Alternative Baby Mobile Hanger DIY

Nursery preparation is one of the most fun things during pregnancy . It can be a little stressful if you are constrained with time but, if you happen to have the time and the energy, it can be really enjoyable. I had a relatively easy pregnancy with almost no vomiting, little sleep issues and moderate feet swelling. So, I got to do some handmade projects for my daughter's nursery including a dresser change over, putting a wall paper, and a making a mobile hanger. When I think about those days now, I recognize that all my creative juices were flowing with the pregnancy hormones. It is funny how the women body works...

When I first started looking at the baby mobiles, I was overwhelmed like all the other baby products, there is a ton to choose from. While shopping at a mall, I finally found a beautiful musical sheep mobile at Pottery Barn baby store on the sale section that I absolutely loved and bought. I then needed something to hang the mobile from. I  searched online and found mobile hangers that attaches to the crib. I thought that these were not safe and the colors were also not a good match for my daughter's gray colored crib. They usually come in white or brown. So, I came up with an alternative colorful solution to this by hanging the mobile from the ceiling. I bought some pastel felt balls to match the wall paper and crib colors from  Craftywoolfelt on Etsy. This store has lots of color options to choose from. I used the string that came with my order and a transparent fishing line to line the felt balls to make it sturdy enough to carry the weight of the mobile. I spaced the balls half an inch apart from each other .

You can even make these felt balls yourself which I have done before for a necklace (tutorial is here). However, I decided to buy this time to save money and time.

I used a metal hook to hang it from the ceiling and tied the string to a strong knot. The one suggestion I have for you is to keep the height not too long. When my daughter started to stand up to pull, I had to adjust the length so she wasn't able to pull it. This crib mobile turned out to be one of the favorites of my daughter while she was little and she loved watching the sheep turn and play for a long time before she fell asleep.

Thank You Card for Baby Shower DYI

Hello! I am back, after a long break to share a new handmade baby thank you card project with you. I apologize for not writing for such a long time my dear followers. My husband and I have recently welcomed a new member to our family, a sweet baby girl called Daphne Mina. She is almost two months old now. I have been enjoying my maternity leave while I watch her grow and get cuter every single day. I have lots and lots of new and original projects to share with you that is mostly mother oriented including Daphne's nursery. To begin with, here is the handmade thank you card I made for my baby shower. 

Thank you card for bay shower

The baby bump silhouette shaped card in pink tones is perfect for a baby girl shower but you can also modify with a blue background for a baby boy. I started with cutting the pregnant mom figure using a template I drew. You can use one large and one small circle sized objects to create a bump silhouette as shown in the picture above. Then, I cut pink rectangle shaped cardstock paper to fit into A4 size envelopes. I decorated the bump with a tiny crystal heart shaped sticker to symbolize the baby and red ribbon which I glued to the left side of the card. On the right top corner of the card, I used a "thanks so much" stamp to finish off this handmade baby shower card. I used a black ink.

I really believe that handmade cards makes saying thank you's so much more fun and special. I am glad I was able to send a special thank you note to all my friends who were able to shower with me. This handmade cards were also a great project to spend my time as I was anxiously waiting for the little one to born. Hope you like this idea and will use it in the future.

Tutorial for Handmade Cardmaking: Personalized Lab Coat Card for Doctors

I enjoyed my first attempt to card making (here it is), I thought I will try to make an another. This card is for my twin sister who always sends me beautiful cards from Turkey. Mehpare, my sister, is a doctor and currently doing her residency at a hospital southeast of Turkey as a physical therapy and rehabilitation specialist. I saw this card on the web and thought it will be perfect for her: shaped as a white lab coat.

Whether you already make your own cards or just a beginner like me, this personalized lab coat card is doable. It took me two tries to get it right since all I had a photo of it but, I have all the instructions for you with detailed measurements in case you would like to try to make one as well.

