Make It Monday: Plush Strawberries DIY Place Cards
Let’s start off the week with something sweet. Strawberry season has begun! I love this time of year in the produce aisle. Watermelon and strawberries are my vice in the summer. There were fantastic trucks full of delectable fruit. All summer long, driving back from the beach my mom would stop and get boxes of fruit to nosh on way. Mmm, mmm tasty.
Strawberries and summer weddings are the perfect pair. Seasonal fruits make a great addition to red and white decor. I thought I’d make some adorable fabric strawberries that don’t go bad or get smooshed. These little guys could be used any number of ways, but I chose to embellish place cards today.
Let’s get down to business!
What you’ll need:
- two kinds of red fabric
- green felt
- needle and thread
- scissors
- stuffing
- pen
- floral wire
- place cards
1. Using your pen, trace a circle on your fabric, vary the sizes but don’t go too small or your strawberries will be non-existent.
Make it Monday: Half Square Runner
Friends!
Guess what I’m starting this summer… Make It Mondays!
Each Monday I’ll be working on a new DIY project that you can implement in your wedding day decor or even your home. I’m starting it off with a super easy sewing project. I started quilting a couple years ago and I fell in love. What’s so remarkable is everything is just straight lines. Nothing crazy or difficult, just precise cutting and stitching in straight lines.
Right now I’m working on a quilt for my bedroom. It’s my first queen size and it’s pretty daunting! The entire thing is made up of half square triangles. They are simply a square the is divided, diagonally, into two halves with two opposing fabrics. It’s amazing what you can do with this simple quilting method.
As I was stitching the half squares for my quilt I had a thought, these would make amazing table runners and bunting banners and even a guest book!
What you’ll need
- A cutting board (you don’t want to mess up your table or cut up your carpet)
- A rotary cutter (this is a rolling blade that makes it super easy to cut straight lines)
- Cotton thread to coordinate with your fabric
- 1/2 yd of 12-15 different fabrics (or less depending on how many tables you have to make runners for)
- Pen (or if you’re fancy, a fabric pen)
- Sewing machine (it only needs to stitch straight lines)
- Iron and ironing board
Start by selecting a set of fabrics that coordinate with your color scheme. If you’re concerned at all about finding patterns and colors that will work together you can always get a fabric line that already coordinates. I love Hawthorne Threads for this. Depending on how many tables and how long they are will determine the amount of fabric you need. I got a half yard of fifteen different fabrics.
1. Cut each fabric into strips the width of fabric (wof) by the height you want your squares to be. Mine were 87/8 inches and 47/8 inches. You add the 7/8 inch to make up for lost fabric when you sew the fabric together. Next cut each long strip into squares.
2. Now comes the fun part, matching up your fabric squares. You can easily see how each square will look in the end by putting the right sides together and folding back the top half on the diagonal. Line them up perfectly edge to edge and corner to corner.
3. Use your ruler (again I recommend the clear lucite ones you can get at any fabric store. It really is a dream come true!) and mark a line on the diagonal one corner to the other with a pen.
4. Now it’s time to sew! Stitch one quarter inch to the right of the line you’ve marked. We’re going to make a continuous stitch from one square to the next so they can drape off the ends of the table. When you get to the end of your square lift your foot off the pedal to stop stitching, then place the next set of fabric squares under your presser foot (that clear plastic thing on my machine keeping the fabric in place). Then continue sewing and feed the next set through.
5. When you reach the end of your set ( the length you want for your table) trim the thread, turn the set around and begin stitching one quarter inch to the right of the line again. You should already have stitches to the left of the marked line. Stitch all the way down the set.
6. Now use your ruler to cut on the marked line, making very sure not to cut the stitches linking one square set to the other. You now have two identical sets of table runners.
7. Iron the seams open, bottom and then press again on the top.
8. Now layout the set on the length of the table and decorate! (I cut the linking stitches apart on the identical set and widened the runner by placing squares in the open spaces.)
You can also make much smaller squares to be used in a photo booth, or at an alter, at a dessert table. I also thought it would be fantastic to have guests sign the pieces and then later it can be made into a quilt with your wedding colors and messages from your friends and family. Take it a step further and let guests place their squares on a board and design the quilt for you!
