Tissue Paper Pumpkins - Fresh Living

This is my first blog post since the fires came to our mountain home.  We are so thankful to be back in our home, with all of our neighbors and friends close by.  If you follow me on Instagram you know the story of how close these fierce flames came and how the prayers of many changed hearts and allowed us all to see a true miracle.   I will write more about it soon.  

We missed a four weeks of fall in our home with the evacuations and are getting caught up on our pumpkin addictions.  One of the prettiest pumpkins in our home is the collection of Tissue Paper Pumpkins.  I love these pumpkins because they are low cost to make, and are so pretty with the variety of prints and colors.  They look like hand painted pumpkins you would purchase in a high-end boutique....but you made them for dollars.
To make these Tissue Paper Pumpkins you will need:
Plastic Pumpkins White Chalk Paint Knife Patterned Tissue Paper Mode Podge Chip Brushes Scissors Glue Gun Disposable Table Covering

I purchased my plastic pumpkins on discount at our local dollar store.  Some of them had solid stems which I cut off using a knife.  Some of the smaller ones had stems that would pop off with hand pressure.  Either way, you will want to remove the stem and set it aside until later.

If there was any stem coloring on the pumpkin body or if I used a orange pumpkin, I painted it white with Chalk Paint.  You want a white surface so the tissue paper pattern shows well.

Let's talk tissue paper while your paint is drying.  I love beautiful patterns and colors and especially in delicate papers.  The tissue papers I purchased from Amazon were part of a wildflower collection in the previous link.  You can find any kind of patterned tissue paper, however, you do pay for quality when you pay a little more.  Meaning, the colors do not bleed and the paper is a little thicker which works great for this craft.

Fold the paper into a square and cut the open edge in a curve to create a circle.  Lay the circle over the top of the pumpkin and make sure it reaches about 3/4 of the way down the pumpkin.  The smaller the pumpkin the smaller the circle.  The larger the pumpkin the larger the circle will be.  Cut two circles.  

Using Modge Podge Matte and a chip brush, lightly coat the top of the pumpkin down about 3/4 of the way.  Carefully place the tissue paper circle over the top of the coated pumpkin and begin smoothing and folding the paper to the pumpkin.

Make folds or tucks where the ridges are on the pumpkin and lightly press the paper down to the surface.  Go all the way around pressing the paper down.  

At this point you will tip the pumpkin upside down and repeat the coating of the pumpkin down to the edge of the top piece.  Take your second tissue paper circle and eyeball the size from the point of the fold and the bottom of the pumpkin to the edge of the top piece that is already glued on.  Trim in a curve to create a smaller circle.

Place this smaller circle down on the bottom and fold and smooth it out as you did to the top piece.  Once it is stuck down.  Coat the entire tissue paper covered pumpkin in Modge Podge to seal the paper.  Let dry for 4 to 5 hours.  Using hot glue, adhere the stem to the top of the pumpkin and let dry.

These gorgeous pumpkins can be used in floral arrangements, on candle sticks, in baskets, etc.  Anywhere you want a fall touch of color.  Keep them up throughout the holiday season...I know I will!

You can watch the KUTV Fresh Living segment today at 1:00 PM to see how these are made.  I hope you enjoy this project.  It takes a gentle touch, but no mistaking these pumpkins are tough but pretty and will last for years to come.

Kaleidoscope of Fabrics Quilt

One of my favorite quilts of all time was this super simple Kaleidoscope of Fabrics Quilt that I made with my daughter.  She loved boho florals and did not want them cut up into little pieces.  All she wanted was them framed so each block print stood out.  Most of us have a collection of prints we just can't think of cutting up, and this simple and quick quilt if the perfect pattern to show case them.  It is also a super simple quilt for beginners!

