Stenciled Canvas Art

Little Miss Momma uses a stencil to create this fabulous wall art on canvas, HERE.

The damask design is classy & beautiful!

Creative Guest: Subway Art Tutorial by Jesse Kate Designs

Love everything DIY? Me, too! That's why I'm a busy mom that loves to
express my creativity as the owner of Jesse Kate Designs, site manager of
SWAKembroidery.com, team member of YouCanMakeThis.com, and now co-host
of theDIYdish.com!

Today I am happy to guest post at Ucreate in representing my own, more personal
blog, JesseKate Designs! I am going to share with you a project that I just
finished recently and something you've probably already seen similar items to that
can be found in some of the latest magazines. That is, taking the look of what
some may coin as, "subway art." There are a variety of ways to do this, and so
I'm going to show you how I did mine and hopefully be able to pass onto you the
idea that it really is easy to make and THE PROCESS of creating it is truly
enjoyable.

Materials:

Black foam board (I found mine at Michael's)
chosen words printed out from computer in white font with black background
spray adhesive
paper cutter or scissors
clear, acrylic spray

Let's get started!

1. Type words into your word processing program. I chose to use the Arial Black font,
in a variety of sizes. Choose words, phrases, or even numbers that are meaningful to you and your family.
I chose my font color to be white, then used the "highlight" feature in my Word program to have the
filled block of the word be black.

2. Using a paper cutter or scissors, carefully cut out the word/phrase blocks so that none of the
white paper shows.

3. Set out all of the words and phrases onto your foam board. This will help give you a better idea
of where everything will fall on the layout, and allows you to rearrange as often as you'd like before
gluing. This will also help let you know if you need to type some more words! :)

4. When you feel like you're ready to adhere the paper to the foam board, simply take each word or
phrase and turn over. Lightly spray using a spray adhesive. Be sure to cover your work area as the spray
can get a little messy! Then move the word back and place on board.


5. Smooth out words, making sure that all sides and corners are securely fastened to the foam board.

6. Continue this process until the board is complete! Finish with a quick covering of clear acrylic spray.

Now you have a trendy, yet meaningful piece of work that can proudly be displayed in your home! My children love to look at and giggle with delight when they see certain phrases that we often use in our home. The process of creating this was truly a delight as I thought about the things in life that were most important to me!

Good luck on creating your own family subway art!

Make it and Love it Throw Pillows!

I have been a HUGE fan of Make It and Love It forever!

Not only is Ashley a creative genius, she is super kind and friendly, too.

I LOVE how throw pillows can totally change a room and I thought it would be fun to do a post about Make It and Love It's throw pillows {and she has no idea I'm doing this either}!

All of them are just BEAUTIFUL! Check 'em out...

This is my personal favorite! The ties are unique and so much fun!

Tutorial, HERE.

I LOVE the texture that gathered pillows add to any room! Tutorial, HERE.

Cover any throw pillow with this fabulous tutorial for a pillow cover!

Turn a sweater into a throw pillow, HERE.

This classy pleated throw pillow tutorial can be found, HERE.

Make some colorful pillowcases out of your favorite fabric, HERE.

The best part?! You can have all of these free throw pillow tutorials at your finger tips.

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say...Thank you Ashley!!

The Dresden Plate Skirt

Love the patchwork.

Love the scallops.

Crafterhours shares how to make this ADORABLE skirt, HERE!

Weathered Bench Makeover

Peppertowne spiced up her outdoor bench by weathering it and adding some fun pillows!

I love this technique she used and had to share it with you, HERE.

Pillowcase Ruffle Dress!

Check out this ADORABLE little dress made from a pillowcase!

Simply Modern Mom shares the tutorial, HERE.

So. Cute!

Mother's Day Gifts {Pamper Style}

Next up, make a "Pamper Mom" gift set!

What mother doesn't like to be pampered? After a hard day of work with the kiddos nothing sounds better to me than a relaxing bath!

Make some bath and beauty products, put them in a fun gift basket, and you can't go wrong! It would even be darling to include candles or a gift certificate for a pedicure.

First, check out these adorable cupcake bath bombs (pictured above) by Little Birdie Secrets, here!

Martha has some bath fizzies that she molds with ice cube trays.

Martha also shows us how to make these silk lavendar eye masks, here.

or how cute is this patchwork eye pillow by Goody Goody, here?

Finally, include relaxing bath salts with a cute packaging idea from Stampin' Mama Designs.

Make Your First Quilt with Obsessively Stitching!

Many of you know I am so addicted to making quilt tops {that's right the tops...I am not so good at finishing the rest}. Anyways, Care from Obsessively Stitching is having a "1st Quilt Ever" series where she walks you right through everything and it's one of my favorite patterns...the disappearing nine patch. It's super easy, and looks like you spent hours and hours on it!

Creative Guest: T-shirt Hat Tutorial by At Second Street

I am so excited to be here at UCreate today. My Name is Kalleen from At Second Street. I'm a mother of four who loves to create and design things for my home and family. At Second Street is where I share lots of fun tutorials and ideas that are not only easy but inexpensive.

