LBH Tacky Tie Challenge

In honor of Father's Day tomorrow, everyone on the Front Porch Kit design team was given a tacky tie and challenged to create something - anything - with it. Today is the big reveal of all the projects - you can hop from blog to blog to see what the team has created (see blog roll to the right).

My tie was not too tacky - just a run-of-the-mill traditional gray and maroon polyester tie.  I  deconstructed the tie, leaving me with a reasonable amount of fabric to make the following two projects, with leftovers should I wish to make more (uh-no).

Happy Birthday Card

The first project is an origami dress on a birthday card.  I found directions for the origami folding here: www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/origami-card.html.  Let me say that origami folds are much easier on paper than fabric!  I used the reverse side of the fabric and pressed and folded the dress into shape (modifying it slightly from the original). I glued it to a tiny wire hanger from Maya Road and then to the card front.

The embossed background of the card was made by applying Versamark ink to the top of the embossing folder before inserting the maroon cardstock and embossing. Then I applied Perfect Pearls (pewter) with a brush and wiped off any excess. This gives a subtle sheen to the card.  The ruffle at the bottom of the card is also a strip of the tie fabric.

The original stamp I used says "put on your party hat" so I just stamped the first four words on silver cardstock and handwrote "dress" for the sentiment. Inside it says Happy Birthday.

Artful Illusion Art Quilt

My second project is a small art quilt. The base is canvas fabric, layered with a piece of dictionary paper, a colorful (used) paper towel and cardstock stamped and sprayed with Radiant Rain Luminarte Mists. I sewed the layers together with both machine and hand stitching.

The heart was cut from the tie, layered over a piece of batting and sewn to the quilt.  The crown is an embossed and painted piece of chipboard and the wings are diecut art metal with silver paint on top to dull the finish.  The "Artful Illusion" ribbon is a leftover scrap from a store.  The hanger is a strip of tie twisted into a cord and stapled at the top of the quilt.

So now that you have seen some of the DT creations, we hope you will take the challenge and make something from a tacky tie. If you don't have one, we have some available for you for FREE at The Little Blue House!  You have until June 21st to make a project and then e-mail it to: thelittlebluehouse.misstracy@gmail.com.  We will choose three favorites to win a PRIZE!