 This quilt only took two hours to make (minus the shopping and machine quilting)...and is so easy that anyone could make it.  It is a throw size (64 x 85)...perfect for a bench, couch, or corner of a bed.
Materials
12 fat quarters 1 3/4 of fabric for sashing (borders) 5 yards for the back & 3/4 for the binding Cotton batting (twin size) Thread, rotary cutter, mat, ruler, iron
Instructions
1.  Trim all of the fat quarters to 18 inches square using you rotary cutter, mat and ruler.  Press.
2.  To make the sashing (in-between borders), cut 15 strips of fabric 3 1/2 inches wide.  Then cut across four of the strips to make eight pieces that are 3 1/2 x 18 inches wide.
3.  Cut three of the long strips in half and sew five of the half pieces to the ends of five strips to make  five strips that are 3 1/2 x 59 inches long.
4.  Cut one more strip in half and sew each half-piece to the ends of two strips to make the side borders.
5.  Press all of the strips.
6.  Lay out all of the 18" squares on a floor or large surface in the pattern you would like.  
7.  Using a 1/4" seam, sew one 18" long sashing strip to the side of the top left block square (right sides together).  Press.
8.  With right sides together again...sew the next block square to the other side of the 18" strip.  Press.
9.  Continue this process until all four of your rows are stitched together.
10.  Then you will take the top row and carefully pin one of the 59" long strips to the bottom of the row (right sides together) and using a 1/4" inch seam, stitch it together.  Press. 
11.  Sew the row together using the remaining 59" sashing strips.
12.  After the rows are sewn together you will pin the top border and bottom border to the top and bottom rows and sew together.  Press.
13.  Lay out the remaining two long strips onto the quilt top and pin to the top (right sides together).  Make sure the seams in the border strips are laying where you want them to.  Trim off any of then excess border...and stitch together.  Press.  Hurrah...you quilt top if now done!!!
14.  Measure the baking fabric and seam it together to cover the edges of the top of the quilt.  Make sure you leave 3 to four inches all the way around for your machine quilter to use in her quilting process.  
15.  Iron the top, and back using a spray starch for a little stiffness.  This will help the quilter as well.
To finish the quilt either machine quilt it or enjoy the process of slow stitching it together.   I had a dear friend quilt mine with an all over floral pattern that matched the flowers in the block squares.  A special polka-dot block had a heart stitched into it.  
16.  Once you have it quilted, you will want to bind it.  Cut eight strips 2 1/2 inches wide for your binding.  You can find instructional videos on binding techniques on the web....maybe I will need to make one myself.

This darling quilt was made with love for your daughter and has been shared with her family and friends on picnic, beaches visits, and whenever a warm "hug" from home was needed.  It was so easy to make it is the perfect quilt to make as a gift.  So find your favorite collection of fat quarters and start sewing your own Kaleidoscope of fabrics into a quilt of your own.

Happy Barn Quilt Anniversary

Today is kind of a special day here at Tweetle Dee.  It is our three year Barn Quilt Anniversary!  Three years of painting and teaching this folk art beauty, and many, many others.  We totaled our barn quilts that we have painted and it is over 3 thousand!!!!  That doesn't count all of the supplies and patterns that have gone to our amazing crafting people.

To say we feel very blessed is an understatement!  

Our First Published Barn Quilt & Elsie and Ollie To celebrate we are giving you the special code to our Anniversary Sale for the rest of August!  Shhh...it is BQAnniversary.  Don't pass it on, no wait....pass it on!!!  We want everyone to celebrate this month!!!  

 The First Tweetle Dee Barn Quilt

So, get yourself a big glass of punch (or Spiked Diet Coke) and a cupcake and celebrate this anniversary with us!  Seriously, we are so grateful to all of you for the love and support these past few years.  We cherish the friendships we have made along the way and look forward to many more of these experiences as we continue to grow.  

Our All Time Best Selling Barn Quilt - The Texas Star

So remember BQAnniversary is the code and we are celebrating until the end of the month!  We love you all.  xoxo Abby & Mike

Barn Quilt Pumpkins

Our newest collections of pumpkins are in The Shop and oh man are they so cute!  You all know how much we love fall and the rich colors of the season, and these pumpkins fill my pumpkin dreams right up.  There are three different patterns, the Sawtooth, Rhodie, and the Checkered Star.  Each of them come with a barn nail stem loaded with berries and bows.

Barn Quilt Pumpkin Collection

Checkered Star Barn Quilt Pumpkin

Sawtooth Barn Quilt Pumpkin

Rhodie Star Barn Quilt Pumpkin
We are having a holiday pre-sale in The Shop through Monday with every holiday item in the shop 20% off!  Use code Holiday20 at checkout.  Our Barn Quilt Pumpkins are ready to go and we can't wait to share them with you.  It's pumpkin time!!!

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Oh heavens, it's National Ice Cream month and we had to celebrate with a birthday last night by making our family's Chocolate Chip recipe and a big scoop of ice cream!  This cookie recipe has been passed down in our family and is my go to when I need to make either a ton of cookies or really large ones.  It has this magical quality of being perfectly firm on the outside and soft on the inside...and they never fall apart!  They are the perfect cookies for placing a big scoop of your favorite ice cream on!!!

Lyke Family Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups butter 2 cups white sugar 2 cups packed brown sugar 4 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 5 cups oats 4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp. salt 2 tbl. baking powder 2 tbl. baking soda 4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 8 oz. chocolate candy bar, grated 3 cups of chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter with sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla to mixture and beat well.  Grind oats in blender until powdery.  Stir in flour, oats, salt, baking powder and soda into batter gradually.  Add chocolate chips and grated chocolate into batter.  Add nuts if desired.  
Form batter into golfball-sized balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minuets.   Take out of oven and let rest on hot tray until cooled.  
We have a new young friend staying with us  for a while who is from Australia and he said that they never had cake for birthdays, but they had a big tub of ice cream...with candles!  So we made up these big cookies and sang happy birthday to him with a huge scoop of chocolate chip goodness.  
You can make these ahead and place the ice cream in between the cookies and place in the freezer until it's time to serve them.  This recipe made about 24 ice cream sandwiches!  Seriously...it was the best for a summer birthday night in the garden.