Linen Lavender Sachets

I made these lovely lavender sachets earlier this year for my bridesmaids. Quick, easy and inexpensive to make, I think that they would also make a great gift for friends/family during this holiday season. You could stamp with holiday images of snowmen, snowflakes, Santa, Christmas trees in colors of red or green…use your imagination!

The instructions I followed are from PaintCutPaste.com, but I did make mine with one variation. As I didn’t have any rubber stamps on hand, and didn’t want to leave the house just to find a stamp, I made a simple heart shaped stamp from a potato. A potato stamp is easy to make and very inexpensive, and if you don’t know how to, I recommend watching the How to Make Potato Stamps video from Martha Stewart.

Here’s what you’ll need to make linen lavender sachets:

• Linen fabric
• Lavender
• Poly-fill
• EITHER rubber stamp(s) and ink pad(s) in color(s) of your choice OR potato stamp(s) and fabric paint(s) in color(s) of your choice if using a potato
• Thread
• Sewing machine

Instructions:

• As mentioned, the instructions I followed are on PaintCutPaste.com, but used a potato stamp instead of a rubber stamp. If using a potato stamp, do allow the paint to dry before sewing. Please do let me know if you have questions.

Happy Holidays!

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Quilted Burlap Christmas Stocking

This is our first Christmas in our new house, and I decided to make new Christmas stockings for the fireplace mantle.  I love the rustic look of a burlap stocking, but wanted to soften it up a bit, which is why I decided to add a quilted cuff with a lace trim.

I found the best tutorial for making a lined stocking with a cuff on the Cluck Cluck Sew website. McCall’s has a free stocking pattern (with instructions) online, but as I don’t have a printer at home, I used last year’s Christmas stocking as the pattern and cut 5/8″ larger than the stocking’s edge.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Fabric for the outside of the stocking – I used burlap
• Fabric for the lining of the stocking – I used linen leftover from another project
• Fabric for the cuff – I used the Diamond Double Faced Quilt Fabric
• Fabric for the hanging tab – I actually used twine, but you could use the burlap and sew a tab
• Lace (optional)

Instructions:

• As mentioned, the best tutorial was on the Cluck Cluck Sew website. The only change I made was to add a piece of lace to the bottom of the cuff. I added the lace before I sewed the raw edges of the cuff together.

I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy decorating for the upcoming Christmas season!

I know we are all busy, and if you don’t have the time to make a stocking yourself, I am happy to sell you one. Please use the contact form below to reach me directly.

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Autumnal Door Arrangement

Hello again! It’s been over a year since I have made a post! Life got a bit busy. I started a new job, then got engaged/married, and bought a house…all in the same year! Now that life has slowed down, I have more time for crafting…and blogging. Yea!

Last week, inspired by Martha Stewart’s Autumnal Door Arrangements, my friend and I made our own versions of the seasonal door decorations. Only a few materials are needed, and you may find that you already have most of what’s needed. Unfortunately, the caning was impossible to find! I substituted burlap, which turned out amazing and was probably way cheaper! I decided to use fresh flowers instead of dried or artificial silk and got the Autumnal flora from a variety of places – JoAnn’s, the grocery store, even my own backyard.

Materials

• Floral wire or floral tape
• Caning or burlap
• Scissors
• String
• Decorative ribbon
• Wire
• Autumnal flora arrangement (dried or fresh)

If you found caning and will use that instead of burlap, follow Martha’s instructions. However, if you will be using burlap as I did, you’ll want to follow these steps.

Steps

Step 1

• Bind the stems of foliage, twigs, and flower bouquets using floral wire or floral tape.

Step 2

• If using fresh flowers, wrap ends of stems with a damp paper towel or newspaper and secure a small plastic bag over the towel/paper with the floral wire.

Step 3

• Position burlap as a diamond, and wrap the sides around, enclosing the bouquet. To secure, tie a piece of string around.

