Holiday ornament wreath DIY

I've always wanted one of these and thought I'd try my hand at it. Had a few random ornaments and filled in the rest from the dollar store. Some hot glue and a bit of patience....and voila!


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Fabric wreath

I'm a bit late to the game on fabric wreaths and I usually don't make wreaths to begin with, but I saw this and thought "what a great way to use up my scrap fabric."



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Now on Facebook

mynewtherapy is now on Facebook


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Aging photos

I found this old photo of a family member and really liked the look but wished the focus was more on her. Since I have wanted to try some new techniques and try my hand at aging with distressing ink, thought I'd work with this.
I think it came out well and really like that the focus is clearly on her now.



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Fabric and other items that hold odor

I have a habit of rescuing various sewing type items from yard and estate sales-like unfinished quilts, fabric, lace, and binding. Sometimes when going through stuff in a house/basement/garage, it's hard to tell if there is any odor on the item, other times it's clear but the item is something that is really wanted or for some reason (eg, value) you just cant leave it. Recently I came across a large bag of lace and binding-and aside from it costing more than $1 to buy all of it at the store, I just can't seem to live with the fact that it's just going to be thrown away.
Turned out it was all full of a musty (stored in a basement for a long time and maybe smoked around) odor.
I decided to try to get rid of the odors, I rinsed all of the items (separating out anything that might bleed color), then soaked them in a bucket of warm water and Tide Boost (that's just what I had) for a bit (maybe an hour). Rinsed them all out again and they seemed fine smell wise but for good measure I repeated the soak and rinse then hung them all out to dry, and what do you know, they are all odor free now, yay!
I even tried this with some wool fabric I found that was really heavy in musty odor, that I soaked and rinsed 3 times and now there's not a hint of odor.
I thought the lace/binding was so pretty hanging out to dry I had to take a pic, albeit not at all close to how nice it looked.


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Jewelry Holder

I have seen all of these cool jewelry holders, made from picture frames or repurposed items, online.
Recently I have found that I'd like to have some kind of jewelry holder in my bathroom-where I normally take jewelry off and put jewelry on-however my bathroom is small, there is nowhere to place a stand and my wall spaces are limited-by size and a availability. I didn't want to spend more than a few dollars at the most so...this is the result.
I found 2 of these things (not sure what they are) at a yard sale, the "frame" is wood and there is a rope on the back for hanging I guess, but it doesn't hang flat so it needed a frame hook thingy on the back. Now, how to get my jewelry to hang without having to buy any hooks...I found a random drawer pull and got some buttons from my stash (the kind with the "hook" on the back, not the flat ones) and glued them on with hot glue (or heavy duty glue-which is better), let it set 24 hours and to my surprise, it worked!
Invested $=$5 for the 2 "frames", $0 for random objects around the house, $0 for glue I already had.

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Happy New Year!-Rabbit

Here it is, Happy New Year to all! I embossed the rabbits and attached it to the paper. Simple but sweet I think.

Paper Dolls

I love this little Japanese paper doll that I made. I had used some instructions from another blog, but found that they weren't the size I wanted, and that I wanted to change some things, so....I made my own template and came up with this. I used my scrap scrapbook paper, glue, cardstock, and scissors, that's it! These are so fun and I just know that kids could make them too. This one came out to about 6 in. long and 4 in. wide, but just cut the bottom some and make the "hair" not so ridiculously tall, and it will fit right on the front of a card.

I think it would be great to use on the front of a card. Any other ideas for use?

PS-If anyone would like the template/instructions I made, just let me know and I'll write it up and post.

Craft Party

To start the year off I am hosting my first ever "Craft Party." Plan to have some challenges and some standard things to do, like make Valentine cards. I've been sewing, cutting, organizing, etc. to get all the supplies ready for everyone, including those quilted Valentine hearts. This is the invitation I ended up making (RSVP and address left off for picture purposes). I sewed the edges and embossed the letters (need to keep working on that).

Quilted Valentine Hearts

I can be a lazy sewer sometimes, especially when it comes to sewing for card making. I had made some quilted hearts last year but decided it was too time consuming to make them so that there is a clean side seam and doing the turning it inside out, hand sewing closed, etc. Welcome my new "lazy sewer" method.

