Crafting: Place Mat Pillows

Hi Friends!

My mom picked up two gorgeous place mats for $2.50 from a clearance rack at Walmart. Because they are double thickness with interfacing she asked me to make them into pillows. What a great trick! I never doubted where my craftiness came from. :)

Using a cuticle trimmer, I ripped the seams to make an opening, and stuffed the innards of an old pillow. This is not only the CHEAPEST option, it is also GREEN. I try my best not to throw away clothes, Poly-fill or other fabrics. Most are man made and do not break down in landfills like other garbage does. 

Once I stuffed the place mat I closed the opening with the sewing machine.

Cute AND easy, huh? I'm going to take them to my mom's tomorrow.

What are your fun plans for tomorrow?

xoxo.

45 Days of Crafting: Day No. 7-a

Hi Friends!

I have been working on a super-cute Scrapper Pillow today, but I'm thinking its more of a two-day project. The appliques aren't sticking to the white fabric as neatly as I had imagined. Instead of dealing with it tonight and rushing through editing, and because my bobbin stopped I walked away.

But of course I will give you a sneak peek!

Its gonna be awesome. :)

xoxo.

45 Days of Crafting: No. 2

Hi Friends!!

I totally planned ahead today and the Day 2 craft is complete!!

Fabric Pumpkins

I started with five fabric scraps and used a plate to trace the circle with a gold pen. I'm fancy like that. And yes, those are owls on my fabric scissors.

After I cut out the circles I moved to my chair. I love doing crafts on my lap. With the exception of sewing, if the craft doesn't fit on my lap I don't love it.

I ran a basting stitch around the perimeter of the circle.

Pulling the thread taught gathers the top of the pumpkin. I added some poly-fil that we had laying around.

TIP: gathering the fabric around my finger worked to keep the batting in side the pumpkin while I closed the gap.

Then I just made some blanket stitches to connect the gathered fabric.

Cute!

The I cut strips of felt for the stem, rolled it, and sewed it to the top of my pumpkin.

TADA!!!

I'm going to use these little guys in an upcoming craft. VERY exciting. If you end up making some for a Turkey Day centerpiece or wreath I would LOVE to see it.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Super fun fall wreath

Trev and I get to move in on Monday!! Until my hoard is pulled from storage, here is a great fall wreath that I am dying to make. I will of course post pictures and step-by-step once I have completed mine.

This How To and photos reblogged from Lauren's Creative she has some great ideas!

Supplies

Hot Glue Gun/Scissors

14" Straw Wreath $2.99

(3) Acorn Picks $1.19/each

Pepper berry Pick $1.19

Green Yarn $2.99

Brown (Multi-colored) Yarn $3.99

Brown Ribbon $6.99

(5) Sheets of 9 x 12 Felt $.34/each

Total: $22.23

Tutorial Links

Wreath How-To 

Felt Flower How-To 

Tips:

• Do NOT take the plastic off of the straw wreath - it would make a huge mess, and I think you would end up with little bits of straw peeking through.

• Felt Mums - to make the larger mums I used two strips of 1 x 12 felt.  To ensure I had even strips - I used my rotary cutter and a ruler.  I tried to use my Martha Stewart fringe scissors, but they didn't cut through the felt that well.  It may work if you've never cut paper with them, since paper dulls your scissors.

• I attached the acorn picks and the pepper berry pieces FIRST and then added the flowers.

If you have any questions, let me know!  Hope you have a great weekend!

Ramblin'

In my tireless quest for perfection I find myself, at times, unable to write anything that I feel would be perfect. I am trying this free writing thing to see what I come up with. I had three wonderful paragraphs written but they didn't flow just right. I like my words to flow. like you are just reading a ticker tape from my mind. I feel that if the words are flowing like a river you won't notice that you've spent 10 minutes reading an excerpt from some stranger's life.

But that's what blogging is, isn't it? Kind of like being a voyeur into someone's home. But the author can edit what you see. Do you ever have a hard time editing yourself for a blog? Do you edit yourself? I want to be able to share my life with others in hopes that it could help them. At the same time though I don't want to alienate those I love who may not understand. There is so much knowledge and experience I would love to share, I'm just not sure how much is too much. :)

Regardless, I am SO ready to get into our house. I love our family to death, but I need my own space and crafting supplies! How am I supposed to build an Etsy empire with no supplies? While most of what I use is upcycled, I still need my basics, especially the sewing machine.

Hi pretty.