Tutorial: Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Looking for some fun and cheap frugal homemade party decor?  Look no further! Make yourself some tissue paper pom poms.  These fluffy lovelies add a simple touch of color and cheer!  I made three large ones and two tiny ones for our family gender reveal party.  I ended up leaving the tiny ones down because my daughter thinks they're flowers and loves to play with them and hug them <swoon!3.

Materials:

• 8 regular size sheets of the same color/pattern tissue paper for each pom pom (you probably could alternate colors if you wanted to for a different effect)
• Scissors
• Floral wire (Honestly, I hear twist ties will suffice, and I'll bet string or cheap gift wrap ribbon would work in a pinch.)
• Wire cutters
• Fishing line/invisible string (Any old string will do, but invisible string is way more fun!)

Instructions:

1. Stack all 8 sheets of tissue paper one on top of the other.  I did 4 facing down and 4 facing up (for tissue paper with a print) so the print would be facing out on all sides.  Later, I realized that usually these are hanging above you, so it's probably better to have all the print side facing down.
   
   
   
2. Accordian/fan fold the tissue paper from short end to short end (so that you're reducing the length of the longest side with each fold - hamburger style for all you elementary art peoples, hehe) using a width of about 1.5" per fold.  When you get to the end, it's okay if the last fold doesn't end perfectly even.  When it's all fluffed out, you'll never know!
   
   
   
3. Use some floral wire to wrap around the middle of your folded strip, and leave a loop for hanging the pom pom when finished.
   
   
   
4. Cut a convex (see picture) curve through all the layers on each end of your folded strip.
   
   
   
5. Lay the strip so the paper folds out sideways.  Then layer by layer pull the paper outward and upward toward the center as if you were making it into a cupcake liner with a point in the middle instead of a flat bottom.
   
   
   
6. I fluffed out 4 sheets, turned my pom pom over, and fluffed out the other 4 sheets.
   
   
   
7. Hang from above using your invisible thread, and voila!  Super affordable, fun, and festive party decor!  The size of your pom poms will vary depending on how much you cut off the ends of your folded strip, but had approximately a 15" diameter.  If you want to make tiny ones, simply cut your 8 sheets of tissue paper in half by their length (hamburger style) after stacking and make 1 pom pom out of each resulting stack!
   

Tutorial: What Is Bunting???

One of my really good friends is having a baby (very soon!), and I was honored to throw her a baby shower with two other friends.  Fortunately and unfortunately, both of my co-hosts are extremely craft like me!  We kept thinking of all the fun things we could make for the shower and may have gone a little overboard.  :)

I volunteered to make some festive bunting, to which both girls agreed since neither of them had a clue what bunting is.  My mom didn't know.  My husband didn't know.  I didn't even know what it was until last year.  I failed miserably in explaining it to my husband and finally had to pull up a picture on the web.  His response to the picture was, "Oh!  Yeah, I have seen that before, but only with that bright plastic stuff at gas stations and car lots."  Too funny.  According to Collins English Dictionary at dictionary.com, Bunting = decorative flags, pennants, and streamers.  For you visual people, this is bunting:

Well, today I'm going to show you how to make your own double-sided fabric bunting.  I love the idea of using fabric bunting for baby showers especially because you can gift it to the mom-to-be used each year for baby's birthday or for any festive and fun occasion she wants to use it!  They look adorable in the background of newborn photo shoots as well!

But first a quick note.  You can find my standard tutorial usage policy on my Info Page.  In this particular case, you may sell bunting you make using this pattern if you personally request and are granted permission from me (email lola[at]lolalandcreations[dot]com).  But you may not sell this pattern or this pattern slightly adjusted as your own pattern.  Thank you for respecting my work.  Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's do this!

Materials:

• 3 fat quarters
• string (honestly, I think I upcycled an old spool of kite string)
• thin utensil that will write on fabric - best if erasable/washable (I used a water soluble marker)
• ruler
• scissors or cutting mat and rotary cutter (I used a cutting mat and rotary cutter)
• iron and ironing board
• sewing machine, thread, and scissors

Instructions:
*Note:  Please excuse the horrible picture quality and switching of fabrics in the middle of the tutorial.  Also, enjoy learning from my mistakes.  :)

1. Iron the wrinkles out of your fat quarter and straighten one of the shorter ends by cutting off the selvage.  Use your ruler (and cutting mat if you have one) and writing utensil to mark a straight line down the approximate center of your fat quarter from short end to short end.  Mark two additional lines 8 3/4" from each side of the center line. (I cut my side lines and didn't realize until later that it would have been easier for me to just mark them - Hi.  I'm Lola.  I like to do things the hard way.)

