Archive for December 2009
Sometimes all you need to make a cold, dreary day better, is some cheerful wellies. Well,tomorrow we are off on an adventure, to visit Hubby’s family for a couple of weeks. We haven’t gotten away on a vacation for quite a while, so I am really looking forward to some family time. It should be fun to see some other parts of the country as well. I will continue to post while we are gone, though not quite as regularly as normal. I’ve got a full day of laundry, packing, and baking before we leave so, I must run. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.
family • Saturday, December 5th, 2009 • 10 Comments »
One reason that I love shopping at the thrift store is that there is so much character in some of the things you find. My mom found these at the thrift store and bought them for me. Aren’t they fantastic? They are from the 50′s I believe and look at how sparkly they are. I absolutely love them, they are so much prettier than those dull gray nonstick pans I have at the moment. 
So out with the new (nonstick) and in with the old I say. I’ll pass mine along to someone who wants them, and then every time I make muffins or a loaf of something yummy, I will be able to do it in a fun, pretty, sparkly pan.
food, green, home, thrift store finds • Friday, December 4th, 2009 • 15 Comments »
As I’ve had some inquiries as to how I made my vintage button heart, I wanted to walk you through it step by step. Hope you have lots of fun making your own. 
First, gather all of the buttons you want to use and lay them out in a heart shape. You will need some 18 guage wire ( I purchased mine at a hobby store), and measure out a piece that will hold all of the buttons when strung on it. Leave 5-6″ extra to give you some working room. 
Starting with the button at the very bottom of your heart, start stringing them onto your wire. This guage of wire was a little tricky at times to get through some of the buttons, but I found with the thinner wires, that they weren’t quite strong enough to hold the weight of all the buttons, and they ended up being quite flimsy. 
Continue stringing the buttons on your wire working clockwise around your heart pattern. 
When all of your buttons are strung on the wire, straighten it out. 
Find the button that makes the top center point of your heart and bend the wire on both sides up to make a V. 
Now bend the ends around to make your basic heart shape. 
Cross the end wires over each other. 
Twist the wires together. 
Wrap the ends up and around some of the other wire on the heart. If you have too much wire at the end, just clip some off until you have about 1 1/2″. 
Finish shaping your heart and then you are all done.
Edited to Add:
Sometimes it can be a little tricky working with the thicker wire and these buttons, but I really did find it better than using thinner wire as they were just to flimsy to hold their shape without extra strengthening. When putting your button on the wire, slide it all the way over and shove it right up against the other button, so that it is actually overlapping the previous button somewhat. When you pull the wire very slowly (if you go too quickly I found that it just mangled right up, for some reason it doesn’t do this when going slowly) it will loosen up a bit and the button will end up right next to your previous button with no gap. I hope this helps for those who have been having a few issues. Please feel free to e-mail me if you need further help.
tutorials • Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 • 15 Comments »
This year for our tree, we are using only handmade ornaments. The kids have loved working on all kinds of different ornaments. Our oldest made this snowman. This little guy is full of fantastic details, a pointy 3d nose, a separate thumb on his mitten hand. Such wonderful detail and all on a snowman that’s only about an inch tall. I’m so proud of my kids and I love that they have such creative imaginations. It just really hit me today that we only have 3 days until we leave on a trip to visit some family for the next couple of weeks. I have tons to do, and am just hoping that it all gets done. I am looking forward to being able to relax a little bit though. I also wanted to let you know that after a few inquiries about how I made my vintage button heart, I made a tutorial here. Hope you guys have lots of fun making them. Have a fantastic day, I better get back to the laundry and packing.
gifts, home, kid's art • Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 • 10 Comments »
I love these bags, they are so versatile, not only are they great for food from bulk bins, they are also great for anything from rubber bands to buttons. Hope you enjoy the tutorial, and please make as many as you want for personal use. The size I made here holds approx. 5 1/2 cups of oatmeal, so you can adjust the size depending on whether you want a smaller or bigger bag. The directions will be great for any size. 
First you want to embroider the item that you will be filling the bag with and the PLU# (the number on the bulk bin that you would normally write on the twisty tie) on a light piece of fabric, I used white muslin. 
