FanningSparks – Page 16 – A DIY and lifestyle blog authored by Peg Frizzell.

Take One. Leave One.

Thanks to the extensive network of Little Free Libraries around the world, most people are familiar with the “Take a Book. Share a Book.” concept. In fact, since 2009, more than 300 million books have been shared from over 150,000 registered book-sharing boxes. The Little Free Library nonprofit organization has a mission “to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Libraries. [Their] vision is a Little Free Library in every community and a book for every reader.”

Most Little Free Libraries are wooden boxes, about two feet square, mounted on a post in a pedestrian-friendly space. They typically have a gently pitched roof and a side-opening front door with a clear window. Sometimes they are designed to resemble the house of the Library’s steward. A “steward”, in Little Free Library’s parlance, is a volunteer caretaker who constructs, installs, stocks and tends the book-sharing boxes. Here’s an example of a Little Free Library with the same red roof and gray walls as the steward’s historic home in Madison, Georgia.

As indicated by the secret message that appears when the door is opened, this Little Free Library is dedicated to the steward’s mother and aunt. I left a few gardening books and was delighted to see other patrons arrive and flip through them just as I was driving away.

The very first Little Free Library was also created in tribute to the steward’s mother. Built by the late Todd Bol, it was a dollhouse-sized model of a little, red schoolhouse dedicated to his mother who was a school teacher and booklover. When “the Bols hosted a sale in their front yard, … Todd mounted the schoolhouse full of hardcovers and paperbacks on a post. It was the first Little Free Library, though it wasn’t called that yet. As the day went on, neighbor after neighbor was drawn to the Library, stopping to admire it, ask about it, buzz around it, browse through it, and generally get excited about it.” reports author Margret Aldrich in her book The Little Free Library Book. It was the beginning of the amazing grassroots, book-sharing program which became the Little Free Library non-profit, global organization.
Nowadays, there are Little Free Libraries on every continent (even Antarctica), in 115 countries around the globe and in every one of the USA’s 50 states. Little Free Library patrons can use the Little Free Library website or mobile app to find a library nearby. I used the app to find locations near my home including the one shown above and this one shown below.

I’m intrigued by Little Free Library’s global scope. I remember being pleasantly surprised to discover a book-sharing box in Amsterdam-Noord when visiting the Netherlands last year (see the blog post Artworks as Big as Walls in Amsterdam to learn more about our visit to Amsterdam-Noord). The unusual structure—a rowboat—is both eye-catching and practical! This is a very active library with its own Facebook page showcasing the latest books.

It was fascinating to study the selection of books available in the library. Now that I know about the Little Free Library mobile app, I hope to seek out more of these little treasures on my travels.

Interestingly, Little Free Library reports: “72% of volunteer stewards have met more neighbors because of their Little Free Library” and “92% of people say their neighborhood feels like a friendlier place because of a Little Free Library”. Sharing books at the neighborhood level is obviously helping Little Free Library reach their goal “to be a catalyst for building community”.
But the idea of a free exchange is not limited to Little Free Libraries. In Kentucky, for instance, I spotted two libraries at Berea Urban Farm, an educational market garden in the town of Berea. As pictured below, the library on the left contains books and is labeled Berea Urban Farm’s Tiny Library while the one on the right is the Berea Urban Farm Tiny Seed Library.

Here’s a closer look inside the Tiny Seed Library which contains an assortment of carefully-labelled vegetable and flower seeds.

Little Free Pantries and Blessing Boxes are another example of the free exchange movement. Supporters can leave food or personal hygiene items for others who may need them. I spotted this Blessing Box in Murphy, North Carolina.

This next example—a Doggie Stick Library—was spotted at the Flowering Bridge in Lake Lure, North Carolina. It’s colorful design and amusing function were a joyful surprise!

In the same way community-spirited Little Free Libraries have been embraced by booklovers around the world, artists and art lovers are spurring on the Free Little Art Gallery (FLAG) movement. It’s difficult to identify the first FLAG but, according to a June 2021 Smithsonian Magazine article, “Washington-based artist Stacy Milrany wasn’t the first person to open a petite art gallery. … But the trend has gained traction in large part thanks to her Seattle FLAG, which debuted in December 2020.” FLAGs have adopted the sharing culture of Little Free Libraries and patrons are encouraged to take and leave miniature pieces of art. In the first six months of Milrany’s Seattle FLAG, an estimated 600 artworks flowing in and out of her miniature art gallery.
There doesn’t appear to be an organized network for FLAGs… yet. But a little online research reveals FLAGs are popping up across North America and around the world.
In fact, there’s a FLAG in downtown Madison, Georgia—close to where I live. Thanks to the Madison Public Arts Commission this FLAG was opened in mid-2021. “Aside from appreciating the art on display, gallery patrons can also take a piece, leave a piece or both, … so, get those creative juices going and make some little art to share!”. said Karen Robertson, director of Main Street for the City of Madison, as quoted in a Morgan County Citizen Sept 2021 news article.

There were a few art objects, mostly children’s drawings, on display when I visited. I’m already planning what I might contribute on my next visit!

Whether it’s books, seeds, food items, art objects or dog toys, the “Take One. Leave One.” movement is obviously catching on!

