how to make autumn fairy cupcake toppers

October 22, 2012 By movita beaucoup in crafts, diy, the ballerina bakeshop, tutorial 16 Comments

. . .

As far as crafts go, this is about as easy as it gets. But you should know that the tiny ballerina cupcake toppers are just that – tiny. They are only a couple of inches tall from head to toe. So if you don’t like finicky, elf-sized projects, walk away.

You will need:

vintage style ballerina cupcake toppers – you can find these on etsy, ebay, and through other merchants – they are about 2 inches tall – google vintage ballerina cupcake toppers
autumn coloured craft paint (I used a rust colour) – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well – for painting the bodice and tutu
autumn coloured glitter – to match colour of the craft paint you have chosen for the bodice and tutu
gold craft paint – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well – for painting the tiara and pointe shoes/ballet slippers
small, artificial flowers in autumn colours – with petals that can be snipped off
mod podge or other glue – quick tack glue works well on the flower petals
teeny-tiny paint brushes for painting
small paint brush for applying glue
small paint brush for brushing off extra glitter
small, sharp scissors

We will be using these super difficult to understand terms in this tutorial:

Key to this project is finding the right artificial flowers for the job. I took my little ballerina with me to the craft store so I could find flowers that had petals that were an appropriate length and width for tutu decorating. I managed to find some very small flowers, and then chose my paints and glitter to match.

Begin by painting the bodice and tutu of your ballerina in your chosen autumn colour. I used a rusty colour. This may require more than one coat of paint. Please refer to the photo above if you are unable to locate the bodice and tutu. Don’t forget to paint the underside of the tutu – most dancers don’t parade around in crotchless costumes.

Paint the tiara and pointe shoes gold. Her shoes might be hard to define – just glob some paint on there. (Oh, and you could use another colour if you like.)

Snip the petals off the flowers and apply around the tutu. This takes some patience – you have to find just the right petal to fit each section of the tutu. Let the petals hang slightly over the outer edge of the tutu. You will have to hold each petal in place until the glue sets slightly – which makes this a great activity to do whilst watching romantic comedies on a Saturday night. You could place the petals close together or have them overlapping. It’s up to you!

Finally, apply glue to the bodice, and then sprinkle on the glitter. After the glue has dried, brush off any excess glitter with a small paint brush. You don’t want glitter falling into your cupcakes. (Bleck.)

That’s it! You can use your toppers on top of cupcakes or cakes, or act out scenes from your favourite ballet with them. (Actually, don’t do that – it’s way creepy.)

Note: when you buy ballerina cupcake toppers, you will notice that they come with loads of imperfections – the paint will be absent in places, gooped on in others. I’m not sure what happens in the manufacturing process; I believe kittens are involved. If there are annoying paint smears in places, you can gently scrape them off with something sharp – I used an unfolded paperclip. Bear in mind that this means other stuff can be scraped off your ballerinas as well – including anything YOU put on ‘em. Handle them with care.

Disclaimer

I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that these cupcake toppers aren’t edible. DON’T EAT THESE CUPCAKE TOPPERS, DOOFUS. Also, they aren’t suitable for small children. Because they will eat them.

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how to make swan lake cupcake toppers

August 23, 2012 By movita beaucoup in crafts, diy, the ballerina bakeshop, tutorial 27 Comments

. . .

As far as crafts go, this is about as easy as it gets. But you should know that the wee ballerina cupcake toppers are just that – wee. So if you don’t like finicky, elf-sized projects, or if you have gargantuan fingers, walk away. You’ve been warned.

Black Swan Cupcake Toppers

You will need:

vintage style ballerina cupcake toppers – you can find these on etsy, ebay, and through other merchants – they are about 2 inches tall – google vintage ballerina cupcake toppers
black craft paint – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well
teeny-tiny paint brushes for painting
mod podge or other glue
black glitter
small paint brush for applying glue
small paint brush for brushing off extra glitter

swan lake cupcake toppers | movita beaucoup

We will be using these super difficult to understand terms in this tutorial:

First, paint the bodices and tutus of your ballerinas black. This may require more than one coat of paint. Please refer to the photo above if you are unable to locate the bodice and tutu. Don’t forget to do the underside – most dancers don’t parade around in crotchless tutus. If you can’t find the underside of the tutu, I have shown you an example in the photo below. (On the right.)

