Tag: autumn

Thankful Fall Colorful Maple Leaves Cards
paper, tutorial

Thanksgiving and Fall Cards made using Homemade Alcohol Ink

Laura's Craft Closet

Last week, I created some homemade alcohol inks and shared the tutorial with you crafties! Take a peek at that post and check out how to make your own alcohol inks here!

The colors are gorgeous, and I wanted to use these inks immediately! They looked so pretty in the bottles, but I needed some cards to celebrate Fall. This ink could be used to make some gorgeous leaves!

 

Make full sheets of your patterned paper

The cards with the mason jar and falling leaves is easy to create! Check out the steps below:

Supplies:

Important supply–> Alcohol Inks – DIY or the Brand Name, or the slightly larger pack of the other Brand

8-1/2" X 11" Glossy White Cardstock

Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Jar Of Love Photopolymer Stamp Set

Everyday Jars Framelits Dies

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Versamark Pad

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies

Rooted In Nature Clear-Mount Bundle

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

Steps:

  1. Create your alcohol inked paper!! Choose 3 colors. (I chose red, yellow, and green)
    • Place a sheet of glossy paper in an old baking pan (or something that’ll keep your workspace clean).
    • Spritz a few sprays of hairspray to cover the glossy paper.
    • Drop a few drops of one color on the paper, then repeat with the other colors. Tilt your paper to move the colors around, but don’t let them mix too much.
    • Optional: Spray a few spritzes of hairspray over the colors to add a little depth.
    • LET DRY!
  2. Meanwhile, fold your Old Olive 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ cardbase in half.
  3. Cut your Brown cardstock to 5 1/4″ x 4″.
    • Emboss it with the falling petals or woodlands embossing folder.
    • Adhere it to your cardbase.
  4. On a scrap of white cardstock, stamp a short jar in black, and die-cut it out. Adhere it towards the top angled down.
  5. Cut a banner from old olive, stamp your sentiment with versamark and heat emboss using gold powder. Adhere towards the top of the card.
  6. Die cut the leaves using your big shot machine, and adhere towards the base of the card.

Thankful Fall Colorful Maple Leaves Cards

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Fall colors are just so gorgeous and comforting. I can’t wait to create some more fun projects with these inks!!

I’m playing along with the following challenges:

Did you decide you want to also try playing with alcohol inks? I wrote a quick and easy tutorial using things you likely have at home, even if you aren’t a crafter. Click below and get your ink on!

make your own alcohol inks

Happy Crafting!

make your own alcohol inks
DIY, paper, tutorial

DIY Alcohol Ink! Make it yourself on the cheap and clean out that box of old markers!

Laura's Craft Closet

Alcohol Ink can give gorgeous results. SO MANY beautiful possibilities!

And I wanted to try it. I wanted to try it on multiple mediums…including paper! I love to try new things, especially when they can be incorporated into my art!!

But the price of quality alcohol inks kept me from rushing out to get a bunch of colors (ok, kept me from putting a few sets in my amazon cart, ha ha).

So I did what I always do: I made it myself!

rainbow of DIY alcohol inks

It was so easy to do, helped me clear out my old dried out markers, and created some beautiful paper that I then used for a few Fall/Thanksgiving cards. I want to share my steps with you:

Supplies:

supplies for diy alcohol ink

  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Travel bottles (2oz)
  • Scissors
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Old Markers
    • I used dried-out crayola and sharpies, but others will work, too
    • I used 2-3 markers of each color for each ounce of rubbing alcohol
  • Gloves (unless you enjoy stained hands!)
  • Newspaper or paper towels

Steps:

  1. Pour rubbing alcohol into the travel bottles until half-full. You want to leave room for the markers and the shaking. Pour rubbing alcohol into bottle to fill halfway
  2. Organize your markers by color. Use scissors to pull off the top and bottom of the old markers. These came off easier than I thought they would, but can still be a bit messy! Use pliers to pull out the felt part on the inside of the marker that is soaked in ink. I left some of them inside their plastic sheaths, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Do this one color at a time (and wipe off your tools between colors!). pull apart markers
  3. Drop the marker pieces into the travel bottle with rubbing alcohol. I used 2-3 markers of each color into each bottle. Close the top of the bottle. drop marker pieces into bottle
  4. Swirl and shake the markers in the alcohol. You should see the ink becoming more and more pigmented.           shake marker in bottle
  5. Repeat with other colors.   repeat with other colors
  6. Let these sit at least overnight. Carefully remove the felt marker pieces from the bottles. Now your alcohol ink is ready to use!!

