Christmas Luminarias

Erin showed me how to make these. You fill an empty can with water and freeze it and then use a nail to hammer the holes through the metal and ice. Its really easy, though your fingers will get cold and the ice will start to chip out at the top so its best to do your holes at the top of the can first. They look really pretty with the lights out.

Christmas Wreath and Tree shirt

I skipped out on my Relief Society Christmas dinner so I could finish these two projects last night. The wreath I decided to do while at Erin's house last week and bought most of the supplies then. I used kidney beans and hot glued them to the wreath form. If I ever do one again, I'll try to find a bigger bean. It took me about 3 hours to glue them all on the wreath, but I had a book on cd to listen to so I was ok. The spray painting was quick and easy. I don't really like the bow... I wasn't thinking and bought glitter ribbon so now I have glitter everywhere, and I'd rather have something more full and bow-y, but I couldn't find what I wanted in the store and will have to do some research on how to make one. But it'll do for now.


I saw the idea for the ribbon tree shirt and this blog. I really couldn't find the kind of ribbon I had in mind for it at Joann's. They didn't seem to have a large selection of Christmas ribbon so I just had to make due with what I could find. I think I've seen Christmas ribbon at Michael's but I didn't want to make another trip out there. It was a really easy project. I ironed on interfacing on the back side of the front of the shirt and pined down the ribbons really well. I'm not very good at sewing on knit but it worked out well. I couldn't get Eva to sit still to get a good picture. I'm making another one for Grace so once that's done hopefully I can get the two girls together with their matching shirts!

**Update**

I found a tutorial for a quick bow online and used a twist tie to attach it to the front of the wreath hanger. I still don't love it, but it's much better. I think I need to trim the ends... maybe take out that back bow all together?

Halloween printables

I found these vintage Halloween pictures online. I printed them up on cardstock and cut them out, glued the circles back-to-back and hung them with black thread over the kitchen table. I like the look of them and the kids do to. It's all I can do to keep them from touching or blowing them. The tape doesn't stick so great to the ceiling so I've had to put a few of them back up a couple times.

Here's some closeups of the pictures. It was hard to get them in focus because they kept turning in the draft.

At the same website there was this bunting. I couldn't get a close picture but it says Happy Haunting. I used halloween theme scrapbooking paper for the back grounds and hot glued the flags to rickrack. Then I realized I had done the whole thing backwards so I had to cut the ribbon and re-glue it all together. It's not as drapey as I wanted because otherwise the flags get stuck in the cupboard doors when they close.

Halloween Table mat

I've had a book of crafts from Mary Englebright for years. I don't really like any of the projects in the book except for this one. I finally decided that this was the year to do it. It was fairly easy. I ended up I really big piece of yellow felt because the by-the-yard felt was twice as wide as normal but that ended up a good thing because I had a hard time squaring it up and went through almost all of it before I got a piece cut right. The stars were also hard and ended up bigger somehow then they were supposed to. There should be 5 stars in each square but my hand was starting to ache with all the cutting so I just left them as is. Also, Sam was quick to point out that real candy corn are orange with a yellow bottom but I was just following the pattern so not my fault.

Owl Ornament

I've had the pattern for this felt owl ornament sitting on my desk for months now. I finally decided just to do it already and move on to other things. This was mostly in the way of an experiment and I thought if it turned out well I could make one for Sally. Well, I just grabbed some felt and went at it. It was easy to cut out and sew together, though I was using an embroidery needle which was not a good idea because it was too blunt. The hardest thing was the blanket stitch around the edge. I've never done that before. I still need practice though I was improving as I went along. I don't plan on finishing this guy, but I do think he has potential with a better choice of color, thread, needle and embellishments.

Love Cross Stitch

This was an extremely easy cross stitch pattern from Birds of a Feather. At least, it should have been easy, but I had a hard time with the linen material. I'm used to Aida which leaves no guesswork as to where the stitches go. This linen, apart from being completely the wrong color, has lots of imperfections in the weave and at times it was almost impossible to get the stitch in right. But it was the only linen I could find in Spokane that was the right count. I should just start buying my material online. Anyway, the pattern suggested using variegated color floss which would have looked really nice I think, but its super expensive, comparatively, so stuck with plain. It was nice to have a small project to work on; one that I could get done in just a few days. I have a Halloween pattern I plan on starting soon.

Grace's Dress

This is the dress that I made for Grace. I used this tutorial here. My version isn't nearly so well done. There are quite a few mistakes and many things I will do differently if I ever make another one. Mainly the pleats. I've never really done pleats before and I had a really hard time trying to get them to look how I thought they should. I finally just gave up and sewed it as is. I think though, I understand how to do them now. Next time I'll also sew the skirt higher on the shirt since the weight of the skirt is stretching the shirt out and I don't really like how that looks. I'll also make the sash wider. Grace really likes it though and wears it often and I feel confident that I could make a better one next time.

* I forgot I already wrote about this dress.

