Thursday, December 29, 2011

Hello World!

Hi! I'm Jessica and I love anything handmade and crafty.  My current crafting includes crocheting, cooking/baking, cross-stitch, paper-crafting, beginner sewing, photography, and anything else I find cute and entertaining (or delicious!).  I decided to start this blog after following so many links to others' how-to's and tutorials from Pinterest and realized I could share my own fun contributions of craftiness here too!

Here is one of my recent crafts from Christmas.  I just got married so being our first Christmas of actually being together, naturally I wanted to make an ornament.  I found this picture of a "First Christmas" cross-stitch ornament and it looked easy enough to copycat. Sadly, since I made this before I started this blog I don't have step-by-step pictures, but for future crafts I will properly document! :)

It was easy and quick to make...love that!  Being a brand new cross stitch-er the only difficult thing to reproduce was the leaves, but I did them my own, easier way and they turned out just fine for me. Here is the finished product and how I did it:



Materials:
  • 5"x5" (or larger) cross-stitch fabric, backing fabric (any pattern)
  • dark green, red, gold cross stitch thread
  • Tacky glue
  • Glue-gun
  • 12" ribbon for hanger
  • 12" thick braided ribbon
  • 12" lace ribbon







How-To:
  1. Cross stitch the pattern according to the pictures on your cross stitch fabric. It is a beginner pattern and works up quickly so it was fun to do!
  2. Use the glue gun to glue the braided ribbon to the lace ribbon.
  3. Use tacky glue to add the backing fabric (I found poinsettia at Walmart) to the back of your finished cross stitch fabric, adding the hanger ribbon (I found "Merry Christmas" ribbon on clearance at Jo-Ann Fabric, score!) in between the two. Be careful not to press too hard or the tacky glue comes through however it does dry pretty clear so no biggie!  I used a drop from the glue gun to secure the ribbon in place. 
  4. Starting at the top of the heart, glue gun your braided lace ribbon to the cross stitch fabric forming a heart shape.  Mine didn't turn out perfect but it adds to the handmade charm, right? ;)
  5. Cautiously cut off the extra fabric outside the heart shape.
  6. Hang on the tree for all to admire!
Here are some close-ups:
 


















Leave comments if you need help with anything!  Happy Crafting!
~Jessica

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