Magnetic Pin Holders

Not much to this easy but useful craft!  I found a few cute bowls and glued some power magnets (not regular magnets, but you can find them at Hobby Lobby or Michaels) on the underside of them.  Be prepared after you glue on the first one for subsequent magnets to want to get stuck all over the other magnets.  Even when you super glue or use E6000 or hot glue, the magnet will migrate toward another already glued magnet.  I tried to arrange them all cute like, but the magnets had no regard for my wishes!

These are great to put on a desk for paper clips or thumbtacks, wonderful for a seamstress or scrapbooker or crafter, probably lots of other uses too!

I found this tiny dish at Salvation Army for 50 cents!  The blue bowl I have had for years. 

I am linking up to these great parties!

Ellen

Wool Felt Heart Pincushions

I have had this tie-on pincushion instructions from the All People Quilt website for a few months and have been itching to make test it out.  So since I am recuping from surgery on my neck, I decided to make a few.

You know I have issues when it comes to following directions, so I took off in my own direction!  I did use the pattern as a guide in creating two really cute pincushions.  The pattern is really easy and easy to follow (if I had chosen to do that of course!).  I made my flowers a bit different and put those tiny yellow buttons (they are doll clothes buttons) in the centers. 

The hearts are blanket stitched together…see the purple one, that is a reverse blanket stitch (not even sure there is such a thing, but I did it!).  I had to look at the directions to find out how to do a real blanket stitch.  Guess I don’t do much embroidery!

They both turned out so cute!  The hearts are just 3 inches high, so just a bit longer than the extra long pins I use.

I followed the directions to sew the ribbon on, except, of course, I didn’t use the felt that it called for, but I used grosgrain ribbon.  Looks great either way, but I didn’t have enough length of the felted wool that I had chosen. 

So, anyway, another craft off the to make list.  I have been doing a lot of looking on Pinterest lately, so I am always finding more stuff to make!  Come check me out there if you want!  I am still trying to organize and figure it all out, but it is a lot of fun!

And now I am working on another project…more about that later!

I am linking to these great parties!

Ellen

Tuesday {Ten}

I am loving the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone so that’s what my Tuesday {Ten} is all about today!  Not so great on fireworks, but I still loved this one!

Mexican Petunias mixed in a pot of lizard’s tails and elephant ears….it has been so hot for so long here that really none of the outside plants are doing well.  One day of missed watering and they would die.  The hanging pots are not doing well at all, even with watering a few times a day, they wilt really fast.

My three kitty cats are doing OK though, they get to come in sometimes and they sleep a lot in the garage which has a concrete floor.  You can see the three cats here—Mama Kitty, Baby Kitty (both yellow) and then at the very top of the picture you can see that white fur ball Frosty!

I have to admit that I am not too interested in getting out there in the sun myself.  I was out briefly today to add more water in the water garden and I was dripping wet when I came in.  I guzzled down an entire bottle of PowerAde Zero and got up close and personal with an ice pack.  I just don’t tolerate the heat like I used to, plus I just had surgery last week, so I am extra vulnerable to this heat. 

Mosaic pot with an earthen ware gazing ball inside.  The temp has been close to 100 for 11 days now, and I just read we will have one day in the next ten with the high below 90 and that is supposed to be 89 that particular day.  We need rain bad and we need a few days of temps in the 80s. 

Black eyed Susans are pretty heat tolerant. 

The first bloom of the obedient plant, not sure if it has another name, but they are really interesting plants.  The blooms are a soft blue color.

Angel wing begonia blooms…I love these plants and they have such pretty blooms.  My great Aunt Eunial had one of these that she kept inside I think all year round.   I do know that sometimes she took it to the basement for the winter and didn’t water it much but it always survived.  She had a way with plants, especially African violets, they were all over her house, especially her kitchen.  She also had a way with angel food cake, hers would be so tall and fluffy, like cotton candy.  That’s what she brought to every family get together!