Next cut two pieces of fabric 9" x 12". Cut the piece you embroidered the info on down to approx. 2 1/2" x 3" and cut another blank piece of the same fabric to the same size. Also you will need a piece of thin bias binding approx. 23" long. 
Put your info tag pieces right sides together and stitch together leaving a space big enough to turn right side out. Clip corners, turn right side out, and press. 
Fold the opening in and stitch around in a matching colour thread. 
Open the bias binding and fold down the very end. 
Fold back together. 
Stitch fron one end to the other, making sure that you fold the other end in as well. 
Make a hem at the top (short sides of fabric) by folding the edge over once, pressing it, then folding it again. Stitch from one end to the other. 
Using a running stitch with 3 strands of embroidery floss, stitch the info tag onto the front piece of the bag approx. 4 1/2" down from the top. 
Put both sides of the bag together wrong sides together. Fold the bias binding in half and put the folded end about 2" down from the top. Make sure that it is in far enough to catch when you stitch the seam. Making a 1/4" seam, stitch from the top, down the side, across the bottom, and back up the other side. 
Turn bag inside out, press, and making a 1/2" seam, stitch again from the top, down the side, across the bottom, and back up the other side. Make sure that you do not stitch the bag tie accidentally into another seam. I pulled it out of the top of the bag to make sure I didn’t accidentally catch it. 
Next we’re going to make a gusset so that your bag will sit flat. Turn your bag right side out again and and flatten the corner out so that the side seam and bottom seam are sitting back to back. Stitch about an inch in from corner (easier to understand if you look at the picture, sorry kind of hard to explain with just words). Repeat on other corner. 
Trim the end off 1/4" from the stitching. Repeat on other side. 
Turn inside out and and press the corners. Make a 1/2" seam by stitching from top to bottom. Repeat on the other side. 
Turn your bag right side out, and enjoy!
tutorials • Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 • 8 Comments »
Whenever we go to Whole Foods we stock up on some foods from the bulk bin. I like that we are not paying for branding or packaging, which means a better price and less packaging. I hate using the little plastic bags to put the oatmeal etc. in though and have been meaning to make some bags for a while. I’ve had this idea floating around my head for a while to just put the PLU number right on the bag so that I don’t have to use any extra disposable stuff like the ties etc. This works well if you normally get the same items, and make sure that the store keeps the same numbers, which they usually do. If you don’t normally get the same items, you could always make the bags and just use a piece of masking tape right on the bag to write the number down, or use the cloth bags and use the store ties to write it on. Either way there is still less waste than using the plastic bags. So, long story short, I made this up and love it. This size bag holds approximately 5 1/2 cups of oatmeal (I didn’t have enough raisins to fill it). With six of us, I will need to make bigger bags for things such as oatmeal, rice etc. I made this with fabric and bias binding that I bought at the thrift store for pennies. The only thing I suggest, is that no matter how bright and cheerful you make the bag, make the tag on it in a light colour so that the cashier does not have a hard time finding the code. Have fun and enjoy the tutorial here. I’d love to know if you make some. These bags are also great for storing anything from rubber bands to buttons, just embroider the tag accordingly.
green, sewing, thrift store finds • Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 • 11 Comments »
Up until last year, we all had a hodge podge of stockings. I really wanted our whole family to have handmade stockings, and I wanted the kids to have a part in making them. I purchased one of those little knitting looms and found some directions and we all pitched in and made these stockings. I was thrilled with how they turned out and the kids loved taking turns working the rounds. It was so much fun making them and I just love the look. They make me think of Little House on the Prairie, which just makes me smile.
family, home • Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 • 15 Comments »
Sometimes all you need to make a cold, dreary day better, is some cheerful wellies. Well,tomorrow we are off on an adventure, to visit Hubby’s family for a couple of weeks. We haven’t gotten away on a vacation for quite a while, so I am really looking forward to some family time. It should be fun to see some other parts of the country as well. I will continue to post while we are gone, though not quite as regularly as normal. I’ve got a full day of laundry, packing, and baking before we leave so, I must run. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. 
