Crafting 101

Okay, so I have one final project to talk about before the end of 2008. It’s a really neat doshcloth that I made for someone for Christmas. I used crochet thread, but you can use cotton thread and it’d be really pretty and useful. This one will probably be more decorative, but I liked it for the person that I made it for. She hasn’t received it yet so I can’t mention who I made it for! LOL!

I do like this pattern so it was really quick and easy, though it took me longer than I wanted to just because I had so much other things going on. I can also add on to it and make it into a nice blanket if I wanted to or a nice tablecloth, hmmmm…the ideas are endless here!

So I hope that you have a great New Year’s Day! I have 2009 all mapped out and I will announce it all tomorrow! Happy New Year!

Not only can this be used as a Christmas gift, but also any type of gift! It’s so simple and you use things you have laying around the house.

I took a pair of blue jeans, not sure the size, probably about a ten. You can use any size, depends on the size of the bag that you want. I cut the jeans right underneath the crotch and then cut the leg right around the knees. I folded the jeans to where the seam went down the sides of the bag, just worked easier that way (you can see it in the photo).

I took some pretty flowered fabric and just cut bunches of flowers out in random patterns. You can use all different sorts of fabrics, whatever you feel like. Before sewing the bottom up, I used my zig-zag stitch to attach the flowers in random areas.

Once that was done, I turned it inside out so I could sew up the bottom. Then I needed to add the handles. I cutoff any part of the jeans that was uneven at the top, then laid the ribbon that I was using for the handles onto the top of the bag. I folded the handles up into the hem so they’d be nice and strong. I then hemmed along the bottom of the hem and then just on the handles, I made the “X” stitch (look at the photo to see it) to strengthen the handles.

It took like 30-45 minutes from cutting it out to sewing the last handle on. You can use anything for handles. I like using ribbon because it’s really different. I also like recycling so I used the jeans to make the bag. But it’s nice and simple and it’s fun! TTFN!

So I know that Christmas is over, but I wanted to show you two things that I made Christmas Eve in less than an hour. One thing took me about 30-45 minutes, the other, probably fifteen minutes tops.

The first one I made for my three year old Kathryn. I wanted to make her some sort of stuffed animal for Christmas. Time got the best of me so I looked at what I had and went for it. Long ago, I had purchased two yellow towels to make a bag with and never did. So I put them together and then just pinned the outline of a doll on the two towels, pinning them together. You can kind of make the shape with the pins and adjust accordingly. I then put in my jeans sewing needle, got to have one that will go through thick stuff, and just sewed on the outside of the pins. Remember to keep part of it open to turn it inside out and stuff it! I then cut about 1/3 an inch away from the sewing to cut off what I didn’t need.I turned it inside out and stuffed it with polyfill. I then sewed up the open area with the machine.

To me, it was just a stuffed animal, wasn’t sure exactly what she’d think, but when she pulled it out of the bag Christmas morning, she was estatic!  She yelled Yo Gabba Gabba at me and then I got it. She thought it was the red guy off Yo Gabba Gabba from Nickelodeon! Then she said, Mommy, where’s his eye? So I need to sew an eye on for him, but she loves him! Best of all, didn’t really cost me a dime!

Tune in tomorrow for the other gift I made quickly and easily with things from around the house! TTFN!

I just needed to show you how the candles turned out! First off, here is how I melted the candles. I didn’t have a coffee can which in the future, I’ll probably use one just so I can put lots more in at a time. But this pie pan worked for this. I am not sure how many we made, I’m not sure how many candles we used, but we used a lot and got rid of a lot of old candles to make new ones!

So here are the candles! I couldn’t get just the right picture, but here they are. And you know what, this is only a small sampling of them! My friend Amanda came over and she made her own candles too so we made a lot!

Let me tell you what we learned. Number one, a coffee can would work better, but no harm done this time. Number two, do the candles in layers. I didn’t think anything of it except the way they dried after we poured the wax to the top, it made a hole in the middle so we had to refill them. No problem there except it just looked weird on some of them.

Number three, if you melt several colors of birthdya candles to get the wicks, they make an ugly color of wax that we didn’t like! That was a fun one! LOL! Number four, we lit a couple of large candles in glass containers to get the wax from them. These take forever so unless you want to wait all day to get anything from them, they are a pain!

For the wicks, we did use old tea lights wicks and we used the wicks from old birthday candles that we weren’t going to use again. It all turned out great, I think! But the bad thing is, I still have about six leftover! I suppose I can use them myself!

These make great gifts and they are a great way to recycle. The good thing is, you can reuse these over and over again. Just melt more of those old candles!

So I am into recycling and if I can keep something out of the landfill, even the smallest thing, I’m excited. Every year I make special ornaments to send to my friends and family. This year, I decided to use the tops of the baby food jars that I used to make candles with.

The girls took glue and put glue all over the tops of the lids. Then they sprinkled glitter on it and we let it dry for a day. Then I took Christmas ribbon and glued it around the edge of the lid. Then I used the same ribbon to make a hanger for it. On the back will be a sticker with our name and the year on it.