This is what happened when you push your pumpkin over the edge of the deck and let’s say, just leave it there for the rest of your life!  Curious to see if it will bear fruit!  It has a lot of blooms!

Zinnias are seemingly thriving this year…my sister Sarah gave me two packets of seeds earlier this year and they cannot stop growing and blooming! 

Glad something likes this humid heat!

Stay cool,
Ellen

Handmade Gift Exchange Gifts!

Ok, so today I got my handmade gift exchange gift in the mail.  It came all the way from Amy in Australia and ended up getting mailed without postage the first time…I tried to be patient! 

Amy made me a lovely pillow cover that she pieced in a windmill design!  And I just happened to have a 16 inch pillow form in the craft room waiting for such a cover!

Even if I had tried to make a pillow for this spot, I don’t think I would have gotten as close a match as Amy did!  It matches the knitted pineapple throw my mom gave me for my graduation from nursing school, it goes great with the blue seat of the Mission oak rocker, it even picks up the yellow of the wicker table beside it! 

How cute is this!

She also made me a couple of fancy giant paper clips, such cute fabrics!

And these two sweet rose cameo pins….they are so cute, I can see wearing them with lots of different outfits!

I also got some chocolate from down under too, but it was hard to tell what kind of form it had been in before, because it was 100+ degrees the day the package arrived, so the chocolate was liquid!  I stuck it in the freezer though for a snack later!  Cute little koala on the package!  I love anything Cadbury!

So I am loving my package from Australia…everything was thoughtful and lovely!

I sent Amy a cupcake pincushion, three potholders (who can’t use those) and a flower pin. 

Thanks again Linda for hosting the Handmade Gift Exchange!  It is always so much fun!

Ellen

Coffee table transformation!

Ok, two bucks, yep that is $2 (plus I got two other tables for that same $2 that are pretty cool too!)! I just love auctions!  I was so excited to get it cause I thought it would look great I front of my couch that I have not yet purchased yet.  But I have been waiting and watching for that perfect couch.  Here she is before…

I think it has a bit of a Danish look to it, don’t you?  The top and the bottom shelves are a veneer which I usually stay away from but for some reason this table really appealed to me.  I stripped it (it had a reddish tint to it) and it looked much better already!  I used a Minwax special walnut stain wiped it off almost immediately for a light even stain all over. 

The  inlay on the top is beautiful!  The veneer does have a little ding on the top corner…you can see it here in the picture below.

I used a satin lacquer to refinish it with, took three coats to achieve this look!

Please pardon the pillows on the couch, I had surgery yesterday and am hanging out around the TV. 

I am linking up to these great parties!

Ellen

Tuesday {Ten}

I made two ribbon organizers…

and some wild flip flops for my niece…

and stuck this free vinyl decal on my wall above my bed…and

mailed off a package for a gift exchange!
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I also spray painted this plain wicker table (came with another table I bought at an auction—paid $2 for three tables!) with Summer Squash by Krylon.

I also stripped and refinished this table (the actual table I wanted and paid $2 for!)…love the design, I think it has a Danish look, but I could be wrong.  It’s not my usual style, but I love it!  Still needs one more coat of lacquer and it will be done.  It has been so stinking hot outside here it is hard to brave the 100 degree temps to paint!

I found this great quilt at the Salvation Army…it was behind the counter and I bought some other things I asked if I could set behind the counter so I could shop more.  As I set down my other box (fabrics, yarn and trims) I saw this…the tag read OLD $15!  I grabbed it fast!! 

It is in perfect shape and great colors, probably 40s and 50s fabrics.  Not a stain or tear on it!

I also found this barkcloth pillow cover…love the colors!  Can’t decide what to do with it, maybe a bag or hey, maybe I will just let it stay a pillow cover!

And lastly a lovely bouquet of coneflowers, fern and a zinnia!

Ellen