Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

wall hanging

Felted Gourd Wall Hanging with Simon Says Stamp!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

Hi friends! I am back with another little home decor piece, this time working in a new-ish medium for me: felt! I love the homey warmth that the texture of felt provides, making it exceptionally perfect for use with autumnal and winter images. I love the idea of using papercrafting supplies to create a little door hanger, something easily switched out with each new season and easily customized to match your personal aesthetic. I think that the new Harvest Heirloom die set has lovely clean lines that work beautifully with felt, while also being so elegant. I created this pretty door hanger in some unique fall colors to mimic the end of summer/early autumn colors that we are seeing outside. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

To begin, I wanted to create the canvas upon which I would arrange my die cut images, I cut a warm blue felt background using the new A7 Notched Rectangles. I also die cut another notched rectangle in the same size using heavyweight cardstock, which adds a sturdy back to my door hanger without adding weight to the project! I used felt glue to adhere the pieces together, generously applying glue to the entire piece of felt and then placing the pieces beneath a heavy book to dry. This ensures that the cardstock would dry flat, which was a concern when using such abundance of liquid glue.

While I waited for the base to dry, I die cut the various pieces of the Harvest Heirloom die set, cutting the gourd from peachy felt and the greenery from lime green, pine green, and some metallic copper felt from my stash. When working with delicate images like the greenery, I like to use 100% wool felt, rather than a felt blend, because I find the 100% wool fibers stay intact better than the blends. After the base had dried completely, I began arranging the gourd and greenery on the notched rectangle background, adhering the pieces with liquid felt glue, snipping greenery here and tucking it there to create a custom arrangement. I also added some beautifully iridescent Sunset Tiny Flower Embellishments to fill in some of the bare spots on my arrangement.

Once I had completed the arrangement and allowed it to dry sufficiently, again placing the entire piece beneath that heavy book, I created the hanger using ribbon and Simon Says Stamp’s Antique Brass Eyelets. I used my Crop-A-Dile hole punch to cut holes in the top corners, then added the eyelets, which will keep the holes intact even if the ribbon is handled roughly! I threaded a pretty ribbon through the eyelets and tied it so that it could be hung easily from a door handle or a hook.

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love how warm textures are having such a moment in home decor, and it’s so lovely to be able to follow home trends without having to do invasive (or expensive!) updates. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

A Final Ode to Pumpkins with Simon Says Stamp!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back with my final post for the month of October, just in the nick of time, too! I will be helping my kiddos get their Halloween costumes on as soon as I’m done: Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, Harry Potter, and two firemen! (If you’ve never checked out the Halloween costumes from Costco, they are legit! The firemen costumes are incredible and were very reasonably priced.) For my last project for the month, I thought I’d do one final “ode to a pumpkin.” I don’t do spooky, and I’m not great a cute, so pumpkins are basically my favorite imagery for autumn and Halloween. They can be fun and playful, or they can be elegant, especially when paired with foliage and florals. I have been collecting more felt and embroidery items, and so I was itching for a project on which to use them. This autumnal wall hanging was the perfect project to start my obsession! Let’s get started with the details.

*I have linked all of the products used at the bottom of the post using affiliate links for your convenience. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

For both of my projects, I paired the Aurora Blooms, Etched Meadow Flower & Leaves, Cosmos Duo, Etched Berry Branch, Layered Pumpkin, and Leafy Sprig dies. I wanted to create some decor with felt as well as with paper, so I scoured my local dollar stores and big box craft stores for some fun “blanks” that I could decorate. I found this canvas wall hanging and little chalkboard easel, and I think they both are just perfect for embellishing with die cuts!

For the wall hanging, I began by die cutting all of the images from the die sets listed above using high-quality colored felt. I used a somewhat non-traditional color palette, pulling some deep, somewhat muted oranges together with cranberry and autumn rose, with touches of lime green and hunter green. I used some needle and thread with sequins and seed beads to adorn the center of some of the flowers, adding a touch of sparkle and additional texture to the felt images. I also die cut the word “gather” using the large-scale Hero Arts Alphabet Dies. I adore these alphabet dies; they’re perfect for creating banners and home decor (I used them to create a banner for my office Christmas tree last year!) and are such a great size.

For the pumpkin, I used some fabric glue to assemble the individual pieces from the Layered Pumpkin die set, then used a coordinating shade of orange to do a (very) simple blanket stitch around the edges of each piece of rind. This additional stitching around the edges adds some texture as well as helping to differentiate one segment from the next, so that it doesn’t look too flat.

After I had die cut and assembled the different components, I began to create my arrangement. I used a piece of ribbon to line up my letters, adhering them to the banner with some fabric glue, then began arranging my pumpkin, flowers, and foliage in a swag beneath my letters. I stitched some more sequins and seed beads to create “berries” amongst my floral arrangement, helping to fill in any gaps in the flowers. After completing the arrangement on the bottom, I felt that the area above the letters was a bit too bare, so added another, simpler arrangement above the letters as well. I think it will look so pretty hanging from my front door for Thanksgiving!

Since I haven’t been working with felt for very long, I decided to make another home decor project using my more typical cardstock, using the same color palette! I die cut the same images from the Aurora Blooms, Etched Meadow Flower & Leaves, Cosmos Duo, Etched Berry Branch, Layered Pumpkin, and Leafy Sprig die sets. I used some sparkling cranberry glitter cardstock from Altenew to create the Etched Meadow Flower & Leaves blossoms. I think this color palette is so pretty; it is definitely autumnal, but not super orange-y!

I found this little easel chalkboard at my local dollar store! They have them in both black chalkboard and white dry erase board; this black backdrop was perfect for adorning with colorful die cuts. After I had adhered all of the die cuts in a little arrangement on the front of the easel, I used a double layer of twine, wrapping it around the top of the easel multiple times, then added a fluffy bow. I used some glue to hold the bow down and prevent it from being untied.

After I had finished arranging the die cuts and adding my twine bow, I added some Gold and Lilac Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the berry stems and flower centers, adding a touch of sparkle and texture to this piece of decor. I think this would look so sweet on a desk at work or perhaps on a piano or mantelpiece at home!!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I am having such fun branching out from my typical cardmaking, and I hope you’re enjoying it too. It’s fun to try new things, right? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!