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Make a very large stencil or template….

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I’m working on a fairy forest mural for a client family right now that includes a very large butterfly chalkboard. It is going to be an awesome mural on five walls for the girls’ room so stay tuned for photos!

Make a very large stencil or template via lilblueboo.com
I want both sides of the chalkboard to be completely symmetrical so I made a large template that I will use for both sides of the butterfly shape. I placed it against our growth chart in the below photo so you can see that it is close to 5 feet tall!

Make a very large stencil or template 2 via lilblueboo.com
To make the large stencil/template:

1. First draw the shape you want and scan it into your computer.
2. Upload the shape to the Homokaasu program that you may have read about in my post How to Rasterize a Photo. With this program you can size the drawing to as large as you want and it will print off on letter sized paper in your printer.
3. Piece the shape together and tape all the seams with packing tape to reinforce it.
4. Outline the shape with marker and cut out.
Easy!

The Easiest, Softest, Cheapest Floor Pillows Ever!

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I’ve been making these pillows for years…there is no cutting involved and they take about 30 minutes to assemble, sew and stuff. I started using towels because they were so soft and inexpensive…and I was finding so many prints that I couldn’t pass up!

I’ve made towel pillows for:
-Outdoor lounge chair pillows using all different colorful pool towels
-Plush floor pillows for TV watching
-Several matching dog bed pillows for Diesel for all different corners of the house
-Coordinating throw pillows for a couch or a bed
-Replacement seat pillows for our favorite Pottery Barn rattan chairs
The pillows in the photos were made for my daughter’s window seat in her nursery.
The Easiest, Softest, Cheapest Floor Pillows Ever via lilblueboo.com

Each pillow is made from one bath towel. I have always found expensive-looking, quality plush bath towels with super-great prints at Marshall’s for around $5 to $8.  I use large bath towels for big euro style pillows and hand towels for small, rectangular pillows. You could also use 2 washcloths for a square pillow. Stuffing can get expensive so if I am planning on making a bunch sometimes I will buy a few king size pillows on sale and just take them apart for the cotton inside.
The Easiest, Softest, Cheapest Floor Pillows 2 Ever via lilblueboo.com

Back seam of the large pillow (made from a bath towel)
The Easiest, Softest, Cheapest Floor Pillows 3 Ever via lilblueboo.com

Back seam of the smaller pillow with flange (made from a hand towel)
You can download my instructions for making pillows out of towels below. Feel free to email me with any questions! Send me pictures of your finished pillows!
Towel Pillow Tutorial

Itty Bitty Cork Stamps

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I love making little, itty, bitty stamps from wine corks. Not surprisingly, it seems the better the wine the better the cork. So each stamp probably ends up costing me about $20 to make.  All you need is a wine cork, a pen and an exacto knife. To make a stamp pad, I use an old wash cloth and pour a little acrylic paint on a 1″ x 1″ area…the wash cloth soaks up the paint just enough so you can dab your new cork stamp on it without saturating it with paint. Draw your design on the top of the cork and carve it out carefully using the knife. Do a couple test stamps to see if you need to keep carving!

 

Itty Bitty Cork Stamps via lilblueboo.com
This morning I made a cute little cheese stamp to make little labels for a cheese platter. The card holder is a wine cork that I cut in half and sliced a 1/8″ cut in the top.
Itty Bitty Cork Stamps 2 via lilblueboo.com
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