Tutorial: Berry Basket Christmas-in-July Tree Ornament

Hi.

How are you doing? Well, I hope.

I've got a quiet little tutorial for you today. My yearly Christmas-in-July offering, hee hee. Here she is now...

And then make a few more...

Easy breezy beautiful?
I say.
Merry Christmas-in-July to you!

♥M

View my other Christmas ornaments right HERE!

Quilty Things

A small retrospective of quilty things I've made over the last few years. Been meaning to gather them all on their own page for a time... Finally got around to doing it. I had fun going back into the archives and finding each one. Hunting through old posts. Searching for buried treasure. I found stuff my tiny brain had pretty much purged. This is the beauty of blogs, isn't it?

Did you notice all the different backgrounds? I never realized it before, but I guess I don't like to repeat myself. Nope, I surely don't like to repeat myself. I am a fan of variety. Variety rocks my socks.

Hey... Can you spot any quilty trends?

Here are the various links if you're curious to know more about any of these projects:

1) Lo's Quilt 2) So Early In The Morning 3) Kept in Stitches Kaleidoscope 4) City Streets  5) Raspberry Rows 6) Sand and Beach Balls 7) Baby Shoo-Fly 8) Dresden Placemats 9) Hexistential

♥M

You Guest It: Artist in LA LA Land

On the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month here on Michele Made Me, I step aside and let some other crafty soul take care of things. Today I'm so happy to have the gifted Melissa of Artist in LA LA Land guest-post. Have you ever met her? Well now's your chance, eh? Please make her feel at home!

***

First of all, I wanted to thank Michele for this opportunity to do a DIY tutorial on her wonderful craft blog.  I've been following it for over a year and have shared all the DIY fun, joy and tears with her and all you blog readers.  It's a real honor to be here with you.

Today, I'm going to take you through the process to make a Springtime Bird Fold Out Wing Card. I've created different versions of this clever card (which is also an articulated paper doll) for my online shop and blog, Artist in LA LA Land. But I designed these ones special for you and they are made completely out of recycled paper and junk mail.

DIY Bird Fold Out Wing Cards by Artist in LA LA Land

Here are the supplies you'll need to get going on the Fold Out Wing Bird Cards:

• thin cardboard (the kind used for cereal boxes, tissus boxes and packs of soda or beer.) 
• glue 
• pencil 
• paper fasteners 
• self-healing mat or a thick surface you can cut on (like thick cardboard or an big old book. 
• scissors and craft knife (exacto-blade) 
• printable PDF I created for you at this link: Spring Birdie Fold Out Wing Card. It has the bird patterns and directions on it. 
• junk mail, old catalogs, old calendar, etc. (recycled paper for decorating) 

Read all the directions and print out the PDF. You could easily make the Bird Fold Out Wing Card on your own after reading the PDF, but let's do it together here, just to be extra sure of how to do it. Cut out all the PDF pattern parts and trace them onto the thin cardboard. Cut out the cardboard parts.

I think the fun part starts after you've done this prep work. Now, you get to decorate all those cardboard parts with your recycled paper. Choose the papers you want and think about how the colors and patterns will work together or not. I think since you've created quilts and done crafts before, you'll be pretty good at this. I only used paper, but feel free to use washi tape, old ribbons, glitter, scraps of paper or whatever you have in your craft supplies at home.

Trace around the cardboard parts onto your chosen paper. Cut out the pieces from the recycled paper. Then glue the paper to the cardboard. Take your time and make something really special and pretty. Remember both sides of the wings will need to be decorated. The rest of the pieces of cardboard will only need one side decorated.

After decorating the bird, glue on the pocket as the directions say (add glue just around the bottom edge of the pocket and stick it to the bottom of the bird above the tail).

When all the decorating and gluing is finished, you'll want to assemble the bird with the paper fasteners as the directions say (the wings to the wing tabs and the head to the body). I make a tiny "x" with my exacto blade to make holes for the paper fasteners, but you may have a tiny whole punch or an awl to do this.

Then repeat the same process for the rest of the birds, little bird, heart and egg. The little bird, heart and egg carry your special message to your recipient. When making the little bird, keep in mind you'll want to write a message on his belly and/or wings, so don't decorate with paper that won't allow you to write a message upon it. For the hearts and eggs, your message will be written on the blank side of the cardboard. 

When you've finished your Fold Out Wing Bird Cards, tuck either the little bird, heart or egg in the pocket of the big bird. Then fold closed the wings and insert him in an envelope. It will fit in an 8.75" x 5.75" envelope. Your recipient will be thrilled to receive this very special and very clever bird card. 

 

Not only do these birds carry your special message, but they can also be played with. The wings fold in and out, but they also flap up and down. I think that makes them twice as fun. Use them for mother's day and father's day which are coming up. And why not for a birthday, to say I LOVE YOU or to your special pen pals! There's lots you can do with them.