These took roughly five days to make only because I used craft glue (couldn’t find my glue sticks) on the ribbon so it had to dry and we used Elmer’s glue for the glitter and that needed a good twenty-four hours to dry. But it was easy to do!

So did you make any special ornaments? If you did, let me hear all about it! TTFN!

This is a great recycling project! We decided to make candles for our friends and family for Christmas. We wanted it to be special and homemade and get this, it’s cheap! LOL! It’s cheap because we are recycling and keeping things out of the landfill and making someone very happy in the end!

We took old baby food jars of all sizes and painted them and then sprinkled glitter on them. We are then going to put a clear coat on them to keep them from chipping and then pour wax from old candles into the jars. The only thing to be purchased is the wicks! But someone gave me a neat tip. You can put old birthday candles in there instead. How neat it that? So that’s what I’m going to do. I might add some aroma to it, but haven’t decided yet.

We are using the baby food jar lids as ornaments. So we are recycling everything here. Here are Megan and Deanna working on them last night. This took the entire kitchen table. Whew! But it was fun!

Christmastime means it’s time for The Nutcracker! For the last three years, Megan has been in The Nutcracker with her ballet school. The first two years, she was a mouse, but this year, she’s quite a busy lady! She was a party girl, a toy soldier, a truffle and one of Mother Ginger’s children. Another surprise was Deanna was also in it too! She played a rat and she helped pull Clara out on the sled during the second act.

I was very proud of their work tonight and just had to share this with everyone. December always marks the time of year when we are the busiest and this is one thing that though we love striking it off of our to-do list, we are sad that it’s over.

The way this relates to crafting is I had to alter Megan’s dress to make it fit and we had lots of alterations with her other costumes as well. So lots of sewing went on over the last few months!

This is a photo of Megan (she’s in the middle in the peach dress) with her friends, Caroline and Charita (left to right). I will have more photos to post later, I haven’t gotten them off the camera yet. TTFN!

It’s not Christmas unless there’s a bake sale or a Christmas bazaar going on! Every December, my kid’s elementary school has their Jingle Bell Bazaar where vendors sell their wares and the PTA has a bake sale to raise money. It’s lots of fun!

Today I went up to the school to volunteer my time by helping set up for the bake sale. It’s lots of fun to do for those of us who are crafty! I hung the posters on the wall, and put the lights on the table and helped put things where they are. Our bazaar is the big thing for the winter months and everyone has fun going to it. One day, I’ll have enough stuff made to sell things in it! I only wish!

Have a craft show that you are in this winter? Have one you’ve been in lately? LMK and comment about it! I’ll check out your blog post about it if you have one! TTFN!

So for the month of December, there’s not really a class going on, but I’m merely going to post things I’ve made as gifts (without telling who they are for) and let you know where I got to recipe or pattern for them or if I made it up myself. I have lots of things to make and only so long to make them! Eek! We are down to 22 days until Christmas.

My plan its to get all the presents that must be mailed done by mid-next week. That way they can still be mailed priority mail and get there in time. So I started working on one while traveling over Thanksgiving. Good news is, I’m almost done with it because I worked on it while Megan and Deanna were at ballet practice Monday night. That’s the key, take things with you when you are just going to be sitting osmewhere. You can get lots done then!

So I’m making this really pretty dishcloth. I’m using cotton thread, it probably won’t be used as a dishcloth, but something pretty to have.

Now I got the pattern online, but it’s originally from 101 Easy Scrap Crochet Projects. I can’t find where I got the link from to print out the pattern, but I provided the name of the book. I do plan on purchasing this book. It’s got lots of neat patterns in it.

Now, I’ve got more projects to post, but I can’t do them all in one day now can I!  I will show you this one when it’s done. I should be able to finish it today in the middle of doing laundry and dishes and cleaning up kiddos! TTFN!

Doesn’t everyone like a new pair of socks, especially when they are homemade? I know I do! Well, I haven’t ever gotten any that are homemade, but I do like socks other than my plain jane white ones. If you haven’t got much time, try these socks out!

Bev’s Country Cottage has a pattern for really quick, stretchy socks that can be made for anyone, any size. These might be the ones I make for my kids! Don’t they look neat? I think so. This is a knitting pattern, I realized I hadn’t posted any knitted things in awhile so I thought that I would.

Now I also found a pattern for some slippers that the author of the pattern says only takes 25 minutes. I’m going to have to get a timer just to see if that’s true!

You can find the pattern here for Ginger’s Easy 25 Minute Slipper Pattern. I’m very curious to see if this is true! LOL! I could make several in one day if that’s true!  They look simple enough in the picture. I’m thinking these would be nice presents for a few family members or friends and possibly my children. Just get some really soft yarn to make these with. Also, these are crocheted! Can’t leave my crocheting friends out!

Have a great day! Come back tomorrow for more!