Printing on fabric { craft techniques }

There are a many different ways to print on fabric.  You're going to want to think about a few things before you decide the method to use:

• Do I want to do this myself at home or do I want spend money on a professional?
• Does the fabric need to be washed?
• What size piece of printed fabric do I need?
• Will the fabric be exposed to heavy use (e.g., like a tote bag)?

In this post, I'm just going to cover two ways to make printed fabric at home with an ink jet printer to use in decorative projects that don't need to be washed.  I'll try to post other ways to print addressing some of the other variables in future blog posts.
 
One of the easiest ways to print on fabric is to run the fabric through your printer.  There are two ways you can do this 1) using a full size sheet label and adhering the sticky label to your fabric, or 2) using repositionable spray adhesive to adhere the fabric to card stock.

For both methods, you just want to trim up your fabric to the size of the paper { 8.5" x 11" }. 

  Now just run it through your ink jet printer.  Peel the fabric off and use it in your project.

A little about fabrics:  I have been successful using synthetic or cotton blends.  I usually use the cheapest fabric I can find, so it's light and flexible.  I have personally not tried to print on heavier fabrics like canvas, but I have seen other tutorials that have had success { like this one from The Little Brown House who successfully ran canvas through her ink jet printer }.

Here was my finished printed fabric adhered to a canvas to create some quick artwork.

And here is a another example of words I printed on fabric for a mixed media collage.

 
I hope you'll try this easy technique in your art work too!

Frosted candles { candle DIY under $5 }

Do you have some candles lying around that need a little pick me up?  Candles that have been hanging around so long, they've started to collect dust?  Maybe you saw some Dollar Store pillars that were too cute to pass up, but they just don't work now that they're home.  Maybe you have a box of candles that your mom gave you that have followed you for ten years and three houses that you didn't have the heart to throw out but never knew what to do with?  Oh okay, maybe that last one is just me.

Anyway, I found a cute way to dress up some inexpensive candles for the holidays.  It literally takes less than a $5 bill and five minutes.  My kind of project!

First things first.  You'll need your candles, some matte Mod Podge, a foam brush, and a carton of Epsom salts { I found mine in my grocery store in the health supplies section, NOT the baking section }.   It helps if you have a baking pan or jelly roll pan too - some sort of container with sides, but even a plate can work.

Pour the Epsom salts in your baking pan, just covering the bottom.  Spread a liberal, even coat of Podge on your candle { below }.

Now just roll your candle in the salts until they are covered with icy goodness { below }.

Now set aside standing up to dry, and you're done.  That's really it!  Here is my box of hard up candles before...

And here they are after they've been frosted { below }.

From mismatched candles hit with the ugly stick...

...to icy candles kissed by a winter fairy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Yardstick Buffet Tutorial { DIY furniture }

{ Corner House }

On a recent link party at Under the Table and Dreaming, I saw this wonderful yardstick buffet submitted by Laura at Corner House.  I'm seriously in love.  What an inventive idea to take an old piece of furniture and give it such character.  Who knew yardsticks could be so beautiful?

On her blog, Corner House, Laura provides a ton of pictures and clear DIY instructions for this project if you'd like to make your own.  I've pinned this one to my Pinterest board - I must try to do this!

8 fresh looks for old doors { inspiration file }

I've been obsessed with old doors lately.  I'd love to try some painting and building techniques using old doors, but I don't want to over commit, so for right now, I'm sticking to pictures.  : )
Here are a few of my favorite repurposed door images.  Enjoy!

1. Make a bookcase and then organize your books by color!  { source:  Apartment Therapy }
2. Use a barn door as a backdrop behind your headboard { source:  Our Vintage Home Love }
3. Join a few doors and make a room divider { source: HGTV.com }
4. Go horizontal and make a cool table { source:  The Old Lucketts Store }
5. Paint with chalk paint and write a favorite quote { source:  Examiner }
6. Repaint it and create a headboard { source:  Martha Stewart }
7. Make a new kitchen table { source:  Fabulous Finishes }
8. Create an awesome industrial looking coffee table { source:  The Old Lucketts Store }

Framed Atlas Prints { inexpensive DIY art }

I know that maps have been a hot trend for a while in decorating.  I also love the contrast of a great black and white print.  That's why I was overjoyed when I found an old atlas from the 1930's at a local antiques store for only $10!

Here's the old atlas.  I've seen similar ones online in terrible condition for $50 and up!  This has so many maps inside, each image is about 50 cents a piece.

The atlas was chock full of country maps and city maps, and the oversize pages { 11x14 } made them perfect for framing in my left over 11x14 frames without a mat.

I didn't care so much what cities they were { I settled on Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, New York, & San Francisco } I was more in it for the graphic value.  

