DIY: Yarn Letter Ornaments

I love Anthropologie, but really....who doesn't? I rarely ever buy anything from there though, I have a really hard time justifying their hefty price tags! When I received the latest holiday catalog my heart skipped a beat.  I just fell in love with these little ornaments...

                                              

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Well at $8 a pop, I couldn't possibly afford to add one to every gift that we give this year.  So the boy and I decided to make our own.  Here's how:

Step 1

Materials:

collected sticks and twigs

yarn, string, and ribbon

scissors

hot glue

Step 2 

To make this project a bit more educational, 

I had the boy first draw a picture of the letter that we were going to make.  

Then I would trim the twigs down to size,

 and have him arrange them as the needed to be.  

Then I hot glued them in place.

Step 2

Loop the ribbon around the top of the letter where you want it to hang.

Don't worry about how sloppy the knot or ends look, 

they will be wrapped and covered.

Step 3

With you choice of yarn/ribbon/string combo, 

start wrapping tightly around the sticks.

Don't forget to tuck your ends in so that they can be wrapped up.

This entire project cost me $5.  I was able to find all of my yarn at a local thrift store, and then pulled the rest of my string and ribbon from my scrap box.  While I am not doing the entire alphabet, I am making about 25 ornaments to use in gift wrapping.  Happy Crafting!

DIY: up-cycled convertible sandals

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after ooh-ing and ahh-ing for quite some time over these adorable sandals from papé of brazil i realized....duh erin....you can totally make these.  and it just so happened that i already had a pair of cheap sandals that i hated ready for deconstruction.  i just love the idea of convertible anything! one item of clothing that can be worn in many different ways....genius! the perfect summer sandal that can have many different fabric straps that are easily switched to go with any outfit....i mean seriously, who wouldn't want that!?!? so here is what i did:

step 1:

first i removed the old, unwanted straps from my sandals. 

 this left me with the three leather loops.  

if you don't have sandals to deconstruct you could add loops to a cheap pair for flops.

step 2:

using some old scraps of fabric (that you may recognize from this project),

i cut 2 strips that where approximately 3 inches wide by 2 feet. 

*note: the next pair of straps i may make a little shorter.

fold each strip in half and sew right sides together,

 leaving a gap in the end to turn right side out.

tuck the open end into its self and top stitch shut.

step 3:

play with your new laces. 

there is no wrong or right way to lace them up, so get creative!

the papé website offers great tutorials on how to lace them if you are feeling uninspired.