A Little DIY Craft

Um...hello....I'm not sure if anybody still reads this little old blog of mine. If so, welcome!

It's been over a month since I posted anything! I have no excuse except one. Life Happened!!

I can't believe it's November already. Time is flying by this fall.

Work has been busy and the weekends have been full!

 

I have been eating my share of Apple Cider Donuts  and drinking lots of Cider from the best Apple farm around! I just can't help myself! They are so yummy and I only devour them around this time of the year! So I have to get them while I can!

 

Last week I needed to be crafty.

Does that ever happen to you? Do you ever just need to make something? To create something?

This is what I came up with. Nothing to fancy, not to difficult or time consuming, but it satisfied my craving to be crafty!

 

This is what you will need:

Some burlap

Stapler

Stretched canvas ( whatever size I used a 5x7)

Stencils

Paint

 

Stretch burlap over the canvas and staple. My burlap was a little small but I made it work.

 

Then I just started stenciling and painting until I felt like it was what I wanted.

 

Then I hung it on the wall with some old family photos!

 

Love It! I might have to make some more in different sizes!

 

Have a wonderful fall weekend!! Maybe do some crafting....

 



Knitted Dish Cloth

The other day I mentioned that I have been knitting dish cloths.

I thought I would share the pattern with you all in case you get the itch to do a little knitting.

They are really easy to make and are pretty quick.

Here is the link to verypink.com.

 

 

There are several other free patterns on this site as well.

 

 

I love the Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. Buying yarn is as bad as buying fabric for me.

I see all the fun colors and want to buy one of each!

Self control is something I'm working on.

 

Happy Knitting!

 



Chalk Board Redo

Hello friends!

I hope everyone is having a great week! We are. Its been busy!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I love Sundays! They are always pretty restful.

 

You might remember this frame I bought at a garage sale almost two years ago!? Wow, time flies!

 

 

 

 I had great intentions for it but never took the time to make them happen.

 It was used as decoration on the mantel and I really loved it just like that...
 

 (This was before the mantel remodel. I'm so glad to be rid of that ugly orange brick!)

 

...but after the mantel remodel, I finally decided to make the transformation.

 

All we needed was a thin board and some chalk board spray paint. We, as in my wonderful husband, ended up buying a piece of dry erase board because it was the right thickness, he cut it out, and just spray painted the back of it.

 

 

So it went from a frame to a cute chalk board!

 

 

I LOVE IT!!!

 

 Now I just need to learn how to write all fancy and cute!! Any ideas?? I might just call my big brother and SIL! They are great at that kind of stuff!

 

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

 

Have a great week!

 

P.S. Is anyone else getting spring fever?? I sure am!

Rustic Cinnamon Hearts

How is everyone today? I'm doing pretty good. I sometimes feel that I am more tired on Mondays than on Fridays! Go figure. Your weekends are suppose to be restful and rejuvenating, preparing you for the week ahead! Anyway, I was kinda tired today.

 

Over the weekend I made these little hearts to hang on the screen that sits on the mantel. I wasn't sure what I was going to put up there but wanted something for Valentines Day but not a lot of pink and red. So I made these! They were super fun and made your house smell A.MAZ.ING!!

 

You only need 2 ingredients!!

1 cup Apple Sauce and 1 1/2 cups Cinnamon

That's it!

 I bought the cheap stuff at the dollar store.

 

Mix it together and roll it out to 1/4 inch thick.

You might need to dust the surface with Cinnamon before rolling it out.

 

Cut out shapes!

 

Use a skewer to poke a hole.

 

 Bake at 200 degrees for 1-3 hours.

Mine took about 3 or so. You want them to be really hard.

 

Let them cool and then use a needle to pull your string through.

You might not need the needle but I used cooking twine and it was a little thick.

 

Rustic looking hearts!

 

 

Simple, easy, and it makes your house smell great!!

Knitting

I recently learned how to knit and I am so excited about it!!

I have been knitting away! I made a few gifts and then of course one for myself!

 

Now, I only know how to do one kind of stitch but you have to start somewhere!

 

This is my infinity scarf. It's very warm!

Oh, by the way, this is in front of the newly remodeled fireplace!

 

Then last night the wind was howling like crazy and our electric went out! So I

was knitting by an oil lamp!

I was trying to finish up a Christmas gift.

 

Luckily the electric came back on in the middle of the night. The temperature had dropped and the wind was still blistering!

We woke up this morning, the first day of winter no less, to a pretty dusting of snow!

 

Knitting is such a cozy past time! I'm looking forward to it this winter!

Ditty Bag Tutorial

I mentioned that I was hosting a Favorite Things party at my house this week so I thought I would share one of my favorite things to make!

The Ditty Bag, at least that is what I call it. It can be used for many things, shoe bag for when your traveling, bread bag, stuff it and use it for home decor.  It can be any size. You can use any fabric and it takes about 5 minutes to make. Literally. I love projects that offer instant gratification.



So here we go...



1. Cut the fabric in a rectangle. I used a 20''x16'' piece

2. Fold in half. Right sides together. I used drop cloth fabric so both sides look pretty much the same.

3. Sew around three side leaving one end open for the top of the bag. I also left the top edge raw because I liked the way it looked.