More Info

Learn more about Little Free Library on the organization’s website or the Little Free Library mobile app.
See the FanningSparks blog post, Artworks as Big as Walls in Amsterdam, to learn about my visit to Amsterdam-Noord. Check out the Noorderkroon Facebook page for the latest news on the book boat in Amsterdam-Noord.
See the Sustainable Berea – Berea Urban Farm website to learn more about this educational market garden in the town of Berea, Kentucky.
To learn more about the Doggie Stick Library at the Lake Lure dog-friendly garden park, check out the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge website.
Information about Free Little Art Galleries can be found on Stacy Milrany’s website or Instagram account, on Instagram with #freelittleartgallery or on the Find a Free Little Art Gallery website.
The following books and articles are quoted in this blog post:
. The Little Free Library Book by Margret Aldrich which can be found here on Archive.org
. Why Free, Miniature Art Galleries Are Popping Up Across the U.S., a June 2021 article in Smithsonian Magazine
. Free Little Art Gallery Opens in Downtown Madison, a Sept 2021 in Morgan County Citizen

Today’s Takeaways

1. The mission of the Little Free Library nonprofit organization is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Libraries.
2. Seek out free exchanges in your neighborhood.
3. Consider how you can support a Little Free Library, Free Little Art Gallery, or other “Take One. Leave One.” initiative.

Artists Make Other Media

The Space Between Handcraft and Industry

There’s a fascinating exhibition—Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place—currently on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. The exhibition showcases the work of Stephen Burks, an award-winning, New York-based product designer. I counted nearly 100 pieces on display ranging from furniture to textiles to lighting fixtures to decorative items. But this exhibition doesn’t only display objects, it presents them within the context of Burks’s design practice.
“Burks advocate[s] for hand production as a strategy for innovation within industrial production” states the High Museum exhibition overview. “We integrate what we think of as handmade techniques into industrial production” Burks said in a 2022 interview with Curbed. It’s an intriguing concept—a novel approach which the exhibition thoughtfully lays out for the viewer to consider. I’d never be able to do justice to the depth and breadth of this exhibition in a single blog post so, instead, I’ll share a few favorite objects and stories.
Visitors to the Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place exhibition are greeted by the display shown below. The eye-popping piece at center stage, called Broom Thing, clearly signals Burks is no ordinary designer! Broom Thing, described as an abstract ambient object, is made of dyed broomcorn and sugar maple wood. Stephen Burks is listed as the designer and, surprisingly, Berea College Student Craft is listed as the maker.

I’m familiar with Berea College having traveled to the charismatic town of Berea, Kentucky last summer. Berea is considered the Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky. I was attracted by the Festival of LearnShops which is a series of short workshops on a wide variety of subjects such as sustainable living, Appalachian crafts, fiber arts, jewelry making and painting barn quilts. You can learn more about my visit in the posts: Have Barn Quilts Made a Comeback?, Lessons Learned from my First Barn Quilt Block and All Around the Amethyst Cabochon. Quilt squares, such as the trio shown below, are sprinkled throughout Berea. These were spotted in front of the Berea College Farm.

Berea College, located in the heart of the town, was founded in 1855 as “the first interracial and coeducational college in the [USA] South and consistently ranks among the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges…. [It] offers a high-quality education to academically promising students with limited economic resources. … Berea College is one of only eight federally recognized Work Colleges in the United States … [It engages] students in the purposeful integration of work, learning, and service … all resident students have jobs… [and] no Berea student ever pays tuition.”
Berea College Student Craft, the maker of Broom Thing, is an essential part of Berea College’s Labor Program. “The program provides opportunities for over 100 students each term to study, produce, and teach about craft with a focus on woodworking, fibers, ceramics, and broom-making. In addition to nurturing makers, [they] are committed to helping students express their identities and hone their design skills to share authentic student-designed products.”
The connection between Stephen Burks and the Berea College Student Craft is explained on the Design Within Reach website: “In 2018, Berea College invited industrial designer Stephen Burks to design new products for students to make. Instead, Burks used the opportunity to create a collaborative process involving students in the design. His partnership proved transformative for Berea by broadening its scope and vision for student creativity and their relationship to craft.”
The Broom Thing exhibit card elaborates “Burks’s mentorship within the Berea College Student Craft program was grounded in his ability to innovate traditional crafts to create modern, and sometimes experimental, forms. Berea students trained in the broomcraft workshop were utilizing established methods and yielding the same results.”
I imagine the traditional methods used by the Berea students would be similar to those I learned at the John C Campbell Folk School. Mark Hendry, a full-time artisan and instructor specializing in Brooms and Basketry, taught us the traditional methods of turning dried broomcorn (shown on left below) into beautiful, one-of-a-kind, artisan brooms. See the FanningSparks’ blog post Swept Away by Broom Making for the full story.

Upon closer examination, the long, fibrous, seed branches of the broomcorn are clearly visible in Broom Thing.

The exhibit card continues “Broom Thing, which Burks created alongside these students, is a radical new expression of a broom as a non-functional object … The brightly colored, ambient work embodies the transformative power of what is possible in craft when experimentation collides with tradition.”
A 2022 Wallpaper* article elaborates, “Among Berea College’s departments, Burks was most fascinated by traditional broom craft. ‘The broom craft department is still dyeing their own broom corn and still making brooms in a way that they’ve been making for the past hundred years – one of the last places in America to produce brooms traditionally,’ he says. His collaborative piece with the department is ‘Broom Thing’, an abstract ‘ambient object’ combining 26 brooms into a 4ft diameter sphere, a design that took the craft outside of its traditional function. ‘I felt like I had to go in search of a new form, a new way to use this technique that hadn’t been done before. It is quite surprising in its suggestion of what could be possible in each of the craft sectors if we pursued a more conceptual object rather than a functional one.”

Another splendid outcome from the Berea College initiative is Community Baskets. The exhibit card provides this background: “An important practice in Appalachian and Shaker traditions, basketry is one of the oldest forms of design. In making Community Baskets at Berea College, students were taught the basic principles of wood construction, such as color, graduations, treatments, flexibility, and strength, using the traditional composition of oak and aluminum to bend and hold each part together in layers.”

