Tutorials

Spun Cotton Boats: Handmade Cotton Batting Ornaments

These darling little boats were inspired by the sparkly Sebnitz ships of the late 19th century.  The small German town of Sebnitz was known for its marvelous handcrafted Christmas ornaments which ...

Making a Retro Glam Agate Slice Epoxy Resin Table

Every summer I try to learn a new creative skill, or make something with materials I've never used before.  Making this agate slice table with epoxy resin was an ambitious project, and I wasn't rea...

How to Make a Sugared Orange Spun Cotton Ornament

  In this tutorial, I am sharing my process for turning a plain spun cotton ball into a beautiful orange ornament.  Spun cotton ornaments of this type were popular in the 1920s and 30s, and fruit t...

How to Dye Pipe Cleaners for Crafts - DIY Tutorial

Extreme crafters rejoice: you can dye your own pipe cleaners!  I was wanting some pipe cleaners in various pastel shades for my spring craft projects, but I was disappointed by the limited selecti...

Macrame Plant Hanger - Craft Tutorial with Easy Macrame Knots

  This macrame plant hanger uses simple knots to create, and makes a great statement piece! The finished plant hanger is just under 5 feet long. It has some cool chunky wooden macrame beads, and a...

Basic Macrame Knots: Simple Square Knot Tutorial + Adding Beads

 If you lived through the 1970s, you might remember this!  One of the most basic macrame knots is the square knot, and it's actually very versatile.  This tutorial shows how to tie square knot in ...

Giant Paper Flower for a DIY Wedding Backdrop - Craft Tutorial

I recently had the chance to make some wonderful large crepe paper flowers for a friend's wedding.  They were to be part of a backdrop installation, so we needed to make a lot of flowers that fil...

Plants on Pink Easter Eggs - Painted Spun Cotton Eggs

  Today I'm making some handpainted Plants on Pink Easter eggs!   These fun eggs are inspired by the @plantsonpink Instagram sensation.  There truly is something irresistible about that combinatio...

Mossy Fairy House DIY Tutorial

This is a darling cottage-style mossy fairy house.  It's simple to make using a paper mache house as a base.  After wrapping it in sheet moss, I'm putting on a rustic roof made out of corrugated c...

Technique: How to Make HOLLOW Polymer Clay Beads Using Spun Cotton Balls

Ever wondered how to make HOLLOW polymer clay beads?   With this technique I'm making some fun marbled beads to string up on a ribbon. They are perfectly round and smooth, and it's great to be abl...

Assembling a Wax Flower Hair Comb Tutorial

  In this tutorial I'm assembling a wax flower hair comb with the pretty picks I made in the last tutorial. This romantic hair comb would make a beautiful bridal hairpiece. Instructions for making...

Making a Wax Flower Pick DIY Tutorial

In this tutorial I'm taking the wax flowers and buds I made in the last tutorial, and wrapping them together to make a pick for a hair comb.  You can use embroidery floss or wire to do this bindin...

Wax Flowers DIY Tutorial

In this tutorial I'm making DIY wax flowers with a romantic Victorian look to them.  The buds are made of spun cotton, and the wax-dipped flowers are crepe paper.  You need to make the paper flowe...

Simple Paper Flowers DIY Tutorial

These simple paper flowers are made out of one-size petals applied to spun cotton eggs.  They look like little wild roses or spring blossoms.  These are the type of blossoms that I use to make my ...

Tutorial: DIY Concrete Flowers

  This tutorial is from a few years ago, but it's a goodie!  These concrete flowers are inexpensive to make, and look stunning when they're done.  They look like carved stone, and are really elega...

Tutorial: Miniature Spun Cotton Fruit Craft Project

Make your own tiny spun cotton fruit!  I'm sharing techniques for making a pineapple, pears, strawberries, plums, oranges, and cherries in this fun fruit craft project. I've been wanting do a fru...

Retro Spun Cotton Birds

These adorable retro spun cotton birds were inspired by some Christmas ornaments that were made in Japan in the 1950s.  I've sold a bunch of them, and they often came in blue, teal, and white.  Th...

Tutorial: Make Giant Paper Flowers

Back when my Storybook Rose tutorial went viral, I started experimenting with different materials for flower-making.  I found that the same rose technique could easily be scaled up, and so I start...

How to Make Spun Cotton Mushrooms

Here's a great way of making whimsical antique-style spun cotton mushrooms with loops for hanging up as ornaments. These would look adorable on a woodland Christmas tree, and make super unique gif...

Tutorial: 5 Minute, No-Sew Lace Lavender Sachets

For this project I'm using vintage lace trim to create simple lavender sachets.  You can also use lace fabric cut into strips.  It's a good opportunity to use scraps and remnants of things you hav...

Tutorial - Glowing Crepe Paper Waterlily Luminaries

This is a tutorial I originally produced for 100 Layer Cake, which you can view here. These waterlily luminaries are a real showstopper! Great decoration for dinner parties or outdoor events.   De...

Tutorial: Plaster Fairy Mushroom Picks

It seems that so many amazing crafts originated in Germany.  These plaster fairy mushroom picks were inspired by some vintage German-made ones, and would make great embellishments for lots of proj...

Paper Flower Tutorial: Storybook Paper Roses

I originally did this tutorial for 100LayerCake.com, and it remains one of my favorite projects.  Here I'll share the original post, plus some extra photos and details about how I make paper roses...