wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in DIY

i’m so excited about today’s guest DIY! it comes from halligan norris smith, who i met through fp jemma and is an amazingly talented and crafty lady! we posted some photos from her beautiful wedding a little while back, and they definitely give you a taste of her creative aesthetic…so when she said she wanted to do a DIY for our blog i knew it would be awesome!

i’m sure you’ve all seen the foxtail trend that seemed to take over the blog world last summer… well in a spin on that trend, remember the phenomenon that was rabbits feet? i had a few of the so-called good luck charms when i was little.  but thanks to the crafty genius of halligan, you can make your own faux rabbit’s foot in just a few easy steps and have an adorable keychain or accessory to wear this summer!

Tools:
needle and thread
glue – such as E6000

Materials:
faux fur
beads
wire or looped head pins
bead caps
chain
embroidery thread
tin foil

Instructions:

Step 1: Download and print out template from our flickr page. Cut out your outline.

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Step 2: Trace paper template shape onto the back of two pieces of faux fur.

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Step 3: Cut out both shapes.

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Step 4: Place both fur sides together and do a simple blanket stitch around the outside, leaving about 1 1/4″ open for stuffing.

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Step 5: Turn rabbit’s foot fur side out.  Then take your tin foil, roll it up and squeeze enough to fit vertically inside the pouch.  Then, use polyfill to fill any remaining open space.

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Step 6: Slightly curl lips of opening, line with glue, and pinch closed with a clothespin.

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Step 7: Trim extra fur from around tip of you rabbit’s foot form.

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Step 8: Use embroidery thread to wrap tip of rabbits foot, tie off and glue string ends.

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Step 9: Sew 3 bead “toenails” onto base of rabbit’s foot.

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Step 10: Use a curled head pin or curl wire to form loop. Put loop through bead cap and put glue onto wire before inserting into top of rabbit’s foot.

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Step 11: String chain into loop.

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All done! Use them as keychains, hang from your car’s rearview mirror as a good luck charm, or clip them to your bag or belt loops for a super cute accessory :)

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images by the talented jess roberts, and be sure to check out halligan’s website here. thank you so much ladies!

top two images via fashiontoast and minkpink.

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13 Comments on wednes-diy

wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, features

a couple of weeks ago a package came in the mail for me and i opened it up to find this insanely cute pair of owls that one of our fp girls in denver had made.  i immediately had to find out how she made them and she was kind enough to send me photos and instructions!

what you need:

needle & thread
scissors
2-3 fun mismatched fabrics (perfect use for an old free people bag!)
2 buttons
small piece of felt
stuffing

use a paper template like this one to cut out your pieces of fabric – use different fabrics for the top and bottom to give it a fun mis-matched look! you’ll need two pieces of fabric for the top (front and back) and two pieces for the bottom (front and back).

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the first thing you want to do when sewing these little guys is sew on the eyes and beak –  use buttons or felt for eyes and a felt triangle for the nose. for the smaller owls, add on a little piece of fabric at the top if you want to be able to hang it (these would be awesome christmas tree ornaments!)

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get funky with this little project, the more fabrics and different things you use, the better! you can use beads, buttons, felt or embroider them.

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next you want to sew the the head to the body, for the front side of the owl and the back. sew on the reverse side of the fabric, which will be on the inside of the owl.

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after completing this step, you can add a thin strip of fabric to cover the spot where you sewed the top to the bottom, if you choose – just adds to the mix of patterns and looks super cute!

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Finally you get to sew the front and back together! place the right sides of the fabric together and start sewing the little owl together all the way around, leaving a small opening the bottom. turn the owl inside out and  stuff the owl – you can even put a little lavender in there to make him smell beautiful!

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last but not least, sew up the opening & you are finished!

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thank you so much michelle!

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12 Comments on wednes-diy

final guest post from honestly…wtf

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, friends, inspiration

Thank you to our friends at Free People for including us in their Guest Blogger Series. Honestly, it’s been a blast! We thought we’d finalize our series with another set of photos that truly inspire us. xx, Erica & Lauren

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thank you so much ladies! it’s been an honor having you on our blog :)

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2 Comments on final guest post from honestly…wtf

introducing our march featured guest bloggers!

