Some flannel hankies…and needle felting…

I want to keep my embroidery skilz sharp…so I worked on these soft flannel hankies. Do you remember anyone in your life using a hankie? I do, why don’t people do that anymore?! I’m always too cheap thrifty to actually purchase tissues, so I always end up using toilet paper or paper towels. Can you imagine what my nose looks like after a day of that?! Well, these aren’t for me…me, I’ll probably just rip up flannel sheets and stuff them in a box and use them as throw-a-ways. I have some sheets that are so fragile they wouldn’t be good for anything else. These will go into the box I’m compiling for the bazaar. I hope to have several sets done. Which at 40 minutes per hankie for the running stitch…and don’t ask me how long that blanket stitch took…it’s a good thing I’m getting an early start. But, these will be just the thing for little delicate nosies. And I get to practice my hand stitching.

Thank you, Lisa, for the donated flannel!!! How to make hankie: cut two pieces of flannel 10” square. I used a pinking blade on my rotary cutter to help stop future fraying. Put right sides together, sew all four sides with a 1/2” seam allowance, leaving a three inch opening to turn right-side-out. Turn right-side-out. Press with iron. Topstitch however you want. Topstitching will also close the little opening you left. See, now I’m practicing my tutorial skillz!

On the turtle family front we now have four turtles. They represent my hubbie and three kids. I still have to make myself. I’ve told my youngest son he gets to put the spots on the shells. That’s him, the oddball on the right. hee hee!

And I gave this guy a “brow”. It really changes the look!

Well, that was it for the weekend! Today I’m going to help the Girl Scouts make some little notebooks. And when I say “some” I mean A LOT of notebooks. It should be interesting!!

Happy Crafting!

Wire tree part II – and other crafts…

Waaaay to cold to take a picture outside (-17 F!) so we’ll have to make do with cruddy indoor pictures for now. Here is the tree almost finished. I used modge podge to seal the sticky floral tape and it worked great! I didn’t even bother with the spray sealer. I’ve added a swing – but the swing seat is not permanent…just to be used “for now”.  The “roots” were never meant to be seen…that’s why they are so dinky. There will be much more to this tree by the time I’m done. And…I’ve started another, larger tree…yes…I really did.

Can you see it there amongst the clutter? Geesh, do you also have 15 different projects going at any given time or is it just me?

We did have girls craft night on Friday evening and we made these mushrooms…

It’s too bad you can’t see the sparkle, cause these babies are glittered! The project can be found at MarthaStewart.com! (LOVE MARTHA!)

And…Lisa sent some fabric my way so I quickly covered a couch cushion in this cute flannel. Thank you Lisa! The cover is removable so I can wash it up and keep it clean. It’s so cuddly!

Last but not least Gabe and I made this snow globe. He has a “thing” for snowglobes and has always loved them. Boy was he tickled to make this! The little snowman is a polymer clay snowman I made a couple years ago on another craft night with Carmen. The funny thing is he’s tall and skinny outside the globe…and fat and jolly inside the globe. I like him much better this way! I used hot glue to glue everything down and to seal the lid on – it works great so far. Otherwise it’s filled with boiled water (then cooled) and a half a teaspoon or so of glycerin and LOTS of glitter. (Maybe too much glitter – is there such a thing?) Thanks Julie for reminding me of this great craft!

Well, that’s it for now – Happy Crafting!!

What I’m working on…

A bunch of paper mache ornaments stenciled and ready for the bazaar… (I didn’t make the disks, I just cut a stencil and painted…stencil found here.)

Little pin cushions in various stages of completion - brought to my attention by Julie who pointed me to this tutorial.

And a little something I’m working on…and I’m sorry, but I can’t find my “inspiration” link.

This weekend I’ve promised my little guy some craft time. I’ve asked him to draw a picture of a monster that he’d like to hang out with. He said “are we going to sew it into a stuffed animal?” ahhhh, he knows me well!

Happy Crafting and have a fun SAFE (all you deer hunters) weekend!

Chickens…

I am making some things for the craft bazaar at our church. I thought this chicken was just adorable! I found the pattern at Myrtle and Eunice. I emailed her and asked permission to make these for the bazaar – and she was gracious enough to say yes. So far I have made three. They are a cinch to put together – if you look at her pattern you will see I did change the wings (always gotta make things a bit more difficult )…I have plans to make more softies…it is a great way to use up scraps of fabric. I’m even making up my own pattern that I hope to show you soon. So much to craft….such a messy house. (And I mean messy!!)

