DIY Pirate Hat Tutorial

A pirate hat I made from a simple straw hat.

My youngest daughter, aged 10 has been enjoying herself recently attending local Comic Cons and dressing up.  So far she has been Princess Belle, Princess Merida and also Hermione from Harry Potter. This time she was wanting to dress as a pirate for a Mini Con Pirate and Fairies theme.  We managed to put together a costume from different items of clothing purchased from local charity/thrift shops.  The biggest challenge was finding a pirate hat. We managed to find a straw hat just a day before the event, so I had some quick work to do to get it pirate ready!

Items needed:

• Straw hat or similar shaped hat as shown.
• Ribbons, broken or unwanted jewellery.
• Needle and thread.

Instructions:

Step 1:  Fold the hat into a tricorn shaped hat. Place some stitches using similar coloured thread to the hat to attach the brim of the hat to to hat part.
Step 2:  Decorate the hat, I hand stitched ribbon, folded all the way around the outside of the hat as shown. I then attached a different ribbon along the first folded one to hide the stitches and also add design to it.
Step 3:  Hand stitch pieces of costume jewellery to the hat. I used a pair of unwanted earrings to the side and an old brooch I no longer use to the front.
Step 4: Optional - If you have any feathers you could attach those too!

Below are some photos of my daughter wearing her hat and also her full costume.

She also designed a fabulous treasure map to go with her costume. She has this on her own blog, here is the link: artyprincess.com/2017/04/diy-treasure-map-doctor-who-theme.html

Ceramic Owl

My 9 year old daughter has been attending a homeschooling ceramics course with her friends. Some of the mums were able to do a piece to, this is my attempt at ceramics.  I quite like how it turned out. You never quite know how it will turn out when you paint it as the colours you paint on don't look like the colours they will turn out like.

Batman Birdhouse

I think my latest posts are showing my inner Geek haha!  Here is another Batman Post, this time a painted birdhouse.  I bought a plain wooden birdhouse and painted it in the colours yellow and black and then hand painted a bat symbol onto the roof.   I think it turned out quite well. Will look perfect in a lovely garden.  Once I had painted the birdhouse I then gave it a coat of varnish to protect it when outside.

Below is a photo of a plain birdhouse that I bought.

Batman Book Fold Art

Another Geeky Crafty Post.  I decided to try some Folding Book Art, I did try this once before but then never got around to it again.  This time I tried using a pattern, one I made myself.  It took me quite a lot of time as I am not very experienced in this, but I was really happy with the final outcome.  I used a black book for this so didn't need to decorate the outside of the book, just the folding needed to be done.

Death Star Painted Candle

I recently shared a painted Dr Who Tardis Candle, this time I am sharing a Star Wars Death Star Candle I hand painted with acrylic paints.  I used the ball candles you can find in many stores, my daughter currently buys these and paints them with henna theme designs.  She has one candle left over so I thought I would give it a go.  I love how it turned out, even though it's not easy painting a round candle.

Dr Who Tardis Paper Cutting

If you have been following me recently you will see that I have become quite a Dr Who Fan, and my 9 year old is an avid fan too!  I decided that seeing as I have also started enjoying Paper Cutting I would put both of those likes together and design something jointly. So here is a Dr Who Paper cutting that I have recently done. I really love how it looks framed.

Sci-Fi Face Painting Designs Star Wars Dr Who Turtles

I am sharing some photos of some face painting designs I have recently done.  I have put together a collage of Sci-Fi designs from Dr Who, Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Some are designs I have done on the face and some have been done on the arm.

Acrylic Dr Who Tardis Painting

If you have seen my previous post, you will know that I am a Dr Who fan.  My youngest is also a fan so I thought I would do some artwork to go in her room.  So I have been busy painting recently.  She is also a Star Wars fan so I might be sharing some more art work on my blog with a Star Wars theme too.

This is just a plain white canvas that I painted in a galaxy colour background, which I splattered with white paint using a toothbrush to give a white starry effect.  Then I hand painted the Tardis on the top of the background.  My daughter loves this painting.