2. Mark a dot every 7" down the center line, starting at the straightened edge.  Then mark a dot every 3.5" down each side line (you could get away with marking down just one of the side lines instead of both, but I would recommend marking both for better accuracy).

3. Connect the dots diagonally as shown below in the next two pictures (click to view them larger).

4. Use your rotary blade and straight edge or scissors to cut out all the triangles you just marked.  Lookin' good - Yay!

5. Place two triangles of the same fabric print right sides together and pin.

6. Starting on the short edge of your triangles, sew 1/4" seam around, leaving a gap on the short side for turning the pennant inside-out later.

7. Clip your corners, being careful not to get too close to your seam.  Turn your fabric inside out, carefully poking out corners, and press.  Fold the bottom of your pennant up to make a pocket large enough for your string and seam allowance (this seam will be edge stitched).  I made my pocket 3/4".  Press to make a crease.

8. Fold your bottom corners up and in against the crease you just made.  See picture below.

9. Fold bottom up along the crease again and pin.

10. Edge stitch the side of this pocket closer to the top triangle point to close.  Use a safety pin to guide your string through the pockets of all your pennants, making sure they are all facing the same direction.

11. Space your pennants out evenly as you like, and voila!  You can haz bunting!  Behold your handiwork, smile, ooh, and ahh!

12.  Send me a pic of bunting you make using this tutorial to lola[at]lolalandcreations[dot]com.  :)

Tutorial & GIVEAWAY: Fabric Business Card Holder

I started a business.  I got the business cards.  I got the t-shirt (not really on the t-shirt - although Vistaprint likes to send me three emails a week offering me things like t-shirts since I'm a VIP now that I've made ONE purchase there - le sigh)...  After working really hard to design my own business cards and ordering a ton of them, I forget to carry them with me anywhere.  Anyone else do this?  I decided the best way to remedy this problem is to make a business card holder to attach to my keys.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law both recently graduated (my mother-in-law received her masters degree), and I wanted to make them business card holders, too, to encourage them in their new careers.  So I made them these fun little wallets (adding a ribbon loop for a keyring):

and some bookmarks (which I forgot to take pictures of) from 7 Layer Studio (I must warn those of you clicking in public or at the office that there is music on her blog).  Shelley Dutton, the artist behind 7 Layer Studio, has some really cute free tutorials, and I love that she also crafts with a purpose.  She supports One Heart Bulgaria, "a non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for Bulgarian orphans."

The mini-wallets turned out cute, but I was really looking for something a little smaller and simpler solely for the purpose of holding business cards.  I found lots of free patterns including the 7 Layer Studio one on Tipnut, but I couldn't find any that were exactly what I was looking for:

• As small and trim as possible while still able to hold a lot of cards.
• Two pockets that open in the same direction.  I dislike how ones with two pockets facing the inside crease from different directions can lead to things falling out from the top pocket when open for this klutz. 
• Loop for my key ring
• No elastic closure - I tend to break them, and no velcro closure - I catch them on everything and get them smothered in lint.
• No hand-sewing required.  :)

So I decided to create my own pattern which I am now going to share with you! Please give me grace as this is the first sewing pattern and tutorial I have ever created (feedback would be appreciated, and I'd love to see your finished creations). Also, please remember that this tutorial is for personal use only (you may not sell the pattern or finished goods using the pattern).  If you would like your own business card holder but don't want to make it yourself, please let me know as I'm planning on listing a few in the shop in the near future.  Thanks!

Materials:

• 5"x6 7/8" piece of fabric for the outer body
• 5"x6 7/8" piece of fabric for the inner body
• One 5"x4 1/4" piece of fabric for the top pocket
• One 4.5"x6 3/8" piece of heavy weight fusible interfacing
• Ribbon for key ring loop
• Snaps to secure (I'm not a fan of hand-sewing & used the ones that require a hammer)
• Sewing machine & thread
• Iron & ironing board
• Scissors, rotary cutter, & cutting mat (rotary cutter & mat aren't necessary)
• Water soluble pen, tailors chalk, or something that can write lightly on the wrong side of fabric without showing through.
• Ruler
• Medium/Large curved & traceable thing (I used a bowl) or compass
• Chocolate <- Not exactly a material, but it sure makes crafting more enjoyable!

Instructions:

1. Cut your fabric and interfacing as listed above using scissors or a rotary cutter.

2. Use your curved object or compass and writing utensil to draw a curve that is wide enough for it to hit the sides of your card holder no more than 1" from a short edge of the wrong side of a body fabric piece (click on the picture for a closer view).  Place the right sides of both body pieces together and carefully cut both pieces along the curve you drew on the body piece.

