One of my favorite blogs lately is the cricut holiday blog. Over Christmas they had really neat cards and scrapbook layouts that were truly beautiful. Now that the Christmas season is (long) over they are posting for other holidays and just because. All of their projects are super sweet. It’s a great way to see what is possible with the various cricut cartridges and even learn about other cartridges that maybe you haven’t seen just yet. I’ve borrowed a cricut from a friend of mine and I’ve been having a ton of fun with it. I’m going to have to buy one soon though because when she asks for it back, I’m going to suffer from withdrawal pains. One thing they do is have give-aways every week. I think it’s a nice touch, but truly the benefit of the site is the adorable content. I’ve subscribed to their email feed and waking up to latest note from them every morning is just a fun way to start the day.
I was looking back over some posts that I had sent myself to review a while back and I came across this.
Fabric Wall Art
What a great idea to use fabric shapes to decorate with and then easily be able to remove them without harming the walls! It seems quite likely that soon our family will be renting a home instead of buying one. I’ll be using this trick, I’m sure. I recently borrow a cricut from a friend (I can’t wait to buy my own!) and I can imagine creating shapes from some of the awesome cartridges and then using them as patterns to do this.
I have been oohing and aahing over all things patchwork recently. I finally decided to buy the I Heart Patchwork book to get some good project ideas that were simple and beautiful. This book is well written and the projects are just great. I just got the book, but I’ve read it cover to cover and was just starting to look at my fabric stash to start working on the sewing machine cover.
Today though, I saw this project!
Patchwork Laptop Bag
My new laptop is in the mail to me now and I didn’t want to get a boring bag for it. This is perfect. I love making things that are useful or even necessary, but also beautiful. Now I have to hurry up and make the sewing machine cover before my laptop gets here and I get distracted with the new project.
I just heard about the Fabric Bar blog earlier this week and then here is this adorable craft project that is so easy (an idea for girl scouts?) and yet useful and you could make one for any occasion or to match anything. You should look at all the adorable dresses on the site while you’re there too!
Can’t think of a good piece of art (I said art!) you want to have hanging on your wall for many moons to come? This is a great idea to add some color and be able to change the art with the seasons!
Inspiration: Framed Flowers
Certainly we think of flower arranging as an art, but we’ve never considered literally treating bouquets as artworks, by framing them as one would frame a painting. It’s an interesting way to use the wall as a dynamic space, with an ever-changing palette of color and texture, rather than as a static backdrop for a permanent display.
via Apartment Therapy San Francisco | Inspiration: Framed Flowers.
What a great idea for reusing something and making it new. I don’t really know anyone who doesn’t need some help with organizing their craft space either and this is beautiful and useful!
Repurposing Craft/tool station with wall organizer
Craft and tool station
This project is what Elizabeth would call “finding crap on the curb and making something fabulous.” I found this mint green railing (from a crib? shelves?) in a pile of debris. Add galvanized wall pocket planters (on clearance at Jo-Ann for $1.50 each), daisy hooks (thanks, Kristi), spice rack ($3.50 at a thrift store), paper/pen bin (thanks, Jim), dowels and wire for hooks (Freecycle), and I’ve got a cheap craft organizing solution. A power strip and a salvaged bench vice (thanks, dad) attached to the rolling toolbox make it complete. Can’t wait to use it!
via Craft/tool station with wall organizer – Craftynest.
I love this bag! The tutorial is great and the final product is adorable and useful! I’m going to make one of these!
Zippered Case with Reverse Applique
Just in time for the back to school season, this embroidered pencil case is perfect for all ages. This case can be pieced together out of various fabrics or made from just a single cut. The addition of hand embroidery elevates this utilitarian item to a whole new level. The pen and pencil motif are embroidered on cotton fabric and then reverse appliqued to the front of the pouch. It’s an easy technique that results in a striking effect. You may also choose to applique the embroidery as a patch. See the end of the post for photos.
via O.F. Patterns and Tutorials: Zippered Case with Reverse Applique.
I recently made this skirt for my daughter. As soon as I saw the fabric, I knew I wanted to make her a skirt. I hope it will keep her warm this fall. She needs a good shirt to go with it though.
So I have this issue with not throwing away anything that can be reused! It’s so much fun to think of creative ways to repurpose things. The problem of course is that if you keep things (that other people call trash!) and then you don’t make the time to do anything with them, your house becomes filled with… well, trash. I have been collecting the cardboard sleeves that come on coffee cups for a while. My daughter, leave it to kids, has found all sorts of creative things to do with them, while I keep adding to the stash. Yesterday as I carried out 3 bags of stuff (destined for the trash can) from work, I really got to thinking about this and that I didn’t want to just bring this stuff into my house and have it sit. So, I came up with an idea. I’ve been wanting to do something more interesting with my blog anyway as I have a hard time with consistently updating it. I’ve decided that at least once a week, I will make something with the stuff I have collected and I will write a post about it. I’m looking forward to this, I think it will be lots of fun. (And maybe I’ll finally do something productive with all this stuff I’ve been collecting! 
)
My daughter has been drawing pictures of dresses a lot lately so I pulled out some patterns I had of old dresses. She very intently looked through all of them and picked one out that she’d like to have. I haven’t done a lot of sewing (especially recently), but I think this could be a lot of fun. I have the pattern sitting on my desk so I see it every time I sit down. Just looking at the patterns has me very excited. I’m hoping to make the dress for her for Halloween, which is coming up quickly so I had better get started. I’ll keep you posted about my progress. First things first, I need to buy some fabric!