“Using this project as an example, Burks encouraged students to move away from the minimalist manufacturing of craft objects to instead let their hand show through in their designs. The hand of the artist separates craftspeople from mass production; encouraging students to accept this human aspect of design is one of Burks’s most important contributions to the program.”
The High Museum exhibition overview quotes Burks: “Hands have power. Hands have imaginative power. Hands have communal power. Hands have political power. And hands have economic power. Even today, the hand is capable of doing things that machines cannot. My work is about finding opportunities for innovation in the space between handcraft and industry while hopefully extending craft traditions into the future.”

Basketry is another traditional craft taught at the John C Campbell Folk School. My first basketry experience, as shared in the blog post Weave a Market Basket, was making this market basket with basket reed. Susan B Taylor, a highly-regarded, talented basket maker, taught the class.

I had the opportunity to make a second basket in the class Cannon County Style, White Oak Egg Basket taught by award-winning, master basket maker Sue Williams. Made of white oak with rib-and-split basic construction, the egg basket was a fun challenge. As explained in the blog post, You CAN Put All Your Eggs in this Basket, we followed the traditional basket making techniques of Cannon County, Tennessee.

But art objects from the craft-related experiments at Berea College were only one facet of the Shelter in Place exhibition. Other works, such as this Kida Swing, showcased Burks’s product designs. This inviting seat was designed by Burks for DEDON, a German company specializing in handcrafted luxury outdoor furniture. The Kida Swing is a stunning demonstration of “the union of industrial materials with high-level craft technique”.

As explained on the exhibit card: “This airy design is a departure from DEDON’s dense weaving style, demonstrating how collaboration leads to innovation when there is space for creativity. Kida Swing was the result of a weeklong workshop in the Philippines. Burks challenged the traditional weaving techniques of the master weavers there, who in turn helped him innovate on Kida Swing’s design.”

Burks’s Kida Swing is beautifully illustrated on DEDON’s website (see screenshot below) with the explanation: “Stephen Burks’ award-winning collection is as delightful to look at as to use. The hanging longue chair is the first collection to be wrapped rather than woven in 834 meters of DEDON Fiber Touch, and features a cradle-like organic form that’s open, airy, light and inviting. Once inside, users can luxuriate in KIDA’s comfy cushion, which covers the entire seating area, and feel, in Burks’ own words, “as free as the breeze” when swinging.”

Another facet of the exhibition is “a speculative project called Shelter in Place that emerged out of questions about creative agency and ideas of radical home making during the global pandemic lockdown.” Several fascinating prototypes from this initiative were displayed but my favorite was Burks’s Spirit House. Interestingly, a replica of Burks’s original work on paper and a rendering of his design were on display allowing the viewer to trace the evolution of this project.

“Inspired by the human need for ritual, Spirit House is the direct result of Burks’s respect for global cultural traditions and his desire to incorporate them into his life, not just as designs. The partially pitched roof structure, two walls, and an open construction pay homage to the spirit houses found across Southeast Asia.” states the exhibit card. I was immediately reminded of the spirit houses, like the one pictured below, which I saw in Thailand several years ago.

“Creating a definitive space of spiritual reverence, the pedestalled room supports mementos, objects that hold memory, and typically a lit candle. Here, Burks has replaced the candle with an electric bulb.”

“This object welcomes ceremony and open communication with much-needed spiritual practices, which many of us reconnected with during the pandemic.”

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to view and consider the Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place exhibition. It’s a thought-provoking look into the fascinating world of leading-edge design.

More Info

The Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place exhibition is on view through March 5, 2023 at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.
Stephen Burks is the founder and principal of Stephen Burks Man Made – an internationally recognized product development consultancy based in New York. Over the past twenty years, the studio has engaged the transformative power of craft techniques as a strategy for innovation for some of the world’s leading design-driven brands.
The following articles are quoted in this blog post:
. Stephen Burks Wants to Finish a 20-Year-Old Conversation With Fran Lebowitz, a 2022 article in Curbed
. Stephen Burks and Kentucky Students Push Craft Boundaries, a 2022 article in Wallpaper*
. Crafting Diversity at Berea College – Evolving Craft, a recent article in Design Within Reach
Berea College offers a high-quality education to academically promising students with limited economic resources. Check out the Berea College website for more information about the college and the Berea College Student Craft program.
To view products from this program, check out the Design Within Reach website. They are the exclusive retail partner of the student-made Crafting Diversity Collection, designed by Stephen Burks Man Made in partnership with Kentucky’s Berea College.
See the DEDON website to learn more about this German company which specializes in handcrafted luxury outdoor furniture.
The following FanningSparks blog posts are mentioned in this blog post:
. Have Barn Quilts Made a Comeback?
. Lessons Learned from my First Barn Quilt Block
. All Around the Amethyst Cabochon
. Swept Away by Broom Making
. Weave a Market Basket
. You CAN Put All Your Eggs in this Basket
The mission of the John C Campbell Folk School is to “transform lives, bring people together in a nurturing environment for experiences in learning and community life that spark self-discovery.” You can learn more on their website. You may also enjoy my previous posts about the Folk School.

