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Mar 19 2014

make a paper feather garland

Posted by hayley
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 paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

If you like making things with paper (I do!) than you simply must check out the blog of Lia Griffith. She is an amazing paper artisan and has tons of free printables and tutorials. I mean… she made runway dresses out of paper – that’s legit.

When thinking about changing my mantel decor for spring, I was inspired by the paper feather garland tutorial she posted around the holidays. So, while all these photos are mine and my final product is a little different from hers, it would be impolite to not give credit where it is due. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?!

I’m apologizing in advance for the color in some of these photos. Working at 11:30pm under horrific builder-grade, ceiling mounted lighting isn’t exactly ideal for beautiful photography. But the kids were in bed and beggars can’t be choosers.

Ok. Grab some colorful paper! I used linen-textured scrapbook cardstock.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Lia offers the feather template free HERE. She cuts them by hand, but I cheated worked smarter and let my trusty silhouette do the work.

 paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Use a sharp edge to score a line down the middles.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Then fold gently along the score.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I chose not to “fringe” all my feathers… more like half. (See what I’m talking about with the photo colors – I promise that middle feather is yellow and not pale orange… geesh!)

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

To add dimension, I spraypainted the tips silver, blue and yellow.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Since I can sew faster than I can tape 40 something feathers to the back of a string, I just ran the feathers through my machine with a straight stitch.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I didn’t line them up exactly and even had some going the opposite direction or at wonky angles. Totally crushing on the final look!

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Even if you don’t make one long enough to cover a mantel, 9 or 10 feathers strung together would be super cute hung on a child’s bedroom door. Tweet-tweet!

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: diy, diy crafts, paper crafts, spring, tutorials
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Mar 9 2014

paper 4-leaf clovers

Posted by hayley
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paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

According to Wikipedia, “shamrock” and “four-leaf clover” are not interchangeable terms. Shamrocks are the three-leaf variety most famous as a symbol of Ireland. The four-leaf clover, however, has a worldwide reputation for being lucky. Probably because for every 1 four-leaf clover, there are 10,000 three-leafers.

Tradition states that each leaf represents something: the first is for faith, the second is for hope, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck. Hmm, now where have I heard that before…

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

If you don’t have time to go searching through 10,000 clovers, then make your own luck! A few sheets of scrapbook paper, scissors, buttons and hot glue are all you need.

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Perfect as gift-toppers, on greeting cards, or part of festive table decor.

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Attach small wood dowels to the back and make someone feel like the luckiest to receive a clover bouquet.

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Click the image below to print a template for tracing your own lucky clovers.

paper four leaf clover diy  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: diy, diy crafts, paper crafts, St. Patrick's Day
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Mar 5 2014

shamrock garland

Posted by hayley
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Monday and Tuesday this week school was cancelled again due to snow. Stuck inside with little people for 48 hours.

Ugh.

Might as well put those small hands to good use and get crafty!

shamrock garland  |  greyhouseharbor.com

shamrock garland  |  greyhouseharbor.com

shamrock garland  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I applied gold duck tape to cardstock and cut out with my circle punch for the gold “coins.”

shamrock garland  |  greyhouseharbor.com

shamrock garland  |  greyhouseharbor.com

This is the first house we’ve owned with a proper fireplace. I have never been one to decorate for every holiday, but perhaps a themed mantel would be a good place to start. And maybe these shamrocks will bring us luck that March 20 really will be the first day of spring around here.

shamrock garland  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: crafts with kids, diy crafts, kid stuff, paper crafts, St. Patrick's Day
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Feb 5 2014

diy valentine pouches

Posted by hayley
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DIY Valentine's Pouches

Procrastinator Extraordinaire – it’s on my resumé.

I will never be a blogger who is awesome about posting holiday ideas a month out. The mere fact that we made something for Valentine’s Day a week before is a miracle in itself. These little pouches are so awesome that I couldn’t help but make them early and share. You know, in the event that you need a last minute idea too!

Supplies:
– 8.5 x 11 cardstock (you can also use just printer paper)
– printed Valentine’s messages – click HERE to print the one I created
– tulle
– scrapbook paper
– paint chips
– filler

DIY Valentine's Pouches

Cut the letter sized cardstock in half.

DIY Valentines Pouches

Cut the paint chips, tulle, and messages down into strips. Cut heart shapes from your scrapbook paper. We used flocked red paper for a velvet effect. Sign all the message tags.

DIY Valentines Pouches

Give your child the cardstock pieces to decorate one side as they wish. Handmade goodness at its finest!

DIY Valentines Pouches

Bend the pieces in half (hamburger style) and straight stitch down the edge. You can do this in one continuous string to save time, then just cut them apart.

DIY Valentines Pouches

Next, sew one short side closed.

DIY Valentines Pouches

I let Songbird do all the short sides. My sewing machine as a very slow setting and she was giddy at learning to sew. There is something magical about the pride instilled in a child when they learn a new skill. She’s already pumped at the thought of telling her classmates she sewed them herself.

DIY Valentines PouchesDIY Valentines Pouches

Fill the pouch with goodies, stopping a couple inches below the top. We chose candy, but it could be anything – crayons, stickers, small toys, etc.

DIY Valentines Pouches

Fold the top edge in the opposite direction as the bottom edge.

DIY Valentines Pouches

Layer your decorative elements and position them along the top edge.

DIY Valentines Pouches

DIY Valentines Pouches

Straight stitch closed, being careful to catch all the do-dads.

DIY Valentines Pouches

A little handmade love ready to share. These would be fun to hand out around the office and to neighbors as well.

DIY Valentines Pouches

Tags: diy, diy crafts, handmade valentines, holidays, kid stuff, paper crafts, sewing, Valentines Day
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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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