Materials: Scissors, A4 size white paper, one white button, adhesive, colored paper of your choice, pencil, ruler, eraser, printer for name tag printing (optional)

Step 1: Fold the A4 sized white paper from both sides in a way that the width is a total of 5" and the two front closures overlap by 1" as shown in the photo #1.

Step 2: Cut the paper vertically to 6". You can make it longer if you are using a large envelope.

Step 3 and 4: Mark 1" from the top and 2 inches from the bottom of the rectangular on each of the two closures, using a pencil.

Step 5: Fold the corner so that the corner will meet on the pencil marks at the top and the bottom. This will be the collar of the lab coat.

Step 6: Apply the same folding technique on the other side. Your card should look like the photo #6.

Step 7: Mark 1" from each corner of the collar with a pencil.

Step 8: Draw a horizontal line from the left corner of the collar to the right as shown in dotted lines below.

Step 9: Cut the squares. Then, draw another line from the bottom end of the collar to where the line in step #8 touches.

 Step 10: Cut the small triangle that is left on the right of the dotted line you draw in step #9.

Step 11: Embellish your card by adding a pocket, putting the button, name tag and the stethoscope.

Step 12: Fill the inside of the card with your warmest wishes and mail/give it to that special person...

I have used materials and papers I already had home. I even re-purposed a paint chip for the red pen and a thick brand tag from a jean for the gray paper for the stethoscope. The black paper is cut from a folder I also had at home.

Tip: You can use this tutorial to make a card for anyone that wears uniform at work: scientists, nurses, chefs,  or doctors.
I have already filled my card and will mail it on Monday. I cannot wait to have it delivered to my sister. Hope you enjoyed this DIY. Please let me know if you decide to make it or have any questions.  

Sparkling Rhinestone Headband Tutorial: Round 1

Sparkling when you are exercising... hmmm, those two words/activities don't usually come together for most of the people out there except for some us who are just born with glitter in their veins. 

I made this sparkling rhinestone head piece for my upcoming 10K run this weekend in Portland. (Bridge to Brews on April 15th). I used my favorite no slip Nike Headband that I wear every time I go running. I could have used a ribbon for the headband but; this one I own has a silicone band glued to it which makes it great for exercising!

Rhinestone Headband for Runners

Materials: Rhinestones, cotton embroidery thread, needle, scissors and a headband

Instructions: I used two strands of rhinestones. You can use only a single strand or multiples. Simply sew the rhinestones on the headband. I sewed two times between the rhinestones to make the coral color stand out a bit. After sewing the rhinestones, I filled the two sides of the rhinestones by sewing more. If you decide to do this step, you will need to do both side to create a regular surface. Otherwise, the headband will fold. No rhinestones are necessary behind the ears - this makes the headband more comfortable while running. I filled the areas where the rhinestones end with extra thread to complete the look.

While I was at the craft store today, my eyes cached this same coral colored feathers and of course, I bought them right away! This calls for a Round 2 on my sparkling rhinestone tutorial which I will be working on later this week. 

Feathers and sparkles... how perfect is that?

Looking forward to see you next week after my run to share some more photos with you...

New Handmade Jewelry Packaging Tutorial

Remember my previous jewelry bags tutorial? As the spring and summer times are approaching, I wanted to use a lighter material for my shop's jewelry packaging rather than felt. While I was visiting my mom in Turkey this winter,  my mom, my aunt and I designed and made these new jewelry bags for A Cup of Sparkle customers.

When we went to the fabric store, I couldn't decide on the color of the fabric... All the colors looked so great! So; I picked variety of colors: red, black, white, yellow, pink and green. The fabric is very shiny, smooth and pretty!

My mom made the bags using her sewing machine and we made tiny flowers to embellish the bags. We used a cheap yo-yo maker tool I bought from Joann's to make these flowers. We used leftover fabric scraps in the house.

Making these flowers are really fun and simple. Below is my mom demonstrating how to make the flowers for you:

Last, we added tiny red sparkling gems on top of the flowers and a matching ribbon. It was a bit of hard work to make each bag but; they turned out so beautiful.

Aren't they look cute?