Today’s Takeaways

1. “The hand of the artist separates craftspeople from mass production.” Stephen Burks
2. “Collaboration leads to innovation when there is space for creativity … Burks challenged the traditional weaving techniques of the master weavers there, who in turn helped him innovate” Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place exhibition
3. “My work is about finding opportunities for innovation in the space between handcraft and industry while hopefully extending craft traditions into the future.” Stephen Burks

Clay How Tos Make

Maker Heart Challenge Bonus: Ceramic Valentine’s Heart Box

Richard Cadbury holds the Guinness World Record for the earliest box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. “Richard Cadbury, the eldest son of John Cadbury, founder of the world-famous company, created the first known heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day 1868. He was a pioneer in chocolate box design and often used his own paintings to make the lids of the boxes more appealing.” states the record.
Over 150 years ago, Cadbury, the British chocolate company, faced a number of serious challenges. They had invested heavily in new machinery to improve their primary product, drinking chocolate, which left them with large quantities of cocoa butter by-product. Other chocolatiers, such as their competitors Fry, had successfully sold cocoa butter as eating chocolate. But, as Deborah Cadbury explains in her book The Chocolate Wars, “the Cadbury brothers [younger brother George focused on purchasing, policy and development while older brother Richard tackled sales] were after something altogether more luxurious. They found that when the cocoa butter was mixed with sugar and then cocoa liquor was folded back into the mix, it produced a superior dark chocolate bar. Then they went one step further. They wanted to launch a new concept that would bring the exotic qualities of the French chocolatier to the popular market. Richard called it the Fancy Box.”
Today’s blog post features my own version of a Fancy Box—just in time for Valentine’s Day! It doesn’t contain exotic chocolates from my own secret recipe but it does hold some delicious treats I purchased for the occasion.

Richard Cadbury painted the designs to decorate the lids of the original Fancy Box himself. His efforts did not go unnoticed—a January 1869 newspaper article in the Birmingham Gazette reports “Among the pictorial novelties introduced to the trade this season, few if any excel the illustration on Messres Cadburys’ four-ounce box of chocolate cremes … It is chaste yet simple, and consists of a blue eyed maiden some six summers old, neatly dressed in a muslin frock, trimmed with lace, nursing a cat.”
My Fancy Box doesn’t showcase a Victorian girl or a cat but it does sport a big pink bow and a simple heart motif.

My heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day chocolates is ceramic. I actually made two of them—a small one, pictured above, which measures 3¼” across and a slightly larger one, pictured below, that’s 4½”.

I started by making a paper prototype and then designing the template. I’m sharing a complimentary download containing the templates for my ceramic Valentine’s heart box here.

Once the design was set, I rolled out some clay and cut out the various parts.

I covered the parts with damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out while I worked.

The bow is made with three parts: loops, tie and ribbon ends. The bow’s loops and tie are shaped to give the appearance of a tied ribbon. This is done by gradually bringing the two ends of the bow’s loops together at the back and by rounding the tie into a U shape. I’ve learned to be patient with these steps because bending the clay too quickly will make it crack. After the parts were shaped, I scored, slipped and sealed the parts to assemble the bow.

Next, I built the heart-shaped box. The first step was to shape the sides around the heart-shaped bottom. Once again, it was important to work slowly and give the clay time to adjust to the modified form.

After the sides were shaped, I trimmed the first one to fit in place and attached it to the bottom by scoring, slipping and sealing. I repeated the process for the second side.

Here’s the assembled heart-shaped box.

Next, I attached a heart-shaped foot to the bottom of the box and a heart-shaped flange to the bottom of the lid.

Here are the three major components for the heart-shaped Valentine’s box.

The final step in the assembly is to attach the bow to the lid. I positioned the bow and marked around the outside edge so I would know where to score the clay.
Next the piece was covered with plastic and set aside to dry. It’s best to place the lid on the box while it’s drying so the dried parts will fit properly.
In the meantime, I turned my attention to designing the decorative elements and selecting a glaze treatment. I tested Amaco Velvet Underglazes in white, rose, bright red and black on a couple of test tiles. The fine-detail brushes, “Something Blue” by Winstonia, which are designed for fingernail art were perfect for this detailed work. (Special thanks to Little Street Pottery for this excellent recommendation!)

After settling on the decorative treatment, I used my Cricut electronic cutting machine to cut stencils from adhesive vinyl. The vinyl sticks amazingly well to dried clay although curved sections require a little fussing.
I started by applying three coats of white underglaze to the sides and lids and three coats of rose underglaze to the bows. Once the underglaze was completely dry, I stuck the stencils over the sections that were to remain white and applied the other colors. The stencils were removed as soon as the underglaze was dry. The leaves, stems and outlines were added in black underglaze with the fine-detail brushes.
After the pieces were bisque fired, I dipped them in clear glaze for the final finish. The pieces were fired with the lids in place which means there could be no glaze where the pieces touched. I learned this the hard way because there was a spot of glaze on one of the rims causing the lid and body to bond together. Luckily, with the help of a fellow Pottery Studio potter who knew just how to tap the pieces apart (Thank you Aurora!) , the lid was removed without damage.
These ceramic Valentine’s heart boxes are the grand finale to my self-proclaimed Heart Maker Challenge. The challenge, which I announced in my previous blog post Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, is an effort to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day. This is actually the fourth project I managed to complete so I consider it a bonus. Another bonus was the chocolates used in the photos—I don’t often get to eat my props after a shoot!

More Info

You can download my project template here: Ceramic Valentines Heart Box – Complimentary Download.
Check out the FanningSparks Maker Challenge to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day:
. See the blog post, Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, to learn how this maker challenge came about.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #1: Hearty File Storage Boxes, for my first response to the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #2: Broken Heart Trivet, for my second response to the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #3: Froufrou Sachet – DIY Tutorial, for my third response to the challenge.
To learn more about the history of Cadbury and the other major chocolate firms of the early nineteenth century, check out Deborah Cadbury’s book Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World’s Greatest Chocolate Makers which can be found here on Archives.org.
As noted above, I learned about using nail art brushes for detailed glazing from Little Street Pottery. They have an active YouTube channel where the talented Ann Ruel shares her outstanding pottery projects. Check out Little Street Pottery on YouTube for lots of ideas, techniques, tips and workshops. Thank you Ann and Little Street Pottery for generously making these great resources available to all!
I’m fortunate to have easy access to the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF) School Street Pottery Studio for my pottery fun. The studio is located in Watkinsville, Georgia, USA. You can learn more on the OCAF website.

