Busy Crafting Weekend

Well I had a pretty busy crafting weekend.  I got a lot of projects started, but didn't have time to complete everything.  I also came up with some great ideas for new projects.

I worked on the wrist pin cushions.  I didn't have any kind of pattern, so it took me awhile to get into a groove of how I wanted to make them.  Some of them I'm not really happy with, but overall I think I came up with a good plan on how I want to make them in the future.  I plan on doing a number of them for Christmas gifts as I love the idea of having a pin cushion so handy during sewing projects.  I always put the pins in my mouth and inevitably end up poking my tongue.  This will probably be much safer as long as I don't ram a pin into my arm instead of my wrist.

I was so excited about the t-shirt yarn project.  I spent the time to tie die the old t-shirts first so I would end up with a great variegated yarn.  I used red and yellow tie die, which turned out pink and light yellow since I got impatient and didn't let them sit the whole 8 hours to set.  I actually like the pink better than deep red anyway, so we'll say I did this on purpose.  I started making an awesome crocheted bowl out of the t-shirt yarn that I plan on using at my desk at work.  It will be great to keep paper scraps in.....or it MAY end up being a fake flower vase.  It just depends on where my inspiration goes as I crochet.  I don't follow a pattern for crocheting, I just sort of make it up as I go and see what it turns into as different things inspire me.

The multiple decoupage projects that I worked on took up a lot more time than I thought they would.  The chest that I am doing is around a foot wide, so it's not really small. It definitely took a long time to cover it all.  The little decoupage baby box will eventually turn into a cute accordion mini album that I will take pictures of.  I have a number of great mini album ideas that I plan to work on in the future.

So that was my busy weekend in crafting.  There is much more to come as I prepare for the craft show this coming Sunday.

Decoupauge Chest

What a fun project!  But it is definitely going to take me awhile to get it exactly the way that I want it.

My First Ball Of T-shirt Yarn

This was such a fun project.  I tie died several t-shirts first so I would end up with varigated t-shirt yarn when I was done.  I'm working on making something with it, but it will be a little while before it's done.  There are a number of things that you can make out of this.  Check out spottedcanary.com to find an awesome class that they have on things you can make out of old t-shirts.  It's so fun to make upcycled crafts!

This quick wreath was fun and easy to make!  I'm looking forward to making another one for the Christmas season!

Great wrist pin cushion that I made.  As I was making this pin cushion I was wishing that I had one so I could stop putting the pins in my mouth.  It really hurts when you poke your tongue with a stick pin!

Christmas Album Fun

For the mini Christmas album I started with 8 1/2" x 11" thicker brown cardstock from Joanns.  It's not chipboard but is thicker than regular cardstock.  I folded the sheets in half 5 1/2" x 11 inch now.  I made each paper square 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" by cutting them down with a scrapbooking cutting tool.  I used 3 sheets of paper on this project, but you could use more.

I opened up the pages to the center after stacking them all together and stitched them on my sewing maching down the crease in order to bind them all together.  This is a great method to keep the book together and is very fast.  I cut out all of my base pages that I planned on using first.  This saved me from having to constantly get my cutting tool out.  I used a new Christmas paper stack that I got from Joanns this month.  The sheets were cut at about 5" x 5".  I used my ATG gun to adhear them all.  You can decorate them however you want, but view the different pictures that I posted to get some ideas.

Materials
*stiff light brown cardstock
*Christmas scrapbook paper
*Buttons and flowers
*Tape Runner
*Sewing Machine
*Zots glue dots to adhear flowers and buttons
*String
*Scrapbooking supplies such as scissors, long cutters, and paper folders
(you can use a number of other elements to decorate with)

It's fun to make hidden pockets, just make sure to cut the insert paper smaller than the pocket so it will fit without touching your glue tape.