truebluemeandyou: DIY Gifts That Don't Suck

[truebluemeandyou]

[truebluemeandyou]

Updated Post on the DIY Bat Dress Pattern from EvaDress

EDIT: Links updated 2022

All photos in the main collage are by Cynthia DeGrand at cynthiadegrand.zenfolio.com. They can be found on EvaDress’ Blog here.

This is an advanced sewing project from EvaDress. The Bat Dress was inspired by the illustration Travestissement Chauve-Sourisin in La mode Illustrée, Journal de la Famille,1887 below.

About the EvaDress Patern

The $28 pattern by EvaDress can be bought at evadress.com here. You can also buy the Bat Dress Pattern on Etsy here.

The 21 piece pattern includes:

pieces for the wings

corset bodice

flounced skirt

gloves

polonaise

fichu

The dress comes in the following sizes:

Size set A: 33" to 39" bust, 22" to 28" waist, 33" to 37" hip

Size set B: 41" to 45" bust, 28" to 34" waist, 39" to 43" hip

You can find a post on making the Bat Dress Gloves here.

The Bat Dress Crinoline Progress is detailed on EvaDress Blog here. 

EvaDress’ daughter made the Bat Bust Ornamentation using paper and fabric mâché. 

Other Bat Dresses

Sewing to Distraction has an entire post dedicated to her experience sewing the EvaDress Bat Dress here.

For another interpretation of the Bat Dress, check out Darling and Dash’s post here. The Bat Headpiece was made from, “Black striped netting over the shoulder drape gathered and pinned to front with furry bat.”

Bat Dress Background

There is an excellent post on Victorian Bat Dresses on Cogpunk Steamscribe here, titled: The Victorian Batgirl: a Steampunk Feminist Perspective

Below is a Victorian German photograph of a “Bat Woman” costume found here.

Another Bat Costume photograph is from the Museum Victoria here.

Lastly, check out this Bat Fan from the 1900s that sold at auction.

 “Hand painted, exceptionally rare miniature bat fan. On thin shaved wood. One of the most unusual items we have seen. Wingspan 3.5 inches. Circa 1900.”

[truebluemeandyou]

Links still working

[truebluemeandyou]

[truebluemeandyou]

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

“Queen of hearts/Suicide King” 2013 by Elmo Hood here. Elmo Hood A.K.A. Elliot Hood is one of my favorite artists. I’ve posted most of his playing card art on my blog here.

[truebluemeandyou]

DIY Crochet Mini Anatomical Heart Free Pattern 

Updated Link 2020

The free pattern is for the mini one pictured on the lower right. The life size anatomical heart pattern is available from his Etsy store for $3.99 here. 

There are 3 videos to help you out in addition to the free written pattern for the mini heart. 

Find the DIY Crochet Mini Anatomical Heart Free Pattern from Louie’s Loops here. 

For other unique anatomical heart DIYs including a template that you could print out for cards go here.

[truebluemeandyou]

Posting my favorite Valentine’s Day DIYs from my archive. Find hundreds of Valentine’s Day DIYs here.

[the-elysium-collective]

A small tut on how i made my ear wings

List of things you’ll need:

Foam sheet/cardboard -> for the base

feathers (i used these :

Scissors

Glue (i used hot glue)

A headband

STEP 1:

Cut out the base (i recommend using a real wing as a reference. The height of the base of the wing should be a bit bigger than the height of your ear.

i labelled them left and right, but it’s pretty useless to do that.

STEP 2:

I painted the base white because the feathers aren’t opaque, and we could see the purple of the base.

STEP 3:

It’s time to glue the long feathers on! Make sure to position them before gluing, to make sure they look ok. Make sure to to follow those handy guide!

STEP 4:

Position the second (round) layer of feathers! I fold over any feather that went over the base on the top, to keep it looking clean.

STEP 5:

Now is the time to add the fluffy feathers if you want to!

STEP 6:

Time for the back! You can either leave it white or put feathers on the back too.

STEP 7:

Almost done! It’s time to attach them to the headband. If the one you have is made of plastic and is smooth, you should wrap some thread around it and glue it to the headband before the wings, so that the wings won’t detach

This is the pink thread i used, it’s embroidery thread. I used about the length of my arm for each side, and i then lathered it in hot glue. Not super clean, but it works.

MAKE SURE YOU VERIFY THE PLACEMENT OF THE WINGS BEFORE GLUING THEM SO THEY’RE NOT WONKY!!!!

Next, the actual attaching. You can glue the ears directly onto the headband.