Today’s Takeaways

1. The first known heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day was created by Richard Cadbury over 150 years ago.
2. Beautiful, specialty product packaging can be inspiring.
3. Clay is an ideal medium to create functional vessels which are also decorative.

Fiber Make Tutorials

Maker Heart Challenge #3: Froufrou Sachet – DIY Tutorial

There aren’t many situations where froufrou would be considered a desirable attribute. Galentine’s Day, the variant of Valentine’s Day devoted to celebrating the women in our lives, may be one of those rare situations. The fancier and fussier, the better!
Interestingly, the word “froufrou” originated as an imitation of a sound. The French word was coined to replicate the rustling sound of women moving about in dresses of draped satin and silk. Nowadays, froufrou is defined as “very showy or fancy”.
Today’s blog post features a lavender sachet designed to look like a frilly, little dress. I’m not sure it would make a froufrou sound but I do think it’s showy and fancy enough to be froufrou.
The sachet is embellished with a small heart which qualifies it as the third response to my self-proclaimed Heart Maker Challenge. The challenge, which I announced in my previous blog post Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, is an effort to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day.

The froufrou, miniature-dress sachet is a fun little project you can make with a few, inexpensive supplies. Only basic crafting skills are needed—some simple sewing is involved but it could be glued instead. The best part is the sachet can be personalized with your own choice of colors and embellishments. Follow the step-by-step instructions to make froufrou sachets for your Galentine’s pals and/or yourself. The sachet with the red bodice and white skirt (on the right in the below photo) is used to illustrate the tutorial.

Supplies Needed
. Template: Download Froufrou Sachet – Complimentary Download to print the template.
. Paper: A few sheets of white paper to print template.
. Felt: 8” x 10” piece of felt for the dress bodice.
. Thread: To match the color of the felt and any trim.
. Fabric Glue (optional): To assemble the sachet by gluing instead of sewing.
. Tulle: About 5 yards of 6” wide ribbon for the dress skirt. Alternatively, about 1 yard of 54” wide tulle mesh would be needed.
. Ribbon: 22” of ¼” fabric ribbon (such as satin or grosgrain) for the dress skirt in the same color as the tulle.
. Ribbon: 11” narrow (⅛” or ¼” wide) fabric ribbon (such as satin or grosgrain) for the hanger.
. Decorative Elements: Small hearts, sequins, lace, trims or other embellishments. It takes about 8 inches of trim to go around the bottom edge of the bodice.
. Scented Filling: Approximately ½ cup of scented filling. There are a variety of options including dried florals or herbs (such as lavender buds or rose petals), rice or Epsom salts scented with essential oils, cedar shavings or fragrance beads. I chose to use a combination of polyester batting and dried lavender buds enhanced with a few drops of lavender essential oil.

Equipment and Tools Needed
. Computer and Printer: To print template.
. Scissors
. Ruler or tape measure
. Pins
. Needle: For hand sewing.
. Sewing Machine: Alternatively, this project could be glued.
. Tape: To temporarily secure ribbon to the work surface.
. Fabric Pen or Chalk: I prefer the Pilot FriXion marker.
. Spoon: To move scented filling into sachet.
Step 1 Prepare Template Download the Froufrou Sachet – Complimentary Download and print the template. Take care to ensure the scale is accurate on your printed version. See specifics in the download document.
Step 2 Make Felt Dress Bodice Cut TWO bodice pieces from felt using the downloaded template. Align edges and pin in place. Slip the 11” ribbon hanger between the two pieces of felt and bring the ends of the ribbon up between the neckline edges. Position the ends of the ribbons about ¼” from the side edges. Pin in place.

Sew the two pieces of felt together along the two sides and across the top neckline. I chose to use an overcast stitch so the sachet filling won’t leak. Alternatively, the felt could be glued. Leave the bottom hem edge open at this time. Turn the piece right side out pushing out the seams to form a smooth edge. The ribbon hanger should become a loop at the top of the bodice.
The next step is to gather the top of the bodice. Using a straight stitch on the sewing machine, lock in the beginning of the seam at the top center of the bodice. Bunch up the felt under the sewing machine foot and stitch to form gentle gathers. Sew for about ¾” and lock in the end of the seam. Alternatively, hand-sew this short seam by gathering the felt by hand and locking it in place with a simple running stitch.

Step 3 Embellish Felt Dress Bodice Determine how you wish to embellish the bodice of the dress. A small heart template is included in the complimentary download. Hand-sew, or alternatively glue, any embellishments to the top of the bodice at this point. Embellishments for the bottom of the bodice, ie along the waist or hem lines, will be addressed after the tulle skirt is attached. I chose to make a small heart from white felt and cover it with sparkly pearl-white sequins.

I hand-stitched the sequined heart into place.

