Blog - Cotton & Flax

diy

Favorite Purl Bee DIY projects – Holiday Edition!

DIY supplies

Are you making any of your holiday gifts by hand? I tend to make at least a few gifts each year, although I never seem to have enough time, and end up buying the rest of my gifts on Etsy or at local craft fairs and holiday markets (like Renegade!) When I do have some free time to work on DIY projects, I love to turn to The Purl Bee, one of my favorite DIY project resources, for inspiration.

If you’re like me, and are starting the holiday season with the best intentions to make your gifts by hand, maybe these DIY projects from The Purl Bee will get you started!

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Taking a break with a summer cocktail

Cotton & Flax coasters

I’ve been hard at work preparing for Renegade Craft Fair the last few weeks, which means long hours cutting fabric, silkscreen printing, sewing, and ironing. Don’t get me wrong – I love my work, and the feeling of flow I get while I’m working is incredibly fulfilling – but it’s also pretty exhausting when I am preparing for a big show.

moscow muleOne of the hardest things about that grueling schedule is that LA has been pretty darn hot lately, getting into the mid 90’s most days. I drink lots of ice water during the day to stay cool (the AC unit in the studio is unreliable, to put it nicely), but in the evenings, I’ve been cooling off with my favorite cocktail, a Moscow Mule. While I don’t drink it in a copper cup, which is apparently the traditional presentation, it’s just as cool and refreshing in a regular glass.

The recipe is simple: 1/2 ounce lime juice, a few ice cubes, 2 oz. vodka, and 4-6 oz. ginger beer (not ginger ale)

I may even make a non-alcoholic version to enjoy during the day! A little sparkling ginger lemonade sounds pretty good as well. If you have a drink to recommend to help me stay cool, let me know in the comments!

Great Sewing Books for Beginners (and non-beginners, too)

Best Sewing Books for Beginners - resources for learning to sewI mentioned in a previous post how lucky I am that my mom taught me how to sew, and in my cranky teenage years, no less! She taught me the basics on a machine that is quite similar to the one I use as my primary sewing machine now. Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time poring over sewing books in bookshops and libraries, and investing in the ones I found most helpful. Today I’d like to share some of my favorite sewing books for beginners, although I think many of these are great resources even for more experienced sewers….

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Valentine’s Day DIY – Eraser Heart Prints

Patterned valentines DIY from Cotton & Flax

Riffing off my other eraser printing DIY project, which uses a new pencil eraser to make cute polka dotted gift wrap, I thought I’d take that DIY a little further for Valentine’s Day. I love using stamps to make patterned gift wrap or cards, and carving your own heart stamp is super easy!

DIY Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need:

  1. Varied cards or papers
  2. Envelopes
  3. Stamp pad
  4. Carving tools (I use an x-acto knife and a small printmaking carving tool)
  5. One brand new pencil with an eraser, one pencil to draw with

eraser

Start by drawing a little heart on the unused eraser. This will be your guide as you carve.

carved eraser

Proceed by carefully (and I mean CAREFULLY! I don’t want anyone getting hurt!) cutting around the edge of your drawing, and cutting away the edges. It’s very easy to accidentally lob off the whole eraser if you’re going too fast, so take your time. Watch out for your fingers, those x-acto knives are sharp!

Valentine's Day DIY from Cotton & Flax

All that’s left to do is stamp! I used a black stamp pad, but you could use any color. I would love to do this project using neon pink ink. You can go super simple, just stamping a single tiny heart on the card or envelope, or you can go wild!

valentines from Cotton & Flax

I made a few different versions, one of which I am sending to my sister. I made her address label using some of the leftover paper! Hope you’re inspired to send a sweet snail mail valentine to someone you love.