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, friends, inspiration

i am very excited to welcome our guest bloggers for the month of march, erica and lauren of the amazing blog honestly…wtf! these ladies are a constant source of inspiration for DIY projects, art, fashion and more, and i’m thrilled they will be sharing some of their projects and inspiration, as well as an exclusive DIY for free people this month – and keep an eye out on our website for some items from erica’s awesome line the 2 bandits!

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Lauren and I, a fashion stylist and designer respectively, started Honestly…WTF several months ago as a way for us to document a shared love of art, DIYs, travel, and most importantly, fashion. We were beyond thrilled when Free People asked us to contribute to their guest blogger series with a few things that inspire us. Honestly, we can trace our love of Free People as far back as we can remember (circa 1990s)! And so in true FP spirit, we are sharing a handful of images from a DIY Tepee Sewing Workshop we hosted on my family’s ranch in California last Fall. After 3 days of handling 400 yards of heavy canvas, sewing 160 button holes, carving 40 willow pins, attaching 36 stress patches and ripping through 20 spools of thread, we successfully made a beautiful 20 foot tepee. Stay tuned this Spring when we paint the outside of the canvas and decorate the inside!

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if you haven’t already, check out erica and lauren’s blog here.

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5 Comments on introducing our march featured guest bloggers!

wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in design, DIY, features

good morning! today’s DIY is once again inspired by our spring store displays – specifically, the colorful silk scarves floating around the ceiling.  our team dyed and hand-painted each one of these scarves themselves! i think they’re beautiful and such a great way to add some color to a space for spring.

what you need:

for our displays, our team used silk scarves from dharma trading co. and dye-na-flow silk dye.

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the dye can be applied to the fabric by simply dipping it in the dye or by using a brush, squirt bottle or sponge to create different patterns on the scarf. once dry, iron the fabric for a few minutes to fix the dye, then wash in cool water with synthrapol and rinse.

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i love the mixture of printed and solid scarves our team used!

if you check out the instructions for the silk dye here, there are a number of other cool dying methods you can try, such as sun printing:

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i never heard of this method before but what you do is arrange cutouts or found objects like leaves and flowers on the fabric while the dye is still wet, and lay out in the sun for a couple of hours.  when you remove the objects you’re left with ghosts of the shapes that look really beautiful.

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i love the idea of sewing a bunch of scarves together like our display team did…they look like prayer flags. i am definitely going to try this and string them up in my apartment!

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11 Comments on wednes-diy

wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in design, DIY, features

in the dressing room area of our pittsburgh store, look up and you will see these amazing chandeliers made out of deconstructed paper umbrellas dancing overhead. they were inspired by the amazing work of artist sylvia marius:

i was immediately intrigued by them and went down to ask our display team how they were made. they were kind enough to give me a little lesson on how to do it and let me use their supplies to make my own! it’s actually not hard, as with most projects it just takes a little time and patience.

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what you need:

a paper umbrella- you can find these in chinatown or online at amazon or party supply stores. don’t worry about the design or quality of the umbrella because you’re going to cut it up!

you’ll also need some cord or heavier string, thread, beads and scissors. i used some strips of fabric our display team had lying around as well, but just for decorative purposes.

our display team had some really pretty beads they let me use, but you can find beads at any craft or art supply store.

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start by cutting the paper out from between all the framing – make sure not to cut the white string part! also our team, and i, opted to leave some of the paper on the frame because we like the way it looks and it gives the chandelier some color. i was able to pretty much just tear the paper right off, this part was easy.

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for the next step, measure out pieces of string to reach from the end of one spoke to the end of the umbrella handle – i tied some of the fabric strips just below where i was attaching the string so it wouldn’t slip down – you could also tape it into place.

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it’s ok if the spokes curve a little bit too – i actually liked how it looked that way. i also wrapped the entire handle in fabric strips… which i probably should have done before tying all the string on… ;)

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now its time to start stringing beads! to leave spaces of empty string in between beads, just knot the thread around a bead and continue.

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tie the strands of beads right to the spokes of the chandelier at random intervals.

