This is a free loom pattern for all who enjoy looming. Knitting on my loom is such a fun thing to do and I love to come up with new patterns. This is a very colorful and decorative autumn craft. The kids will love doing this craft. The step by step instructions are easy to follow along with. It is easy enough for beginners to do. Even though I made my pumpkins small, you can also make them large by using a larger loom and adding rows to the pattern that I share with you. You can make your pumpkins plain or you can make your pumpkin into a Jack-O-Lantern. They make a wonderful Halloween craft project. I know you will have a blast making these adorable little pumpkins, so give them a try. :)
Follow along with this EASY step by step video tutorial:
These feather pens are easy and fun to make. They will make great gifts and you can be super creative with them. I made 7 different pen styles to give you examples to go buy in order to get you started so that you can come up with your own ideas.
I will be giving my feather pens as gifts with a blank journal to encourage friends and family to write. I know they will cherish this beautifully handmade gift. Give this wonderful craft a try. You will be amazed at all the ideas that you can come up with.
In this blog I will explain to you the basic way to make a feather pen but if you want more detail on how to do these beautiful pens, check out our video tutorial:
The video will show each of my 7 feather pens in detail. I will explain to you which gemstones I used for each pen and I will show you the designs that I painted on them. They are pretty amazing and I had a hard time picking a favorite. :)
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LETS GET STARTED
The first thing that you will need is feathers. You can use store bought feathers but I used mostly goose feathers that I found and collected. I carefully chose the 7 feathers that I wanted to use for this project out of my collection.
Then I used dish soap in warm water to wash my feathers by swishing them in the water gently. Then I rinsed them off and set them on a paper towel to dry. You may have to carefully straiten your feathers so that they dry nice and smooth.
After the feathers are dry, I used acrylic paint to paint designs on them. They were a joy to paint... And so easy. Simply use the paint brushes that you have on hand to paint your feathers. You do not need to buy special brushes. :)
I used Bic pens to make my feathers into pens. They are easy to get apart and I had an extra pack of them in my office to use for this project.
Some feathers have large quills and some have small quills. You can use both sizes to make your feather pen. Don't worry, you wont be able to see the quill when we are done. We will be decorating it. :)
If you have a small quill on your feather than you will need to use the whole pen. You will need to remove the end cap on the pen first. Simply take the ink cartridge out of the pen and then use something that is long and thin to push the cap off of the end of the pen through the center of the pen shell. I used a BBQ skewer to push the cap off of mine. It worked perfectly.
After the cap is removed, you can put the quill of your feather into the top of the pen like this.
I used E6000 adhesive to decorate the outside of the pen by glueing hemp string, twine or crochet string to the outside of the pen.
I simply wrapped the string down the whole length of the pen. It not only decorates the pen to give it style but it gives it a wonderful grip to make writing with the pen nice.
If the quill on your feather is large, you can easily cut the very tip of the feather off and insert the pen into the center of the quill.
If your ink cartridge is a bit too long to fit inside of the quill, simply cut it to the length that you need it.
The ink cartridge fits perfectly!
Now all you need to do is use beads, feathers or any kind of embellishment to make your feather unique. The possibilities are endless and the styles of your feathers can be so different. Use your imagination to make each one different.
I used wood beads, gemstones and feathers to make this pen stylish. I used a Blue Heron feather for this pen.
I simply painted tree branches and feathers on this pen and used leaf embellishments and jasper beads to make this pen look like nature.
I used turquoise and amethyst beads to enhance this pen. I also painted designs on it to make it unique. On the back of this pen I used paw print designs.
Because I like autumn so much I made a Harvest Moon Pen. Fun stuff!!
Get a better view of each of my pens in the video tutorial.
These Autumn table decorations are quick and easy to make. They are inexpensive and will dazzle any autumn arrangement to make it seem alive. The leaves glitter in the light whenever a slight breeze touches them. I guarantee that you will love doing this simple craft.
What you will need:
Dry beans or popcorn
Ribbon
Decorative fall leaves
Twigs or branches
Scissors
Twig cutters
Wire cutters
Metallic leaf garland (It comes in different colors)
Jelly jar or Mason jar
Here is our step by step video tutorial that will show you how to do this project:
1. Cut small branches/twigs and use the twigs to to fill the jar nicely.
2. Once you figure out how many branches/twigs look good in the jar, use your leaf garland to wrap around each branch. It is pretty easy to get the garland to stay on the branches because the wire is easy to pinch around them and it holds in place nicely. Use your wire cutters to trim the wire garland to fit each branch.
3. Now set aside the branches and fill your jar half way with dry beans or popcorn.
4. Tuck the decorative loose leaves between the glass of the jar and the beans so that the pretty side of the leaves are facing out. The beans help hold the leaves in place while you place the leaves where you want them.
5. Get your ribbon and tie a bow around the top of the jar. I used cranberry embellishments to add an extra autumn touch to mine but a simple bow will work wonderfully.
6. Put a few more beans in the jar but not so that it is all the way full because you want your branches/twigs to have room to fit in the jar too. Arrange your branches to look nice.
That is all you have to do! It is a beautiful table decoration that is simple but looks amazing.
This is such an easy and quick craft decoration to make for fall. I love fall! It is my favorite season to decorate for. They make a great centerpiece for any table. You will love making this craft.
What you will need:
I used burlap ribbon for most of these darling acorns but you can use any kind of material that you have handy. I also like them made with fall colored materials. I used pine cone petals for the top. The acorn is stuffed with packing paper that I saved from a package that I got a while ago. I like to recycle things when doing my crafts. :) I also used small twigs for the stem, a small piece of twine or yarn and a glue gun. That is all you will need. Use your imagination to make this project out of things that you already have.
I made a step-by-step video tutorial if you would like to watch me make it.
The first thing I do is to prepare my pine cone petals. I pick off what petals I can with my fingers and when they get hard to pick of, I cut them off like this.
I make sure that all my pine cone petals are not curved on the ends because they will not lay flat on your acorn if they are curved.
This is what you want them to look like...
Next, I cut a piece of my burlap ribbon to the size of a square. If you are using material or felt, you can cut them into a square too.
Now I cut my twigs. I made mine about 1.5 inches long.
I rip my paper into small pieces and then start rolling the pieces of paper into a ball. I know that the ball is the right size when it fits into my square piece of burlap and I have enough room at the top to tie it closed.
I use a small piece of twine to tie the top together but you can use yarn or string.
Now I cut the extra material off of the top. I just cut it straight across like this...
I get one of my twigs and push it into the center of the top.
I glue the pine cone petals around the top of the acorn in rows. Like this...
I had three rows of pine cone petals for each of my acorns. This is what my acorn looks like when it is done.
I hope you enjoy making your own acorn crafts. Thank you so much for visiting. Check out the Acorn video tutorial: http://youtu.be/cEYq-usmD8g We also have a video on how we dry out our own pine cones: http://youtu.be/S_FTOA1uDsg
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