Christmas Crafting (part 2)

I got this awesome frame at an estate auction I went to a long time ago.  Well, I thought it was really cool, but I only got 3 sides of the frame instead of 4 so I couldn't use it for it's created purpose.  Since it was green I thought it would look great for Christmas to display the Christmas Cards we received.  I tried a few different ideas before I decided on putting magnets on it and sticking it to a piece of metal I had left over from another project.  I sawed one of the pieces into a few more to make a tree shape.  Then I hot glued magnets to the back.  I like the finished product even without the cards, but love what they add to it!

Christmas Crafting (part 1)

I realize I'm a little behind for a Christmas post, but it's better late than never, right?  And, yes (part 1) means there's at least a part 2 and maybe even a 3... I'm just going with it.  We've been a little busy around here (more posts on that coming soon).  For now, I'm going to share our Christmas stockings and their holders I made.

I'll start with the stocking holders.  I'd seen several wreaths wrapped with yarn and really liked them, so I thought it'd be neat to try that.  I found these letters, made of cardboard, at a super discounted price at Hudson's.  It pays to have Q start your last name... Q and Z were the only letters left that weren't damaged.  Anyway, I decided to wrap them in yarn and here is the final product:

 
I wrapped Justins Q in red and mine in green (of course).  I really like the way they turned out.  All of our Christmas decorations turned out a little Old World and we both liked it.  After wrapping the letters in yarn I hot glued them to simple stocking holders I bought at Walmart.  I think the whole project cost about $11.  

On to the stockings, I ended up making them twice.  I thought I had some process pictures, but if I do, I can't find them now.  I first made them without batting between the outside layer and the lining.  (I had made some before with it and I thought they were too think.)  However, these were too flimsy and did not look good hung without the batting and quilting.  So, I took them apart and added it in then quilted them and sewed them back together at the top with the white cuff in between the outside layer and lining.  I didn't use a pattern, I just sketched the shape I wanted onto the fabric and copied it over to the rest so they would match.  They look a little different than traditional stockings because of the curled toe.  We like the whimsy of the finished product.

 I also wrapped yarn around a wooden letter and attached it to the stocking by tying it to the loop used to hang it.  The J was a little difficult to wrap, I had to undo the first attempt, but got it on the second!











We really enjoyed our mantle decorations this Christmas.  I'm looking forward to decorating it again... Christmas will be here again in no time!

Dryer Duct Wreath

I recently saw this mason jar wreath on Pinterest:

Pinterest

I think it looks really cool, but I don't have that many old mason jar lids, nor do I know where to find them.  I've had a "Q" shaped wreath that was covered in moss hanging on the chapel door when we got married that I've wanted to use for a while.  I wanted to do something different with it and this was a great inspiration.  I looked around in the home improvement section of Wal-Mart today and saw a dryer vent hose.  I remembered we had some we didn't use in our laundry room cabinet and got excited.  So, I covered the wreath this afternoon!

This is the wreath I started with:

I had two different dryer ducts we weren't using.  I ended up only using the one on the left. (another project later for the one on the right?)

I cut the duct down the center and pulled it apart at the seams:

Then I wrapped it around the wreath and squeezed it into place.

And here's what I ended up with:

I think I'll add a little something to it for Christmas, but here it is on the door for now:

Getting Organized

We always seem to have paper everywhere.  I'm not really even sure where it comes from, but I know it gets on my nerves.  So, I decided we needed a designated place to put things that need to be dealt with besides the dining table.  That's where I got the idea for this mail pocket/cork board.






I started with some planks from a wood pallet.

I cleaned them and played with the arrangement.    Then I nailed them together.

Next I cut a piece of sheet metal I had from a project I did several years ago.  I folded over and hammered the edges so they wouldn't be sharp.  Then I worked on the placing of the pocket.

Next I place a plank on the bottom, so the papers won't fall through, and nailed it into place.

I had to have Justin help me nail the metal to the sides of the boards.  I kept bending nails... he was awesome.

Next, I used a staple gun to attach the cork to the back of the planks.  Then I hot glued a "Q" I had painted yellow to go with the other yellow accents in our house.  Then, I glued a magnet to some yo-yos I had made and put it on the metal.

Here it is on the wall:

Here it is already in use!

Message Board

In my quest to make our house look like we live here I've been doing several projects.  This is one I just finished.  I used another frame from the estate auction I went to a little over a year ago (see here, here, here, and here).  I really got a lot of awesome junk from there!  Anyway, I took out the glass, then cleaned it and the frame.

Then I covered the cardboard backing with fabric and put it all back together. 

I think it turned out pretty well.  It will be a great place for Justin and I to leave sweet messages and reminders for each other.  Here it is in its new home:

I'm still working on a cute way to attach the marker... more to come on that.  The cross is from this post. 

Cross

I've been working on a few projects from wood pallets.  This is the simplest one and the first one completed.  I just pulled apart some of the planks, cleaned, and primed them.  Then I painted the planks in layers, sanded them, and nailed them together.

Here's how it turned out:

Felted Wool Brooches For Freddie

Freddie

One of my best friends moved half way around the world almost 4 months ago.  So, I wanted to send her a happy.  She mentioned seeing some felted wool brooches she thought were cool at a market and I thought I could make them.  I went to the 4 Cs in Clinton and bought two old 100% wool sweaters.  I didn't take a picture of them before I cut them up, which I hate, but imagine huge gold buttons and shoulder pads.  After cutting out the zippers, buttons, and shoulder pads, I washed the fabric on hot and dried it on high heat.  I did this a few times to achieve felting that I liked.  I twisted up the seaming to make the rose looking brooch above and hot glued it to a circle I cut out of the felted fabric.  Here's a close up:

For the next one I used the first yo-yo I made.  I sewed it to a felted fabric circle and glued a button on top.  This one may be my favorite:

Freddie sent me some pictures of the brooches on her garments:

For the third one I cut circles of felted wool and cotton fabric, stitched them together, and stitched around the outside of the felt.  I then covered a button and glued it on top.  Here's a picture I took of all three of  them before I shipped them off to Australia:

I love making things for friends.  It makes it that much more fun.  What can I make for you?

My New Toys

I have the best husband in the world.  He surprised me with a trip to Lowe's on Sunday and this is what we got.  I can't wait to show you what we're making!

Yo-Yo

My new "thing" is making yo-yos.  I'm not talking about the toy you through down and bring back up with a string, I was horrible at doing that when I was little, I could never get it back up.  I'm talking about fabric yo-yos.  They look like this:

This is the first one I made.

I just think they're so cute!  And you can do a lot with them.  I have a few projects in the works using them, but they're a surprise!   More details to come on them later.  Here are two more I've done:

They're pretty simple to make.  I used this tutorial, it was very helpful.  I really like making these because they're small hand sewing projects, so I can take them with me easily.  I can't wait to show you the finished projects with them!