More Ornament Wreaths

I know blog land is saturated with ornament wreaths. But can you stand to look at a few more?

This past week my cousins and I got together to make the wreaths. Here we are with the finished result.

My cousin Trisha opted for an evergreen wreath with ornaments attached. This was so easy! I'm thinking about posting a tutorial. Christmas is only a week away so it might end up being more of a winter wreath instead, we'll see.

As far as the frosted flowers cardigan goes. I should have the tutorial up tomorrow. You are going to love it!

Cinnamon Wassail

This wassail is a must for Christmastime at my house. So yummy!

-1 gallon apple cider or juice

-28 oz. 7-up or Sprite

-30 whole cloves

-4 cinnamon sticks

-1/2 cup cinnamon candies (Red Hots)

Mix ingredients together. Heat, stirring constantly, until candies are melted. Serve Hot.

I like to leave the cloves and cinnamon sticks in for a few hours, then I strain them out. I store it in a pitcher and heat it up by the cup. Enjoy!

Frosted Flowers Cardigan Knockoff Coming Soon...

Do you love this sweater? I do to. Regular price is $35 at DownEast Basics. But I'm a cheapskate and won't pay that much. Stay tuned this week for my $4 tutorial.

We Wish You a Soapy Christmas

These soaps were super easy and will make great neighbor gifts. I bought the soap earlier in the year for $.70 each. Some of them are personalized with my neighbor's names, others are generic for people who "drop in" with a gift. Find the tutorial here.

I finished them off with some ribbon and furry yarn. Cute!

Pottery Barn Felt Pillows

About a week ago I guest posted at Someday Crafts. Here's the post for any of you who might have missed it over there.

Don't we all look through the Pottery Barn catalogs and drool? I know I do. When I saw these pillows in PB Teen I knew I could make them for cheap!

PB version: $39

Cupkateer Version: $5

Ready to make your own? Let's get started!

Click on any of the images to make them bigger.

Scalloped Pillow

Begin by cutting the following sizes from your felt:

-17"x17"

-16"x16"

-17"x11"

-17"x11"

Step 1: Using your 16"x16" piece begin cutting your scalloped design.

Tip: I use a white crayon when marking dark colored fabric. Afterwards I use a pressing cloth and iron it. The crayon marks will stay on the pressing cloth, not your fabric.

Next you will be cutting out the center. I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to use as the pattern. Cut a opening 12" x 12"

Repeat the previous steps to make 2 more scalloped layers. With the following dimensions:

-11"x 11" square scalloped, 8" x 8" center

-7" x 7" square scalloped, 4" x 4" center

Then...

Next take your 17" x 11" pieces. Stitch a 1/2" hem along the 17" side.

Now we are going to sew the front and back pieces together.

First you will need to pin your scallops out of the way.

Now, with right sides together sew the 2- 17" x 11" pieces to the main 17" x 17" piece. Use a 1/2" seam allowance.

Clip your corners, turn, and insert a 16" square pillow form.

Flower Pillow

Begin by cutting the following sizes from felt:

17" x 17"

17" x 11"

17" x 11"

Scraps for flowers

Cut out your flower shapes. Click below to download my patterns.

Felt Pillow

Stack the flowers using the following diagram. Tack down the center of the flowers.

Tip: I set my machine to a small zig zag, then dropped the feed dogs when I tacked the flowers down.

Next pin the flowers aside and add a leaf design in a contrasting thread. You can use a free motion foot, stitch them by hand, or eliminate this step.

After you've finished the leaves, tack down the petals

To finish, attatch the 17" x 11" pieces the same way as you did for the scalloped pillow.

Add a 16" square pillow form and you're done!

Not to shabby of a knock off if I do say so myself.

Entertainment Center to Child's Kitchen

Santa's elves have been putting in a lot of overtime hours in my basement. Look what they've been up to.

Before: An entertainment center I got from the online classifieds for $15

After: A Child Sized Kitchen

I used this tutorial as a guide

Here are some close ups of the elements:

The sink is made from a buffet steam tray. The faucet was a yard sale find.

The counter top is modpodged fabric. Doesn't it look graintey?

The stove. It is the original door with a window cut out and plexiglass added. I attached the plexiglass with E600. The burners are formula can lids. The knobs are things I found at a thrift store, I have no idea what their real purpose is. I got a whole bag of them for $.50 (email me if you'd like me to send some to you. I have a TON left over). The oven door handle is from Ikea, the pot holder is from Ikea, and so are the pots and pans.

