Making a Grungy Primitive Ornament

Let me start this post with two confessions that will make sense in a moment:

I love primitives.  I love colonial American architecture, decor, and life. 

I hate paying for things.  I'm not a thief (thou shalt not steal!), but if there's a way for me to make something as opposed to purchasing it (especially mass-produced items at big-box stores), then I'm all for it.

I'm busy making items for my shop, Punkin Stuffins.  I had a wonderful customer a few weeks ago who purchased nearly all of the pumpkins in my shop, which was great!  But now, I'm low on stock and need to make more items, and with the holidays fast approaching, I'm spending all of my spare time trying to restock.

Enter: primitives.

I've wanted to make some little primitive ornaments for a while now, but wasn't sure how to go about making the "grunge-y" look.  I came across some instructions on eHow, and decided to share my steps with you.  I think that there are several ways to make something look old and grungy, but this is a good starting point for anyone.

You'll need some instant coffee, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and water.  You'll also need a sponge brush, a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil, and an oven set to 170 degrees (because my oven won't go lower than that).

In a glass or other non-staining bowl, put a half cup of instant coffee granules, two teaspoons of vanilla, one teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, and two cups of hot water.  Mix together until everything is combined.

Place your fabric on the foil-lined cookie sheets and spread the mixture as lightly or heavily as you want on the fabric, then sprinkle on the allspice and rub it in with your fingers.

Bake at 170 degrees for 10 minutes at a time, checking until they are dry.  If you've stained both sides, you'll want to flip the fabric every 10 minutes.

Once dry, remove them from the oven.  Rub the fabric with your fingers to blend the stain and brush off any excess granules.  You can also use sandpaper to grind down the stain if you've applied a thick layer.

Embellish with embroidery and hand-stitching.  Here's mine!

I think that I'll be adjusting my stain formula because it was too much for what I wanted, but this is a good starting point for anyone interested in making prims.  Just have fun, and enjoy your handiwork!

The Twelve Days of Christmas Recipes, Day 7: An Ornament Pattern!

I thought I'd do something a little different today for the TDoCR.  I like to do little crafty things, and I created some patterns for cloth Christmas ornaments.  Here are a few patterns for you to make!

Day 7: Primitive Ornament Patterns

Materials needed:
1/2 yard osnaburg fabric or burlap fabric
Embroidery thread, colors of your choice
Needle
Straight pins
Poly-fil fiber fill, or similar
10" length of coordinating narrow ribbon

What to do:

Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to link the picture to the PDF file, so just right click on the picture and save it, and print it at your leisure!  To get the scale I used, the gray area should take up the whole 8 1/2" x 11" paper.  Sorry about that; I had good intentions!  There are times that I wish I knew someone who could help me with HTML code.  I have to try and figure it out on my own when I want to do something.  But I digress.  

The tree is cut on a fold, and you will need to cut two of them.  You will also need two of the bird.

I'll walk you through the steps for the bird.  First, sew a face and wing on the front of the bird.  Do what you like, make him as fancy or primitive as you like!  Then sew your length of ribbon on the back piece.  I recommend completely hand-sewing the pieces to give them more of a homespun look.

Next, pin the front and back pieces together, right sides out.  Sew a running stitch around the entire bird, leaving 1"-2" open to stuff the bird lightly with fiberfil.  Then go ahead and sew him closed.  That's it!

Do the same with the tree.  You can embellish it as little or as much as you like; it all depends on your taste.

I think that these would be simple ornaments to make with your child if you are trying to teach them to sew.  You can use embroidery or regular sewing techniques to create them!

I do ask that you please only use these patterns for your home.  Please do not use these patterns for resale.  Thank you!

This is a great project to do while watching Christmas shows.  You'll see that my stuffed Rudolph was watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" while I wrote this post.  He likes to call it his autobiography. 

Luke 2:12: This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”



 

To Put You In the Mood For Fall

I finally got around to setting out my fall decor today.  It's officially autumn!  Well, in my mind, anyway.  We had cool weather today, rainy with a hint of leaves changing in the air.  Just a beautiful day!  During the week, I went to Jo Ann Fabrics and purchased two yards of a fall fabric to cover the mantle that will double as a Christmas cover, too.  I saved money!  (Insert the hubs rolling his eyes right here.)  It worked perfectly to fold the two yards of fabric, with right sides together, the long way (the same way it's folded on the bolt, just inside-out) then run a seam along the sides, turn it right-side out, iron, and voila!  An elegant mantle cover for the next three months.  Economical but classy.  I took a few pictures of some of the decorations, and wanted to share them with you.  Coming this weekend: a tutorial for a winter decoration for your wall or door!

Our little kitchen table

Looove this fabric

Indian corn

Mantle

Primitives

Loves me some Boyd's

Even the movies look ready for fall

I hope you have a wonderful fall decorating season!

Autumn in the Shop!

I'm definitely in the fall decorating mood lately.  I have been busy making some autumn-themed primitives for sale in my Etsy store, The Sunflower Tree.  I'll be making more of these little cuties, too!  Be sure to stop by!

The Sunflower Tree Design Studio