This project is a true collaboration with my daughter. Today is her last day of preschool and we are going to miss her teacher, dearly.  Her teacher loves coffee so we thought a coffee cup sleeve would be a good idea.  I was just going to make a generic one with some cute fabric and then I had a grand idea!  I had my daughter draw on some felt and then I embroidered her drawing.  Genius, right?

Supplies:

Felt

Embroidery floss

Needle

Elastic hairband

Button

Washable marker

1.  Cut two pieces of felt into the shape of a cardboard coffee sleeve.  You can go and get your own coffee sleeve next time you're at the gas station or coffee shop and trace that (allowing 1/2" seam allowance on all sides).  I also found a few templates online.

2.  On one piece of felt, draw your design using washable markers.  Eva wrote her name and added a flower, heart, and a butterfly.

3. Begin stitching your design using the embroidery floss and a needle.  I use a combination of stitches to add some variety to the design.  It will really depend on what you have drawn out on the felt.  Eva picked out every single color on this particular project.  I think she did a great job!

4. Sew a button off to the side.  Eva chose this button as well.  I attached it using embroidery floss and I tacked it down pretty securely.

5.  Get your second piece of felt and place them right sides together.  On the opposite edge from where you placed the button, place your elastic hairband in between the two pieces of felt.  Pin it in place so about 1/2" of it is sticking out.  The picture below shows what it will look like after it has been sewn.

6.  Time to sew!  With your sewing machine, stitch around all four sides of the coffee sleeve leaving a 2"-3" gap so you can turn it right side out.

7.  Once it is turned right side out, use a needle and thread to stitch the opening closed.

Eva wants to be an artist when she grows up.  I think she's well on her way!

]]> http://www.christynelson.net/2010/05/embroidered-coffee-cup-sleeve-tutorial/feed/ 5 http://www.christynelson.net/2010/05/embroidery-class-mothers-day-project/ http://www.christynelson.net/2010/05/embroidery-class-mothers-day-project/#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 14:21:04 +0000 christy http://www.christynelson.net/?p=3266 I'm teaching a class at a local elementary school for a few weeks.  It is part of their after school enrichment program and my class this time is embroidery.  We have a great time and the girls are so fun and are picking up the concepts rather quickly.

We're working on a Mother's Day project now.  The girls traced their hands on a piece of felt and we are backstitching around the outline.  If we have time this week, I'll teach them french knots but I think most of the time will be spent finishing up these projects.

We're going to cut out the handprint with pinking shears and stitch it to another piece of felt.  I think I might go and pick up some lavender or something to put inside and have it be a little sachet.

I'm making one for my mom.  Don't  you think she'll be super excited to get a hand embroidered handprint sachet from her middle-aged daughter?  I thought so, too.

This was one of my favorite May Day projects.  We made a cone out of scrapbook paper and filled it with pixie sticks.  We made the pixie sticks look like flowers by adding some punched scallops and circles.  I also used some fun stamps to embellish the flowers.  I punched a hole in the back of the cone and added an eyelet to thread the ribbon through.  Super easy to make!

We made these little matchbook favor boxes last year for May Day.  Here is the tutorial on how to make those.

This year I haven't decided on what we're going to make for our baskets.  I have a feeling fabric and felt will be be involved.  I'll be sure to post the finished results.

Speaking of finished results...want to know the winner of the April Craft Challenge?

Did this picture of pretty bowls distract you from the fact I have no pictures of this project?  I took it on my NYC trip at a store in the Flatiron district called Fishs Eddy.  That store was AWESOME.  Okay, back to the project.

1. Dye your eggs.

2.  Crack them and save the shells.  You want to clean them off and pick off any of that egg membrane that might be hanging on there.

3.  Draw an outline of your image on whatever you want to cover.

4. Begin to fill in the outline with your colored eggshells.  Just about any glue will do.  I use Tacky Glue.

5. Finish your design.

6.  Let dry.

7. Apply a thin layer of spray sealant (clear) or mod podge.

8. Admire your lovely work.

The box was packed so nicely!  I received two jars of applesauce, one jar of cinnamon, a bunny cookie cutter, a couple of recipes and instructions.*  We decided to make the bunny place holder.  You know those ornaments you make at Christmas using applesauce and cinnamon?  These are one and the same.

You mix 1/2 cup of applesauce with one jar of cinnamon.  This was the beginning of the end for my bunnies.  I put a little too much applesauce in the bowl and never quite recovered from that.  I thought I could make up the difference with flour...which you can, for small amounts.  Let's just say, you should measure.

