Day 11: Reflection!

Day 11: Reflection & Happy Holidays!

First and foremost, we want to thank everyone for being an inspiration to us. You encourage us to keep crafting, designing, and aspiring. We decided to end on Day 11 as we didn’t realize what an insane holiday schedule we would have. We apologize, but for the days we were able to make it work, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Our Hmong-Inspired Christmas project may be completed, but we hope it will be shared and recreated in the coming years. We have been blessed with a wonderful family and are very excited to share with them our cross-cultural creations on this holiday. It is a small and simple expression of our love and appreciation of our culture.

We couldn’t be more excited to end the year with this project. Thank you for tuning in and see you all next year!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! 

Day 10: CHAT!

Day 10: CHAT – A true inspiration!

Taking a break from crafting, we want to take the time to recognize an organization that has contributed to supporting and promoting a variety of Hmong arts within the community. The Center for Hmong Arts & Talents (CHAT) is an incredible and inspiring non-profit organization located in St. Paul, MN. CHAT is one of the main reasons why we began this project.

CHAT’s mission: to nurture, explore and illuminate the Hmong American experience through artistic expressions. They are able to achieve this mission through their core values of creativity, community, integrity, and progress.

CHAT gave us the opportunity to step into the fashion industry with their annual fashion show: Fresh Traditions. Fresh Tradition is a fashion show that showcases the talents of emerging Hmong-American fashion designers. We were honor to be a part of the fourth annual Fresh Traditions Fashion Show as it was a wonderful learning process and a launching pad for Inspire.

One of CHAT's main goals is to build audiences for the arts by creating and producing art that significantly enhances understanding both within the Hmong community as well cross-culturally. Complimentary to this goal, and our experiences with CHAT, we were able to produce our Hmong-Inspired Christmas. We wanted to infuse our Hmong culture with the American holiday and be able to share this with the community.

CHAT offers a variety of programs and events that help foster Hmong artists of all mediums. To learn more about CHAT, please visit www.aboutchat.org.

To Inspire and to be Inspired. 

Day 9: Picture Perfect!

Day 9: Gifts – Picture Perfect

Using all that we have learned and making the most use of the materials we have purchased for our Hmong-Inspired Christmas, we present to you our gifts!

Frame Tutorial:

Materials:

-Frames (your choice of size, material, etc)

-Paper, fabric, embellishments…

-Scissors, x-acto knife, and glue

You can do just about any design to put into your frame(s). All you need is your imagination!

For ours:

Step 1: Trace dimensions of photo frame onto cardstock and cut it out. Use this to apply design onto.

Step 2: Cut 1 strip (1” width *by the height of photo frame dimension) of blue and pink cardstock. Cut black cardstock according to the dimensions remaining of cardstock. -Our frame is a 4*6 therefore we have 2 strips of 1*6 and 1 strip of 2*6

Step 3: Measure ribbon and glue down on right side of the black cardstock.

Step 4: Glue all 3 strips in whichever order you choose. Once dry, trim off any extended edges to help fit design into frame.

Step 5: Place into frame and you now have yourself a Hmong-Inspired print!

Creating multiple designs can create a unique, visually appealing design on your wall. If you’re giving this as a gift, having a set of 3 to give makes it all the merrier!

Photo Album

Materials:

-Basic photo album – we got ours at Wal-Mart for $6

-Felt

-Glue, paint brush, scissors

Using our Hmong symbol cut outs (Day 2), we created a traditional design with 4 of them together.

Just apply glue to the back of the symbols and adhere to the photo album. It’s as simple as that!

Check in to Day 10, as we move closer to Christmas!

Day 8: Stockings # 2

Day 8: Stockings #2

These stockings are a wonderful and unique twist on the American stocking. We love that we were able to infuse Hmong fabric and materials to a classic Christmas item.

We created these stockings using black velvet, pink and green cotton solids, and Hmong trimming (left over from our Hmong heart ornaments!). All materials were purchased at the St. Paul Hmong Market (off of Como Ave.) – support your local Hmong vendors!

Pictured are the materials used for this project. Unfortunately, due to our time restraint and the busy holiday season, we will unable to do a detailed step-by-step tutorial. If there are any requests for it, we will do our best to return to this project and provide a tutorial!