You might want to paint her tiara as well. Actually, do it. Don’t be weird.

Now, you could stop right there, and your black swan would look top drawer. Or, you could use a small paint brush to apply glue to the bodice and tiara, and then sprinkle on some black glitter. I didn’t do the tutu, but you could.

After the glue has dried, brush off any excess glitter with a small paint brush. You don’t want glitter falling into your cupcakes. (Bleck.) You could also feather her tutu – as I did for the white swans (see tutorial below) – but I wanted my black swans to be sleeker than the white. I’m sure you are relatively mature, and can make this decision for yourself. If you require help with this decision, please request assistance in the comment section.

White Swan Cupcake Toppers

You will need :

vintage style ballerina cupcake toppers
white craft paint – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well
teeny-tiny paint brushes for painting
mod podge or other glue
small paint brush for applying glue
white(ish) glitter
white crafting feathers – something floofy
small paint brush for brushing off extra glitter and feathers
small, sharp scissors

Begin as you did for the black swans – paint the tutus and bodices white, including the underside of the tutu. If you cannot find the tutu, bodice and/or underside of the tutu, please refer to the black swan tutorial up above. This step will likely require multiple coats of paint, depending on the paint’s coverage and the original colour of the ballerina. Don’t paint the tiara – leave it silver.

Paint on the headpiece – it’s an essential part of the white swan costume. Paint a band of feathers extending from the front of her head back to her bun. See below if you are confused.

Use a small paint brush to apply glue to the bodice, and then sprinkle on some glitter. After the glue has dried, brush off any excess glitter with a small paint brush. Again, you don’t want glitter falling into your cupcakes.

It is time to feather the tutu. Do not feather the tutu unless you want teeny-tiny feather bits all over your house. They will be on your clothes, the floor, your cats, the walls… Do not email me to inform me that you got teeny-tiny feather bits all over your house. Deal with it yourself.

Use scissors to cut very short, teeny-tiny floofy bits of feather. Bits of feather will fly everywhere. Collect the feather bits in a container. Do not do this by an open window. Trust me.

Apply glue to the tutu and then sprinkle and gently press the feather bits all over it. It will be very floofy. See the hairy swan below.

After the glue has dried, use a small pair of scissors to trim the excess feathers off the tutu. Then use a wee paint brush to brush the excess feather bits off. You could do this outdoors. I wouldn’t do it if there are birds around.

Place finished toppers on top of a cake, cupcakes, or use to act out deleted scenes from Swan Lake:

Note

When you buy ballerina cupcake toppers, you will notice that they come with loads of imperfections – the paint will be absent in places, gooped on in others. I’m not sure what happens in the manufacturing process; I believe monkeys are involved. Let’s call the imperfections charming. If there are annoying paint smears in places, you can gently scrape them off with something sharp – I use an unfolded paperclip. Bear in mind that this means other stuff can be scraped off your ballerinas as well – including anything YOU put on ‘em. Handle them with care.

Disclaimer

Speaking of eating, here are the links for the Black Swan Cupcakes and White Swan Cupcakes

how to make fabric flags

September 23, 2011 By movita beaucoup in crafts, diy, tutorial 3 Comments

. . .

Do you like little flags and banners? Of course you do. Everybody does. And don’t you think they’d be perfect on top of, say, a birthday cake? Sure you do. You could probably even find other uses for them. And I bet you’re thinking: movita, I can’t make my own fabric flags! No way! No how! But I’m here to tell you that yes, yes you can. Because a monkey could make these freakin’ things.

You will need:

fabric
drop cloth
fabric stiffener
scissors
card stock or other heavy paper
fabric pen or pencil for tracing template onto fabric
wooden skewers
fabric glue (or any glue, really)
the intelligence and dexterity of a monkey

First, you’ve got to find yourself some fabric. Find something pretty. I found some new fabric that I thought looked a little vintagy. (Yah. It’s a word.) Lightweight cotton seems to do the trick. The quilting aisle at the fabric store always has neat stuff, and often has little remnants that they are practically giving away. This project is also great for using up any fabric scraps you’ve got laying about. Alternatively, you could cut up some of your kids’ favourite clothes.

