{Tinkered Treasures} Book Review & Giveaway!

If you’re dreaming of a magical wedding day filled with vintage charm and sweet surprises, be sure to grab a copy of Tinkered Treasures by Elyse Major! This lovely book is brimming over with ideas including more than 35 handmade projects that will add a touch of whimsy to your wedding celebrations and beyond. I’ve long been a fan of Elyse’s charming blog, also called Tinkered Treasures, and was thrilled when I received a copy from Cico Books to review. The official release date for the book is February 14th, but if you can’t wait till then don’t fret, I’m giving away a copy of the book here on the DIY Weddings blog! Simply leave a comment in this post by midnight CST on Monday, February 11th, 2013 for your chance to win!

In the meantime, here are some snippets from the book to inspire and delight you!

I can think of so many uses for these pretty little paper-covered wooden clothespins found in Chapter 1: Tinkering Sundries! Attach magnets to the back for favors, use them to string photos, bunting, or even escort cards at showers and receptions. Or clip them to the top of trinket or candy-filled bags to secure them.

Chapter 2: Tinkering Supplies, offers wonderful ways to elevate practical objects like ceramic tiles, magnets, shipping tags, or even the humble toothpick, as in the cupcake flags and bunting shown above. You’ll never look at the office supply store, home improvement center, or even the baking aisle the same way again!

Go eco-chic with the fun ideas in Chapter 3: Tinkering Recyclables. Discarded glass spice jars become objects of beauty with a bit of pretty paper, some wire, and a few posies. Tin cans are transformed into pretty containers, and paper lunch bags become stylish favors for your guests.

Chapter 4: Tinkering Bits & Bobs, shares how to turn all those lovely little scraps we stash away into fanciful journals, fabric garlands, bunting, bookmarks, and loads of other embellished accessories.

As a little girl, I loved pretty little bits and pieces, and I still remember the small boxes I used to gather my treasures, and the many happy hours I spent sifting through them and arranging them. Reading Tinkered Treasures is like opening up those boxes all over again and rediscovering the magic and delight that everyday objects can hold. I’m so happy to share this wonderful book with all the readers here at DIY Weddings, and I know you’ll love it as much as I do! Be sure to leave your comment on this post for your chance to win a copy of Tinkered Treasures. Best wishes to all the entrants, and many thanks to Elyse Major and Cico Books for this lovely read!

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Lately I have been feeling like all of my clothes are looking a little worn or feeling a little tired. I don’t want to buy new clothes, though, so there’s been a lot of mending, altering and adding special touches to things that otherwise might get overlooked or not worn at all.

As an example, not too long ago I added a little bit of embroidery to a T-shirt, which was a lot of fun to do and made me start eyeing all my solid-colored garments and wondering how they might look with some stitching added.

Of course you can cross stitch on garments, too, whether T-shirts or woven tops, skirts, pants and more. But it can be tricky to transfer cross stitch designs to your garment to make stitching easier.

Much like with embroidery, it’s great to use a water soluble stabilizer to keep your fabric in place while you stitch and to transfer your design (or your cross stitch grid at least) while you’re stitching. Then you just wash away the stabilizer when you’re done and it will look like the stitching has always been there.

Ashley General Handmade uses Sulky Stick ‘n Stitch, which is a product I use, too. It’s easy to use and washes away cleanly.

To make it even easier, she designed some printable cross stitch grids at different counts that you can print out to draw your own cross stitch designs, but you can also print the grid right on the Sulky, so you can stitch on top of squares and then remove them when you’re done.

Brilliant, right?

She has pages as big as 8 count and all the way down to 20 (remember: the bigger the number the smaller the stitches will be) that you can download and print to make your own designs and also use to make stitching on clothing easier. I’m definitely going to try this the next time I want to cross stitch on fabric!

You can grab her printables over at Ashley General Handmade.

[Photo: Ashley General Handmade]

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