All done!

Here's all 20 hangers all crocheted up. I finished them during a road trip to CA and watching a Season of SuperNatural. I even used the brown variegated yarn on some for my hubby since I figured he probably didn't want to hang his coats on pink hangers. One skein did 7 hangers. Now off to my next project!

Pay It Forward!

I saw this on the super talented Pixie Megh's blog a while back and I'm just getting around to posting it now.

The deal is this: The first three people to post a comment here and post this on their respective blogs will get something crafty in the mail from me. At this moment I have no idea what it might be but hopefully you'll like it.

So leave a comment, post something like this on your blog and you'll be getting a little surprise from me in the mail. How cool is that?

How did you do that?

Six down Fourteen to go!

Sometimes people see things I've posted on my blog and they call me and ask me how I made it. I've wanted to do more tutorials but haven't taken the time and documented all the steps along the way.

The other day I was driving past the local thrift store and remembering that it was dollar day decided to make a quick stop and see if I came across anything interesting. I ended up buying 20 wooden clothes hangers for $1.50 which I felt was quite a steal. I'd been wanting some sturdier hangers for the coat closet so this was perfect.

When I got home I thought that I should try crocheting covers for them since they were quite old and some were a bit discolored. Having never done this before I searched on the internet for a pattern and ended up not being able to find one that I liked. So I decided to figure it out for myself. After a little trial and error, I came up with an easy pattern and even designed a flower motif to dress it up a bit.

I've posted my step by step instructions complete with pictures on ehow. I figure this is a good medium for sharing my creations so not only my friends can see them but hopefully others will benefit from me imparting my vast crafting knowledge as well. Take a peak and tell me what you think.

Thanks!

Mother's Day Cards & Magnets

For many years my cousin gave me a Mary Engelbreit page a day calendar for Christmas. I loved looking at the new artwork each day but ofcourse couldn't bear to throw any of them away. Once my grandmother ripped off a page and used it for scrap paper and I was horrified! This is artwork not a mere piece of paper. As I ripped a page off I would just put it back in the box for safekeeping. Well a couple years ago I was going through my endless boxes of prized possessions and found many of these calendars. I started making cards and other projects with them. I haven't bought a card in years since the artwork covers every Holiday and gift giving occassion possible. I use them to decorate notepads and give sets of cards away for presents as well. I had tons of "mom" themed art so recently I made a collection of cards and magnets.

Close up of one of the cards. Each envelope is decorated with a flower.

Some magnets I made. They are "upcycled" using those pesky magnets you get on the front of your phone books. Many of them are for plumbers and since my husband is currently working as a plumber one day he took one of the magnets off the fridge and threw it away. I fished it out and told him I would cover up the advertisement one day and now I finally have made cute magnets out of all my plumber magnets that were on the fridge.

Curtain Time

I made curtains for the first time the other day. When I bought a new shower curtain for the hall bathroom. I bought two thinking I could use the other one to make curtains for the windows. It took me a while to get around to finishing the project but I think they turned out quite nice. I found the curtain rods at Ross for just $5 each which I thought was a pretty good price. Since this room gets so much sun the curtains are doubled to help keep out some of the blinding light and hopefully some of the scorching heat.


For the curtain over the sink I used the top of the shower curtain so the curtain rod could go through the grommets to hang it. I just trimmed it to the right length, doubled it over and sewed along the seam under the grommets to hold in place.

For the curtain in the shower room I used the bottom of the shower curtain and doubled it over and sewed across the bottom. I then sewed 2" & 4" from the top to make the casing for the curtain rod.

Here's a close up of the shower curtain. I got them at Target on Clearance with gift cards from the wedding. The curtain rod and hooks I found at Wal-Mart and I really do think they were cuter than anything at Target or Bed, Bath and Beyond. I'm so much happier now when I go into this room. I love how everything matches.

Baby Boy Receiving Blankets & Burp Cloths

And here's the baby boy receiving blankets and burp cloths. Needless to say I'm glad I've got them all made. I'm putting them in gift bags and sticking them up on my gift shelf ready for giving. Once again this fabric was originally purchased to make a rag quilt but paired up they make for lots of cute gifts.

Baby Girl Receiving Blankets & Burp Cloths

For the last several weeks I've been busy sewing. Since many of the people I know are pregnant most if not all of these will end up as presents. All this flannel was originally intended for a rag quilt but I thought it would be better put to use this way.

Double sided with two matching burp cloths.

I was able to make three blankets like this two of which I've already given away. I ran out of cloud flannel to make a matching burp cloth for this so instead I used the floral fabric on cloth diapers to make burp cloths to go with this blanket.

They turned out really great even though they took me a long time to make. I really need to get the serger set up and start using it to finish up projects. That would be easier than stitching right sides together, turning right side out, ironing, hand sewing opening and top stitching. Doesn't sound like much I guess but my sewing skills are a bit rusty so it takes me a while.