As I discovered last week during my snowflake making party, making the little dandies isn’t as easy as it seems, and not everybody knows how to wield their scissors in creating their own paper snowflakes. So, I thought it might be helpful to do a quick photo-series to help you figure it out, if you’re running into trouble making your own.

Start with a square piece of paper, thin enough to cut through several layers at once. I used marker paper for the banner you see above, mostly for its translucent quality, but also for ease of snipping.

The next part is where it can all go wrong if you aren’t careful. Fold the paper in half, then in half again, and fold it two more times- but be sure you keep folding it on the same axis, or things will go terribly awry when you go to unfold your snowflake at the end!

Alright, so if you have folded your paper correctly, it should look something like this. You could trim off the uneven edge, or just delve right into cutting the sides of the paper at this point.

When you are cutting the designs into the sides of your folded paper, make sure you leave a space on the folded side in between where you are cutting and the top edge (at some point). Otherwise, nothing will hold it together when you unfold it.

Voila! They aren’t perfect, but neither is any real snowflake, right? And when hanging them in a bunch, nobody will notice. Hope that helped ease any paper-snowflake-making angst you might have had, and if I might suggest, having a little get together with friends, warm drinks, and Christmas movies makes an excellent evening for producing lots of these little guys. :)

Happy Black Friday! This is the perfect DIY to inexpensively satisfy your personal shopping urges if you’ve been spending your cash on Christmas gifts for others. I found a wooly pair of tweed shorts for $3 at the thrift store and was inspired to turn them into a funky-fall/winter look.

Here’s what you need for the project:

• Long high-waisted shorts (easily thrifted!)
• Fabric scissors
• Fabric pen (or Sharpie, as I used)
• Tape measure
• Fray Check

Step One:

Trim the length of the shorts. I did this a couple of times, trying them on after each time to see how the length felt on me. Be sure to save some room for the scallops- they will shorten the length a bit.

Step Two:

Measure the width of the leg. I wanted 3 1/2 scallops across the leg, so I divided this length by 3.5 and found a circular object around the house that matched this diameter. It just so happened that a candle lid worked perfectly! You can always fudge the diameter a little, but if you are going to do this, I suggest using a washable fabric marker rather than a Sharpie for the next step.

Step Three:

Trace the circular object across the width of the fronts and backs of each leg. A fabric pen would probably be better for this step, but I had confidence, and more importantly, I did not have a fabric pen. :)

Step Four:

Use super sharp fabric scissors to carefully cut on the inside of where you drew the semi-circles. I definitely suggest cutting the fronts and the backs separately to avoid any tragic mistakes.

Step Five:

Add a light coat of fray check to the edge of the shorts. When it dries, trim any slightly uneven spots or frays that are hanging out.

That’s it! Super easy, right? The great thing about this project is that it utilizes old shorts that you can easily find for about 2-4 dollars at the thrift store. So if you mess up, you’re not out a significant amount of money. Paired with tights, this particular pair of wool shorts is perfect for the colder months, but I think I’ll try larger scallops on some lightweight shorts next summer.

Last summer I launched my new vintage shop and wanted to have cards to hand out to people I met who were interested in such fun things. The cards had to be special, though. Special enough to actually inspire someone to venture onto the interwebs and check out my shop.

So, I found an old dress I had been keeping for a while, but hated the cut of it, and made business cards from it!

To make your own fabric-backed business cards, you will need:

• Good quality cardstock and printer
• Wax paper
• Thin, tightly woven fabric
• Spray mount
• Scissors for fabric
• Xacto blade
• Steel edge ruler
• Cutting mat

First, I printed out my business cards side-by-side onto a sheet of cardstock. Then I spray mounted it to a plain piece of cardstock, just to give it a heavier weight. After that, I trimmed around the edges.

Next, I laid the joined cardstock into the fabric and cut around the shape, so I had a piece of fabric about the same size as the cardstock.

Taking the wax paper, fabric, and cardstock outside, I laid out two pieces of wax paper and laid (face down) the fabric and cardstock onto them. Then, I sprayed the backside with spray mount. Carefully, I placed the sticky side of the fabric to the sticky side of the cardstock, started from one edge and making sure there were no wrinkles as I went along.

After the fabric and the cardstock was been joined, I used the steel ruler and Xacto blade to trim out the cards. The blade needed to be super sharp, and I changed it every other cut, lest the fabric fray or pull.

That could be the last step, but in order to add that extra special touch, I decided to machine stitch around the edges of my cards with metallic thread. This was a pretty time consuming process, but I’ve found that most people are pretty impressed with them, which means they are more likely to actually check out my shop. Mission accomplished!