Gingerbread Party

I had my first experience actually baking gingerbread and I doubt that I would ever do that again. It was fun to have any excuse to use my mixer but that is about it.

Decorating was really the fun part. Everyone had their own graham cracker house and then we worked on the big house together. Everyone was very creative is was rather unexpected. Highlights in my opinion were the star tree and cinnamon toast crunch for the roof.

Random Pics:

Family Birthdays

So I loved the idea of this since when I first saw one of these but because I am crazy and couldn't settle on one that I really liked I did my own spin- wood burning. Yes, another one of those I bought this cool wood burning thing ten years ago because I thought it might be fun but I never actually used it until now (unless you count that first week when I "practiced" all over the place).

I have a large family on my mom's side and gave this away as a gift to my grandma. People tried to make requests for their own after they saw it but I was too burned out. Wood burning is a slow and uneven process which I am not sure I can really recommend but the results were mostly good.

I was too lazy to stain or paint and I realized quickly that the wood of the sign seemed lighter than the wood the chips. I tied on some bows to separate them and called it good. Like I said it was gift and there was a time frame I had to make. Still countless compliments make this worth the time and cost (I forgot to use coupons and it required wood and such that I didn't just have on hand.

You need:

• A plaque piece to write "family birthdays" or your family name or whatever ( I want to say mine was like 16-18 inches long)
• The wooden circles for however many family members you have
• The hook screws (definitely not the technical name)
• Jump rings
• pliers
• a drill
• wood burning tool (or paint, or sharpie or something to write with)
• ribbon
• um I think that was it

And then this is what you get :)

 Note: Check all your names and dates before you complete this project. I took these pictures on my phone after I had already given this to my grandma looks like switched Ben and Charlie's birthdays (oops!).

Reusable Bags

I am sure I originally found this on pinterest too. I know the tutorial I used came from Skip to My Lou. I am not sure if the finished dimensions were exactly what I was expecting but I loved the project and ended up making one for my mom too.

When I got my grandmothers old table sewing machine I also got some great fabrics. I could have gotten tons and tons more but my husband already complains about crafts everywhere:) For mine I used some of these for my mom's I went to Joanns and tried to pick some that I thought she would like.

I had envisioned grocery store bag size but it ends up flatter and I use as a purse instead. After I was using the bag all the time I though I should have added a pocked so instead I made myself that little zipper pouch on the side. (and yes, I am too lazy to take my stuff out or you might have gotten a better picture)

 I am not sure why this one looks so squashed. I guess I can't computer as well as I would like hehehe.

 These are the colors that I used on my moms and I did add some pockets to the inside. Well I guess technically they are reversible but I still think of the more patterned side as the outside. I think they were a bit high because the bag doesn't have much structure like a real purse when you put things in the pockets the weight is kinda funky. So instead of roughly an inch down and four or so inches high I would recommend moving the pockets down.

I use mine virtually everyday and am considering making more for gifts... and myself :)

1st Comment

I couldn't believe it I about had a heart attack when I saw it. I had my first comment!!!! Yes, I only now realized it and it was like 3 weeks ago but it was the most pleasant surprise. So I am going to a) try to blog more and b) try to not just chit chat on here but try and give more pointers and better directions. No promises though :-P

I had another first this week. We had our first sleepover since I finished my pillow cases. My nephew came over last Friday. I don't think he noticed or cared but I did!

So, long ago maybe 2ish years my mom and I were at Michaels and I got inspired. I had done simple cross stitch projects as a kid which usually ended up half finished and kinda disappointing but I am older now and felt inspired. So I was browsing the sewing section and noticed a number of pillow cases and fell in love. It wasn't cross stitch it was preprinted embroidery. I decided why not.

I finished 1.5 of 2 pillow cases that came in the set I picked around the same time as I bought it but maybe 6 months ago I actually finished the second one. I highly recommend this project for these reasons:

• It wasn't as time consuming as I thought
• It can be done while televisioning.
• It cost maybe $15 for the set (maybe a good gift?)
• I had to learn about 3 stitches for the whole project
• The end result is great if I do say so myself.

Ok, so I don't iron pillow cases (or really much of anything) give me a break :)

Cupcake Flower Lights

UPDATE: Yay! I found the pics of this project more in progress.

 So I think the cupcake liners came from Target and ?. They were definitely 3 pks of colors. And they were all the regular size so the first step was cutting some into smaller circles.

 Then came the folding and cutting the more folds the more points. We decided that two folds with it cut to a point looked like leaves or petals or the inside yellow part (yes I know so technical) so that was one of the most common. 3 folds then cut rounded made a nice flower more folds than that was interesting but harder to cut and more varied results. On the center pieces I thought they looked better folded in a bit (you can kinda see what I mean in the below pic).

