Not counting the tools, the supplies for this project cost me less than $5. Score.

SUPPLIES:

old wire clothes hanger or wire long enough to make a large circle

fleece remnants in multiple colors–I used 5 different colors using 1/4 yd. each of 4 of the colors and 1/2 yd. of the light blue (my main color)

Sizzix Big Kick (or other die cutting machine)

Circles #2 die

Crop a dile

You’ll want to cut your fleece into pieces to fit on your die (approximately 5″ x 5″). I found that having two layers of fabric go through at a time worked the best.

Turn on Pandora and start cutting your circles.  Lots and lots of circles.

I put them all on a tray and mixed up the colors. I wanted them to be as random as possible. You’ll have five different colors and four different sizes.

I had an old wire clothes hanger that I wanted to use for this project. I just twisted it apart and bent it into a circle. You can use any type of wire form for this project. As long as you can string on the circles, it should work just fine.

The crop-a-dile cuts through that fleece like butter. Make small holes in the middle of the circles. As soon as I added the holes, I’d string them onto the wire. The crop-a-dile could cut through 2-3 layers at a time.

Don’t pay too much attention to colors or sizes. Random works out well. I had my daughter help me with this part because I kept wanting to pick out specific colors. She would hand me a few circles at a time, I’d punch them, and then she’d string them up. It was a fun little activity to do while watching a movie together. Now we have a nice little wreath to show for it!

I live in Nebraska and expect to have the ground covered in snow for most of the winter. So far we haven’t had too much and even my kids are starting to ask me when winter will get here. We’ve got snow in the forecast but I thought we could cut out some snowflakes to get in the mood.

Here are some of my favorite tutorials for some really beautiful and unique cut paper snowflakes.

Origami-style snowflake

Elegant  paper snowflakes

When I knit for myself or other grown-ups, I’m a bit of a yarn snob. Malabrigo is my favorite. For sure. But, before I break out my needles and start knitting, I have a bit of work to do so the yarn is ready. Admittedly, any local yarn shop should do this for you. I just like to keep mine in the hanks until I’m ready to use it.

Un-do the hank of yarn and you’ll most likely see some bits of yarn going across the length. These can be removed.  Find the beginning and the end of the yarn.

Place the yarn on the yarn swift. Mine was made by my husband. The commercial ones look more like this yarn swift (Amazon link).

You’ll want the free strand of yarn to be on the outside of the swift. Take the end of the yarn and place it in your ball winder.

The end of the yarn going across the top will be in the center of your yarn ball and that is what you will use when you are ready to start your project.

Now you’re ready to wind! I hold onto the yarn coming onto the ball winder with one hand (gently–just to avoid winding knots and keep the tension steady). I crank the winder with the other hand.

Keep everyone out of the way of the swift. It will get going fast!

Now you’ve got a yarn “cake”. Take that off the ball winder and it is ready to use! My “helpers” are never too far away when they see me take out my swift. They love to help me wind the yarn balls!

My poor door was looking sad without a nice, fall wreath. I decided to make one. It was really quick and affordable so let me tell you how I did it!

SUPPLIES:
straw wreath
assorted colors of burlap (main color 1/2 yd, other colors 1/4 yd)
silk leaves
glue
pins

Keep the plastic on the straw wreath. It will be completely covered and it makes it much less messy.

Cut the main color of burlap into 3 inch wide strips following the length of the fabric. Begin pinning the strips on the wreath. I don’t think I need to tell you to pin on the back of the wreath. But, maybe I do. So, do that.

To make the little burlap rosettes, cut strips about 1/2″ wide along the length of the fabric. Dab a bit of glue along one edge and start rolling it up.

Rocket science. Or not. The burlap unravels a bit and adds to the look. I like it a lot.

I had a garland of fall leaves and I cut a few off. I used a pin to place them on the wreath and arranged three rosettes to cover the pin. I also used pins to place the burlap rosettes.

I tied a 3 inch wide piece of burlap around the top and then pinned in a longer strip to hang it on the hook.

That was it!

Looking back, I wish I had used the darker burlap for the wreath base. The way I have it right now, it blends into the door too much. The good news is that it just all pinned on so I can change it out however I want. Maybe next year…

I had to get some cysts removed from my head over the past couple of weeks and my hair has seen some better days. I’ve had to get some chunks of hair cut out and this latest round has my head looking not so hot. Don’t you think it’s time to bring kerchiefs back?

I whipped up this little guy yesterday morning. Here’s how you can make one for yourself.

SUPPLIES:

Fabric 14″ X 14″

Bias tape approximately 28″

Sewing machine

Thread

1. Cut fabric to 14″ X 14″ square. I have a big head, so this was a good size for me. 12″ X 12″ would probably be good, too.

2. Hem each side of the square. It doesn’t really matter what size hem you do, as long as you are consistent all the way around.

3. Fold the square into a triangle and sew along the open edges.

4. Find the middle of the long side of the triangle. Fold your bias tape in half to find the middle, as well. That way you have an equal amount of bias tape for the ties on each edge.

5. Open up the bias tape and pin it along the edge. Sew  just along the side of the fold. Stop at the end of the fabric.

6. Fold over the bias tape to the other side of the fabric and stitch close to the edge to catch both sides. Sew along the length of the bias tape past the fabric to form your ties.

