Old Christmas Card Uses - vol 2

30 Days of Christmas Fun!

Use up those old Christmas cards!  

Reuse and recycle!

My mother-in-law had a tradition on Thanksgiving night.  She pulled out the previous year's Christmas cards and started cutting.  She cut out all the portions of the cards that appealed to her and made gift tags for the coming season!  

Use fancy scissors if you like

Hole punch to attach ribbon or string

Bounty of tags! 

Today is the day to link up with your Christmas ideas!

1.  Link up with one of your specific blog posts with your Christmas recipe, decoration idea, or craft idea.  We want to see and share!

2.  Please leave a comment for me, and comment on other blogs that have linked up here--This is a sharing thing!

3.  I will feature my favorite links next Friday and have another linky party!  

4.  Grab my button (on the sidebar), add it to your blog to share and expand the fun! Thanks!

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Old Christmas Card Uses - vol. 1

30 Days of Christmas Fun!

Grab a button from sidebar

Project #1 with old cards:  I save my Christmas cards and reuse them for several things.  Here is one project using them.

my saved cards

Make a Christmas decoupaged box with last year's cards!

You will need a little box, can be any small box.  This one is one of those paper boxes from my local craft mart.  You will also need a pair of scissors, and some decoupage medium*.  Optional items are ribbon, twine, fabric scraps, buttons, trims, tassels, stickers.

*A great little accessory for your crafting supply cupboard that you really must have is Mod Podge!   It's the all-in-one glue, sealer, finish for tons of projects!  More info on Mod Podge is found here.  I love it!

Cut any portions of the cards that you like in any shape.  Glue (decoupage) these pieces to the box, covering it completely. Add stickers, trims or anything that you like. Make sure that you put another layer of decoupage medium over everything when finished to seal it.

 You can even use thin tissue paper for the inside, if you like.

Use your decorated box as a gift box, a candy dish, or to store small items (replacement light bulbs for the tree, ornament hangers etc).

See you tomorrow for more Christmas fun!

Adjust a Recipe!

Save time--Adjust a Recipe!

While surfing Pinterest the other day, I found a recipe that I can't wait to try! It originally appeared on bonappetit.com a recipe by Julie Hasson.  If you want the original recipe you can find it here.
Anyway, I am all for shortcuts and I will cook my own version of this basic Whoopie Pie dressed up for Christmas!  (Anything to save time during the holidays.)  Just stop by the store on your way home and get a devils food cake mix and a can of vanilla frosting. (and peppermint candy, if you don't have any already for the holidays.) You most probably have everything else in your home cupboards.....

picture by P. Mittongtare for bonappetit.com

Whoopie Pies, Christmas Style

1 egg
1/2 c shortening
1/2 t. peppermint extract
Cream together first three ingredients

Devils Food cake mix- 1 box
2T milk*
Add devils food mix to the creamed mixture and add the milk to the crumbly mixture.
*If you need a better consistency add another tablespoon of milk. chill in the refrigerator while you make supper. When ready, roll a tablespoon of batter into a circle with your hands and put onto a non-stick pan (or greased pan.) Flatten them out just a bit with a moisten glass or back of a spoon.  Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Turn out onto cooling racks when done.


Filling:

1 can prepared vanilla frosting
red food coloring
optional: peppermint flavoring
crushed peppermint candy or other sprinkles if you prefer

Finishing:
Blend the peppermint flavoring and a couple of drops food coloring to make the frosting pink.  Make a sandwich by filling two cookies with the frosting mixture.  When finished roll the edges in the crushed candy and voila!  You have an easy cookie for guests!

Join us tomorrow for a quick way to make gift tags! 

Fabric Scrap Stockings!

Here's another idea to use your fabric scraps for Christmas!

Make a stocking 

to hang by the chimney with care.

Before I share how to make one, let me share how this idea came about! Quite a few years ago, when my first husband was going thru Cancer treatments, my oldest son's friend surprised us with a wonderfully thoughtful, creative gift for our whole family!  Our door bell rang on Christmas morning and when we went to see who it was, not a person was there, but left on the doorstep was a box of fully stuffed stockings--One for each member of our family--and we were a large family at that time.  Mom and Dad and six kids. This young lady crafted stockings for each of us.  They were handmade with our names on them.  We would have never known who made them, except one of the kids saw her down the street hopping into her car. To this day I don't remember what delights were in any of them but I still have the stockings.  Well, I have two of them; the others, I have since given to my children, now all grown.

There was nothing fancy about any of the stockings.  She made them from scraps of fabric decorated with ribbons and trims.  My husband's stocking, said "Darryl" with glued on letters made from bits of white trim.  For mine she used pink ribbon. They were all in random shapes of boots, heels, or socks.  Each was hand stitched using various pieces of quilted fabrics or Christmas fabrics leaving raw edges and exposed stitches everywhere!

Each had a ribbon loop for hanging.  And, obviously, each holds a special place in our hearts for her thoughtfulness and generosity, in our time of need.