I think these three birds tell a story too. First, there was love as you can see with the fold out heart card. Next, there was a union made as you can see with the egg card. And finally, they made a family as you can see with the little, baby bird card. Have fun celebrating the best moments of your life with these special Bird Fold Out Wing Cards.

Thank you again for having me here on one of my favorite craft blogs!

***

As you can see, Melissa is a uniquely talented paper artist. She is also a busy papier-maché sculptor, blogger and shop owner. If you visit her Artist in LA LA Land blog, you'll quickly come to realize just how prolific this young woman is, and how very open she is about her art-making process. I particularly enjoy seeing some of the custom orders she works on. For example, take a look at this one-of-a-kind custom squirrel wedding invitation she recently designed! Pretty amazing, eh? But that's just the tip of the iceberg... Here are a few more tasty links to get you started:

Conjoined Twins Papier-Maché Sculpture

More gorgeous (and free) printable PDF paper-play

Bunny Love painting from the Weekly Bunny Painting Series

Artist in LA LA Land Etsy Shop

Thank you Melissa for your beautiful Bird Fold Out Wing Card guest-post. I'm so happy you could come and share your talent with us today. What a super way to start the day!

♥M

P.S. Have an idea for an eco-craft? Seeking a new audience? Consider submitting a guest-post idea to Michele Made Me's "You Guest It"! Check out the details HERE.

A Hexagon Quilt Finish: Hexistential

Hand-pieced...

Hand-quilted...

Hand... everything!

"Hexistential".

A happy and hopeful hexagon quilt made by me, Michele Pacey. Started on May 19th, 2012, and fully and completely completed (full frontal here) on March 15th, 2013 ... Yeah baby!

Happy World Wide Quilting Day to you, eh?

♥M

The journey of this quilt:  here, here, here, here, here, here, and the completed quilt top here and here.

And for the die-hard hexagonner, my "Hexcellent Headband PDF Tutorial" is available in the shop!

The Boy's Bedroom Reno: Softscape

A quiet post for today... Some of the soft things that will make The Boy's room cozy. Above you see his denim pouf, the scrappy quilt "City Streets", and two refurbished cushions. The cushions are briefly explained below.

First, a newly corked cushion. This is The Boy's own very old cushion. First, I re-stuffed it. He then took a length of corking (spool-knitting) and placed it as he desired on his cushion. I hand-stitched his design in place.

And another old cushion that I re-covered in a thrifted baby blanket.

A quick and quirky transformation!

Next up, The Boy's bedroom reveal in full. Can't hardly believe we're almost there... Goodness gracious me!

♥M

The Boy's Bedroom Reno: Hardscape

Now that the painting is all put to bed, we've moved on to what I'm calling "the hardscape" of the Boy's room. In this category, I include things like shelves, bed frame, dresser, etc... anything that is physically hard. Like, if you hit your head on it, it hurts. I know this from personal painful experience.

So first off, I decided to put The Boy's aquarium on a different base.

A few years ago, my middle child Dia, brought the above nightstand home. It was being chucked by some neighbours and she decided to rescue it. At the time, there was a very heavy monster-drawer in the bottom space that made you break into a sweat every time you tried to open it. So I hoyked the darn thing out of there. The blue paint is original to the piece but I distressed it a little more and painted the inside bright white. This little nightstand had lived in the basement collecting dust since that fateful day. I noticed it down there a few days ago and thought it might serve well as a home for The Boy's happy fish.

Next, Lo cut and installed new wooden brackets for the shelves. If you recall, the old brackets were those cheap metal ones that attach to a set of metal rails. So glad to see them gone. They were ancient. The shelves themselves are the same shelves - try saying that 3 times fast! - but freshened with a coat of paint.

Lo - my personal hero - also built a custom desk for the closet space. Didn't he do a fine job? I gave it a few coats of maple stain and varathane. I just love how simple it is. In fact, I'm so happy with everything Lo's done in the room. It's super super duper!

The wooden bed, old brown dresser that Lo's great-grandpa made (seen here), and tall white cabinet behind the door will all remain as-is for now. I'm trying to keep this bedroom overhaul simple, you see. I may decide to paint the dresser eventually, but that's a job best done outside when the weather is somewhere above freezing, even if only slightly.

Still have to deal with cushions and bedding and such... Uh huh... That's the next post, okay?

♥M

Previous posts on The Boy's bedroom overhaul: here, here and here.

The Boy's Bedroom Reno: Roman Blind

Lookee, I made a roman blind for The Boy's bedroom all by myself! Well... that's not entirely true. The boys helped a little. But the bulk of the help came from this talented lady (Alissa) and this talented lady (Jen). Ya, I couldn't have done it without these two and their beautifully detailed roman blind/shade tutorials HERE and HERE. Huge huge huge thanks to both of them!

The most exciting thing about The Boy's new roman blind is the action on it. What I mean to say is that it runs SO smoothely. That just makes me happy, you know? I pull the cord and the blind actually folds up so nicely! When things I make work this well, I feel like anything's possible. I love that feeling.

