Playing with Fabric

I have been doing some serious playing with fabric lately, huh? I hope everyone isn't tired of my Halloween crafts, because I'm having an awful lot of fun decorating this year. In the past I've put out a thing or two, but this year I'm just going for it! No surface is safe. I've been finding inspiration on blogs all over, and then yesterday someone on Twitter posted this link to a post that is a collection of Fall Mantels - A Fantel Party, they're calling it. I'm waiting until I'm completely done with my own before I check out all the links so I don't inadvertently steal any ideas.

I read on someone's blog that they bought these cool fake crows at the Dollar Tree and I decided that I just had to have one for my display. I mean, they're a buck! You can't go wrong with that. I got two. I also grabbed an awesome black glittered skull while I was there. The boy and I took a quick spin around the store and I realized that I needed to visit there more often. You can get a huge bag of Spanish moss for a dollar! They have all sorts of frames too that would look really cool spray painted too. Just saying...

I met my friend and former boss there because she said she had gotten me a late birthday present. I also wanted to check out her snazzy new Mini Cooper. (Bubba was a fan) She's a junker and lover of other people's old crap too, so she totally gets me in that respect. Check out what she found:

That is a Singer pinking machine! Instead of having to line up your cuts with pinking shears, you just feed fabric through this to pink the edges so they won't fray. It's fantastic! The box is a little worse for wear, but the machine itself is in excellent condition. I did a little research online (of course) and found a pdf of the owner's manual. Apparently it's supposed to have a clamp too, but it looks like a plain old C-clamp to me that you can get anywhere pretty cheap. It cuts like a dream! Not bad for something that was manufactured in the 1930's, huh?
The markings aren't even the tiniest bit worn off and the wooden handle doesn't have a single scratch. This thing is cool enough to be left out to admire. I love it so much.

Before I went to the dollar store, I added a few more things to my mantel.

The wreath I just sort of made up as I went along. I've been seeing these tutorials for wreaths made by layering crepe paper loops around a wreath form in rows of three. They looked cute, but I'd hate to put in that much work on something that's probably going to get ruined in storage. I decided to try making one from fabric. I sewed a long tube of the brown fall print and stuffed it with fiberfill. I tucked one end inside the other and hot glued it in place. After the glue cooled I sort of molded it into a circle shape. Then I cut 1 1/4 inch by 3 inch pieces of the orange fabric, glued them into loops, then attached them around the form I made. Finally, I made a bow from another scrap of the fall trim and hot glued that in place as well.

I have to admit, while I was working on it I kept thinking CRAFTFAIL CRAFTFAIL CRAFT FAIL but in the end, I think it worked out.

The monogram in the frame I cut out with my Silhouette. Isn't it amazing how detailed that thing can cut? The font is called Monogram KK. I love how I can just cut whatever without having to drop cash on a stupid cartridge. I decided to add the little flag bunting to the frame to help tie it in with my decor a little more. It's really easy to do. First, cut out some tiny triangles of fabric.

Then, hot glue them one at a time to a thin piece of ribbon. There was no way I was trying to get something this small in the sewing machine!!!

Snip off any glue that squished over the top, if you're a messy gluer like I am. I used temporary Hermafix Dotto to stick three of the flags in place. That was just as a guide so overall, it would stay where I wanted it to be. The glass pretty much is doing most of the work. Come December, all I have to do is pull this out of the glass, peel off the bunting, and rub away the little blue dots. Then I'll decide if I want to do a Christmas one or leave it as it. Pretty cool, huh?

I liked this tiny bunting so much I made another one for outside my apartment door. Of course, I used the pinker to give it those zig zag edges I've been coveting for so long now!

I'll post my finished mantel tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.