A Look Back At 2014

It’s always fun to do a year in review post to see what you did over the past year.  Most of the time I forget just what I accomplished in those first few months of the year.  So, here is my 2014 in review.

January

To prepare for Valentine’s Day, I made a button heart.

I recovered my living room lampshades.

And, I made a Kissing booth pillow.

February

I made over a wood storage box in my craft room that I had wanted to tackle for some time.

I also made over a plain wood candlestick that I found at Goodwill.

I also made a pillow using this really cute bunny image.

March

I updated a plain black wood tool tote that I found at a yard sale and decided to keep for myself (instead of selling in my booth space at the time).

April

I put together a vignette for on top of my refrigerator that I was pretty happy with for Spring.

I also tried my hand at making a nature collage wood box.

May

I made a Hydrangea wreath in May.

June

I made a clearance tray into an Office sign.

July

I prettied up a plain address book.

August

I made a skirt for the new counter in our laundry room using drop cloth.

September

In getting my craft on for Halloween, I altered an Altoid tin and had a lot of fun doing it.

I also put together this teacup bird feeder with a teacup that was going to be donated back to Goodwill.

October

In October, I got shutters for my dining room, added wood embellishments and painted them.

November

Not much going on in November, although I did add some pretty paper book page wreaths I purchased on  Etsy to my shutters.

And I did another altered Altoid tin with a Christmas theme.

December

Besides sharing some Christmas decorating, I had a custom order for this cute baby stocking.

Which brings us to the end of the year.  I’ve got high hopes for accomplishing some fun projects in 2015 and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you. 

Happy New Year!

Remnant Bin Finds

Or more aptly titled “Fabric/Trim Remnants Are My Downfall!”.   Thankfully, I found these pieces before I posted my goals for 2015, or I would have been a failure right at the start of the new year.  I went into Hobby Lobby for some Osnaberg fabric, which I use a lot in my sewing.  I always swing by the Clearance section and this time I found this lot.

Love this animal print ruffle trim.  I’m sure I could use this on lots of things ~ an embellished little girl’s apron, a stocking, even upcycling a piece of clothing.  This was probably the most expensive at about $7.00. 

There was also a small bit of this grey, white and yellow tassel trim.  I almost didn’t get it, but thought it would look pretty on the cuff of a Christmas stocking that had a grey fabric.  For about $2.00 I decided to throw it in the basket.

This grey Paris print cotton fabric.  This would make for a nice couple of pillow backs.  That’s about all there is enough for, but worth getting for under $3.00.

I don’t normally buy something like this John Deere logo fabric, but thought it might make for a nice change for some masculine items in my Etsy.  I think this could be used for a pillow back (maybe with a truck or tractor image for the front) or doing a portion of a stocking or even if I decided to do a Kindle or ipad sleeve.  This is a nice amount of fabric and was under $5.00.

The last bit was this great black and white camera fabric.  Also under $5.00, it caught my eye as being a great pillow all on its own or for several other projects (like those I mentioned above).  Wouldn’t it be a great fabric to use for a camera strap? Or for lining the inside of a bag used to carry a camera and accessories.

I think there is so much potential in these remnant pieces.  You are only limited by your imagination and it is a great way to get a piece of fabric or trim that might otherwise be too expensive to purchase in full yardage. What would you make with these remnants?

 

Sew Happy ~ Shortening Too Long Jeans

A new type of post I am thinking of adding in every so often will have to do with sewing projects.  I’ve got lots of projects I’d like to do and I’m hoping 2015 will be the year I take them from my Pinterest Sewing Projects board and actually do some of them. 

First up, I altered two pairs of jeans I have had sitting in my closet for the past few years because they were too long.   Except for the length they fit me well and feel comfortable.  I found this tutorial on Pinterest and saved it for “one day”.

Too long jeans.  Sorry for the blurry photo.

I picked up the blue jean colored thread about a month ago, and (finally) yesterday I put them on, measured for the hemming, pinned them up, and sewed them.  You’ll also want to cut off the excess fabric, once you check to make sure the hemming is to your liking.

I’m thrilled with how they turned out! 

Now I have two pairs of jeans to actually wear instead of just having them sit on a shelf in my closet.

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to say Merry Christmas before I “unplug” a bit for the holiday.  I plan on spending time with family over the next few days, like most of you.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you will enjoy the warmth and love of family and friends during this holiday season!

A Holiday Afternoon Treat

Not much going on here in my neck of the woods.  I finished wrapping all my gifts Tuesday night, so I can really sit back and just enjoy the holiday time now.  I’m looking forward to catching some of my favorite holiday movies (and if they are not on at a convenient time, I’ll just pop in the DVD’s).

Meanwhile, I’ve been saving my Christmas issue of The Cottage Journal for a quiet day and didn’t realize just how long I was saving it.  The new Winter 2015 issue came in the mail yesterday, so I decided to take some time to look through the Christmas issue before it was too late.  I got together a little tray with a gluten free chocolate chip muffin and a little egg nog.

I used a small red transferware dish I got from Christmas Tree Shop and the glass mug is from our local grocery store, Kroger (from a couple of years ago).   It was a cloudy, brisk day yesterday so I lit the tree and the fireplace.

And if that isn’t enough to warm me, I can always pull a throw over my legs as I enjoy one of my favorite magazines.  A nice holiday afternoon treat! 

Are you done with your shopping?  Have you wrapped all your gifts up yet?  I am very glad to be done, having done my shopping both online and in-store.  It worked out very well for me this year doing both. 

Frosty Hat ~ Repost

This is a repost of the Frosty Hat I made back in 2012.

I’ve been wanting a Frosty hat for quite awhile now and when I saw this project over at Connie’s blog, Crafty Home Cottage, I knew I could make my own, too.  So, thank you, Connie! Let me start by saying take off your rings, say goodbye to your manicure, and have fun with it!

Here is what I used:

• White oak tag
• The cardboard disc from my gluten free pizza
• The cardboard box said pizza came in
• A brown grocery store bag
• Mod Podge mixed with water
• Plenty of paper towels

I don’t have pictures of each step, but I cut out the top part of the hat {the tall part} from the oak tag.  I went across the shorter side of the oak tag and actually got three pieces to make three hats.  The cardboard disc from the pizza was the perfect size for the brim area.  I traced the top of the top hat on the cardboard box and cut that out.  I taped everything with blue tape just like Connie did.

I ripped up the grocery bag into different size pieces and dipped them in a bowl of Mod Podge mixed with water, then applied them onto the hat shape.  After saying “Ewww” a couple of times, I just went with it!  It took me about an hour to cover the whole hat.  Once it completely dried {I left it for the day}, you paint it. 

While I had everything on hand to construct the hat, I made a trip to the dollar store to get a few decorations for the front.   I used some red ribbon that I had.

Some Epsom Salts to use as snow on the brim . . .

And I finally got my Frosty hat! 

I had enough supplies to put together a second one, but didn’t want to spend as much time putting the paper on.  For the second one I just applied the Mod Podge to the hat and used some red tissue paper and molded it to fit.  I filled in any gabs with some torn pieces.  This one wasn’t as messy because I used a sponge brush, but I wasn’t as happy with the final outcome.

I didn’t mess with the folds in the tissue paper because I thought it might come out looking like a fabric hat once painted.  The tissue papered hat is on the left and the ripped paper bag is on the right.

My daughter will be getting one.

I have plans to make the third one into a Mad Hatter hat for my granddaughter’s nursery.  If you recall, Alice was a theme in this room when I did it over.   That one will have to wait until I have another gluten free pizza!