3. Use the same curved object or compass to draw a curve on the short side of the wrong side (non-bumpy) side of interfacing and cut.  Attach the interfacing with the bumpy side against the wrong side of the outer body fabric per the interfacing manufacturer's instructions.

4. Fold the upper pocket fabric piece in half hotdog style (so it's 5"x2 1/8") with the right side facing out, press with the iron, then sew a straight line 1/8" from the folded edge.

5. Lay the upper pocket folded side up (toward the curve) on the right/correct side of the inner body fabric with the raw edges of the flap 2 1/8" from the bottom of the inner body fabric and pin in place.  Sew it on with a 3/8" seam allowance from the pocket's raw edge.

6. Lay the two body pieces right sides together and sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance from the edges, pivoting at the corners, sewing carefully around the curve, and leaving a 2" opening on one edge for turning inside out later.

7. Trim the corners, being careful not to cut into the actual stitching.  Cut small slits in toward the curve, again being careful not to cut into the actual stitching.

8. Gently turn the card holder inside out and poke out the corners (a mechanical pencil with the lead poked up inside the pencil rather than sticking out works great if you're really gentle).  Tuck in the unsewn edge to line up with the rest of the card holder and press with the iron.

9. Sew a straight line 1/8" from the bottom of the card holder (bottom of picture above).  I flipped the wallet over so the outside fabric was facing up when I sewed just because the bottom side of my fabric sometimes ends up a bit messy near the ends where I backstitch.

10. Knowing that the bottom of the card holder is going to fold up to be a pocket and the top curve will fold down (with allowance for the actual business cards and crease room) to be a flap, decide where you want your snap closure to be.  We are going to attach the bottom snap first that will be on the lower pocket.  Place the prong side of your snap ring prong down where you want it on the inside of the card holder.

11. Gently but firmly poke the prongs through the fabric.  Fold the bottom upward and make sure the prongs are all through.  You can use a pencil eraser to help.  Then lay the snap socket (the piece with the hole the the stud will snap into) on top of the prongs.  I got confused trying to follow the manufacturer's instructions about which side of the socket went up and which side went down but discovered there's only one side of the snap socket that will fit on top of the prongs.  :) Then, I used a little handy dandy "Easy Attacher" to help me accurately hammer the snap socket onto the snap ring prong.  The bottom part of the top of the Easy Attacher in this picture actually folds down so you can set the socket right in the hole and then you close the top to hammer, but I took a picture this way so you could see what's going on easier.  I did the hammering on top of a pile of fabric to muffle the sound a bit since I had a sleeping baby in the other room.

12. Cut a little piece of ribbon (I cut mine 2" long) for the key ring loop.  You can trim with pinking shears, fray check, or heat seal the ends of the ribbon if you wish.  Nobody will see the ends, but I heat sealed mine since I like fire and just feel better knowing the ends aren't fraying inside.  :)  Fold the bottom of the card holder up toward the inside like in the picture above so the crease is right where the bottom of the upper flap meets the body and the bottom of the card holder (which now becomes the top of the lower pocket) is 1/4" below the top of the upper pocket, and press with the iron to form a nice crease.  Fold your ribbon in half and pin it between the flap and the body on one of the sides with the folded edge sticking out enough to hold a key ring and the raw edges tucked in enough to get sewn in by a 1/8" seam allowance in the next step.

13. Carefully sew around the whole card holder with 1/8" seam allowance.  You may have to lift your presser foot up a bit to get the pocket edges under it.  Go slowly, especially as you sew over the opening that you used to turn the card holder inside out, the pockets, the ribbon, and the curve.

14. Now fold the top flap of the card holder down (with allowance for the actual business cards and crease room).  Place your finger on top of where you can feel the snap through the fabric.  Lay a snap ring prong with the prongs downward right on this spot and gently but firmly push through this top flap.

15. Lay your snap stud on top of the prongs and attach.  Again, I used my nifty little Easy Attacher.

16. Fold the top flap down, snap the card holder closed, and press the fold to make a nice crease.  Time to eat chocolate and celebrate! You now have a nice, simple business card holder!

The card holder has two pockets for organizing cards how you like them.  It can hold over 20 cards, yet remains super trim!

After I completed the card holder, I realized I should have put one of my new snazzy labels on the back. So I've decided to give this card holder away and make another one for myself.  I think I will also add another layer of interfacing for greater stiffness.

This card holder can be used for more than just business cards. You can put money (no coins), reward cards, credit cards, or ID cards in it, or you can gift it to someone as a reusable/multi-purposed gift card cozy of sorts.  Want to win it?  Fill out the form below:

***Giveaway closed.  Form has been removed.  See winner announcement here.