The best part of these stockings is that they make great gifts themselves. Give them to love ones as we are planning to do <3

Day 7: Ornament #3 - Hearts

Day 7: Ornament #3 - <3

Growing up in a Hmong family, you probably have seen this Hmong ornament. It's a small, stuffed heart-shaped ornament! Usually hand done with a cross-stitch image. You can find these ornaments at the Hmong ABC shop (St. Paul MN Hmong Market) for $6/ea or $2 for an unstuffed heart that you can fill in yourself. For us, that's a bit pricey for a single ornament (if you plan to have more than 1 hanging on the tree). So we decided to take a Hmong-printed trimming and create our own! We recommend this if you are low on funds and you have the time!

Materials:

-Hmong trimming - found at Hmong markets and/or local Hmong fabric store )amount depending on how many ornaments you plan to make)
-Fabric of your choice for the back of heart
-Sewing tools such as sewing machine, thread, and hand sewing needle
-String of yarn or ribbon
-Scissors

Step 1: Fold Hmong-fabric in half and cut out heart shape.

Step 2: Lay cutout on top of fabric. Trace and cut out heart from the fabric.

Step 3: Place string, folded in half, in the middle with at least 1/2" of ends extended beyond the edge.

Step 4: Place Hmong-fabric on top of string and second fabric, right sides together. You will want to pin all 3 layers together at the top. Push in bottom string towards the middle (to avoid stitching string into the seam).

Step 5: Begin stitching at the bottom of the heart. Sew all the way around, leaving at least 1" open.

Step 6: Turn inside out and stuff the heart with filling.

Step 7: Once the heart has been filled, slip stitch the opening closed.

The best part of this project is that you can create all sorts of shapes! Enjoy <3

Day 6: Ornaments #2

Day 6: Ornaments #2 – Coins!

For a very easy and cute Hmong-Inspired ornament, use the coins found on Hmong garments! We had left over coins that were purchased at the Hmong market. Just slip an ornament hook into the hole of the coin! 

And wah-la - coin ornaments! 

Day 5: Gift Wrap!

Day 6: Gift Wrapping

Dress up your gifts with one-of-a-kind wrapping paper!

We created a stamp (tutorial below) and used it to create a fun print on kraft wrapping paper. We like the eco look of the kraft wrapping paper but if you want to glam it up, use color wrapping paper and various color stamps.

Materials:

-Gift Wrap

                -We bought our kraft paper roll at Target for $3 – if you choose a solid color, note that there is less square footage (25 sq. ft) compared to the kraft roll (75 sq. ft) and both are sell at the same price!

-Craft Foam

                -Found at your local craft store and also available at the Dollar Tree.

-Wood slate or block

                -You can use anything that has some sort of height and has a flat bottom.

-Scissors (or x-acto knife)

-Glue

Stamp Tutorial

This technique is similar to the felt Hmong symbols we have been creating except that we are now using craft foam instead of felt.

Step 1: Draw your design onto the craft foam – keeping in mind that you would like a “bubble” shaped symbol of about ¼”.

Step 2: Cut out the symbol using scissors or an xacto knife. An xacto knife will help cut the inner swirls.

Step 3: Next, glue the symbol to the wooden slate.

Step 4: After the glue has dried, it is now ready to be used as a stamp!

Use it on the kraft gift wrap paper to create unique prints of all sorts! And then save it for all different types of projects like scrapbooking, card-making, etc.!

Day 4: Send a Greeting!

Day 4: Send a Greeting!

We’re super excited to send our greetings!

Creating personal, handcrafted greeting cards gives an extra something special to its receiver. And it’s easy to do! Dig up some crafts and goodies of all sort and get the family together.

Since we have been using felt for our Hmong symbol cut outs (and we hate to waste scraps), we made little cut outs and ribbon to create a Hmong outfit <3

And used some of our Hmong hearts to create another card! Just glue them on cardstock; it’s as easy as that! And if you want to take it one step further, add a fabric backdrop and attach it with a sewing machine stitch.

Or go ahead and draw your designs – this would be a simple yet adorable project for the kids!

Enjoy making your greeting cards and check back in for Day 5 of our Hmong-Inspired Christmas!

Day 3: Ornaments #1

Day 3: Ornaments #1

Seriously one of the easiest ways to enhance any ordinary glass ball ornament! With some glitter glue and paint markers, we were able to free draw Hmong symbols right onto the ornaments.

You might want to practice a few times to get a hang of it before using the glue or paint marker. Luckily with the glitter glue, if you mess up or want to redo a certain area, you can easily wipe it off with a napkin or a cotton swab. But this can’t be said with the paint marker! It is simpler to use than the glitter glue but once it has been applied, it dries immediately!

