Fort Kit {Day 6}

In searching for low-cost ideas for boys birthday gifts, I found an idea on Pinterest for a fort kit.  I looked at lots of different pins and gave this one my own flavor based on what I had on hand.  I've made two of these and they've varied a bit, but this is the one I have photos of, so here we go. 

Start with some sort of container (bucket, cloth bag, pillowcase, clear plastic zipper bag, sturdy tote, etc.).  Add some things that would make a fun fort.

Some ideas of what to include:
- bucket - can be inverted to be used as a step to reach a higher spot
- sheet - the bigger the better
- rope
- flashlight or headlamp
- clamps
- bungee cords
- clothespins
I find the sheets at Salvation Army for about a buck and sew a loop of nylon webbing to each corner to make it easier and sturdier to fasten.

 Add a tag explaining it a bit.

 Wrap it up! Or not. I just added some tissue and ribbon and called it good enough.

I think this is a gift that could be a lot of fun for kids and could totally be tailored to the recipient, too.  This is an easy gift to give for under $10.

What are your "go to" birthday gifts for boys?

Wrapping Paper Teacher Gift {Day 5}

It's that time of year when the gift list gets really long as we seek to show appreciation for many who invest in our lives, not the least of which are the teachers who take care to help our children grow.  But because the list gets so long, I'm always on the look-out for nice but inexpensive ideas for teacher gifts.  I came across this idea early in the year and was glad I had stocked up on nice wrapping paper in January for 50 cents a roll. 

I quickly made a tag and formatted the text in the shape of a tree and printed 2 per 8.5x11" sheet of cardstock.  I cut slits in the tag so the roll could fit through and it was done.  Because I wanted to give these before Thanksgiving so the teachers would have them to wrap Christmas gifts, I wanted the wording to indicate our thankfulness for all the work they do.  I also wanted to include tape with the paper, but I did this at the last minute (no surprise!) and didn't have the time or energy that day to take little ones to the store to get it. 

Cost: $.50 + 1/2 sheet of cardstock/gift

School teacher gifts are done for this Christmas.  I still need to find gifts for all the Sunday school teachers and nursery workers.  Any ideas?

Days to be Celebrated Bookmark {Day 4}

We are so blessed to be part of a large family so I thought it would be fun and helpful to make some bookmarks for each of the ladies listing all the birthdays and anniversaries in our family.  My sister did the work of confirming all the dates and making the list via e-mail.  Years were included so we'll know when someone is approaching a milestone birthday or anniversary.  I printed the list on cardstock I already had and added coordinating scrapbook paper for a couple different looks, then laminated them and put some ribbon at the top. To keep the ribbon from fraying I melted the ends over a flame. 

 

Cost: $.54 for laminating 6 bookmarks  (If have access to a Mardel, they have the most economical do-it-yourself laminating around.)

Super simple!  I'm glad to have one now hanging by our calendar for easy reference.

Crib Rag Quilt & Pillow {Days 2 & 3}

In November I wanted to challenge myself to get some projects done and use some supplies I already had on hand.  I saw the idea for a rag quilt made of strips on Pinterest and knew I'd love to make this for our littlest one.  We had plenty of receiving blankets on hand that were still in good shape, but since we're past that stage I took a handful of them and cut them into strips and used a couple layers for each section and used about half a twin sheet (from Salvation Army) for the back side.  I still had fabric left so she's getting a matching pillow, too.

She'll be getting these Christmas, though we'll put them away for awhile for safety reasons.

Cost:  around $3.50 (for the sheet used for the back + blanket binding purchased for 50% off at Hobby Lobby)


Now if I can just pull off handmade gifts for our four other kids in the next 20 days. I'm still holding out hope they'll all get finished in time.

Bunk Bed Bag from Upcycled Overalls {Day 1}

I've always loved the sweetness of little boy overalls, but sadly our little boys aren't so little anymore so I was looking for a way to repurpose those overalls.  Our boys share a small room without much room for night stands or dressers so I cut the legs off of some overalls, sewed up the bottom seams and hung them on the bed rails.  These will be great for holding water bottles, flashlights, favorite books and little treasures. 

From this:

  To this:


Cost: $0

These would also work well hung on a closet rod to store small items or on a towel rod in a bathroom to store toiletries. 

Disclaimer:  Please don't use something like this on a crib or near an infant.  Please use your discernment and avoid this if you feel it presents a hazard to your child.

30 Days of Low-Cost Projects

In the interest of finishing what I've started and using what a have at my disposal to the greatest benefit, I'm challenging myself to do a low-cost/no-cost project each day for the month of November.  Maybe I'll start catching up on my good intentions along the way.  And perhaps this challenge will yield a few handmade Christmas gifts and a new appreciation for what I have.  I'm looking forward to the exercise in creativity and resourcefulness. 

Simple Valentine Garland {Project #4}

I'm quite late in posting this, but since I just took the garland down yesterday, I'll go ahead and post it anyway.

After Christmas I found these sweet felt heart cut-outs at Target that were intended to be used as Christmas ornaments. The price was right at 50 cents for 3 and I loved the Scandinavian look to them, so I bought 2 packages of red and 2 packages of white. I had some white small ribbon on hand so I used that to tie on 11 hearts. For symmetry I decided to start and end with the same color to make the garland.