I especially love making stuff with items I already have. I love finding new life in old things.

Today I wanted to share how to make a stylish hat out of an old t-shirt. Since soccer started a few weeks ago, I've been wanting a new hat to hide my hair in the morning. I have a few hats already, but they are too dark and heavy for spring. I was thrilled when I came up with this solution and it actually worked.

All you need is an old t-shirt. I've cut several of my husbands ugly free t-shirts up this last week.

First thing you need to do is cut a long strip 4" wide though both layer of the shirt. The length will depend on the circumference of your head + an inch for the seam. I cut mine to be 21-1/2" long. *By cutting through both layers you should have two strips one on top of the other.

Now you have to cut a circle for the top. This involves a little math. Using your circumference you can find the diameter of the circle you'll need to cut.

c=d x ∏ (3.14)

So for example my circumference was 20.5" if I divide that by PIE the diameter is ∼6.5"(knit stretches a little so it doesn't have to be perfect). I added an inch to that as well for my seams. I drew and cut my 7-1/2" circle using a compass. You could also use a string tied to a pen or find a round object with the same diameter. Again I cut through both layers giving me two rounds, one on top of the other. Once they were cut, I sewed the two together with a 1/4" seam around the edge.

Next I sewed the two ends of my long strip together with a 1/2" seam, creating a very thin tube.

Then I pinned the circle to the top of my of my tube, with the seam on the outside.

I sewed around the top with a 1/2" seam, then flipped it right side out.

I made a pattern for the bill using a hat I already had. You can get the pattern HERE. I cut two layers of the bill and inserted a piece of heavy weight interfacing in between them. I made cut the interfacing to be a little smaller than the bill.

Then I sewed around the edges. I added a few more layers of stitching to make it stronger, and I liked the way it looked.

Next I inserted the bill in between the two layers of the cap. I lined up the middle of the bill with the middle of the font. The bill was about an inch and a half inside the bill when I pinned it in place. *Once it was pinned I looked in the mirror to make sure I liked the length of the bill. You can shorten it or pull it out more till you like it.

Now all that is left to do is sew around the base of the hat.

That's it for the cap. It only took me 30 minutes to make my first one. I consider myself a basic sewer and I had no problems. I love the look of the raw edges and that I didn't have to do any hemming.

For my embellishments I added flowers made with the extra pieces. I cut long strips of the knit about 1-1/2 inch thick. I twisted them and then rolled them like a lollipop.

I sewed them together by hand.

And then onto the cap.

Sometimes I get head aches from wearing a hat to long. This one was so comfortable I was able to wear it all day.

I'm kinda obsessed with making them.

I don't think I can ever get rid of an old t-shirt now.

The possibilities are endless.

T-shirt Bracelets!

Seriously...never throw a t-shirt away again!

Ashley from Lil Blue Boo has this super cool tutorial for making t-shirt bracelets, HERE.

Also, I have an amazing creative guest tomorrow that will show you how to make something else out of a t-shirt!

Window Box!

Alison @ How Does She shares this tutorial for a window box!

The end result is fabulous and inexpensive!

Felt Flash Cards/ Memory Game

Check out Abby's flash cards that can also be used as a memory game!

Find her fun tutorial on Sew Much Ado.

Girl's Tank into a Tunic {seriously adorable!}

Make these ADORABLE tunics from a simple tank top.

Tea Rose Home shares this beautiful tutorial, HERE.

She Made Jewelry Out of What?

In My Own Style made these fabulous necklaces out of an old pair of glasses! Yes, you heard me right!

What a creative mind and super cool way to make jewelry!

{via Tater Tots and Jello}

Trend Alert: Doilies, DOILIES, doilies!!

Doilies are everywhere right now!!

I know, I know they have been branded as an "old lady" accessory (not that there's anything wrong with that grandma!} forever. Well...it is a hot trend among all ages, in home decor, paper crafts, clothing, furniture, etc, etc.!

Above you'll see Kristen Cunningham's {from Design on a Dime} bedroom makeover using her grandmother's antique doilies, HERE. Doesn't this look AMAZING?!

This gorgeous chair and rug are from Anthropologie.

When it comes to doilies my personal favorite is to put it with linen.

So delicate & feminine. This beautiful banner is by Ravenhill.

Now for the part you've been waiting for...Doily Tutorials!

LOVE this canvas bag to use for just about anything!

Tutorial found at Ashley Ann.

Grab a doily and sugar to decorate this super cool cake found HERE.

Refashion a lamp using this technique by Make Grow Gather.

Epicurean Style has the how-to on this doily throw pillow, HERE.

Mel shows us how to turn doilies into bowls over at Smiles From Mel!

...and Ruffles & Stuff shares these darling doily coasters for Mother's Day, here.

Let's go get those antique doilies and CREATE!

COMPLETE LIST OF DOILY TUTORIALS!