Point being:  Don't sweat it! 

 Throw out the rules! 

Make something creative and don't worry about your skill level.  

Use what you have and make it fun!*

So, grab my button, on the sidebar, add it to your blog and join the party!  Write your own Christmas idea in a blog post, and don't forget to come back here on Friday to link up!  Let the ideas abound!

*P.S. and BTW, be generous this year! 

P.S.S.  More stocking ideas to come!
PSSS.  Linked up today with Sew Much Ado

Holiday Pillow Cover

Since it is the first of the month, there is plenty of time to work on this project. Other projects to follow may not be as involved as we get closer to Christmas. Whatever you chose to do this month--have fun!

Today's project -- a cute pillow cover made from scraps of Christmas fabrics (a Pillow cover tutorial). 

 

Start with a pile of Christmas fabric scraps (and a pillow form that you already have--or purchase one at the local home/fabric store, 12" by 12" for this tutorial or adjust this pattern for any size pillow you prefer.)

Start with a square piece approximately 5 inches by 5 inches.  Applique any cute design on it using scraps of felt or fabric.  You can embellish it with buttons, floss, ribbon, anything that you have available.  I used felt, embroidery floss and a fabric scrap for this snowman's scarf.  Use your imagination and have fun!  (That's the point, right?)  No right or wrong here.  

After you are finished with your applique, use strips of fabric scraps to sew on each end, log cabin style.  If you need instruction on this process, go here -- but my pieces are not as precision as in the tutorial. I personally like a less precise crazy quilt look, so I just add strips around until I get it the size that I want. Don't worry if the strips are not long enough--patch them!  Have fun creating!

making a strip longer w/ 1/4 inch seam

patched strips

Keep sewing until the finished product is big enough to be the front cover of your pillow cover--approximately 13 by 13 inches for tutorial pillow.  

After you finish the top cover, you need to make an envelope closing for the back, from two pieces of fabric--each approximately 13 by 8 inches.    Put a hemmed seam (on each piece) on one 12 inch side.  

Place the 'log cabin patchwork pieced front', right side up on a flat surface. Imagine this piece is your patchwork piece:

Lay your two 13 by 8 inch sections--face down/right sides touching each other--over lapping the hemmed sides in the middle of the 13 by 13 square.  Square up all outside edges so you have a 13 by 13 inch square (matching all the raw sides). I have used different fabrics to help you see how to lay the fabrics.  

Sew all the way around the four sides of the 13 by 13 inch square layers making a 1/2 inch seam. Trim later if you prefer.  When finished turn inside out-through the hemmed edges) and viola!  there you have your pillow cover!  (You may want to  add a button or velcro to your envelope opening, if you prefer.)  This should make your cover 12.5 inches by 12.5 inches square, just right to go over a 12 inch square pillow form.  

Enjoy!

P.S. See you tomorrow for another quick project! Also, Grab the "30 Days of Christmas Fun" Button for your blog and spread the Fun!

Christmas Fun!

Christmas day is just one month away!  Let's make every day count for a wonderful season this year!  I am doing a month-long series of Christmas Fun!  Recipes, crafts, stockings, decorations, just plain ole fun! Lots of ideas, quick ideas, to maximize your time.  Stick around, come back everyday for some awesome fun ideas. Share some of your ideas on Fridays with a linky!  Join me, won't you!

Christmas Fun ahead . . . . .

Holiday Weekend Sales

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Today and this weekend are some of the biggest shopping days of the year.  Lots of sales out there! 

I have some wonderful sponsors in this blog and I wanted to tell you about the sales that they are having this weekend! 

Edi, of Memories for Life,  says:  "I'll be having a one-day-only sale on Saturday, November 24th in honor of Small Business Saturday.  Use Code: SBS20OFF for 20% off the entire shop!"

Here are some of my favorites from her shop.

Personalized Wood Greeting Card

Destination Vacation Scrapbook

Etched Beer Mug/Stein

Also, Tilisa, of Blue Bird Blvd, has quite a list of values that you might want to peruse.

All hair bow, crochet flowers, jewelry, and little stockings will be on sale as follows:
Crochet single flowers: $1.40 sale $2.00 Reg.
Ribbon flower hair bows $1.99 sale $2.50 Reg.
Fabric flower hair bows $2.99 sale $3.50 reg.
Satin rosette hair bows $3.49 sale $3.99 reg
Lace flower hair bows $4.49 sale $4.99 reg
Earrings: $3.99 sale $4.50 reg.

Cabochon Ring

Cabochon Earrings

 
      Little stockings: buy 3 get one free, also for all orders over $10.00 get one free little stocking, over $25.00 get two free little stockings, over $50.00 get three free little stockings

And then there is my personal favorite:

Infant Rosette Headband

So, have a wonderful shopping weekend, where ever you shop! 

Is your bird stuffed?

This one is! 

Holiday Season!