Also go check out this video that features the hospital and clinic in our town – it’s just awesome!

I FINALLY sewed again!!

I seem to have been in a sewing slump lately. There is always something else that needs to be done instead. It was time to break the no-sewing-cycle! Well, I can always use a fabric basket – so I’ve been making up a pattern as I go – I think this is almost right. I do want to add some  handles and maybe tweak the shape a little bit. When I’m happy I’ll share the pattern if you’d like. Here is a close-up of the button – I think it’s pretty neat! It’s metal – kinda hard to see in the photo.

Over the weekend we went to Duluth/Proctor to watch our friend drive in an enduro race. That was FUN! Over a hundred cars started out and this is what the track looks like at times…

And this is the winning car – driven by our friend Bob!!!

As you can see in the enduro race you can have passengers – well I have a Ford Escort wagon in my front yard with over 310,000 miles on it and just enough life left in it for this race (hope) – my hubbie will drive it in this race next year and I get to ride with and take video!

Oh – and if you’re in Duluth you should go to Canal Park on the shore of Lake Superior. We went there for a picnic lunch before the race – beautiful!

Bike Bag

We love to ride bike around here and are blessed with a wonderful bike trail just blocks from our house. I really want a bike basket but haven’t gotten around to picking one out so in the mean time I have this little pouch that hangs from my handle bars with velcro loops. It is just big enough to carry a few things like my phone and wallet. I made it very simply out of felt and embroidered the edges of the bunting. I love the colors of the bunting but wish I’d used a different pouch color…

ahh well, Happy Crafting!!

Are you smarter than my husband?

This is what I’m currently working on:

Can you tell what it is? I’ll give you a hint – it’s backed by plastic canvas. I’ll let you in on the secret when I finish. When I showed this to hubbie he got the most confused look on his face!!! hehe. This is an idea that has been brewing in my head for a long, long time. Now I just can’t wait to finish!

In other crafty news yesterday the kids and I went to Julie’s end of the summer party and had a blast! You can read more about it here. Here is a picture of one thing I made at the party:

And last but not least I’m going to give you a cleaning tip. I am just too cheap to buy those disposable wipes like the Clorox wipes. So, I’ve started making my own. Here’s how:

1. Cut a roll of good paper towels in half. (An electric bread knife makes it EASY – otherwise use a serrated knife.)
2. Put one half away for next time and the other half into a close-fitting container with a lid. A Folgers's coffee container is perfect!
3. Add about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of your favorite all purpose cleaner.
4. Add about 1 cup of water.
5. Let it sit until the paper towels have soaked up all the liquid and remove the cardboard core from the paper towels and discard it.
6. You now pull them out from the center and clean, clean, clean!!!

I’ve been using mine for several weeks and LOVE them. Since it takes hot water so long to reach my kitchen sink these are just the thing to wipe down the counters. It’s a great way to get the kids to clean too. Just say “Take a wipe and wipe down the table”…etc…

Happy Crafting!!

Hex love…

Now what do I do with this? I made the little hexes to see if it would be something I’d enjoy. I do…but I used tiny scraps and this is all I have…potholder???

More boxy pouches made -

I have nine pouches made, filled, and shelved. Um…I have a lot of felt! I’m looking for ideas now. I have some floating around in my brain and just have to get busy I guess.  I didn’t want to use up my keychain stash on these so I twisted some wire into a loop on the last ones made. That worked just as great!

Now here is a recipe for Julie’s mom – who LOVES baking powder biscuits. (Me too!)

Easy-Peasy Tasty Biscuits

Cut together (as you would a pie crust):

1/3 C Butter Flavored Crisco

1 and 3/4  C Flour

2 and 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

3/4 teaspoon Salt

Then stir in 3/4 C milk until a soft dough forms. Plop down onto a baking sheet (not greased) and bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. I plop down roughly 6 biscuits.  You can add anything to these – I’ve added chives, bacon, cheese…you name it!

I hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!!

