Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2012


Amanda also made an adorable button ball by attaching some of her extensive collection of buttons to a styrofoam ball using pins with pretty colored heads. It makes for a lovely effect with all the different colors.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2012


This year Amanda sent me this lovely flower ball, made by pinning little fake flower buds to a styrofoam ball with pretty pearl head pins. She said she saw an example that used paper flowers, but she thought that paper would get crushed when it was stored so this was a better option.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2012



This year Amanda and Chris sent a waterless LEGO Santa snowglobe! It's just too cute! I'm so glad I was able to get a picture of it without a horrible glare! Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Merry and Bright Felt Tree Garland


I bought these tiny star buttons (only 3/8" tall) on clearance a while ago and when I saw this garland, I knew it would be the perfect project. However, the Noodlehead pattern uses equilateral triangles, and I wanted my trees to be taller and skinner, so I used an isosceles triangle. My fabric triangles have 2" bases and are 2.5" tall. The felt triangles have 3" bases and are 3.5" tall (plus 1/2" for the trunk). Instead of sewing down the fabric all at once, I first sewed down the trunks with brown thread, then sewed down the trees with matching colored thread. I also simply layered in two triangular pieces of quilt batting before sewing. It was very tempting to make them into individual ornaments, but I think part of their appeal is how nice the colors look together. I strung them on some metallic ribbon and added two silver star buttons to the end, with tiny clothes pins glued to the back for hanging.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Tiny Spool Tree


This was the first ornament I made for the 2012 Ornament Exchange. I was digging through my stash of supplies looking for ideas, and I found a whole bunch of the tiny wooden spools that I used for my yo-yo pumpkins. I usually brainstorm my own ideas, but I was rather uninspired this year, so I googled "spool crafts" and found lots of ideas, but I liked this little tree best. Conveniently, I had everything I needed on hand, and the ribbon from my ribbon tree was the perfect size. The spools are only half an inch tall, so the entire ornament is only 2.5" high.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Candy Cane Spool Wreath


While searching for spool crafts, I came across this spool wreath and decided to make one using the red ribbon left from the ribbon tree.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Santa Gnome Pattern

Make your own Santa gnome!



Download the pattern.

Supplies:

Felt: red, white, black, yellow, tan  
Embroidery floss: red, black
Other supplies: needle, hot glue gun, stuffing, scissors, ribbon, pins

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Santa Gnome


This is my original ornament for the year. I tried to make a gnome ornament for last year's Ornament Exchange using little wooden doll shapes, but it did not work out. I decided to do a felt gnome this year. I was trying to decide on a color scheme when it occurred to me to turn it into a Santa gnome! Unfortunately, it came out a bit crooked, but we'll just say he has a jaunty hat. Santa gnome is about 3" tall.

Use this pattern to make your own Santa gnome!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Button Snowflake


While googling for ornament ideas, I came across this button snowflake, which is perfect for Amanda's love of buttons. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough white buttons for a whole ornament, but I think the blue looks nice and snowy. Accented with rhinestones, it matches my blue ribbon ornaments nicely. I didn't have enough buttons to cover the back, but I don't think it's necessary for it to be double-sided. Also as a result of the button quantity, mine only has 8 spokes instead of twelve. I also used eye pins instead of a coat hanger. It is 3.5" in diameter.


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Kanzashi Christmas Flower


I came across a tutorial for kanzashi flowers and decided to make one for Amanda. I was digging through my stash for an appropriate fabric when I came across this red print. You might recognize it from one of the ornaments Amanda made me in 2010. Last year, she sent me some of her fabric, and I thought it would be perfect for us both to have ornaments using the same fabric.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving Cards


Happy Thanksgiving! I was not terribly creative this year and used the same leaf pattern from 2009. These are just a bit more colorful.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Lily's Quilt Tent


Mom tries to use the quilt to keep cat hair off the chair, but Lily likes to burrow.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Purse Keychain


I bought this heart bead in 2010 and made a necklace. Then a couple months later I redid it. Two years later, I still never wore it so I was going to take it apart, but I had no plan for it and I love it. I considered making a key chain, but I wasn't sure it would hold up to key chain wear and tear. Then I realized how nicely it matched my purse, so I decided to make a purse chain instead.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Kitty Cushion

I went to visit my sister while I was in town for a conference for work. She wanted me to make covers for the arms of her couch so the cats wouldn't sit on them and my brother-in-law wanted a cushion for their wicker footrest. Upon returning home, I found the perfect upholstery fabric to match their living room colors, and it was on clearance for $2 a yard.

Cleo loves the new cushion:


Saturday, August 25, 2012

Starry Pin Heads

I came across a tutorial for designing your own pin heads. I had no reason to make some except they were cute and I had shrink plastic. I also happened to have a star punch; however, I was not strong enough to punch through the plastic, so I just dented it where the tips of the stars would be, colored them, and snipped them out with tiny scissors after sticking pins through them. I used every color Sharpie I have.

Pre-bake:

Post-bake:

They are cute and tiny and colorful, but, as they don't lay flat, they are not very practical for actually pinning fabric.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Birthday Cards


I made two of these cards without any specific birthdays in mind.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Quilted Tree Skirt

Just before Christmas 2011, Melissa asked me about a tree skirt she saw on Etsy and I told her I would make her one for next Christmas. She said she wanted something candy-colored, something kid-friendly that her little boy would like. The tree skirt I made for myself is not quilted, so I imagined making a quilt and simply cutting it into a circle, but then I found the perfect "candy" fabric and that plan went out the window. I saw this tree skirt on Flickr and I knew it would be perfect since the asterisk design mirrors the pattern on the fabric. I did not, however, want to piece 12 wedge-shaped asterisk blocks, so I just sewed strips on top of the blocks to create the asterisks. That way, I didn't have to worry about the pattern on the fabric lining up.


The back:
I love the pattern the quilting created.

Date tag:

Details:

I added snowflake brads to the front six blocks, each with a bit of sparkly paint. 

Finished size: 42" diameter

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Hello Kitty Stocking


This was made to match the pink snowflake ornament for Melissa, since Hello Kitty's head was a bit too big for an ornament in that style.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Paw Print Stocking



Melissa loves her dog, so I had to make a puppy stocking.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Dinosaur Stocking



Once I'd made the dinosaur ornament, I knew I had to make a stocking to match as well.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Snowman Stocking



After I made the snowmen ornaments, I made a stocking to match as well.

Finished size: approximately 4" x 5.5"

Friday, July 27, 2012

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dinosaur Ornament

I made an ornament to match the dinosaur quilt for the little boy who's now 2:



Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Snowmen Ornaments


I combined the fabric from my cathedral window snowman ornaments with my favorite ornament design. I couldn't decide if I liked the monochromatic or patriotic color scheme better, so I made one of each.

Try making one yourself with this tutorial.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Christmas Ornament Exchange 2011

This, I am convinced, is the Christmas ornament that cannot be topped. I mean, it has flashing lights. While Amanda and Chris are no stranger to ornaments that light up, this one required considerably more effort. I'm also not quite sure you can call it an ornament, since it's so big - approximately 5" x 8" and an inch thick, in order to accommodate the battery and the on/off switch.

So why a bus ornament? Zack is a diesel mechanic and he works mostly on school buses. One day he brought home some reflective school bus tape scraps because he thought I might want them for craft projects. I sent some to Amanda, and a foam bus with flashing lights and reflective tape is what resulted:
 

Top light flashing:

Bottom light flashing:

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Fourth of July Cards


These are the cards I made for the grandparents for the Fourth of July. Happy 4th!
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