Happy New Year!

I always start the New Year with a word and a quote. This year I will strive for GRATITUDE! I embroidered the word Gratitude on a fish. When I get my big girl camper I am going to decorate it with fish. The quote I chose is, "Gratitude Turns What We Have Into Enough". I know that I have everything in my life that I need. I couldn't ask for a better husband, son (and Amanda), sisters, dad, family & friends, and God. I am very thankful for everything I have and I hope everyone reading this has just what they need in their lives. I wish you nothing but happiness in 2013!

Wool Flower Scarf

I saw the prettiest scarf on pinterest, and I followed the credit to the blog, watchmedaddy.blogspot.com. There I found the tutorial on how to make the felt flower scarf. I made mine our of black wool. The instructions on the blog are very easy to follow, and I think it's wonderful when people share tutorials. Check this blog out, it's great!

Jungle Quilt

We have the sweetest Kindergarten teacher at our school, about to have her first baby! She is decorating the babies room with a jungle theme. I decided to make a quilt for her expected baby boy. I found a quilt panel with a jungle theme. Great! Then I decided to use a piece of a quilt I started for the backside. (I spilled coffee on it and decided to cut it up). I hand quilted bits of the quilt and I think it turned out pretty cute!

Tiny Fairy

My friend gave me a pattern for a "Wee Folk". Oh, my!! How cute is it! I made mine a little simpler than the original pattern. I have lots of feathers, and so instead of using flowers I used the soft feathers. I had such fun making her. I think someone will open a box at Christmas and find her! You can find Felt Wee Folks by Sally Mavor on the internet. You will love all her beautiful creations.

Pin Cushion Love

I love pin cushions. Don't ask me why. Well, they are handy. They can be very pretty and there is just something cool about them. I recently made some with wool felt and little baskets. The one with 3 women's heads was given to me. I have to admit, I'm not thrilled putting pins into something that resembles humans. I would love to find an antique velvet strawberry pin cushion. Talk about beautiful!

A Little Old and a Little New

Burlap Utensil holder & Table Cloth

I love eating outside on the patio. We have a beautiful view from our house and it is calm and peaceful here. I made a burlap tablecloth and utiensil holders for outdoor dining. It is easy to change the embelishments to fit the occasions.

Thanksgiving

What am I thankful for? So much, especially my family! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I feel so blessed and thankful every day of my life.

School Ornaments!

Sorry for not posting for the last couple of weeks, but this is one of the most hectic times of the year for me! Our PTA decorates trees around our community and my student's make the ornaments. This is about 400+ ornaments that I had to turn in yesterday. I try to come up with new ones each year. Here is a picture of a few. I decided to add one more!

Roll-A-Dex

I was on pinterest not long ago. I know, that's a big surprise, right? I saw a roll-a-dex where someone had painted the little cards that go inside the box. It was so blasted cute! Then I saw one where the little cards had fabric sewn onto them. Ok, very cute once again! So I thought I should give this a try. I found a roll-a-dex box and covered the top with collaged fabrics. Next I glued a calendar page onto the inside lid. Then I painted some of the cards and sewed fabric and junk on others. I couldn't stop there! I took some of the pictures of projects I want to do, and glued them onto the cards. The ideas for the boxes are endless!

Scissor & Thread Holder

I found this wood scissor and thread holder at the thrift store for $1.00. It was a bit unkept but I knew it had potential. I painted it and fixed one of the broken dowels so I could put my bobbins on it as well as spools of thread. I decoupaged a sewing picture on the top, and ta-dah, just like new. This will look just peachy in my classroom.

Quilt Top Beauty

This quilt top has been in my closet for about 25 years. I bought it at a quilt show in Wyoming. I thought it was the second prettiest quilt top I had ever seen. One day I will blog about the prettiest quilt I have ever seen. Anyway, I took it out and decided I now have the patients to finish it. Someday, when I have my "big girl's camper", I will put it on the bed. I am going to quilt it by hand, and I will post a picture when I'm done. Let's hope that is not in another 25 years!

Yarn Bomb Lounge Chair

I am having a horrible time with photobucket. I can't get my pictures down to a decent size so please be patient with me. This picture doesn't do this chair justice! I am having so much fun working on different sized chairs. This one is so comfortable!

Stitched Top Cigar Box

I took a wood cigar box, and added some paint to the outside. Then I took some bits of fabric that I had sewn together and hot glued it to the top of the box. I made a pocket to hold a little journal on the inside lid, then filled it with art supplies. This was a little gift for one of my student's that helps me everyday without my asking.

Sewing Keeper

This little felt keeper was made with a pattern from BHG. It is simple, pretty and can be made in an hour. My kind of craft!

Pieces of Old

I found the cutest cabinet and I bought it. I painted it white and I am going to line the back of the shelves with these antique quilt blocks. I can't hardly wait until it's finished!

In the Round

Just a quick post today. I am going to make round placemats with these hand-pieced circles.

Sew Old and New Quilt Top

I was at the local quilt shop and I saw this Mother Goose panel. I thought it was cute and bought it. I decided to take some hand pieced blocks from an old quilt to complete the top.

Garden Quilt Blocks

My wonderful week off is coming to an end, but boy oh boy was it a productive one!! I pulled out my stash of garden blocks. Ok, I can make a quilt top! Oh, that was fun. Now I can make some tea towels! How about another baby quilt top? Might as well add some blocks to these pillow shams! That should do it for now!!

