girl Creative - Sew Can Do - Skip to my Lou - Craft o Maniac - Trendy Tree House - BlueCricut Design - TUESDAY Me and My Boys - Home Stories A 2 Z - Bowl Full of Lemons - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Coastal Charm - Confessions of a SAHM - Homework - Vintage Wannabe - Strictly Homemade - A Soft Place to Land - Hope Studios - Today's Creative Blog - CSI Weekly Challenge - Creative Itch - I’m Topsy Turvy - Sugar Bee - All things Related - Letting the Creative Juices Flow - Night Owl Crafting - Tip Junkie WEDNESDAY Momnivore'sDilemma - SouthernHospitality - YesterdayOn Tuesday - Blue Cricket Design - Someday Crafts - Domestically Speaking - Sew Much Ado - Seven Thirty-Three - My Backyard Eden - Take it from Me THURSDAY SavedBy Love - The ArtsyGirl Connection - MyCrazy Beautiful Life - DelightfulOrder - Fireflies and Jellybeans - Somewhat Simple - The Shabby Chic Cottage - It’s Fun to Craft - The Train to Crazy - Craftastical - Treasures for Tots FRIDAY SassySites - French Country Cottage - HappyHour Projects - Whipperberry - DesignerGarden - Serenity Now - Bacon Time - The Crafty Nest - delicateCONSTRUCTION- Young& amp; Crafty - Lolly Jane - Remodelaholic - 504 Main – Kojo Designs - Fingerprints on the Fridge – The Shabby Nest - Simply Designing – It’s a HodgePodge Life - J A Girl – Design it Chic – SATURDAY Tater Tots and Jell-O – Along for the Ride – Funky Junk - I Can't Stop Crafting

Felt Placemat turns 3-D Wall Art

For about 6 months I was on the look out for anything butterfly related to hang in my oldest daughters' room.  I bought quite a few random items, and didn't really know how they would all work together to end up with the amazing "big girl" room I had for her in my head. 

One of the best items I found was these laser cut felt placemats for $2.

 

 Yes, only $2!  I was so excited!  They only had blue and green, but $2 for a 12" butterfly?!?!  I had to get them and figure out the details later.

I could have just slapped them up on the wall and called it a day, but I really wanted to do something to make them special and stand out in some way.

So, here is a quick tutorial for how I turned 2 plain felt placemats into

3-D butterflies for my daughters room!

Supplies you'll need:
Laser cut felt placemats

wire (plyable but stiff enough to support the placemat)

wire cutters

hot glue gun

First, measure and cut two lengths of wire for each placemat.  They should go almost all the way across the placemat about 1/4 of the way from the top and 1/4 of the way from the bottom.

Bend the wire into a slight curve where most of it will be hidden behind the placemat.  I didn't try to get the wire 100% hidden because the parts that are showing are super tiny anyways.  If your placemat has larger gaps it might be worth the time to bend the wire so its all the way hidden.

Using your hot glue gun place large drops of glue along the wire to secure it onto the placemat.  To avoid the glue drops from just spreading out wider and wider I found that if you make a drop the size you want, then build on it once its dried, you can add height without adding width.

Once all the glue drops are completely dried lay your butterfly half way off the table and bend the wires carefully in unison to get the placemat to become 3-D. 

Repeat with as many placemats as you have.

There you go, a super easy way to add a little something special to some $2 placemats for a girls wall art piece.

I have one more tutotial coming for the butterfly wall art in my daughters room, but here is a sneak peak of the placemats!  I love how her artwork turned out and can't wait to show you all!

I AM LINKING TO AS MANY OF THESE PARTIES AS POSSIBLE:

