It's the last stiffened fabric project and then I'm moving on! I wanted to try an oversized, realistic fabric rose just for fun.
Make a template with six petals. I traced around a dinner plate and a small bowl on the back of some ugly wrapping paper. (Tip: if the paper is too curly, iron it flat and your life will be better.) I've included my feet so you can admire my cute socks.
Prepare some stiffened fabric. See here for how I did this. My fabric pieces were too big to lay flat in my microwave this time, so I draped each piece over a couple drinking glasses and nuked them one by one. The fabric came out stiffened in a odd shape, of course, but ironed flat easily.
Using the template, cut three flower shapes from the prepared fabric. Grab a shape and fold it in half to make a crease between petals. Open, rotate the flower, and repeat twice more until six creases radiate from the center.
In the first flower, cut a slit along one of the fold lines to the center. In the second flower, cut out one petal segment. In the third flower, cut out a piece with two petal segments. Save these cutouts; they'll form the center of the rose.
On each flower, overlap the two petals adjacent to the slit and secure with a little glue. (I used Aleene's OK To Wash-It Fabric Glue.)
While they're drying, curl the double-petal and single-petal cutouts. Heat each petal with an iron and roll the rounded edge back with your fingers. When it cools, heat the triangular point of the petal and roll it into a cone shape that's rose-like. This part is tricky! I had to iron the petals flat and start over a few times until I had something reasonable. The one-petal piece should be able to fit inside the two-petal piece when you're done.
Heat the remaining flower petals one at a time with your iron and curl the edges back.
At this point I stacked the pieces to see if they looked nice. Yes! But I decided a flat bottom for this flower might be more useful. 
So I cut off the point. (If you're going to do this, I'd suggest trimming when the pieces are still flat: fold them into a cone shape and snip off the points before you glue.)
I hot glued the petals together at the base, then added a felt circle to hide the trimmed ends. I could see these as DIY wedding decorations, attached to curtain tie backs, used in romantic centerpieces, or gathering dust in my box of finished projects I have no idea what to do with.
I have a big aversion to heart-shaped jewelry, but I don't mind me some Valentine decorations! Using some pieces of stiffened fabric, I made these easy folded fabric hearts. Once the fabric is treated (see here for the how to), it folds beautifully and doesn't fray. 
Start by making a set of paper templates. I layered and cut four identical heart shapes, then progressively shaved more off the sides of each one.
Trace the four heart shapes onto the back side of a piece of stiffened fabric and cut them out. Fold all but the largest piece in half, then layer them onto the largest heart. Stitch a seam up the center to create a "book" and tie off each end. Press the folds with an iron if desired. Once the ironed fabric cools, it will hold its shape nicely.
Use these as Valentine package decorations or string them into a garland by running a thread through the bottom-most heart shape.
More fun with fabric stiffener. Here's how to make some easy fabric picture frames for your wall. Or cut out anything your heart desires: silhouettes of your family, animal shapes for the nursery, lettering, ornate designs, party decorations... the world is your oyster. Hey, maybe consider doing an oyster.
I'd heard of people ironing starched fabric to walls and wanted to try it out. Sure enough, I was able to stick my stiffened fabric to the wall with an iron and remove it without harming my paint job. This is super for renters, indecisive decorators, or easily bored people. Note that if your wall is really rough, you'll probably have a hard time making these stick. Also for what it's worth, my walls are painted with flat latex paint.
What to do:
Prepare a piece of fabric with fabric stiffener. See this post where I used Stiffen Stuff in a spray bottle.
Measure your photo and determine the size of the opening needed in the picture frame. I used 5x7 photos, so I wanted to overlap the photo by 1/4" inch on every side. Thus the hole in my fabric needed to be 4 1/2" x 6 1/2".
To make a template for your frame, fold a piece of scrap paper into quarters. You can design one quadrant of the frame and cut through the layers to make a symmetrical border. Mark off one quarter of your frame opening (in my case, 2 1/4" x 3 1/4"). Then sketch a decorative border for the frame.
Cut out the paper frame and unfold to see if you like it, confirming the opening fits over your photo. If you're happy, fold the stiffened fabric into quarters and trace your design onto the back side with a pencil. 
Cut out the fabric frame and iron it flat to get rid of the fold marks.
Then iron the fabric frame to the wall. I tried to be quick about it, not leaving the iron pressed against the wall for very long. I'm pleased to report that this didn't harm my paint at all. Some outer bits of the frame weren't sticking at first, so I used the point of the iron to go over those again until everything was adhered well.
After the frame is ironed to the wall, loosen the edges around the picture opening with your fingernail until you've pulled enough loose to insert your photo. If too much comes loose, put the photo in and iron around it to stick the loose parts of the frame back to the wall.
Later I tried peeling these frames off the wall and they didn't leave a mark. Lovely!
A few people asked how to make the flower on yesterday's fabric origami box. This is an easy craft project that's a good way to use up scraps. Use these flowers to make hair pins and boutonnieres, top gifts, decorate napkin rings, tote bags, wedding aisles, you name it.
You'll need some stiffened fabric pieces (see this post for the how to), a pencil, paper, scissors, needle, thread, buttons, and an iron.
With a pencil, sketch flower shapes on the back of your fabric pieces. You'll need three sizes of flowers, so make each one progressively larger. If you plan to make zillions of flowers, it might be good to draw yourself some paper templates to make your life easier. Don't worry about making perfect petals. This is a forgiving project.