Stool Top

Just a quick project. I found a $3.00 stool and made a cute little top for it. Project cost $5.00.

Quilting the Day Away

I am on Fall Break and I have been dealing with some skin cancer, so I took it easy today and quilted. I have worked on this quilt on and off for years, and I finally finished quilting it today. I will sew the binding on it tomorrow and it will be done! I also sewed together these quilt blocks to make a baby quilt. I think I am going to applique a saying around the border. Don't look to carefully at the points because my sewing is far from perfect. I am a true believer that it's the thought that counts when you make a gift from the heart.

Decoupage Day

I found this box at the Habitat Store and I thought it would be a great storage box for paint supplies. I had some tissue paper that I had ordered from Stampington & Co. and it was perfect to make my new box unique. While I was at it, I decided to decoupage some flowerpots with tissue paper and paper napkins.

Crayon Name Wreath

This was a super easy wreath made from crayons, a piece of cardboard and an extra name plate I had in my classroom. Oh, and hot glue!

Button Heaven!

Today I went to see my aunt and she gave me a big coffee can full of buttons. She also gave me a bunch of sewing supplies and fabric. It was all so wonderful, but I couldn't hardly stand not digging through the buttons right when she gave me the container. I Love Buttons!! When I got home I poured them out on the counter and started sorting them. There they were in all their glory. Tiny little white buttons, old wood buttons, brass and silver buttons..you name it, there they were. There was even a button off her father's military coat. I was honored to receive these gems. I will be making something beautiful with them very soon!

Handkerchief Aprons

I found these aprons in an antique store north of Prescott, Arizona. The proprietor of the store told me they came from a ranch estate in Williams, Arizona. She also said the help on the ranch actually wore them. I seem to be drawn to old things that are pretty and impractical. Yes I bought them and no I will never wear them, but their history fascinates me.

Sew Fun!

This weekend I spent some time preparing for new projects. I like to sew my fabrics and then I can grab a piece and work on the hand-stitching when I have a little time here and there.

Two New Journals

Crayon Melt

I have seen this on Pintrest many times and I decided to try it. It was fun, easy and the kids in my classroom love it. I just glued crayons down on the top of a canvas, took my heat gun and started melting the crayons, and let them run down the canvas until I was happy with the results. Then I took a stencil and wrote the words "create" with crayons and ran my hot glue gun across the letters until the colors blended. These are not the instructions to complete this project correctly. I just looked at the pictures I saw and tried to figure out how to do it.

Yarn Bombed Chair

I had a chair at school that I was going to paint and I decided to "yarn bomb" it instead. It was a little more work than my stool, but it was worth it. I have a child's chair that I think I will try next.

Easy Breezy Tea Towels

I picked up material last summer that had tea towel designs on the fabric. Today I cut them out and sewed the edges. Easy Breezy!

The Old Fashioned Way

I made a cover for an address book and then I started wondering if many people even use an address book anymore? I have addresses and contacts in my phone and on my ipad, but I still look in my address book when I mail a letter or a package. Creature of habit I guess! Maybe it's a backup if technology isn't available or the devices crash. I don't know, but I think I will hang onto it. Here is the address book I just finished.

Round Box Top

Many years ago my family and I were driving to Wyoming to see my sister and her family. We stopped in Colorado and I found a cute sewing book and sewing supplies and I bought them so I could keep myself busy in the car. I made this fabric piece and put it away when I got home. Long story short, I found it the other day and decided to cover the top of a box with it. It's a rather sad little saying but I thought the picture was so darned cute!

Make That 2 Bullitin Boards!

I thought my other bullitin board turned out pretty cute, so I made another one using scraps of materials I sewed together. I added a little lace, some buttons and a tag.

Journals

I spent a good bit of the weekend sewing the covers of some new journals. Here is a sample of what the inside of my journals looks like. I like to make the pages out of things I have around the house and recycle book pages that fit my themes.

Small Bullitin Board

I had a little bullitin board that I decided to fancy up and sell.

Extreme Gratitude

My blog is mostly about the art or crafts I make, but today it is about gratitude. If you know me, you know my husband and I have 1 son, Michael. He brings us the most amazing joy and we are very proud of the man he has become. When Michael was in collage we use to send him care packages, a tradition my parents did for my brother and sisters and I in collage. Every now and then we still send one to our son, just for fun. Well, today I went to get the mail and guess what was there? Yes, a care package from our son and his girlfriend to us. It had art supplies for my classroom, music, games, and a picture of Wrigley Field for my husband who loves baseball. My heart was so happy, yes for the sweet supplies, but more for knowing we have raised a son that is kind, loving and who always has us in his heart. I am filled with gratitude and love for my family.

Re-Make

I'm back at school so I don't have as much free time on my hands. The first week is always the craziest, but I'll try to keep up with my blog. There may not be a lot of written text, but I'll put some project pictures in. I'm excited about my job this year. I have tons of new lessons, a new principal, and lots of great kids! This little make-up bag is recovered with a bit of crazy quilt. I love hearts, so I stitched one on the front.

Yarn "Bombed" Stool

I left my stool outside and the birds picked the seat apart to make a nest. I yarn bombed it and I think it is better than ever!