Tutorials

I've been experimenting with the putz house kits again! I was looking for a rustic finish that would complement a summer village display, and so I am working with a crackle medium today to get tha...

Scrapbook Paper Houses

Do you have a secret pile of scrapbook paper? Use it! These houses look beautiful with any kind of patterned paper. I am working my way through a stash of scrapbook paper that has been sitting for...

Miniature Potted Feather Tree Tutorial

Even though we are far away from Christmas I am still in my exploration of feather trees. Today I am working on a miniature feather tree using pink goose feathers for a sweet springtime look. Yo...

Easy Christmas Star with German Glass Glitter

Today I'm working on a sweet and simple Christmas craft using sparkly silver German glass glitter. This year's Christmas tree is a little bit on the Charlie Brown side- it's a young Douglas fir, p...

How to Clean and Restore Putz Houses

Today I'm fixing up some vintage putz houses that are in fairly rough condition. The idea here is to tidy them up and make some gentle home improvements without really changing their designs. Ma...

Let's Make a Halloween Village! DIY Putz Houses

The flat-pack putz house kits are not just for Christmas! Today I am using them to craft a spooky gothic village. If you missed the tutorial for assembling the DIY putz house kits, you can find i...

Putz House Assembly

These chipboard houses are the perfect blank slate for a Christmas village of your own style. The kits come flat, with the pieces already cut out and scored, and each one comes with a translucent ...

Vintage Christmas Matchboxes! Holiday Papercrafting

Are you giving a candle as a gift this Christmas? How special would it be to include one of these Christmas matchboxes for the recipient! You can get a pack of 10 matchboxes at Dollar Tree, and e...

How to Make Nostalgic Waxed Moravian Stars

If you long for a simple, old fashioned Christmas like the ones from long ago, this is a wonderfully nostalgic craft to learn. These traditional Moravian stars are made from strips of paper wov...

Spun Cotton Boats: Handmade Cotton Batting Ornaments

These darling little boats were inspired by the sparkly Sebnitz ships of the late 19th century. The small German town of Sebnitz was known for its marvelous handcrafted Christmas ornaments which ...

Make a Crepe Paper Flower Instead of a Bow! Vintage Style DIY Gift Topper

With Mother's Day coming up, and wedding season back this year, you might be wrapping some lovely gifts this spring! A few years ago I designed these giant crepe paper flowers for a friend's wedd...

Making Vintage Style Clothespin Dolls! 1960s Kitsch Craft Project

Today I'm making these retro ladies, inspired by some clothespin dolls my mom picked up at a holiday bazaar in the 1970s. I like the quaint look of the long dresses and hand-drawn faces. For this...

Spun Cotton How-To: Making Vintage Style Champagne Bottle Ornaments

Today I'm making some entirely hand-built spun cotton champagne bottle ornaments inspired by some antique factory-made versions from the 1920s. Because the silhouette is fairly simple, I am build...

Retro Paper Christmas Candles made from Cardboard Tubes and Paper Rolls!

Collect household paper tubes to make these whimsical vintage style candle decorations for Christmas! In this paper craft project I am upcycling tubes from paper towels, toilet paper, aluminum foil...

Vintage Craft: Tissue Paper Festooning! DIY Easter Garland Tutorial

This tissue paper festooning is part of my vintage craft series: wonderful projects found in vintage craft books brought to life! I collect vintage craft books, and flipping through them I always ...

Snow Day Ski Friends - Vintage Style Spun Cotton Figures

These whimsical figures are made from spun cotton shapes and colorful crépe paper, and are the perfect indoor activity for a cozy snow day. In this project, crépe paper is used as clothing for ...

Vintage Style Spun Cotton and Paper Lantern Ornaments

I have always loved the vintage lantern ornaments that were made in Japan for export in the 1950s. There were several different types made of paper, as well as the heavy painted glass bulbs for...

