Feeling Crafty: Pretty Bow DIY

This is my second attempt on DIY. I must say, I think I am enjoying it.  This time, I tried my hands on sewing a bow out of the remaining dotted fabric scraps by following this tutorial.  Liz makes a lot of different things on her blog and I am amazed at how crafty she is. So, here's what I came out with.  A pretty bow in polka dots.

The materials you will need are needle & thread, fabric scissors, and some old cloth.

Of course, this was an easy project to begin with. All you need to do is cut one big square, depending on how big you want your bow to be.  I cut about 8 inches by 8 inches from my fabric because there wouldn't be much left so I might as well make use of the entire scrap.  Then, cut a rectangle, about 6 inches by 4 inches.

As you may already have guessed, I am no expert on sewing but I know how to do simple stitches, like backstitch.  Fold your square into half and stitch-up all the sides from the back, leaving a gap on the last corner, just a small opening wide enough for you to be able to pull the cloth from the inside out.  You can sew up this gap later.  Do the same thing for your rectangle.  

With your square fabric, make a crease from the center to form the shape of a bow and stitch it up to hold it together.  

With my rectangle fabric, I twisted it once, placed it vertically in the center of my bow, and tied it up, so that it creates a smaller bow right on top of the bigger bow.

I'm seeing this bow on a headband, as a necklace, or as brooch.

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Create An Instagram Photobook with BLURB

It's official! I'm an Instagram addict.  It's barely a month since I began sharing photos there but there's no stopping now.  I have fallen in love with it like everyone else.  I love the fact that you can freeze moments in a click and file all those little things that made you giggle or smile.  I like that you get to choose effects to transform your photos in an instant. And I love that you can share photos straight from your mobile phone on the spot.  I'm too lazy to upload photos on my computer. I'm also following a couple of people there and it's amazing how glimpses of daily life can be so inspiring.  

Wouldn't it be nice to have a real copy of those precious pictures so you can watch them from the pages of an album? I think photobooks would make interesting pieces of decor at home.  It's cool because BLURB has made it so easy to turn your Instagram photos into a photobook.  Today, I gave it a try and here's what I came up with: 

Yeah, you can say I still feel that little jig inside for having made my very first DIY.  I'm thinking maybe I would be brave enough to try out other projects these coming days and how about compiling all those DIY crafts into a book?  

It's very quick and easy through BLURB.  You simply sign up with your email, username, and password to make an account and you can begin creating books online. Here's what the interface looks like if you will make your own book.

I chose the Instagram Photobook option. You will need to sign in to your Instagram account so BLURB can access your photos and basically,  just drag and drop the photos you want to include in your book. You can see on the bottom all the photos from my instagram account.  I only selected a few pictures for this book and I have yet to make more DIYs and take snapshots of them.

You can choose from different layouts for the cover and the pages, the font styles and colors, the background ~ you can customize everything from the design, the size, and the type {softcover, hardcover (dustjacket or image wrap)} of book you prefer.  Once you're done, you can save it as draft online if you wish to have have it published at a later time.  You can do edits later if you want to make some changes.

It's pretty neat I think!  I would love to create a photobook of my dogs, my favorite recipes, my family, ~ it would be exciting to make these and actually order.  

I'm inviting you to visit BLURB and give it a try.  Don't worry because you can start making your book online for free, like I did, save it, and just order when you're ready.  You can also make a Facebook Photo Book, or a photo book from the photos on your computer.  And did I mention that you can also sell your books and get royalties?  If you order now, you can save 15% off your entire order until April 30th.  Just use the promo code APRIL15 on your checkout.  So, what do you think of my book idea?