Oct 31, 2012

Jar Art

Have you seen these "Jar Art" kits put out by Ball?  They are the easiest craft to make.  They come with everything you need to design these lovely jars (instructions included), then fill them with awesome gifts or in my case, fake flowers.  The kits normally sold for $6.39 at Ace Hardware, and right now they are on sale for $1.  


Here's the different theme's:
Baby
Garden
Family
Cheer
Life's Journey
Birthday
Explorer
Fishing

Holiday, of course, then I got a few more of the Christmas Jar Art for gifts.
This jar art I made for my Sister who just had knee surgery.  As a "hope you feel better soon" gift, I did the Victorian Roses Jar Art.
  


What you need to make this jar art-                               Cost
                        Jar Art Kit                                            $1.00
                        a Canning Jar with ring and lid            $1.50
                        scissors
                        4 bunches dollar store flowers            $4.00
                        moss                                                    $1.00  
                        a chunk of styrofoam                           $1.00
                        Total cost for gift                              $8.50



1 - wrap the jar with decorative card stock and use the included adhesive circles to secure it in place








2 - put the adhesive circles on all 4 corners of the frame and place in the middle of the wrap on the jar








3 - put an adhesive circle on the bottom of the paper flower and press into the center the frame




4 - secure the card stock strip on the jar ring





5- tie the ribbon around the top of the jar.




So easy, and so pretty!!  She loved it!

Oct 10, 2012

Backyard Halloween Golf


Have you ever seen Remco's backyard putt putt set from the 1950's, back when family's spent more time together....... (I know I wasn't even born yet).  I saw this in an article in Country Living Magazine, Vintage Lawn Games, it sent me searching for ideas to make mini putt putt golf  for the grandkids. 
 
  
(this was a long drawn out search)
This summer I came across this set of  KIDS GOLF CLUBS, $4, at a garage sell.

I know, what a deal!  I gave them to the grandkids to play with. 
Now that I'm here living with them, I was back to thinking of ideas for the putt putt golf.
For a game at my grandson Elias's 7th birthday we played 
"Backyard Halloween Golf".



I downloaded large Halloween coloring pages and printed them.  Placed the picture on cardboard, cut out the outlines of the pictures;  some of them we had to tape first to make them sturdier and painted them. (Suzy and I painted them)

We bought lawn stakes at the local hardware store, to keep them in place in the yard.  There are  7 holes.  We strategically placed them around the yard, Let's Play!




We kept score by how many strokes it took to get the ball to each hole, and  if it went through the hole you got the bonus 1 point subtracted at the end of the game.  





You'll never guess who wonMiss Harmony, the poser.  I was shocked, too. I thought for sure I was gonna win.

Project Cost:  $4.00 for golf clubs, $2.50 for the lawn stakes, family fun, Priceless.

To find these Halloween pictures online, in any search engine, type in Free Halloween coloring pages. 





Jun 19, 2012

Trash Can Lampshade

This is how it looked after the road trip!
When my Daughter moved from WI to NC, the plastic in her lampshade on her favorite lamp was broken out.  Being a "poor" student, she has other more important things to spend her monies on.  While taking out the trash one day, I noticed boxes full of junk in the dumpster.  
This lampshade was in there.  Other than looking old and yellowed, it was in perfect condition, (I mean the plastic wasn't broke up!).  I grabbed it out of the trash and recovered it for Miss Deby.

I pulled off the trim that was yellowed and wiped it down with a sanitize wipe.



I laid the lampshade on tissue paper and traced it as I rolled it to make the pattern. 

Pinned it and cut out the fabric.









I mod podged the fabric on to the lampshade.
Easy Peasy!



Is it me, or is he scary looking?  I rubbed his Buddha belly for luck, just the same!

Happy Crafting!
Thanks for stopping by.

May 24, 2012

A gift for baby

I wanted to make this Old-fashioned bonnet for my niece, who is about to have her first baby. Since her generation does not like to be surprised at the birthing, we all know it’s a baby girl. Her name is Madison Rose….awe.
When considering the fabric I would use, it dawned on me that I had this night gown. I wore it once for about 5 minutes. My boyfriend commented that it made me look like an old granny. It’s been sitting in a drawer for ever since. With the ruffle, the trim and the lacy embellishments on bodice, I figured it would be perfect for the bonnet.

I basically followed the instructions for the Old-fashioned bonnet, except (of course I changed it). Here’s what I did different.  In her photo you can tell that baby is not a newborn.  So I re-sized it, and followed her instructions up to this step.
 Step 4: Form the unstitched end of a tie into a Z (fold it in thirds) and pin it to the large rectangle about 1.25″ back from the decorative trim along the 16″ side.  Repeat with the other tie on the other side.


What I did was to fold up the rectangle (measuring all across to be sure that the ruffle was even from top to bottom), and stitch only the sides.
 Pinning the ties inside.
 I turned it outside in and pressed it with an iron.  Then pin the opening and the raw end of the ruffle and top stitch both sides and stitched the opening.  Sew close to the edge.
Per her instructions fold up the bottom, creating a casing for the back ribbon, pin and stitch close to the edge.
I centered and sewed the pretty laced ribbon on the front seam across the ruffle.  On the back seam I sewed the trim.


I know, I was a purty baby!


Now after it was finished I had no way to gauge whether it would fit a new born or not.  So I researched the average size of a newborn baby's head, enlarged a doll head pattern, printed off my baby picture, to make it more realistic, (hehe), I laughed the whole time, come on, that's funny. And this is how it looked, when I was taking the pictures for this post, my boyfriend come around the corner and caught a look of the baby face, and jumped, he didn't expect it.....I'm still laughing.  

I made this for baby Madison.  A romper with a matching bonnet 3M. For the bonnet I partially used Simplicity A2104 pattern and of course I changed it. I got the romper pattern from you can make this.com it's called  THE CHELSEA ROMPER SIZES 3M-5T.  What's cool about this pattern, it's downloaded so you can print it as you use it; and with it going all the way up to a 5T, I can make it for my Ella Bear, too.
Happy Sewing!
Thanks for stopping by!
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