Aren't these the cutest? I found them at Sears. Here's the mixer, but I don't see the toaster online.

The window scene was a print from a picture I got at a thrift store for $1. It was modpodged to the back of the kitchen. Then I bought another $1 frame. I painted the frame and glued it around the picture. I used an 18" curtain rod from WM.

Here is the total cost breakdown:

-entertainment center: $15

-paint: $20

-sink: $10

-faucet: $5

-hardware: $10

-fabric: $8

-window: $2

-misc: $5

Total: $75

Life will never be the same again

My life has changed forever! I've discovered 2 things I can't live without. Who knew?

The first? Krylon's Snap & Spray

It's a trigger handle that snaps onto any spray paint can. You wouldn't believe how great it is. It produces the most even spray I've every had, your fingers don't get tired, and you won't end up with paint on the tip of your finger. Best of all? I got it for $2 at Walmart. You can't beat that.

Next, do any of you have the Ion Life network? I live in Utah and I just have free over the air television. For me it's channel 16.3 Anyways... there is the coolest show on there. It's called She's Crafty. This gal can craft! I have had such a blast watching her episodes, and I have yet to see a rerun. During the episode she features a tool or item that is handy and a must for your craft tool box. Some of the stuff I'd never even heard of, but now I'm sure I need it for my ever growing stash of craft tools. It is defiantly worth checking out.

It begin as an international show of some sort because she gives you metric measurements. I don't think it's avaliable on the US HGTV

Guest Post

I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday.

Today I'm guest posting over at Someday Crafts. Head over there to check it out, and to find about a million adorable things you can make... someday

I'm in the Army Now

Hello everyone. I haven't done many crafty things this week. My husband is in Qatar for a business thing and this single parenting thing is hard. To top it off Magoo came down with a cold. He's not napping well, and has been really clingy so crafting has been almost obsolete. I did manage one quick recon this week.

Specimen A: $1 thrift store hat. Looks sort of Army-ish

After Magoo went to bed one night I got out the dreaded unpicker and went to town on those stars. Added a silk flower attached to a hair clip (that way I can switch it out, or wear it in my hair later) Looks pretty good I think, and I don't think I'll be mistaken for an Army recruit.

Yes, that's me. Yes, that's the nose God gave me. I think I must have gotten in the wrong line when He was passing out noses. :)

P.S. All these pictures were taken at different times of the day. It is not a magically coloring changing hat :)

Grocery Shopping, Felt Style

You Like? I made this set of felt groceries as a door prize for Ogden's New Moon, A Twilight Ball. One of my good friends is putting on this event to benefit the JDRF. I hope this set will make a fun door prize for someone.

I mostly traces things from my pantry for my patterns. The others I just winged. The set includes: Milk, Orange Juice, Cake Mix, Corn, Carrots, Soup, Tunafish, Bowtie Pasta, Fresh Fish, and a Reusable Shopping Bag.

A few close ups of the goods:

Bowtie Pasta

Soup, Carrots, Corn, and Tunafish

I'm linking this up at Poppies at Play

Stuffed Animal Child Harness

I'll admit it, I used to make fun of people who put their kid on a "leash." But now that I have a one year old, who thinks he can do anything himself, I am all for "leashing" my kid. I've seen quite a few stuffed animal backpack style harness. Here is my homemade version (please click on the pictures to make text easier to read):

To make this harness you will need:

-a stuffed animal

-3 3/4 yard nylon webbing

-1 D-ring

-2 buckles

-2 adjustable strap pieces

-sewing machine, thread, embroidery floss, thimble

I couldn't find packaged adjustable strap things, so I bought a back pack from the dollar store and took the these pieces off.

Next cut your nylon webbing to the following lengths:

3- 3"

2- 23"

2- 6"

2- 11"

1- 42"

Take a lighter and burn the edges on all pieces to prevent fraying.

This completes the "leash" part.

Grab a thimble for these next steps. You are going through a lot of layers so a thimble really helps.

To Finish it off, thread the 23" pieces back through the adjustable strap pieces. Fold the ends over twice and stitch to prevent the straps from slipping all the way out (like you did for the chest straps)

Attach the "leash" to the D-ring and you're good to go.

Questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email.

p.s. I know in the picture there are a lot of extra straps hanging down, but I wanted to leave plenty of growing room. Magoo is 15 months and 22 lbs. This should definitely fit throughout the toddler years. But feel free to shorten the straps if you're child doesn't need the extra room.