Yoda Snowflake attempt

Last year on a dull day in December when I should have been doing a whole number of things, I sat with a cup of tea had a go at making a Star Wars paper snowflake instead. When shared it on my personal facebook page some of my friends seemed interested to know how so I thought you might to see too.

I downloaded and printed a template from Anthony Herrera Designs and got to work. There is a great little video too that is worth watching before you start, with some info about how to fold the paper and tips on cutting out.

I could have made a whole blizzard of regular paper snowflakes in the time it took to make this, but who wants a whole blizzard when you can have a Yoda snowflake?

You make these with regular printer paper and sharp scissors but you also need a good sharp craft knife. This is not something for young kids to do in the holidays!

The most difficult bit was the internal shapes like the eyes and mouth as there are just so many layers to get through. I found it helped if I cut the shape with my knife, lifted as many layers as I could then cut again, repeating 3 or 4 times.

I did tweak mine a little and joined Yoda's ears up, on the template the are not.

My precious Yoda snowflake got packed away with the decorations and by a miracle was still intact when we got the deckies out again this year. I've run it through the laminator, after all my hard work I hate the thought of it getting ripped.

Now it's taped to the window for all the world to see. (Well, the people who walk down our street anyway!) The street light makes one Yoda really glow at this angle.

There are some Frozen Paper snowflake designs over on Anthony Herrera Designs too if that's your sort of thing as well as Guardians of the Galaxy and Harry Potter. I really love the Groot and baby Groot snowflake designs in the Guardians of the Galaxy collection ..... next time I have another "not really spare" moment I'll have to have a go!

Julie

10 DIY Monogram Cushion Tutorials

Monogramed Cushions or pillows are a bit of a home decor classic. If you have basic sewing skills it's not difficult to have a go at making them yourself.

I realised a few weeks back that I'd missed sharing the gift I made for the final wedding in our 'summer of weddings'. If you're curious I shared the gifts I'd made for the other weddings here, here and here.

I wanted to make something classy and unfussy for this couple as that suits their style but still wanted it to be personal for them. After some deliberation and time on pinterest searching for inspiration I took a plain gold shop bought velvet cushion cover and embroidered the couples initials in a very simple back stitch. 

I found this plain gold cushion in TK Maxx and fell in love with the velvet. A plainer fabric would actually have been easier to stitch on but the velvet has a beautiful sheen and texture which I do love.

I also chose an embroidery thread the same colour as the fabric so the embroidery is subtle, you could easily do a contrast for a bolder effect.

To make a Simple Initials Embroidered Cushion you will need:

• A cushion cover and insert

• Embroidery thread

• Computer, printer, paper

• Needle, pins, scissors

First go onto the computer and select a font you like. Play around with different ones you computer has, 

I used the font "Small Roundhand" for the N and & but I didn't like the E in that font, it was one of those backward 3's so I did the E in "Apple Chancery". If your PC doesn't have lots of great fonts you can use Picmonkey, Ipiccy or some other photo edit online site in design mode as they have lots of cute ones.

Print out the initials in the size you want, this will depend on your cushion cover size of course. You may have to print it a few times until you get the size right.

Trim the paper close to the initials then pin the wherever you want them on the cushion. I did mine centrally but yours could be anywhere you like. Use loads of pins so it doesn't slide about.

Using 2 strands of embroidery thread stitch the initials in backstitch going through both the paper and the fabric.

When you are done, gently pull the paper away. I found it easiest to tear the paper as close as I could to the stitching first then the little bits just pull out easily with your finger nails or tweezers.

Simple as that! You can see in my photo above that I had trimmed away the paper around the letters as I finished each one, that is not necessary, I was just checking it had worked!

All these photos are taken on an angle as that shows the embroidery better, with the nap of the velvet it was hard to get the initials to show up nicely on a photo.

If my velvet initials cushion doesn't take your fancy or suit your style how about some of these beautiful DIY monogram cushions and pillows.

This beautiful cushion was made by Robyn from The Farmer's Nest, it's another done on a ready made cover using a super simple embroidery stitch.

I love this twirly font Trisha from The Sweet Survival chose for this felt monogram pillow, so classy. The Sweet Survival site doesn't exist anymore so this is just an inspirational photo now.

Here is another felt letter but with a completely different look. So cute and modern. It's from

How Does She and has a great step by step tutorial.

This cover from Beneath my Heart has a stencilled monogram. The tutorial includes a great set of instructions of making the cover, including that pretty contrast piping.

Another stencilled idea from Merrick's Art, so simple, so effective.

If more colour is your thing, how about this beauty from Yes Spaces. It's made using a traditional machine applique method and a ready made plain cover. It would be a great way to use up fabric scraps.

This is a little bit different, a letter shaped cushion. What a fun idea from Classy Clutter.

I do love a good "crafting with buttons" project and this one from It all Started with Paint, is just lovely.

This beautiful letter made from fabric rosettes is so pretty. Kaitlyn from The Birds Nest used a liquid stitch glue so this is a "no sew" option, but of course you could make a "sew" version if you prefer!

Whether you call them cushions, pillows or something else entirely, hopefully you have found some letter and monogram inspiration here. 

Funny how so many of these tutorials are for the letter B - 5 out of the 10 - I wonder why that is? 

Julie

I'll be linking up at these great link parties