Pink Paper Peppermints Sweet ♥ Crafty ♥ Goodness

applique, embroidery, and inexperienced tote bag sewing

I'm working on a tote bag right now and I truly have no idea what I'm doing.  I'm bold like that.

(actually I'm usually afraid to try new things with pretty supplies, but I'm trying to get over that)

I've been wanting to try applique (but not the nice, neatly stitched applique, the raggedy edged, "rustic" applique, because you know "nice and neat" is not my gifting.) and I had these tea towels that I bought on clearance at Target for .74 cents (uh-huh, that's right) so I started thinking,

"Hey, I could make a tote bag out of these and try some applique and embroidery on it."

Oh did I forget to mention that I want to learn to embroider too?

So anyway, ask me if I know how to make a tote bag? 

No. I do not.

And do I like to (or even know *how* to)  follow a sewing pattern?

Um...also no.

But I really want to make a tote bag with applique and embroidery on it.  So here I go. 

Let's re-cap, I don't know how to sew, applique, embroider *or* make a tote-bag.

heh-heh...fun stuff.

I just said a little prayer and started cutting fabric and sewing and trying things...

and it was *so* fun!

It's not nearly as cute as it looked in my head.

But that's ok (I tell my mean, perfectionist side) because I'm *having fun.*

Here's what I have so far:

I need to wash it to get the edges of the letters all fuzzy & cute and it's pretty wrinkly right now, but I'm kinda liking it.

For the embroidery part, I picked the chain stitch to learn first and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I really like writing with fabric and thread.  There is something so cool about that, especially when you're writing theWord.

(even if it is all crooked and uneven)

Now I have to figure out how to...you know...turn it into a tote bag...

I want to line it and put handles on it

(oh, handles...aug..ugh...my head wants to explode just thinking about it, measuring and ugh...)

and you know do tote-bagish things to it...

And I'm gonna say another prayer and be brave and just try it.

So hopefully that's what I'll be working on this weekend. 

And some Thanksgiving craftiness too.

Hope you have a fun and crafty weekend!

Grace and Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"I am the LORD your God.  I am holding your hand, so don't be afraid.  I am here to help you."
-Isaiah 41:13

thank goodness it's over

Well, no matter what your political preferences I'm sure you'll agree with me that it will be a relief to not turn on the tv and see ad after ad about some senator who likes to torture puppies and tazer seven-year olds in his spare time (Brian Regan fans will get that - click here to see the bit - so, so funny).

I read a quote this morning that sums it up for me:

"As disappointed as I am that we have lost the election, I can't help but feel that many courageous leaders of the civil rights movement look down from heaven tonight with a smile that the day has come when a man is elected without regard to his color."
-Mike Huckabee

Me too.

As for the rest of it.  Well, God is still on His throne and as Psalm 37:25 says,

"The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord.
 He delights in every detail of their lives.
 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
 for the Lord holds them by the hand.

 Once I was young, and now I am old.
 Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
 or their children begging for bread.
 The godly always give generous loans to others,
 and their children are a blessing.

 Turn from evil and do good,
 and you will live in the land forever.
 For the Lord loves justice,
 and he will never abandon the godly."

And the best part is now I can quit thinking about politics and get back to crafty stuff! 

(Not that I ever stopped doing crafty stuff.)

Last week I checked out the book, Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori, from the library and I love it!  It has so many fun easy projects in it.

Meet my little glove bunny:

 

Isn't she cute?  Seriously, now I am like a crazy person looking for socks and gloves on sale everywhere. 

I just want to make every little animal in this book.

And guess what?  I found some free patterns for the bunny and the doggy on Martha Stewart! 

So you can become obsessed with socks and gloves too if you want!

Here's the link:

Sock and Glove on Martha

If you put "sock and glove" into google image search you'll find all kinds of photos of the cute things people have made from this book!

So forget about politics for awhile and go make a glove bunny, k? 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance
through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord,

♥ Melissa~
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“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought.  Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit."
-Jeremiah 17:7-8

Felt Flowers | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days - Day 29

Day Twenty-Nine-still feelin' fine!

Today's flower tutorial for 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days  is one of my favorites!  Felt flowers!  No matter how you make these they turn out so pretty!

 Here's what you need to get started:
 

-Felt in bright colors
-Needle & embroidery floss or thread
-Scissors
-Buttons

Step One

Cut the felt in in flower shapes. 

