Parisian Dress Form & Christmas Candy

One of the things that we (The Flourishes Girls) really enjoyed at CHA this past summer was looking at all the wonderful alterable items at the Kaiser booth.  They have some really lovely wooden pieces that are of excellent quality to make something special.

Today a few of us on the DT are going to focus on some of these great items.  I was able to work with this beautiful dress form and all along planned on making something for our daughter's new room.  

The dress form is amazing, it's 14 inches tall, so it can really be a show piece.  I began by painting it with some Acrylic paint, mixing some white with some shimmery white, and putting several coats and and letting dry overnight.  I probably put 5 coats and and still could have done more, but I also didn't want it to be bright white either.  More distressed white. 

Then comes all the fun :)  You can decorate it any way you please!  I started with some swatches of fabric that I ordered on-line that we're thinking of using for our daughter's room. Here's the web address (www.OnlineFabricStore.net).  Swatches are $1 a piece for probably a 4 x 4 square.  The ones we're looking at are from the Amy Butler Collection.  I took one of the swatches and added it behind the top bodice of the dress form, attaching the fabric behind the form using Scor Tape, trimming off any excess.    Then I added a peblum to the front of the dress around the waist area with the rest of that same swatch cutting it into waves with a Spellbinders die (Fancy Scalloped Border).  I attached that with Scor Tape and puckered the waist a little, trimming it up with some crochet lace and velvet.  I also added a fabric rose from one of the swatches using the Spellbinders Spiral Blossoms One .  I would advise running it through your die-cutting machine several times/passes, and you still may need to trim some of the threads in the cuts with a scissor because of the weave of the fabric.  

Then using the dress form as a pattern I laid it down on some Navy cardstock and traced out the size of the bottom skirt, trimming it out, then stamping with elements from Country Charm Labels Set and white Craft ink, again attaching with Scor Tape.  

I gave her a cute little ribbon scarf, because our daughter loves wearing scarves.  

Just a little ribbon accenting and some faceted Crystal jewels from Prima to complete it! So now, when we get everything done in her room, she'll have a custom Shabby Chic Parisian dressform, that perfectly matches her room!  

Be sure to check out the Flourishes Blog, Cindy and Stacy today who also are showing off some Kaiser Alterable fun!

Now... how about some Christmas Blog Candy to get ready for the Season?  It snowed here finally, just a bit, so it really does feel more like Christmas is coming :)

Here's what I have to offer....

A pack of 7 Gypsies Venice 6 x 6 paper

October's Release of Christmas Candles Set

Brand New November Release of Sentiment Christmas set

All you have to do is comment on this post :)

**Please leave me your email address within the post so I can contact you if your name is chosen. 

Winners will be chosen and posted by 10:00 PM MTN Time Monday November 21.  You will have 24 hours to contact me to claim your prize :)  I know that's a little short notice with American Thanksgiving coming - BUT you do want your stamps to be able to use for Christmas too right? :)