To go along with my theme of refashioning envelopes, I decided to make a mini dry-erase board from the window part of an envelope. It’s so easy and fun to make. I got the idea from Claudine Hellmuth’s project here.

Supplies:

• Envelope with window
• Decorative paper
• Magazine or book you can cut up
• Scissors
• Glue (I used Mod Podge)

Here’s all you do:

• Cut the window out of an envelope.
• Cut some pictures from a magazine.
• You need a thicker piece of paper for the backing, so cut that to size.

You should end up with something like this:

• Next, glue your pictures onto the backing
• Glue the backing and the window together
• Lastly, glue a decorative border around the front of the window.

Here’s my final result. It’s pretty amateurish, but a good first try:

Now I need to get some dry-erase markers and write some fun messages on it!

There have been so many awesome crafts being circulated for the Easter holiday. I thought I’d share some of the fun Easter crafts that I’ve found around the web.

 

GENERAL CRAFTS

These adorable egg matryoshka dolls look worth making!

Easter window clings are perfect if you have children.

There’s a cozy for everything, including one for Easter eggs. Check out this Egg cozy tutorial.

 

FABRIC & YARN

Learn how to sew these secret pocket Easter eggs.

Make these adorable knitted Easter egg ornaments.

I love these colorful knitted Easter chickens.

Another Easter egg cozy. Knit one today.

 

EDIBLE CRAFTS

Chocolate bird’s nests. Make these cute bird’s nests for Easter, and then eat them!

Make these fancy golden chocolate Easter eggs.

If you’re looking to decorate your eggs a little differently this year, check out these variations.

This post gives tips for dying your Easter eggs naturally.

Happy Easter, everyone! And happy crafting.

 

*Photo by Lin Pernille

How to make a fabric brooch

You will need:

• Fabric
• A pen
• Circular shape
• Pinking shears/scissors
• Ribbon
• Buttons
• Brooch back/safety pin
• Needle and thread

1. Assemble all your things. I find it easier to select my fabric and ribbon first and then match the buttons to them later.

2. Use your circle shape – I used a sticky tape roll – to draw out a circle on your fabric. Then use the pinking shears to cut it out. If you want more of a “shabby chic” look then just use normal scissors and the edges will start to fray after wearing a few times.

3. Next you need to decide how long you want your ribbon pieces to be. Do they extend over the edge of the circle or stay well within it? Again for a “shabby chic” look use regular scissors rather than pinking shears. Cut your ribbon to the desired length – I cut mine so that they just reach the edge of the circle.

4. Lay your ribbon onto the fabric circle and sew into place – you only need a couple of stitches at this stage as your button will be sewn onto the same place later on. It should look something like this:

5. Next, sew your button on! After this you will need to attach the brooch back/safety pin. I’m using a safety pin as more people are likely to have these lying around. However, for a more professional look, use a brooch back. This is the part that can be quite fiddly. I lay my pin down like this:

I then sew around the back bit of the safety pin (the bit that doesn’t open) and voila your fabric brooch is finished!

Here are some variations.

Enjoy!

 

I just have to add that since I made these I have started to use brooch backs instead of safety pins and they work much better as they are easier to attach and look much more professional.