The instructions say to mix it up with your hands.  Enter: kids.  My son tried it.  It was really mushy.  *remember to measure*  He didn't last very long.  But, he did hang around with me and told me I was doing a good job.  I love that kid.

Next you'll want to roll it out on wax paper.  I took this picture before I added more flour.  It was still too wet.

Cut out your bunnies.  This cookie cutter is really cute.  You can make them any shape you want.  I had some dough leftover and made an egg.  Okay, it looked more like an oval and less like an egg.  I tried.

The instructions clearly say to mix in all the flour so no white is visible.  The instructions mock me as I don't heed them.  I did follow the instructions and put some cinnamon on the wax paper.

Bake them at 200 degrees for 2 hours.

Once they are cool you can decorate them with glitter, ribbons, etc... and make them super cute.  They are meant to be place card holders but mine are destined for the blog and the blog alone.  They do smell really great.  Maybe I'll wrap them up like a sachet and put them in my underwear drawer.  Or not.

I hope you all enjoyed this craft adventure.  I'm sure you can learn from my mistakes and put me to shame on this project.  The kids like them and had fun.  But, they like the applesauce even more.  Yum.

We're going to dye Easter eggs this afternoon.  I hope I can end my string of horrible Easter craft luck.

*I received this product for free from Musselman's. All content provided in this post is my own opinion.

image via MarthaStewart.com

I just spent 20 minutes cleaning off my table and getting it ready to dye Easter eggs.  I bought some basic dye kits and was going to make them special by adding vinyl stickers to the eggs for some really cool designs.  But, I've been out of town for a week and now I can't find where the dye kits are.  I know where I left them.  I also know I have two kids that kept moving them.  They have no idea where they are either but they are not denying that they moved them.  So... instead of a lame tutorial by me, I'll show you what Martha did.  Of course, she's got over the top designs on some but the sheer amount techniques is astounding.

I now present to you, Martha's gazillion ways to dye an Easter Egg.

Hint:  save those colorful eggshells!  I'm going to show you how to use them in other projects!

I used my Cricut and my Gypsy to make this iron on applique for my daughter's St. Patrick's Day t-shirt.  Using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge that came with my machine, I manipulated the letters using my Gypsy to make them all one image.  If you don't have a Gypsy (or software that will allow you to do this with your Cricut), you could just cut out the individual letters and iron them on one at a time.

Cutting fabric with the Cricut is easy.  I cut a 12" X 12" piece of fabric and line the back of it with Heat n Bond.   A roll of that stuff lasts a long time!  I then place my prepped fabric on my Cricut mat.  I keep my pressure set at max and lower my speed to medium.  I keep my blade set at 6.  I used a cotton fabric and it cut like a charm.

She really loved wearing it and showing everyone that she shouldn't be pinched today!

image copyright redbeandesign

I say it often.  Green is my signature color.  I love it.  I wear it a lot.  My coat is green.  My umbrella is green.  Most of my clothes are green.  So, why haven't I done more St. Patrick's Day related posts?  It just snuck up on me this year.  I'm going to make some shirts for my kids tonight and surprise them tomorrow morning with them.  But, in the meantime, I thought I'd share this etsy mini I made full of awesome green things I found.   Which one is your favorite?

Go and grab an "I've been featured" button.

Here is a little coupon book that I made for my husband three years ago for Valentine's Day.  I used a few different Stampin' Up sets to make it.  I'm pretty sure they are all retired now but I'm posting this now more for the idea and less for you wanting to make an exact replica.

The inside used the Create a Coupon stamp set.  Each coupon has a perforation on the inside edge for easy removal.  I did that using the perforation tool from the Stampin' Up cutter kit.  I layered the coupons in between my front and back and then used my Crop-a-dile to add two large eyelets on the sides.  The ribbon is decorative.  It isn't needed to hold the book together.

This is a relatively easy and very inexpensive gift to give for Valentine's Day.  The best part is that it is super customizable.  You choose what you want to offer on the coupons so it is the ultimate thoughtful gift!

I haven't done a Stuff I Like post in a while so I thought I'd throw one out there today.  I've got valentines on the brain because I'm trying to decide what to make with my kids for their classmates.  This etsy mini didn't help too much, but I couldn't help but share some of the pretty items I found while browsing.  Enjoy.  Is one of your products featured?  Grab an I've Been Featured button!

This etsy mini has been replaced with a screen shot.