A Giveaway You Should Know About

Denise over at Stonewall Craftique is just getting started with her blog 

and she is having her first ever giveaway.  It's going to be a good one!  

She is starting with this awesome pumpkin she made from a recycled fabric sample.  

She will be adding to her giveaway as new things come in to her shop.  

I hope you'll head over and check out Denise's blog today!

I am off to school to work on my classroom again as soon as I can get a few loads of laundry on the line.  I hope you are all having a good Friday and looking head to a fun weekend.  It's hard to believe it's one of the last of the summer.  

Prayers to everyone in the path of Hurricane Irene.  I keep hoping that it will not be as bad as it is looking right now.  

If procrastination was a career choice, I would be a leader in the field.

So, I've already mentioned a few times that it's time to get going on my classroom at school.  But for some reason this year I am having a little trouble getting it in gear.  I guess I have had a good time crafting lately and I kind of hate to see it come to an end.  Once the school year starts, I usually can't find nearly as much time for home things.  So today when I should have gone into school, I stayed home and finished a stitchery and did a few other things.  Here's what I worked on.  First, I finished a stitchery for myself.  The pattern is one that Kaaren from The Painted Quilt offered as a First Friday Freebie in September 2009.  I think this might even be her very first one.  I made one for my Great Pumpkin Swap partner, and I knew I wanted one for me, too.  Kaaren's pattern was for a wall hanging, but I wanted to try my hand at putting them into barn wood frames.  I really like the way they turned out.  (You can see my partner's here.)  I liked working on these stitcheries for another reason, too.  Kaaren has been experiencing some health challenges so this gave me some time to think positive thoughts and send up prayers for her, and for other friends who have had challenges lately.  I like doing that when I sew.  It's almost like meditating I guess.

Another procrastination project I worked on was trying out Misi's recipe for parched hearth corn.  My results don't look as good as Misi's so I am going to have to mess with this a little more, I think.

When I went in the garage to get the staple gun to put my stitchery in the frame I walked past a garage sale purchase from a year ago.  I think I bought this for $2.00 - definitely not more than 3.  When I bought it, I loved the oil painting.  It is signed, but the name is hard to read.  The year says 1960.  The name looks like Sibyl, and it made me laugh because 20 years ago when I was pregnant with our son, I had a little hormone swinging going on.  (Probably just a fluke, right?) Anyway, my husband used to say to me, "Sibyl, I want to talk to Melissa now."  Funny guy.  He knew I couldn't chase him down in my condition.

Well, I don't really like the frame so it got stuck on a nail in the garage til I could do something with the frame.  I'm thinking about painting it, but now I can't decide what color.  Would love to hear any suggestions anyone has.

Now one last thing.  I've been meaning to share this one for a while.  I bought this doll in a little shop that I wandered into back in the Spring.  I really liked her and when I saw the price tag said only $16 I decided to buy her.  She's really tall - over 30 inches.  And the sampler on her apron says, "At times I did so dread my needle and thread.  Mary's work 1832"  

At the time I thought maybe it was actually a manufactured doll, but after bringing her home and looking her over, I decided that she really was hand made by someone, so now I really can't believe the price.  There's just a couple of problems.  Number one - my family thinks she is creepy.  They don't get the whole no face thing.  Totally weird to them.  And can you spot the second issue?  Look closer at her feet.

If you noticed that her feet go the wrong way, you are correct!  There is a string on the back of her head for hanging her from a peg, but it's actually the front of her!  I need to cut the string and put her clothes on the other way.  Still no face, so the family is still going to be creeped out probably, but at least she'll have a little more dignity.  Perhaps I'll do that for another day's procrastination project.

I'm off to go to dinner with my husband.  It's $1 taco night at the bowling alley a couple towns over.  He loves this!  I will be ordering the chicken finger wrap with ranch dressing on the side.  We both end up costing about the same amount because it takes about 6 of those tacos to fill him up!

Tomorrow I will not have the luxury of goofing off all day (and believe me, I do get it that this is a luxury)!  I have a workshop at a school an hour away so I'll be practicing getting out of the house at my usual time for school.  I don't have any problem getting up early.  (We are usually awake by 4:30.)  But during the summer I don't rush out the door unless I have to.  Play time's over.  Back to the real world. 

I hope the week is off to a good start for everyone.  

