Super Simple Play Tent

For Christmas I wanted to make my little kids something special that they could enjoy together.  Pinterest to the rescue.  I found inspiration here and made them using fabrics I had on hand, which came mostly from a fabulously junky secondhand shop in Nebraska.  It is actually becoming a little tradition for the gals of the family to make it an outing when we are together. 

I used 1/2" dowels instead since our largest drill bit was 1/2" and I didn't want to buy a bit that we would likely not have a use for again.  While I was at it I made one for my nephews and niece.
For one tent:
4 - 1x2" x 4' boards, mine were pine select - $8.00 total
3 - 1/2" x 4' dowels, mine were poplar - $5.04 total
about 2.5 yards 45" wide fabric - on hand

This turned out to be a really fun, simple and economical project with a result my kids love!

Embellished Tea Towel {Frugal Teacher Gift}

As the end of the school year approaches I wanted to thank the teachers and helpers in our enrichment program in a personal, but frugal way.  My sweet sister-in-law gave me a cool embellished towel last year for my birthday, so I copied that idea using fabrics I had on hand, since I love to get gifts I can really use.  The flour sack towels came from One Kings Lane.

To start out, I prewashed all the towels and then pressed them before adding the embellishment.

To make the embellishment strip I gathered or cut 45" wide strips of fabric.  The strips were about 3" wide, but could be any width you desire.  When I had a bunch of strips I sewed them together and added a few more strips until I had a big piece which was more than the width of the towel I was going to put it on (to allow for shrinkage and leaving enough at each edge to neatly turn it under on the edge of the towel. At this point I laundered the whole piece because I wasn't sure I had washed all the fabrics I was using and I really did not want it to bleed in the wash for the recipient of this gift. After ironing all the seams, I cut the large piece into strips (perpendicular to the seams), folded down and ironed the top and bottom edge of each strip and top-stitched them to the flour sack towels.  Using strips that were 45" wide I was able to make 10 of these towels, just enough for our teacher list.  :)

I paired these with some extras I had around the house, things like dish soap, hand soap, candles.  Since those items were on hand, along with my fabric and thread stash, I really only paid for the flour sack towels, which came to a whopping $.75/piece.  Of course, our teachers are worth so much more, but with our current budget, I hope they enjoy the gift even if I didn't spend much out of pocket.

What's your favorite little gift to give or receive?

See also: wrapping paper teacher gift & another towel gift for teachers

From Crib to College: Upcycled Bedspread from Crib Sheets

When our youngest son graduated from a crib to a twin bed I saved a couple crib sheets which were made of sturdy fabric and were still in good shape.  Then I cut them up in strips to use for the main part of the quilt.  I added some strips of other fabric I had on hand, a large piece for the top to make the bedspread long enough, and used a blue cotton sheet we had on hand for the back.  The filling was a queen size bat of low-loft batting which I doubled (bought a few years ago for $1 still in its package at a yard sale).  He is pleased with his new blanket and I'm pleased that I could make something useful from items we already had on hand. 

bedspread made using old crib sheets

What have you upcylced lately?  I'm always looking for new ideas for old things.

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.

Upcycled Pillow Cover

Start with a button-up shirt. Use your former pillow cover as a guide for how big you'll need to cut the new pieces. Cut through both layers of the shirt. An Olfa ruler and cutter makes it easy to get things nice and straight, but scissors will do. With wrong sides together, sew your pieces together. Turn, push out corners, iron. Sew around your shape again using a bigger seam allowance this time. Turn and push out your corners again and you have a nice French seam. Stuff with your pillow form.

And there you go, a pillow refreshed with a shirt saved from the Goodwill pile.

No cost + 10 minutes of work = my kind of project!
Bonus! I still have enough fabric from the sleeves for another little project.


Yep, I know it is a little too snug on the pillow form. The shirt I was working with was a tad bit small and I only had this big pillow form, but I'll take done over perfect any day.

Upcycled Bibs

Sometimes crafting out of need is a good thing. Our little one has had access to lots of great hand-me-downs from his brothers and friends, but the bibs we have left are shot. So I took an hour one night to make some to meet the need.

Materials:
old t-shirt
scraps of thin fleece
random buttons
pattern made from tracing a full coverage big

Getting to work...
One of the finished bibs
While they aren't going to win any baby style points, they are quite functional and the fleece is very stain resistant which is a bonus in my books.

Of course, use your safety common sense with buttons and babies. As they go through the wash, I ensure that the buttons are still fully secured and won't be a choking hazard.

Living Room Mini-Makeover

After living here for seven years, I'm ready for some simple and inexpensive updates. Last month I wanted to lighten up our living room, so it was out with the old....



and in with the new....


