Snowflake Curtains

I'm so in love with these...they'll definitely be staying up long after Christmas.

You won't need a lot of supplies for the 2nd project in the "30 for $30" series but you will need a bit of time (two afternoon naps for me) & if you live with someone else you might want to let them know that they'll be living in a glitter wonderland for awhile. This stuff gets everywhere! Hubby is PISSED! I'm suspecting he's getting made fun of at work for being so sparkly.

You'll need: embroidery hoop, Fabric Glue, (I used Tulip brand fabric glittering glue in the tshirt paint aisle) MS glitter(I used "white gold") & freezer paper (optional)

There are two methods I was debating between to make these, I started off with a freezer paper stencil & then decided the shapes were easy enough to free-hand. I'll tell you more about that in a minute...1st you'll need to sketch out your snowflake, I was really surprised how easy they were to draw. I used a MS punch as my guide & 1st drew one 5" line. (even if you're going to free-hand your flakes I recommend sketching one out 1st) Next mark the center of line at 2.5", draw 3 more 5" lines, all with their centers meeting at the 2.5" mark like this:Then roughly sketch your design marks (the crystals) on each line...I also did a variation with 3 instead of 4 lines, every snowflake should be different right?If you're going to use the freezer paper stencil then you'd cut out your flakes and follow basic stenciling instructions for each snowflake. The only difference is you're using glue instead of paint. I gotta tell you though, it will save you SOO much time to just do these by hand. It's a bunch of straight lines & I really REALLY think you can do it. (:

To free-hand the flakes you'll need to 1st secure the curtain panel in an embroidery hoop wherever you want to place the flake. (note- I was KICKING myself for not buying a few hoops, at $1.50 each I should have at least bought 2 so I could be working on multiple flakes at once. Wrong time to be frugal. Grrr.) Next use a paintbrush to draw your snowflake with glue...You'll need to work somewhat quickly although the glue doesn't have a crazy fast dry time. Wait a minute...do you hear that? Exactly, it's WAY too quiet in here, hold on, must investigate...

AHA!

RAT! Those clothes WERE all folded in the basket. It's hard to get mad though when a.) I know she was "helping" & b.) I was too entranced with my glitter to notice. Ah well, it can wait, I have snowflakes to glitter which is OBVIOUSLY the priority here. Back to work...it's time for the fun part...

Liberally sprinkle your glitter all over the glue. (tip-if you're working with a sheer stick a paper plate underneath to catch any extras) Once covered carefully shake off excess onto the plate & pour it back into the glitter bottle. I couldn't believe how little glitter this actually took, every time it felt like I was filling the bottle all the way back up to the top, good stuff!
Repeat all over, space the snowflakes unequal distances apart from each other to give it that natural snow falling look...Also if you're like me & you're only working with one hoop you'll want to give it a couple of minutes to dry before removing the hoop. Even after that stick something underneath the glittered flake until it's completely dry otherwise it'll stick to your countertop. Learned that one the hard way.

When you're done hang it up & enjoy! I can't wait until a sunny day so I can see how much it will sparkle. I must say this Martha glitter really does sparkle unlike any glitter I've ever worked with. I think it's because it's so fine. In a geometric way, not an Eric Dane way.