 Then we got to arrange. Note: I did cut two little baby cuts in the centers when they were only folded once first top to bottom then left to right. I am not sure that this made putting them on the lights any easier but I speculated that it would so we did it :)

If I remember correctly we bought the 150 strand of mini lights. Originally we thought we would only put flowers on half the lights or so but then we ended up with second pack of cupcake wrappers and ended up doing them all. I think we ended up layering almost every light with either two or 3 pieces.

Previous:
Somewhere I am pretty sure I have more pictures which would make this project much easier to understand. These two are just the pictures my cousin sent me of them actually up in her room. They are too cute not to share so I'll keep my eye out for the rest of the pics.

Stuff Holder :)

Many of my projects are inspired by things I see on pinterest. This is definitely the case for this one. Someone had pinned a pattern for this project. I am not sure how it would work because I am assuming that people have different sized coffee cans which you need one for this but who knows. I was cheap and did not buy the pattern.

I am not an expert seamstress but my grandmother gave me her old machine and I really wanted to sew something. I had some problems with the machine but it took me like two afternoons to finish this and I now want to make a dozen of them.

Roughly my directions are as follows:

1) Get supplies. Pick two complementary colors of fabric, Scissors, something to measure fabric with, a flimsy tape measure to measure can, find a coffee can (or other similar size), add felt or batting of some kind if you are really trying to be pro.

2) Measure the height and circumference of your can.

3) With fabric A make two rectanges with your can measurements (allow for seams). Make sure one of them is actually a bit taller than the can. (I also made one in felt to "line" my can so it wouldn't be as noisy).

4) With fabric A you also need a circle just barely bigger than your can's lid.

5) With fabric B you need a big ole piece. Mind was roughly twice the height of can and double the circumference.

6) Start pinning and sewing. The hardest part is the pockets and the rest is just simple sewing. I used a lot of pins and had to redo one seam it was so bad. Depend of the length of your B fabric and size of your can determines how many pocked you get in the end. I sewed lines going up and down between where the pockets met leaving fabric poofing up. Then tacked it down along the bottom only you get that pocket dimension.

7) B needs to be sewn into a log and pressed. Then folded in half (hot dog style?) and pressed. Then pin the number of double pockets that make sense for your can and fabric length.

8) Keep seams allowances I had a very tight seam getting it all to acutally fit on my can I would not recommend this. Your stuff will eventually hold everything in place you don't need it to be super tight on the can.

9) Finish the can by sewing cord or heavy thread to gather and "close" on the bottom.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures or be more helpful but hey you can always buy the pattern online;)

Notes: My pictures aren't awesome but you get the gist. You can kinda see that you end up with double pockets.If I was going to do this again I would line the inside of the can better. It makes a sort of plink when you put stuff in otherwise you might not know it was originally a coffee can:)

Christmas Wreath on the Cheap

Yep, it's that time of year again and I felt like getting a little festive. After being a bit bummed last year with the tree in  the apartment I decided this year I was going to go cheap. I made two of these wreaths.

First, I thought I remembered this from middle school garden club craft day but I had to find out if it was still true. What is this you ask? I found that yes it is totally true I politely asked the Christmas tree lot guys if even though I wasn't currently buying a tree if they would be so kind as to give me cuttings. They weren't entirely sure but I left with a giant stack for FREE!

When I got home I realized that I didn't have a good base. So I took 4 wire coat hangers (mine were left over from a visit to the dry cleaners but I am sure any would do). The firse two I left the hook up top and just roughly shaped into a circle. I completely unwound the other two. I took the "extra" ones and twisted them around the "real" leaving space between twists. I later used this space to jam cuttings in.

I used pliers that had a place to cut wire to cut my branches. I think it worked better than the kitchen scissors I was thinking of using would have worked.

Luckily I had some left over florist wire in green I had gotten from the dollar store for another project. It is really easy to bend and cut so I used it to secure branch pieces onto the wreath. I probably could have made the branches look tighter in a cirlce but it doesn't bother me how they are a little outside the lines. Next I decorated.

They may not be perfect but they do smell nice and make me happy. The hook of the coat hanger gets hidden by the branches but it makes it extra easy to hang when your ready!

I had way too many branches and my hubby suggested I should have kept more and just put them places because they do smell oh so nice :) Maybe I'll go visit those Christmas tree guys again...

Total cost was free for me because I had everything I needed on hand. I would love to see yours if you try it too!

Note: Not all clippings come from the same tree I tried to get the same type together for each but it may be important to note when you are at the christmas tree lot.