 

I’ll post my creations and tutorials using these beautiful inks in the coming days and weeks. I’m so excited about this!!

die cut leaves from alcohol inked paper
Sneak peek at one way I used the inks for some Thanksgiving Cards!

I hope you found this tutorial useful! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at laurascraftcloset@gmail.com. It was easier and took far less time than I had anticipated. Making these inks myself allowed me to get creative with my projects while learning the best techniques without worrying about “wasting” the inks. I can’t wait to share these with you, crafties! These inks go a long way, but when I run out, I’ll feel more confident considering the fancy colors from the name brands…unless I make my own again!

Happy Crafting!

 

 

DIY pumpkins made from sweaters
DIY, Fabric

DIY Fall Decor Pumpkins from Old Sweaters: Hello Gourd-geous!

Laura's Craft Closet

I love decorating for fall and halloween, so it’s hard to keep myself from putting skeletons and jack-o-lanterns around the house before September. “But Laura! It’s still SUMMER!” I know, but we have so little time to enjoy the transistion from hot and humid to cold and dark.

So clearly I needed updated fall decor…that I could leave up beyond October 31st. Pumpkins are classic, and sweater material can make a room look and feel more cozy.

 

Use the sleeves to make mini-pumpkins!
Teal Pumpkins signify non-food treats are available for trick-or-treaters with food allergies.
A nautical anchor is on the front!

With just a needle, this is easy enough for my “non-crafty” friends, too!

Quick Steps for this Fall Decor:

  1. Raid your closet or take a quick trip to Goodwill. Any sweater (or thick tank top) will work.
an old tank top
I somehow got a hole in it, so it was downgraded to a sleep shirt. Now it’ll be a pumpkin!

2. Cut the bottom off (below any holes, ha ha!) with scissors. This will leave you with a “tube” as the original seams are closed on the sides, and it opens on the bottom and where you cut it (the top). It doesn’t need to be perfect, but attempt a straight line.

 

3. Turn your sweater tube inside-out. With 12″ of any color thread, knot the end and purse stitch about 1″ from the bottom with a thick needle. Mine happens to have a thick hem, so I’ll follow that to make it easier to keep it even. The thread won’t show as it’ll be on the inside of the goard, so don’t worry about matching colors. When you get all the way around, cinch the fabric together, and wrap your thread around the bunch tightly. Knot your thread to secure.

 

4. Flip your bag rightside-out, and fill with stuffing. I use Poly-fil or this recycled (and cheaper!) alternative, but you could also use the stuffing from an old pillow or stuffed animals that are no longer played with. Tip: You can toss the extra sweater pieces inside the pumpkin ball to save a bit of stuffing and ensure your pillow is soft yet sturdy.

5. Do the same purse stitch to close and cinch the top of the stuffed ball. Tie it around the stem and secure it with a knot.

 

6. Cut 3 pieces of contrasting yarn. Wrap each tight around the stuffed ball and knot it at the top. This will give you the six sections of a pumpkin.

 

7. I used felt for the pumpkin “stem” and leaves so my decor could double as a pillow, but you could alternately grab a stick from your backyard and fake leaves from unused fake flowers and hot glue that into the center.

 

8. Hot glue the stem inside the cinched top and the leaves on the top of the pumpkin surrounding the stem.

 

And the pumpkin is done! It was easy, right? After making the first one, I thought about other pumpkins I wanted to make! My home might turn into a pumpkin patch soon.

DIY pumpkins made from sweaters

Is there an old sweater you are keeping around, not because you enjoy wearing it or it’s particularly flattering, but because you like the pattern or design? I hope this tutorial gives you inspiration to make a little home decor!

Follow my blog in order to keep getting great craft ideas! Happy Crafting!