Hand Painted Dr Who Candle

I admit it, I am a Dr Who fan and so is my youngest daughter.  My elder daughter is normally the one who decorates candles but I thought I would have a go myself at decorating a candle.  So I chose the theme 'Dr Who'  and hand painted a Tardis onto a plain pillar candle with a Galaxy theme background.

I am quite pleased with the outcome for a first attempt.  I might have a go at some other designs now.

Paper Cutting EmbellishBox design

Here is another papercutting I have recently done using an EmbellishBox design.  I have previously blogged about the new monthly EbellishBox package that I received in the post. This was one of the designs from the box.  The original  design was slightly bigger with more detail than this but I just cut out the part of the design I wanted.

Here is the link to my http://www.karimascrafts.com/2016/11/embellishbox-review.html

Upcycled Scarf Bag Tutorial

I have been busy recently making some Upcycled Scarf Bags.  I use second hand scarves that I buy from thrift stores/charity shops. I make these scarves into tote style bags and add a lining with a pocket using upycled fabric too.  I am making these to sell on my craft stall or on my Etsy page.

I have posted a while bag showing the original tutorial on how the standard bag is made from a scarf. Here is the link: http://www.karimascrafts.com/2013/07/scarf-surprises-30-days-of-ramadan.html

Photo above shows some of the tote bags on my craft stall.

Candle Cozies

I have been upcycling again recently.  I still have quite a lot of felted fabric from old woolly jumpers.  I have used some of the fabric for previous projects but still had some spare sleeves.  So I thought I would make some candle cozies from them. These were the perfect size to fit the glass candle jars I had at home.  No need for any tutorial to be honest as very simple.  Once the jumpers have already been felted you simply just cut them to size, deciding if you wish to have a turn on the design.  I actually used the same sleeve for different designs of fitting them to the candle if you look closely. One of the cozies I actually cut a felt flower out and hand stitched it to the sleeve for decoration.

I have been selling these on my craft table events.

You may recognise some of the pink felt sleeves from the jumper that was used for a project my now 9 year old daughter made a while ago, an owl felt cushion. This is the link to the owl tutorial: http://www.karimascrafts.com/2015/06/owl-cushion-tutorial.html

Craft Table Events

I have now officially done 2 craft table events.  I might have a 3rd one booked up next week, still waiting for confirmation.  I thought I would share some photos of my tables. I have had both my daughters helping me out and selling some of their items too.  The first one I did was on a weekend for a local Islamic charitable event, I was so glad to be part of this. I was also offering my services as a face painter for that event too.  My second event was at a local call centre during the week.

I have shared some photos showing my tables and some of the things that I have for sale.  I have also set up an ETSY shop to sell some of my stock. Bear with me as this is so new to me so still learning.

I had for sale some different types of pincushions, some cozy candles, framed papercuttings and upcyled scarf bags.  Also on the stall were my daughter's Sea Glass Necklaces and painted candles.

Here is the link to my ETSY shop: Karima's Crafts Etsy Shop

EmbellishBox Review

I was approached by another local crafty business (EmbellishBox) and asked if I would like to do a review on her new business venture. She already runs a successful business but has now decided to start a monthly subscription box business as part of that. She also has an Etsy shop too. Subscription boxes seem to be extremely popular at the moment and the fact I love trying new crafty things I took her up on the opportunity to review this for her. I have to say I am honestly so glad that I did as I loved the monthly pack that she posted out and I had the chance to learn a new craft - Paper Cutting.  My young children also got involved too, because if you are an avid follower you will know my girls are also very crafty and love to get involved when they can in my work or their own work.  Even though I was sent this box to review, all that I write in this post is of my own personal honest opinion.

So what is EmbellishBox?

