Homemade Christmas: Beaded Cuff Braclet

Remember that sweater I made my nieces purse out of? Remember how I said I also made Blip some longsies from the sleeves? Well I also used on of the cuffs to make my best friend a hand beaded cuff bracelet! How is that for using your resources!

My best friend is a big coffee and tea drinker and enjoys wearing lots of pretty and interesting things. I had the idea of a soft beaded cuff that she could also slip on a cup of to go coffee from the coffee house! It would be pretty and would mark the cup as hers. I think I'm a genius!

This project is very self explanatory. I started off y threading some pretty colored thread with a needle and knotting it at the end. I used this thread and needle to sew on a beautiful wire flower I found. I then simply sewed a mixture of tiny jeweled and pearl beads into a beautiful way pattern. Hand beading is very relaxing and beautiful. Finish off by using a sewing machine and coordinating thread to sew a zig zag stitch to hem the side of the cuff that you cut. I choose lime green thread for everything since green is my best friend's favorite color and it looked great with the other colors. I enjoy using thread that pops and shows.

A cute little gift made with love!

Homemade Christmas: Patchwork Scarf

I thought long and hard about what gift I wanted to make Gus for Christmas. I ended up with a pile of vintage pants and sweaters that we had bought him at a thrift store when we first got together. He was so cute in the burnt orange 1970's pants, Argyle sweater, and plaid wool trousers. Thanks to my cooking, which Gus claims is out of this world (kiss up), these clothes no longer fit. We had lots of memory's in these though so I sat there determined to reuse the fabric.

I considered a quilt for a second along with couch pillows....because I'm sure that is just what my husband wants for Christmas, home decor. Yea that would be sarcasm, don't get used to it. I finally decided on a quilted scarf. Something a bit messy and homemade looking to match his laid back and quirky style.

So I took scissors to his adored clothes. I soon had a pile of random squares and rectangles scattered all over the living room. I choose bright green thread to contrast with the browns and oranges. I love it when thread stands out! I rarely match thread to fabric. I basically used a straight stitch to sew random pieces together into a long garland of fabric patches. Remember this is supposed to be a messy scarf. The mistakes give it quirk!

This shows you the fabric tags you get where two pieces of fabric meet at a seam.

I then took scissors and trimed the "fabric tags". I also trimmed the scarf to a width I liked. I finished the outer edges by hand sewing them. I had a craft night with some mom friends and it made for a perfect project!

The final step was to let Blip model it and cut off long strands. Hopefully Gus loves it.

Homemade Christmas: Tyler's Wooly Bag

My oldest niece just hit her teen years. She has grown into a beautiful and still adorable girl. She is bubbly and has such a sweet personality. I'm very proud of the girl she has become. And so I am her to show off her Christmas Present....

A wooly, slouchy, tote bag with matching bracelet!!!

I made this bag from a rescued sweater. I love the blue and gray stripes and how soft and cushy it is. I started off by cutting the sleeves off.  I put those aside to be made into longsies for Blip (pictures coming soon).

It is a simple design that you can play with. Simply cut the shape and size of the bag you want out of the sweater. Make sure to add a  bit for hemming.

You want to really focus and take your time on making a strong stitch. This is stretchy woven fabric that tends to unravel, you need to be careful to hem it well and sew it together using a sewing machine and you choice of strong stitching and thread. Notice I did not felt this, I really wanted that knitted look. If you take your time to make it strong it will not unravel and will be able to hold books even!

The strap is made from long pieces of the scrap. I hemmed them and then braided. Simply sew on.

The gems were hot glues on. I really love how this bag turned out and I hope she does to!

Homemade Christmas: Colton's Cushy Blocks

My youngest nephew is only 3 months older then Blip. He has just begun to scoot around, very cute! Blip has some cloth blocks that he loves and I thought my nephew might also enjoy some squishy blocks.

I actually  a cut up a very soft two layer baby towel into squares and simply sewed them with strong straight stitches so the hem was on the inside.  I left a few openings at the corners so I could stuff the blocks with cotton batting. I them used different colors and textures of ribbon, looped them and hand sewn them into the openings so they were shut tight. Babies love loops to play with and hold.

Upcycling the baby towel ended up being an amazing idea! The soft terry cloth gives texture while the smooth cotton-ish material is cute with the car print. I loved the way they turned out.

Homemade Christmas: Critters fun and funky hair bands

My 5 year old niece is one quirky and adorable girl. I'll take a second and brag that she is very witty, and has an imagination to match! She just started kindergarten this year and I can not wait for Christmas so I can see her and hear all about the adventures she is having there. And in honer of her I present to you a sneak peak of her Christmas present!

I made all four of these headbands from various things from my craft closet. The cool part of these is most the supplies are recycled from past products or taken from other things such as old sweaters or necklaces, or even bottles! 

Her mom makes her amazing hair bows for school so I thought I'd make her something a bit more funky and in tune with playing dress up!

The first I made is actually a hair pin. I made a flower out of felt with a big pearl bead center. I added a lady bug ribbon and hot glued it all on to a hair clip.

This one is flashy and fun! I used a root beer bottle cap as the center and folded over sized gold sequins into 3-D flower petals. It is set on a gold sequin headband.

A simple wood star that I panted blue with a white embroidery star layered on.I love the red sequin headband!

And last, but certainly not least.... A huge and fancy flower made from felt and tulle. I love this one! It is on a white headband and has beading detail in the center.


I hope she enjoys her Christmas present! It is wrapped and under my tree waiting for Christmas morning. More homemade presents to come....

Trash to Treasure: Step Chair

 

I'll admit that I love finding great trash.

It gives me a thrill to be able to re purpose and create something beautiful from things others don't see light in.

A plus that it is free and used so we are not making a new foot print on the earth for the treasure!

And you can not deny the time and love that goes into these creations.

 We found this Cosco Step Chair by complete chance.I have always wanted one thinking it would be perfect for a kid to sit on while making cookies with mom. I have seen them new at Target, but really loved the vintage ones at the antique mall. A tiny bit of rust can give character! Anyways, we were coming home from a wonderful date that Gus and I have when the headlights hit our new found treasure! So into the back of our van it goes and on our porch it sits for a week or two. 

Blip watching his daddy clean the chair

We finally got to it and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. We started off by cleaning it. We got the water hose after it, followed by detailing with an old towel and our all purpose spray. Gus got hard core and used a rough scrubber to really get at it. The metal still has a tiny bit of rust, but I think it gives character. We left the bottom metal part silver and white. Once the grime was off it looked really good and I liked the white metal. 

The seat was the part that needed a total makeover. 

We tore off the cushions and deconstructed them. Then using our trusty secret weapon X of choice... the hot glue gun....we recovered the plastic cushion forms. They popped back in fairly easy with help of new screws.

The fabric was from a shawl I bought on sale at Target before blip was even born. I had the idea I would use it as a nursing cover, but it never got used in the grand scheme of things. I decided that breastfeeding was an event that warranted no cover. But that is a different story that may come with a small rant full of breastfeeding rights!

We also painted the seat a pretty blue. We used up the last bit of paint in a can we had used on some shelves for the kitchen. We ended up not spending any extra money on the project at all! It was all stuff we had in our home already.

Close up of the fabric. I love it and still have some left! 

 

Defiantly a treasure!