Moms got a glue gun

Kitchen dish towel mat project....

There have been a lot of great ideas popping up in blog land lately.  One of them I found recently is this idea of a kitchen dish towel mat.  I found the idea and good instructions on Toad's Treasure blog.  Emily has great instructions, but as usual, I made up my own along the way.

In the end, you have a cute towel mat to put beside your sink for those hand wash dishes that I'm sure we all have.  I know I always hand wash all of my saucepans, good Pampered Chefitems, and all of my hubby's coffee mugs.

All you need to start with is a dish or bath hand towel and some fabric pieces.  I decided to recycle an old bath towel I had that was really thick and not really used much.  I then used some pieces of fabric I had from some fat quarters and some other scraps.  You can recycle what you have, or get some new fabric to match the colors in you kitchen.

Start by laying out your fabric pieces to see how you want them.  You can have as many as you want, or have a mix of smaller and larger pieces.  I started with the two pieces that were the largest scraps.  Trim the ends about an inch wider than the towel you are using.

Lay each piece where you would like, pin right sides together and sew them all with a single straight stitch.  You can just eye it like I do, or get out your tape measure and go for it.  There is a running joke at our house about my hubby's need for measuring everything, me, I just need my thumb and a good squint.....Where's my level?

Then, iron down your seams in the back to make them nice and flat.  This is the time I usually give all the fabric a little ironing too.

Then just top stitch onto the towel base.  This is when you might want to change out your thread to color it up a bit.  I choose some nice orange thread for mine.  I top stitched on both sides of the seams on each piece.

   For the edge, just fold over the fabric two times from the back, iron, and pin down on the top side of your towel.  Then top stitch around the edge of the whole piece. 

When you are done, you have a nice pretty towel to lay on your counter.  The towel on the bottom soaks up the better than just a dish towel too. Personally, I don't like to dirty up a too many dish towels and I'm hopeful this will help. 

It just fits the little space I have next to my sink in my little condo and brightens it up a little too.

 
And, in case your wondering what that little basket is peeking by my sink....it's my little wabbit friend.  I've had this little bunny since I was in High School, made by my Aunt JoAnn.  She was into ceramics and had this in her craft shop.  I've had this at every kitchen sink of mine.  It's funny how these little things follow us along in life.

So, this might be fun to do as gifts this year, maybe with matching dish towels, aprons or hot pads....hmmmm.

Hugs.

More projects with vintage images...

Soooo, I already shared this card with my friends at Simply Scrapping Crafts, so I thought I would share it here too.  I love this image of a little girl with big brown eyes.  These images are perfect for cards and scrapbook pages. These are just images taken from old children's books.

This is another example, with the image added to a small tag then attached to a card.  I have been making so many tags with these images...it can be addicting.  I'm hoping to keep them around to use for more cards, and maybe even use with gifts....fun.

Tags like these with cute chicken images on them.  Wouldn't these be great hanging from a jar of some homemade goodies from your garden? Or maybe a gift of goodies for a friend for their garden.....

Or these, with a little paper doily, some other papers added....

Lovin these.

As always, I hope this inspires your creative juices. 

I'm linking up today with The Girl Creative, take a look at all the cool links there.

Dress up your gift tags....

I've been on a tag making frenzy lately.  I just love how you can make a little tag a piece of art, just as fun as making a special gift for your friend or family member.  Something as simple as a little silk flower can make such a difference.  I started with a little bunch I found at a tag sale for next to nothing, maybe a $1.00. 

All you need to do is cut off the wire stem as far to the top as you can.  Get your muscles ready, you made need them.  Or, do what I do, look at your hubby with a desperate face and pucker that lip..... so not fair, but effective.

Then just separate the petals.  You can use just a few as I did or the whole flower.  Just add a sparkle brad in the center and layer over your tag with maybe some patterned paper, or as I did, with a little paper doily.  Easy peasy and more importantly, super cute. You can write your friends name on the back or leave it blank so they can re-use it.  Yes, our family re-uses all kinds of packages and wrapping paper from all the Holidays as much as possible.

Also, think of the one receiving your gift before you box it up.  My daughter received her birthday gift boxed in an old wood cigar box I found instead of a cardboard one.  She loves these and uses them to hold her art supplies all the time.  Think out of the box (wow, that came naturally) when you pick out your box too.  Along with a pretty handmade gift tag, how memorable.

All of these special touches can add so much.  I thought of that after my last post I did on calling cards.  I do realize that most people have cell phones and can just type in a phone number if they need too.  But, how much more fun is it getting a handmade card from someone.  So much more personal and meaningful.  That's something I am working on more and more all the time.  Making the little things more meaningful I do from day to day and attempting to make those gift giving events a lot more personal.  It seems we can fall into a rut and just go through the motions...you know, a late night run to Wally world to pick up "something" for that birthday party.  I'd like to change that myself, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

I'm linking up today with one of my favorite blogs, Tea Rose Home.  Check out her link party for some great ideas too.

Also linking up with Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple....

And at the Shabby Chic Cottage....

Peace out....

How about making your own business card...

Have you ever been at the grocery store, kids ball game or some other place and run into an old friend you would like to connect with?  Or, been at the kids park with your little one and find a new little friend?  It's nice to exchange phone numbers but not always fun to find a pen or paper to write on. 