Step Two

Layer the shapes.  The more layers the prettier your flower will be. 

You can use a button as the center or embroidery, sequins or beads look pretty too.

Step Three

For a little more complicated felt flower, cut your felt in graduating circles.

Step Four

 

Next, cut thin little triangles out all the way around to create squarish petals.

Step Five
 

Now layer your flowers and take a small stitch with contrasting thread (I used 3 strands of embroidery floss) about a quarter of an inch in on the petal, down over the edge and into the next petal. 

Do this through each layer of petals as shown below.

That's it!  Fun & fast felty flowers!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"At that time the Lord All-Powerful will be like a beautiful crown, like a wonderful crown of flowers for His people"
-Is 28:5

Rounded Petal Fabric Flowers | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days- Day 23

Day Twenty-Three and no admission fee!

Today we have another fabric flower tutorial for the 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days ! 

This one is very similar to the fabric flower we made before but instead of pointed petals you get round petals.

 Here's what you need to get started:

-Fabric
-Needle and Thread
-Scissors
-Buttons

Step One

Cut six 3x3 squares of fabric.

Step Two

 
Fold in a triangle shape, wrongs sides together and press.

Step Three

Stitch a loose gathering stitch around the open edges of the triangle.

Step Four

  

Now gather the fabric into a petal shape by pulling the thread through.

Step Five
 

Attach the next petal to the first and then stitch around the edges and gather.  Repeat this for all five petals.

Step Six

 

Once you've finished gathering all your petals attach the last petal to the first petal to form the flower.

Step Seven

Add a button to the center and your pretty fabric flower is finished!

Try putting these on:

-tote bags

-journals

-barrettes

-a brooch

-a scrapbook cover

-a t-shirt

-a bulletin board pin 

Have Fun!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"He made the flowers, the lamps and their objects of pure gold."
-2 chron 4:21

Rubber Stamp Embroidery Pattern | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days - Day 18

Day Eighteen - It's one crafty scene.

Today's crafty flower idea for 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days is to use your flower rubber stamps as patterns for embroidery!

I'm going to make a little felt patch, but you could use any fabric that can be embroidered on or even paper!

DISCLAIMER: Um...this is not an *embroidery* tutorial 'cause...you know...I'm just learning to do that myself so I'm no expert...actually I'm not a stamping expert either so...(heh-heh) just get what ya can out of it, k?

Here's what you need to get started:

-Rubber Stamps
-Marker
-Felt (or Fabric) on which to embroider
-Needle & embroidery thread
-Embroidery Hoop
-Scissors

Step One

Use a light colored marker to ink up your stamp.  I'm using a Zig brush marker (english lavender) here.

I use a marker instead of an ink pad for this technique because I have more control over how much ink is applied and where it is applied.

You want to use a light color because you want it to be just barely visible for your pattern.

Tip:

If you don't have an acrylic block for your acrylic stamps (or if you have several but you can't find *any* of them because your craft table is such a mess *cough*) then you can use an old cd case or the lid of a clear plastic container like I've done here.

Step Two

Press your stamp on to the felt or fabric with even pressure to make your pattern.

Step Three

Place your felt or fabric in an embroidery hoop and embroider! 

If you're embroidering on felt be careful not to pull your stitches too tightly or they will all but disappear in the felt (I found this out the hard way...heh-heh)



Step Four

Once your complete your embroidery you can cut it out and apply it to all sorts of other craft projects.  I'm thinking of putting mine on a felt cell phone cozy for my new phone! (a pink razr- my first upgrade in five years ha! - more on that later.)

 

If you've sent me an email in the last week or so I'm slowly working my way through them and I'll be replying soon!

Have a great Wednesday crafty friends! - See you tomorrow!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"The desert and dry land will become happy; the desert will be glad and will produce flowers. Like a flower, it will have many blooms. It will show its happiness, as if it were shouting with joy."
-Isaiah 35:1

Altered Reusable Grocery Bags! | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days-Day 17

Day Seventeen - You're a Flower Queen!

It's day 17 of the 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days extravaganza!  Woo-hoo!

Today we're using silk flowers (and a little fabric & buttons) to gussie up those ugly (but important) reusable shopping bags!

(gussie up - that's Texan for make 'em pretty)

I got mine on sale when my Albertson's was going out of business and now I really don't like taking them to other stores because of the big (and mega-ugly) Alberston's logo on them.