Using scrap fabric, scrap lace and binding, and batting, I made these delicious quilted hearts and plan to use them on cards etc. My favorite part about these, they are completely reversible-meaning that if I like one side better than the other, I just use that side, yay!

How to make: (1) sew fabric scraps on one side of batting, then sew scraps on the other side of the batting (2) any pieces that on the fabric that need covering can be covered by placing scrap lace, batting, or whatever overthe part that needs to be covered and sewing it down. (3) Ready to cut out the hearts, any size and shape you like-can use a cookie cutter or free hand, whatever. (4) once all the hearts are cut out, zig zag stitch around the heart and you are done!

Mod Podge Tea Box

Sometime ago I was inspired by a mod podge tea wrapper clipboard, over on Mod Podge Rocks, and decided to save up my instant tea bags and make a tea box using those wrappers, and now I have finally done so.

I used a box that some stationery came in and my old tea wrappers I had been stuffing away in an envelope. I think the end product is very fun and could be used for anything, not just tea, but this is definitely a good way to see the tea that I have in one cute box.

What do you think?

Happy New Year-Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year to all. I wish everyone a healthy and happy year. New Year's must be one of my favorite holidays and there are many traditions I have around New Year, one of those is to send out New Year cards with the theme of the animal that is the animal for that year (the Chinese/Japanese new year). I can't wait to start making the cards to send out :)

Oh, and by the way, my craft room/space is now officially underway so I will post pics as that progresses (Thank you Dad for the cabinet!!)

There will be lots of updates and tutorials to the blog this year and I hope that they are fun and useful to you. If there is anything you'd like to see on here let me know and I will try my best.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It is October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Honestly, I haven't ever really thoughtfully and purposely done anything, that I can recall, to raise breast cancer awareness in this month.

This month I have decided to make pink themed cards and give a set to each breast cancer survivor and person in treatment that I know and to send one to each person I am close with. While I won't be raising breast cancer awareness, I am hoping to raise spirits and let others know that I care. Maybe I can even get someone I know, who hasn't had a mammogram and is supposed to, to go get a mammogram.

Valetine's Cards

I realize it is well past Valentine's so, sorry. Maybe these will give you inspiration for a "love" card or cards next year.

Im finally getting Cback into realizing it is 2010

It took a long time this year for me to shake up to the fact that it is 2010 and along with that comes my 2010 goals, both craft and life goals. I'm going to throw a few up here I can think of off the top of my head but will add more later, I'm sure.

2010 goals
1. Really, finish that MLK book.
2. Try to only read one book at a time, and finish that book.
3. Create the craft room you want with what you have, plus, a $100 budget (for painting).
4. Send more handmade cards to people just to say hello. (I think I sent 2 last year so, I'll try to do more than 2 random cards this year).
5. Submit that manuscript.****and maybe work on the other 2???****challenge yourself Julie.
6. Volunteer
7. One random act of kindness per month.
8. More embroidery, sewing, scrapping stuff this year on the blog

Another craft room and ideas

Oh what a joy to see this room. There are several things I love here that I would like to make sure to remember. 1. A desk, that appears to be used for its purpose, to work on. Yes, I need one of those. 2. I like that system of hanging stickers, sheets, etc on wire hooks to just scroll through easily 3. Moveable wire shelving, I like anything that moves easily and serves the purpose of storage. 4. I see paper color organized on a shelf. I definitely like being able to see the paper on display this way (as opposed to drawers)

I'm back-with Terra Chips!

It has been quite a long time since my last post, admittedly, I have been slightly off the radar for the last 2 months, but I am trying to get back into the groove now. And here is where I rave about Terra Chips, one of the drains on my bank account. Terra Chips are soo good, you must run out and get some now if you haven't had them already. I literally buy 3 bags at a time because they are that good, and I don't even like chips.
Terra Chips are vegetable chips and they are yummy delicious. I have noticed that there are several varieties out there that I haven't now so, it is my mission to try every single variety (he he). I saw on their website there is a dollar off coupon so, see link below and go get some!

Terra Chips Coupon

Terra Chips I've had
1. Original
2. Sweet Potato (yum!) and good dipped in hummus
3. Zesty Tomato
4. Stripes and Blues with Sea Salt

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.