Then get yourself some fabric stiffener. Follow the instructions on the bottle. I cut out squares of fabric (about 6 x 6 inches) and then spread them out on a drop sheet (because the fabric stiffener mists a bit). I gave my fabric squares a good coating of fabric stiffener.

You can use multiple coats of stiffener if you find that your fabric isn’t holding itself stiffly enough after the first coat. I wanted my fabric to be able to hold its shape – i.e. look like a wee flag blowing in the wind – so I did 2 or 3 coats on each piece of fabric, and I sprayed both the front and back of each fabric square. (I let the coat on one side dry before misting the second side.) Just read the bottle, people. It will tell you what to do.

Once your fabric is stiffened and dry, cut it into wee fabric flags or banners. Use nice sharp scissors. I made a little template for my flags that I crafted out of card stock, because I’m smart like that. (And because I wanted all of my flags to be the same size.) See? See the flags in that picture under there? The template looked exactly like those flags, but it was made out of paper, doofus.

To make the template, I cut a small rectangle (about 2.5 x 0.5 inches) out of card stock and then notched one end. Then I traced the template onto the back of my stiffened fabric with a fabric pen, and cut my flags out. I used one of those magic fabric pens with the disappearing ink. Magic!

Then attach your flag to the top of a skewer. I used fabric glue because it’s the strongest stuff on earth. (Don’t glue yourself to the skewer though.) You could also use a low temp glue gun or some other sticky substance. Put a dab of glue on the end of the flag, and then wrap it around the skewer. Also, don’t worry if the flag pole seems disproportionately large when compared to the wee flag. You can cut the skewers to different lengths, silly. Oh, and because the fabric has been stiffened, you can shape your flags a little – give a ripple here and there. Make ‘em look all I’m-blowin’-in-the-wind and stuff.

Then poke your flags into a cake. Or a potted plant. Or whatever. I bet you could even write messages on them with a permanent fabric marker. Messages like: happy birthday! Or, if you don’t like the flags I made for you, you can jam it!

Told ya it was easy.

Now quit googling stuff for a while. Go forth and craft.

how to sew curtains (tutorial)

February 4, 2011 By movita beaucoup in crafts, diy, tutorial 12 Comments

. . .

Our basement/rec room/man-cave has been in desperate need of some privacy curtains. Curtains that will allow light to come in through the small windows, but also keep people from seeing us in our pyjamas when we watch television. When you’re this cute, you live in constant fear of kidnapping.

You’ll need:

fabric
thread (which matches your fabric)
scissors (your nice, fabric-only kind)
straight pins
measuring tape
iron, ironing board, sewing machine

I’m not a sewer. I don’t make my own clothes or anything like that. (Mostly because when your mother did make clothes for you when you were a kid, you develop a fear of quilted vests and gauchos.) But making curtains is really easy. If you can cut and sew in a relatively straight line, you’ll do just fine.

First, find some fabric. If you’re like me (a non-professional sewer), you’ll probably want to avoid anything too sheer or fancy-like. I chose a medium weight, cotton blend fabric – easy to work with. You’ll have to decide what kind of fabric will suit your needs – do you want to block light? Are you hoping for privacy? Are you going to want to wash them easily? Choose your fabric accordingly.

Calculate how much fabric you will need. For the length you’ll want to measure from the curtain rod to where you would like the bottom of the curtain to fall. Depending on hem depth, you’ll need as much as an extra 8 inches in length (on top of the measurement from the rod where you’d like the bottom of your curtain to be). As for width, it depends on how much gathering or fullness you’d like. If you want a full curtain, many people double the width of the actual window, but you could go anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the width.

Pre-wash and iron your fabric. Of course, you shouldn’t do this if you’ve chosen a non-washable fabric. That would be silly. I washed my fabric on the delicate cycle and tumble dried it with low heat. Pre-washing (and pre-shrinking) your fabric will prevent a shrinkage disaster down the road. Ironing your fabric before you begin sewing will make the whole job easier, and allow you to make neat cuts and hems.