The new curtains are drop cloths I picked up compliments of a Plastic Jungle giveaway I was blessed to win via Half Pint House. I washed them up on hot with lots of fabric softener and sewed casings for the rods to slip through. They are not perfect as the dropcloths were not exactly the same size or the same weight and a couple had flaws, only visible after I had washed them. But I think the change opens up the room and the neutral tone will allow for other little updates down the road. Because at this stage in life, time and money just allow for incremental changes, not whole room makeovers done in a day. Next step: blue accents. Further down the road: one really comfortable couch.

{Fabric Jingle Ball} project #1 - 2011

With our little one's birthday quickly approaching I was on the look-out for an idea for a gift for him. All the suitable ideas I was coming up with would be redundant here because of his three older siblings who have left him well supplied with toys and clothing, as well as all the fresh things he has just received at Christmas. Then I remembered a fabric rattle ball that we had seen at a friend's home while visiting at Christmas. A Google search yielded this link (scroll down to the free patterns on the bottom right). I followed the directions, but went my own way on a few things. I used up some scraps of fabric left from other projects and some upcycled denim from baby overalls. I sewed in a piece of cotton batting with each fabric piece to give it a smoother finish when completed and because I had some scraps of that available and was concerned that the stuffing material I had would run short. I also added two 1.5" bells. It has been a hit with all the kids as it is the one ball that is okay to be {gently} thrown about the living room. Out of pocket cost for this gift = $.52 for the bells. All other materials came from my stash of supplies. And the satisfaction of him loving it is icing on the birthday cake!

Simple Teacher Gifts

Update: This is what I call a crafting FAIL! I was just using the dish towel I kept for myself and the ink is bleeding and rubbing off. Back to square one...$5 gift cards for each teacher are sounding better and better. I'm hoping to salvage some of the towels by pretreating them and running them through the wash.

This week I've been working on teacher gifts. We love the folks who teach our kids at their homeschool enrichment program, Sunday school, etc. and wanted to give them something they can put to good use without breaking the budget. I'm aiming more and more for giving gifts that don't create clutter in someone's home. This year I opted for nice dish soap (you know, the kind you don't often splurge on for yourself) and a flour sack towel that I sewed with a decorative snowflake stitch and stamped to give it a festive look.

Supplies, cost breakdown and a few notes:
flour sack towels - $1.00 each at Wal-mart
Note: These are not great quality, but should make it through the holidays at least. I prewashed and ironed these before stamping and sewing.

rubber stamp - $5.xx with coupon - will be able to use for other things

red stamp pad - on hand
Updated to add: Do NOT use the kind of ink I used. Crafting FAIL!
Note: I used Color Box pigment ink which may not be the best, but I didn't have time or energy to track down an ink suitable for fabric, so take that into consideration if you're doing something similar. I did try acrylic paint dabbed onto the stamp for one but I didn't like the effect.

2 spools red thread - on hand

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day dish soap - $2.98 at Wal-mart (Score! Coupons were attached to the bottles at the store I went to.)

red yarn for wrapping - on hand

sewing machine - Mine is not the top of the line by any means, but it has some fun decorative stitches.


For under $5 per gift I am rather pleased with the result and I'm happy to give a gift I would gladly receive. In fact, I did receive one. I kept one since I am my kids' teacher and I do 90% of the dishes in this house. :)

Merry Christmas!

10 on the 10th

Well, I said I was unplugging, and I am, but wanted to join in on Meredith's 10 on the 10th.

I'm hoping my list will give me better clarity for the time I'm unplugged. So here's my 10 on the 10th: my top 10 priorities for the next 30 days.

1. Potty train our two-year old.

2. Finish the homeschooling year strong.

3. Go on a date with my husband. I wish that this didn't even have to be on my list, but there are many things which keep us from getting out alone regularly and we just really need that time alone, especially right now.

4. Keep laundry manageable, just a load or two done from start to finish every day, instead of letting it pile up and overwhelm.

5. Prepare my garden spaces for planting our vegetables when it is suitable to do so, mid to late May for this area.

6. Complete 4 craft/sewing projects...not sure what they will be yet, but the creative time energizes me and I feel like there is lots of time to think when my hands are busy.

7. Finish revamping my creative space so it is organized and inspiring.

8. Exercise hospitality. It has surely been lacking in recent months.

9. Be a supportive wife in many ways, and specifically doing some ironing for my husband each week.

10. Seek my Savior and the Word daily. My soul is thirsty and longs for his presence and I have not been rising early and finding other quiet times throughout the day to exercise even small amounts of discipline to come to him without distraction.

See you in a few weeks! Enjoy the springtime!