The Boy chose this fabric because he said it had a certain turkish flair. I have no idea what that means really... but I have to admit, Lo and I were both quite skeptical about it. Well not no more! Now we love it, and I'm so glad we let The Boy choose it.

He did good, didn't he?

♥M

Previous posts on this bedroom overhaul: here and here.

Thank you Kate Pitner!

"Being in the Nutcracker Ballet has always been a dream of Trixie Lou's, and now it's finally happening! Getting the role of dancing as one of the flowers with the Rose Queen is absolutely beyond thrilling for her. She especially loves her beautiful dress!" [Kate Pitner]

The above note came with Trixie Lou, the gorgeous handmade ballerina Christmas ornament by Kate Pitner. I discovered her in my mailbox yesterday. I received her as part of Blu Penny's Annual Handmade Ornament Exchange. I'm as pleased as punch with every precious detail of her. Isn't she a dancing delight? Thank you so much Kate! And thank you Cindy Ann for organizing this brilliant exchange. Hugs to you both from across the ether!

Learn more about Kate and her work HERE. And Cindy Ann and her work HERE.

♥M

On a TP Roll!

I've been a busy little bee making a whack of toilet paper roll wreath Christmas ornaments (as per this tutorial here)!



These will be sold at a craft fair to raise money for two of my nieces' educational trips. I've never sold my crafts in this way before. It's a bit of an experiment... But fingers crossed that they go like dag-gum hotcakes!

♥M

Christmas Ornament Overview Update

It may be that I have come down with a teensy Christmas ornament fixation. I can't be sure, but over the last three years of this blog I've made quite a few, haven't I? Last year for ease of retrieval and perusal, I gathered them all in one handy post. Since then t'would appear I've made even more, shockingly. So, for convenience sake, I've updated and revamped the whole thing.

Do note that the bulk of these ornament tutorials are free, but a few are available for purchase as PDF downloads in the Michele Made Me Shop.

Here are the freebies:

1. Egg Carton Snowflake Ornament 
2. Juice Container Gift Box Ornament

3. Denim Disc Tree Ornament
4. TP Roll Wreath Ornament

5. Spiral Notebook Binding Wreath Ornament
6. Plastic Bottle Ornament
7. Twiggy Christmas Tree Ornament
8. Plastic Greenhouse Ornament

9.  Twig 'n Bead Tree Ornament
10. TP Roll Flower Ornament
11. Twiggy Skate Ornament
12. Heart House Ornament

13. Petite Purse Ornament
14. Dusty Miller Snowflake Ornament
15. Puzzle Piece Angel Ornament
16. Twiggy Snowman Ornament

17. The Boy's Tree Ornament
18. Hexagon Junkmail Snowflake Ornament
19. Origami Sun Ornament

And the following are available for purchase in The Shop:

20. TP Roll Thistle Ornament
21. A Dozen Egg Carton Folk Ornaments
22. Juice Cap Ornament

Oh, and here's another freebie:

23. Berry Basket Christmas Tree Ornament


There you have it! That ought to do it until next year I would imagine... Or, at the very least, until next week, eh? Hee hee.

♥M

Christmas Crochet

Christmas gift in-the-making for a couple of special someones. Shown in black and white here so as not to give it all away...

♥M

Michele Made Me: An Ornament Overview

✲✲✲

Since I'm so obviously in the mode and blind to anything but ornaments right now, I thought I'd gather, in one handy catch-all post, every Christmas ornament I've created since the beginning of this blog. There are one or two... Here they are:

MICHELE MADE ME's CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS 2010-2011

✲ Free Christmas Ornament Tutorials ✲

1.  Egg Carton Snowflake Ornament
2.  Juice Container Gift Box Ornament
3.  Denim Disc Tree Ornament
4.  TP Roll Wreath Ornament
5.  Spiral Notebook Binding Wreath Ornament
6.  Plastic Bottle Ornament
7.  Twiggy Christmas Tree Ornament
8.  Plastic Greenhouse Ornament
9.  Twig 'n Bead Tree Ornament
10. TP Roll Flower Ornament
11. Twiggy Skate Ornament

✲ Christmas Ornament Tutorials in The Shop ✲

12. TP Roll Thistle Ornament
13. A Dozen Egg Carton Folk Ornaments
14. Juice Cap Ornament

Edited to Add #15. Heart House Ornament

Edited to Add #16. Petite Purse Ornament

Edited to Add: ✲ Christmas Ornaments 2012 ✲
#17. Dusty Miller Snowflake Ornament
#18. Puzzle Piece Angel Ornament
#19. Twiggy Snowman Ornament
#20. The Boy's Tree (Kid Craft) Ornament
#21. Hexagon Junkmail Snowflake Ornament

As I make more - stranger things have happened - I will add them to my little inventory here. Also, I'll soon add a swank button link to this post in the sidebar. That'd be helpful, eh?

You have yourself a fine day. Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!

♥M