Craft Swap - Pimp Your Office

I recently joined another craft swap and the theme was Pimp Your Office! My office mates and I are currently attempting to decorate our office - so I thought this was quite timely.

Before I show what I received, I thought I would share what I made:

1. Shoe bag - fefff, this was the hardest thing I made because I messed up my measurements and had to insert a panel. I cut 1 square for the bottom of the bag, then one rectangle that would be sewn to the square to complete the bag. Before I sewed the rectangle and square together, I sewed a "tunnel" (sorry - my brain froze, I can't think of the correct description) for the ribbon to pass through to close the shoe bag. Then I just sewed the square and rectangle together the best I could. To finish it off, I threaded ribbon through the "tunnel". I didn't line this bag because it is meant for shoes. The inspiration came from these bags that Smiles of a Summer Night made - big difference between the one I made and hers are the size - I made mine quite large. Oh ya - I used home decor weight fabric that I bought from Ikea - I used this heavy material so I wouldn't have to line it or use interfacing so it would keep it's shape nicely.


2. Magnets - these are super duper easy to make. I bought all the supplies at Michaels - what was needed is glass beads (found in the plant section), decorative paper, glass glue (modge podge works), and magnets. One trick I learned is to glue the glass bead onto the paper BEFORE cutting the paper. It is way easy to cut the paper nicely so it fits the glass bead. Then glue on your magnet!


3. Birdie pencil holder - I found a wooden pencil holder and I actually covered the front with fabric. First step of course is to paint the whole thing white (I did 3 coats of white acrylic paint). Then I covered the pencil hold part with some nice paper. Lastly, I glued on the fabric - I traced the bird outline onto the wrong side of the fabric and then cut it out approximately 2 cm bigger than the outline (this is so it could be glued to the edges). Once the fabric was glued on, I glued on white ribbon around the edges to cover the seams of the fabric. I think it turned out quite nicely.


4. Chalk Board Painted Pots - This was super simple! I painted 3 pots with black board paint (comes in a container or in a spray can - I used the container type because I wanted some texture and didn't want to deal with spraying the pots). I painted 3 coats of the blackboard paint to ensure complete coverage. Once dried, I modge podged some pretty decorative paper around the top. I actually put a coat of the modge podge glue over the paper to ensure that it was water proof. Voila! A pot you could write on!


5. Dreamcatcher - my swap partner had put a dreamcatcher on her wish list, so I thought I would take the opportunity to learn how to make one. There are a lot of great websites out there that provide wonderful instructions! I had no problems making it and I think it turned out quite nicely.


6. Lastly, I gave my craft partner a wall sticker - Obviously I didn't make it! I found a bunch of pretty cool wall stickers at a local store called Paboom.

Wall sticker in my craft partner's office

I will show you what I received back soon!