Valentine's Cards & Winterfest/Winter Rest

The beginning of every February in my town is Winterfest.  Winterfest is a 3 day series of events that takes place all over town.  This year I volunteered to help out with the craft table at my church on Saturday from 9 am - 3 pm.  My church calls their event Winter Rest, because you can come, sit, eat, and listen to some live music.  My friend who was in charge wanted part  of the craft table to be for making Valentine's cards for a charity that will be giving them to people who can't leave their home for one reason or another.  Here was our set up.  I die-cut out different hearts from cardboard food boxes, colored card stock, and painted corrugated cardboard.  There were also some painted and cut heart shaped toilet paper tubes mixed in.  Then there were some pink, red, and purple cards made from card stock, glue sticks, white glue, markers, crayons, and stamps.  On top of that, people could also make egg carton lady bugs and love bugs (using the cut out hearts, google eyes, and chenille stems).

Some one gave me a Panera catering box to use.  I love it!!!  I want more.  You can see the two inserts being used for the different items above.  

I had fun die-cutting some of the food boxes, like this cat food box.  A friend of mine picked the cat heart to make a Valentine's with.

We had so much fun sitting around making Valentine's cards and listening to great live music.

You can see two of my love bugs and lady bugs above.

I made these 3 cards. 

And these as well.

One girl wanted to make a card for her math teacher who says that "Math is not F.U.N. fun."

I suggested that she write "9/4 Four Under Nine" means that math is fun.  You can see her card in progress above.

We collected 19 cards for the charity.  There were a lot of great stories that went with the cards that people made for others.  

I was surprised when a lady came up and wanted to buy this card that I had made.  When I said that she could have it, she said that she wanted to donate money for it.  So I sent her to my friend who was in charge of the event.  Many people donated money that day.  

The same girl who made the math card also made this cute little card.

I also made this little heart ring using a chenille stem, a heart, and google eyes.

We had a decent turn out considering all of the ice and snow and the weather prediction for that day.  Many events had been canceled for that night due to the weather.  People enjoyed themselves though, and I got to see many familiar faces.  At the end of the day I took home the left over supplies (excluding the ones that I borrowed from the church, like the markers and glue).  Now I have the supplies for the making of many Valentine's cards.  I just might have a card making day with my kids soon.

Valentine's Swap Package #2

I came home today to find a package from my friend delights sitting on my door step.  Can you see me jumping up and down and in circles?  I couldn't wait to open it to see what she made for me for Valentine's Day.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  Everything was wonderful!  So here is the break down of what was in my package.  There was an origami floral box containing crochet chocolates and a crochet chocolate dipped strawberry.  I could smell the chocolate, even though the smell was just in my head.  There was a yellow plarn (plastic bag yarn) chapstick holder with Juicy Juice chapstick inside.  She gave me several mini clothespins for many different occasions.   She knows me so well, because I really wanted some for different occasions to hang up cards that I receive.  Do you see that gorgeous crochet flower?  It is a pot holder that she designed.  I love it!  I'm very into hot pads and pot holders.  

She also makes these very beautiful heart broaches from felted wool (from old sweaters).  I was hoping that I would get one from her.  My camera took a slightly blurry picture of it without my knowing, but it is really beautiful.  If you would like one to, she sells them on Etsy.

Then she went beyond just crafting for me.  She made my sons felted mittens from sweaters.  They loved them.  My youngest son really needed a good pair of mittens.  I've had bad luck finding good ones for him.  I guess that means that the universe wanted me to wait for these marvelous mittens to arrive.  She also sells these in her other Etsy shop.

Last but not least there was a handmade floral envelope containing a beautiful handmade card inside.  There was also two very unique envelopes that looked like mason jars.  The jars were see through so that you can see the peas and tomato seed packets inside.  They also had very cute tags attached to them: "Peas Be Mine" & "U R 1 Hot Tomato."

Thank you delights!!!!!  I love everything!

Yellow Plarn

Within the last 7 days I have received a lot of plastic newspaper bags from 2 friends.  There were a lot of yellow bags, so I made yellow plarn out of them today.  For those of you new to the word plarn, it is plastic bag yarn / yarn made from plastic bags.  

I was able to make a nice size ball.  This is probably equal to two yarn cakes (if I wound it on my ball winder).  I want to spin it, so I'm going to leave it in ball form for now.  However I prefer my plarn in yarn cakes because otherwise they unwind to easily.