Cut out each flower piece. Then pinch little creases between the petals, overlapping them very slightly to add dimension.
Press the creases with an iron. While each petal is still warm, roll the edges back to make a pretty petal shape. The fabric is very soft and pliable when it's warm, but after it cools a couple seconds, it's crisp again. If you're unsatisfied with a petal, just iron it again and reshape it.
Layer three flower shapes in graduated sizes, staggering the petals. Stitch them together with a button in the center.
I love how sturdy these are—crisp and flexible, all at the same time. They won't tear like paper, and they have a fabric texture. Nifty!
An origami box seemed like an easy project for testing yesterday's stiffened fabric. The material folded nicely, and pressing the creases with an iron as I went along made even sharper edges. In case elementary school was eons ago and you've forgotten how to make a simple origami box, here's a refresher.
Begin with two squares of stiffened fabric, one for the bottom and one for the lid. (Mine were 6" x 6.") 
1. Mark the center of the square by folding the fabric into quarters or measuring. Bring each corner of the fabric to the center point and press the creases. 
2. Bring one edge of the resulting square inward until it touches the center point and make a crease. Repeat with the other three sides.
You'll end up with four creases running through the square.
3. Open up the top and bottom triangular flaps, leaving the side flaps folded in. Then pinch the sides of the top flap inward. 
4. Bring the point of the top flap over the "wall" you just made and press it down to the bottom of the box. 
5. Repeat with the opposite flap. My box stayed folded all by itself, but you could add a couple dots of glue to secure the flaps if needed.
Make a lid for the box using the other piece of fabric. The lid will need to be slightly larger than the bottom, so when you get to step 2, don't fold all the way to the center point. Fold each side to a point a quarter inch short of the center.
Stitch a decoration to the lid if you're feeling fancy.
I've always wanted to experiment with stiffened fabric, so I picked up a bottle of the aptly named Stiffen Stuff at Michaels. 
I sprayed both sides of a piece of quilting weight fabric until it was thoroughly wet. And then, because I'm an impatient girl who gets fed up with air drying, I laid the fabric on a paper towel and microwaved it for 30 seconds. It came out crisp like a sheet of paper! I pressed it for a couple seconds with an iron to smooth out any bumps, and voila.
Stay tuned for projects with stiffened fabric!
After yesterday's post, I had a few questions from people wondering if the eco staple-free stapler works well. My answer: yes and no.
Here's a blue sheet of paper stapled to a white sheet.
The stapler works by punching out tabs that get folded over and pushed through a tiny slit. The device only works when fastening up to four sheets of paper. Any more and the stack of tabs is too thick for the stapler to push through the slit. That means your papers will have a hole but won't be fastened together—no good! However, when it works properly, those sheets are stuck together very securely and the only way to get them apart is to undo the tab or tear the paper. It took me a few tries to realize you have to push the top of the stapler down hard all the way to get those tabs inserted.
The pros: it's super cute, good for the environment, and you never have to worry about running out of staples. The cons: If you want to staple more than four sheets, you're out of luck. Since it punches a hole, you might punch through a valuable bit of information on your sheet. And the hold isn't quite as secure as a metal staple, since paper can tear and metal won't.
I had to share my little collection of orange Christmas presents with you because I'm giddy with happiness.
1. Staple free stapler, found somewhere by Alex.
2. Spoon and fork chopstick rests, found somewhere in Japan by Megumi.
3. Trim little pencil case... sheepishly, I confess I bought this for myself. Thank you, self.
4. Orange masking tape from West Elm's stocking stuffer section. Thank you, Alex.
5. Lion masking tape, found somewhere in Japan. Domo arigato, Megumi.
6. Felt coaster set, found in a shop in China located just upstairs from Karls Jr. and next to a Krispy Kreme. Xie xie, Heather and Tyler!
Let's see that tape a little more closely. Aw, the cuteness!
Prima09 is an edgy, handwritten font in block capitals from the Brazilian company We. See some usage examples and download the font here, free for personal and commercial use. One little drawback for Americans: Prima09 doesn't seem to have an apostrophe character, so you might need to reposition a comma if you plan to type any contractions.
Something delightful came in the mail recently: a photo book from Renee Landry Style, a North Carolina floral and event design company. Renee used three of my fabrics in a delicious, orange-themed wedding for a client. Check out these photos from Allison Pickard's nuptials: 
Allison designs commercials for Target and other companies, and though I haven't met her, I can tell she's lots of fun. See more inspiring photos from her wedding right here. And let me give a shout out to Mary Basnight, the photographer and designer of the photo book. Great work, ladies!
The Curiosity Group has launched a 2011 calendar of the month series, starting with a 3D yeti you can assemble. (Via Paper Forest.) I'm pretty sure I love yetis, especially those holding orange calendars. I'm also pretty sure I don't know what the plural form of "yeti" is. 
On a related note, if you feel the need to dress a baby up like a yeti, check out these patterns: a yeti hoodie at Berroco and monster booties by Kelly Hogaboom (a link to the pattern is in her notes.)
I found wooden disks for ten cents at a craft store and decided to see how well Sharpies would write on them. The markers bled a bit, but by varying how hard I pressed, I could control the bleed somewhat. Applying the lighter colors before sketching any black lines works best, or else the black will bleed like a victim on CSI. Applying a light coat of spray acrylic before drawing also stops future bleeding, but it will turn the wood a couple shades darker.
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