The holiday season is upon us! In a couple of days, it will be Thanksgiving. Many of us will start our decorating, then the holiday shopping season hits! I'll bet many of you are planning on attending holiday parties! I have a suggestion for you! How about giving a little gift to your hostess? Whether it's a man or a woman, they will love these coaster sets. Or stash a couple sets away for last minute gifting!

Have a look at the assortment in my shop, sure to please anyone! Here's a sneak peek of the variety:

Basketball Fan?

Modern Minimalist? 

Patriot?

Neon Lover?

This is just a little peek.  More styles and colors in my shop. 

Hop on over and take a look~~THANKS!

Thanksgiving Day Sale

Well, It's that time of year!  Thanksgiving is this Thursday and I hope that your holiday will be just awesome!
We will  be having just family--although that now includes the family of the boyfriend of one of my granddaughters!  The total number is now 53 people!   We're renting a hall!   That's what happens when you have as big a family as mine!  (If you don't know me, you wouldn't know that we have ten kids and 26 grands and two great-grands!)

Anyway, I am celebrating with a SALE in one of my shops!  Free Shipping NOW through Cyber Monday!
No need for coupon codes, all listings are already changed with free shipping!!

Have a great week!

I seeeeee you!

On a recent trip to the farm, we saw this duck in his home in the brambles!

Holiday Weekend Project Incomplete

Well, I didn't complete my goal for the holiday weekend! I had wanted to finish an entire quilt during the long weekend, but other things seem to always get in the way of one's plans!  I had in mind a 'crayon box quilt',  anyway that's what I call it.  Lots of primary colors all surrounded by black lattice work with a black and colorful backing.   "Should be a fun project" I thought.  And I did have enough supplies to finish it in one weekend! 

My fabric scrap pile had been getting higher and higher!  So I sorted out some larger pieces and some strip pieces like in the photo below.  I tried to stick to "crayon" colors--brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink etc.--for the larger pieces.  Since I was using my scraps, some of these are relative with small gauge prints, like the one pictured here for brown. 

squares and strips 

I then added strips of fabric in a simple log cabin style around the squares to frame them.

Here's one that was completed.

I got the top all together, and, wouldn't you know, decided I wanted the finished product larger.  So that meant adding some more blocks.

So I picked out some suitable fabric pieces but got side-tracked by a friend on Sunday.  She had some other plans, which were fun, but didn't allow me to finish.   Then on Monday, Veterans Day, I realized that I have a big craft show coming up next weekend, so I shelved the quilt project in favor of  more expedient inventory projects.

Oh well, there is always another day . . . . 

What have you shelved lately? 

Thanks Dad (and all Veterans)!

I would be remiss if I didn't honor my dad and all veterans on Veteran's day TODAY!  My dad was in WWII and the Korean affair.  He was a machinist on a Destroyer Escort, and served on the USS Severling.    He loved his country dearly and was proud to serve.  This is an early picture, as he entered service when he was just 17 years old.  

Thanks to all who have sacrificed in service to country!  May you be blessed!  We honor you today.

Leaves on Friday Finds

Looking out my window has inspired me for today's finds..  I admire those who are able to capture emotion and feeling in their work.  Today I am sharing photographs that show the feeling of my day today.  I hope you enjoy them and will be checking out the other work of these photographers on Etsy.

Colorful Maple Leaves by terrymillsphoto 

Wet Canvas by crphotographicimages

Water drops by skworld

Muddy Autumn by CaseysButtonJar

I have linked up with Randomcreative's Friday Features.  Hop on over to see what everyone is doing!

Remember These?

Remember these?  

available from yesteryours 

Maybe you are too young to ever have gone to school and sat in one of these desks. Or maybe you think these older versions are "quaint."

available from antiqweeker  

Well, the other day I heard that a young teacher said that these would eventually be in a museum as "torture chambers"!  I beg to differ!  I spent many a happy day in one of these and I learned a lot.  But the comment made me think.

These days school children sit at a table, communal style, about six to a table.  Some of these tables are rectangles, some are circles.   The circle ones leave little room for table top work space because they are pie shaped and children sit almost elbow to elbow. Supplies at these work stations are communal.  Children share supplies from a pile or tray in the middle of the table. There is no room for anything else.  They learn to take turns.  Now this may not seem bad on the surface, but I beg to differ.  In the old desks, one had to learn to be responsible for his own supplies.  Your supplies were in your desk.  If you broke your own crayons, you suffered the consequences and used crayon bits for your drawings.  This taught you to care for your items. It taught responsibility.  And, by-the-way, Johnny got in trouble for taking something from someone else's desk.

I am sad that children today, may be learning an entitlement mentality and it is no wonder that our society is becoming more socialistic. They are learning it from a young age.  And it is further not a wonder that the entrepreneurial  spirit is being assaulted. How dare one be different! Are we to become just a part of the Borg,  a cog in the system?  For me, I still value creativity, individualism and old desks.  Just sayin . . . . .