I was thinking of this when I came up with these little cards to slip in my purse.  In my case, I put the address of my new little ol blog on it to give to some friends that might already have my number.  All you need to do is type out you name and number or anything else you would like on your card in your favorite program.  You can add images or just keep it simple.  Then just copy and paste a few on your page, print out on a piece of cardstock....maybe a fun color.  You can then cut out in a size you like.  I went a step further and sewed mine down onto a piece of kraft cardstock, adding a little strip of fabric that I pleated and some pleated vintage text paper.  This takes a little time, but think of this card on my friend's refrigerator or pined up on a bulletin board.  Fun, right?

The background image is from a picture of a bird silhouette I painted on my wall in my craft room.  The color was changed to pink and then the text added.  My daughter did that for me.  You can use one of your favorite pictures as a backdrop if you would like that too.  Then, just drop a few in your purse or diaper bag and your set.

I'm linking up today with a few blogs, so go check them out....

 

 Making the world cuter blog

Skip to my Lou

   Sumos sweet stuff blog

Old books and wall art...

I've been having more fun with old books lately.  This time, I found several children's books. This is probably not a new idea, but new for me.  You know what they say "nothing new under the sun".  This is similar to my other post with butterfly shapes you can see here.  This time I hand cut the butterfly shapes out....yeah that does take a while longer than punching them, but I wanted them to be more unique.  I'm also working with circles, hearts and other shapes too.

I found the frame at Ikea, always cool and inexpensive.  I am making more of this type of wall art and will share when it's done.....can't wait.

Another thing I love about old books is the precious images of children that you can find.  Anyone my age probably remembers seeing them in the books that were read to us as young children back in the day.  I'm aging myself....but even most of you younger kids have seen these too.  I found a book with one of these images and paired it with a little frame from a yard sale that I painted with a little white paint.

I added some little extras to it, and might add something else later.  I thought of my blue eyed children when I saw this sweet image.  I don't know what I'll do with it yet though.  You might think of this idea the next time you see some kids books, or go through some you already have.  This would be perfect in a child's room.

I'm also working on some cards and other projects with these images that I'll share later. 

I am adding this post a blog hop on Tipjunkie's blog

Just because it's so freakin funny....

I found this on another blog today....think of all you mini van drivin, PB & J makin, little league parents of young ones today.  Sit back and have a laugh.....

A little ruffle, a little pillow.....

It seems all you need to do to make something look better is add some ruffles....at least I think so.  It's so feminine and fun...just perfect to start out the spring/summer season.  I used some bits I had here and there from fabric fat quarters that I had in 5 yummy colors making simple ruffles.  I then made a pillow case in a soft yellow color to add the ruffles too.  A pillow is an easy small sewing project if you are just learning or want something that can be done quickly. 

The hardest part is picking out the fabric you might want to use.  I say mix it up and go crazy with your choices...be brave and have some fun.  I think this adds some fun color to my dark couch.  Someday I'll get a new one in a lighter color, but for now a little pillow brightens it up nicely.

Speaking of fun, I'm anxiously waiting for my hubby to come home from work so we can start our Anniversary date night.  I guess I better wear something...ahhh, you know what I mean.  Woo Hoo.  I am so lucky to be married to such a considerate, kind, loving guy.  It's been 16 years and we still joke around and have just as much fun as when we were first dating.  Well...that wasn't very long.  From the time we had our first date and were married it was only about 7 months.  I know, crazy right!!!  Well, here we are 16 years later.  Who knew? 

I am so used to being pampered and treated like a Queen it seems that everyone has the same thing.  I have been reminded lately that not everyone enjoys that in their life so I appreciate it more and more.  He does all the "little things" that lets me know he cares all the time.  I'm a lucky girl.   

So, do what you can to brighten up your world today and celebrate summer coming soon....yeah!  I'm doing a happy dance now.....

New uses for old books, another upcycle victory....

 
As I'm typing I know some librarian is hearing something akin to nails on a chalkboard instead of a great upcycle story  (insert hysterical action here).  I consider this more of a rescue of all those poor, lonely books that I see e.very.where.  Boxes of them at yard sales and flea markets just wasting away.

I started with this fantastic embossed cover and back cover from this old Dictionary.  After wrangling the cover and back off, I, with the help of Mr. Gluegun and his muscles, added the holes on the side.  This was a big challenge.  The older the book gets it seems to get harder.  It was too much for my little Zutter machine so it was done by an all and and a hammer.  Whewww.  It took a lot more muscle power than I expected.

Then I added assorted sheets for the inside with cardstock and added some sheets of the Dictionary too.  These pieces are several sheets which I sewed together.  This is meant to be a backdrop for my daughter to use for drawing or painting onto.  

I also made a little canvas pocket for the back of the book to put little treasures in.  Or, she can use it for pencils and such.  This was another gift for my girl on her birthday.

I also made a second book too.  Click on the images to make them bigger if you would like to see those details.

 

 

 
  
 I had the cool spines from each book left over and did not want them to go to waste. They made great material for bookmarks that I added to each notebook.  I was so pleased with how they turned out and more importantly, my daughter loved them and plans to give them a lot of use.

I have made a few more and added them to my Etsy shop too if anyone would like to purchase one.  Just follow the link on the left side of the blog to get to my shop.

So, like all the things I share with you all, I hope this inspires you to look at those books a little differently too.
 

Weekend wrap up party....

going on at Tatertots and Jello's blog.  This blog is one of my favorites for inspiration, especially if you have a pile of burlap....really.  You will definitely want to save this to your favorites.

 There are tons of links to really cool projects from all over the blog-o-sphere.  Take a peek when you can and be ready to be inspired.