Halloween Hang Tags

Here's one last project I've worked on lately.  I really love vintage postcards.  I went to google and clicked the Images tab up at the top of the screen, then I typed "free vintage halloween postcards".  There are lots of images that you can work with.  I saved some of them to my computer and then inserted them into a Word document and resized them to the size I wanted.  

After I coffee stained my hang tags I put the postcard images on them.  I have a xyron sticker maker machine that I have found many uses for, both at home and at school. It makes it really easy to put the pictures onto the hang tags.  I bought mine at Walmart.  

Here's a little Halloween tree that I already had from a clearance sale at Joann's a few years ago.  I used the little hang tags for decorations.  I can't decide how I actually want to hang them from the tree, so that's why the strings are dangling down like they are for now.

Here are some larger hang tags I made.  I am going to make a pennant banner with them.  Still deciding what else I want to put on it to go with the hang tags.  

I think these also make fun package tie ons.  I have a few little trick or treat friends that usually get a special treat bag.  I think I'll make some of these for name tags on their bags.

It's that time of year for me to work in my classroom getting it ready to start the new school year with a new class, so I won't have as much time for blogging for a while.  I do have a table topper pattern to hopefully share sometime soon.  I'm working on writing the directions for it, and will share it as soon as I have that done.

Thanks for peeking in at the projects my sister and I worked on while she was home from Missouri.  I hope if you give any of them a try you'll share pictures!

Melissa

Wooden CD Crate make-overs

I'm not sure how long ago I bought a couple of CD crates (from Michaels or Joanns I think), but they have been kicking around my craft shelf for a while now.  Libby and I painted them two different colors, then painted the slats on one side with chalkboard paint.  I think I am really going to enjoy finding other ways to use that chalkboard paint - I really liked how it turned out.

We started with the unfinished crate.

Libby painted her base coat of red, and I painted my base coat of a brownish color.  We used the folkart paint from Walmart.

  

We let those dry for several hours, then we each painted a different color.  Libby used black and I used a darker beige.  (If you really want the actual colors, leave a comment and I will look for you.)

We left them to dry overnight (maybe even two), and then we sanded so that the corners and sides looked worn to our liking.  Sorry, but I must not have taken pictures of these steps.  

After we sanded we taped the two slats where we planned to paint the chalkboard paint so that just the spot where we wanted the chalkboard paint showed.  Here's a picture of mine after I took the tape off and Libby's with the tape still on.  I hope this gives you at least an idea of how that step went.

Here's what they looked like after we took the tape off.

Now we get to the part where I did my usual lack of planning.  I meant to add a rub of walnut gel stain to the box before I put the chalkboard paint on, but I forgot or got distracted (oh look, there's a chicken!).
So I taped over the the chalkboard strips and stained yesterday.  I loved the effect!  However, when I took the tape off the chalkboard sections I found that I had overlapped onto the paint section which left a little bit of lighter unstained wood showing.  I retaped and tried again.  Not perfect, but I still really like it.
I think it's going to be fun to change the message on the side when the mood strikes.


Friday didn't go as planned here.  My son called in distress about his apartment situation.  This is the second apartment he's moved into since the first of July.    The poor kid has been trying so hard to be all grown up and independent about his apartment selection, but this situation required parental intervention.  Two bizarre apartment situations in one summer is the limit, I think. So Mark went to his rescue and moved him into apartment #3.  Third time is the charm, right?!  Here's hoping anyway. ;)

I hope you are all getting your weekends off to a good start.  A baby shower today and a bridal shower tomorrow for me.  And the continued de-cluttering of my life.... should be a good weekend. :)

Making Soup Can Bouquets

Another project we did while Libby was home...

First I spray painted the cans with this:

I pounded stakes into the ground and put the cans on top of them.
I wonder what the neighbors think when I do this stuff?

 Then we each had our own idea about what we wanted to do.  Libby and I used postcards or labels we found online or in my Print Shop software for ours.  We tried out a variety of sizes.  We also tried a couple of ways to put the labels on the cans.  When I printed them the first time, I used card stock which was too thick for staying stuck on with just the xyron sticker stuff I had.  So we got out the Mod Podge and painted the back of the label and then painted over the front after we got it stuck down.  Then I printed some on regular paper and those stayed on with just the xyron stuff.

Chele ended up using a can that wasn't spray painted and we covered it with fabric.  The little border she had picked out didn't go all the way around so I sewed a little strip to each side of it, then we slipped it over the can.  She went with a Halloween theme for the things she put in her bouquet.