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and you’re done! hang the chandelier somewhere that you can admire it, and enjoy :)

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8 Comments on wednes-diy

snow day valentines

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, features, inspiration

i hear chicago had quite the snowstorm yesterday…one of our fp girls sent along these great photos and said she and her roommate, who also works for fp, were snowed in with drifts up past the windowsills and no shovel – the fp store was even closed!

she wrote that they have a rule with every catalog: save one to cut up, and one to keep (i do the same thing girls!). so, being stuck at home, she decided to use old catalogs to make valentines! love this idea, might have to steal it…

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thanks for sharing lauren!

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16 Comments on snow day valentines

wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in décor, DIY

i’m so in love with these hand-painted wooden coasters that i saw on design sponge the other day! they have been painted with hex signs that the author traced onto the wood with carbon paper, but it would be fun to make your own patterns as well :) such a great way to add a bit of color to your coffee table!

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the colors are perfect. click here for the full tutorial!

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7 Comments on wednes-diy

office style how to style!

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, fashion, home office

so yesterday i was walking around the building taking random photos and saw our office coordinator wearing this adorable scarf as a turban.  i’ve seen people wear scarves like this before but i’ve never been able to figure out how to do it – luckily she was kind enough to show me!

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if the scarf is square, start by folding it in half into a triangle shape.  this scarf was particularly large so she folded it over a little bit to make it smaller.

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next drape the scarf over your head with straight edge at the back of your head and the triangle point hanging in front (it’s ok if it hangs over your face, you can fix that later).

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take the ends in your hands and bring to the front as pictured, and make one knot at the front of the head:

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wrap the remaining fabric back around your head and tie in a knot at the back:

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tuck the knot and extra fabric underneath the turban, and do the same with the fabric hanging in the front.

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voila! thanks for the tutorial, A.!

now i just need the loving leopard scarf so i can re-create this look:

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16 Comments on office style how to style!

wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, inspiration

i’m starting to think i have a strange obsession with sticks, driftwood, tree branches… i guess i just really like the idea of incorporating bits of nature into the home. regardless, i spotted this diy the other day and can’t get over it.

you all have probably seen this image before of beautifully painted driftwood by ginette lapalme… i’ve posted it before.  this was the inspiration for the diy project on the blog semi jewels, which takes a piece of driftwood and turns it into a rad key holder:

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i’m in love. check out the full tutorial here.

now does anyone know where i can find some good driftwood in the philly area?!?

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16 Comments on wednes-diy

fan stories: on the fresh coast

Posted by fp julia on in DIY, friends, inspiration

today i want to share a couple more fan stories that have been sent in!

the first comes from amy, who sent in some photos from her blog on the fresh coast, which is titled after living along the great lakes her whole life and weekending near the wisconson glacial lakes, a common activity among people who live in her area.

i really love the photo of her bedroom, which she decorated with some driftwood wrapped in string, inspired by this photo i posted a little while back:

here’s her take on it:

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it looks so cool! i might have to do this :) here are a couple more pretty photos that she sent me from her blog:

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beautiful! thanks for sharing amy!

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5 Comments on fan stories: on the fresh coast

wednes-diy

Posted by fp julia on in DIY

saw these adorable little fabric-embellished moleskine journals over on honestly…wtf and they’ve been hanging around in the back of my mind ever since! any crafts that involve taking a simple everyday object and personalizing it are always appealing to me – plus i am one of those people who does not go anywhere without a journal to jot down notes, song lyrics, doodles, and yes, even blog ideas. i love the little moleskines because they’re nice and small and can fit in any bag, or in my pocket.


what you need: moleskine journal of whatever size you desire, fabric, scissors, a needle and thread.

i’m going to go off on a tangent for a moment and say that one of my favorite place in our building is our visual display team’s workroom.  they have everything you could possibly ever need for crafting! and yes i know how lucky i am that they lend me supplies for some of my projects :)

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these beautiful scraps of fabric are from antique quilts our team finds in india… you may recognize them from many of our store displays! it’s nearly impossible to pick one because they’re all so special but the rich cerulean blue of one really stuck out to me.

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cut the fabric to your desired shape.  honestly…wtf recommends gluing the fabric to the journal first so it doesn’t move around, and then sewing with a sewing machine.  while that would be much easier, i did it by hand, without any glue, and it worked just fine – and here’s my cute little journal!

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i have a feeling this is going to become a regular thing now…

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17 Comments on wednes-diy