Step 4 Make Tulle Dress Skirt The dress skirt is made by tying short, wide pieces of tulle ribbon onto a 22” strip of narrow ribbon. Cut 24 pieces of tulle measuring 6” x 7”. If you are using 6” wide tulle ribbon, simply unroll the ribbon and cut into 7” sections. Alternatively, if you are using tulle mesh yardage, measure and cut 6” x 7” rectangles. Stack your cut pieces carefully so it’s easy to differentiate the 6” edges from the 7” edges.
Prepare to tie the tulle pieces to the ribbon by securing one end of the 22” piece of ribbon to your work surface. I simply taped mine to the edge of my table.
A lark’s head knot is used to attach the tulle sections to the ribbon. This simple knot is commonly used in macrame and there are numerous online resources describing it in great detail. I’ve explained the steps below but, if you need a better explanation, just search online for “macrame larks head knot”.
Pick up a tulle section and hold it with the 6” edges to the top and bottom. Use your fingers (instead of the clip I used for the photo) to gather the center into a tight bundle.

Fold the tulle section in half bringing the two 6” edges together. Use your fingers to maintain the gathers and form a small opening at the fold. Place this opening over the secured ribbon with the tulle ends positioned towards you (#1 in the photo). Swing the tulle ends down under the ribbon and up through the opening (#2 in the photo). Pull to tighten. Arrange the tulle knot on the ribbon so the ends are aligned below the ribbon (#3 in the photo). Pull the knot snug—loose enough to lie flat but tight enough to keep the knot in place.

Repeat for the remaining 23 pieces of tulle pushing each knotted section snuggly against the previous one. Try not to twist the ribbon.

Step 5 Attach Tulle Skirt to Felt Bodice Find the center of the ribbon by folding it in half. Mark lightly with fabric pen. Gently slide 12 of the knots to either side of this center mark. Find the center front of the felt bodice by folding it in half. Mark with a pin. Repeat for the center back of the bodice.
Align the center mark on the ribbon with the center mark on the bodice front. Pin together about ⅜” from the bottom edge. Tack ribbon to bodice with a few hand-sewn stitches. Alternatively, glue the ribbon in place.

Prepare to tack the ribbon to the bodice at one of the side seams. Gently slide 6 knots towards the center front ensuring a snug fit. Grasp ribbon directly after the sixth knot and pin to the bodice at the side seam. Tack the ribbon to the bodice. Repeat on the opposite side.

Prepare to tack the ribbon to the bodice at the center back. On one of the sides, gently slide the remaining 6 knots towards the side seam. Grasp ribbon directly after the sixth knot and pin it to the bodice at the center back. Tack the ribbon to the bodice. Repeat on the opposite side.
The tulle skirt is now attached to the bodice at 4 points. Finish off the narrow ribbon by tying a small bow or by knotting and trimming off the ends.
Step 6 Embellish Waistline Determine how you wish to embellish the waistline where the skirt is attached to the bodice. Hand-sew, or alternatively glue, any embellishments. I chose to attach a pretty, beaded trim just above the tulle skirt.

Step 7 Fill Sachet The final step is to stuff the dress body with the scented filling.
As noted under the Supplies Needed section, I chose to use a combination of polyester batting and dried lavender. I enhanced the dried lavender buds with a few drops of lavender essential oil purchased at the Red Oak Lavender Farm & Shop in Northern Georgia (see previous post Stop and Smell the Lavender). Lavender has a lovely sweet scent, deters moths and removes mustiness. When the scent starts to fade, gently squeeze the lavender to release more oils and revive the fragrance. The fragrance is said to last for a couple of years.
Fill the dress body through the bottom opening. I used a small amount of polyester batting to fill out the curves of the dress. I spooned dried lavender buds into the mid-section and then finished off with a little more batting.
Close the opening with a hand-sewn whipstitch. Alternatively, the opening can be closed with glue.
Your froufrou miniature-dress sachet is finished—ready to be hung in a closet or tucked into a drawer! Whether you choose to give it to someone special on Galentine’s Day or keep it for yourself, it will be a fun, fragrant surprise every time the closet or drawer is opened.

More Info

You can download the project template here: Froufrou Sachet – Complimentary Download.
Please pin this image to share or save for future reference.

Check out the FanningSparks Maker Challenge to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day.
. See the blog post, Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, to learn how this maker challenge came about.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #1: Hearty File Storage Boxes, for my first response to the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #2: Broken Heart Trivet, for my second response to the challenge.
The froufrou miniature-dress sachets featured in this post are my third response to the challenge.
UPDATE Feb 19, 2023: See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge Bonus: Ceramic Valentine’s Heart Box, for my fourth, and bonus, response to the challenge.
I’m a big fan of lavender. Check out these FanningSparks blog posts to learn more:
. Weaving Lavender
. Stop and Smell the Lavender

Today’s Takeaways

1. Sometimes fussy, showy and fancy are the way to go.
2. Lavender has a lovely sweet scent, deters moths and removes mustiness.
3. Consider making a fun, froufrou, miniature-dress sachet.

Clay How Tos Make

Maker Heart Challenge #2: Broken Heart Trivet

Some projects flop! It’s not something I like to admit but not every maker project is a success. Occasionally, a project will turn out exactly as envisioned. More often, a project shifts and evolves during its creation. From time to time, a project just fails and the whole effort has to be scrapped. Every failure is, of course, an opportunity to learn and improve.
The heart-shaped ceramic trivet I tried to make recently is a case in point. Here it is my broken heart!

This project started with a crossover idea to try quilling with clay. Quilling is a form of paper arts which involves rolling narrow strips of paper into intricate designs. It is known by a few different names including paper rolling, paper filigree and paper scroll work. The history of quilling is uncertain but it is believed to originate from Ancient Egypt. Interestingly, the term “quilling” comes from a time when the paper strips were rolled around birds’ feathers. Nowadays, specialized tools such as slotted quilling tools and tweezers are used instead of quills. Here’s a stunning example representing the city of Seoul created by Yulia Brodskaya.

