A Very Red, White & Blue Craftastic Link Party + Giveaway Winner

This week's Craftastic featured links

Happy Craftastic Monday Everyone!  Are you ready for a fabulous Fourth of July this week? I'd love to see any red, white & blue projects you've got to share - as well as everything else you've been working on.  

And since there's been a lot of talk about Google Reader going away this week, I hope you'll continue to follow me with bloglovin, or by email, so you can keep up with the latest posts & info.  Having you as friends & readers means a lot and I don't want to lose you.  You can find Sew Can Do on Twitter, Pinterest & Facebook for even more crafty goodies too, so let's stay connected!!

It's also time to announce the winner of the Sprightly Fabric 21 Fat Quarter Giveaway:

Congratulations Cassandra - enjoy your fabulous fabric stash and a huge thank you to my wonderful sponsor, Sprightly Fabrics, for providing this terrific prize!


Now let's see last week's Craftastic picks:


Check out this awesome tie-dye shorts tutorial from Popcosmo.  I love the bright colors and that their non-messy method.  I totally want to make some of these!

This little folded fabric butterfly from De Gulle Aarde is so pretty & the step-by-step how-to makes it easy to create your own:  

Can you believe these gorgeous leaves are made from Fimo clay?  Saraccino shared how to make them - just fabulous!

Check out this cute and easy kitchen awning from Saving 4 Six.  This is a great project because it adds a lot of style and minimal effort.  My kind of DIY decorating!

And for some good, summertime snacking, Storybook Reality linked up a kid-pleasing spicy cheese cracker recipe.

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on the sidebar to let everyone know.  I also feature these projects & more party favorites on the Sew Can Do's Craftastic Picks board on Pinterest. Follow me there to see more great projects (and if yours is one of them)!   
  

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple:

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to giveaways, shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post (not the main page of your blog).
• Grab my party button & put it on your post or blog somewhere.  The code's on the sidebar -> 
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

Easy Crafting: Hair Clip Making Kits by Make The World Prettier

As you could see from my DIY Barrette Organizer Board earlier this week, I've really gotten into making hair accessories for my little miss.  It's fun & totally addicting!  But I'm also trying a realist when it comes to the supplies.  I might make a pair or two with a particular print ribbon or embellishment, but I don't want to have to buy yards of one ribbon design or a dozen of the same resin flat backs.  When actually you add up those amounts at the end of the day, it doesn't really save you much compared to the already made clips.  

For this reason, I'm so excited to share something new from my sweet sponsor Make The World Prettier.

This shop is already a great source for unusual and unique fabric & ribbons, but now they also offer Barrette/Hair Clip Making Kits.  This means instead of spending ages trying to find the right size & color ribbons, matching embellishments, hardware and a how-to, you can just get started making them!

I made some new clips with a few of these kits and am so thrilled with how they turned out.  Have a look at these cuties I created with the Fishy kit:

I love how they provide a nice variety to build up a hair accessory collection or to make as gifts, but still keep it reasonable on the wallet.  I made these little Ice Cream Treats too:

Since nearly everything but the hot glue was included, it was so simple to just start crafting. Each kit comes with 3 different ribbons and a nice assortment of coordinating resin flat backs, so you just heat up your glue gun, cut the ribbon and get going.  A lot easier than wasting hours surfing online or driving around trying to find all the supplies separately.  And even if you're not super crafty, these kits come with step-by-step instructions with photos and helpful hints.

This year it's been harder to make time to work on things, shop for supplies and get to all the projects on my to-do list, so being able to knock out some adorable, custom hair clips in no time feels great.  It's just a bit challenging getting "in the hair" pics since she refuses to sit still long enough to focus! 

I already made a few sets, but there are several others on my to-get list.  Check out how adorable this Penny Candy Barrette Making Kit is - I LOVE the candy buttons and little bubble gums!

I've got my eye on the Mermaid Dolphin Barrette Making Kit as well.  The little print ribbon gives me a total vintage toy Sea-Wees vibe:

They've also got great print ribbon by the yard, in lots of widths, like these summery chevrons:   

And in case you don't have little ladies, Make The World Prettier also offers fabrics that are ideal for the boys, babies & other sewing projects:

There are lots of fun things to find and they always arrive nice & fast too.  Have a look at Make The World Prettier & get your pretty hair clip making on too!

This is a sponsored post, for which I received compensation.  The opinions are completely my own, based on my honest experience with the items referenced that I have purchased myself from this sponsor.

Tutorial Time: Upcycled Hair Barrette Board

I love when old stuff can be upcycled into something even more useful - especially when it costs next to nothing.  I had this bulletin board in my kitchen for years and when we redesign things last summer it didn't really go with anything anymore, but I just couldn't part with it. Then I had the idea to revamp it into an organizer for my daughter's rapidly growing barrette & hair clip collection.  Free and practical!!



Making one of your own is easy.  Here's how I did it.

Materials Needed:
- Old framed bulletin board/picture
- Fabric just slightly larger than board
- 3/8 inch wide Grosgrain ribbon
- Hot glue gun
- Disappearing marker, ruler, scissors
- Optional: Stick on stabilizer or heavy paper (for backing)

First, remove the backing from the frame.  Mine was a gauzy paper/cloth so it came right off with scissors and a quick tug:

The board was just glue into the frame, so I carefully pried it out and separated them:

I cut a piece of fabric that was about 1.5 inches bigger on each side:

Next I centered the board on the wrong side of the fabric and ran a line of hot glue along one side.

I clipped a little triangle into the corners, so when I glued down the next side the edges would easily overlap:

Next I measured & marked vertical lines spaced 2 inches apart on the front to evenly space my ribbon runners for the front:

I cut pieces of grosgrain ribbon that were a couple of inches longer than the front and wrapped them over the lines tautly, gluing them at the top edges and around the back like this:

Then I ran a line of hot glue all the way around the frame and pressed in the board:

To give the back a nice finish I grabbed some stick-on stabilizer I had in my stash, cut it to the right size and just hand pressed it on.  It helped seal things up nicely and really easily, but gluing on a piece of thick paper would work too.

Now the board is ready to organize our major barrette/clip stash:

This has totally helped keep our hair accessories from getting lost and make it easy to see  what we've got when getting ready.  Not bad considering it only used stuff from my stash!  

Later this week I'm going to share some new hair clip-making fun I've been having, but I've got more great tutorials & ideas on my Barrette Making board on Pinterest.  You can find and follow it here:

I'm also sharing this project with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.

Click HERE to check them out!

Craftastic Link Party Time & Sprightly Fabric Fat Quarter Giveaway!

Today's Craftastic Link Party is extra special because it's got a fantastic giveaway to go with it: 21 Fat Quarters from Riley Blake's new Priscilla collection by Lila Tueller!  All thanks to my lovely new sponsor, 

Sprightly Fabrics is the creation of husband and wife team Moses and Monique.  In their shop you’ll find modern, vibrant, floral & joyful prints, thus the name Sprightly Fabrics. They're constantly inspired by what their customers, other crafters and designers create. And they love offering the supplies that allow them to grow and encourage others! 

They're a great source for designer fabrics by the yard or bundle:

As well as die-cut shapes and full size felt sheets:

Colorful FOE elastics, books, patterns, embroidery hoops and much more! 

In celebration of their 2nd anniversary, Sprightly Fabrics has 
a 15% off discount for Sew Can Do readers.  

Just use the code: SCD15 through June 30th to save big!

And one lucky reader will win this 21 piece fat quarter bundle:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now let's see last week's Craftastic picks:

Check out this amazing chair transformation from Jed and Ivy:  What a difference!!

A Thrifter In Disguise shared this clever how-to for making simply chic DIY rope handles & knobs:

Can you believe these cute cupcake cans from Passion shake are made with tissue paper?  She gives an easy how-to for making 'em:

Handicraftiness doubled the vintage fun with this little romper made with a vintage pattern AND vintage fabric!

Adirondack Inspired did a great upcycle with a pillowcase to make some sweet pyjamas.  Check out how the existing hem gave the bloomers extra detail cuteness:

And for some genius graphics ideas, take a look at this super smart tutorial from The Life of Jennifer Dawn.  By using free PicMonkey & her handy tips, you can make some amazingly adorable animal clip art:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on the sidebar to let everyone know.  I also feature these projects & more party favorites on the Sew Can Do's Craftastic Picks board on Pinterest. Follow me there to see more great projects (and if yours is one of them)!   
  

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple:

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to giveaways, shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post (not the main page of your blog).
• Grab my party button & put it on your post or blog somewhere.  The code's on the sidebar -> 
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!