#21 Apple Pillows 0 comments

Project #21: Apple Pillows
No matter how original you think your idea is, there is a 99.9999% chance that someone has already done it. At least, that’s what happened with my apple pillow idea. Apparently they’re all over the internet. Bah. I made some anyway.

 

30 Projects in 30 Days: #28 0 comments

I found this shallow wall shelf at a garage sale over the summer for $2. It was kind of ugly, but I knew it had potential, I just didn’t know what. So it pretty much sat by the back door for a couple of months while everybody tripped over it and cursed at it.

Though very functional, it was still kind of plain, so I decided to add a crown piece at the top. That was kind of a challenge because there was really nothing to screw to. Lots of glue and 4 screws later, it was firmly attached.

A couple of coats of vintage kitchen green, some distressing and there you have it. It doesn’t look like it in the pic, but it’s actually quite big — 26" x 26".

Wouldn’t this be great as a display cabinet for old thread spools?
I’m going to have a hard time parting with this one, but, on the bright side I made a woodworking plan for it in case I decide to build one myself someday.

Fabric Journal Cover 0 comments

I always wish I would have kept a journal while I was growing up. I could read it now: “Saturday, June 15th, 1977. Dear Journal, I just rode down to the store on my pink Huffy bike. I had my bag of pennies with me and all I could buy was this can of Garbage Can-dy. But that’s all right. I’ll eat it while me and the neighbor kids are working on the rubber band ball. Bye.” Oh, the memories.

Emma is the kind of kid who takes her journal everywhere. She loves to write. Her last journal fell to pieces after she got about halfway through the book. I picked her up another one, aka this one, at the dollar store for $2.



It’s hard to imagine, but underneath that bright, energetic fabric is a boring, black, two dollar journal. She’s really into bright green right now, and I was lucky enough to come across this print at a small fabric store. The fabric was a medium canvas-weight, which to me was ideal.

I used both modern and vintage fabrics to make a scrappy flower with a button center.

I personalized the journal using a short length of 1/2" cotton twill tape, my inkjet printer and a fabric transfer sheet from Avery.

A hidden snap enclosure under the flower allows Emma to securely close her journal when she’s not using it, helping to keep the pages and the binding intact.

Emma’s Button Banner 0 comments

Emma asked if I would put something of hers on the blog. She made this super cute button banner just before Christmas to give to a friend of hers. This was all her creativity. The only thing I helped her with was getting the blanket stitch started and sewing on the buttons. I liked it so much that I talked the girls into sewing a pillow for Grandma using the same technique.

Repurpose: Vintage Quilt Blocks 0 comments

I found a large bag of { state bird } embroidered quilt blocks at a junk store a few months ago. A cultured buyer would have plopped themselves down right there and counted out the squares to make sure there were 50. But no, not me. I took one look at the price, grabbed the bag, ran to the nearest cash register, and drove away as fast as I could. I got them for a steal. After I got home, well, I realized why I had gotten them for a steal. There were only 40 quilt blocks. Alas. So what does one do with 40 {not 50} state quilt blocks? Find them another purpose, of course!

Wouldn’t these be absolutely charming as wedding favors at a country-themed wedding?

Hand-embroidered quilt blocks, such as these, can be fairly easy {and fairly inexpensive!} to find, especially if they are not a full set.

Valentine Stitched Treat Bags 0 comments

Ooohs and aaahs are all I heard when I gave my kids their Valentine treats in these luscious, leftover linen, hand-stitched bags. I added a couple of homemade pom poms on a yarn tie and I got myself a Valentine SCORE! And here’s the great thing, when the kids are done gobbling up all that candy, they can reuse the bags for other things. At 3.5" x 7", they are actually the perfect size to hold jewelry, an iPod or iPhone, or even an iPod Shuffle and some earbuds.

Add homemade Pom Poms to the drawstring ends for an adorable look.

You’re Hot / Valentine Hot Pad 0 comments

I couldn’t resist.
I found some very vintage round hot pads at a garage sale a couple of years ago that I just fell in love with.  They were both cross-stitched on a miniature gingham check and I use them daily. Daily. And they’re so simple. One is red and the other is blue and all that it says on them is { HOT PAD }. I would take a picture of them but you’d never visit my blog again. They are that loved. And although I’ve been to hundreds of garage sales since, for some reason I’ve never been able to get my hands on any more like them. So I figured since it was Valentine’s Day, and I needed a new hot pad, well, I just figured I had to do it. Why not create a heart hot pad and put YOU’RE HOT on it? And as I sat on the couch and stitched, my kids and I all sat and laughed.

Chain-Stitch Name Pillow 0 comments

1 pair of old jeans + 1 ball of leftover yarn = 1 cute pillow!

Luckily Tim has a 38" inseam — that gives me lots of denim to work with. And considering he blows out a pair of jeans in less than a month, that’s even better { better for crafting, but not for pocketbooks }. Haven’t done this one in a long time — the good ol’ chain stitch. A very easy stitch to master, but using it on denim adds a bit of a challenge. An embroidery needle can slide easily through the fabric, but when you add yarn to the needle you’ll be doing an awful lot of tugging and pulling to get it through. The trick is to punch holes in the denim using a sharp tool such as an awl or a pick.