Interesting Side Note: This artwork was created as part of a 2017 joint marketing campaign between Delta and Coca-Cola to create a flying art gallery. Twelve artists from around the world were engaged to transform Delta’s 767 aircraft tray tables into one-of-a-kind works of art. I took the photo when the originals were displayed at the Coca-Cola Global Headquarters where I worked at the time.
Obviously, not all quilling is this elaborate. Here are a few simpler examples from note cards I’ve purchased.

The detail in this pair of lovebirds, from a specialty greeting card by Quilling Card, is amazing.

It’s the dramatic flourishes—the sweeping curves, graceful spirals, gentle loops and intricate rolls—that appeal to me. It seemed likely the decorative flourishes could be replicated in clay but I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate them into a functional item. The idea came together when I stumbled upon these vintage cast iron trivets on eBay and Etsy.

Trivets, sometimes called hot pot holders, are typically used to protect the surface of a dining table from a hot serving dish or bowl. They are simple, but functional, objects with a decorative surface. Thus, the ideas came together and I formulated a plan to create a ceramic trivet with a filigree design.
The first hurdle was to create a streamlined design. Theoretically, clay could be rolled to paper thinness but ¼” is the thinnest I’ve used. The increased thickness of the clay meant the circles and curves in my trivet design had to be looser than for paper quilling. In addition, the overall design had to be adjusted to the size of a typical trivet which is usually 6 to 9 inches in diameter. I selected three designs including a heart, snowflake and teapot.
The heart design originated from a paper quilling design—a heart-shaped outline filled with sweeps, swirls and circles. Since it features a heart, it will count as the second response to my self-proclaimed Heart Maker Challenge. The challenge, which I announced in my previous blog post Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, is an effort to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day.
The teapot design came from a vintage cast iron trivet I found online.

After printing my designs on paper, I rolled out a slab of clay to ¼” thickness and carefully cut it into ½” strips.

The strips were turned on edge and laid over the paper pattern.

Each strip of clay was cut to size. Then scored and attached with slip to the adjacent pieces.

I found several of the curves were too tight for my clay strips so I refined the design as I worked. A few elements had to be shifted so they could be attached in more than one spot and others had to be removed because there wasn’t enough space for all of them. Here’s how the heart looked with the clay filigree in place.

The next step was to clean up the connection points and smooth all the edges. Then I added small, round feet to the bottom and let the piece dry facedown.

The feet will elevate the trivet from the dining table, or other surface, when it’s in use. They also elevate the trivet from the kiln shelf during firing. This means the entire piece, except the feet, can be glazed giving both the top and bottom a nice, glass-like finish. Here’s the finished snowflake trivet holding a delightful pottery teapot from Hong Kong. The inset shows the underside of the trivet.

Unfortunately, I had no idea how critical the placement of the feet would be. I simply added feet to a few connection points to ensure the trivet would be level—an approach that worked fine with the snowflake and teapot trivets. Here’s the bottom of the teapot trivet.

Unfortunately, my simplistic approach to placing the feet was not at all successful with the heart-shaped trivet. It seems the feet also need to support the various lines of the trivet during firing. The trivet was fine during the original bisque firing but, during the final glaze firing, sections of the trivet sagged onto the kiln shelf. Perhaps the section wasn’t attached well enough or perhaps the the feet couldn’t support the added weight of the glaze. Regardless of the cause, it was not a good situation—glaze should never touch a kiln shelf—and my trivet broke. Yep, I had a broken heart!

In the spirit of learning from my mistakes, I decided to try again. I followed the same assembly process taking extra care to ensure all the elements were securely attached to the adjacent elements. I also took extra care when attaching the feet, adding three more feet to ensure there was adequate support in all areas. But it happened again! Not in the exact same spot, but with the exact same outcome—another broken heart!

I’ve been studying the two trivets to fully understand what went wrong. The below side-by-side comparison, showing the front and back of my first and second attempts, helps pinpoint the trouble. In both trivets, the problem area was on the right side of the heart (when viewed from the front). In the first trivet, the entire interior section had insufficient support. In the second trivet, the problem area may have been smaller but the outer edge, especially where several elements converged, obviously did not have adequate support.

So, in the final outcome, I’ve learned a little more and I have two nice ceramic trivets and two broken hearts for my efforts!

More Info

To see more beautiful quilling artwork, check out artists: Yulia Brodskaya (website and Instagram), Sabeena Karnik (Sabeenu on Instagram) or Gergana Penchevaa (PaperliciousBG on Instagram). Greeting cards, handmade by quilling artists in Vietnam, can be found at QuillingCard.com.
To learn more about the Delta and Coca-Cola flying art gallery check out this 2017 Delta news article.
As noted in my previous blog post, Clay Play Days, I’m still new to working with clay. My projects involve a lot of experimentation and a fair bit of persistence. Every project teaches me something new.
UPDATE Feb 7, 2023: The heart-shaped trivet featured in this blog post is the second response to my FanningSparks Heart Maker Challenge in which I’m challenging myself to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day.
. See the blog post, Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, to learn how this maker challenge came about.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #1: Hearty File Storage Boxes, for my first response to the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #3: Froufrou Sachet – DIY Tutorial, for my third response the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge Bonus: Ceramic Valentine’s Heart Box, for my fourth, and bonus, response to the challenge.

Today’s Takeaways

1. Don’t expect every maker project to be a success.
2. Take time to learn from each maker project.
3. Crossover projects, using materials or applying techniques from one medium in another, can lead to interesting results.

