Recycled Christmas Stocking

QUILT BEFORE

STOCKINGS AFTER (ONE STOCKING, EACH SIDE)

Recently my grandmother passed away and while going through her stuff, I found some very old quilts, quite a few with large holes and tears that were not fixable. I just couldn't make myself throw them away.

So, given the season, I decided to try my hand at making a Christmas stockng using the pieces of one of the old torn up quilts. Mind you, I have never made a stocking nor did I have a template for one, I just winged it, hence the results.

Still think it's cute and keeps someone's hardwork to be appreciated and used.

Etsy shop is updated!

For the Handmade Gift Guide Holiday Holiday Sale, I have now put some things up in my Etsy shop. What could these include? Scarves, bags, and tutus.

Here are some pics, check out the link to the top left if you are interested. And be sure to check out the Handmade Gift Guide Holiday Sale site for other neat stuff.

Etsy Shop-Shop Handmade for the Holidays

I am finally getting back to my etsy shop. The Handmade Gift Guide Holiday Sale is Dec 6-12th. I will have my Etsy shop up and ready for selling by then (ooh busy).
Please consider supporting the handmade movement. Everyone loves a handmade gift.

A centerpiece to impress

I found this while browsing through the Thanksgiving section of allrecipes.com

I hosted my first ever Thanksgiving this year and had 9 guests. So, since I don't really do Southern food, I thought I would try my hand at this thing. Everyone loved it just as I loved it in the picture online, and really, it is as easy as can be. Much easier than making a homemade pie crust. And, this is edible or you can spray it to keep it for later uses (but don't eat it if you spray it, ew).

Just, please ignore the trash can in the background in the second picture, I promise, it's far away from the table and come on, it was Thanksgiving day cooking.

Link to the directions here.

Craft Room

Here is another gorgeous craft room I found. This looks like it's pretty much for sewing, but there are several useful things that can be found here for most all crafters.

First, the colors, I like the bright colors, makes me want to be there. I also like that it doesn't seem like it's not "messupable."

Hmm, what do I want from here, the bright colors, the big ironing table, and the dowel like thing that is holding up all of that ribbon and other goodies.

Oh, and I want the fun curtains too.

HGTV Craft Room

My thread

Courtesy of dear old dad, I am heavily armed and ready to tackle any embroidery project my mind can think of, which is great but...mostly I just like to look at all the pretty colors :).

2009 Goals-update

At the beginning of the year I made a list of goals for 2009 (copied and pasted below). Here is the update.

1. Learn to make basic childrens clothes (lucy dress) DONE
2. Learn to use pleater and make bishop dresses-- Signed up for the class but it was cancelled (so I did try)
3. start playing tennis again-- DOING, then took a break
4. enjoy life-- DOING, trying
5. compliment people more often (totally subjective goal but working so far)
6. Read a Beethoven biography IN PROGRESS, DONE!
7. Finish MLK's autobiography IN PROGRESS, STILL in progress
8. Finish the Ethics for the New Millenium book IN PROGRESS, DONE!
9. Create craft space that is organized --Done, messed up again

How to make a tutu

I found myself wanting to make a tutu and decided to write the tutorial up with what I hope are clear pictures. The tutu's came out great and I am quite pleased with them. I gave one away to a 7 year old little one who wanted to be a ballerina for Halloween. Now what to do with the other 9...?

How to make a tutu
(Will approximately fit 18 months-7 years)

Tweezers

Why am I talking about tweezers? I realize this must seem dumb, and I too would have probably thought so earlier, but I found these tweezers and they are fantastic. Rubis Tweezers are the best, the best, the best tweezers around. Get rid of whatever tweezers you have (unless it's Rubis) and buy a pair of these. They are fantastically sharp and precise and you will never have a problem using these or pulling out the tiniest splinter.
Had you asked me, pre Rubis discovery, how much I would pay for tweezers, I would have said, 12-15 dollars max. However, now that I have used these, I will gladly fork over the 25 or so that they cost. Seriously, go try them.

Rubis Tweezers

Craft Rooms

Looking for a new place to live in the next year or so. With that in mind, I am going to look for something where I can have a room designated as my crafting space (I know that's a lot to ask). So I am starting to look for ideas for craft rooms so that when it comes time to move, I will have a rough layout of the room and can come prepared instead of haphazardly throwing stuff in there.
All that to say, I will be periodically posting craft spaces on here that I find, or people send me. So if you have a craft space you would like to share, please pass the pictures along.

Click here for more pics of the HGTV Craft Room

Mod Podge and Tea Bags, What?

So I found a new blog I am enjoying that had inspired me to make the fabric covered clothespins and I saw she had a link to a really fun tutorial to make a tea bag covered clipboard.

This is very fun, I could think of at least five different things one could do with this method. For one, I could make my own tea bag box by buying one of those wooden craft boxes at Michael's or some other craft shop, and applying the tea bags to that. Fun!

Now I need to start saving up all of my tea bags...