Trim your bias tape to the length you want for your ties. Enjoy your kerchief!

photo from Spoonflower. Click to order this fabric.

Spoonflower is a site where you can design your own fabric or purchase designs made by others.  If you can’t find that perfect fabric, just make your own!  I have yet to try out the design side of the site, but I know the finished product is high quality and the ordering process is easy.

photo from Sew, Mama, Sew. Click for post and tutorial.

Sew, Mama, Sew! is a shop, blog, and forum full of sewing info, tips, and inspiration. I included the picture of one of my favorite projects on there…the ticker tape quilt.  What a great way to use up those super tiny scraps!

Shannon, from The Nina Line, has some amazing videos on her site (among other things).  I met Shannon at CHA and she’s even one of the product sponsors of the craft challenge this month!  Go by and check out here site.

Did I get the ball rolling?  Where do you go for online sewing resources?  I haven’t even scratched the surface here.

Let me show you how I made it!

Faux Leather Cuff Tutorial

Supplies:

vinyl (faux leather) fabric   2″ X 9″ strip, two 4″ X 4″ squares

coordinating cotton fabric  2″ X 9″ strip

Fabri-tac fabric glue

sewing machine, scissors, thread

Sizzix Big Shot (or other die cutting machine or punch-mine is the Big Kick which is hard to find now)

Flower Layers #2 die (or one of your choosing)

velcro

1. Gather all of your supplies and prepare the vinyl squares to be cut using the die cutting machine and your die.

2. The picture above shows the “Sizzix Sandwich”.  Silicon plate, die, vinyl, silicon plate.

3. My daughter loves to help me with this step. Run your stack through your die cutting machine.

4. There are 4 different sizes of flower layers on this particular die.  For my flower, I cut out the three smaller sizes.  Of the biggest one of those, I cut out two.

5. Using your fabri-tac adhesive, glue the layers of your flower together.  I’ve made three of these cuffs now and each flower I’ve done differently.  They all look great!

Now it is time to start sewing!

6. Get your strips of fabric.  You want to have about 2″ of overlap when you wrap it around your wrist so the 9″ length in the supplies list may vary.  Most women have around a 7″-7.5″ wrist.

Place your strips right side together and sew around 3 sides.*  Leave one of the short ends open so you can turn it right side out.

*One of the bracelets I made by sewing it together with wrong sides together.  This leaves the edges unfinished and eventually it will start to fray but I think it might look good like that.  Your choice.

7. Top stitch around all four sides.  If you want to fold in the unfinished edge, that’s fine…but I didn’t bother.  That edge will be hidden.  In addition to the top stitching, I added some decorative stitching across the cuff.  I made one without it and I think I like it this way much better.  Personal preference, I guess.

8. Cut off some pieces of velcro and attach them using the fabri-tac.  On the end of your cuff that is unfinished (the side you left open to turn it), place the velcro on the vinyl side.  On the other end of the cuff (the one with the nice edge), place the velcro on the fabric side.

Glue on the flower using fabri-tac.

At this point, your cuff is complete.  You’ll want to wait a bit for the adhesive to dry before you wear it or the velcro will just come right off.

On a tip from Deb, I signed up for the Home Ec sewing classes put on by Leigh Ann at Freckled Nest.

I’m what I would consider an advanced beginner.  I’ve made some pretty cool things with my sewing machine but I don’t feel totally comfortable with it yet.  It still isn’t totally intuitive.   This class has 26 projects.  They each teach a different technique and the skill level goes up along with time in the class.

The projects that put me over the edge were this leather and canvas bag, a ruffled duvet cover, the ironing board cover, and a jersey wrap skirt.

Feeling like joining me and Deb as we sew, sew, sew?  You have just until Sunday, August 15th to sign up.

We’ve been restructuring our downstairs area and those tables were getting a lot more use and were getting harder and harder to clean off.  I decided to come up with a solution.  I’ve been thinking about it for some time and the other day at Joann’s I saw a remnant of vinyl.  This isn’t the sticky vinyl I’ve been using in my Cricut.  This is car upholstery vinyl.

I cut a strip big enough to fit the top and started to cover the top of the table with Mod Podge.

The Mod Podge probably wasn’t the best choice of glue.  But, it is what I had handy.  For the second table I used yellow carpenter’s glue and it seemed to have a better hold.  In the end, neither one of them held it on perfectly but I came up with a good solution.

Why didn’t you just staple it on, ChristyNelson.net? Good question.  That was what I was planning originally.  Then, I decided that it was too loud to do at night and I didn’t really want the vinyl to wrap all the way around the edges of the tabletop.

This is Duck Tape brand duct tape and you can find it in all sorts of designs.  This one I found at my local Super Target.  I thought this would be just the thing to put around the edge of my end tables.  It will cover up the rough edges of my vinyl (I just trimmed it with scissors–that was the easiest way I found) and it would also hold down the edges where it was kind of easy to peel up the vinyl.

I placed the tape along the edge and did one side at a time.  I folded over the corners with the first bit of tape to reach it and then started the next side by overlapping it.

I call the covering my “permanent placemat” and will be easily cleaned with just a wet cloth.  One down…one more to go!