Trim off the selvedge edge. This edge is usually white or off-white and might feel slightly thicker than the rest of your fabric. Trim it off to avoid puckering when you are sewing. Do it. You want your curtain to look right, don’t cha?

Cut your fabric. Measure three times, cut once. For my little basement window, I measured the length from the curtain rod to where I wanted the bottom of the curtain to be (16 inches) and added 5 inches. This allowed for a 2 inch curtain rod pocket at the top and a 2 inch hem at the bottom. You’ll see. Keep reading. If I were making a longer curtain, I might have wanted a deeper hem at the bottom of the curtain, and I would have adjusted my measurements accordingly. Each of my hems starts with a 1/2 inch tuck under, so that is always accounted for. So, for my 16 inch curtain, I needed my fabric to be 21 inches long.

I use a self-healing cutting mat on my craft table for cutting. It has a nice grid to help me line up my fabric. I also use a clear crafting ruler and a fabric marker that fades away like magic. That’s right. You draw the straight line with the marker, cut, and then the line just disappears. Awesome.

Hem the sides of your curtain. First, turn your fabric under 1/2 inch to the wrong side (or back) of the fabric, pressing with a hot iron as you go. You want a nice, crisp fold.

Then turn the fabric under another 1/2 inch, pressing with the hot iron as you go. (You can adjust the depth of these hems to your liking, this is just what I did. You could, for example, do a 1/2 inch fold and then a 1 inch hem.)

Pin the double-folded hem in place. I like to pin every few inches, and I like the heads of the pins to point in a direction that makes them easy to pull out as I sew.

Sew the side hem. Sew a straight seam along the side that you have just pressed into place. I always secure my hems with a little backstitching at each end of the seam (just sew a couple of stitches, stop, use the reverse stitch function on your machine to back up a couple of stitches, and then proceed.) When hemming, I like to run the foot of my machine right along the pressed edge. It helps me keep a nice straight line.

Repeat on the opposite side. Yup. Repeat the two 1/2 inch folds on the other side of your curtain and sew.

Sew the curtain rod pocket. I like to do this before the bottom hem, as I can then hang the curtain to double check the measurements for my bottom hem. As with the side hems, turn your pocket edge under 1/2 inch to the wrong side and press. Then fold under an additional 2 inches, pressing as you go. Pin as you did for the side hems, and sew the straight hem. Once finished the rod pocket, do a little test hang of the curtain, and then proceed to the bottom hem.

Sew the bottom hem. Turn the bottom edge under 1/2 inch to the wrong side and press. Then fold under an additional 2 inches, pressing as you go. Pin as you did for the side hems, and sew the straight hem. Again, if I were making a longer curtain, I would have made a deeper hem – up to 5 inches deep. This would help weight the curtain and give it a nice hang. But with wee curtains such as the one I was making, I wanted a more subtle bottom line.

You can adapt this method for any sort of curtain you might want. One panel, two panels, long, short… whatever you like.

I made one for the man-cave:

And one for our office:

Yah, I know the pictures are dark. It’s a basement. And I’m not a professional photographer. Cripes.

Next, curtains for the craft room. I’m seriously cute when I craft. It’s a security risk.

how to make suet treats for the birds

January 17, 2011 By movita beaucoup in diy, garden, recipes, tutorial 10 Comments

I’m kind of obsessed with birds. It’s an obsession that developed when we bought the ~~house~~ Cat Farm. It started with one little bird feeder on the deck. Now we’re up to four. And 2.0 bought me the birds a heated bird bath for Christmas. He attached the bath to the deck this weekend and I even saw a bird drinking from it this morning. It was very exciting.

The cats sit upon the viewing bench in the dining room and watch the birds as they congregate around the feeders. I like to think of it as kitty cable tv. It took months to attract bluejays to our yard, but now they visit all the time. And though some people don’t like greedy starlings, they are welcome here at The Cat Farm.

