How To Decoupage - Stag Head

I got very excited when I spotted this Papier Mache stag head in my local hobbycraft that I couldn't not bring it home with me. I've been wanting to do some decoupage for ages because I just love the effect it gives but I didn't have anything to do it on. I knew I wanted to do something with all the old copies of Company Magazine I'd saved up so this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

For the decoupage I used:

• Decopatch Paperpatch Glue Varnish - £7.99 AVAILABLE HERE
• Decopatch Medium Hog Bristle Brush No 10 - £1.00 AVAILABLE HERE
• Hobbycraft Papier Mache Reindeer Head Decoration -£15.00 AVAILABLE HERE
• Old magazines

So here's where it gets fun and just a little bit sticky:

• First I ripped up the paper into small (but not too small) squares and strips and mixed them all up.
• Then all you do is paint the glue straight on to the head in the patch you want to cover. Stick down the paper then paint with another coat of the glue as a varnish. The glue goes on white but dries clear and gives a shiny finish.
• Make sure you brush down the edges of the paper to get a smooth finish, you don't want any bits of paper sticking up.
• Don't forget to cover the sides of the base that are visible.
• Once you get to the antlers it gets slightly more difficult, I wrapped strips all the way around which seemed easier than trying to do it in square patches.  
• Leave to dry over night.

Once both the antlers and the head are completely dry you need to stick the antlers in the head:

• Paint glue all around the bottom of the antler.
• Push it firmly in to the whole and paint more glue around the base to seal it in.
• Again, leave to dry overnight.

I think overall it took me about four hours to complete so not very long and I'm really happy with how it turned out. In fact, I think it looks like something really expensive you'd buy in a cool, independent shop in London for lots of money! Seeing as it's Christmas you could easily decorate it with leftover wrapping paper which would make a great Christmas decoration. You could also paint it or cover it in glitter, there's so many ideas you could do with this which are really easy to do so I definitely recommend you pick one up from your local Hobbycraft!

Ellie x

How To Make An Envelope Cushion Cover

I've wanted to make some lovely cushions for my bedroom for ages now and what better time to do it than when my room is having a complete overhaul. I'm finally going to start stripping off the wallpaper this weekend and I can't wait to get rid of the pink! 

My new colour scheme is aqua blue, white and coral/orange. You might have seen my previous post about buying the fabric I used (which you can read here) which I chose because I just loved the chevron print and the orange colour was exactly what I was looking for. Anyway seeing as I was getting creative and dusting off my sewing skills I thought I'd share how I made this envelope cushion cover. It's so simple even if you're not a confident  sewer as it's all about straight lines. Happy Sewing!  

You will need:

Fabric

Thread to match your fabric

Sewing machine

Pins

Scissors

Ruler

Pencil

Marking chalk

Step One: Start by measuring out the fabric. It should be two and a half times the length of the cushion plus an extra 5cm for hemming on all sides. Then cut the fabric to size.

   

Step two: With the right side of the fabric facing down, create a hem at either width end

by turning up 2.5cm of the fabric.

 Step three: Iron both folds then run through the sewing machine using a straight stitch.

Step four: Turn the fabric the other way so the wrong side of the material is facing the    

table. Place your cushion pad at one of the hemmed ends of the fabric. Fold the fabric    

over the cushion twice to create the envelope.  

                                                 

Step five: Using a pencil mark the fabric where the folds meet then remove the cushion. Fold the fabric back to the mark. Pin together along the sides leaving 2.5cm on each side to allow for the seam.

Step six: Run down each side through the sewing machine. If you want to you can trim the edges to 1.5cm to neaten it up. Turn the cover inside out and iron if you need to. Finally place your cushion inside the cover. 

This cushion cover is so easy even a complete sewing novice can do it. You could also do it without a sewing machine and sew it by hand but it would probably take you quite a bit longer so I wouldn't advise this! My Mum taught me this technique years ago and it's one of those really easy sewing projects that anyone can do!

Ellie x

Buying Fabric

    Medium Chevron Fabric in Orange from           Elk Family Pool Fabric By Birch Fabric

                Riley Blake Available here                                       Available here

When it comes to buying fabric I'm very limited as to where I can go, and if I want really great new designs it's even more limited. In fact I can only think of one place I go on a regular basis and that's fabric land. If you live in the south of England then you might be familiar with fabric land, they sell everything you might need in haberdashery terms but the choice of fabrics they stock (well at least at my local shop) is pretty uninspiring. Because of this I decided to have a look at buying fabric online and I've found a great website which sells the most amazing fabrics and prints. It's called misformake.co.uk and I've made a recent order of the two fabrics above which I'm quite excited about. The orange chevron fabric from Riley Blake I am going to use to make cushions for my bedroom and the Elk print fabric, which is from the 'Mod Basics' collection by Birch Fabrics, my Mum will be using to make cushions for our living room. I can't tell you how much I love the fabrics on this website, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to find fabrics like these in any of my local fabric shops. If you live in the UK then I definitely recommend checking them out at least just for a look at all the pretty prints.

A few more of my favourites from the site:

    

    Scalloped Edge In Ivory Available here                Penants Waving in Ivory Available here

             White Casettes Available here                                Native Band Jade Available here