SUNDAY The DIY Showoff - Under the Table and Dreaming - Mad in Crafts - I Heart Naptime MONDAY Home Savvy A to Z - 1929 Charmer - Be Colorful - TheSouthern Institute - DIY Home Sweet Home - Singing Three Little Birds - Homemakeron a Dime - Between Naps on the Porch - Cottage Instincts - It’s So Very Cheri - Keeping it Simple - Making the World Cuter - Sumo’s Sweet Stuff - The Girl Creative - Sew Can Do - Skip to my Lou - Craft o Maniac - Trendy Tree House - BlueCricut Design - TUESDAY Me and My Boys - Home Stories A 2 Z - Bowl Full of Lemons - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Coastal Charm - Confessions of a SAHM - Homework - Vintage Wannabe - Strictly Homemade - A Soft Place to Land - Hope Studios - Today's Creative Blog - CSI Weekly Challenge - Creative Itch - I’m Topsy Turvy - Sugar Bee - All things Related - Letting the Creative Juices Flow - Night Owl Crafting - Tip Junkie WEDNESDAY Momnivore'sDilemma - SouthernHospitality - YesterdayOn Tuesday - Blue Cricket Design - Someday Crafts - Domestically Speaking - Sew Much Ado - Seven Thirty-Three - My Backyard Eden - Take it from Me THURSDAY SavedBy Love - The ArtsyGirl Connection - MyCrazy Beautiful Life - DelightfulOrder - Fireflies and Jellybeans - Somewhat Simple - The Shabby Chic Cottage - It’s Fun to Craft - The Train to Crazy - Craftastical - Treasures for Tots FRIDAY SassySites - French Country Cottage - HappyHour Projects - Whipperberry - DesignerGarden - Serenity Now - Bacon Time - The Crafty Nest - delicateCONSTRUCTION- Young& amp; Crafty - Lolly Jane - Remodelaholic - 504 Main – Kojo Designs - Fingerprints on the Fridge – The Shabby Nest - Simply Designing – It’s a HodgePodge Life - J A Girl – Design it Chic – SATURDAY Tater Tots and Jell-O – Along for the Ride – Funky Junk

Custom Table Covers with Coordinated Runners

This is the 5th posting for my series on how to make your own

custom party decorations

based on what I made for my daughters first birthday.

I hoping these posts will inspire you to

make some one of a kind decorations for your next party!

Once I realized that the guest list for my daughter’s birthday was rapidly approaching 30 people, I knew I would be using an assortment of folding tables and chairs to have enough seating.

But I hated the idea of mismatched tables clashing with all my great party decorations!

So I came up with an inexpensive and quick solution to add some custom table covers with coordinating runners to cover all our tables while fitting in with the overall theme.

First you will need a variety of basic plastic table covers that coordinate with your theme.

I found these table covers at Party City for only $1.69 for the solid colors and $3.69 for the floral cover. You can also find some solid color covers at Wal-Mart for $1.50 each, or at the dollar store if you’re lucky.

Using one of the solid covers for the base layer, lay it over the table and cut off any access so that the cover fits over the specified table with about 6”-8” overhang on all sides.

Using some packing tape secure all sides of the cover to the bottom of the table.

Depending on the legs of your table you might have to get creative with your “hospital corners” to get the look you want.

Using a coordinating table cover cut a 12”-18” strip to fit the length of the table, plus the 6”-8” overhang I mentioned above.

Finally, secure the table runner to the bottom of the table and you're all done. 

(My next post will be on how to make these super cute centerpieces so stay tuned)

Finding the time to add these table covers is an easy and inexpensive way to add coordinated decorations to your party, while hiding mismatch furniture.

High Chair Slip Cover

This is the 4th posting for my series on how to make your own custom party decorations

based on what I made for my daughters first birthday.

I’m hoping these posts will inspire you to make some one of a kind decorations for your next party!

Since I knew my daughter would be in her high chair for the cake eating/smashing part of her first birthday party I came up with the simple solutions for making a slip cover for the back of her highchair to add a nice background for all the pictures we were sure to take.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make a simple slip cover for your high chair. (Sorry there aren’t more pictures. I’ll try to make another slip cover this weekend and update the tutorial)

Original High chair:

The Birthday Girl in her slip-covered high chair:

You’ll want to start by making a simple pattern for the size of the back of your high chair.

I used a pillow case to make the pattern since it was the exact width of our high chair and easy to slip on and maneuver.

It’s actually a very good idea to use a pillow case for the slip cover for this very reason.

Once you line up your fabric, simply pin around the edge of the chair back to get the curve, and along the sides if needed, to get a good pattern.  Dont worry too much about the fit, this doesn't need to be a tailored project.  You just want to to slide over the back of the chair and reach all the way down to where the tray attaches.