I usually snap up clearance aisle frames, frames from IKEA { when I can get there }, and discount store frames in the larger sizes whenever I see them.

I stared by framing just the black and white prints because I only had five frames.  I just love how they turned out.

The total project value was less than $10 per print for the map and the frame.  Now I have a new wall of goodies!  If only I could find a spare wall around here...

Repurposing industrial accents { inspiration file }

The industrial trend is still hot right now.  With a keen eye, you can find and repurpose industrial items into unique accents for your home at a fraction of the price.

Here is a favorite of mine.  A friend took this first picture while down in High Point, North Carolina visiting an industry trade show.  I love these old jugs hanging from the ceiling.

{ photo:  The Old Lucketts Store }

Now take things one step further and add a few interesting light bulbs and you have yourself a very cool light fixture.

{ photo:  Hudson Goods }

I love these vintage gym locker baskets.  They'd be great for storing just about anything that you don't want to purposely hide.

Restoration Hardware is now selling reproduction baskets and using them to store towels and bath supplies.

{ photo:  Restoration Hardware }

Here is a canvas pillow recycled from vintage tent canvas.  The pillows are 18" square and available in greens and beige.  At $55 each, they're a little pricey for my blood, but I'm sure you could visit a military surplus store or distress some canvas and come up with something similar.

{ photo:  Hudson Goods }

Here they are as accent pillows on a blue sectional.

Here's a wind turbine from on top of a barn turned in to a light fixture.  These get pretty pricey, but if you're handy, I don't think it would be too terribly difficult to add a lighting kit to an old turbine.  I have a turbine displayed in my house.  I found it at an antiques market and it's a few feet across and was $45. 

{ photo:  Barn Light Electric Co. }

Here are the lights installed over a bar.  Pretty cool looking!

{ photo:  Barn Light Electric Co. }

Do you have favorite industrial items that can be repurposed into something beautiful for your home?  Please share!

IKEA pillow cover made fabulous { inexpensive DIY pillow }

Thisweek the autumn weather has been inspiring me. We finally have some sunshineafter weeks of rain, tornadoes, and yes, even an earthquake a few weeks ago. Who would havethought Virginia would see all of this in a few short weeks? Well nature hasbeen testing us. And testing my patience as I try to find indooractivities for a 4 year old and a 1 1/2 year old.

Anyway, the new warm sunshine means perfect sweater weather and walking outsidewith the kids. We didn't get to the apple orchard this year.Usually it's an annual trip for us, but somehow we missed the apple orchard and hit the pumpkin patch the weekend before Halloween.

Here is a tutorial for a new project.  I bought the supplies and IKEA and wanted to try to replicate some of the super-expensive throw pillows I'm seeing online and in stores.

For this project, I used the RITVA 20" square cushion cover from IKEA { $7 }, an INNER cushion from IKEA { $3 } and four fabric transfers from Avery { approx. $1ea. }.

I had an old fruit growing textbook from the early 1900's.  I scanned in a few of my favorite color plates, then touched them up in Adobe PhotoShop Elements.  Next I rearranged my design digitally so they were overlapping.  Since my pillow is 20" square, I needed to enlarge each apple to almost 8" square, reverse each image { according to the transfer instructions }, and printed them out on the transfer paper { below }.

Next, I cut out each apple, leaving a 1/8" margin around each image { don't leave any margin if you don't want a tiny white line around each apple } .  You can also see the smaller test copy I printed out for reference { below }.  Remember that your images are going face down, so when you arrange the apples to match your test copy, you will need to reverse the apples { unless you don't care of course! }.

Once I had an arrangement I liked, I used masking tape to keep the image from moving. I did a final check on my pillow to make sure the image's margins were okay.  { below }
 

According to the transfer directions, I heated my iron and started to press down around the edges of each apple to lightly set them.  I DID NOT go over the masking tape - it likely would have melted.  I removed the tape when my iron got to that spot.  Press firmly { I count to 5 } and then move the iron.  Test a corner by peeling back the corner of the paper.  You'll see that my yellow apple has transferred nicely { below }.

I focused peeling off one apple at a time { see below }.  After removing the paper, you'll see part of the apple is on the pillow and the other pieces adhered to the back of the other transfers.  Avoid ironing back over the ink that transferred already - I'm assuming it would stick to your iron and I sure didn't want to test it!  If I needed another press of the iron, I laid the transfer paper I just removed back on top and did another quick press.   

 

Here is my finished product, I hope you like it!

I'm assuming if you don't want the white lines between the apples, you could skip the 1/8" margin around each transfer.  

And a final shot of my digital printout and the final product!

I'm linking this project up to