Stand-up,Stuffable Halloween Card

Standing up, not stuffed

Laying flat

Standing up, stuffed with goodies!

I thought you might enjoy  seeing my Halloween cards I made for my grandkids. I like the fact that you can stuff them with goodies, and then they will stand up to look pretty, (or should I say....creepy?)  They are sooo simple to make each one only takes a few minutes.

Tea Wreath

                                                                                  

Tea wreath, a wreath for any season!

I saw a Tea Wreath over on kojodesigns, and thought it was a stroke of genius, so I had to try it for myself.( kojodesigns is a great blog, they have many creative ideas, and a cute new baby too, you should check it out.)   I have so many  different kinds of teas that I have to keep them out on a shelf, in a tub, in my utility room.  Not very convenient, right?  I followed their tutorial, using colors of paper to compliment my kitchen, and it turned out really nice.  Mine holds about 30 teabags of my choosing.  It's nice when family and friends come over and I don't  have to go digging out the "Tub O Tea" for them to select their favorite, I can just put out a variety on the  wreath, and They can push a clothespin and take the one they want, then when it starts to get a little empty, I can refill it.

Hand painted pumpkin

Wire cross I designed

Hand painted Oriental Lady

Pretty in Purple

Hand Painted Roses

I also worked on some jewelry this week and took pics of some I had made a couple of months ago, I will put a few of them on for you to see. 

Crazy Cat

Bandanna Skirt for $2.00

I haven't  had much time for blogging this week, I spent it with my Sister-in-law and her husband and little girl who came  up to visit.  We don't get to see them nearly often enough, only about once a year.  She is just like my own sister, as I never had one, only a brother.  My  brother was wonderful, but I still missed having a sister.  When I married my husband, I got a sister too, as a package deal.  Dolores is great, and we have so much fun together.  We went to an antique mall, and saw all kinds of things we wanted, but really don't have room for. They left this morning, and it always makes me sad to see them go.  Fortunately, my daughter came with her little girl, and one of my other granddaughters to visit, so I didn't get a chance to be too sad. 

Before they got here, last week, I tried one of the bandanna skirts that V and Co. had a tutorial on, which inspired me to try one.  I found this cute bandanna in the Halloween section, with owls, which I love.  I noticed that the right and wrong sides of the bandanna looked very much the same, so instead of cutting the two bandannas off shorter for the proper length needed for my little granddaughter, age 5, I folded it over so it would make another layer of the skirt.  I simply sewed the two bandannas together, right sides together only on one side to start with, then folded it over and then sewed about an eighth of an inch from the top edge, and then an inch  down from there, to form the casing for the elastic. I cut the elastic 22 1/2 inches long to fit her waist, worked it through the casing by attaching a safety pin and pulling it through, then I closed up the second seam, right sides together, back-stitching at the elastic to reinforce it.  In the front where the top layer was folded over, you could see the seam allowance from where I sewed the sides together, so I sewed wide, black rickrack over the seam on the top layer only, and put a black and white striped fabric flower at the end of it.  I also added a gathered strip of netting on the bottom of the skirt to dress it up a bit.  My little granddaughter tried it on and began twirling around, so I knew it met her approval. Thank you V and Co. for a great and economical Idea. This was so much fun I can't wait to make more, and I will have to, because I have four more granddaughters.

Purse Week

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I have been very busy making a purse for the Purse Week contest at a lemon squeezy home.  I have never made a purse without a pattern to go by.  I made 3  purses with a pattern a couple of years ago to give to my daughters for Christmas.  They were all  the same pattern, but different fabrics.  They turned out all right, but this is another story.  I made it up as I went along, and kept adding more and more embellishments, many of which I opted to sew on by hand, rather than machine.  I just feel like I have more precise control when I hand sew.  The main part of the front was a picture that I drew myself, (that was actually the inspiration for the whole purse), and then I layered cotton batting and another piece of fabric on the back and embroidered her face.  Then I adorned her hat and necklace with red and black seed beads.  This was quite an adventure, but one I am glad  I took.  I will be back soon with some new jewelry pieces, and who knows what else?  I am dying to try the Teabag Wreath over at Kojo Designs, If you are a tea drinker, or need a cute gift for someone who is, or maybe a teacher gift, check it out.  I bought some of the supplies, I may tackle that next!