- Posted:
- 07/09/2009
- By:
- Kellie
- Comments:
- 9 »
Don’t Cost A Dime: Tea Towel Art
You may remember that I love to make pillows from cool napkins (see this post and this post). Well, I have a couple of awesome napkins and tea towels just sitting around here that I was going to use for some future sewing project and I got to thinking… they would make great artwork! So I enlisted the help of my husband (poor guy, he always seems to be dragged into helping me with all of my wacky ideas!) and here’s what I came up with:
What do you think? I hung one in my bedroom and the other (the bird) in my bathroom. Now for all of you DIY-ers here are the step by step instructions…
1. Build the frame. This is where I had my hubby’s help. Each towel/napkin will vary in size so you will have to figure that part out on your own. We just used scrap materials we had in our garage. Here is a pic of the finished construction (one front and one back):
2. Iron your towel/napkin. Make sure to get all the creases out!!!
3. Cut off any labels from the towel so they don’t get in the way.
4. Lay the towel face down on a hard surface. Begin to wrap the towel around the frame, one side at a time, and using a staple gun, staple it in place on the backside. Make sure to stretch the fabric as you go so it’s nice and tight.
5. Hang it on the wall. You can add a picture hanger to the back if you want but I just hung mine from the frame on a nail.
Easy peasy right?! Now all you have to do is go find some cool dish towels. If you are wondering, I found these at Target last year and I know they don’t have these exact ones any more (I got them on clearance for $.74!). So, while you may not be able to get the exact towels I used, check out Anthropologie, they never disappoint! Here are some I found on their website:
If anyone makes some tea towel art, you must show me! I would love to see what you come up with!
Comments
Love it! They look great! I can’t wait to get to work on Alana’s nursery with your expertise! FUN!
Hee. i did a very similiar thing last month – I picked up a few Orly Kelley napkins on sale and used them as the backing for a couple of pillows for the camper. At around .60 a piece it was cheaper than fabric and most of my seams were already done!
Hey, Im just a blog stalker/tag buyer but wouldnt saying “they never fail to disapoint” be a bad thing? :)
Anyways, I love your creativity! Im going to look at my kitchen towels a little differently tonight!
Cheers!
I love them – what a good idea. I think I know someone who can make me some frames!
@Miche – Thanks for the proofreading! It’s fixed now.
Love it! THANKS for posting. I needed that ;]
KELLIE!!!!!!!!!
loved it.
I love this idea! I have that exact towel with the white leaves!
In England 19th century ladies embroidered their tea towels for decorative usage during tea time to cover food.. I also like different types of tea towels like Plain Dyed Towels, Embroidered Towels, Jacquard Towels Design, Embroidered Towels for Kitchen.