If you aren’t using the pillow case for the slip cover, lay your pattern on your fabric to cut out the shape of the high chair. Remember, you will need to add seam allownce and cut two pieces using this pattern.

Once the pieces are cut out, pin the right sides together and do a simple running stitch to sew it together.

Finally, hem the bottom edge.

And there you go! You have a unique custom high chair back cover for your next photo opportunity!

Unfortunately Meredith didn’t really enjoy her cupcake as much as we had hoped…

maybe next year! :)

Check out the great links up at:

Custom Cupcake Stand Shelf Liner

This is the third posting for my series on how to make your own

custom party decorations

based on what I made for my daughters first birthday.

I hope these posts will inspire you to make some one of a kind decorations for your next party!

This post is for a very simple project that can have a large visual impact… adding liners to the shelves of a plain white cupcake stand.

Once I decided to have cupcakes instead of a cake for my daughter’s birthday I thought having a multi tiered stand to display them on would give great vertical visual impact, as well as save some valuable counter space for the buffet set up.

I did lots of research on what types of cupcake stands are out there, and decided to get this stand from Wilton that has solid shelves as opposed to the open wire ‘stem’ look of most cupcake trees.

I really like the cupcake stand, and am already coming up with other uses for it! The only downside is that it’s plain and white and slightly…BORING!

So I came up with a quick fix for adding some temporary detail to the stand that can be reinvented for every party you host.

To make the shelf liners, separate the layers and trace each one onto a piece of scrapbook paper.

Once that is traced, mark the exact center of the circle and flip over the shelf to trace the center circle.

Now its time to cut out the shelf liner. Cut out the outer circle first. Since the shelves are sloped slightly downward, it is beneficial to cut directly into each of the circles to allow them to form a very slight cone shape. This also makes it easier to cut out the inner circle.

Once the circle is cut out you can attach it to the cup cake stand with some double sided tape.

Now you’ve got one more idea for how to make custom party decorations without breaking the bank…or the clock!

I love it!

Custom Party Garland

This is the second posting for my series on how to make your own
custom party decorations

based on what I made for my daughters first birthday.

I hope these posts will inspire you to make some one of a kind decorations for your next party!

Here are the simple steps for how to make your own

unique party garland.

 

Once you see how easy this is, you will be recreating this project in an infinite number of ways to decorate all your parties!

Here is the list of all the supplies you’ll need:

Ribbon

Paper that matches your theme

Glue stick

Scissors (or Cricut Machine)

Exacto knife (optional)

{A note on the Ribbon:

I love the $0.50 spools of 1/8” and 1/4" wide ribbon from Michael’s because it’s cheap and comes in great colors. You might as well buy a bunch of these because they can be used in so many ways!}

Next you will need to cut out the shapes that will form the garlands.

I used my mom’s Cricut Expression machine, which allowed me to get very precise cutouts in very little time. But you can achieve similar results with a pair of scissors and a steady hand.

Since the garland will be two sided you will need to cut out twice as many shapes.

Once you have your shapes cut out you’ll need to cut the ribbon to the right lengths for each area you will be hanging the garland.

It does not need to be exact, and I would even recommend adding a foot or so onto each length so you can have some wiggle room once it’s time to hang.

Here are the simple steps to building the garland:

Starting from one end lay the ribbon across one of the shapes

Note: I have the flower right side up so it will show up against my white table top. You’ll want to make sure to glue the ribbon on the back side.

Cover back of shape and ribbon with glue

Align matching shape and apply pressure

Once the two shapes are glued together, you might want to place each of these under something a little heavy to make sure the glue bonds.

Continue this process for the length of ribbon.

As for the spacing for the shapes…

I was not too worried about the spacing being exact, but if you do want it to be precise I would recommend marking the spacing on the ribbon before you start adding the shapes so you can guarantee they are uniform.

Once you have the garlands made, and the glue is all dried you can hang them up around your house/event and rake in the compliments!

{Tip for hanging directly onto the wall:

Since the garland will be very light weight I would recommend using straight pins out of your sewing kit to hang directly into the drywall. The holes will be very tiny, and you can even paint the ball on the end to match your ribbon!}

Isn’t it amazing how something so simple can add such an impact to a space?

I love it!