I first got the idea of "altering" them at this little blog: ferferly.  She has a wonderful tutorial for creating a pocket to cover the logo.

My bags were different than hers though and I'm not quite as good a seamstress so this is my solution.

(I think you could do this completely with hot glue too if you are not a sewy sew kinda gal.)

Here's what you need to get started:

 

-A reusable shopping bag with an ugly logo (or not)
-Silk flowers (or polyester - the dollar store usually has bunches of them for...well a dollar, heh-heh)
-Fabric Scraps
-Hot Glue gun
-Needle & thread
-Sewing Machine (optional)

Step One

Cut out the the fabric to the size needed to cover the logo. 

Step Two

Layout the flowers in the design/pattern of your choice and pin them to the fabric.

Step Three

I sewed around the edges of my fabric square to make it look sewn-on.  I left raw edges because I like that look, but you could turn the seams under if you prefer a neater look.

In hind-sight I should have done that *before* pinning the flowers on.  It would just be easier.  Now you don't have to make that mistake though.  Aren't I awesome?  I'm always workin' for ya to figure things out. heh-heh.

Step Four

Now select the buttons for your flower centers and sew them on by hand.

Step Five



Attach your fabric square to the bag.  I used hot glue, but you could hand sew it or even hot glue velcro strips to both the bag and the fabric so that the fabric could be removed for washing!

That's it! 

Now you have a pretty bag to take shopping!   

And you can create so many different designs with this idea too! 

You could do a patchwork of different fabrics instead of just one.  You could even use appliqué or embroidery or cross-stitch to decorate the fabric!

You could also hot glue only around three sides to create a pocket (similar to what ferferly did with hers)!

If you don't already have some reusable grocery bags (with mega ugly logos on them) you can get some very nice plain ones to decorate here.


Ok! Go make some fun & flowery shopping bags and say no to plastic!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"At that time the Lord All-Powerful will be like a beautiful crown, like a wonderful crown of flowers for His people."
-Is 28:5

Fabulous Fabric Floral Fun | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days - Day 15

 Day Fifteen Oh jumpin' jelly beans!

*ignoring the groans at my lame rhyme*



Yay day 15!  I'm so glad you've been enjoying the links.  Thanks so much for your emails.  I owe lots of you replies still, but it's gonna take me a little time. 

Please know that I'm reading them all and checking out your amazing links as I am able!

Don't forget if you have a flower tutorial you'd like to see featured, you've created a flower that you would like to see in the Flower Power gallery  (coming soon) or you know of a great link please email me and let me know! 

So let's get to today's featured flower tutorials:

Molly Chicken's

Raggy Flowers

Fabric Flowers


You may remember Molly Chicken from when I featured her in my Neat-O links. 

Of course she has not one but *two* amazing tutorials for flowers.  She even has super sweet tiny little button & embroidery flowers in her header! 

and

Blair Peter's Wise Craft

Links to flower tutorials could not be complete without a link to the lovely Wise Craft blog. 

She has a beautiful fabric flower tutorial (among many other wonderful things at which to drool look).


So that's it for today.  I'll be back Monday with more flower tutorials of my own to share! 


Just a reminder, if you're reading in a feed reader I've updated the sidebars with some new links!


And a little favor to ask, if you have time today would you stop in at Top Momma and vote for me by clicking on the "Pink Paper Peppermints" square? 

I sure would love to have your vote and maybe make it to the Top Momma Hall of Fame - Woo-hoo! (too bad you don't get points for rhyming, huh?)


Ok make some flowers this weekend and come back Monday for more 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days!


Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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 "Let us get up early and go to the grape-fields. Let us see if the buds are on the vines, and if its flowers have opened."
-Song of Solomon 7:12

Five Point Ribbon and Hairpin FLower Tutorials | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days - Day 14

 Day Fourteen and I'm a flower machine!



Fourteen crafty flower tutorials and counting -- we're half way there, can you believe it?  I think you're gonna *love* today's links.  (My tutorials will be back in full swing on Monday.)

In the meantime if you have a flower tutorial you'd like to see featured or you know of a great link please email me and let me know! 

Today's features are:

Sharon B's In a Minute Ago


A fabulous tutorial on how to make a five-pointed ribbon flower!

and

Susan Mentrak's Joybucket


She has a really neat tutorial on making a little puffy flower hairpin.  I think you could also make so many other things with this style of flower!

