Scented Christmas Trivets and Inspirational Word Key Tag

 

I have been busy making making scented Christmas trivets.  I used 2 different colours of a lovely bright Christmas fabric that has Christmas balls and greens springs on them.  Some are the same fabric on both sides while others have a different fabric on each side.  I like to make them at this time of year because they make wonderful little Christmas or hostess gifts.   They are simple and quick to make.   I have filled each of the 4 sections in the trivet with a mix of rice, cinnamon sticks I’ve cut up, nutmeg I’ve crushed, cloves and allspice.  I also sprinkled in some orange sweet essential oil and appleberry fragrance oil.  I leave the mix in a jar overnight to let the fragrances mellow before filling the trivets.  They  look so pretty sitting on the kitchen counter and give a lovely scent throughout when not in use. 

I also made Inspirational Word Key Tags.  I purchased these  key rings and a bag of inspirational word buckles.  I cut a piece of fabric 13″ x 3″.  Next I ironed the fabric in half lengthwise, folded it in 1/4″ from each end.  Then I folded each side into the middle   and ironed the folds.   Then folded in half again and pinned this together.      Then I    sewed down each of the long sides, slipped the tag through the Word buckle and slid it to the middle of the tag.  Then I sewed just below the buckle.  I slipped the key ring onto the tag and sewed the ends together.  Then I slid the key ring to the end just sewn together and then sewed again at the other of the key ring.  Voila thats it.  You can slip this around your wrist…you can use the loop to hang it up…it has a great length and it’ll be easier to find anyplace even in your purse!    I hope these instructions made some sense if you choose to make some.  If you do, let me know and send me your pics so I can post them. 

 

Have a lovely festivey feeling kind of day….. Judi

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Pinecone Turkey Name Place Cards – Tutorial

For Thanksgiving this past weekend I had all intensions of making Pinecone Turkey Name Placecard Name holders.  Now I thought of this rather late…on Wednesday evening.  I crawled around under the trees at work on Thursday morning looking for cones that were partially open.  After grocery shopping and picking up this and that I finally settled down to making them later in the evening and that was the only time I could make them.  Now they are easy to make but not all “children” should be using hot glue. 

Here is how I made them.  I’ll let you know why I only got to the 4th one and decided I couldn’t make another one this year.  And why I decided to use them as table decoration and give one to each couple as a favour.   YOU might want to glue a  little card with each person’s name on it to sit at their place setting. 

Here are the materials needed   and oh yes these too.    

I found all these goodies at the dollar store and had enough left over to make lots of other things.   So what I have pictured above for these little gobblies are a bag of tiny wiggly eyes,  coloured pipecleaners (you only need reds and oranges) and coloured feathers (or natural colours).   You’ll also need a glue gun.

For each turkey I cut 2 – 3″ lengths of orange pipecleaner and folded each one in half and twisted the ends and made the other end flatter and larger for his feet.  (sorry fuzzy) 

I inserted the twisted ends into the front bottom of the pinecone for feet.   

Next I took a little black pompom and glued it in the centre front for his head and glued on 2 wiggly eyes.  Careful hot!!   I took a 3″ piece of red pipecleaner and folded that in half.  I then flattened and folded under the end piece to form his little waddle. 

  

Finally I used the coloured feathers (or you could use natural coloured feathers) and  hot glued them to the backof the cone for his tail.

  Be very careful.  This is very hot, sticky business and the reason why I stopped at number 4.  See?

  I had hot glued feathers stuck to my forefinger (I’d finally removed them by this picture) and thumb….and oh my that burned..and I lost some skin too. 

If you make some for your Thanksgiving…please send me your pics to share.  Have fun…

What WAS funny about the whole thing was that I tried to find pinecones that were somewhat open and crawled around the trees at work looking without much success.  After I’d made all the little turkeys I set them on my diningroom table.  Whe I returned from work I couldn’t believe it – they all looked…dead!!  Belly up.  I wondered WHO had been in and done that….and why were some of the legs at the back now.  *lol*.  During the day those silly little guys had popped open, lost grip with those little orange footsies and with their rounded tummies they had flipped over.  A joke on me I guess.

Finishing up the Edge/Trim Corners of a Blanket/Quilt Tutorial (my way)

 

 

When I made the animal baby blanket in January I wanted to post how I made the edging and  corners on the main side.  I used to have some trouble making the corners square but after playing around with it  this is how I do it.  Many of my quilts and blankets use a contrasting material on the back that becomes the edge binding on the right side.  This is easy, tidy and is a nice contrast for the front.  It works for me.

Looking at the front of my completed blanket I measure the panel/material that runs around the completed blanket/quilt which is the right side of the back piece of my blanket/quilt.  I want to leave double the width I want the edge/trim to be and cut it to that size.

Along the long side I fold the fabric in half and then half again on to the blanket and pin at that spot.