If you love paper cutting then an EmbellishBox is perfect for you. (Also great for newbies like me!)
Each box follows a theme, giving you at least 3 printed templates to cut yourself, a self-assembly house to collect and gifts to the monthly theme (The theme this month was Hygge).  It's a collection of beautiful things, and the only way to be first to have the new months templates.  There will never be a repeat box.  During the month, the templates in the box will be exclusive to EmbellishBox members. At the end of the month the templates will go up for sale in the Etsy shop - the cost of the box, including all of the extra items, will always be less than the cost of the templates individually.  The boxes start at £18 month to month. Check online for all prices.

So what was inside this month?

In this months subscription there were:
HYGGE TEMPLATES - Home Sweet Home, Hyggestund
Hygge at home, Hygge house
BACKING PAPERS - From Paper Story ( www.paperstory.co.uk )
HYGGE GOODIES - Hot chocolate Cone (and candy cane) from Van-illa Treats (www.facebook.com/vanillaTreat), Candle from Berry Bootique (www.facebook.com/BerryBootique), Fingerless Gloves handknitted by various talented people.
As a special I was given some colouring in sheets of the designs for my 9 year old daughter to colour. These can be purchased alongside the box if you ask.

I already have scalpels and Cutting Mats at home which is to be expected being a crafter, though it is my daughter who mainly uses the scalpel.  For this project you will need to have a cutting mat and scalpel with spare blades. You will probably need to use a few blades for each piece of work to make sure that the cuts are nice and neat.

I decided to start on the 'Home Sweet Home' design. I have to admit I did panic a bit at first as I have never done this before but after reading the instructions that I was sent from EmbellishBox and also a few youtube videos I found online I was a bit more confident.  I personally think I should have tried first on a scrap piece of paper to get used to holding and using the blade. I did make a few little errors and it was impossible (being a novice) for me to do the very fine details and parts of the design, but nevertheless I think it turned out really well. It might not be to clear from the picture but I did manage to cut parts I wasn't supposed too, but don't worry because when you mount the design onto backing paper you can stick the parts back on!  If you notice in the top right I cut more from the tree than I was supposed to, but it was remedied later.

It was so nice to also stop in between and have a yummy hot chocolate drink which was also provided in the box!  The chocolate pack normally includes marshmallows but being Muslim and also vegetarian (recently) I was provided with Maltesers as a replacement.  I must say I have never tasted any better hot chocolate drink.  I will definitely be trying normal hot chocolate with Maltesers in the future! The hot chocolate was provided by Van-illa Treats, their link is shared above.

I was also really happy to receive the gloves. I actually did need a new pair so this was very good timing. Above is a photo of my daughter modelling the gloves with the hot chocolate.

My 9 year old enjoyed joining in with the review by colouring in the sheets that I was personally sent. She will be sharing those on her blog at a later date, no doubt.  These can be requested as an extra when you place your order. My older daughter is going to have a go at one of the other designs that was included.

We also love candles in our house so it was nice to have a different scented candle to light in our cold winter months as part of the package.  So my final comments about this box are: I loooooooove it and would definitely recommend it to those who are both new to paper cutting like me and also for those who are experienced as you get a new surprise every month, boxes are never repeated.  You also get sent the designs via PDF so you can make more to gift to your friends or family.  I will definitely be doing more paper cutting after trying this craft out.

And so for my finished piece of work.  I used one of the backing cards provided which was a silvery colour but the photo shows it more of a black design. I already had a white frame in the house and placed the design into the frame and it is now proudly on display in my Living room.

As a special offer to my blog followers I have been given a 15% off Coupon Code: KARIMA15 This is valid until 20th December 2016.

Below are some handy links for this business:

Subscription box website: http://www.embellishbox.co.uk/

Business Website: http://www.embellishcuts.co.uk/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/embellishpapercuts?__mref=message_bubble

Facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thepapercuttingroom/?__mref=message_bubble

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/embellishcuts

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/embellishcuts

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/embellishcuts

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/EmbellishPapercuts

Here is a link to an interview: http://www.artiststrong.com/creative-spirit-amy-purdie/