Easter Banner Project 2011

I'm re-posting my Easter banner project today. This will give you plenty of time to get together with the kids or grandkids and put one together in time for Easter decorating.

Have fun with this!

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I'm going to share a great little project with you today that you can do by yourself or with children. It's an Easter banner that is easy and fun.

First we're going to get together all our supplies:



Muslin or broadcloth - about 14 x 16 inches
batting
backing fabric
scissors
straight pins and a needle
fine point permanent marker
masking tape
thread
crayons
pattern

I'll be giving you instructions at the end of this post on how you can get the pattern for free.

If you notice in the above photo, I have two stacks of fabric. One stack is a color combination that will produce a primitive banner and the other will become a brighter banner. It just depends on your preference.

First and foremost this project is the best possible excuse to go out and buy a new box of crayons. Happiness for under $3.



The first thing I'm going to do is take the pattern and tape it securely to a window. This is going to serve as a substitute light box. If you have a light box, use that.



Using a piece of fabric that is larger than your pattern, tape it so that it completely covers the pattern.



Isn't this great? We can see right through the fabric. I guess I don't need to mention that you need to be doing this during the daytime!

Using the black permanent marker we're just going to start tracing the lines.





Once the main design is traced, take a ruler or a straight edge and trace the outer edge lines.



I simply used a brochure that was sitting on the desk. When you've traced the outer lines you'll remove the fabric and the pattern from the window.

Now the real fun can begin. Sit down at the table and start coloring. Tape the fabric to the table so that it will remain taut while you color.



If you notice as I colored in the leaves I used two different colors of green and shaded it. Keep coloring. There are no rules except try to stay within the lines! I would suggest that you keep a scrap piece of your fabric off to the side in order to test colors before you commit. Press harder for more intense color and lightly for soft color.

Here's my coloring on the darker colored fabric.



Here's the banner on the white colored fabric.



Here are the two, side-by-side.



You'll notice that on the tan fabric I can use white for the fence posts and on the white fabric I need to use brown.

We're done with our coloring and we need to set the color to the fabric. Place the banner face up on your ironing board. Cover with a press cloth or a piece of white paper.



Set your iron to the cotton setting, dry - no steam. Iron for about 5 seconds. Don't push the iron back and forth, pick it up and move it over until the entire area has been covered. Allow to cool.

Place the paper pattern over the fabric piece, pin down and cut out. My pattern is on an 8-1/2 x 11 inch of typing paper. What we're doing is using the paper pattern as a guide to trim the fabric to final size.



Make a sandwich out of the colored panel, the batting and the backing fabric. Each layer is just slightly larger.



No need to be precise with this. Just lay the colored panel over the batting and cut. Eyeball it.

As you can see the print fabric is facing up because it's going to be peeking out from under the batting. Again, I'm just cutting freehand.



Pin all three layers together so that the fabric doesn't shift or bunch up.



Using whatever colored thread you'd like take a running stitch around the edge to bind all three layers together.



Attach a small plastic drapery ring, or a loop of fabric or ribbon to the back for hanging.

Here are the two finished banners:



The primitive one -



and the brighter one -



Did that all make sense? I hope so.

This project is so much fun and you can draw your own design or have the kids sit down and draw on paper, trace and color their own designs. You can do these for every season, birthday banners, whatever!

TO GET THIS EASTER DESIGN FOR FREE:
- Email me at: Abscissa63@aol.com
- Put the words "Easter banner" in the subject line.
- I will e-mail you the PDF file.

This terrific technique was developed in the mid-1990's by a craft designer named Ronda Matney. Her patterns were produced under the name "Plain Brown Wrapper" and were a series called, "Don't Go Out of the Lines". They were larger and more detailed than the simple design I've created. I bought almost every one she produced. I've searched the web and I don't think she's publishing them any longer. But if you're interested you might be able to find some on Ebay.

Thanks for joining me for this tutorial and let me know if I've forgotten anything or if it's not clear.

Bottom line - - get together as a family or a group of friends and have some fun with this!

What I did on My Midwinter Break

Truth be told, there is no midwinter break around here. Cabin fever is setting in. Cold or not I'm going outside to do something in the fresh air today.

Winter evenings are spent in pursuits that are probably not very different from how my grandmothers spent their time. I knit, crochet, sew and engage in creative activities.

So, here's what I've been up to.



I knit this once and discovered that I'd made a significant error and so I ripped it all out and started again. Guess what? When I finished I noticed I made yet another mistake, this time right smack dab in the front.



It's just gonna be one of those decades, I can tell. There was NO WAY I was going to rip it out again, so I immediately slipped into the c'est la vie mode. I think it's the Amish that always include a mistake in their handwork because only God can create perfection. Yeah, that's what I'm going with.

