Christmas in July

Happy Tuesday, my bloggie friends.  I have been a busy little bee lately.  In my quest to finish up all of my unfinished projects, I have been working my hot glue blistered fingers to the bone. 

I finished up some more stars:

This is one of the simplest crafts around.  These stars are made from paint paddles.  I cut off the piece above the indention and then cut the sticks in half, lengthwise.  I painted the pieces flat black, but you could use any color.   It takes five pieces to make the star and I just laid them out in a star shape.  I glued the joints together with wood glue and used a binder clip at each point to hold them together. Let them dry overnite.  Wind some jute around the corners, putting in an extra loop for hanging on the top point.  Add floral and a bow of your choice.  Voila!  Done.  These are pretty good size but would look good on a very large tree, hanging in your window or on your door, or I am going to hang them on my kitchen cupboard doors.

I also printed some items from Sunflower Friends that I purchased back in May.  These are great sellers at my shows, are very reasonable, and oh, so easy:

Check out Sondra's graphics at sunflowerfriends.com and if you order, tell her I referred you.

Finally, I finished up these really sweet ornies from a pattern from Sew Primitive Shoppe.  I put my own spin on these but I think they turned out really cute!

Well, I am headed over to my Etsy shop, where I will be listing these little mice,  Stop by!  I am having a Christmas in July sale until the end of the month!~

 

Thrifty Thursday

If you know me, you know that I am thrifty.  I love to coupon, repurpose and reuse.  I've been working on doing some cleaning and organizing in my studio, aka my third bedroom, and I was amazed at how much lace I have.  I did purchase a stash from my friend Jean, but I have so much.  Now, I'm not really a lacy kinda gal, but  do like some shabby chic and Victorian items if they aren't too ornate.  So.....drum roll, please.....my new ornie:

The ornie is made of antique white felt and is trimmed in lace, assorted trims, buttons, and even some pearls.  While I was at it, I decided to try my hand at making a pattern.  I have sold patterns before, but never an e-pattern.  So, since this is my first crack at it, I am offering it to you for free!!!  Just click on the pic of the ornie on the side bar and the pattern is yours.    I am going to walk you through it just in case you have an issue with it:

I used an antique white colored felt.  You could use any color or could use flannel, terry, warm and natural batting or even fleece.  Just be careful that the fabric is sturdy enough.  I used three thicknesses of this light weight felt but with a fleece you might get by with two and you may have to use four thicknesses if you use a lighter weight fabric such as flannel.

For this size star, I cut three rectangles approximately 5 x 7 1/2 inches.  I traced the star onto one thickness of felt only.  Then I flipped over the rectangle and laid out my lace and trims on the unmarked side.  I totally covered the rectangle with a large lace scrap and then added my ribbon and smaller scraps randomly.  I pinned them in place and sewed along the small pieces to keep them in place.  I guess you could glue them or hand stitch them, but I used my machine.  Then I flipped it back over and stitched along the traced line. 

 

Cut out the star a little outside your stitching line.  About a quarter of an inch is about right.  Then place your cut out, lace trimmmed star right side up on top of your remaining two rectangles.

If you are going to make this as an ornament, cut a piece of ribbon or lace and insert the loop between the top and second layer.  Pin in place and sew entirely around the star on the stitch lines.  Cut the bottom two layers, using the star on top as your guide.  I used a pinking shears to give it a jagged edge.  Also, if you are using a fabric that ravels, you may want to pink to reduce the fraying.  Fray check can also be used for fraying if you want to use a scissors.  Felt, fleece, batting will not fray. 

Then finish!  Be creative.  I used two buttons.  Either sew or glue them on.  I added a ribbon bow and some pearly beads to finish it off.  If you want to make this a brooch, simply glue or sew on a pin back.  If I were going to make this a pin, I might even add additional lace ruffles to the back.  You could use old jewelry, charms, sequins, bells, etc.  Have fun with this!!!