Simple Pencil Case Tutorial

Today I bring you a super simple yet super cute tutorial!  Check out the original on Sweet Verbena's site.  Learn how to make this super quick and adorable pencil case for you, your kids, your friends, really anyone headed back to school for the new semester!

You need 2 cuts of fabric for the exterior and 2 of felt for the interior.

Don't be scared away by the zipper - I didn't even use a zipper foot!  It's so easy!

Lay down the fabric right side up then the zipper face down at the top.  Lay one piece of felt lined up at the top with those two. 

Sew.

Repeat on other side of the zipper.

Next sew all 4 pieces together across the bottom, right sides together. 

Now make sure to open up that zipper, at least half way.

Push the sewn bottom down so that it is laying on top of the zipper.

Sew both sides, this is how you make the pencil case flat, with the zipper in the middle.

Cut off extra fabric on the sides and bottom and turn.

Done!

See?  Told you that was easy. 

Now if you don't have your own sewing machine or time or desire to make you own, you can buy one over here, at my etsy shop Precious Prep!

Now if you want to make things exciting you can add embroidery, use 2 different fabrics, and move the zipper off center.  Let me know in the comments how you'd make it your own!

Here's a tip: If you do decide on embroidery, make sure that you do that first, so the back gets covered with the felt and looks much neater :)

Go Gators! :)

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Makeup Brush Roll Tutorial

Today I actually had time to do some crafting!  How exciting!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have been working on my new blog Deals Actually!  I hope you'll check it out soon!

My tutorial today is for a super cute makeup brush roll!  This is super quick to make (30 mins?) and would make a great last minute Christmas gift for all the lovely ladies on your list!  How cute would this look in someone's stocking on Christmas morning?

So all you need to make this is some felt, fabric, and ribbon!  So easy!

First, cut felt to 8" x 9" and 4" x 9" (super easy if you are using a sheet of felt like me!)

Wow the felt looks GREEN in that pic!  I promise it does not glow in the dark! :)

Next, sew the 2 pieces together, creating the slots for your brushes.  I left a half inch on either (for the next step) and then I have a 2" slot on each end and four 1" slots in between.

Now cut out your fabric to 9" x 8" (I didn't actually measure, I just used the felt as a template!)  You'll also need a length of ribbon.  Exactly how long?  Whatever your gut tells you ;)

Next place the fabric and the felt right sides together (the side with the slots is the right side of the felt).  Make sure you fold the ribbon in half and place the separate ends inside your fabric sandwich, leave about an inch of the loop end sticking out.  You'll want to position the ribbon parallel to the top of the slots.

Sew around the edges (make sure you only catch the ribbon on ONE side!) leaving an opening for turning near the middle bottom.  Trim away any excess and clip the corners.  Turn and top stitch the opening.  You should have something like this:

Now how quick and easy was that?!  Felt is my new best friend!  It eliminates the need for interfacing and batting, its basically the best thing ever.  And the edges never fray!  Oh so amazing! 

Fill her up with your brushes:

Roll and go!

No time to make one?  Check out my Etsy store, Precious Prep, and place an order!  I am offering free shipping for the rest of the year!  Take a look around while you're there, maybe you'll find something else you like too!

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Precious Prep Now only $20!

Precious Prep Now only $15.40!

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Fall Wreath Tutorial - Burlap Wreaths

Have you seen the prices they charge for burlap wreaths in stores?! They must be crazy because I made two wreaths for under $20!

And now I am going to teach you to do the same!  So the first thing you need is a bunch of Michael's coupons... no one likes to pay full price, am I right?

I don't have my receipts any more but as I remember the two wreath hoops were about $4 each (before coupon), then the burlap rolls were $4 each(before coupon) (I only needed two!), the felt leaves and ribbon I honestly don't remember the price but I do remember that they were already on sale, so no coupon required!

I searched all over Pinterest to try and find a good way to do the burlap and I didn't really find a great tutorial.  Now you are probably expecting me to therefore give you a great tutorial on how to do it but... I can't say that I could.  What I can tell you is that all you have to do is weave the burlap ribbon in and out of the wires on the hoop.  Thats pretty much the best and only way to describe what I did.  It takes FOREVER at first because you have to pull 15 yards through each time, but it gets easier about half way through and in the end I think I did both in less than 2 hours.

After you have your burlap all poof-ed (is that a word?) and looking the way that pleases your preference, you can tie off the extra burlap that is left to make the hanger hook part.  Again, I can not think of a fabulous way to describe this process.  I just messed around with it until it looked right!  One hint though: make sure that you make the second one the same length as the first one! Otherwise your wreaths will not hang evenly.  I used a bit of hot glue to secure the ends.  Be EXTREMELY careful doing this, hot glue goes straight through the burlap so wait a few seconds before pressing anything down to avoid hot glue-ing your fingers!

Now let your imagination run wild!  If you like the way my wreaths turned out, which I really hope you do, keep reading!  Otherwise, share what embellishments you're using with me in the comments! :)

I purchased two bouquet things of leaves at Michaels, half of them were regular fake leaves and the other half were kind of a felt material.  I loved the way the felt ones looked so I only used those.  For the bows, I used about 6 yards of ribbon each!  I had never made a bow from ribbon before so yet again I don't have step by step instructions for you, sorry about that!  But if I can figure it out, so can you!  The ribbon I had had wire in the edges so that helped a lot to keep the shape of the bows.  I would suggest getting a similar ribbon if you aren't a bow expert, like me.  Just work that ribbon until it works for you!

Then I just used hot glue to get everything on there!  It helped me to lay them both out before glueing so that I had an idea of where everything would go before committing to it with the hot glue.

Finally give them to your mom as a surprise when you come home for the weekend! ;)

Thanks for reading!
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