Step 4

• Wrap with a decorative ribbon (I used a brown ribbon I saved from Pottery Barn), tying it in back for a tailored look. Run a wire through the back to hang.

Happy Fall!!!  

I also made an arrangement that didn’t hang on the door. Instead I used a plate stand to prop it up. Worked perfectly!

New Life for Old Candles

I have quite a few old, half burned candles packed away in a closet, with little intention of using again. I knew that there had to be a way to get new life out of the candles, but what? And how easy would it be to do? I’ve never melted wax before!

Turns out it’s super easy to melt down an old candle. Simply put the candle(s) in a pot, turn the burner on medium and the wax will melt. I would recommend buying an old pot from Goodwill/Salvation Army because you will ruin the pot.

For the containers, I found inspiration online – use old tea cups from Goodwill or Salvation Army.  I decided to expand the idea and use old Mason jars too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Candles
• Tea cups and/or Mason jars
• Candle wicks
• Wick stablizers
• Candle scent (optional)
• Hot glue gun
• Pencils or kabab sticks

Instructions:

• Clean the tea cups and jars thoroughly and dry completely.
• Place candles in the pot and put the pot on a stove with the burner on medium. If candle is already in a glass container, simply place the glass container into a pot of water on your stove burner. Water should reach no more than halfway up the glass sides. Heat the glass container in the water over a medium flame until the was is pourable.

• While you are waiting for wax to melt, cut candle wicks. The candle wick should be 1-2″ longer than the depth of the cup/jar. Attach one end of the wick to a wick stabilizer (I didn’t use them, but wish I had).
• Place your wick in the center of your cup/jar and glue the base down with a dab of hot glue. Let dry.

• When wax has melted, pour into the cup/jar. You can gently adjust the wick to make sure it is straight after you poor the wax in. You may need to hold the wick in place with pencils or with kabob sticks.

• Let sit until the wax is cool and solid.
• Trim wick down to 1/4″.

I have a few final FYI’s:

• Be cognizant of what colors you are melting together.
• Wax is very hard to clean up from counters. In order to help with cleanup, cover your work space in newspaper. wish I had done that.
• Wax’s flash point is 300 degrees F, don’t let it’s temperature exceed 250 degrees.

DIY Jewelry Organizer

First post! I’m excited!

I made this jewelry organizer a few years ago, but recently gave it a facelift to match my new apartment. That’s one thing I love about it. So easy to change to match a new color scheme or theme.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• An old frame. You can find these for a few bucks at any Goodwill or Salvation army.
• Spray paint (if you want to paint the frame).
• Foam board. If I remember correctly I picked mine up at a Bartell’s. If not, any craft store will have it.
• Fabric
• Glue gun or craft glue
• Nails
• Wire
• Mounting T-Pins
• Craft Razor Knife

Instructions:

• Clean the frame. If you found one that doesn’t need painted, skip to step #3.
• Spray paint the frame. I recommend 2-3 light coats. Be super careful not to put on too heavy of a coat or it will run. Let dry.
• Cut the foam board to fit the frame. I found a Craft Razor Knife to be the easiest. You probably could get away with scissors since no one will see the edges.
• Cut the fabric to fit the foam board. Leave 2-3 inches of fabric beyond the edge of the foam board. You’ll need this extra fabric!
• Heat up your glue gun. Put the fabric face down on a table. Center the foam board over the fabric and turn the fabric over the edges of the board. Glue the fabric down. Again, don’t worry about it being neat. It’s on the backside an nobody will see. Let dry.
• Fit the covered foam board into the frame and glue down along the lip of the frame. You can use a glue gun or a stronger craft glue. You will need to be a bit more careful with the glue because it could leak through to the front of the frame. Let dry.

• A quick way to hang is to hammer in two nails, one on either side of the frame, towards the top. Secure a piece of wire to each nail.
• Arrange the t-pins to your liking. And re-arrange as your jewelry collection changes.