Quick Basket Decor Craft with Fall Flowers

 

Oh the crisp cool days of fall! A lot of hustling, last minute garden harvests, berry picking, apple picking. 

And a moment for a bit of simple crafting with one of my favorite plants. See the picture above? The little nosegay off to the side is a bundle of dried yarrow I picked earlier this year and wrapped in pretty yarn and hung to dry. 

Yarrow dries beautifully, means a lot of things to a lot of cultures, has been used as medicine everywhere it grows and I always have a bundle hanging by my door. 

You will need: 

• An open work basket with an edging big enough to thread flower stems through
• a plant you like the look of that dries well 
• a pair of sharp scissors
  
  

The basket I used was made by my son. He wasn't really happy with how he finished the edge of this one. That said, any basket with a decorate edge or a bit loose weaving towards the top will work. 

Cut the yarrow so the stems are about 5 inches long, but shorter will work for some sections. You just need them long enough to weave them in a bit. 

Get comfortable, and start weaving the yarrow into the top. Pull it as close to flush with the basket as possible so looks nice and full. 

Weave the ends in a couple inches. As you add more yarrow, you can also weave the ends into the other ends of yarrow and the basket. 

After the edge is completely filled in, go around and snip off any pieces of stem that are too long. 

Hang, and enjoy it while it's drying. 

You can also tie a ribbon or piece of fabric in a bow under it, but if you do that, do it before the yarrow dries so you're not breaking off the yarrow. 

Dried yarrow has stayed nice looking for me for a couple years. Since I'm not sealing this, when it does start fading in a few years, I'll carefully break off the dried yarrow and replace it. If you don't want to do that or if you're giving the basket as a gift, you can use a clear spray sealing spray on it after it dries completely to preserve the colors. 

Spring Fling Printable Box- 2 sizes

It's officially spring, and I have a bunch of milk jugs out for my winter sown seeds and am getting ready to start some plants indoors. That inspired this floral spring design for a gift box, I hope you like it.

Click the images for larger versions, print on card stock, cut out, score folds, fold, glue!

2x2x2 inch printable spring box:

3x3x1 inch printable spring box:

In other news- a friend of mine just started a new business making light weight, bold, beautiful earrings for sale and since I know my readers love color and symmetry- I had to show them to you. They are super light weight AND super affordable. Even better? When I told her I wanted to share them, she decided to give you all a coupon on already very affordable earrings that are perfect for spring and summer. 

The coupon code is PASTEEATER . 

Check out Hooped Threads. 

Thank you Tiffany!!! 

Sun and Flowers coloring page

I'm really loving this kind of look right now. This page was inspired by the fact it's time to start ordering seeds for growing in the summer, that the days are getting longer and winter will end.

My husband saw it and said "Oh, some people are going to be really happy!"

Click the images below for larger versions of this sun and garden coloring page to print and color.

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Would you like to help me plant my garden this year? If you have seeds you'd like to send me, you can message me on my Facebook page.

Blue Flower Purse (tutorial, not a pattern)

I'm trying to remember my exact stitches for making the purse, but to be honest, I love stitch techniques, but patterns mostly.. well.. I tend to make them up as I go, so this is actually more the technique like my dice bag.
I used worsted weight cotton and a size F hook for this, so the stitches are tight enough to not need lining. It's the same thing I use for all my tapestry crochet purses and I've used some of them for years. The rings are macrame/craft type rings, the bracelet sized ones. Yeah.. I use a lot of them, they cost a lot less then handles or bracelet forms. These things run around 40¢ each.
You will also need stitch markers. I used pieces of a contrasting yarn. 4 of them.
For a purse this size, I used a ball of yarn, a bigger purse will take more yarn, to felt it, you'd use a bigger hook and more yarn. Again, not really a pattern, more the technique.

Let's see.. if I recall correctly, I chained 16 and worked 2 single crochets in the second chain from the hook,stitch marker goes in the second sc, sc down side, and sc with stitch marker in the final chain, 2 sc in same chain, sc with stitch marker in same ch, then sc down the side, in the first chain you worked the first 2 stitches in, do on sc with a stitch marker, and then one final sc, slipstitch to join.
Chain 1,(does NOT count as first stitch) sc in same stitch, sc in next stitch,move marker and sc in same stitch, sc in same stitch. See? That's the corner and the increases. 3 sc in one stitch with the stitch marker in the middle sc. 
Crochet down the side to the stitch with the stitch marker and do the same 3 sc thing, moving the stitch marker, et cetra.. you can see where this is going right? 
So keep increasing rounds making a rectangle until it's the size you want, then do 5 rows plain, moving the stitch marker up each row so you can keep track of where your increases are, then in the 6th row, increase in those stitches and move the markers to the middle stitch in the 3 sc groupings. 5 rows plain, increase.
Of course if you want a more subtle angle, you would put in more rows, for a wider angle, less rows. If you keep them regular you will get a nice angled look. 
Keep going until it's the size you want. 
Flowers- (if you're curious. There are tons of flower patterns out there) chain 6, slipstitch to join, chain 2, dc, triple, dc, chain 2, slip stitch in ring, repeat 4 times, slipstitch to join to the stitch the chain 2 are coming out of, weave ends in. Contrasting color, chain 2 or use loop method, 6 sc in first ch, slipstitch to join, sew the flower on to the bag with the yarn end of the flower center.
Leaf- Chain 6, 2 sc in 2 ch from hook, dc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc, ch 3, sc in final ch, dc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc in final ch, slipstitch to join.