We got our materials from our local craft store JoAnns – the Sharpie paint markers are a bit pricey ($3.99ea or a pack of 2 for $5.99) so we suggest using a coupon! The best part of these markers is that they are easy to use and can be used on a variety of materials.

Use the ornaments you may already have or grab a new pack! If you’re on a budget, you can purchase plain ball ornaments for a reasonable low price from Wal-Mart, Big Lots (we got ours here - $3/8 to $6/24) , or your local dollar store. *If you are having the children help out with this activity, plastic ornament balls would be safer for them to handle versus glass ornaments balls.

Make sure that the ornament surface is clean of any residue before applying embellishments. If you are applying glitter glue, you can only do one side and must wait for it to dry (up to 2hrs) before handling the other half. Keep the container the ornaments came in so that you have a place to rest and dry them.

Use your creativity to create one-of-a-kind ornaments to fill up your Hmong-Inspired Christmas tree! And make sure to tune in for Day 4 <3

Day 2: DIY Stockings #1

Day 2 – DIY Stockings #1 & Hmong Symbol Cut-Outs

Isn't it adorable!? You can make your own stocking (as we did) or use a premade one from the store. The best part is that most of the materials required, you may already have at home! Using your imagination, you can create a variety of different stockings. They’re easy to decorate with your choice of embellishments!

Basic Materials:

• Felt (color of your choice) OR store bought stocking OR material of your choice
• Scissors (easier to cut if sharp)
• Glue or -
• Sewing machine & thread (if creating your own stocking)
• Embellishments of your choice – be creative!

The following steps pertain to felt symbol cut outs. You can choose to draw the symbols as well. We will be using these felt cut-out steps throughout a variety of Hmong-Inspired projects.

Step 1: Google an image. If you are unable to immediately come up with a Hmong symbol or design at the top of your head, go ahead and research it. We typed in: Hmong symbols and used the image search to locate a few basic designs to go off of.

We will be using the heart symbol in this tutorial <3

Step 2: We chose to free draw the selected design right onto our felt with a black marker. These lines will be your cutting lines. You want to make sure that there is about ¼” between the drawn lines. Here we only did half of the heart because we will be folding the felt in half so that when we cut it out, we will have cut out the other side as well. This allows us to get an almost symmetrical heart cut out.

Step 3: Folding the felt in half, you will cut through both layers, following the drawn lines. It can be tricky holding both layers of felt while cutting as it may shift slightly as your scissor maneuvers around the design. Just hold tight and be very careful when cutting as your fingers will be fairly close to your scissor blades!

Next cut out the center - leave 1/4" from edge!

And wah-laa! You have the basic shape done!

Step 4: Now pick up your scissors again and trim the inner part of the swirls. This will help add space between the design.

Step 5: Use glue or double sided bonding to attach the design to the stocking. If you used a marker to draw your design, you can flip over the symbol to help hide the marks!

Be creative and make more designs – big and small, different colors, etc – and create unique, one-of-a-kind, Hmong-Inspired stockings!

Day 1: Make It Work!

Day 1: Make It Work!

Before we begin a project, we map out our ideas and try to establish a firm route in which we want to take. We say the word “try” because in the world of crafts and design, sometimes it never works out the way you expect it to! And in the end, you just have to “make it work”!

O how we love Tim Gunn!

Okay so let’s make this project work!

Our ideas are as:

1.       Put a little Hmong into our Christmas decorations (for the tree, for the home, etc)

2.       Create Hmong-Inspired gifts

3.       1+2 = DIY tutorials to share with the community!

Since the days to Christmas are decreasing ever so fast – we are limiting this project to 12 days of blog posts (the posts are subject to change!)!

Day 1: Make It Work

Day 2: DIY – Stocking #1

Day 3: DIY – Ornaments #1

Day 4: DIY – Send a Greeting

Day 5: Interview w/ Parents

Day 6 DIY – Gift #1

Day 7: DIY – Gift Wrap

Day 8: DIY – Ornaments #2

Day 9: DIY – Gift #2

Day 10: DIY – Ornaments #3

Day 11: DIY – Gift #3

Day 12: Sharing is Not Only Caring, But Inspiring

Our ultimate goal, to be accomplished throughout this project, is to have our very empty tree decorated to its fullest potential!

We would love for everyone to follow along and to create their own versions of our tutorials. Please feel free to email us photos – we would love to share everyone’s creation!

Check in on Day 2 for our first Hmong-Inspired DIY tutorial!