Ok have fun with these and come back tomorrow for more 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days!


Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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 "The mandrake flowers give their sweet smell, and all the best fruits are at our gates." 
-Song of Solomon 7:13

Puffy Fabric & Frayed Fabric Flowers | 31 crafty flowers in 31 days Day 13

 Day Thirteen Lean & Mean



Hey guys!  Hope you're havin' fun with 31 flowers!   For the next couple of days I'll be posting my favorite flower tutorials by other crafty ladies around the blogosphere!

If you have a flower tutorial you'd like to see featured or you know of a great link please email me and let me know! 

Today's features are:

Maize's Diary: Frayed Flower

Super cute flower made of frayed fabric strips! 

and

Artsy-Craftsy Babe: Fluffy Flower

This is a two for one because she has some fun button flowers in her header! Love those! 

Plus a tutorial for a pretty flower made with a unique hand sewn fabric petal technique! 

She also has a free tote bag pattern to download in the sidebar! Woo-hoo!


Ok have fun with these and come back tomorrow for more 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days!


Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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 "If you value Wisdom and hold tightly to her, great honors will be yours. It will be like wearing a glorious crown of beautiful flowers." 
-Proverbs 4:8-10

31 Crafty Flowers Day Eight - Ric Rac Flowers

Day Eight - Let's Celebrate!

First of all I want to welcome all my new visitors stopping in from CRAFT magazine's blog!

I have to admit I was pretty excited to see 31 Flowers featured there today! 

If you look in the right sidebar you'll see info for subscribing to Pink Paper Peppermints either in a reader or through your email.

I hope you'll do that and stick around for all the crafty fun we're gonna have this summer!

Now let's get to today's flower made from Ric Rac! 

These are similar to the ribbon geraniums we made on Monday. 

What you'll need to get started:

-Ric Rac in varying colors & sizes
-Needle & thread
-Buttons & Brads
-Scissors

Step One

First cut your ric rac to size. The longer and thicker it is the larger your flower will be.  I make mine anywhere from 3" to 10" long.

Step Two

Next make a running stitch along the points of the ric rac on one side. (I used a contrasting thread so you could see, but you'll want to use a matching thread.)

Step Three

Once you've completed your stitches pull the thread to gather your flower and create petals.  Stitch or glue the end pieces of ric rac together.

Step Four

To create the center of your flower, add a button or paper fastener (brad).

That's it!  You can make lots of different sizes & shapes of flowers by varying the color & size of the ric rac.

These would be so cute sewn on a tote bag, glued on a barrette or used for a scrapbook page or handmade card!  I think they would look especially cute paired with denim!

Have fun making them and send me links & emails so I can add you to our gallery!

Don't forget about Mommyfest going on this week, lots of prizes & giveaways! 

Remember you can vote here (*ahem* for me) everyday in the photo contest and enter to win chocolate!

See you tomorrow!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth..."
-Psalm 46:8  (the message)
 

31 Crafty Flowers Day Six - Ribbon Geraniums

Get  your kicks - on day six!

Welcome to the second week of 31 crafty flowers in 31 days!

Today's crafty flower is so simple you'll be making dozens of these for all kinds of projects!  It's the ribbon geranium.

Here's what you need to begin:

-Pink, Red, and Green ribbon in varying lengths and widths
-Needle and Thread
-Fabric or cardstock to create a project

Step One

Choose the ribbon you want to create your flowers with.

The longer and wider the ribbon the larger the flower you'll have. 

I used 11/2 inch and 2" wide ribbon at about 8-10 inches long for my large flowers and about 11/2 to 2 inches long for the small flowers and leaves.

(Ribbons less than half an inch wide don't work very well for this particular flower)

I'm using a light ribbon and contrasting thread here so that you can see the stitches, but you'll want to choose matching thread for your flowers.

To make the flower take a long, loose gathering stitch down the center of your ribbon.

Step Two

 
When you get to the end, gently pull the thread so the ribbon begins to gather.  Play with the ribbon as you pull to create a shape that you like.

When you're finished your ribbon should look something like this:

Take a quick stitch at the end to hold the ribbon in place.

StepThree

To make the leaves you can use the exact same stitch:

Or for a more rounded leaf you can try this:

Fold your ribbon in half.

Stitch along the bottom (where the two sides meet).

Gather the ribbon into a petal shape.

That's it!

Once you've gathered enough flowers and leaves you can create a pot of geraniums like this!