Tissue Paper Puffy Heart Valentine's Window Decoration - DIY Papercraft

For this Valentine's day project, I borrowed a papercrafting technique that I learned back in gradeschool! Does anyone else remember applying squares of tissue paper with a pencil eraser to make ...

Make a Crepe Paper Flower Fairy - DIY Craft Tutorial

These whimsical flower fairies are made of some of my favorite materials: spun cotton, crepe paper, and pipe cleaners! I had some extra-skinny pipe cleaners that I used for the arms and legs, but...

DIY Paper Shamrock Corsage for St. Patrick's Day

Here is a shamrock pin for St. Patrick's Day that's so pretty, you'll wear it every year. It's simple to make with just paper and pipe cleaners, but the result is very elegant. You can use any gr...

Giant Paper Flower for a DIY Wedding Backdrop - Craft Tutorial

I recently had the chance to make some wonderful large crepe paper flowers for a friend's wedding. They were to be part of a backdrop installation, so we needed to make a lot of flowers that fil...

Assembling a Wax Flower Hair Comb Tutorial

In this tutorial I'm assembling a wax flower hair comb with the pretty picks I made in the last tutorial. This romantic hair comb would make a beautiful bridal hairpiece. Instructions for making...

Wax Flowers DIY Tutorial

In this tutorial I'm making DIY wax flowers with a romantic Victorian look to them. The buds are made of spun cotton, and the wax-dipped flowers are crepe paper. You need to make the paper flowe...

Simple Paper Flowers DIY Tutorial

These simple paper flowers are made out of one-size petals applied to spun cotton eggs. They look like little wild roses or spring blossoms. These are the type of blossoms that I use to make my ...

Tutorial: Easy Witch Hat Headband

Here's an easy witch hat headband that you can make in a jiffy just before a Halloween party. It's super cute, too! I was invited to a festive fall Witches' Tea Party this weekend, and needed t...

1920s Style Paper Mache Halloween Pumpkins

I love the old paper mache Halloween pumpkins that were made in Germany back in the 1920s and 30s. They were made of pressed paper pulp that was put into molds, dried, and then painted in vivid...

Painted Paper Mache Halloween Cat

Make a painted paper mache Halloween cat to guard your candy stash! This 1920s style kitty has a folky face, and a charming ruffle of crepe paper around his neck in classic orange and black. I...

Tutorial: Halloween Candy Corn Trees

These Halloween candy corn trees are so simple to make, and look so *sweet* on a windowsill or mantel. This is a really easy Halloween craft, and would be a great rainy day activity for kids. A...

Paper Mache Easter Egg Diorama

So I kind of feel like this is the year of the diorama. I'm pretty much obsessed with them at this point. This paper mache Easter egg diorama would make such a lovely display on a side table or bu...

Tutorial: Make Giant Paper Flowers

Back when my Storybook Rose tutorial went viral, I started experimenting with different materials for flower-making. I found that the same rose technique could easily be scaled up, and so I start...

Paper Oak Leaves and Acorns Tutorial

For this year's fall decorations I wanted to expand on the style of my Paper Bag Pumpkins with their muted colors and rustic, crinkly texture. I'm really on a Kraft paper kick right now. I love ...

Tutorial: Paper Pumpkin Luminary Halloween Decorations

During the daytime, these paper bag pumpkin luminaries make great halloween decorations with their neutral colors and rustic textures. At night though, they take on a whole different look, flicke...

Tutorial - Glowing Crepe Paper Waterlily Luminaries

This is a tutorial I originally produced for 100 Layer Cake, which you can view here. These waterlily luminaries are a real showstopper! Great decoration for dinner parties or outdoor events. De...

Paper Flower Tutorial: Storybook Paper Roses

I originally did this tutorial for 100LayerCake.com, and it remains one of my favorite projects. Here I'll share the original post, plus some extra photos and details about how I make paper roses...

Tutorial: Crepe Paper Easter Baskets

Lovely crepe paper Easter baskets! These frilly pails look lovely grouped together for a centerpiece, and make sweet packages for gifts. Imagine walking into work and seeing one of these on your d...