Now, all of the A Cup of Sparkle jewelry and accessories comes in these colorful jewelry bags. I am extra excited to place my handmade products in these special packaging for Mothers Day presents. I hope you will all enjoy them as much we enjoyed making them.
Special thanks for my mom on this project. She spent 2 full days to sew the bags. THANK YOU MOM!

POM POMS from wool. Learn how to...

Pom Pom Necklace Tutorial

Happy Halloween and a happy Monday to all of you! Hope you are enjoying your day so far. Lately, I have been looking for cozy sweaters, winter scarves and of course some winter accessories. I taught myself to make pom poms and used my wool pom poms to make a necklace using a super easy tutorial. I thought I'll share my newest necklace with you.

Anyone can do this cozy and cute beauty... When I first saw this pom pom style necklaces on the web, I thought I will need expensive tools to make it but; I only needed wool, a thread, some small beads (optional) and some dish soap and water... That is really it. Total cost was less than $5 and 2 hours - including the learning and creating process.

What do you think? Did you like it?

I am in love with it and will be making another one when I purchase more colorful wool. I am thinking red or maybe I will combine various colors together. Click here for the tutorial I followed from Design Sponge blog. I also learned that you can use drying machine to make this pom poms; if you want to try. (Tutorial) I preferred making it 100% handmade to avoid any unexpected results from the dryer...I am unfortunately quite famous with shrinking clothes extra in the drying machine :-)

How to make mosaic artwork with glass - A Tutorial for Beginners

Hello my dearest readers and HAPPY MONDAY!!! I learned to make mosaics couple weeks ago at a class held by a mosaic artist in Seattle. Her name is Laura Wright. It was such a fun evening... Laura was so kind to open her house for this class. I thought I will share with you what I made and what I learned.

My A Cup of Sparkle Laboratory walls were quite naked so; I thought I will make a cup with sparkles... and write my jewelry shop's name with glass.

I made this mosaic artwork  on a 8"x12", 1/2" thick wood board.  I used black, red, soft pink, white colors of recycled glass and mirror for sparkles. The corners are pre-cut square tiles.

Materials: Recycled glass, wheeled glass nippers, substrate, adhesive-thin set/concrete or a tub of pre-mixed AcrylPro ceramic tile adhesive, sanded grout, a plastic knive for spreading, a cup to mix the grout, tile cleaning sponge, bucket of warm water for cleaning the grout on the mosaic, gloves for grouting and a picture hanger to hang your finished mosaic.

Step #1: Draw your design on paper. We will do an indirect method so; you need to draw the mirror image of your design. Place your sticky tape over your picture sticky side up.

Step #2: Place your glass pieces face down accordingly. Cut the glass to desired shape for your design. If you want to make changes, the glass pieces come-off easily. So; don't worry. This step took me around 3 hours... Writing letters was quite hard, but; FUN! :)

Step #3: Place your adhesive on the wood board (substrate) by completely covering it.

Step#4: Flip your design on the board with the adhesive.

Step #5: Gently tap in each piece using your fingers; especially the smaller pieces.

Step #6: After 30 minutes or so, gently pull away the tape from bottom to top. Move around any pieces that need adjusting.

 

Grouting: Wait 24 hours. Place your mosaic on a newspaper. Fill a bucket with warm water. Put your gloves. Spread your grout well-mixed with water on your mosaic. Cover it very well. Wipe off the extra grout. Wait 5-10 minutes. The grout will dry fast and you can wipe it with a towel until your mosaic looks shiny and smooth. Here is a video that explains the grouting part pretty well.

VA-LAaaa!! Your mosaic is complete and ready for hanging. I hung mine already that matched so well with my red wall paint. I am so happy with it :) Let me know if you have any questions on the tutorial. There are also many youtube videos that might help you visualize what I am talking about. 

Wishing you all a great week!

Making gifts extra special with handmade wrapping

Handmade gift wrapping for Christmas

Have you started your holiday shopping yet or maybe even packaging your gifts?