STEP 8:

Wow! Your wings are done! Good job :3

Feel free to message me if tou have questions! I’m not the best at explaining stuff ;-;

Also, if you made these, could you reblog with your finished product :3 i’m curious to see how it turned out!

@ixekopernik , @shadowfoxink , ty for asking for this!

[truebluemeandyou]

@will-the-kin Love these! Also really good tutorial. I can see these feathered wings being sized up and down for so many projects

[the-chaos-crows-artblog]

Anatomical heart pendent

[truebluemeandyou]

Love this so much!

Want to learn wire wrapping? I have 45 pages of wire wrapping DIYs on my Tumblr blog here: https://truebluemeandyou.com/search/Wire+wrapping. I also have a bunch of anatomically correct heart DIYs on my blog here.

[dizzymaiden]

This is a easy DIY for the person in your life who has to be in control of the fire! LOL

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY FIRE STARTER KIT

[truebluemeandyou]

[diychristmascrafts]

Make Thoughtful Cards Out of Paint Chips Using Paint Names

I have been making cards, booklets, and posters out of paint chips for years. What is original about my idea (and I’ve never seen it done by anyone else), is that I pay attention to the paint name on the chip. 

All you need is a hole punch, scissors (if you want to cut the names into hearts for a card), and fasteners.

For 231 pages of DIY Valentine’s go here: truebluemeandyou.com/search/hearts

I have made cards with wine names, vacation themes, movie themes, and the list goes on and on. As I was picking up paint, I noticed that Home Depot had some great paint color names for Valentine’s Day and Galantine’s Day. All you need are free paint chips and cheap fasteners for the booklet. You can write on every page if you’d like, like the DIY Playing Card Valentine’s Day gift “52 Reasons I Love You” here.

These are the cards I used for my booklet:

Heart Breaker

BFF

Heart to Heart

Epiphany

Stolen Kiss

XOXO

Joie de Vivre

I Heart Potion

Lover’s Knot

Night Music

Love Poem

Lovebirds

I Pink I Can

Love at First Sight

Infatuation

Diva Glam

Kiss Goodnight

Magic Scent

Romantic Poetry

Secret Scent

[diychristmascrafts]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Wrapping Paper from DIY NBC Props

Updated 2022

I’ve posted a lot of Halloween DIYs from DIY NBC Props - especially Nightmare Before Christmas tutorials. 

You can download the Nightmare Before Christmas Wrapping Papers from Tim Baker’s DeviantArt page here. As always, if you see a printable that you like, download it ASAP. It may be deleted at any time. I saved the papers in the WayBack Machine in case they get deleted.

[halloweencrafts]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY Halloween Altered Books - Tutorials and Printables Included

Updated Links 2022 

What goes into updating links on my blog? Many broken links are from DEAD BLOGS, so I go onto the WayBack Machine to search. Sometimes I can find links by adding .ca or .se instead of .com. I also search out all the google doc printables on the WayBack Machine too. 

This is an updated post of a previous roundup of DIY Halloween Books from Seeing Things, my favorite Halloween Blog that is now a DEAD BLOG. If you see these books elsewhere or on Pinterest, they probably have broken links to Seeing Things.

TIP: Download all printables ASAP because some of them are already in Google Documents “trash” but can still be copied.

The numbers in the collage are from one of my favorite free Halloween fonts: A Lolita Scorned here. For more DIY altered books search my blog for “books”.

1. “Arachnophobia” Post here on the WayBack Machine, Tutorial  and graphics link here.

2.  “The Anatomy of the Bat”  Post andTutorial on the WayBack Machine here.

3.  “Articulations”  Post and Tutorial here on the WayBack Machine here and click on my screenshot below for graphics (make sure you are viewing it at 1019 x 1126 pixels.

4.   “Encyclopedia of Aeachnids”  Post here on the WayBack Machine, Tutorial  and graphics link here.

5. “The Goblin”  Tutorial here, PDF tutorial here.

[halloweencrafts]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY High Resolution Ouija Board Printable from Country Living 

Updated Links 2022 *If you see a printable you like, try saving it with the wayback machine in case it disappears from the internet. I found the above printable on the wayback machine after I couldn’t find it at Country Living.

If you read truebluemeandyou, you know how to age paper with coffee, tea or watered down paint.

More Ouija Board DIYs

DIY Ouija Witch Board Printable from Ravens Blight here. This is a 7" x 10" board with a PDF download with instructions on how to make the planchettes (choice of 3).

Here’s an easy Ouija Board Necklace DIY from Cut Out + Keep here. 

Don’t want to DIY? Check out horriblell’s Etsy Store here. It’s sold out but check out her taxidermy jewelry.