What do you think of this DIY project? Is it doable? Have an event, wedding, shower, birthday or otherwise? Stuck on something you need for the soiree, i.e. favors, place cards, decor, tablescapes, etc? Let me know your color scheme and theme and I’ll give it a whirl. Who knows your project could be featured next! Love the idea but don’t have time to make it? Email me and I’ll give you a quote (meg at megruth dot com).
Check back next Monday for some sweet summer inspiration!
Display Thursday – Play Up Your Space
I’ve kinda been toying with the idea of putting pictures up on my chevron wall, crooked. As in following the chevron stripes on the wall. Think I’m nuts? I might be, but today I’m going to show you some other spaces where you might have thought people were nuts to think they could do something like this, until you saw it that is.
First of all, I love this staircase. It reminds me of a townhouse my friend used to housesit for. It was incredible. I love how this stairwell’s height is emphasized by the vertical arrangement of photographs. Glorious and mesmerizing, no?
Have a mildly dull space? Add diversity with bold stripes, then emphasize that even more by putting photographs in alternating stripes. This is easy and interesting to look at. Do it, you know you wanna!
Buchanan Family: Henderson Family Portrait Photographer
I’ve known the Buchanans for a few years now. They’re competitive and fun and super laid back about life. Which makes them a joy to photograph. And right at this very second I am at Girls Camp with their oldest daughter, Skylar!
I get to hang out and mentor Skylar in the Young Women’s program at my church and she is one motivated girl! Last year she traveled to Guatemala to bring food and aid to a very remote village of people. It was an amazing thing to witnes it change her mindset.
We headed down to the Smith Center to explore and check out the new, rad art deco inspired spaces and the great art on display at Symphony Park. I’m going to see Wicked there in September! I’m so glad Vegas has decided that it needs more than nightlife on the strip. I’m hoping to be a season ticket holder soon!
Tyler was hysterical and completely livens up this family with his joy for life.
Cade and Casey are as in love as ever. All of a sudden the kids would get these vacant expressions on their faces while I was taking their photos and I’d turn to see a smooch-fest behind me! Fantastic. That my friends is the best thing you can do for your relationship, make out in front of your kids. Haha!
So happy to be a part of this family’s fun! And happy they let me take them to a location they’d never been to before. Brave folks. Brave, brave folks. And look how it paid off!
Display Thursday – Itty Bitty
It’s been eons since I’ve done a Display Thursday and I’m pretty sure this is one of my favorites ever! I love taking photos, obviously, and I know you either love taking them or looking at them too.
Polaroids, Intax, Instagrams, or just small prints are perfect for an amazing wall graphic. Don’t want to commit to paint or wallpaper? A little sticky tack and some photos and you’re on your way! There are so many things you could do with this idea. Create an entire checker board wall! And the great part is that you can keep adding or changing images out indefinitely.
If you’ve got loads of pictures you love and want to put them all up without a lot of fuss why not just divide a canvas into a grid and put all the images on it? This image shows two canvases side by side with nine square images on each. It looks great and is a fantastic statement piece. Plus black and white images can coordinate with nearly every color scheme possible.
Image via Creative Mama
I saved the BEST for last because when I saw this I wanted to squeal because it made me so happy. I’ve recently become completely obsessed with Instagram. Send your Instagram pictures in to Stitchtagram and they will create a custom, handmade pillow just for you! Amazing, right? I especially love that this amazing man proposed to his girlfriend with this pillow. How sweet! Had this been around when Sir Luke and I were dating I would have loved it.
Janda Family: Las Vegas Family Photographer
Friends, it’s been way too long since I’ve written to you. And I extend my sincerest apologies. I am going to try and remedy that! I have some great ideas coming your way and I hope you’ll join me in a little exploration this summer. I’ve got one more week of travel and then I’m all yours! And now for some gorgeous family photos!
Besides having an affinity for cute dogs and the ultimate surround sound the Jandas are a close knit family that love the outdoors and spending loads of time together. You can feel the love my friends. One hundred percent.
I always love to take younger kids to Montelago at Lake Las Vegas because there are so many places for them to run around and look at. It helps them relax and have fun instead of worrying about smiling at the right time or the right way.
Each kid in a family is so different. Dason is way more observant and curious about things and Mia just dives right into everything, head first. I love how you can see into their personalities within the imagery. It’s a testament that photography should be about the individuals and not about the best prop or location.
And we can’t forget about mom and dad. Everyone needs a stellar Facebook photo these days!
Thanks for spending a beautiful evening with me, Jandas!!