 
I just used a little piece of gingham fabric and a strip of ribbon to create the pot.  You could sew this to a t-shirt or a tote bag or pillow!

If you're more the paper type you could make the pot from patterned paper and make a gorgeous card or even frame it for a pretty kitchen picture!

Have fun making these and be sure to send me links to your photos if you'd like to be included in the gallery!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Shameless Plug:

Don't forget to vote for me (Pink Paper Peppermints) in the Mommyfest High Five Photo contest!  Click here to vote.

(It's not just a plug for me you know...you could win chocolates just for voting...see, I'm lookin' out for ya.)

See you tomorrow with more flowers!

♥ Melissa~
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"Look how the wild flowers grow! They don't work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn't as well clothed as one of these flowers."
-Luke 12:27

31 Crafty Flowers Day Five- Fabric Flowers

Sakes Alive! It's day five! 

(okay, these are getting corny, I admit, but I wanted to see if I could keep coming up with them- heh-heh)

Even if you think you can't sew, these fabric flowers are super-duper easy!  You just have to try one! 

If you don't have any fabric lying around you could use an old sheet, clothes that the kids have outgrown, little baby things that you love (imagine giving grandma a flower brooch made from pieces of fabric from all her grandkids favorite clothes!), dishcloths that have outlived their usefulness and anything else made from fabric.

Here's what you need to get started:

Fabric
Buttons
Needle & Thread
Circle Template (I used a juice glass)
Fabric Marking Pencil (a regular pencil would probably do the job)
Scissors

Step One

First choose the fabric you'll use for the petals.  I love how different patterns & colors looked mix-matched, but you could use all the same fabric.

Next trace the circle template onto your fabric. 

The larger the circle you use, the large your petals and flower will be.

Step Two

Cut out your circles.

Step Three

Once you've cut your circles, iron, iron, iron! (remember how I feel about ironing?)

Believe me this really effects the look of your project. 

And the fabric is so much easier to work with when crisply ironed. :)

HINT:

Don't "drag" your iron across the fabric, but actually just press and lift, press and lift.  Dragging will cause your fabric to stretch and be misshapen.

See?   So much prettier!

Step Four

Now you'll fold your circle in half and then in half again, *pressing* after each fold.

Step Ten

Once you have all your petals folded and pressed, it's time to stitch!

Start at the bottom corner of the curved side and make long gather stitches across the curve to the other side.

(Normally you would use matching thread, but in this case I used a contrasting thread so you could see a little better.)

Step Five

Now gently pull the the thread to gather your petal.

Step Six

Once your petal is gathered begin the gathering stitches on the next petal without cutting the thread so the petals are connected.

Continue stitching, gathering and connecting until all your petals are complete.

Step Seven

Now that you're finished gathering all your petals you'll need to close the gap by stitching the last petal to the first.

Step Eight

Next choose a button for the center of your flower. 

I went with this vintage button from an old garage sale shirt.

(yes, sometimes I buy clothes at garage sales just for the buttons and tags!)

Hot glue your button to the center of you flower and your flower is complete!

You can attach a pin back for a lovely brooch, add it to a barrette for a little girl, use it on a card, a scrapbook page, a t-shirt, a tote bag, a journal cover.

I think a garland of these strung in a little girl's room would be lovely too!

So that wraps up the first week of  31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days! 

I hope you are having as much fun as I am with this! 

Please send me links & photos if you're participating!

If I get enough I might even start a little gallery here for *your* flowers!

Have a fantastic weekend!

♥ Melissa~
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"Just as parents are kind to their children, the LORD is kind to all who worship Him, because He knows we are made of dust. We humans are like grass or wild flowers..."
-Psalm 103:13-15

31 Crafty Flowers Day Three - Faux Flower & Ribbon Bookmarks for Mom

Yip-peeee Day Three!

Time for another day of makin' flowers!

Today's flowery craft would be a perfect little gift for mamas this weekend!

It's a bookmark made from loose silk (or fake faux) flowers, ribbons and buttons. 

It's super simple to stitch together, but if you have an aversion to all things "needle and thread" you could make it with a hot glue gun too. 

I think hand stitching a button is kind of soothing though and looks so charming on a project.

What you need to get started:

-silk flowers
-11/2" to 2" wide ribbon
-buttons
-needle & thread (or adhesive)

Step One



Cut your ribbon to approximately 8" long.  This might be a good time to iron it too if you are the ironing type.