Fabric Flowers

This is what I came up with for teacher gifts this year. I used this tutorial and it was fairly easy with one tweak. I tried to do the no-sew method with just gathering the fabric by hand, but the results were not at all pleasing. Instead, I used the sewing machine to run a wide basting stitch down one edge of the fabric and then gathered the material up that way before glueing it on the stem. Grace helped me paint the stems, which was fun to do together. I think they turned out quite nicely and plan at some point to make more for myself. I found the tall skinny vases at Joann's on clearance for $2 per 3-pack. All together the whole thing cost me about $15. Not to bad for 5 teacher gifts!

Flannel Fish

I found this tutorial a while back. I really like the idea of making things with felt, though I wish I could afford to buy wool felt instead of the synthetic stuff. Anyway, I have many felt projects bookmarked. This one was pretty tricky because the pieces are so small and I couldn't figure out how to enlarge the pattern. It was very difficult to cut the pattern out and then trace it on the felt and then cut out the felt. I just used a regular pen to trace on the felt so there was lots of bleeding which didn't help with getting the pieces cut out right. You can't tell from the picture, but there are lots of pen makes, especially on the yellow fish. There is still a blue fish that I haven't finished, but I do like the way they look on the fridge. I just don't look to closely. And I found a better marking pen then doesn't bled so maybe someday I'll try again.

Case for the iPad

I'm in the process of making a case for Rob's new ipad. I offered to do this even though he has already ordered one from the Apple store because I like making things for him and I don't often get the chance to. Anyway, I'm using the tutorial at Make It and Love It. It's pretty basic and fairly easy. I decided to use flannel for the inside and for the outside material I cut off the leg of a pair of pants that Rob no longer wears. I used interfacing on the outside material to give it a bit more bulk. I'm still learning how to use interfacing without getting wrinkles in the material. Here's where I got to yesterday morning:



That's when I tried to fit the ipad into the case. Didn't work. Here's a picture with the case laying on top of the ipad. The left edges of both are lined up:

So my measurements were off. The tutorial said to cut to the dimensions of the thing plus 1/4 inch seam allowance on all sides. I cut to that, but it obviously needed more. Luckily I have enough of the flannel and one more pant leg to give it one more try. And maybe I can use this first attempt as a diaper case for some little boy. I think the second try will go easier so even though I wish it had worked, I'm sure I'll benefit from my mistakes.

Pleated dress for Grace

I finished the dress for grace today that I have been working on. Not working on really. What I mean is that the material has been sitting on my desk for the past three weeks and I finally did something about it today. I don't have pictures yet but as soon as I do i'lladd them to this post as well as the link where I got the idea. Anyway, I think the dress turned out ok. Actually for a first time making clothes it's pretty good I think. Some things I learned are that I'm not very good at squaring up fabric. Also I really have no idea how to make pleats. And I'm not at all good at sewing with knits. Once it all came together though it turned out cute. At least while grace is wearing it because then she is always moving so you can't see any of the mistakes. I think she likes it but I don't think it will be a favorite. And that's ok. I really would like to get better at making clothes for my girls. Not all there clothes, just some select pieces. I'm not really interested in making clothes for Sam, poor boy. But there are some really cute patter out there for girls. I just wish I had someone close by to help me through the hard parts. I could really have used some help with those pleats today. They look nothing like the tutorial.

1st Christmas Sampler

I bought the cross stitch book Donna Kooler's 555 Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs in 2006. I think I first saw it in my local library. Anyway, I had the idea of stitching some of the small designs on dish towels to give as gifts that year, but I think I only finished 2 of them. My biggest hang-up was that I couldn't find towels that I liked, and I didn't know how to do a french knot. Anyway, there are 4 or 5 samplers in the book and I thought I'd do three of them for family presents. Yeah, way unrealistic. I started the one above and it took me a year to finish it. I had planned on giving it to my brother Spencer and his wife Anna but after it was done and framed I realized I had invested so much of my time and money ($200 for framing!) I just had to keep it. Very selfish I know. I did stitch them a snowman Merry Christmas banner thing that turned out cute. I wish I had a picture of it. Anyway, I really enjoy getting this out every year and hanging it at Christmas time. Though I left out all the french knots!

I'm currently working on another sampler from the same book. Not even 1/4 of the way into it so it probably wont be ready any time soon.

Cross Stitch

This is one of first projects that I ever actually finished. I'm pretty good at getting started on projects. Actually, what I'm good at is buying the materials for a project that then sits on my desk for weeks and months. When I do get started, I'm good for a few days, but if it takes longer then that, chances are it could be a looooong time before the project is finished. I bought this kit of three bird scenes I think the first year we moved to Pullman. I think I finished the cardinal first, and then the project sat for months. I'm pretty sure it took me at least a year, maybe even two to finish this. I framed it myself because we didn't have the funds to get it professionally done. Hopefully the matte they're stuck too wont discolor the material. I really like this piece. It hangs in my living room and I still enjoy looking at it every day.

New Blog

I am not gifted with crafty creativity. I can't sew very well; I have no desire to scrap-book; I enjoy crochet, but can only do basic stitches; cross-stitch comes easy but can get overwhelming with how long it takes. All that aside, I do enjoy making things even if they are far from perfect and are based on other people's ideas. So this blog is a place for me to keep a record of things I make and also a place to store ideas of things I'd like to make someday when I have the time, money, talent to bring them off.