Tag: decorating

Free Pattern: Candy Corn Bunting How-To

I love Candy Corn. Not really to eat, I actually find it cloying and a bit meh, but I LOVE how it looks! I was inspired by a September post on The Purl Bee for these charming knitted candy corns. This halloween is going to pass me by before I manage to knit one, but come 2013, look out!

Anyways, it got me thinking how candy corn is a great decoration. And I also love me a good bunting (aka garland or pennant strand). And I thought: candy corn bunting! I googled to see what was out there — and there are lots, but none that I really loved. So I made my own. And I decided to share it with you! You can click HERE for the free pattern. I am no photoshop wizard, I aspire, but I cobbled this together and hope it inspires all sorts of candy corn bunting glory!

1. I grabbed some craft felt ends I had lying around and cut my candy corn pieces. In this case I’d decided I’d go with seven pieces on the strand, so I needed seven pieces of each colour.

2. a. Using a wide, tight zig-zag stitch, I attached the candy corn pieces together. I kept the pieces flush and the seam line right in the middle so that the zig-zag grabbed both sides of the felt.

2. b. I used orange thread between the white and orange pieces and yellow thread between the orange and yellow pieces.

3. Next I measured out a piece of 1″ wide brown ribbon (bias tape works well too) to length. Because the felt candy corns are 3″ wide at their widest point and I wanted 2″ in-between each corn, I calculated 5″ for each corn, plus an extra 15″ on each end to allow for securing the finished bunting. So with my seven-piece candy corn bunting, I cut a length of approximately 65″.

4. Next, I pinned my finished candy corns onto the ribbon, about 2” apart. In this case I pinned them halfway up the 1″ ribbon and folded the ribbon over the felt so the finished ribbon is 1/2″ wide. Then I sewed ’em down with a zig-zag stitch.

5. Lastly, I made some loops on the end of the ribbons so that the bunting can hang from hooks or tacks. I also left the ends long enough that they can tie. I used yellow thread on the brown ribbon. Kind of Charlie Brown-ish, love it.

Download the CANDY CORN BUNTING PATTERN right here for free! If you make one, send me a picture, I’d love to see how it evolves.

This little candy corn bunting was bound for a dinner party at a dear friend’s house. Here it is in it’s little glory, sitting above a delectable fall feast! Happy candy corn season folks.

CANDY CORN BUNTING PATTERN – a free download!

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding!

Yes. There are 3 “weddings” in the title. Not a mistake.Whew! On June 30th I was so honoured to act as Matron of Honour for my dear friend Jen’s wedding on Toronto Island. It was an exquisite, homemade, 100 mile wedding that went without a hitch. I made fun kits for the kids in attendance. I made the bags out of fabric that Jen had collected in Nigeria, hot glued the first initial of each kid on his or her bag with Scrabble letters (which I LOVE for crafting!) and stuffed them with snacks and age-appropriate toys, games and activities.

Then on July 1st, in addition to celebrating our nation’s birthday (O Canada, oh my!) we attended the wedding of another dear, dancerly friend. It was held in Dancemakers Studio theatre in Toronto, which was converted into a beautiful space for an afternoon cocktail wedding.

I helped plan and execute the decorations for this one, we tried to stay with the Canada theme without getting cheesy and I think we did well! We cut out hundreds of cream and white maples leaves and doves to hang from the theatre’s grid. I think the effect was magical as hoped!

I designed and made little red and white felt bags that got stuffed with custom-ordered M&M’s in red and shimmer pearl. And the tags were stamped with a maple leaf stamp I’d used for my own wedding invitations almost 9 years ago!

Lastly, I was so honoured to be asked to make a wedding dress for a dancer I’ve costumed a few times in the past. She’s a gorgeous woman and knew just the dress she wanted, a copy and formalized version of a dress she already had, a very vintage 50s looking piece. I am so proud of how it came out but will superstitiously only include a couple of details here til after the July 8th wedding, which is, of course, still to come!

And now I’m hittin’ the road Jack, making my way across the vast space between Toronto and Edmonton. I’ll be posting a series of interviews with amazing woman artists and entrepreneurs in the stead of my usual Rearview Fridays, so watch for that to start this week. And I’ll post some Road Reports as I’m able. Happy summer days all, may there be much long laziness.

Bonus shot: deliciously tired and dirty 10-month-old feet after all the wedding madness …