Crafting for Christmas

Two months until Christmas!  Did I just say that? Uh Oh!!  Don't panic, you still have plenty of time to gather gifts and plan parties!  I thought about how fast the holidays come up this time of the year.  It seems like each year they arrive earlier and earlier.  What will you be getting for your friends and family for Christmas this year?  Why not make them something special!  People always seem to like gifts that are handmade or homemade.  It's like they know they have extra special love wrapped up in them.  When you create a gift for someone you think about what they like. This makes you personalize the gift more to the person receiving the gift.  You can find ideas for crafts and recipes in books, magazines, online, and even from friends!  I have been browsing the web and come up with a few ideas.  Since I have really gotten into sewing lately, I am going to make some pajama pants, handbags, and drawstring or "diddy" bags.  I have given each of these a test run to make sure I can create them.  You could also make personalized scrapbooks online or at home using scrap booking materials.  Another great gift is providing dinner for a family, baking cookies, chocolate treats, or even yummy pies.  The possibilities are endless!  Not only could you make gifts for family and friends, you could also make gifts for people you don't know!  Contact your church, nursing home or other organization and get yourself connected to someone who might not receive a gift this season!  Make them feel special and allow them to see what Christmas is all about.  Giving!  Freely and joyfully giving as God gave to us! You will find that this is just as much of a blessing for the giver than the receiver!  So get to searching for that special gift that you want to make for someone this year and try it.  You might be surprised at how well it turns out and how much the person loves their handmade gift!!

Fabric Yo-Yo's: Easy Embellishments

I love a fabric yo-yo, and after surfing the web and other blogs I have realized that I'm not alone!  They are just cute and girly! And the best thing about fabric yo-yo's is that they are easy to make!!!  They can be used to embellish almost anything! I have used them to embellish hair bows, monograms, appliques, purses, skirts, pants...the list goes on.  You don't need a ton of fabric, in fact you can just use fabric scraps or fabric squares! Oh, and the fun part is you get to play with the design when layering and you get to mix and match with colors!!  So will you get crafty today and try to create one of your own?  Check out the tutorial below. Please forgive the somewhat blurred pictures! After two cups of "leaded" coffee my had was shaky!

Your prize at the end of this tutorial!!

The materials that you will need: thread, needle, anything that is in the shape of a circle for tracing (whatever size your template is you can count on your yo-yo only being half that size when it's finished), fabric pencil or regular pencil, scissors, and of course your fabric

Step 1: Place your fabric wrong side up and place whatever you will be using as a template to trace around on top of your fabric.

Step 2: Trace around your template, you should see a circle on your fabric like this.

Step 3: Cut ou the circle. You should have a piece like this.

Step 4: Get your needle and thread ready for sewing by hand. Hold the circle with the wrong side facing you. Fold over the outside of the circle just a little bit, probably 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch. But just eyeball it, no need to measure exactly! Sew around the circle using a basic stitch as you are continuoulsy folding over the edge.  See picture above!

Another example of the circle being folded over and stitched.

Step 5: Once you have stitched all the way around the circle it will begin to pucker up to the middle. You will make sure that the pocket of fabric not sewed is pushed back or out.

Step 6: Pull the leftover thread until the center of the yo-yo becomes tight. Work with the yo-yo by flattening out the back so that the "ruffle" surrounds the middle.

Step 7: Again, do a basic stitch to secure your yo-yo and tye it off on the back.

You are done! You should have a yo-yo that looks something like this!

I hope this tutorial is helpful! Please send me a message if there is something you do not understand. I will be glad to answer questions!! Here are some pictures of ways I have used the yo-yo's.

The Basic Handbag

Since entering into this wonderful new world of sewing I have tried a few things like pants, skirts, pot holders and embellishing towels and shirts. But none of these compare to making a handbag! You know there's just something about a cute girly bag that makes a girl smile! The inspiration for this bag came from http://www.thediydish.com/ . I found their tutorial for The DIY Dish Basic Handbag. The tutorial seemed so simple. I decided to only use one fabric for the outside and one fabric for the lining and I added a pocket inside and embellishments. There are pleats at the top of the bag but they didn't show up well in the photographs. The ladies said that it shouldn't be a very difficult process, but since I am a "newbie" to this sewing thing, it took me a couple of hours! But the end result was worth all of the hard work! I'm sure I will be making many more of these! So search other blogs or surf the web and find inspiration for your style of craftiness and get going!! 

The Ruffle Pant

I don't know about you, but who can resist an adorable pair of ruffle pants for your daughter?  I love them!  But I don't love the price that some companies sell them for!  So, I found a tutorial, made a pattern and got to sewing.  This is the first pair that I made. They are not perfect, but what's perfect anyway!  I'm just excited to be able to create something new.  The t-shirt is from Hobby Lobby and I had someone do the applique on it for me.  Got any good sewing tips for me?  Please pass them along!

The Joy of Busyness!

So here it goes.... I love spending time with my family!  I love to praise my God!  I love spending time with my friends!  I love to teach!  I love to make hairbows with my "girl"!  I love to plant flowers and try to get them to grow!  I love to decorate...haven't figured out if I'm good at that yet!  I love to make things "cute"!  And most recently, I love to sew!!
Do you think that is enough?  It seems as though I'm always adding one more hobby or activity to my plate, but "I Love" them all.  Sure, you say, but I really do!!  So what's a girl to do?  Well that's easy, I guess, just keep on going. It seems to work for me!  So, until I break and can't handle the "joy of busyness" I shall keep going! And begin another hobby...blogging!  Will this be another thing that "I Love"?  Time will tell!

Here are a few of my fun creations!