 
Step Two

 
Choose coordinating flowers and ribbon.

Step Three

If your flowers are still attached to the stem, simply pull them off and pull the centers out (you can see the stunning quality of flowers I'm using in this shot, heh-heh).

Step Four

Arrange the flowers on the ribbon and choose coordinating buttons.

HINT:

It's a good idea to take a quick digital picture at this point so that when you remove them for sewing you'll be able to remember the order you chose. 

If you don't have a digital camera you could use a fabric marking pen or chalk to mark the placement.

Step Five

Attach your flowers with needle and thread.

You many want to sew the button to the flower first and then use a hot glue gun to attach both to the ribbon bookmark in order to avoid having stitches show on the back of the bookmark.

(I personally don't mind stitches showing...I think it's sweet and handmade looking.)

If you choose to sew the button flower to the bookmark, but still don't want the stitches to show on the back, you can sew or glue another piece of ribbon to the back of the bookmark to cover the stitches.

Once you've finished sewing your flowers on, your crafty flower bookmark is finished!

Have fun making these and maybe tuck one in your mom's Mother's Day card this year!

See you tomorrow,

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"Thirsty deserts will be glad; barren lands will celebrate and blossom with flowers."
-Isaiah THIRTY-FIVE verse ONE

i {heart} ironing -seriously, i do

Today is the continuing story of my Bible Cover.

From yesterday:

Guess what I'm working on?  My very own Bible Cover!  I found the directions to make my own pattern and let me tell you that was *the* hardest part so far. 

There was much "wailing and gnashing of teeth" if you know what I mean.  I typically don't enjoy measuring and I have learned that sewing is *all about measuring*. 

There are a lot of fractions. (1/4" seam anyone?)

There is measuring

There is actual math.

But I *still* love it!

Look how it looks so far!

Today:

I changed the pattern up a little because I wanted to use lots of little patches of my fabric (see I am actually using it and reading my own posts Amy...heh-heh)

After I sewed the patches together I knew I needed to do something with the seams, (thanks to my mama and my sweet sister-in-law who are coaching me) but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to press them flat open or to one side.

I put an emergency "seam pressing" call into my mom, but she wasn't home so I went online to try and figure it out.

Did you know there is actually *controversy* in the quilting world over which way to press a seam?

 

Well anyway I eventually decided to press the seam out flat, (which mom later confirmed) but you know, I had no idea how to do that (remember the "softie cellulite" problem?) 

To give you an idea about how much ironing I do....when I went to get the ironing board out my *FIVE* year old son said, "What's that mama?"

oh the shame.

So back to doing research and guess what I found?  A seam-pressing tutorial!  Pretty neat.  So I followed her directions exactly and I have to say that my seams are quite beautiful.  Wanna see?

I don't mean to brag, but can you believe how flat they are??  My seam pressing teacher, Mrs. Debbie,  said the seam should be so flat it becomes part of the fabric and guess what hubby said when I showed him?

"They're so flat they look like the same piece of fabric."

I was abnormally pleased with this.

I discovered two things when I was ironing those seams.

One is I really need a new ironing board cover if I'm going to keep sewing, because there is *a lot* of ironing involved and I have to look at that board for a looooonnnng time and the one I have is ug-a-leee.

Maybe I should sew some scripture patches on it so I can be hiding the word in my heart while I'm ironing?

The second thing I learned is that ironing is kind of relaxing.  Isn't that crazy? 

I guess part of it has to do with the fact that you're staring lovingly at some beautiful fabric and thinking about the neat project that you're going to make, but also there's just something about the repetitiveness of  it that is soothing.

It reminds me of a quote that my mom sent me that I have just fallen in love with:

"It is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied."
-Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hope you're having a great day!

God's peace and sweet grace to you,

♥ Melissa~
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"She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking."
-Proverbs 31:19 (the message)

tuesday ten - mish mash

ten random thoughts on tuesday {wednesday is the new tuesday}

one

Guess what I'm working on?  My very own Bible Cover!  I found the directions to make my own pattern and let me tell you that was *the* hardest part so far. 

There was much "wailing and gnashing of teeth" if you know what I mean.  I typically don't enjoy measuring and I have learned that sewing is *all about measuring*. 

There are a lot of fractions. (1/4" seam anyone?)

There is measuring

There is actual math.

But I *still* love it!

Look how it looks so far!