Cabled Cowl

Recently I put down my sock knitting when I couldn't find my sock book (which I found 15 minutes ago).  So I needed an on-the-go project in the mean time.  I was getting a little tired of knitting scrubbies.  Then I found the Vogue Knitting magazine with the cabled cowl pattern in it.  Can you see a pattern here of me not being able to find things?  I'm a mess right now.  Anyway...  I made copies of the pattern chart, took out my circular needles, and the green variegated wool that I had Kool Aid dyed last year, and went to work knitting another cabled cowl.  Can I tell you that I much prefer knitting the cowl than the socks.  Maybe its because of the circular needles vs the dpns.  This will be a birthday present for my mom.  She liked the one that I made for myself last year, and had asked if I could make her one to.  By the way, I wear mine all the time right now.  I love it.

P.S.  This picture was taken in my parked car (with the engine off) while waiting to pick up my oldest son from school.  I don't knit and drive, lol.

Valentine's Swap Gifts

The other day I received a very beautiful package in the mailed filled with wonderful handmade Valentine's from my friend spookycuddles (from ravelry).  First off, the package itself was covered in hearts, a cupid, and little sayings like "Be Mine."  Each thing inside was more wonderful than the next.  

She made this beautiful card from scrap paper, cards, and magazine cut outs.  The inside was a giant heart filled with wonderful words to me.  On the lower left you can see one of the two chenille stem heart ornaments with a flower attached.  You can view both in the 1st photo along with a crochet flower pin and some Valentine's pencils.  

Here is a closer look at the envelope.  What is that green thing in the middle?  Its a magnet with a motorcycle miniskirt made for a finger attached to it.  This is my favorite thing in the package, because I had sent her a lace finger tutu as part of an inside joke.  She turned it into a magnet as well.  This is going to start a whole trend of finger skirts / outfits.  In the upper left you can see part of a crochet scrubby that was made from scrap yarn.  I love using scrubbies.  I like them more than dishcloths.  You can also see a bow with the Eiffel Tower stamped on it.

Do you see the red heart Valentine's that looks like a mini container?  It was made out of a toilet paper tube.  She gave me an undecorated, unfinished one so that I could see how it was made and finish it.  Last fall my December holiday swap partner was Gekko.  Sppokycuddles knew this and made both Gekko and me a gecko bookmark using a Geico add in a magazine.  How cute and clever!  She also made a gift tag out of some scrap paper as well.  Behind these objects are two quilting patterns for me.

I wanted to share my Valentine's gifts with all of you because I think that they are so very cute, creative, and most of them were made from recycled / upcycled materials.  I just love getting handmade gifts.

Wallet Tutorial

I was going to wait to post this wallet tutorial until I could complete the video tutorial as well.  However the video camera stopped recording during part of the making of the wallet.  I still need to make a 2nd wallet, so I will rerecord it then.  But for now, here is the photo tutorial of how I made this wallet.

Here is the first wallet that I had made for my husband.  Its about 2 years old and well loved.

I blame my husband for its destruction.  He likes chain wallets and I did not make a hole for the chain, so he did it himself.  So it was time for a replacement.

First I measured everything.  The only change that I will be making for the 2nd one is making it 10 inches wide instead of 9 inches.  Thats because the flap needs to be bigger for a bulky wallet.  Since I will be changing that measurement for the next wallet, I am also going to adjust this tutorial accordingly.

Next I made a mock up of the wallet out of paper.  This also helps when figuring out what needs to be sewn to what, and what should not be sewn down.

I chose to use corduroy fabric because it is durable and my husband likes it.  I also bought some matching bias tape and velcro.  First cut out all of your pieces: two 10" x 5", two 3" x 5", one 5" x 4.5", a 3" x 4",  a 3" x 3.5", and a 3" x 3" piece.  Next pin and sew some bias tape to one of the 3" wide sides of the right side pockets (3x4, 3x3.5, 3x3).  Also pin and sew on the bias tape to the velcro left hand pocket (5x4.5 and 5x3) along a 5" side.  Also sew the velcro onto these two parts.  The rough part to the back of the 4.5" x 5" piece, and the soft half on the front of the 3" x 5" piece.  Place the velcro just below the bias tape.  Please see the above photo.

Next stack your right side pockets on top of each other and on top of the 3" x 5" piece.  Then pin the bias tape to the left side of it.

Sew the bias tape on.  This also sews these pieces together.

Next stack the right side velcro pocket pieces (like seen above).  Pin and sew the bias tape on the two sides leaving one side unsewn (see above photo).  

Pin the stacked pocket to the right side of one of the 10" x 5" pieces (the right sides of the fabric facing up).  Then pin and sew on the bias tape to the top and bottom.  This will leave another pocket behind the stacked pockets (opening to the left of them).  Then mark a line one inch to the left of the stacked pockets.