Buckets…

Made another bucket with a zipper in the lining, and the “interfacing” is plastic canvas. It is adorned with this vintage doggy pin – I may have to make some more of these pins – isn’t it CUTE! My friend, Julie, gave me a bunch of vintage jewelry odds and ends…this bucket sits on my counter and holds all that random stuff that accumulates there. Then, if I’m really on the ball I empty it at the end of the day so it’s ready to hold more the next day…or I’ll just find myself making more and more buckets until my counter is covered with them…

Accidental Genius

 

I can hardly spell my name (thank God for spell-checker) but I’m a genius! I got a burlap rice bag from a friend who said “maybe you could make something with this?” – ya know, that happens a lot…anyways, I’ve been inspired by Maya Made and wanted to try making a burlap bucket. I wanted to use the entire rice bag for the project so I just unraveled the side seams and the top seam – it was then one long rectangular piece of burlap. Then I lined it with some ugly blue felt (that I found at the dump – in it’s package!) and then orange check fabric. I sewed all of that together. I then wrapped the whole thing around a bowl so I would know what size to make the base, then made the base. I whip-stitched (by hand) everything together and followed with the sewing machine. I didn’t try to sew in straight lines I actually tried not to sew in a straight line – it looks pretty rustic.

OK – here is where the genius comes in – I left the original zipper intact while making the bag. There was no reason for leaving it in besides the fact that it is a pretty red and offers another pop of color. Once the bag was constructed I realized I had a great way to insert some stabilizer!!! I had some rolled cardboard that I’d been hoarding stashing for years and I got it in between the outer and inner layers via the zipper opening! My bucket now stands straight and tall. When it gets dirty just remove the cardboard and wash – put the cardboard back when dry. Stabilizer can be expensive – the zipper opens up lots and lots of opportunities… no pun intended… to use other stabilizers. I can’t wait to experiment! Happy crafting!!!

Sewn Bracelet Cuff Cover

I’ve had this silver coated copper and magnet bracelet on my wrist forever. After nursing my last child I developed tendonitis…and it never went away. I wore braces and did stretches and still my wrists/lower arms always hurt. Kinda had a zingy feeling in them and then my hands would go numb. After wearing this bracelet for a while that has pretty much went away. I don’t know why and I don’t care. If it’s all in my head that’s OK – I love having the use of my hands again! (It was mostly repetitive movement that would bring on the numbness.) It is so comfortable I don’t even know it’s on my arm. However, it is starting to wear out. The finish over the magnets is gone and it irritates my skin and itches. I’ve tried coating the magnets with clear nail polish, diamond glaze – lots of stuff. It all works for a while but wears off. Also the silver finish is coming off…and I can’t find a new one that is just like this one! Or even similar.

Here is the bracelet -

Here is the cuff cover being put on – 

Here it is finished!

All it is is a tube of fabric that is sewn shut at one end with a button sewn on. The other end has TWO button holes and is open at the end. Thread the bracelet though the open end and button – easy peasy!! My bracelet is protected. I’m going to make more in different colors…eventually…craft room is still a mess…but I’m getting the laundry under control…finally!

Also – my friend, Cindy, at Tally’s Place is having a give-a-way. She is giving away a very unique, delicate, and inspired purse.  So go and leave her a comment to enter!

Fleece Mittens

Where did December go?!!!! I have so much to do – and the hurrieder I go the behinder I get. Ugh. Well, here is one project crossed off my list -

The mitten pattern is a free pattern. I thought they were really pretty easy to make after I made a few. Um… I now have three right-handed mittens. But I’ll sew up the mates eventually. These are for my daughter. I didn’t add the elastic in the wrists cause she doesn’t like things to “bind”. And, they actually stayed on my hands without it.
Also finished – bed warmers – basically a heat therapy bag the kids can bring upstairs when they go to bed to make their beds toasty and warm. Maybe they’ll fall asleep faster? hehe!

Then, my littlest son said “Mom, you could cut out a reindeer for me with your scroll-saw”. So I did. There’s tons of free patterns out there. I just did a search with “free Christmas scroll saw patterns” and got a ton of ideas. I really like how simple these are.

One of the patterns was for this crocodile/alligator puzzle. Isn’t it perfect for a young child?! I’ve smoothed the edges very well so he can chew on the pieces. I don’t think I’ll do anything else to it – just simple. (And fast!)

Well, that is it for now. I don’t know if I’ll post again this week as there are tons of odds and ends to finish up, but if I do actually get something finished I’ll share the idea! Happy crafting!!

Little Patchwork Bags

Here is what I’ve done with the pieced fabric squares – made little drawstring bags!

I have about 4 completely sewn up and about 10 more in various stages of production. I’m going to be in a craft show in town in late November that benefits the local nursing home. (A portion of the sales goes to help fund their fieldtrips and such). Sooo, what do you think? They are lined in a cream fabric. I tell you, this is also a really good practice exercise in piecing squares. Getting all those little squares to match up has been a challenge. Makes me wish I’d been a little bit more careful when cutting the fabric!

Here’s a couple more -

Have a good weekend!