4. I then cut a piece of twill tape or ribbon 20'' to 22'' long

5. Fold it in half to locate the center and when you fold it, it leaves a little crease which makes it easy to see.

6.  Pin the ribbon to the bag at the side seem about 2''-3'' down from the top.

7. Attach the ribbon with your sewing machine. I made a few stitches going both directions to make it secure.

8. You are done sewing! You can leave it like this and tie it up or continue on.

9. I added a design to the front by using a stencil and fabric paint. I put a piece of cardboard in the bag so the paint wouldn't bleed through. 

10. Finished bag!

Super easy! Now you have to wait to see what Favorite Thing I put inside the ditty bag!

Fabric Pumpkins and a few things I LOVE!



I love the fall colors and decor. I finally switched out my summer stuff for fall stuff a few weeks ago. I love pumpkins and the textures and colors that they add to the house.

Last year I made two pumpkins from a Simplicity pattern that I can't remember the number of right now and I'm not going to go find out because my feet are propped up and not willing to move. I was so happy with how they turned out. So this year I made three more. They are so easy. Once you make the first one you can roll them out pretty quick! My kind of project!

I found some fabric on clearance at my local shop and I was so excited! I LOVE FABRIC!! Really it's an illness...I've mentioned this before...

It was upholstery fabric and its really good stuff. One was a heavier fabric and it was so easy to work with.

This is one I made last year with just cotton fabric. The pattern says to line it with fusible stuff but I didn't do that. I'm a rule breaker like that...or just lazy.

I also made one out of part of a drop cloth. That fabric is also easy to work with. The hardest part about these pumpkins are sewing on the stem. The stem is smaller than the hole in the top of the pumpkin so you have to gather around the top of the pumpkin and hand stitch the stem on.

I made this little banner out of burlap. I just cut out triangles and then hot glued them to some twine. I had stencils and black paint for the lettering.Super easy and fun!

Notice the cutie pie scale on the left, my great uncle gave it to me a few weeks ago and i love it!! It's from an old hardware store in Cincinnati. I LOVE OLD THINGS!! 

Speaking of loving old things...My Lover had his 31st Birthday a few days ago...ok so he's not really old but he's older than me!!! Funny, that when I was a teenager 30 was so old and now it doesn't seem that bad.....I think!

I LOVE YOU babe, you are the most wonderful blessing from the Lord!!

P.S. Sorry I take bad pictures. I really should take a class or something.

Bed Coverlet

Now that summer has arrived I had really been wanting a new bed cover. We had a tan colored bed spread that is perfect for winter. Super fluffy and warm. We don't have air conditioning in our house so it tends to get warm during the summer. We have a window unit for the bedroom when it gets unbearable, but to be honest, I love having my windows open and feeling the breeze even if it is a little warm.

So, for that reason I decided to make myself a new coverlet. I guess that's what you call it. It's not a quilt or a duvet.

It's a little wrinkly because we've been using it, but it is perfect for summer.

I had bought this fabric a few months ago when I went to the quilt show. I wanted to make something quick and easy. Something that didn't take much thought. So, I had six yards of fabric, I cut them in half length wise and sewed them all together. I added a 6 inch border along two ends to make it not so square.

I backed it with an old flat sheet I had. Sewed the two pieces together and turned right side out and top stitched.

It turned out good. I'm happy with it anyway.

The walls are a mint green color and the fabric has blue and green in it. I love blue and wanted to accent with it. I will have to find more ways to add blue in.

Things have been pretty busy around here. My Love has been working like crazy, which is a huge blessing! We are self employed so we depend on the Lord to provide plenty of work and He has! 

School is out so that means I have a little more time on my hands. Kinda...the grass is growing so fast with all this rain that I'm mowing a few times a week to keep up with it! I love this time of year...everything is green, the flowers are blooming and it is warm out! It has been in the upper 80's and low 90's this week. This is when I would love to have my own pool! Some day...

This morning my sister and her husband flew out to Washington  to go to the Farm Chicks Show!!! I'm so jealous! If you haven't heard of the Farm Chicks check it out. They have two books out that are lovely. 

Since she is out of town I have her kiddos for the next few days!! Along with their new Chocolate Lab puppy! So cute, it almost makes me want to get another puppy...almost.

Here is a little something I've been working on...

  Flower pins...sorry the picture is a little fuzzy. I have been playing around seeing what I come up with. I like making these because they are easy and quick. A fun little project!

Just a little something....

I have been wanting to create something this week, but not sure what. I found a straw wreath at a rumage sale for a $1 and bought some little things at Jo-Anns clearance and this is what I came up with...

Burlap..love it. It's cheap and cute.

I have had this grape vine wreath for years and change it up all the time. This one will stay on the frint door. I usually have red flowers out front so this will blend better.

Oh, and just for the heck of it...

I'll share with you this cart I found at a garage sale last weekend. So cute!! Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet!

Happy Friday!!

Sewing Projects

So here is some of the stuff I've been working on...

 I love this donuts fabric!!

This is a changing pad that I found the pattern for here.

I made 2 of these.

These are burp clothes. Made 4.

They are flannel and terry cloth.

Bib and matching burp cloth. Made 2.

This is the other changing pad.

I even made my skirt for Easter!! I'll show that off next week!!

Happy Weekend!! Happy Easter!!