One way to make your gifts extra special is to package it in a unique way. It will make your loved ones feel extra-special! This weekend, I worked on my new jewelry bags for my Etsy shop;A Cup of Sparkle. For Christmas packaging, I designed new bags in two different color combinations: Red and green accented with small bows. You can learn how to make these easy and multi-functional felt bags here from one of my earlier posts.

Jewelry bag tutorial

It is very important for me to present my designs as best as I could to you whether you are getting it for yourself or as a gift. I hope you liked this new handcrafted felt bags... All the A Cup of Sparkle jewelry and accessories will come in these bags from October till January.

Pinecone treats with snowflakes... More fall cooking at A Cup of Sparkle kitchen

Once again, I wanted to take you to A Cup of Sparkle kitchen for more fall season cooking. If you have not seen fall leaves ice-cream sandwich tutorial yet, you should take a look at it! I got so many good reactions from you that I thought I will share another fall recipe with you.

Pinecone treats



Today's cooking recipe is very simple, fun and chocolaty.This pinecone treats are great for thanksgiving and christmas celebrations.Very eye-catching! It will be also a great cooking activity you can do with kids.

Here is the recipe for this nature inspired pine cone treats which I found from Turkish blogs:

Ingredients for ~10-15 pinecones
1/2 packet of rice krispie (~60g)
1/2 stick of butter
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of cacao
2 bars of chocolate (~100g)
1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

Preparation:
1- Melt the butter in a pan. Add the honey, chocolate and cacoo. Melt them all together in low heat.
2- In a large bowl, add the melted chocolate mixture on the rice krispie and mix them.
3- Fill inside of a lemon squeezer to give the shape of a pinecone. Press it and invert it upside down on a serving plate.
4- Let it cool down.
5- Sprinkle powdered sugar before you serve it to make winter snowflakes effect.

Your pinecones are ready in a very short time without baking! I hope you will enjoy making the pinecone treats as much as I did...

AFIYET OLSUN!  (BON APPETIT!)

TIPS: You can add pinenuts, crushed walnuts or sesame seeds to your pinecones to obtain extra flavor and crunchness. You can also use cupcake sleeves to serve it instead of a platter.

Jersey Lace Scarf Tutorial

I have been busy hand sewing lately for my fall wardrope; something cozy chic! I purchased matching gray and yellow jersey knit and lace for my hanmade scarf project. I don't have a sewing machine so; I planned everything as simple as it can be.

Jersey and Lace Scarf Tutorial by A Cup of Sparkle

Jersey scarves has been so popular and my inspiration was a lace jersey scarf I saw on Pinterest. Initially, I thought I would do exactly the same pattern but; then, I couldn't find any good quality lace in the fabric store. In the end, I created my own versatile infinity scarf design in beautiful gray and yellow colors.

Here is my simple schematic step-by-step tutorial I prepared for you. I hope you liked it and it will bring you inspiration to do something crafty. 

Let me know if you decide to try it. I would love to know how your scarf turned out :)

Step #1: Cut your jersey fabric in rectangles. I used the entire piece I purchased for the gray fabric.
You can also repurpose an old T-shirt instead of buying new fabric.

Materials Needed

Step #2: Cut the gray fabric again into two pieces; a short and a long piece.

Step #3: Sew the yellow fabric on top of the smaller dark fabric piece.

You can skip this step, if you like. The yellow fabric I used was thinner and transparent like lace. I did this step to create a dark silhouette behind the branch and flower motifs and also to have a homogenous feel throughout the scarf in terms of thickness.

Step #4: Now, it is time to bring those two pieces together.

I did hand sewing but; I am sure sewing machine will work better.

Step #5: This is an infinity scarf shaped like a big circle so; in this step, you will close the circle by sewing the right and left ends together.

Step #6: This step is also optional. I added a short lace peace where I combined the yellow and gray fabric together. My motivation was to hide my bad hand sewing :) but, I also like the jersey and lace together.