Another Easy Baby Gift

We had a blizzard last week which for some reason made me want to get some little projects done around here. One thing on my list was to get a baby gift made for some folks from our church. And since I am trying to work through using up my stash of fabrics and wasn't about to leave the house, here is what I came up with. The blanket was made from a solid yellow fleece remnant and this shark print fleece remnant, about a yard of each. Hopefully the print will live beyond babyhood into this little guy's toddlerhood. It is sewn up on 2 sides and fringed on two sides. The finished blanket measures about 30" x 36". With the scrap of print leftover, I cut around one shark and just top-stitched it to the onesie. Cost of this set:
- two remnants, $4.00 max, likely much lower
- one onesie (bought in pack of 5 from Jo-Ann with coupon) $1.25

Total: $5.25 or less

I paired this with a pack of newborn diapers bought with a great coupon keeping the complete cost well under $10. Cute. Easy. Cheap.

It's Baby Season Again!

A couple friends welcomed new baby girls at year end and although I didn't get something sent to them right away I was able to put together these gifts a few weeks ago, somewhat like the ones I made in November. I always enjoy sewing up these little gifts and I hope the new moms enjoy them, too. This set of flannel and fleece burp cloths was paired with some Gymboree socks.

And this set is a fleece blanket and cotton and fleece burp cloth. I love ribbon and was happy that I had some that coordinated with the fleece. I know this print may be a bit bold for some, but I'm taking a chance that my lively friend will like it.

All gifts were made with love with inexpensive remnants. Both gifts were made in less than 2 hours and cost probably less than $7 total in materials and the purchased socks.

And if they are blessed with little girls who don't actually spit up much, burp cloths can have a few more uses like lining the changing table pad, tucking into the car seat carrier as a mini blankie on mild days, small nursing cover, small blankie (You can never tell which blankie babies will attach to, but wouldn't a small one that they don't drag on the floor be lovely?), or a changing pad when you are out and about. Can you think of any other uses for them?

Baby, Baby

No, we're not having one at present, though we seem to be in the middle of a baby boom with our friends and families. With Christmas coming soon there aren't many extra funds to divert to baby gifts so I did the best with what I had around and came up with some cute, unique gifts that I hope they will like.

This is a set of two burp cloths, fleece hat and on-the-go pouch which is just big enough for a few diapers, a small wipes case and maybe an outfit or receiving blanket. The pouch was made from a clearanced placemat, a spare button and some twill tape recycled from a gift wrapping. You can't see it in the picture, but the twill tape goes around the pouch creating a handle at the very top of the back. The stiff nature of the placemat makes for a nice sturdy bag.

The second set is made up of two burp cloths, a fleece hat and a clearanced onsie. One burp cloth is flannel and fleece and one is knit and fleece. The knit came from an unused A-shirt that was in the bin of items to be donated. This set is 3 embroidered fleece and cotton mini-check burpcloths and an on-the-go bag made of cotton with a nylon webbing handle. With a caribiner clip the bag would be easy to attach to a stroller to keep bare necessities at hand.

For these gifts I purchased:

- small package of wipes $1.00

- two fleece blankets clearanced a the grocery store to be used to wrap two of the gifts $2.00

- tank onsie $.75
- two plug-in air fresheners with a clean linen scent (I thought these would be good near the diaper pail) - I think these were free after rebate, but no more than $1.00 each.

So now I have three gifts for under $6.00 out of pocket plus the cost of of fabric I purchased at an earlier time, though I often buy inexpensive remnants for these types of projects. These certainly turned out to be an economical option and will hopefully be well-received.

Now I have a question for anyone who reads here. Do you ever struggle with feeling like a homemade and inexpensive gift is not good enough? I really like the way these sets turned out and think they will be useful gifts, but have trouble shaking the feeling that I should have just ponied up the cash and bought something from the registries. Your thoughts?

A Bit of Knitting

In the last few months I've taken up knitting again. Knitting is a fun little hobby which I find satisfying, even if I have only basic skills. And I can really appreciate a creative pursuit that doesn't create a mess all over tables and countertops, like sewing and scrapbooking and cardmaking do for me. And I like that knitting is such a portable craft.

I'm glad I finally completed a scarf for my husband which was on the needles for about 2 years, sitting in a dark cupboard. I think it will look great with his winter wool coat. I've also been cranking out quite a few dishcloths, which are not too exciting but functional and I like to give a little homemade something every once in a while.

I thought a case for my needles would be handy and made this one out of two placemats I found on clearance from a home store for about 50 cents each. Since they were already finished, I just cut one down to about 2/3 the height of the original, added some twill tape for ties (recycled from a gift wrapping), sewed the pieces together and sewed vertical lines of varying widths to make the pockets for individual or pairs of needles. I love simple, inexpensive projects!

I am knitting some things for each of my kiddos for Christmas. Two scarfs down, one hat to go.