Happy Mandala to print and color

Yesterday was the first day of summer and the solstice. I'm sorry to say I didn't go out and get a photo of the midnight sun like I usually do. But I did draw this happy mandala to color for summer.

AND I picked the first ripe strawberry off my new Tristan strawberry plant that my husband gave me. We shared it!


Click the images below for larger versions to print and color.

Happy Mandala small jpg:

Happy Mandala transparent png:

Flowers for summer mandala to color

I finally finished my next coloring book, and wow.. I hope you like it. It's available for pre-order now on Amazon. Whimsical Mandalas - it was a lot of fun to draw!

So after finishing, I took a couple days just to unwind then spent today drawing this mandala for all of you to color and to say "I'm back! Didja miss me?"

Click the images below for larger versions to print and color.

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Large transparent png version:

Here's the cover of Whimsical Mandalas:

Mom coloring page

I hope you have as much fun coloring this page as I had making it. It's in the same style as this Joy coloring page. 

Click the images below for larger versions, print and color this mom coloring page. 

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Large transparent PNG version:

Forget-me-not mandala

The blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,

Hope's gentle gem, the sweet Forget-me-not.

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I hope you enjoy this delicate adult coloring page of a forget-me-not mandala.
Forget-me-nots are the state flower of Alaska! They aren't truly perennials, but because they are aggressive self-seeders, they grow like perennials. Click the images below for large versions to print and color.

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Larger transparent PNG version:

Printable tulip gift box

It's been a while since doing one of the slightly offset graphics. I hope you enjoy this one. It was inspired by 2 things. First- the nights are getting cooler, so it's time to consider what kinds of bulbs to plant for spring next year. The other- I've been re-watching Fringe with my husband and a white tulip sounded like a good idea.

Click the image below for a larger version of the tulip printable box- print on card stock, cut out, score folds, fold, glue!

Roses and Forget-me-nots mandala to color

Sorry I didn't take the time to color in an example. I do hope you enjoy this simple mandala to color for Valentine's Day!

The image above is the small jpg version, the one below is the larger transparent PNG. Click on the images for larger versions to print and color.

October Birthstone and Flower Mandala

October's flower is calendula or marigold- another edible flower and a personal favorite for how bright and cheery they look. The birthstone is opal. 

Sorry this is so late! After I replaced my computer, the same day, a windstorm knocked out my internet connection. So now I'm playing catch up. 


This is part of my Birth Flower/Birthstone series of printable mandalas to color. You can see the rest of the series here-
The Birthstone and Flower series of Mandalas

Click the images below for larger versions to print and color.

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Large transparent PNG:

Some gift ideas in opal
Amazon.com links help support this site. When you use them to make purchases it doesn't affect your costs, and I make a small percentage from the sale. 

Book Review- How to Make 100 Paper Flowers

Maria Noble is an enthusiastic artist who wrote this book to share with people the art of making paper flowers. It's 100 projects shown with color photos and with the templates you'll need to create the blossoms shown. It's spiral bound in a hard cover to lay flat while you're working on a project from this book.

It starts with an explanation of the tools and materials you'll need to create the flowers, explaining the different kinds of paper, what florist tape and how it works, and other information you'll need. It also offers suggestions for where to buy the materials.

Then it gets into the projects. The first section is the one that a lot of people will find the most inspiring. Realistic flowers made from good quality crepe paper. It's also the most extensive section in the book. The flowers in this section would work well for creating paper fashion accessories such as a straw hat decorated with flowers for a Derby party, or gorgeous decorative accents for a home or an occasion.

My favorite thing in this section is the fact that it has 10 of the 12 birth month flowers! So you could pair a pretty vase with a handmade paper flower as a birthday gift.

