Pots and Pins

Quilting Friend...

It happens every year...I have a list a mile long of things that have to be done before Christmas yet I decide to spend my precious time making something new!  And this something new was fun, as in F*U*N*! 

I saw a pic on Pinterest a year ago of a "Singer Sew Girl" (pic on left) made from an old Singer Sewing Machine Oil can, she's quite the looker!  Button earrings, thimble hat, and stylish socks and shoes!  I loved her!  The link that is on the Pinterest page (www.paraperamarket.blogspot.com) for this beauty goes to a site that is written in a language I don't know - maybe Russian?  After searching for the picture and hoping for some kind of tutorial, I found nothing and gave up - you might have better luck.

Since I happened to have two old Singer Sewing Machine Oil cans  (with oil still in them!) I decided I would make my own Sew Girls! I gathered what supplies I could from my stash but I didn't have any blocks with letters so I had to make a run to the shops.  After visiting two toy stores and not finding any blocks, I gave up and purchased a kids bracelet kit that had wooden letters and that's the only thing I bought!  Everything else came from my sewing room - it pays to be a Level One Hoarder!  Three glue sticks and an hour later - my Quilting Friends were born!

She's a beauty, no?  And before you say, "Who in their right mind would want one of those?!?"  I know plenty of quilters who are not in their right mind and I'm sure they'd want one of these!!  At least, that's the theory I'm going with because I made this one to give as a gift at my quilt group Christmas exchange party!!   I also included a few other things, just in case whoever gets my gift doesn't have an appreciation, err, an eye for art!  (This kind of thing is my favorite kind of gift to give - it serve no purpose except to make one smile.  Even if it's a pity smile.  A smile is a smile, right?)

This is the other one - SEW Ca-UTE!!!  If only I had more oil cans...

**Update:  If you want to make your own Quilting Friend, you don't necessarily need to use an oil can, one of my readers suggested using a large spool of thread - now that would be great!  I did not empty the oil from the can, I just sealed the top with glue so it wouldn't come out. I think the pic of one that was my inspiration probably drained the oil and poked holes in the can for dowels so the spools were threaded on them.  I just didn't see the need for that, hot glue worked great and I had no where to put the drained oil! 

Time to head back into the fray...the clock is ticking - the grandkids arrive in two days - Santa comes in less than a week - and the mister has already begun his annual tranformation into The Grinch.  Merry Freakin' Christmas!

Mini Glass Snowmen...

This is what you do if you can't find the tape or the scissors which you just used a second ago...or you run out of wrapping paper for the third time...or you start to get a cramp in your leg because you've been sitting so long you no longer have circulation in your lower extremeties...you crawl over to a drawer, open it up, find a bag of Glass Gems that you can't remember buying and then you get a brilliant idea...or not...

 

 

 

You can use a Sharpie to draw on the face...eyes, carrot, buttons or you can cut them out of itsy-bitsy pieces of felt like I did, because sometimes therapy requires one to do things that are hard.

The glue hasn't dried yet on his hat - custom made of course - (a circle of felt is the bottom of hat, a rectangle of felt glued into a circle makes the body of hat and another small circle is the top...it's not couture but it's close!) I'm quite proud of my little creation...however, it does beg the questions, is this Christmas Overload?  A cry for help?  Or just possibly the custest Christmas craft to date...you decide!

Paper Shamrocks...

I suppose you could make these out of felt, and they would be very cute, but I wanted to use them as place cards, to write on them, so I opted for green construction paper...maybe next year I'll graduate to felt.  They are super easy to make, just follow along with the pics below:

 Start by cutting green construction paper (12x 9-inch sheets) into 3/4-inch wide strips.  You can make them smaller, but if you make them any larger they start to look a bit weird!

 

 

 

  Tape two strips together, end to end, so the strip measure 24-inches long.  Start at one end and roll up tightly, easing up just a big so the roll measures about 1-inch in diameter, secure end with a drop of hot glue (using tape here will show).  Repeat three more times until you have four rolls.  

