Wordle-ing my brains out

If you haven't tried Wordle yet...YOU MUST!  I've been using it for all sorts of things and Christmas projects.  I won't share them all because some of them are for people who may on occasion click on this blog.  But I will share one with you that I took to a gift exchange at church and it was a big hit.  I really need to make one of these for myself because I wanted to steel my own gift back!

I used this website Wordle and typed in the words I wanted.  To make the bigger words you type them in more often.  So for "Believe, Christ, and We" I typed them in 3 times each.  Then you can manipulate how you want them, what font they are to be in, size, shape, color EVERYTHING!  It's fabulous, then just print...FOR FREE!

I printed mine on vellum and Mod Podged it over scrapbook paper on this cool wooden thingy.  I call it a wooden thingy because I have no idea what it was used for in the first place.  Since it's just you and you won't tell anyone else, I got it off the curb, it was dark brown and solid wood, so I painted it and WA-LA!  I may have found 8 of it's brother's and sister's on the curb too and can't wait to get to making these for my family next year for Christmas.  I'm going to ask each family for 20 or so words that describe them and then make one for each family group.

SOOOOO long story short this gift cost me $0 out of pocket that day I had everything in my stash!  YAY for the stash!

Feel the LoVe

I love Valentine's day. Sadly enough my hubby thinks it some made up holiday that is pretty much pointless. (and really if you think about it, it is) Thankfully he's sweet to me all year long so I don't miss Valentine's Day too much. I do however take the opportunity to do some things for the kids. They usually get some candy or a little trinket of my love. This year I came up with this really cute idea for book marks. I made some for Christmas and they were a hit, so I hearted them up and they are ready for Valentine's Day.

I am trying soooooooo hard to get better at photographing my things, this is better don't ya think? (lie to me if you have to!) Anyhoo, I used really stiff fusible interfacing. It is fusible on both sides so you can sandwich it in between two pieces of fabric. I tried to get a pic that showed how stiff it is:

Basically I just fused two pieces of fabric to the interfacing. I used Wonder Under to fuse the middle section to the book mark, and then just zig zag stitched around it all. Be sure to put your ribbon in while you are fusing the first pieces. I'm going to be making more of these for my sewing students so I'll post pictures when I do.

I had the interfacing and ribbon here already in my stash, and the fabric was leftover from my barter with Heather. She was kind enough to let me keep the excess! So all of that equals FA-REE! My girls are gonna squeal when they see these.

Warm up your winter

Being a California native living in the Midwest I have to admit that I am freezing my Patootie off! I think I shiver from November to May, and I'm not zageratin'!! A few years ago I discovered rice bags. If you haven't seen them or used one you are missing out. They are basically bags made from cotton fabric that are filled with rice. When it's time to use them you pop them in the microwave and they stay toasty warm for quite a while. My kids use big ones to warm their sheets before bed, my husband uses the XL ones to loosen the muscles in his back.

Well the other day it hit me... TINY RICE BAGS!! So I made these tiny rice bags for the kids to put in their jacket pockets so their hands stay warm as they are waiting for the bus in this Arctic weather. I always feel guilty sending them out in the cold every morning while I wave from the window, now I don't fee SOOO bad! (well maybe still a little bad, but at least frost bite is off the table now!)

These little squares of FiRe are made from cotton fabric cut into 4 inch squares, sewn together and filled with rice. Place them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they will stay warm in your pockets for about 30-40 minutes, just enough time to catch the bus, play in the snow, or walk from the parking lot at work to your cubicle! Best part, I got the fabric for free from a friend, and had the rice in the pantry. So for a few pennies you have a wonderful, warm, winter gift.

Linking up to:

Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home and

Bizzy Bee Creations

It's Official!

Well it's official, I think this is the earliest I have ever started shopping for Christmas. What's a girl to do when there are great deals to be had? I found fleece PJ sets at Wally World today for $1.50 each! Can't make them for that price.

I've also got a few projects planned for the next few months. I want to do something for my parents this year that will involve getting my brother to help me out. Hopefully it will pull together the way I think it will, we'll see.

I haven't crafted since before Christmas, I guess you can say I have a little burn out. That's ok because it will come back soon enough and this year I plan on starting the Christmas Crafting EARLY! Maybe I should have called this blog "The 12 Months of Christmas"! Sometimes I think it feels like that around here.

"Tis the season for gift exchanges!

The closer we get to Christmas it seems the more parties and gift exchanges we are involved in. Sure mostly they have a $5 limit on them, that's not so bad, right? Well times that by 4-5 gift exchanges and it can really add up. So last night my daughter and I rummaged through my craft room for a project for her gift exchange at church. She was actually really excited to make a gift and she thinks she may try and get this one back for herself tonight. Here is what she came up with:

Yes, another project from a block of wood, but they sure are cute.

No Sew Cute

I found this great idea for a no-sew craft here I loved it so much I had to make one of my own. As usual it was done with things I already had around the house so it was FA-REE!!

Before:

And AFTER:

An up-close so you can see the detail. I used only 3 different fabrics, not including the green and red at the bottom for accent. I also embellished with a little pearl trim (.25 cents on clearance at Joann's years ago!)

Halloween Treats

I know Halloween is basically over but I had to share this great free treat. I work at a local fabric store and sometimes I do get the best stuff for free. They were tossing these lovely ghost plates in the trash last year and I quickly snatched them up. So cute and they are glass. I made some yummy cookies and there you have a wonderful free gift for friends and neighbors.

I'm not saying I actually condone dumpster diving... but I'm not saying I don't either... you never know what you might find.