January- Carnation, pg 44
February- Violet, pg 38
March- Daffodil, pg 18
April- Sweet Pea, pg 59
May- Lily of the Valley, pg 43
June- Rose, there are several rose designs, my favorite is page 30- the country rose
July- Larkspur, not in the book
August-Poppy, pg 56
September- Forget Me Not, pg 25 (shown in pink, I'd do them in light blue)
October- Marigold, not in the book
November-Chrysanthemum, pg 24
December-Narcissus, pg 16

After that, is less realistic flowers made from a variety of materials such as newsprint, construction paper, cupcake wrappers and tissue paper. These are the flowers that will look fantastic in paper craft applications like shadow boxes, book covers, fanciful gift wrapping and dimensional cards. My favorite in this section is the black and white newsprint poppy and on the facing page, the brightly colored, loopy and easy to make Fiesta Flower. The fiesta flower is one that could be made as a project with children then hung on thread to create a fantastic spring decoration, or made small as a decoration on a gift or card.

Then comes origami flowers- these don't follow standard origami instruction diagrams. They are explained in text with photos to show how to fold them. There are some modular flowers in this chapter as well. My favorite is the Kusudama flower.

After that, quilled flowers! Quilling is such a great look, and the simple flowers shown are a great introduction to the craft. My favorite project in this section is a toss up between the intricate filigree effect of the quilled bouquet which would look wonderful framed as art or the dandelions because I love dandelions so much.

At the end of the book are the templates for the various flowers, and a resource guide with places to buy materials online. The projects are simple and look really beautiful.

To see one a project by Maria Noble, check out this one for whimsical poppies.


I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Less Intricate Flower Mandala to Color

Remember at the beginning of the month when I posted the really intricate flower mandala to color? Well, here's the simpler version promised then. It uses several of the same elements, resized larger.

Click the images for larger versions to print-

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Transparent PNG version-

Moose Mandala to color

MOOSE!
We get them in our neighborhood so often. Generally cows and calves. Alaska is the home of the biggest moose, alces alces giga. My husband has had to call in "moose" to work in the past, because he's not messing with any animal bigger than our car who just wants to hang out in our driveway.

So since moose make me think of Alaska, this is kind of an Alaskan themed mandala. The center represents the North Star, the flowers which are completely not in scale represent our state flower, the forget-me-not (forget-me-nots are tiny in real life. Moose are HUGE), and the sunrise/sunset for our midnight sun in summer when it only gets dark for about an hour then we have a 3 hour long glorious dawn starting about 2 am.

Click on the images below for larger versions to color. Print and color!

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Large transparent PNG version:

May Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to everyone born in May!

Including me! Yay! (want to see my Amazon wishlist?)

The birthstone for May is emerald and the flower is lily of the valley. Lily of the valley is a flower that has long been a symbol for purity and humility. They are small, lovely and have an amazing fragrance that's very popular in perfumes. For the emeralds, I chose an emerald cut emerald of course. 

The Birthstone and Flower series of Mandalas

Click the images for larger versions. Print and color!

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Really intricate flower mandala to color

This is a wee bit on the intricate side, and it's actually been simplified some from the original. I do plan to draw a much simpler mandala using many of the same elements. I hope you like this flower mandala for the first day of May!!
Click on the versions below for larger versions to print and color.

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This month is my birthday! May 16th. I have no idea what to do for it yet. Any suggestions?

Little Bird Circle Tags

A few people told me they really loved the little birds box last week. When I drew the birds I was thinking they might be cute in a few things including circle tags. I love circle tags. One of my favorite uses for them is using them on printable iron-on fabric to use as patches. They can also be used as gift tags, or glued to cut down skewers or long toothpicks as cupcake toppers, or printed on paper and used with spray adhesive as decals for scrapbooking. I hope you like this little circle tag!

Click on the image for a large version to print. Print on whatever medium works for your purposes.

This is an example of another circle tag that I made and turned into a patch using iron on fabric. The edges did start to peel up after a year of constant use. My son carries the bag daily and opens and closes it a few times a day. So if it's going through that kind of use, stitch the edges!

The first link is the circle punch I use. It's got some negative reviews so be sure to read the reviews! My own experience is that I've had to replace mine once in 4 years, and it got misaligned/broken because of improper use by a family member (it was upside down, trying to go through chipboard. He bought me a new one). I've used it on aluminum cans, card stock, and paper. It doesn't handle very thin paper well but does great on the printable fabric!
The second link is the printable fabric used for that patch.

March Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to everyone born in March!

Time for a new birth flower/birthstone mandala! March is aquamarines and jonquils or daffodils which seems very appropriate because if you aren't living in a zone 3 or 4 area, you've probably got spring bulbs coming up now! The rest of us still have to force them in our homes for pretty spring flowers. 

Click the image for a larger version, print and color. As usual, you can also use these in crafty applications. 

Click here to see the rest of this series of mandalas. 

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Large transparent PNG version: