A Shop a Week

Well, it's not really a-shop-a-week any more. More like a-shop-a-month... But, hey, we're still here, so it could have been worse... My life feels like a total chaos in the last month or so (I'm back to part-time work, after a year and a half, I began studying again but still at home with the little one), so I neglected the blog a bit. Hopefully it will get better soon...

Anyhow, Green Queen Eco Design is a fantastic shop. I've been following it for a while now. They sell mostly fabric lampshades. I actually fantasize about making one myself, but meanwhile let's just take a look at these beautiful lampshades.

I love the color palette of this lampshade

And this one is more on the romantic side

I want this for my craft room! And my bedroom. And the living room...

And this one is not a lampshade nor made of fabric, but it's a great idea as a gift for kids that have everything already.

Pebble Dominos

Don't forget, if you know of any amazing online shop, or if you own one, let me know :)

Merry Xmas Everyone!!!

DIY Umbrella Tutorial

I don't know how the winter is where ever you are, but here, in Israel, we had a few stormy days last week, winter has finally arrived! And so we found ourselves needing umbrellas. I wanted the kids (and myself!) to have personal umbrellas, so we sat down and began working. It's super easy!

You'll need -

- Transparent umbrella

- Permanent markers

- Acrylics

- Stencils (you can either buy them or make yourself using empty boxes, like my guitar. I used empty cereal box to make it)

- Piece of fabric and a brush (the fabric will be our ink pad for the stamps)

- Stamps

The most important thing here, is to remember to work on the inside of the umbrella. We want to try and protect our decorations from the rain.

Place a stencil on one of the triangles of the umbrella (insind, remember?) and paint using the markers or acrylics. To hold it in place, you can use scotch tape. If you're drawing details, you'll find it easier to work with the markers.

When you're done, carefully remove the stencil. If the paint smears, you can gently take it off using Fresh Ones. If it's already dry, or if you want to remove a big part of it, use nail polish remover.

In the next triangle you can try working with stamps. Use the brush to apply acrylic paint onto the piece of fabric, dip the stamp in the paint, place on the umbrella and press.

If you're making it for your kids, it's always useful to add their name (or write whatever you want!).

You can use a stecil for that too, just don't forget that we work inside the umbrella, so you should mirror write it.

That's Hebrew...

Decorate all the triangles the same way. Now you just need to wait for the next rain to come...

Have a warm winter and Happy Holidays!

Guest Post - Yael from Derech Hayetsira

Hi Everyone!

I'm Yael from the Israeli blog Derech Hayetsira.
I started my blog about a year ago, when I began crafting again (mostly cards) during my maternity leave. On my blog I post about activities with kids (I have three adorable kids), interesting events and of course, my projects.
I enjoy Tal's blog and proud to be her guest.
Today I made a card for a new baby using the Paper Piecing Technique.

First, I chose a cardstock to be the base for my card.

Then I folded it in the middle (I want to write inside).

I drew a stork on a piece of white paper.

        Then I chose some nice cardstocks and papers for the different parts of the stork (I chose solid papers, because my background is a bit busy).

         I copied the different parts on the papers I chose (on the wrong side).

Pay attention to the direction of the stork, it's important to copy all parts in the same direction.

Cut all the parts of the stork.

I glued all the parts together and drew around with a black pen (I think I should have used a thicker pen).

I used thick double sided tape for the eye.

Here's my card -

Congrats!

Yaelush