How to make fabric covered clothespins - Scrap Buster

Sew Mama Sew is having a Scrap Buster Month for October so I came up with an idea to cover clothespins with scrap fabric (truly scrap since it's so small) place a magnet on the back and instantly have both magnets for the fridge and "chip clips." Fun!

Here is the PDF of the instructions.

Printable Recipe Cards

a list of printable recipe cards

1. Cute 4 different stylish recipe cards
from messyvegetariancook.com

Click here for the version that you can type in

2. Cute 4 different Fall themed recipe cards
from messyvegetariancook.com

Note: this would be great to make a stack of them, put a cardboard (heavy cardstock) backing on, cardstock or cool front cover, and then use padding cement (also known as padding compound) to seal the stack together and give away as a gift.

Oh so long

Sorry it has been so long, so much has been going on. 1. Started new job. 2. Got the flu (yes the icky one) 3. Got a new sewing machine!!!

I will slowly be posting things back on here as I have managed to collect new things.

How to photograph food

As I am cleaning out this month I am going through magazines and ripping out pages I want to keep and setting them aside in a box, then sending on the magazines to local areas who could use them. As I was goint through my May 2008 Rachael Ray I found a brief note as part of an article that was..."How to...Photograph Food" and I thought I would put it on here for others too.

From Rachael Ray magazine May 2008 p. 30
It's easy to take photographs as tasty as the dishes themselves, especially with these tips from food photographer Lou Manna:

Reflect Light. Prop a mirror or foil up next to the plate to aim light onto the dish; to diffuse light, prop up wax paper instead. AVOID DISTRACTING BACKGROUND PATTERNS. Stick with solid-color plates and fabrics. GET IN THERE! Most beginners shoot from too far away, Manna says. The food should actually look huge in the camera's viewfinder. (And don't shoot straight on-angles are more interesting.)


Well, maybe I can get better pics of food now that I have these tips of info.

How to make a diaper cake

Part 2 of the Baby Shower:

I wanted to make a diaper cake as a centerpiece, searched and searched, came up with a simple way, with pictures.

Ingredients: Baby bottles, diapers, a few rubber bands, and any trim or decoration you want.

Step 1: Start on some kind of flat surface that you can pick up and carry. The amount of diapers you need depends on the size of the diapers, and the size of the cake you want to make. For the one I made, I used size one diapers and used one large package and a few extra but could have made it with just the one package.

Step 2: You need something to put the diapers around, best thing, a baby bottle.

Step 3: Roll the diapers. Many instructions out there say to place a rubber band around each one, this was completely uncessary. I rolled diapers, you can see about 7 on the first row around the bottle, I placed a rubber band around the outside of those, you just put the rubber band on and squeeze in the diapers into the rubber band. For the second layer, just do the same thing, place a rubber band around your first layer and then squeeze in the rolled diapers into the rubber band. Now your bottom level is ready.

Step 4: Just do the same thing around the top of the bottle. You just use less diapers around this time, so that it looks like cake layers.

If you want more layers, just add another bottle and repeat the steps like you did before.

Now time to decorate however you want. I used an animal theme for the party so I found animal themed ribbon, wrapped it around where the rubber band was showing, and taped it so it would stay. Then I found some animal wood cut outs at Michaels and stuck them in along the ribbon. I also added some blue ribbon with a bow in front to make it a little cuter. The best thing about these is that you can design it however you want, it is relatively inexpensive to make, the mother can use all of the diapers and the bottles, and you have a centerpiece.

By the way, I have never made one before and it only took more maybe an hour at the most. Go for it.

Baby Bingo

I know I am really behind on posts, so I'll start where I left off when I was preparing for a baby shower. I wanted to do baby bingo to keep guests occupied while the mother to be was opening presents. Those guests that got "bingo" would win a prize. I filled in the bingo cards with items from her registry but tried to keep it generic to things that one would find on any registry.

I wasn't willing to pay a chunk of money for this since I could easily do it myself and am offering this up to anyone else who may want to use this, for free. I made 20 different cards so it should be enough for most showers, just print and use.



I printed mine out on different colored card stock (I believe 4 per page) and then I cut the bingo cards apart with scalloped scissors to make it look nice.

hmmm, i cant quite figure out how to put a link to this yet, in the meantime, just email me if you want the baby bingo.

Handy bookmarks

I got the idea of using paint sample pieces to make bookmarks from another site (I can't remember which one). But I decided to add a little hole punch in the middle and take scrap pieces of fabric and trim and pull them through to make them a bit cuter. I think they are so lovely. I've noticed now that at some of the stores the paint sample cards are a bit wider than they used to be, so I just cut those in half. Super quick and easy bookmarks, love it.

Thank you

For the woman who sparked my interest in quilting and helped me develop strong family bonds through quilts. I will miss you but will carry on with your traditions. Thanks for the memories grandma.

I LOVE this mask. Usually I find that masks don't do anything, except take some time out of my Sunday nights. But this one, this is different. I have now purchased my second jar and highly recommend this to anyone with problematic pores or oily skin. Love it love it love it.