Step #7: Ta-Da...  your handmade, original scarf is ready to accessorize your fall outfits!

Water Lily Napkin Folding Tutorial for a Sunday brunch

Regardless of the simplicity of the meal, napkins folded in variety of ways will complement the food, the layout and the occasion in a major way.

Today, I am having some of my girl friends over for a  Sunday brunch. I saw some beautiful lily pads on my walk around the Green Lake yesterday which is the inspiration to today's tutorial. 

I will be demonstrating to create a water lily using a bright colored napkin.  If you decide to give it try, please let me know how your water lily turned out...

Step 1: Fold the corners of the napkin into the centre and press flat.

Step 2: Repeat the 'step 1' a second time.

Step 3: Holding the center points together, carefully turn the napkin over.

Step 4: Fold the four corners into the center again, but do not press.

Step 5: It is time to make the petals of your flowers now! Holding the center firmly, partly pull out the previous fold from under each corner and gently pull them upwards to make the first layer of petals.

Step 6: To create the base leaves of your water lily, pull out the corners from underneath between the petals.

Step 7: Va laaa...  A fresh water lily ready to put a smile on all of guests face when they come. 


TIP: Lily pad napkins can hold a bread roll, a small gift or a small jam cup (like the one in the 1st picture) or seasonal decorations such as cones for winter time.

Summer Shorts Making Tutorial: Round #1

Like all of us, I had a pair of jeans that needed to be retired. To repurpose my jeans, I made them to shorts and customize them with some jewels. Here is the easy 6 step tutorial on how to make shorts from jeans. I am thinking I need a Round-2 on these shorts so; stay tuned!

Materials: Scissors, old jeans you are tired of wearing, sew-on jewels or buttons, matching thread, needle

Step 1: Lay down the jeans on a flat surface and  cut your jeans to a desirable length - make sure to cut it 2" or so longer, if you are going to cuff them.

Step 2: Decide where you want to sew your buttons or gemstones and sew them on.

I hand-sew them on around the pockets.

Step 3: Sew the other side symmetrically with your preferred material.

Step 4 and 5: Fold the bottom of legs inwards in two layers.

Step 6: Put more sewable jewels on the back.

I had two remaining sew on jewels and I decided to use the couple only in one of the pockets.

Step 7: Try them on and enjoy the sunny days wearing your unique pair of shorts with a personalized touch of sparkle!

Tie Dye a Shirt: Fun Summer Activity

Last week, my husband and I hosted another summer BBQ at our house. For the party, we had a fun outdoor activity: tie dying shirts. Some of us dyed laboratory coats; I chose a simple shirt. My summer shirt turned out really cute (at least I loved it). Isn't the colors beautiful? It was very enjoyable to make AND we managed not to make a big mess :)

How do you entain your house guests? Do you do any activities with them? I recommend tie dying shirts. It is easy and fun!

Here are some of tutorials with awesome patterns I found from other great bloggers:

Bleach Tie-Dying 

Modern Tie-Dying Patterns 

Sharpie Tie-Dying

Lots of different patterns

Extra Important Tips about tie-dying

Party Ideas: Red and White

Last week, I mentioned that I was going to host a Turkish theme party in my backyard. Here are some of the red and white party food and decorations I prepared.

  
Turkish flag cupcake toppers are made of red velvet textured paper glued on toothpicks. I made the flags double-sided. Cutting the tiny moon and stars took a bit of time; but, I really liked how they came out.
The coconut covered carrot bon bons were a bit hit.
Aren't they cute?


I also printed turkish flags and made a banner that my husband hung on the plum tree in front of our house. The paty menu consisted of selection of traditional Turkish cuisine; lentil koftes, kebabs, Meditterean salads.. The main dessert was my strawberry-banana vanilla cake. The fresh, seasonal strawberries really helped the theme. Most of all, Seattle had a great sunny day for our BBQ party.  I really enjoy eating outdoors.

I hope my red and white party ideas will give you some inspiration in your upcoming parties or gatherings.
Happy Tuesday to all of you!!!