Paper Plate Baskets

I was sipping my coffee and browsing the internet and came upon this great tutorial by Sarah Hearts for making baskets out of paper plates - the cheap, flimsy kind.  You know, the ones that leak all over and fold in half as soon as you put any food on them.  These baskets are easy peasy and quite addictive.  I thought they would be cute using the Japanese fabric sticky tape that I have in my new Etsy supply shop. 


Here are the baskets that I made - I used some vintage buttons for embellishments, but you could put anything on them, or you could leave them plain and just taped together.  

If you would like to learn to make these, the tutorial is by Sarah Hearts, and she has the tutorial here.   I would love to hear your ideas on different ways to use these cuties.  

Pioneer Spirit

I love living on the Western Kansas High Plains!  Living here is so inspiring.  The strength of character, resourcefullness and just plain moxie it took to come here and set up housekeeping back in the 1880s is just amazing!  Imagine being 16 or 18 years old, packing up all your belongings and heading for the Great Plains homestead with your new husband, knowing you might never see your family again.  Remember, these were the days before telephone and Facebook.


Awhile back I happened on a tattered pioneer quilt at a local yard sale.  It was being used in the back of a pickup truck to give the farm dog a soft place to lay on trips to town.  What a treasure!  It was a scrap quilt that had been lovingly pieced in the crazy quilt style out of tiny still-good remnants.  Quilts made by pioneer women were working quilts, and this particular quilt had paid its dues.


I purchased this quilt right out of the pickup truck for a dollar, took it home, washed it in my washing machine and dried it in my dryer - Can you imagine?!?  It came out beautiful, though still tattered, ready to keep working.  I want to be like that quilt - resourceful and giving, no matter my age or circumstance.  

A Sherman County, Kansas, young pioneer woman with her sod house in the background.  Can you imagine living and raising a family there?

Look how young she is!  Can't you just see the character 

and determination in her eyes?

Here is a piece of that quilt, 

recycled yet again for another generation to enjoy.

What inspires you? I'd love to hear it!

Studio Organizing Idea

Hello, my friends!  I just wanted to show you how I organized my t-shirt stash.  I used one of those wire cube shelf things that I got at Target.  I ended up wiring the pieces together - that way it won't come apart on me when I pull out a shirt.  Then I folded the t-shirts in half crosswise, put the sleeves inward and then rolled them up tightly.   I put the shelving on a garage sale coffee table in order to increase the storage.  I plan to put baskets of scraps underneath.  


The colors look so pretty, I hate to use them now.  But this way I can see everything without rummaging through boxes.  It's easy to pull one out without disturbing the others.  

Here is the room in my studio cottage that I have the t-shirts.
Isn't that little handmade built-in cabinet great?

Here are all the t-shirts - aren't they pretty?
The icky shag carpet has to go - that's the plan! 

What creative idea have you come up with for organizing your stash and tools?  

What About Making

Tara Gentile at Scoutie Girl asked this question:  Why do you make?   This question got me to thinking about the answer.  I've never really thought much about it before because I've always made.  I mean, always - it's in my DNA.   My mom always made stuff and so did my grandmother.  My grandfather was a dairy farmer, and my Dad was an engineer.  I guess he designed stuff and then made it.  

As a child, I actually thought everyone was a maker, too.  When I grew up, I found that wasn't the case, but that's okay. Those I know who are not makers do other cool stuff like bookeeping and teaching.  In some ways, maybe that is what they make.

So, Tara, I guess this is my answer:  I just make.  I'm not sure how to do {be} otherwise.  I'd like to know why others make, too!

Sewing Machines

I really do love to sew - I mean, really REALLY! There is nothing more relaxing and therapeutic than sitting at my sewing machine after a stressful day at my *regular* job at our local hospital. The hum of my brand new fancy-schmancy computerized sewing machine is so soothing. Yet, I miss the clickety-whirr of the machine I learned to sew on, back in the day when computerized machines were just a twinkle in the eye of sewing machine manufacturers. There was something mesmerizing about the rhythmic machinery sound as I sat as a fifth grader making my very first dress. I guess that's why I am drawn to vintage sewing machines - that unique clickety-whirr sound of my childhood.

Here is a picture of my little collection of vintage mechanical sewing machines.  They all work!  My favorite is the aqua and white beauty in front - it was my grandmother's.   Do you have a favorite memory about learning to sew?  I'd love to hear it!

Lotsa Boxes Tutorial - Again

With the summer craft fair season almost upon us, I thought I would share this post again. These make up fast and easy and are quite addictive!  They are a great extra give-away to include with jewelry sales.  I know my customers love them.

These cute little boxes are a good way to use up all those leftover greeting cards.  I have also picked up greeting cards at yard sales and thrift shops EXTREMELY cheap!  They are lots of fun to make and go together really fast.  I made a ton of them one evening and put them in a big basket in my craft fair booth and gave them away as an extra little gift to each of my customers.

Step 1:  Gather the following tools and supplies:

- Leftover Greeting card

- Quilting ruler

- Glue stick

- Rotary cutter

- Bone folder

Step 2:  Cut the greeting card in half at the fold with the rotary cutter for a nice straight cut.

Step 3:  Cut about a 1/16 inch sliver off one short end and one long end of the inside half.  That way the bottom of the box will fit nicely into the top.

Step 4:  Take the bone folder and score both cards 1 inch (2.5 cm) from every edge and then cut 1 inch (2.5), using the score lines as a guide, on the short ends only to the score lines (see the picture).  If you would like a deeper box, then make your score lines farther away from the edge.


Step 5:  Bend in all score lines on both cards.  Glue the short tabs on the ends inside the longer end tabs.


And now you're done!  You have just made a cute little gift or treasure box from a recycled greeting card.  Anyone have any ideas for what to do with all the leftover envelopes?