 

 

 

 

Using hot glue, glue two rolls together.  Cut a stem, 4-inches long, and cut one end at an angle.  Glue the stem to the two rolls.  Glue the remaining two rolls to the stem, gluing slightly over the other two.  That's it!  Now, if you're going to use them as place cards, write the names on the stems and put around your table...or just use them to decorate with...I'm sure your leprechauns will love them!

 I plan on catching my own leprechaun this year and forcing him to take me to the end of the rainbow and his pot of gold...I figure I've earned it after putting up with the mister for all these years...he's a Scot-Irishman, or as he likes to say, Scotch-Irish...(heavy on the Scotch) with a bit of Cherokee Indian thrown in for good measure...so to him, and his good friend Jack, every day is St. Paddy's Day...without the parade! 

Decorating With Moss...

Why not?  Here in the Northwest moss grows on everything - year round.  It's the "hair" on my little statue, it covers every rock and tree and makes for a nice "carpet" down the side of our yard...

    

 

 

 

 

So I've been experimenting with moss...it lifts off of whatever it grows on quite easily - and it attaches to almost anything.  I put a styrofoam ball into the container and covered it with moss...instant decorating!

  This post is just a tease because I'm not going to show you just yet what I've really been doing with moss...but I will tell you it involves Easter bunnies, Easter eggs and maybe a few Peeps!  IF you live in the Northwest or some other moss-covered place, get outside and start the "harvest"...try lining a basket with it and then fill it with Easter eggs...so stinkin' cute!  Or cover a pretty-edged plate with moss and then set a few eggs on that...or ducks...oh, I forgot, I wasn't going to say anything!   I'll stop now, except I must tell you moss is also perfect for St. Patrick's Day...green moss with maybe a felt shamrock or two might just be what those elusive Leprechauns are looking for! 

Tickabox...The Golf Bag Lamp

During the heat of the summer, all two days of it, I purchased this mini-golf bag at a garage sale.  The golf bag was really a Grill Set - it came with tongs, a roasting fork and spatula - the ultimate outdoor grilling tools for the avid golfer. How stupid is that?!?!  

Anyway, I loved the bag (it's made of fine Corinthian Pleather) and after chucking the ultimate outdoor grilling tools into my kitchen drawer, I took the mini-golf bag into my workroom and there it sat for six months - waiting to be turned into a lamp for the boy!  He being an avid golfer and collector of golf crappola, was going to love it!

But it's not just a lamp - oh no - it's also a tee holder!  I impressed even myself with it's versatility!  Since the top of the bag was open, I cut a hole in the bottom of the bag for the cord to exit, stuck in a stick lamp, added fake grass to the top to "seal" it and then put a shade on the lamp - the boy opened it on Christmas morning and thought it was great - it now resides on his night stand! 

Let's do a recap: 

Amount spent on garage sale purchase:  $3.00

Price of the FIRST purchased stick lamp:  $19.99  (The base of this turned out to be too large to fit inside the golf bag, however, I thought a few hits with a hammer would force it in, but after hitting it many times and destroying the lamp, it still wouldn't fit and was no longer returnable.)

Price of the SECOND, smaller purchased stick lamp:  $19.99

Price of of new shade:  $15.00

Price of box of bandaids:  $7.99 (needed when I sliced two fingers trying to cut a hole in the bottom of the bag for the cord.

Price of trip to doctor when above mentioned cuts became infected:  $200.00

Price of antibiotics which were ultimately prescribed for above mentioned cuts:  $32.00

Total amount spent on the boy's golf lamp:  $297.97

Seeing the boy's face when he opened his golf lamp on Christmas morning...PRICELESS (not really but let's just pretend it was)

Price to purchase a golf-bag lamp through ANY number of catalogs on-line:  $30.00

 

 

 

3rd Blog-a-versary Give-Away!

