Package Pals~~What I sent~~

This is the first time my package pal didn’t have a blog or pinterest board or some way for me to get to know her…luckily Melinda sent me pictures and told me a lot about herself. She lives in Australia and is a nurse like me and seems we both like vintage and we had an instant connection. So I had an idea of what she liked…I hoped anyway!  So I made her a flower pin from felted/fulled wool.

Melinda has this thing for caravans…so I whipped up a pillow with a hopefully recognizeable caravan.  I almost decided to keep it myself but decided to send it off to Australia!

Actually I had fun making it…thought it turned out pretty cute!

I sent it with the flower pin,

some wool felt from my stash,

and a pink bunting made from a vintage sheet. 

I love the whole Package Pal concept!  Thanks to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. and Julia at Stars and Sunshine for organizing all this!

The funny thing is that Melinda and I both got our packages in the mail the same day!  How unlikely is that??  I am working on a second post for the package Melinda made for me!  It was too awesome to include in the same post!

Baby’s First Birthday Banner

Baby Brady turns one this month…

One of my gifts to him is a banner to use at his birthday party and then his room!  So fun!

I found a font on the computer that was “chunky” and therefore easier to cut and sew.  I enlarged the letters until they were about 5 inches tall.

Is he not the cutest baby ever??

It turned out so cool. I backed the fabric with iron on interfacing and so there are two layers of fabric and of interfacing thick.

I have just sewed around the edges, trying to keep the seams straight.

I used bias tape to make the “ribbon” to hold it together.

Each end has half ovals…it was so much fun choosing fabrics to go together.

I’m loving how it turned out!

Dogs, bikes and robots, together with a lot of polka dots and chevron, I found great patterns.

Looks super cute hanging on the wall!

Happy birthday big boy Brady!

I might be linking to some of these great parties!

Robin Egg Blue Flower Garland

Spring is just around the corner!  Right?  Please tell me I am right!  I have the flu now and have been sick for 5 days. Anyway, I had a brief energy spurt during which I made this cute robin egg blue flower garland. 

I love this color!

I bought the flowers already cut out…I think they are made by Martha Stewart (well, I am sure not her personally but they are part of her line).

I am thinking this garland would look great on my bulleting at work…

Milo helped me take the photos for…I think he just wants to get his teeth on the garlands!  He’s crazy like that…he still has major puppy brain even though he is 18months old!

Just to keep things in perspective, I also made these two felt snowflake garlands too! 

I’m loving these felt snowflakes.  Sometimes I need to make a super easy project…this is one of those times!

I just might be linking to these great parties!

 

17 Quick and Easy (Mostly) Christmas Gifts

I thought I would share some easy and fast and inexpensive ideas for Christmas gifts!  Click on the pictures to go to the original post with tutorial….Happy crafting!

Tile Coasters (you could also use printed photos for this project)

Wool felt garland (also great with regular felt or in different shapes)

Crochet Hair Clips (obviously for those who crochet)

Jenga Personalized Key Chains (by my sis Sarah)

Cardboard Rose Wreath

Ponytail holders by Sarah

Dictionary Page Note Cards

Homemade Caramels

Foot Crème (great for dry winter skin all over!)

Knobbed Jar Lids (fill the jars with fancy candy or homemade goodies)

Princess Crown (another crochet project!)

Layered Bunting (Make from scraps…easy to sew!)

Flower Canvas (cheap art!)

Mod Podge Sheet Music Candle Holder

BBQ Rub (this was popular with the guys last year!)

Fancy envelopes (made from scrapbook paper and old maps)

Glittery Pine Cones (cute in a basket or gift bag)

Most of these projects can be made with minimal cost, many of them were made with leftover supplies from other projects.

I am linking to these great parties!

What I’ve been up to this week…

I found this great vintage burlap colored ribbon at an auction…I think I only paid $4 for each box and most of the rolls are really full.  Can’t wait to put it to some use!

Making some early Christmas presents.

I made a few garlands for my etsy shop…

I hope to get them listed today or tomorrow!

All shades of blue Christmas trees from recycled wool…you can find them here in my etsy shop!

I made a new terrarium from an old jar with a metal bail that I bought at an auction and from leftover patio plants…the jar was full of old wooden spools when I bought it!

I added one of the rock owls to keep watch over the plants.

This weekend we had to relinquish our pooch Weego back to the humane society.  She was a stray when we got her five months ago and she has become increasingly aggressive and she is a biter.  She attacked the UPS man and basically any visitors we had.  We talked to dog trainers, our vet, the humane society staff and folks at PetSmart, seems the consensus is that she will always be that way.  So, my heart breaks to take her back there…but I pray they can find a special home for her.

She is a very sweet dog and very intelligent, loves to play fetch, loves to be petted and loved on, but she is the most aggressive little dog I have ever met!

Beautiful sunrise…

I did some running around at a craft show and thrift stores last weeked.

I love this darling footed plate made from a dessert place and an inverted drink goblet.

Tuesday evening I went to hear Maya Angelou  speak, her theme was be the rainbow in somebody’s cloud!  It was a wonderful speech and she would now and again break into song.  The picture is of a chandelier in the Missouri Theater.

This cloche was really cute, but the price tag, not so much!  $198!! No thanks!

Love this thought!