Lizalou Loves: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Quilted State Silhouette

We recently decided to redo the paint and decor in our master bedroom (and when I say "we" I really mean "me", for it was not at all my husband's idea.). I loved the art that was above our bed (which you can see here) but I have three young children who can often cause mass destruction, and are above bed decor was one of their most favorite targets. I realized it was time for it to go and since then have been trying to figure out what I should put in it's place. I've always loved the idea of doing state silhouettes. We are a military family and have lived in many wonderful places and I thought it would be the perfect way to remember each of the states we at one point called home.

For this craft I used:

A burlap canvas

(mine measures 12X12 inches and was

purchased at Wal-Mart for under $5)

freezer paper

fabric of choice

single-sided fusible batting

button, or other embellishment

acrylic paint

I was SO excited when I found these burlap canvases. They were exactly what I was looking for and look how awesomely thick they are!

I am fastly discovering all the amazing uses for freezer paper. This time I used it to cut out my image for the state of Utah. After printing off the image I was using onto freezer paper, I simply ironed it onto the front of the fabric.

Next, I just cut around the image.

I realized later that it probably would have been a lot easier to iron on the whole sheet of freezer paper, instead of cutting the shape out before hand. At least it will be easier next time around!

I love how easily the freezer paper just peeled off... oh freezer paper, I am falling fast in love with your crafting capabilities.

To accomplish the quilting, I fused the single-sided fusible batting to the back of the sihouette (making sure that the fusible side faced the fabric.).

I decided to just quilt along the chevrons.

After I finished, I attached the silhouette onto the burlap by stitching a simple running stitch along the edges. I placed the button roundabouts where the city we lived in was.

I decided that I really wanted to include the name of each state with each silhouette so I used another freezer paper stencil to paint the name on the side of the silhouette (find out how here).

I am so excited with how these turned out and can't wait to do the other three!

As always,
HAPPY CRAFTING!

Linked to:

Craft-O-Maniac

Skip to My Lou

Between Naps on a Porch

It's So Very Cheri

Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom
DIY Show-Off
The Style Sisters

The Shabby Creek Cottage

The Brambleberry Cottage

Sweet Haute
Lambert's Lately
Be Different... Act Normal

Six Sisters Stuff
Made from Pinterest

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Freezer Paper Stenciling

This upcoming Saturday is my church's women's broadcast. I am so excited to be able to spend time eating a delicious dinner with wonderful women and then be spoken to by, what I am positive will be, some amazing speakers. Every year they ask for volunteers to set just one table for the dinner. There are multiple volunteers that decorate, and it's so fun to see all the different kinds of table themes everybody comes up with. This year I decided to volunteer! It may have had something to do with the fact that I have had oodles of projects that I have wanted to do (I blame Pinterest), and this was the perfect excuse to do them.

The main craft that I wanted to try out was freezer paper stenciling. I've seen lots of people use this for baby onesies or decorative pillows and they turn out so cute! Since the theme for my table involved burlap and lace, my goal was to stencil some custom designs onto some of the leftover burlap I had.

For this craft you will need:

Freezer Paper

(I found mine by the canning supplies... who knew?)

Fabric of choice

(I chose burlap)

Exacto knife

Iron

Paint and paint brush

First, I designed an image in PicMonkey (my favorite photo editor).

I knew I was going to be cutting this out by hand and I wanted to keep it really simple and sweet.

Next, I cut a piece of freezer paper to 8.5 x 11 inches. I love that you can put freezer paper in the printer! Make sure that you have it facing the right way. You want it to print on the paper side, not the waxy side.

Ready for the cutting! All I had for a mat to go underneath was a stack of cardstock. Use whatever works!

Cut along the outline of the letters.

It took me awhile to get used to using the Exacto knife, but after a while it got easier and a lot more fun!

Next, I ironed on the cut out images to the burlap. I put my iron on the hottest setting and made sure the waxy side was on the fabric.

When you iron the freezer paper the waxy side adheres to the fabric and seals all the edges so no paint gets through. So cool! I only had to iron the paper for a couple of seconds before it adhered to the burlap.

I had three different cutouts for this image: one for the border, one for the words, and one for the inside of the O. I did these one at a time, just so I could place them more accurately.