My sister calls me the queen of embellishment and as such I couldn't let the vest go unembellished. Therefore, I added the hot pink felted flower and hoped that the sheer cutest factor would draw the eye away from the boo-boo. I decided to eschew the normal baby pink and go for something different colorwise.

I've never been accused of being a perfectionist, that's for sure!

This is for my niece who is expecting a baby girl in May. She sometimes reads this blog, so Heaether.... if you're reading ......SURPRISE!!

Not to worry, I've got tons and tons more stuff I'm making, so this will just be a small preview for her. HA.

What are you up to creatively?

Come back later and I'll link to the pattern for this cute vest. I've got to dig through my pattern file and find it first. No, I'm not totally organized either.

No Kidding

Just in case you thought I was kidding about a library exploding and landing in my living room.



I will admit that I'm not the neatest person on the planet, but this is making me very nervous. It feels like an episode from Hoarders. There's nothing I can do about it until the hardwood floor gets installed so what has kicked in is a burning desire to straighten up areas that I CAN do something about. Thus, the closets are getting super organized.

Now I'm off to tear apart yet another closet.

The Desire to Head Out to Parts Unknown

So, the latest bout of wanderlust was triggered by the grim and grey scenery. As I drove along through the depressing landscape I glanced down and saw something sticking out of a side pocket attached to the passenger's side of my center console.

"What's that?" I wondered.

It was a map of Missouri. We haven't been through Missouri in a year and a half. It's been in my car all that time and I never noticed it.



On the front it says, "Official Highway Map - 2010-2012". Hmmmm, I guess all road changes and construction must cease for two years so that the map can remain accurate for two years! What is means to me is that I can plan a trip, if only in my mind.

I want to be this car.....



Heading down the highway behind that semi. I would love nothing more than to open a map and pick a spot.



Just go where my whim and my cash takes me. This area looks good, the Mark Twain National Forest. Good as any spot.



I'd just have to get off that main highway, head down County Road J and head west on County Road K which leads me to Wilderness, Missouri.

That sounds good to me. Just a change of scenery because we're going stir crazy with cabin fever and certainly southern Missouri is warmer than here.

Dreaming about leaving is sometimes just enough to give yourself a respite.

NOTE: One good thing about having most of the house in a uproar. It puts you on a tear to clean out closets and places that you can put in order while the rest is in chaos.

Wanderlust - Again!!!

Yesterday I was running some errands and thinking about how surprised I am at the effect our bout with the flu had on us. Over three weeks later we're both still feeling wiped out. Add on that the "February Effect" and it seems like we're coming to the end of our rope.

What's the February Effect? It's when normally patient midwesterners become mildly crazed by the continuation of winter. It was grey and drizzly. Most of the snow had melted and everything was a shade of brown, grey or the color of dirty grey snow. Depressing.

Add the fact that our neighbors are leaving on the yearly cruise this Saturday. Unfortunately, we're not joining them in the Caribbean this year. We've made the choice to use any expendable funds to complete some long over tasks around here. We've included replacing the carpet in our in-home office with hardwood. You know what that means. Everything in the office must be removed, including the 400 lb. gorilla of a desk and approximately 1,000 books. My living room now looks like a library exploded all over it.

Outdoors is a cold mess and indoors is equally a mess. It doesn't make for any peaceful landing place. That's why I've caught a bad case of wanderlust.

In these situations I dream about place we might run away to. While poking around the internet recently I found the journals of a thirty-something couple who sold everything and sailed around the world.

THE ADVENTURES OF BUMFUZZLE

After spending several years making the trip they bought a vintage Volkswagen bus and drove through Alaska and Central America.

Actually, the Farmer and I have visited many of the places they visited in Central America, so it was interesting their take on those spots.

I guess for now we'll be happy in reminiscing about flying around Central America in Cessna Caravans.

Come back tomorrow when I continue my thoughts on wanderlust.

Field Trip - Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday Party

Won't you come along on a field trip to celebrate Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday?

On February 6th, my mom and I drove out to Tampico, Illinois, where Reagan was born in 1911. There were all kinds of celebrations that week, including a fancy fund raising dinner in Chicago and another in Reagan's boyhood town of Dixon. Unfortunately, the keynote speakers, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich forgot to send me free tickets and I didn't have money for the $250 a plate event. Besides, I prefer the small town, home grown affair.

My mom and I attend every year. Last year she wasn't able to attend and I dragged the Farmer. Remember? We met Reagan's son Michael, who was in attendance.

The road to Tampico is the typical northern Illinois scene. It's flat and sparsely populated. Farmhouses in this area are spaced apart by many acres. The roads are straight and set up in a grid pattern. Think straight and flat.

Tampico is small, only 800 residents and I always say that must include pets and livestock. It's only a few blocks square.