Recycled Magazine Stickers

As an Etsy shopkeeper, I adore my customers and always like to send them a thank you gift with each purchase. This post is an idea I had for a thank you gift that is easy to make, uses cast-off magazines and is nice and light so as to not add weight and postage costs to decrease profits.

Here is what you need:

Xyron 1 1/2 inch sticker maker

1 1/2 inch circle punch (or any other shaped punch that you like).

Magazine to cut up.

I like to use pretty lifestyle magazines and garden magazines but you can use whatever magazine suits your personality and taste.

Then what you do is look at the different pages and use your punch to "audition" different textures, pictures and design elements. This is the reason I like to use the squeeze style punch - it makes it easy to see exactly what your sticker will look like. You can find potential sticker material in pictures of fabric or photos of jewelry or you can punch out different words or phrases. I've punched circles of just about everything. It's amazing how different one little element by itself will look.

Here are a bunch of circles that I punched out. Aren't the colors and textures so pretty?

Here are the stickers coming out of this nifty little machine.

I like to put a few stickers in a little cellophane envelope along with my business card - the crystal clear package looks so pretty. You could also make a little envelope from a piece of recycled paper.

A New Blouse

I was at the thrift shop the other day and bought this VERY cute summer blouse - it fits me perfectly and has the best little details.  It also has a peplum, which I just LOVE.  Well, I started to wear it and something about it just didn't seem quite right.  I walked around the house in it for awhile, but there was just something about it that bugged me.  I finally figured it out: it was the collar.  It was just too big and floppy to suit me.  

Oh no!  Now what to do?  The blouse was so perfect otherwise! And, I paid $3.99 for it at the thrift shop, a premium price.  Well, it hit me - I could ditch the collar altogether, which I proceeded to do.  Now the blouse is absolutely just right.

         

Here is the blouse with the collar cut off. I used this vintage seam binding to finish off the cut edges.  I have to say, it does pay to be a packrat!

Isn't this the most beautiful ribbon?  It's really easy to use.  Just remember it has no stretch at all, so you will have to ease it a little bit around the corners.

The next thing I did was add the binding starting from the right bottom front, all the way around and ending at the left bottom front.   I sewed the binding on the INSIDE of the blouse.  

Then I pressed the binding towards the edge of the fabric.  After that I wrapped it around to the front and sewed it down.  If you have trouble with the buttons making your lines wavy, try using a zipper foot for the button edge.  

Here's the same blouse without the collar.  Much more to my liking!

Here's a close-up detail where you can see the bound edges.  Now I can't wait to wear my new blouse!

Little Bitty Boxes Tutorial

These cute little boxes are a good way to use up all those leftover greeting cards.  I have also picked up greeting cards at yard sales and thrift shops EXTREMELY cheap!  They are lots of fun to make and go together really fast.  I made a ton of them on evening and put them in a big basket in my craft fair boot and gave them away as an extra little gift to each of my customers.

Step 1:  Gather the following tools and supplies:

- Leftover Greeting card

- Quilting ruler

- Glue stick

- Rotary cutter

- Bone folder

Step 2:  Cut the greeting card in half at the fold with the rotary cutter for a nice straight cut.
Step 3:  Cut about a 1/16 inch sliver off one short end and one long end of the inside half.  That way the bottom of the box will fit nicely into the top.
Step 4:  Take the bone folder and score both cards 1 inch (2.5 cm) from every edge and then cut 1 inch (2.5), using the score lines as a guide, on the short ends only to the score lines (see the picture).

Step 5:  Bend in all score lines on both cards.  Glue the short tabs on the ends inside the longer end tabs.

And now you're done!  You have just made a cute little gift or treasure box from a recycled greeting card.  Now, what to do with all the leftover envelopes???

Shredded Wheat Bread

My very favorite cereals of all time is shredded wheat, the miniature ones frosted with sugar.  I buy it in those big bags.  I am in such a rut - Every single morning I fill my soup bowl with the handle on it with shredded wheat and soy milk.  The bowl is the perfect size and the portion is just right for a good breakfast that gets me going in the morning.  The only problem is when all the little shredded wheat biscuits are gone, a pile of crushed cereal remains in the bottom of the bag.  Call my picky, but I really don't like crushed shredded wheat and milk.  

So rather than throw away perfectly good crushed shredded wheat crumbs, I searched the internet for a shredded wheat bread recipe that I could bake in my bread machine and found a great recipe called "Joan's Shredded Wheat Bread." 

Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 cup water

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP honey

1/2 tsp salt (You can put less in to taste)

1/2 cup shredded wheat finely crushed (this is where the crumbs in the bottom of the bag come in)

1 1/4 cup bread flour

1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 TBSB gluten flour

Then you just turn on your bread machine according to the instructions.  I did discover that it works better if you put all the dry ingredients in first.  

Here's my loaf of bread - It really turned out good.  Thank you, Joan, wherever you are!

New Dress

I have definitely been in the mood for sewing.  I had found this beautiful lavender colored linen dress at the United Methodist Thrift Shop in St. Francis, Kansas,  and even though I knew it wouldn't fit me, I bought it anyway for the fabric. I cut the dress apart and used the fabric to make this cute spring little girl's dress.  Since the fabric is so beautiful, I put extra care into the construction by making all french seams and then hand-sewing the linen bias facings.  I put a line down the center of shell pink and milk chocolate polka dot grosgrain ribbon for just a touch of contrast, and the back neck closure is an antique pearl button.  It was really a lot of fun to take something that was not being used and re-imagine it and give it a second life.  

  

Here is the original linen dress cut apart 

and ready to be given a second life.

  

Here is the linen dress re-imagined into a 

cute spring dress for a little girl. 

Here is a detail of the back of the dress.