Have you discovered Pick Your Plum yet? Oh my goodness! They post a daily craft deal, and I have made quite a few purchases from them. It’s always fun to figure out how to use these awesome supplies in your crafting.
Case in point: these oh-so-adorable muslin and burlap bags:
I originally purchased them with the idea of using them as favor bags for parties, but then the wheels started turning.
When I was getting ready for the First Friday Indie Market, I made up a batch of ditty bags using vintage graphics from The Graphics Fairy. I simple downloaded some graphics, sized them to fit my bag, mirrored the images and printed them onto iron-on transfer paper. Super easy and super cute.
And as the burlap bags were laid out on my kitchen counter, the vision of a using these as a banner came to mind. And that’s how I created this super-adorable circus banner (with a little sewing help from a friend).
If you’ve not explored The Graphics Fairy site, you are missing out on some major crafting inspiration. All of Karen’s images are free, and there are so many ways to use them on furniture, paper crafts, party favors, home decor items, and the list goes on.
In the past, I’ve used Graphics Fairy images for my wax paper transfer cheese tray and my hand-painted signs.
I used the following images from the Graphics Fairy:
I also have a Pinterest board with some of my favorite Graphics Fairy images and ones I’ve used or plan to use in craft projects. You can view that here.
The pennant was easy to make. First, I removed the drawstrings from the burlap bags and saved those for another project. I pressed any that were wrinkled and let them cool.
As with the ditty bags, I just printed the images from the Graphics Fairy onto iron-on transfer paper. I used the kind for light fabrics, so I had to make sure to mirror the image before printing. Then I used some paper snip scissors to cut out the image, cutting as close to the image as possible because I didn’t want to be able to see the outline of the transfer paper once I’d ironed on the images.
Next, I followed the instructions on my iron-on paper to transfer the images to the burlap bags. I found that the key was even, consistent pressure for the prescribed amount of time. I ironed these on top of my kitchen counters, with a dish towel underneath. You need a hard surface when working with iron-on transfer paper, not your ironing board.
Once the paper had cooled, I slowly peeled back a corner to make sure image had transferred completely. If it hadn’t, I hit it with the iron again and let it cool before testing the transfer again.
For the most part, the images transferred well, with little peeling. But I did find that if I got the paper too hot or ironed too long, it was more difficult to peel off the paper without disturbing the image. I didn’t mind the few cracks and peels I got because I thought it added to the vintage effect.
Once I had all the bags decorated, I asked a friend to sew the banner. She used some black-and-white striped grosgrain ribbon from Stampin’ Up, which I’ve had in my craft stash for a while and just sewed the bags to it.
Linking up to these parties:
What a great idea and you both did a wonderful job! Love Pick your Plum & The Graphics Fairy too!