Simple Sleeping Bag

Last evening I did a little more sewing once the kiddos were in bed. I made a simple bed roll for Smiley. I have made a variation of this for each of our kids and they have come in very handy for helping to give some spacial boundaries when they first moved into big beds, for bedding when we travel and camp, for "camping" in their rooms during nap time and for using around the house when they watch a video or want to rest or picnic on the living room floor. The kids enjoy these and the proof is in their smiling faces. And below is a picture of Smiley's new sleeping bag, along with directions.


The details & directions:
- Prewash the fleece.
- Cut a piece or two of 58/60" wide fleece to the desired length. I've made these a bit longer than the child so they'll have some room to grow. (For this one I used two remnants I had on hand.)
- If using two pieces, sew pieces together. (I sewed them together using a straight stitch, then opened up the seam and top-stitched with a zigzag to reinforce and make the seam more smooth and comfortable for the user.)
- Hem the top edge using a zigzag stitch to accommodate the stretchy nature of the fleece.
- Fold over piece of fleece so salvages meet.
- Trim off the salvage.
- Straight stitch from this point forward. Sew bottom seam.
- Using a large seam allowance (approx. 1 - 1.5") sew up the side, starting at the bottom, about half way up.
- Open up the unsewn part of the side, turn edge under and hem each side to the top. If you want, sew a line where the side seam ends connecting the two hems which will reinforce the opening area a bit more.
- You're done! Let the kiddos enjoy!

I surely could use a lesson in writing directions. These seem as clear as mud, so feel free to ask questions if they don't make sense. I have considered using zippers for the side, but for young children, this seems easier for them to use and certainly easier to sew up.

Make-It Monday

This week has started off well with one project completed which was started last week. For months I have been wanting to take some time to sew up a blanket for Smiley in anticipation of him moving to a big bed this summer. Last week I got started, and as with most projects I start, set it aside for later. Today I saw the blanket top sitting on my crafting table and decided to just finish it off today. I really like to piece together blanket tops, but always struggle a bit with putting all the layers together because it gets bulky and my machine doesn't really like that, and neither do I. This time I used polar fleece for the filling rather than batting just because I had a large remnant on hand and was able to find another one this weekend, which when connected, made a large enough piece. The blanket is not especially fluffy, but I think it will be really warm and filling with one layer of fleece was SO much easier than traditional fillers. So I spent $3.50 and was able to make the rest of the blanket with fabric on hand (thanks again, Mom!). This will coordinate well with the blanket I made for Sportster when he was about the same age as Smiley. Here is the finished product. Not perfect, but complete.


One goal I have for this year is to use up some of my supplies, the volume of which has grown far beyond my sewing and crafting cabinet. This blanket was a good start toward that goal.

What projects do you have around that you would like to get completed? My next project to complete is a biggie...catching up on scrapbooks for the kids and our family, which will first require having hundreds of pictures printed. It's been a looooooong time since we printed pictures. Maybe I'll get back to that in March.

Closet Redo

I've been getting a bit restless with our home lately. I guess I'm just ready for some changes so today on a whim I organized and revamped the boys' closet. I used what I had on hand and it worked out pretty well.

Here is how it started out. The double sliding doors have not been handy at all since we've had the both of the boys' clothes in the closet together.

After I removed the doors. It's not terribly messy, but I also don't want to see it this way all the time. And the "after" shot, with red gingham curtains hung from a spare shower curtain rod. Thanks for the fabric, Mom! I only spent about an hour sewing the curtains so that was a pretty quick fix. I also moved the changing table into the closet from another room. This arrangement will work better with clothes right by the changing station. Now I'm on the lookout for some stylish and/or functional tie-backs for when the curtains are open. The space for clothing has been reduced, but this will force us to keep their wardrobes a bit simpler and rotate clothes in and out for the seasons.

Simple Pocket Organizer

The other day I came across this at Goodwill. It was a canvas square measuring about 12" x 12" with 4 double ties on one end. I wasn't sure what it was but the price was right so I bought it. Even though I went to the maker's website, I couldn't figure out what its intended use was, but by that point I had an idea for a quick project.

I turned up about the bottom 3/8ths of the canvas and sewed up the sides, then sewed two other rows of stiching in the middle to make three pockets. Since the edges were already neatly finished, that was all I had to do except hang it up. I tried it out in the kids' bathroom where it hung on a towel rod. Although that was a good spot, I thought it might get more use on the changing table to hold lotion, diaper cream and other baby necessities.


This was a fun, quick project and I think I may like to make more of these with fabrics and embellishments to suit the place in which they will be used.

Total Cost: $.08.

Total Time: 8 minutes - most of that was uncovering the sewing machine from the pile of junk that had accumulated around it.