Beginning at the left side of the short end  I place a sharp fold, temporarily pinning that point and fold the bottom up to the bottom edge of the blanket/quilt and then fold up one more time.  You might have to adjust the fold until it meets at a perfect and neat angle with the edge of the left-side longer edge. I fold up the rest of that edge pinning along the way to the end.

Turn your blanket/quilt so that you once again begin at the left side with the sharp fold repeating until all four corners are pinned evenly.  I then sew along the folded edge of the trim/edge all the way around.  I might use a fancy machine stitch, or small zigzag to close up the fold on the corners, or place delicate hand stitches and sometimes the fabric looks good without doing anything more.  The trim is actually the same width all the way around the blanket although the picture didn’t capture this.

Were you able to understand my tutorial?

Let me know how it works for you….I’d love to hear your comments on what you are making.

Busy Time of Year…

I haven’t been here for a long time!  It has been a busy time of year and crafting hasn’t helped make it less so….  Santa brought me a Sony digital camera for Christmas so now I’ll be able to snap pictures again.  Love it!

Since my last post in November I was saddened to have to put Kelly my 20 year old kitty to sleep.  She developed a tumor in her jaw in the early fall and in December I had to make the decision.  She was a lovely little companion for me and the family.  We miss her a lot.    

Christmas came and went…..   

I made some gifts for Christmas …..and then sewed headbands and knit us ladies hats (my mom, me, Madeline, Robyn) as gifts for AFTER Christmas…

and Eva, we’re modelling our new knit hats…

    This is the Pattern for the Knit Hat  

Materials:  I ball of “Chunky Barnet soft”   (main colour) & 1 ball of  “Bowa”  -eyelash yarn (or similar) 1 Size 6 circular needles.   4 Size 6 double pointed needles.  Marker 

Note:  Knit using one strain of each. Cast on 60 sts.  Place a marker at the beginning.  Continue knitting in round as follows: K1 P1 ribbing until work from beginning measures 5 inches.  Last stitch ending at marker. Tie off bowa (eyelash) and work with remaining “Chunky” as follows: K all rows from marker until work from beginning measures 8 inches ( or desired length) Begin cast off as follows: Row 1:  K10, K2 tog , K 10, K2 tog,  -continue to marker.Row 2:  K rowRow 3:  K9 sts, K2 tog, K9, K2 tog,  -continue to marker.Row 4:  K row Continue in this way, decreasing by K1 until 5 stitches remaining.-change from circular needles to 4 double point needles as work gets smaller.-cast off and sew top.  Add optional pompom.

Handsewn Matching Accessories

Santa gave me a fur-like white coat and I made a furry type headband to match.  The head band is sitting on the coat at the left bottom.  I also made the purse and attached some of the furry material to it.  I think it turned out quite nice.   

Madeline’s Fleece Poncho 

  I took a picture of the fleece poncho I made for Madeline.  It also has a matching hat.  Quick and easy and no sew!

I bought a nice new teapot….so I made a new tea cozy.  I loved the bright colours of the fabric.  

Wool Dyeing

 

I found this yummy picture on a site about food dyed wool.  I love how every type of craft one might enjoy these days keeps broadening and its no wonder I have so much on the go (and not having time to finish) because I keep seeing  more and more out there.  No longer do you have to buy wool in certain colours  but you can have fun and dye your own.  Love it.  I use natural dyes for my soap and bath products but will have to try dying wool for my next wool knitting/crochet project.  Check it out if you haven’t before.

Felted Ditty Bag

 

Isn’t this a beautiful bag?  It isn’t one I made but came on the site below.

I have so many projects on the go but finally last night I cut out a few items that I hope to sew tonight. 

But…in the meantime here is a Felted Ditty Bag pattern I found at straw.com that has some really nice free patterns.  I like the looks of this bag which is “hold all bag” that sailors would have to hold “this and that”.   This is one to start for those dark evenings coming up when snuggling by the TV….when away from the craft area!   If you try it I would love to receive pictures to post for variations. 

Another Ditty Bag pattern that makes up a nice basket to hold knitting and crocheting goodies by your lazy boy or wherever you choose to knit or crochet. 

So Many Ideas..So Little Time…

I hate the idea of going back to work on Monday…..3 weeks was not enough time…  I’m at the cottage, Marc is having his 40th class reunion this weekend. So the guys are golfing this afternoon, then we’re all going for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we will go to a wedding. 

In the meantime I am going to start cutting out a pattern for a little 2 piece outfit for Madeline.  This WAS supposed to be something I was going to do while on vacation.  I also brought all kinds of other craft goodies to work on.  The day has flown so far so I’m going to get to it.

In the meantime I really am interested in yo yo’s…does ANYONE else have this problem?  Ready to get into one project barely and mind on another already?  When I go home and have access to more of my stuff I’m going to give them a try.  Thank you to Turkey Feathers for instructions on  making yoyos.  It looks like great fun.