We've arrived at the small storefront that houses the Historical Museum. This is not a museum devoted to Reagan, but a place where all the local history is housed. The Reagan Birthplace Museum is a few doors down.



Mom stands under the bunting.



They're open for the party and we're all invited to come in.



Sign the guest book. They've had vistors from as far away as Iceland. Lots of Germans have visited also and there's a large piece of the Berlin Wall displayed in nearby Dixon, Illinois.

The local history contained in this building includes class photos from the local schools.



There are lots of other interesting items including this barber's chair.



Many of the locals gather to celebrate and catch up on their lives.



The press is in attendance to get the story.



The press contingent includes this photographer from the Associated Press. Photographers hate to have their photos taken, so I see this as a coup! He was a very interesting person. He had the choice of staying in the city and covering the snow removal or driving out to Tampico to cover the birthday celebration. He chose birthday!



Three local schoolchildren were chosen and crowned king, queen and prince. Their task was to cut the cake.



The queen took her job very seriously.



The prince was a bit confused about why we were singing happy birthday to someone who'd died.



Lighting the candles.



Birthday cake!!



Thanks for coming along with us. I hope the drive was not too boring.

Grab some red, white and blue jelly beans on your way out.

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Good morning AND Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are able to spend your day surrounded by your loved ones.

It's my hope that none of you will be subjected to the upper respiratory thing that is going around. The Farmer and I have been sick for over three weeks and has been second only to the H1N1 that we brought back with us from Mexico a couple of years ago.

If you have caught it, lay low and let it run it's long course.

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The first order of business is food and have I got something very special for you this morning.

Recently I got a package in the mail. It was from my friend and pen pal Silke. We exchange postcards and little things through the mail. This package was a mystery.



Silke included a note that reads, "Something for the next Monday Morning Staff Meeting". I was excited to see what the package held but first I was excited by the ribbon. There's a company near Silke that produces these gorgeous ribbons.



The design depicts dandelions and toadstools and no.... it's not printed on the ribbon, it's woven. Thousands of tiny threads are woven into the design. It's amazing and I'm going to hang on to it to include in some special project.

The shape of the package spoke to me.



It said, "Chocolate bar."



I was right! Silke sent a chocolate bar that was made in Austria. I'll say one thing about the Europeans, they make awesome chocolate.



The chocolate is incredibly smooth. I can't think of any chocolate I've had in the U.S. that compares, perhaps a piece of chocolate called and Ice Cube. Have you had that one?

Anyway, break off a piece and try it for yourself. There's plenty to go around because we're using the loaves and fishes concept today.

The bar is filled with a lovely filling. There are very tiny bits that remind me of brickle and on the bottom are some small pieces of fruit that look like raisins. I think they are currants. It make for a delicious combination and what could be more appropriate for Valentine's Day than chocolate?

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Did you see the story about the baby grand piano that mysteriously appeared on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay in Florida?



No one could figure out how the 650 lb. piano got there, nor why. It was an interesting mystery and made for some artistic photos.


Piano at high tide.

The mystery was solved when 16-yr. old Nick Harrington stepped forward to say that he and his family had moved the piano to the sandbar on their boat. I guess they didn't realize that it was considered dumping and something the size of a baby grand was a felony.

It seems that Nick intended to use the piano on the sandbar as the scene of a artistic video he intended to create as part of his admissions package to an art school on the east coast.

The thing that strikes me is that his parents thought the idea was OK and were the ones who helped him move the piano to the sandbar. Wouldn't they be charged also?

The piano has been removed and now a table for two has appeared. It seems that others are jumping on the bandwagon and try to outdo each other.



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There are hoards of TV shows depicting people creating cakes, cupcakes, food of all kind and decorating shows, but there's a new one on the tube that features something really different - balloons.

The show is called The Unpoppables (on the Learning Channel) and it features three balloon artists (Atti, Brian and Katie) who create amazing things for different events. Their creations are really amazing but I wish the producers would show more of the actual work involved in producing a giant fire truck for a firefighters event.



Their work is truly amazing but I can't imagine telling your parents, "I'm going to be a professional balloon artist."

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I now invite you all to pop over to Jill's World of Research, Reaction and Millnery.

She's a reference librarian and milliner who lives in a beautiful spot in Utah. Gosh, her landscape is just stunning. Living here in flat Illinois I'm wishing for a few of those mountains as a backdrop.

What I want you to see are the ice castles that her and her husband discovered while out driving.

ICE CASTLES IN UTAH

Winter can be a magical time. And then again it can be sloppy and dirty. I prefer the ice castle magic, don't you?

Here's the regular link to Jill's blog:

JILL'S WORLD

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That's all from me today. Let's all have chocolate and sit around and chat.

What's new with you?