Random Patchwork

Well, I’ve recovered from all the excitement over the weekend. Don’t you love leftovers?!! Last night we enjoyed some leftover pork tenderloin and cake that was delicious and made to order by our friend Rocky. I sneaked the last little plut of potato salad from the huge bowl that my mom brought. Grant ate the rest of the beans my mom brought especially because he requested them. Shanna’s oriental salad topped it off. Yummmm!! Now I have to cook. The leftovers are gone. Supper is such a pain. My idea of a perfect supper is a bagel and cream cheese with a little something on the side. My family’s idea of a perfect supper is meat, veggies, and a side dish. Cooking isn’t really the problem. Trying to think of what to cook is the problem.

Anyways, remember this post? When I cut up all the fabric squares? Well, I’m using them. Not how you might think though – here is a peak -

I’m trying to piece them together randomly. Again, random is hard for me!! I keep wanting to match things and have a pattern. Well, hope to have something finished soon. Happy crafting!!

Curtains!

I made my daughter some lined curtains the other day. These curtains were a labor of love and a blessing/curse kind of a project. However, I really like how they turned out – look -

Here’s how it started out. . . I had the lovely patterned fabric in my stash. . . but not enough for the entire curtain. . . so I decided to use a repurposed sheet for the bulk of the curtains. . . (that’s the solid light blue – looks white – but is light blue). . . sewed the bottom panels on. . . held it up and realized there were HOLES in the sheet!!!. . . decided to appliqué some butterflies over the holes. . . decided to add rickrack to the butterflies (not the most fun to work with but by the time I was done I’d now consider myself a pro!). . . realized there were more pin holes. . . put the polka dots over those. . . all told after starting, feeding the kids lunch and supper, cleaning up, thinking about how to cover the holes, designing the butterflies, etc. . . it took 10 hours! BUT, if there wouldn’t have been holes in the sheets the butterflies wouldn’t have happened. I think it is really cute with the butterflies -

I did want to embroider antenna on the butterflies but frankly – by that time I was done. Can always do it later. . .

Happy Crafting!!!

How a sewing machine works -

This has been floating around the web for quite a while – finally figured out how to get it to the blog – it could put me into a trance if I look at it long enough. Isn’t it FASCINATING!

Fever induced sewing frenzy

I haven’t been feeling very well. I swear I’ve had a fever cause I’m running hot and cold. And I’m not sure what else could have made me tackle this sewing project. ha! Truthfully, I have a love hate relationship with sewing. I love sewing something up and having a unique finished product, but I hate cutting things out. I hate measuring… I hate it when stuff doesn’t turn out. I’ve been wanting to make new curtains for the bathroom forever – but I’ve been lazy and putting it off -I’ve had the fabric for months. But I don’t have a big cutting table – (gotta get the basement done and use that ping-pong table – anyone know how to put a removable cutting surface over it?) With Abby’s confirmation coming up I guess it was just time to tackle it. I also decided to try my hand at rick rack. I’d never worked with it before. I called my mom and asked for advice, and she told me, and it made sense, and then I hung up the phone and couldn’t put anything she said together in my head. (I think it was the fever.) So I went online for a refresher course and I thought this tutorial was good. The first couple bands of rick rack are far from perfect, but the last couple bands look pretty good. I also lined the curtains with some plain white fabric for more insulation and to keep the sun from fading them too fast. Have a look!

   

 

 

I think I have to topstitch across the top and bottom for a more finished look – we’ll wait for the next fever! Happy crafting!

Tablecloth Redo

My mom came to visit a while ago and gave me this tablecloth – saying “I don’t know – maybe you can do something with this?. . .” All kinds of ideas came to mind! I could make napkins, placemats, aprons, towels? I went with towels – mine are in BAD shape – I needed some. This tablecloth was perfect as it had been washed many times, and was 100% cotton. Yeah! So, I cut it into nine towels. No measuring –I just kinda eyeballed it and used a good sized towel as a template (I like a good sized kitchen towel)  gotta love a straight plaid!! Then I hemmed the edges. Nothing fancy – just straight line stitching.

Then I decided to try my hand at freezer paper stenciling. If you’ve never done this before you HAVE to try it! It is instant gratification and so easy! I thought this tutorial was really good – check it out if you want to try. The hardest part was deciding what design to put on the towels. For one I went with a bird – and for another a flower.

I LOVE my new towels and I’m looking for more ideas to stencil – I’ll keep the others unstenciled until inspiration strikes!

Here’s a close-up of the stencils – you can see what clean lines you get – no smudging!

Happy crafting!!