Anyhoo, now that I know the birds have a heated spa (and source of drinking water in the cold months), I have turned my attention to creating suet treats. I’m no birding expert (I have a life), but after doing a little research, I learned that making suet treats is a very easy thing to do. There are millions of recipes and combinations online – it would seem that birds are easy to cook for. I make my suet in smallish batches, but you could make yours in huge batches and store your treats in the freezer. The important thing is a nice ratio of suet/fat to seeds. Think of the suet you buy pre-made at the store – there’s lots of yummy fat in there.

I start with some bird seed – a mix of several types we’ve got on the go. I’m trying to appeal to a variety of birds that frequent our feeders – blue jays, chickadees, four million starlings, etc.

Then I chop up some dried cranberries. Yah. That’s right. Our birds are essentially eating the same granola I make for 2.0 and I. We’re all class here at The Cat Farm. In total, about 1.5 cups of seed mixture, with about three tablespoons of chopped cranberries.

I buy frozen suet at the grocery store. Maple Leaf Chopped Beef Suet to be exact. It comes in 375 gram bags in the freezer section of the meat department. I’d read online that it really stinks when you heat it up, but the warnings were greatly exaggerated. So, put your suet into a saucepan and melt it over low heat. Don’t leave it unattended and stir constantly. Fat is a great way to burn your house down, so heed the warnings and use very low heat. I use about 3/4 of a package of suet – I just eye-ball what I think will mix well with my seeds – maybe a cup and a half of frozen suet. (That’s about equal portions of seed mix to suet.) You could play with the ratio. The suet I use melts well and doesn’t require straining, but if you find some bits of… stuff… that won’t melt down, remove the… stuff.

As an aside, I learned that it’s really hard to take a flattering picture of suet. It’s fat, people. And it ain’t pretty. So I took a picture of it in its melted state, with the addition of some peanut butter. Yup, once the suet has melted, I stir in a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter. That makes it smell pretty darn good. I’ve seen some recipes that add as much peanut butter as lard, so I’m thinking you could add as much peanutty goodness as you like. I won’t tell you, however, as some websites do, that you will be tempted to eat your suet treats. That’s what some websites say: it looks so good you’ll want to eat it. No. No you won’t. It’s bird seed. And beef fat.

So, once the suet is completely melted in the saucepan, stir in your peanut butter, allow it to melt down (stirring constantly) and then remove from heat and let the mixture cool and thicken a little. Then stir the mixture into your seeds. Mix well.

Pour the suet/seed mixture into some aluminum tart tins. Let the mixture set. I partially fill four tart tins. Here in Halifax, we can recycle these tins, so once I’ve used them a few times, I can wash them and then put them out by the curb for collection. Awesome. I wash them, by the way, in between uses as well. Treat your birds well so they’re less likely to poop on your head.

Once the suet treat has solidified somewhat, I cut two small holes in the tins – close to the top and right across from one another. Then string a long piece of twine along the bottom of the tin and through the holes. (Pictured above.)

Then tie the suet feeder to the deck.

Gather the kitties by the window and watch the action.

Remember that your suet mixture is a perishable product. You don’t want to make your little friends sick, and you don’t want to attract the kind of friends that like rancid meat to your yard. You can make several servings at a time and store them in the freezer. I just stack my tart tins in a ziploc bag and freeze them that way. (The already-made suet bird treats you buy at the store have been fabricated in a manner that means you don’t have to worry about this.)

You can also make your suet in baking pans and once solid, cut into servings for your suet feeders. You could measure the dimensions of your feeder and cut your suet accordingly. Freeze the cut portions in plastic wrap, bags, or containers and take ‘em out when needed.

Also, suet is a winter treat. It will melt in the summer, and that’s gross. Your feathered friends enjoy suet in the winter because it gives them loads of energy to be cute and stuff. In the summer, they’ve got the image of you in your speedo for that.

Want some more suet recipes? Here are some from the Baltimore Bird Club. Click here.

movita beaucoup

equal parts cursing sailor and martha stewart

Category Archives: diy

how to make autumn fairy cupcake toppers

how to make swan lake cupcake toppers

how to make fabric flags

how to sew curtains (tutorial)

how to make suet treats for the birds

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