DIY Ouija Board Planchette Chocolate Box from Me and Annabel Lee here.

[truebluemeandyou]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY Inspiration: Miniature Hidden Potion Books from EV Miniatures

Updated 2022

Make Miniature Hidden Potion Books using miniature decorative bottles and DIY handmade books. *I searched Etsy and a linked site trying to find if these were still for sale - and had no luck finding this seller.

You can make the DIY miniature handmade books from tutorials I’ve already posted (see roundup below) and combine it with this super easy DIY Book Safe from Wikihow

My 12 Favorite Miniature Book Tutorials here.

[truebluemeandyou]

Help Support Ukrainian Artists by Buying Digital Downloads like Courses on Etsy

I’ve been following Ukrainian Artist Elena Zernova aka zernovaart on Instagram for a long time. Her resin seascapes are absolutely mesmorizing. 

Her Instagram: instagram.com/zernovaart/

Her Etsy Store: etsy.com/shop/SeaOnTheWall

Every day I watch Elana Zernova’s harrowing stories on escaping Kyiv City with her children. She is now in an empty house with ALMOST NOTHING - no running water, no kitchen, etc.. These are screenshots from her stories on Instagram today.

HOW CAN YOU HELP UKRAINIANS WITH ETSY STORES?

You can buy their digital downloads and courses, or give them money directly, both through Etsy.

I mean look at what you can make taking her courses!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OCEAN 3D ART ▫️ LESSONS (@zernovaart)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OCEAN 3D ART ▫️ LESSONS (@zernovaart)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OCEAN 3D ART ▫️ LESSONS (@zernovaart)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OCEAN 3D ART ▫️ LESSONS (@zernovaart)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OCEAN 3D ART ▫️ LESSONS (@zernovaart)

Keep reading

[truebluemeandyou]

Crochet Sunflower Pattern - All Proceeds go to Ukraine Charity through the end of March

This listing is for Mister Domestic’s Sunflower Pillow PDF Pattern. This beginner-friendly, experienced-satisfying PDF pattern works with Bernat Blanket yarn, but other Super Bulky yarn can be used to create a pillow close to the intended size. For the first month of sales, 100% of the sales of this Pattern will go to Ukraine Crisis Fund through Care.org: https://www.care.org/news-and-stories/press-releases/humanitarian-crisis-in-ukraine-care-international-provides-emergency-assistance-funding/

You can find the Crochet Sunflower Pattern on Etsy from MisterDomestic aka Mathew Boudreaux here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mathew Boudreaux (@misterdomestic)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mathew Boudreaux (@misterdomestic)

Also check out MisterDomestic’s Tumbling Block Weaving Pattern for $10 here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mathew Boudreaux (@misterdomestic)

I also love his Domestic Illusion Weave Pattern for $10 here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mathew Boudreaux (@misterdomestic)

[diychristmascrafts]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY Magic Mason Jar Oil Candle

The post title for this DIY Oil Lamp is “Magical Mason Jar Oil Candle” because all you need are:

decorative items

glass bottles

wick 

1 tablespoon of oil.

Find the DIY Magic Oil Lamp Tutorial from A Piece of Rainbow here.

The magic part is that 1 Tablespoon of oil will last 2 hours.

Also check out this DIY Magic Oil Candle Lamp, which can be found at Garden Matter here. There is tutorial and printables, so it makes a great gift. You can also make it as an “assembly line” gift, making lots at one time. This is another “Magic Oil Lamp” because you just add more oil after using.

[diychristmascrafts]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY Crochet Candle or Plant Holder

This is an easy DIY because scraps of crochet lace are used. You can find cheap crochet lace at thrift stores or make it yourself. I would only use an LED tea light for this.

Fnd the DIY Crochet Candle/Plant Holder Tutorial from El Nido de Mama Gallina here.

[truebluemeandyou]

[diychristmascrafts]

DIY Crochet Skull Shawl Free Pattern

Check out all the variations of this Crochet Skull Pattern below:

Find the DIY Crochet Skull Shawl Free Pattern from kungen och majkis on Ravelry here.

You can find a tutorial for the crochet skulls on her blog: Kungen & Majkis Crochet here.

[truebluemeandyou]

[diychristmascrafts]

]DIY 2 Heart Boxes with Free Printables

Use for Valentine’s Day small gifts - candy, jewelry, secret notes, etc… This is a really cheap and easy DIY to make.

Each square heart box fits 2 of the heart shaped boxes.

Find the DIY Free Printables for 2 Geometric Heart Boxes from Minieco here.

\