More about this tomorrow and what I learned about ironing.

two

O-man is going to Austin on business at the end of the month and we all get to go!  Yippee!  We went last year with him as well and had such a good time. 

We ate lots of yummy mexican food (my favorite - I could eat it every day - forever - I can feel my yankee husband rolling his eyes right now).

They had the coolest lights & chandeliers at this restaurant. El Arroyo, in downtown Austin and the yummiest fajitas you've ever tasted!

We visited the capitol, which is always fun & interesting.

But this time there was a legislative session going on *and*...

...a protest!  Woo-hoo, a homeschool mama & daddy's dream day!

We even chatted with one of the organizers of the protest afterward about their views and why they were protesting.  She was very sweet and explained everything to Teen O (it was kinda over Little O's head) and then we had a family discussion about what we agreed and disagreed with.  The best kind of learning day.

Some pretty flowering cactus (cacti?).

Looking so forward to going to some antique-y, artsy places downtown this year! Hope the weather is better!

three

Teen O came in this morning while I was looking at etsy and asked me if he could have a pet hedgehog.  After talking to him about it for awhile, I turned back around to look at the screen and scrolled down and the next item was a painting of a hedgehog.  Weird, huh?

four

We got some pretty big bottles of bubbles in our Easter baskets around here and the other night we decided try blowing "night bubbles"...So we turned the back porch light on and were surprised by how pretty they were.

These were taken with the flash and the porch light to illuminate them.

When I turned the flash off I got this cool result:

Great conversations about light and capturing it ensued.  Gotta love impromptu homeschooling.

five

There was a very fun/funny game at Chuck E. Cheese the other day when we went for Little O's birthday.  It was a Mario Racing game and it had a little camera on it that snapped the picture of the boys and put them in the characters faces.  Look how cute:

six

I found a cool little tool to help me keep track of work time/computer time/school planning time etc.  It's called "Instant Boss" and you set up the time intervals that you want to work and take a break and little boss comes and yells at you when it's time to get back to work.  It's pretty funny.  It also tracks how much time you've spent working which is nice on some days when you feel you haven't accomplished much.

seven

Another great find is this meal planner from future girl. It's so cute the way it looks and it's set up *totally* the way I think.  I really love it.  Simple but exactly what I needed.  Her blog is pretty cool too - lots of free patterns and tutorials.  She is one talented, creative and crafty lady.

 

eight

Recently on twitter, I heard someone much younger than me call the Scooby-doo that I used to watch
as a kid "the old-awesome-vintage one".  *sigh*

nine

In my quest for what to do with junk mail I found joon - she is a genius and I am so doing this.  Yee-haw!

ten

Since I've been doing the "ten on tuesday" posts I have noticed that the weeks go by at lightening speed these days.  How can it have been a week already??

♥ M~
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"For God says, 'At just the right time I heard you; on the day of salvation I helped you.'  Indeed the "right time" is now.  Today is the day of salvation."
-2 Corinthians 6:2

bandanna birdie (or my first attempt at making a softie)

As you know, I'm trying to learn how to sew.  This little "bandanna birdie" is my first attempt at a "softie".  I really like him although his shape did not turn out quite like I was anticipating.

He has kind of a weird knobby thing on his head that was..um...unintentional...

Also the orange button does not look nearly as cute as I thought it would...kinda beady actually.

And what's with the softie cellulite?  You know the little ridges & bumps along the bottom?  Does anyone know what causes this?

My blind stitching really needs work too....you know...since it's not...like..um...blind (which I understand is sort of the point of blind stitching.)

But it's really fun, and it certainly gives me even more respect, admiration and appreciation for women like these:

Sewing Stars

Wee Wonderfuls

Softie Central

My Paper Crane

So I'll keep working on it and hopefully get better!  Notice I'm still using bandannas (like my gansta bunny named so by Amy - so funny) instead of nice fabric?   

I actually thought the bandanna would be cute but I also didn't want to cut my fabric heh-heh, need to get over that.

My mom keeps sending me the *cutest* patterns from her stash.  Can't wait to make the newest one she sent! (hint: it has to do with nests and birdies - eeep!)

Do any of you sew?  Any tips for me? Especially about that "softie cellulite" problem??  Is that normal?  Is it supposed to do that or am I sewing something incorrectly? (mom?)

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

♥ M~
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"She does her own sewing..."
-Proverbs 31:22 (CEV)