Libby likes to decorate year round with a patriotic theme, so she made her can one she can use for that.

I wanted a Fall theme, so I put a pumpkin label on mine and put in some mostly orange flowers and berries.

I liked it so well that I made another one for my swap partner, Marilyn.  I made the label bigger for this one.  

We had a fun time creating our soup can bouquets.  They were fairly quick and not very expensive.  The cans are a recycle item (love that!), the labels were all free except for the printing.  The florals were from Stonewall Craftique and because the cans are fairly small, it doesn't take much to fill them.  (Be sure to check out Denise's Stonewall Craftique blog - she shares awesome recipes and great decorating tips!)  We also put that floral foam stuff in the can.  I had some of that left over from another time, and it didn't take much to fill these little cans.  

It was a fun project with lots of possibilities for any time of year.

I am off to work on cleaning and organizing my sewing room.  I had just started before Libby came home, and now it's time to get serious! I really want it in order before school starts.  

This afternoon I am signed up to "watch" the school work at the fair.  I've never had trouble with vandals before so it's pretty low pressure - and there's usually kettle corn nearby so win, win. :)

I hope you have a great day in your neck of the woods!

Melissa

   

Candy Corn Ornie Tutorial

Here is a tutorial for the candy corn ornies I included in my giveaway and swap packages.  

Candy Corn Ornies

You will need:

·       Orange, white and yellow fabric cut in strips.  The chart shows the sizes I used. 

·       A pattern or ruler in the shape of a candy corn.  (I used a 45° triangle ruler)

	large	medium	small
white fabric strips	1 ¾ in.	1 ½ in.	1 ¼ in.
orange fabric strips	4 ¼ in.	3 in.	2 in.
yellow fabric strips	3 in.	2 ¼  in.	1 ¾ in.

Sew the white, orange and yellow strips together in candy corn order (or not).   

I used a 45° triangle ruler to cut my candy corn shapes.  I folded the fabric in half and cut the two sides of the candy corn at once. 

Put the two pieces right sides together and stitch around the triangle, rounding off the points as you sew.  You could trim the points first, but I didn’t do it that way.

When you sew, start in the orange strip just before the seam with the yellow and back-stitch a little. Then sew all around the candy corn and stop in the orange strip just after the seam with the white strip, back-stitching again.  When I didn't do that the seams came apart between the colored strips when I turned the candy corn right side out for stuffing.

Stuff the candy corn to your liking – I found it best to start with the corners.  It’s tricky to get them to stay stuffed for some reason.  Then sew up the side seam.

Whip up a batch of grunge mix (you can find the recipe I use here) and paint it on, then dry it, either in the oven at about 200 or in the sunshine.  Sand off extra grunge if necessary.

Take two different sizes of candy corn and tie them together with some tea-stained cheese cloth.  I used the large and medium sizes.  Tie on a little hang tag.  I found free vintage postcard images online and resized them for the tag.  (I love my little xyron sticker maker for jobs like this!)

Tie on a little rusty bell and tie the tag to the cheese cloth. 

Voila! A fun Halloween ornie.

I made a few small ornies and put them in a basket for now.

Today we are off to visit our son at his new apartment.  Probably lunch and a little shopping for two showers I have this weekend.  

I hope you take time to do something you enjoy today!  Make it a good one. :)

We started with some sunflowers...

One of the first projects we completed while Libby was home was a batch of sunflowers.  We even got Mikey in on the fun.  (Uncle Mark wasn't available for dirt-biking or plane flying or other dirt and mud related jobs, so he was slumming with us... :)

I think the sunflowers really add a nice touch to the laundry, don't you?

Libby (sister), Mikey (nephew), and Chele (sister)
There were complaints about me running a sweat shop at this point.

I think Libby likes making sunflowers. :)
She took kits home for about a dozen more!

Staggering the layers.

Ready for stitching on the center by hand.
There were lots of complaints about this step.
Apparently some of us are having bifocal issues...

When it came time to do the grunging, MIkey didn't want all his petals flattened out,
so his are wrinkly.  Now that's the way Libby and I want to make them!

I keep forgetting to ask if anyone has any use for the fringe that I have been cutting off the bedspreads that I'm using for pumpkins and sunflower centers.  If you could use this for something, leave a comment or send an email.  I hate to throw something away that could be used somehow.