Three years.  That's a long time.  Three years of posts - some nauseatingly long, some embarrassing, in retrospect, some boring, bland and inane - and those were all the ones about the mister!  But I love my blog - it's definitely made me a better cook and you would think a better quilter, but I'm afraid you can't teach old dogs and this quilter new tricks, so my quilting skills have remained the same - but at least I'm consistent!  Also, most bloggers are great photographers...having improved their photog skills by blogging.  I, on the other hand, am still the pitiful picture-taker I was when I began.  Even a new camera didn't help.  I am what I am and I know what I know and apparently there is no room in my brain for anything more.  Sucks being me.  But the best thing about my blog, and the most important to me, are the friends I've met through blogging - fascinating, motivating, inspiring people who are there for me 24/7 and always in the dark of night!   

I love this time of year - the crunch of leaves under my feet at 0H-dark-Thirty every morn, cinnamon-scented candles, bowls of chili and pumpkin soup and the promise of a Thanksgiving spent with family...so much to be happy about, so much to be thankful for!  Pictured above is one of my very favorite Thanksgiving decorations...my dear friend Bev sent it to me years ago and it always tickles me pink to see it.  It's made of felt and pinned onto a pineapple.  I was going to write up directions for ya'll to make yourselves one but I have no time for that...after a quick internet search I found a website that has directions for a turkey centerpiece that is very similar to mine and you can find it here.  It's a simple pattern that's fast and cheap to make and I promise if you make one, every year when you pull it out of storage you'll smile - might even giggle!

SO...3 years of blogging combined with feelings of gratitude and Thanksgiving = ONE FABULOUS GIFT BASKET!!!  Just look at all the goodies I put together for one lucky winner!

 

 

 

From Pier One, a ceramic pumpkin-shaped dish that holds the most delicious orange-flavored candy you'll ever taste (found at Common Folk in the Crossroads area for you Seattleites).  A pair of turkey salt and pepper shakers from World Market.  A small but very fragrant Yankee Candle - your entire kitchen will smell like freshly baked cinnamon rolls!  One of my favorite baking pans is the one pictured above - pumpkin shaped muffins make any morning start better.  There's even a recipe on the back of the wrapper that's dang good!  And the last picture above is a gel-turkey for your window...I bought a couple for Baby Max to play with when he arrives - hope he doesn't eat it!

 

 

 

 

 

To keep you looking nice and clean while you cook your feast, I've made you a T-day apron and two hot pads...yes, they're the kind of hot pads your kid would make but at least you won't feel bad about getting gravy and grease on them!  One of my favorite T-day reads is this little Charlie Brown Thanksgiving book - the pictures will remind you of your childhood - unless you're an amnesiac.  And not pictured separately but included in the basket is a package of plastic acorns which are great to spread around your table...guests will think they're made of chocolate and might try to bite them which is always great entertainment!

Folks, I kid  you not, this is a great gift basket valued at over $140.00!!  And it can be YOURS!!!  Here's what you need to do:

Today I'm a guest blogger over at STASH MANICURE - I know what you're thinking...you're thinking STASH MANICURE is a blog for tips on organization and why in the devil would I be one of their guests?!?!  Well I'll tell you...my post over there has NOTHING to do with organization...I would not want to be seen as a hypocrite!  Sew...go to STASH MANICURE and read my post and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me something about my post...maybe you learned something from reading it?  Maybe you found it funny?  Maybe you thought it was a dry and not worth the time it took to read...in which case I'll show you just how magnanimous I am and I'll STILL let you enter the contest...although the odds of you winning will be slim to none!

Leave me a comment HERE, about my post THERE and you'll be entered to win this beautiful gift basket!  Of course, it would be doubly nice if you left me a comment THERE as well, and if you do I'll give you another entry!

Contest will end Wednesday evening at 6:00.  Winner will be picked via Random Generator.  Winner announced Thursday morning.  Basket will be delivered to you before Thanksgiving - as God is my witness and as long as UPS wears brown.

Thanks to STASH MANICURE for allowing me to play on their blog and thanks to all of you for keeping me in "bizness" for three long years! 

Felted Flowers...

This is going to be very cruel of me...I'm going to show you a super easy and fun project - easy as in 5 minutes worth of time with adorable results...felted flowers that will make any coat, bag, sweater, shoe(!) look better! 