Then I simply hung it from the finials of our curtain rods. I'm not a big seasonal decorator, but I enjoyed having something up after having all the Christmas decorations came down. For 2 bucks and 10 minutes, how can you go wrong? And I love that to store it away until next year only requires an envelope or a ziplock bag. Simple and sweet...I think I'm finally defining my style.

Upcycled Diaper Bag or Purse {Project #3}

As I wait (impatiently) for our baby girl to arrive, I've been itching to do some projects I've had on my "to create" list for a while. We've been so blessed in recent months with lots of hand-me-downs for our older daughter and one item which came to us was this cute little reversible Gymboree skort. It was not quite long enough for her, but I loved the design so I kept it rather than passing it on. Motivation to make something out of it struck this week and in one hour it went from this... to this!
This is not a tutorial, but the basic process follows.
- With the skort fully open, I stitched the backside of the bag with our baby girl's initial with a decorative star stitch which mimics the little flowers on the front. (not shown)
- Next, I sewed some vertical seams on the overlapping part of the skort which makes a front pocket which is the perfect size for a travel wipes container or a sippy cup.
- Thirdly, with right sides together I sewed the bottom seam, then laid the bottom seam open to square off the corners to give the bag shape and give it a chance of standing up on its own rather than falling over when set down.
- To finish the bag, I sewed on a handle made of midweight white cotton canvas sewn into a tube (4 layers thick), topstitched the gingham ribbon onto the handle, attached the handle to the bag, sewed a loop of gingham ribbon onto the bag and attached a button to the front to create a simple closure.

I love the cheery, vivid green, the gingham, the flower motif, and the cute no-work lining that it has. And I love that it was free because the skort was free to us and the the other bits and pieces came from my creative stash.

Now I can't wait to use it for our little girl! And if I didn't have a need for a diaper bag right now, I would totally use this as a springtime purse.

Project #2 - Small Fabric Bags

Small Fabric Bags - These are inspired by many I have seen on Pinterest, but easier due to starting with double-sided finished pieces.

Materials:
Placemats (mine were used, being saved from the Goodwill-bound donation pile)
Once again, the weight of the double-sided placemat provides a good weight for these bags and a nice pattern and color contrast if you decide to turn a cuff down without any additional finish work. Truth be told, I'm always looking for shortcuts.
Thread
Ribbon, buttons or other embellishments, if desired

Time: about 1 hour for 4 bags

A few uses:
- corralling remotes and small cords
- a temporary home for lonely socks in your laundry room
- a place to stash trash in your vehicle (maybe attaching a handle would be helpful in that case)
- keeping crayons, markers, pens, small notepads neat & tidy
- keeping a collection of travel-sized toiletries together in a guest bathroom

A New Year of Crafting & Project #1 - Mini Doll Tote

I've been missing taking the time to be creative lately, so I'm making some simple goals to enjoy the creative process again.

My crafting goals for the year:
1. Complete about 1 project per week.
2. Use supplies I already have or can repurpose from other items.
3. Involve our daughter and teach her how to sew. She is one crafty girl and lights up when she completes a project and amazes us with her resourcefulness (many of her projects start with a trip to the recycle bin to forage for supplies).

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Project #1 - American Girl Mini-Doll Tote / Sleeping Case

This past Christmas we gave our girl an American Girl Mini-Doll which she has really enjoyed. One evening I was motivated to sew and made this little case for her to put the doll in for travel or just storing the doll in.

Materials:
Placemat
scrap of fleece
twill tape or ribbon
thread

Time:
10-20 minutes

Start with a placemat. The stiff nature of a double-sided placemat provides a nice weight and durability for the finished project. I had a placemat in my crafting stash (50 cents or $1.00 on clearance several years ago).


1. Cut the placemat to half its width. You'll only be using one half for this project.
The raw edge that you have created is now the bottom of the tote. Because 3 sides of your placemat piece are finished and fleece does not fray, you'll end up with nice edges without any extra effort.
2. Cut a scrap piece of fleece the width of the placemat piece and about 2 inches shorter than the height of the placemat piece.
3. Turn over a small edge along the width of the fleece and hem, using a decorative stitch if you want.
4. Lay the fleece and pieces together, right sides together. Sew together along the bottom (raw) edge of the placemat.
5. Turn the fleece over so that now the fleece and placemat piece are wrong sides together.
6. Pin your pieces of twill tape or ribbon to each side, sandwiched between the fleece and placemat piece.
7. Sew, from bottom to top, to secure the fleece to the placemat piece, also securing the tie on each side.
8. Mark the center of your tote and sew a vertical line to divide the fleece into two pockets.

9. Put the doll in, tie it up and you're good to go.
This will hold 2 mini-dolls with room to spare.

With the other half of the placemat that I set aside at the beginning of the project I made a potholder by folding over the remaining piece, putting in a couple layers of batting and sewing around the edge of the whole thing, sandwiching the ends of a loop of twill tape inside the seam to create a loop so it could be hung.

1 project down, 51 to go. I'm looking forward to getting back to sewing and crafting.