Trying to catch up

I have been neglect in my duties to post, sorry. I have hosted a baby shower (lots of new things to post from that), made new bookmarks out of "trash," and just bought a new purse (finally). I had promised myself a new purse back around May of last year if I passed my comprehensive exam without any revisions, and I did pass without revisions. However, I was very conflicted about what bag to purchase. Long story short, being conflicted, feeling bad about spending the money, then not having a job, and now as of last week needing a new sewing machine (story later), I decided that the money would go to the sewing machine. However, I was in the store the other day to buy my first pair of Spanx, and as I was walking out I saw the bag I loved. It was new, they had just gotten it in, and it was love at first sight. So, priorities, here is the bag. By the way, I still get the new sewing machine later because I had also promised myself a new bag if I passed my second set of comprehsive exams without any revisions (yes!). Besides, this bag will last a lot longer than those Manolo Blahniks I saw for $695 that were just beautiful.

Strawberry picking and making strawberry jam

Yum!

After reading about inchmarks Friday night strawberry jam making session, I decided I needed to give making jam a shot.  

We went to the strawberry patch and picked some deliciously sweet fresh strawberries, this place just has the best strawberries ever.  

Came home, made the jam the next day (minus the pectin).  It was so much fun

 making jam that I decided to try a bit of inchmarks comments to add some blueberries to the jam mix.  

Found some fresh blueberries, used the remainder of the strawberries I had, and made some "heavenly hash."  This time I used the pectin. :)-

I think in total we have about 8 jars of 

each, plus some for eating right away. Now, what to do with all that jam I made in a family of infrequent jam eaters?

Etsy shop to get updated

I put one of the purses up in my Etsy shop and finally put a link to my shop under my links section to the left.  I will be updating the shop soon!

Been on vacation

Been away on vacation, hence the lack of posts.  Back now and planning a baby shower I am hosting this weekend.  Oh, and it turns out that I am indeed allergic to poison ivy, oops.  In the meantime, here is a quick fun crafty thing I found the other night.

How to make a kleenex holder from Martha Stewart.

Photographs of Doors

I think I have a thing for taking pics of doorways/entryways

Ideas for Purses

How to clean an iron

So, I got a fancy new iron for Christmas and use it just for crafts (since I don't really iron clothes).  I also like to use stitch witchery sometimes and can be a little lazy about it. 

Turns out I got the iron "dirty." Who knew an iron could get dirty and then result in damaging your fabric, permanently with a stain.  I asked my grandmother about cleaning an iron and she said to just use a wet washcloth and rub it over and over on the washcloth until the stuff comes off the iron-didn't work.

So I am in the store the other day, just standing there waiting on someone searching for something, and I see a man pick up a package off of a thing hanging from the shelf.  Bored and curious I go to see what he bought and what do you know, it is iron cleaner.  This stuff cost like 3.00 or so so I decided to give it a try; it totally works and now I can go back to just screwing things up on my own! yay!

Scarves, scarves, and more scarves

I went on a scarf making frenzy in the winter and ended up with a bunch of scarves, even started making mens scarves. Some scarves are made from scrap kimono pieces and others with scrap wool and mens ties; all are lined in a soft flannel. The one scarf that looks like a quilt is actually made from a recycled old quilt top and is my FAVORITE, it's for sale in the etsy shop-I think I have 2 different ones left.

Grand Revival Ava Bag

my first handmade purse. This is from the Grand Revival Ava Bag pattern and is reversible. I did use a lightweight interface for this bag but if I were to make it again, I would probably use a heavier weight interface or canvas so that this bag would hold its shape well.
Not bad for my first try and not bad considering the directions for this one were a bit complicated when it came to making the handles for the bag.

Purses I made-Swing bag

I made some purses out of 2 different patterns, one was using the Amy Butler swing bag pattern. All of these bags are reversible and on the swing bags I added pockets to all of them. My favorite is the darker bag-that one is made out of a heavier cotton canvas material, but I like them all. The stripes and polka dot bag is for my mother in law, I hope she likes it. And no, the pocket is not crooked, it just looks like it in the picture.

Notes: I really like the size of this bag and how sturdy the handles are. Adding the pocket to the bag makes it better.

What to do with old sheets

I am drawn to these older floral sheets I am finding at yard and estate sales and am inheriting from my mother in law. Some sheets I find have stains on them but the rest of the fabric is fine. I am debating on how to use these without turning them into rags.

Right now I'm thinking of using one of the king flat sheets I found as a quilt back and cutting up the sheets with stains and using those to make a quilt top out of.  It seems like it would be a really comfortable quilt if it were all made out of sheets, I'm just not sure yet (especially since it takes so long to make a quilt). I am going to have to keep brainstorming, however, I do know I would like some pillowcases made out of some, just in case I make the quilt.

Hmm, I bet a skirt, pajama pants, or an apron would be good too.

What to do with old sheets.

1. Make a pillowcase

2. Use flat sheet as quilt backing.

3. Make a duvet cover (if you have 2 flat sheets)

4. Make an apron

5. Make a skirt

6. Make pajama pants (probably really nice for the summertime)

7. Make a quilt top??

8. Yoga mat bag

9. Curtains

10. Laundry bag