DIY: No Sew Legwarmers

La Vie en Rose apparently knows us all too well.  We are obsessed with our glue gun, and not really big on having to sew things together.  So, thanks to them, we are able to have toasty leg warmers - no sewing required.  Yay!

Glue gun lovers, this one is for you!!
Instead of sewing them, I decided to glue it up this time around so those of you without the desire to stitch can still participate. Of course, you're welcome to sew them if you prefer.

(1) Start it. Cut the sleeves off of an old sweater with a thick ribbed knit, so that it doesn't unravel. I cut these off of John's sweater *months* ago when I did the first post about legwarmers and they still haven't unraveled so I'd say it's safe. The end of the sleeve will be at the top of your knee and the underarm end will go down by your feet.

(2) Cut it. Put them on and see if they're too long. If they are, mark down the right length and cut the excess off. Slit each one down the middle from top to bottom. If you *don't* want your legwarmers to be tapered and instead want them to be straight legged then fold them in half with the two cut ends together and cut the taper off from the TOP to BOTTOM so that they are now straight. 

(3) Ribbon it. Cut ribbon 2 inches longer than the legwarmer and in sections (so the glue doesn't dry), glue the ribbon on using fabric glue sticks in your gun (1/2 inch in from the edge). Tuck the ends over the other side and glue down at each end. 

(4) Connect it. Next, glue the ends back together. Put your glue down on the inside of the ribbon between the ribbon's edge and the edge of your legwarmer slit. Section by section, glue down the other edge. 

(5) Button it. Place your buttons out into the exact way you'd like them and then one at a time, pick them up and glue them on. I like to apply the glue to the edges of the button so that it doesn't show through in the button holes. Be sure that the legwarmers match each other- you don't want one to have buttons going down much further than the other!

(6) Wear it! I liked leaving my ends tapered. I think it looks interesting and different than regular legwarmers when worn with flats. It creates a flare shape. You can also wear them with boots, as pictured below. Forget expensive boot socks!

DIY: Embroidery Hoop Turkey

We admit the we kinda skipped over the whole Thanksgiving holiday in our mad rush to want to make Christmas DIY crafts.  So, back tracking just a tad we are putting a turkey into the mix!  We love, love, love this tutorial that comes from Gwenny Penny's blog on how to make an Embroidery Hoop Turkey!

Go to her blog to get the templates for the face and feet!!

Here's the how-to...

Materials:

• 4" and 7" embroidery hoops
• burlap, 7" square and 10" square
• felt (Scraps will do for the face and feet. You'll need larger pieces for the feathers.)
• cardboard (I used a Cheez-It box from the recycle bin.)
• glue gun
• scissors

Instructions:

Step 1: Print out these templates at 100% (no scaling, do not "fit to page")...

Step 2: Stretch your burlap inside of your embroidery hoops.

Trim the burlap to 3/4" from the edges of the back of the embroidery hoops. Use your glue gun to glue the edges of the burlap to the inside of the back of the hoops.

Step 3: Take your two embroidery hoops and place the smaller hoop over the top portion of the larger hoop, making sure that the screw on the smaller hoop is at about 5 o'clock. The felt snood will cover the screw. Use your glue gun to glue the two embroidery hoops together like so...

Step 4: Using the templates from Step 1, cut out the beak (yellow), snood (red), two eyes (black or dark brown), and two feet (brown) from your felt.

The red piece is called the "snood". Ignore the feet in this picture... I ended up cutting the legs shorter.

Use your glue gun to glue your felt face pieces to the small embroidery hoop, covering the screw on the smaller hoop with the red snood.

Flip your hoops over and glue the feet onto the back of the large embroidery hoop.

Step 5: Cut out your felt feathers using the large feather template from Step 1. You need five feathers. I used green, yellow, purple, red, and orange felt. Cut out 5 cardboard feathers using the smaller feather template.

Use your glue gun to glue one cardboard feather to the back of each felt feather. This will add stability to the feathers so that they won't flop over when your turkey is hanging up.

Step 6: Fan out your feathers to your liking. Set your turkey body on top to make sure you like the look of it and that it fits. Remove the turkey body. Starting with the bottom layer of feathers, begin gluing the feathers to each other everywhere that they overlap until all five are firmly attached together.

Glue the back of the large embroidery hoop of your turkey body to the feather assembly. You're done!

DIY: Felt Poinsettia Hair Clip

Projectville has a fantastic tutorial that we found just in time for the upcoming holiday season!  This stunning Poinsettia Hair Clip would be the perfect accessory for any wardrobe in the winter time and beyond.  Not to mention she is stunning herself...

Here's what you'll need:
• felt
• yarn
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• glue sticks for said gun
• hair clip (optional)

Follow the picture tutorial and pattern. The larger circle in the pattern is used to glue all the petals to. Start with the biggest petals around the outside, then medium sized, then smallest in the middle. The smaller circle is for after you glue the top of your clip to the flower. Open the clip, glue it to the back of the flower, then glue the small circle over the top of the open clip to clean up the look. Tah dah!