Work in Progress

Today, I'm spending all day working on making cushions. Chris picked up these two lounge chairs, one is a double love-seat, the other a single. The frames are beautiful, but the cushions and upholstery have got to go! Chris bought new foam and has cut it to size.

Yesterday, I was on a mission to go Mill End, I hadn't been there before and I wanted to check it out. In the end, I saw too much horrific fabric, but like always you can find some diamonds in the rough. But not enough for this project. So, I ended up back at good old Fabric Depot. They have the best selection and best prices for the amount of fabric that I needed.

Here's to hoping that I can make six cushions in one day! Once I finish, I'll update with new photos so that you can see the outcome! 

Happy Weekend! 

Fabric Drawer Liners // Guest Post

Today, Krista from Blue Eyed Yonder is here to share Fabric Drawer Liners. She says the sweetest things about me, but I could say the exact same about her! Check out her amazing site and business! It really is quite impressive! Krista, thank you so much for sharing this awesome idea with us! 

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First things first, I just have to say how much I adore Heather. She and I met at Alt Design Summit and I was instantly attracted to her fun demeanor and crafty style. I saw she kept her business cards in a vintage sewing tin and it was love at first sight! So naturally I was flattered when Heather asked me to guest post for Joy of All Crafts!

Just a wee bit about me, I’m Krista of Blue Eyed Yonder and I’m addicted to all things vintage. I run a vintage rental business in Atlanta, GA and love to collect and scour the southeast for hidden gems and fun pieces. When I’m not out searching for the next great treasure, you can usually find me knee deep in some kind of creative shenanigans. It's pretty much what I live for.

Today I've got a fun DIY to share. I spent quite some time searching the web for unique drawer liners when I finally decided to make them myself. I found this fun fabric on sale and just had to buy it. I didn't know what I would do with it, but after seeing how funky and fresh it was inside the dresser, I just knew a purpose had been found. It's not like many people will ever see the inside of my drawers, not to mention, I plan to have clothes and other odds and ends in the there, but details matter. It's little hidden surprises like funky, scented drawer liners that puts a smile on my face.

What You Will Need:

Fabric (enough to cover drawer bottoms)

Liquid Fabric Stiffener

Mrs. Meyer's Ironing Spray

Double Sided Tape or Spray Adhesive

Begin by diluting the Liquid Fabric Stiffener with water in a large bowl.

Submerge fabric in the stiffener mixture until completely coated.

Ring all excess liquid from the fabric and then lay completely flat to dry. Once dry, the diluted fabric stiffener will make the fabric feel heavily starched, with the flexibility similar to cardstock paper.

Before the fabric was completely dry, I sprayed it with Mrs. Meyer's Lavender Ironing Spray and gave it a quick press with the iron to smooth out all of the wrinkles.

At this point, the fabric will be dry and stiff, making it very easy to cut. Measure your drawer bottoms and cut fabric accordingly.

To secure fabric in the bottom of the drawers, you can either use double sided tape around the edges or a light application of spray adhesive. I chose to use the double sided tape so I can easily change the fabric later with no sticky residue.

Easy peezy lemon squeezy. Now I have darling drawer liners with the wonderful aroma of lavender.

While searching for drawer liners, scented sachets and such, I stumbled upon many wonderful and clever ways to freshen up dresser drawers. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Place a new bar of scented soap in your drawer. Not only will it fill your drawer with a delightful smell, it will also give the soap time to dry out making it last much longer in the shower.
2. Give drawers a fresh air fragrance by tucking a new dryer sheet under drawer liner or tape one to the back of each drawer.
3. Have empty perfume bottles? Remove the cap and leave the empty bottle open in your drawer, your clothes will thank you.
4. Save perfume samples from magazines. It's and easy and free way to freshen up a drawer.

Do you have any tips or tricks you would like to add? What's your secret to great smelling drawers?

Photos by KHJ + CMJ

Alt Summit // Business Cards

I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah! As I flew in yesterday morning, my jaw dropped as I saw the beautiful mountains. They are so close to downtown, you feel like you can touch them! 

While I'm at Alt Summit, (meeting other bloggers, learning tons about this growing industry, and enjoying being treated amazingly well) I thought I'd share with you some of the projects that I've been working on the past couple of weeks. 

The genius minds of the Alt creators held online classes in preparation for Alt. One of the class that really opened my eyes was on business cards. It taught that this is the way to make a good first and lasting impression, that your business card should be co-hesive with your blog and they gave lots of tips on how to accomplish this. I knew that I needed to make my cards look more like my blog and really focus on branding myself. As a budding graphic artist, I also wanted to design and make everything myself as that says the most about me! 

I played around in photoshop with my header and found the circle with my new favorite font RawengulkSans! I like how the circle gently hints at "all encompasses" crafts and I love the simplicity of it. I wanted to make something with clean lines and not too much going on, because I knew I needed to sew fabric onto the card someway. 

1. I love the idea of having a unique shape for the card. The banner tag had me swooning. However, if I wanted to sew fabric onto the card, it seemed to be too much. The confetti behind the text also seemed to be over the top. I needed to edit. 

2. I paired down the design and then started to play around with materials/colors to print on. I tried vellums, chipboard, gray cardstock, etc. 

3. To pink or not to pink! I love playing around with pinking shears, but in the end I didn't feel that this design was as clean and simple as I wanted. 

The first fabric, I fell in love with. However, the scales was a bit bit and the colors didn't quite match what I wanted. I love the vintage feel of the two fabrics on the right, plus the scale of the print is perfect for this small card.

Final Product!

I made a little over 100 of these, it was a labor of love, but I'm really thrilled with the outcome. I've handed a few out and the question that everyone keeps asking is "Which company made these?" To be able to say "I did" is super special and everyone is so surprised! I love that it speaks directly to what I make and do. :) 

Before I go, here's a couple pics from my trip so far. Be sure to follow me on twitter, like my facebook page and/or follow me on instagram. I've been tweeting and posting pictures a lot! I'll continue to tweet about the seminars and everything that's happening at Alt! Next week, I'll also have multiple posts sharing this experience with you! :) 

*Notice my new glasses!

* The gift bag was a gift box! I couldn't be more thrilled that my cards were in some of these gems! (More on that later)

Happy Thursday!