Ginormous Stocking!

Merry Christmas! A few years ago, I thought it would be fun to make my kids some ginormous stockings. They, of course, love them! (I'm not sure that Santa has found the same love and respect for the stockings.) From top to bottom is 32 inches and across the top measures about 15 inches.
In any case, they were sew fun to make and hopefully the kids have some fond memories of them. (That's the point.) If I decide to discontinue their use, they would make great toddler sleeping bags!

P.S. Ideas for big poofy inexpensive kid stuffer-type things are most welcomed!

Shaggy Raggy Rugs

Remember me? It's been a while and it may be a while before I post again. I try not develop a serious relationship with my computer because I'd rather be crafting or doing the mom thing. kwim?

My grandmother used to make rugs. (wish I had a picture!) I saw one of her rugs recently that got the wheels in my head spinning. I came straight home and started cutting scrap fabric. The result was this:

Here's how to make your own. I used canvas for the back side of my rug. Cut canvas to desired size. You can serge the edges of the canvas or just turn them. I used a pencil to mark 1 inch lines all down the canvas.

Cut strips of fabric 1"x5". Fold the strips in half (short sides together) and press with fingers to make a crease to mark the middle. Overlap fabric pieces slightly with right side to canvas and sew them on the folded creases on to the marked lines. I place the fabric as I sew. I like to start from the middle of the rug and work my way out.

Machine wash and dry for raggy results! It's a great way to use up scraps!

Be sure to wash and dry for full fluffy effect!

Yet Another Princess Book

Every time I get finished with one of these books, I say, "Never Again!" And yet, I keep making them. And I have another book idea (a boyish one) nudging just waiting to be created. I think most of the time spent in these books is just thinking about how to make them work and trying to use things I have on hand rather than purchase fun new things which is most tempting! This one is very similar to the one I have posted previously but here it is:

It is so satisfying to have finished!

Checkers!

My daughter wanted a Checker's game for Christmas. I thought it would be fun to make our own unique set (which the kids have loved)! The one I made for the kids is an over-sized floor mat that I pieced together with fleece and felt. It has wooden stars for the game pieces and the whole thing was way too much work! :) However, I've made several sets since then after finding checkerboard fabric. Here are a few:
Alien invasion!

Mickey Mouse :)

Princess and the Frog!

The Play House

My daughter begged for a tree house, but there are not trees here that would support much of a tree house. The alternative? We found that there was dead space just through a wall in one of the bedrooms and thought that it would be fun to make a little play house in it. Luckily my hubby was just as excited about it as I was and he made it all happen. We cut a small hole in the wall to see what we were dealing with. It was workable space however smallish it was! My daughter wanted it to look like a sea cave from the bedroom.
Come look inside! The green and red walls have magnetic paint on them so they can be used for magnets. I sewed some magnets into a piece of flannel so it can hang on the wall and be used for flannel board stories. I cut up practice, stitched-out embroideries as story board pieces.

We painted chalkboard paint on the wall through the opening. We painted glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling too. Originally I'd hung seaweed looking fleece streamers in the opening but it repeatedly came down so I put them away.

It's a great reading spot too. I often escape to this play house to read at night after the kids are in bed.

Cloth Tea Sets

I have been loving making these tea sets...all from my own pattern! This orange one is my favorite.

Polka-dots...another love!

A softer touch.

Teacher's Door

WARNING: Lousy pictures posted! (Maybe you can get the general idea anyway)

I was sweet talked into decorating my son's teachers door last year for teacher appreciation week. It's just what the kindergarteners needed...candy on their door! I got stuck decorating again this year for my daughter's teachers door. I had approximately 24 hours notice thanks to a faulty email!

Skirt-With All the Trimmings

I had a lot of fun making this skirt. I found a very inexpensive place to buy trims and went a bit crazy pulling them from the shelves. It has a t-shirt waist band and the trims are sewn on to muslin. I am 95% happy with how it turned out!

I Spy Table

This is a hard picture to capture...not that I'm very good at the picture-taking art to begin with. I conceived an idea to make an I Spy table over a year ago. I've been collecting this junk since that time. The other reason the table took so long was that I didn't have the know-how. My MIL offered to help and so the table finally became a reality! This is how it came together...


We used trim and strong glue to build up the edge of the table. My hubby cut tiny pieces of the trim to glue together for the corners of the table. Then we caulked the seams and sanded. We also screwed the table together where it would usually pull apart for a leaf.

Next came spray painting and varnishing the table top.

 

The real fun begins! We layed most of the junk out on the table and placed it where we wanted it. We then did a layer of Mod Podge to keep all of the items where they belonged.

Mixing and pouring the resin. So much fun!!

This is after a layer of resin. We ended up doing 7 layers (7 gallons) of resin! After each layer, we added more junk. After each resin pour, we would pop bubbles that came up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then the resin would be set enough to start putting in more junk.

You may ask how long all of this took us? We started the process on a Wednesday night and poured the last layer of resin the following Wednesday. Now, since you are all just dying to put all of the junk in your house into a table, I'll give you some pointers of what I learned and what I would have done differently.

*I would not use a black background or put more things down on the bottom to hide most of the black. The reason being that many objects don't show up well against the black once the resin is on.

*We used way too much Mod Podge for what we were doing. (I omitted that picture) I would use a very thin layer of Mod Podge for papers, fabrics and the like that are directly on top of the table so that they don't shift when pouring the resin. Dry completely. Then use a very thin layer of resin to stick objects directly into. You don't want to use Mod Podge on metals or edibles.

*We built the table up one inch. Three-quarters of an inch would have been sufficent.

*MORE JUNK!!!! When all was said and done, I wanted even more junk to embed in the table! Can you believe it?

Things I love about this finished project:

*Hundreds of memories and stories are embedded in our kitchen table!

*The glow-in-the-dark junk.

*We really do sit around and play I Spy!

*One of a kind art!

Princess Cloth Book

This is a very simplified version of a cloth book I made for one of my dearies. This one I made for a service auction at church. I love these books, but due to the amount of time that goes into them, I don't make them too often. The front cover looked like this:










The first page brings us to the princess castle and coach:

The royal gown and a sparkly shoe:

The princess bed (and pea) and her mirror:

What would she be without a frog to kiss and a magic wand?

Lastly her shiny crown and of course, lots a love (with a little Princess I Spy in her heart!):







It turned out to be a hot item! My friend, Amy, won it! You want one of your own? That'll cost one royal treaurery....please! :)

I don't blog

I'm not much for words. I'm the type that scrolls through blogs to look at pictures of things people have made. It's a very bad habit! So, I've created this blog to show and not tell much. It suits me. Since I am so inspired from so many pictures of crafty things I see on random blogs, I thought I just as well share what they have inspired me to do. I am a craft-o-holic! Welcome to my blog...I hope you are inspired!

Please note that I am new to blogging so there are some kinks that need to be addressed yet in my blog to make it more friendly and inviting! Meanwhile, I'm off working on some crafty project...