Place the velcro pocket over that marked line, face down, with the unsewn side over that mark.  See the above picture.  Then sew a quarter of an inch seam (straight stitch or hem stitch) along that line.

Then fold it back and carefully sew the top side (top if the wallet is open with the velcro on your left side) of the velcro pocket to the back piece of fabric.  Do not sew the flap!

Sew the soft side of another piece of velcro to the right side/good side of the  10" x 5" piece (shown on the left side above).  Then sew the rough half of velcro to one side of the untouched 10" x 5" piece, on the right side of the fabric (right meaning the good side).  The picture above shows the two 10" x 5" pieces stacked (just for the picture). 

Next sew the bias tape to the two long sides of the 2nd 10" x 5" piece.

With the wrong sides of the two 10" x 5" pieces together, sew them together along 3 sides, leaving the top 10" side unsewn.  Make sure to pin the bias tape on to both 5" sides and sew them on.  Be very careful sewing the velcro pocket along the bottom.  Do not sew the flap of the pocket!  What I did was sew up to the flap, then stop, cut the thread, and sew in the opposite direction and stopping just before the flap.  I had to open and close the pocket flap depending on the direction I was sewing in.  

You will have another secret little pocket behind the velcro pocket, with the opening on the left hand side.  You will also have a dollar bill pocket along the top of the wallet.

I hope that you liked this tutorial. 

You can make one to cater your personal wants and needs.

I later added a large metal eyelet to it for my husband's chain.

Poll Closed: February From Trash To Treasure Challenge Poll

 The winners are Go Green & Fabric Scraps!

Continue the Warmth Challenge	9 (31%)
Go Green	15 (51%)
paper or plastic?	7 (24%)
Valentine's / Love	6 (20%)
Crayola Challenge	5 (17%)
Soda Tabs & Bottle Caps	7 (24%)
Plastic with yarn/fabric	3 (10%)
The Dining Room	4 (13%)
Inspirational Challenge	4 (13%)
Fabric Scraps	13 (44%)

Votes so far: 29
Poll closed 

Go Green: If you do not already, use only cloth napkins, hankies (not tissues), reusable shopping bags, or another reusable item all month. Do not use disposable items. You can do one or more of items.


Fabric Scraps: Make something with left over fabric scraps.

Some of my thoughts on the go green challenge that are not in the example:

• Compost and recycle everything that you can. Try to see how long you can go without having to take out your garbage. My max so far has been 3 weeks. It feels really good to skip trash pick up day.
• Reduce: Probably the most important of the 3 Rs. Try to buy less. Try to use reusable items (another of the Rs). Try to shop with the idea of how much “trash” you are buying (how much packaging comes with your purchase and how much of it is recyclable).
• Maybe you need a little extra cash or you want your children to learn about ways in which to make some money. Then you can save those recyclable items that can be redeemed for cash in your area. For me, that means saving brand name drink plastic bottles and cans and taking them to the grocery store.
• Another Reduce: Take food containers to take out restaurants and have them put your food in your reusable containers. This also goes for bringing your coffee or tea mugs to places and having them fill them up instead of giving you plastic or styrofoam cups. Some places, like Dunkin Donuts, will sell these mugs and then give you a discount on refills.
• Another reduce: Drive less. Make a list of all the things that you need to buy, and buy them all on a single outing instead of over several days. This will save you gas. Also walk more, if you can, or car pool.
• Do you really need that new book? Check and see if your library has it or can order it. Many libraries will share books with each other so that their customers won’t have to try and find an out of the way library.
• Pick one night a week (or more) to turn off all the electricity in your home. What can you do for an hour with just a candle, fire in the fireplace, or a flashlight to see by?
• Meatless Monday: If you eat meat, you can actually make a nice impact on the environment and on your health by cutting meat out of your diet for one day a week. It is a growing thing. There is even a Meatless Monday website.
• If you are a Vegetarian, then maybe you can go even further on Mondays. Maybe do Vegan Mondays. Or start weaning your lifestyle away from animal products, like leather.
• Buy organic food and humanely treated animal products.
• Shop local: Buy from local farmers and local stores. This does not mean buy from the Target down the road from you. I mean stores that are individually owned and run. Not only will you be supporting your local economy, but you will be using less gas when driving.
• Pick up the litter. Thats right, either by yourself or with a group, go around and pick up litter. Where I live we have a town wide clean up every April (the Saturday after Earth Day). People sign up to clean certain parks, roads, etc.
• Get involved with a local “green” organization.
• Start a vegetable garden.
• Buy products that were made from post consumer recycled items.
• Start getting rid of your plastic dishes and other food items and replacing them with non-plastic items (this does take time).

I could go on, but those are some ways to interpret the go green challenge.