How Tos Make Other Media

Maker Heart Challenge #1: Hearty File Storage Boxes

Pieces of paper seem to appear out of nowhere in my studio! Old project templates, exhibition programs, travel brochures, design sketches, project ideas, magazines, artist cards and reminder notes just turn up. They start out neatly arranged, ostensibly, to serve as visual reminders. But then they multiply until they cover every flat surface. And before long, they’ve grown into meaningless piles of paper. Admittedly, I put off dealing with the paper clutter as long as possible. But when the stacks fall over, it’s time to sort, purge and organize!

With the exception of this paper clutter, my studio is pretty well organized. A growing collection of project trays is the key to keeping order. The 12” x 12”, clear, plastic bins are ideal for storing project supplies and tools as well as works-in-process. See my blog post The Ultimate Maker’s Cabinet for the full scoop.

These project trays and other storage aids are typically on sale in January so it’s an ideal time to stock up. Plus, there’s a lot of attention on decluttering, cleaning and organizing. January is designated “Get Organized (GO) Month” by the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO). There are lots of catchy slogans like “New Year, New Slate” to promote the effort. Each day, a different area of focus, such as the linen closet, garage, books or children’s toys, is called out by NAPO members. By happy coincidence, January 13^th was deemed as the day to deal with “Crafts”. As shown on the below Instagram screenshot from the #GoMonth2023 campaign, there are three important steps to complete: Evaluate, Declutter and Organize. So not only is dealing with my craft-related paper clutter necessary, it’s also on trend!

I’ve decided to try a different approach for my papers this time—filing. Groundbreaking, I know! It’s not that I’ve never filed—I’ve certainly filed my fair share of work papers and home/life administration papers—it’s just that I’ve never found a filing system that actually worked for the papers related to my hobbies and travels.
Luckily, I found three wooden file storage boxes in the basement that I could repurpose for this project. The best part is the storage boxes were unfinished. I could simply have painted them. But, in my world, that would be a huge missed opportunity—especially since I’m in the midst of my self-proclaimed maker challenge. See my previous blog post, Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, where I challenge myself to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day.
After some experimentation, a curvy border of hearts and leaves emerged. I’ve created this downloadable version for your convenience: Heart and Leaf Border – Complimentary Download. Simply scale the drawing to meet your own specific requirements.

The plan was to apply the same design to all three wooden boxes so the border would flow from one box to the next. I didn’t want to stack the boxes in a specific order so I adjusted the design to align at the top and the bottom. Then I divided the design into positive and negative spaces to add some interest.

Once the design was set, I looked for an easy way to apply it to the boxes. I thought a stencil might be the way to go since the design had to be applied three times. My best option for accurately cutting a stencil is with my Cricut Explorer electronic cutting machine. But that meant converting my pencil-and-paper design into an SVG file—a task which is much more difficult than it sounds. After some effort, I realized my plan to cut a stencil for the positive/negative treatment was going to take far more effort than it was worth.
In the end, I went old school and simply traced the design onto the surfaces and painted the relevant areas with a small artist brush. I used interior/exterior satin enamel paint in Spring Glow (shown below), Green Parakeet and Indigo Batik.

Outlining the design with a black, fine-point paint marker really brought it to life.

Next, I painted the left sides of the boxes to finish the positive space treatment. Here are the finished boxes.

The final step was simply to clean up missed areas and sharpen the lines. I’m really pleased with how these wooden file storage boxes turned out.
But, now, I can’t procrastinate any longer… I simply MUST deal with that paper avalanche.

More Info

Some time ago, I came across a tutorial on creating the illusion of suspended, tumbling and falling items in photos. I always wanted to give it a try and this blog post provided the perfect opportunity. Notice how this photo appears to have captured the exact moment the papers were falling from the surface?

Well, it’s not quite as it seems. Here’s a peek behind the scenes where a kludgy support structure made from a stool, clamps, sticks, tape, knitting needles and scrap cardboard was carefully hidden behind a black fabric curtain. Impressive, eh?

See the FanningSparks blog post, The Ultimate Maker’s Cabinet, to see how an old entertainment center can be transformed into a one-of-a-kind Maker’s Cabinet.
Check out the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO) website or their #GoMonth2023 hashtag on Instagram for more information on this organization.
UPDATE Feb 7, 2023: Check out my progress on the FanningSparks Maker Challenge to create at least three different projects featuring hearts before Valentine’s Day.
. See the blog post, Setting My Heart on a Maker Challenge, to learn how this maker challenge came about.
. The file storage boxes featured in this blog post are my first response to the challenge. You can download the design used on the file storage boxes here: Heart and Leaf Border – Complimentary Download.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #2: Broken Heart Trivet, for my second response to the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge #3: Froufrou Sachet – DIY Tutorial, for my third response the challenge.
. See the blog post, Maker Heart Challenge Bonus: Ceramic Valentine’s Heart Box, for my fourth, and bonus, response to the challenge.

Today’s Takeaways

1. January is designated “Get Organized (GO) Month” by the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO).
2. Consider following the three steps—Evaluate, Declutter and Organize—to deal with clutter.
3. File storage boxes may be one way to get craft-related papers organized.

Take One. Leave One.

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

The Space Between Handcraft and Industry

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Maker Heart Challenge Bonus: Ceramic Valentine’s Heart Box

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Maker Heart Challenge #3: Froufrou Sachet – DIY Tutorial

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Maker Heart Challenge #2: Broken Heart Trivet

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Maker Heart Challenge #1: Hearty File Storage Boxes

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

FanningSparks Appliqued Scoodie

Stepback into a Local Hidden Gem

Make & Give Roundup 2024

Historic Carousels: Works of Art in Motion

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four

What’s in a Name?