They are just fab, are they not?  I'm totally smitten with them - I've made just these 4 so far - in about 20 minutes...felted wool, snipped, rolled, and quickly stitched together by hand with a vintage button in the center...I've yet to glue the pins to the back - got to run to the craft store first!  Now comes the cruel part...I'm going to give you the link to the blog where you will not only find a ridiculously easy tutorial for these flowers, but you'll find many other wonderful things that you'll want to make...you'll spend precious time drooling over everything you see...as the year/decade ticks down to an end...you'll be spending those last few HOURS reading through every post of Betz White's Blog.   So you see, it IS cruel of me, but I just couldn't help it...you need to go to Betz' blog now and many hours from now, when you finally tear yourself away, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.  

Baby Shower Invitations...

It's amazing what one can do with the right friends!  (And the right tools!)  I wanted to make what I thought were simple but cute invitations for a baby shower I'm giving...my first attempt was rather lame.  My second attempt was worse.  So I called up an expert, Joella, and begged for help.  When I told her what I wanted over the phone, she knew immediately what to do.  I went to Joella's home thinking I was just going to pick up some paper and a paper punch...and she surprised me with the darling die-cut on the front of the card and showed me how to make the invitations look like someone older than a 2 year old did it... 

She had me punch the corners of the card on the inside - those little slits hold a sheet of vellum with all the info printed on it - now how cute is that?  No glue - no mess! 

The white die-cut piece on the front was just the ticket - and I used another of Joella's punch's to make the face - then colored on the cheeks and attached the bow...I'm so very proud of my little cards as I am NOT a card maker...THANKS JOELLA for saving my bacon! 

I have several friends who are into cards - and I've always thought their stampin' and paperin' was a bit nuts but I had such a good time making these - I just might have to do it again!

*************************************************************************************************************************

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."  ~ Mother Teresa

*************************************************************************************************************************

One year ago today:  Art Class

Shabby Chic Chandelier...

Here's a sneak peek at a little item I've been working on for my friend's daughter's wedding that's next week...this is what I started with - a tomato cage... 

I sprayed the tomato cage white -  wired the three ends together...then the fun started...a little glue and wire ... added a few jewels, some beads and punch bowl cups...

It appears to be a bit crooked but it's not...just the photographer is crooked...this can hang, like a chandelier, but for the wedding it will be used on the food table as the centerpiece and there will be greenery around the base - which is why I haven't added any jewels there... 

The crystal punch bowl cups hold votive candles...sweet, no?  Actually, I can't lay claim to this idea - I stole it - saw it in a wonderful shop and copied it...my apologies to the originator of this brilliant idea!  But the bride wants shabby chic - and as you know, I'm an expert on shabby - but the chic usually eludes me...I'm not quite finished with this yet...maybe a few more jewels...too much is usually just enough!

I used old costume jewelry, pearl strands, glass bells (Christmas ornaments), old keys, old buttons, crystals from an old chandelier and purchased glass beads and silver hearts...it's almost "there" but not quite...I had to stop working on it because my fingers are all so badly burned from the hot glue!  We have quite a bit more wedding "bizness" to take care of before the big day - so I'm off to work!

Factory Fun...

Yet another bad photo...but look closely and you'll see this is actually a shopping bag....one that was given out at Quilt Market from the Moda people...well...that was then....this is now...

One side of the tote bag became this FABuRIFFic pillow!  Don't you just love it?!?  And the other side is now...

A great little apron!  Hard to see, but there is a nice white ruffle around the edges...The fabric has the great cities and places to see in the states of Washington and Oregon...Fireworks sells a pillow with this exact fabric, except that it's all embroidered but not nearly as cute as mine - their's cost $150....and mine was FREE!  I'm doing my happy dance today!

The factory has been running at full-speed this morning - and I've been cranking out some fun little bibs for my Max...here's a sneak peek:

Okay, that's it for now - the factory is closed for the day...I'm off to art class where I hope to be able to do more than wash my brushes!