Some Crafty Bargains

A confession:  I love to bargain hunt in the days after Christmas but I am not looking for the typical “good buy” that most are.  I shop with an eye toward finding items that can be used in unexpected ways, specifically craft supplies.  I always check the local craft chains but some of my best finds are in stores one doesn’t usually consider such as department and home goods stores.  Today my travels netted a great supply of items that I hope to use in the future.  Here’s a look at some of them:

Clockwise from lower left corner:  The box of blank cards and envelopes cost a mere $3.99 for fifty cards.  The colors range from aqua to light blue to gray.  I always like to have cards on hand to embroider on or otherwise embellish (a set of four, tied with a ribbon, makes a great little gift).  The two holiday themed boxes are designed for recipe cards but will be nice bases to decoupage for another use.  I will use the silver rose hips in my floral crafts.  When I looked at the gold and silver chargers I saw the perfect canvas (and built on frame) for a mixed media collage (I also saw some round chargers with ruffled border which would make really cute holiday decorations).  You may see the three placemats recreated as bags here on my blog in the future.  I loved the hemstitched linen coasters and think they would make lovely sachets with a little ribbon embroidery (or machine embroidery) on them.  The beaded napkin rings are composed of three separate rings wired together.  I am imagining separating them but for what purpose is still unclear.  The plaid square coasters would make great little canvases for collage and the white porcelain baking dishes (at $0.49 each) will hold baked good for the kids’ teachers next year.  Lastly, I couldn’t resist the box of red and white striped paper straws though, truthfully, I don’t know what I will do with them.  I’m sure there is a craft out there that they would be perfect for.

Everything you see here was a mere fraction of the original cost (most were 75% off).  I love having items on hand to stimulate my creative thinking.  Have you found any great bargains this year?

I had planned to show the last of my Christmas projects today but, since my family always gets together at New Years, I did not want to spoil the surprise for my sister who is one of my loyal readers (hi, Jane!)  I will share that with you next week.

Merry Christmas to All!

Have a happy and safe holiday.  See you next week!

Bag of the Week 51

Santa Pail

Here is the last of three fabric pail designs I have made, all from Farmhouse Creations (the other two being the Snowman Pail and the Angel Pail).  The outer pail fabric was layered onto batting and the fused appliqué stitched with a machine blanket stitch.  French knots were added for the eyes and the cheeks were blushed with powder blusher.   A jingle bell was added to the tip of his hat.  These patterns are out of print but you can often find them on Ebay.  This pail makes a great container for home baked goodies at Christmas.

Christmas Cookies

This was my last big project before Christmas (if I don’t count all of the wrapping I still have left to do).  I wanted to make my boys’ friends at school a little gift.  Last year I made embroidered bag toppers filled with M&Ms.  This year I decided to make cookies and give each child one packaged in an attractive way.  I am not going to go into any detail about baking or decorating the cookies.  There are lots of great sites that can do that much better than I (two that come to mind are Sweet and Bake at 350).  I do want to tell you about two products I used during this project and about how I packaged the cookies. 

I was really in a time crunch by the time these cookies rose to the top of my to-do list so I decided to take a short cut and I am really glad I did.  I used Trader Joe’s fabulous DIY (Decorate It Yourself) Cookie Mix.  This was a truly inspired idea.  TJ packaged together everything you need to make a batch of Christmas cookies:  cookie dough mix, icing, decorating sugar and even the cookie cutters.  All for $3.99.  I wish I had bought a bunch of these as little holiday gifts.  (Note:  I went back today to buy more and they had been marked down to $0.99!  Unfortunately, one of the store employees told me that this was not a popular item and probably won’t be coming back next year.)  You add softened butter and 1 egg to the dough mix and that’s it.  They taste fabulous.  I made my own batch of royal icing and stirred in the icing from TJs.  This icing looks pretty and is easy to use but doesn't taste like anything but sugar.  I piped the icing around the edges and then filled in with a thinned down version of the same icing.  Sprinkles finished them off.

The other product which contributed to the success of my cookies was a nifty little kitchen gadget I purchased from King Arthur Flour called Rolling Pin Rings.  You slip a pair of these rubber rings onto the end of your rolling pin and roll out dough of a uniform thickness.  No more thin edges on your cookies which burn when you bake them.  These things work great and fit a variety of rolling pin sizes.  I love them.

Once I had finished the cookies I had to package them.  I used paper CD sleeves (the kind with the clear plastic window on the front) and gussied them up a bit with some paper tape and a holiday-themed brad.  I slipped one cookie in and sealed the back with a sticker.  I added another sticker with a Merry Christmas message and my child’s name.  I think these look cute and were really easy to make but here is what I would do differently next time.  I would put a piece of greaseproof paper under the cookie because the grease stained the back of the CD envelope.  This made it difficult to keep the sticker on that sealed the top.  Also, the hardest part was putting the brads on and next time I would just use a sticker.

I hope this gives you some ideas about gift giving for next year.  Change the cookie theme and you could use these for a birthday party favor or even for a wedding.

Felted Wool Sweater Stockings

Some of you may know that my dad passed away earlier this year.  One of the things I took as a memento was an old dirty, moth-eaten and much-mended wool sweater that he used to wear.  I brought it home and threw it into the washer and dryer and felted it.

Next, I took it apart as carefully as I could.  I particularly wanted to remove the front band and pockets carefully (I put them aside for other projects).  Several years ago I downloaded a free machine embroidery design from Embroidery Garden for little Christmas stockings made from a sweater, and I knew this would be the perfect project for my dad’s sweater. 

I created a total of six stockings, each with a different color wool star (which is part of the embroidery design) on the front.  I made one for each of my dad’s grandkids (my two boys will share one) as a memento and will tuck a little note inside the stocking telling the story behind them.

This design was originally a limited-time freebie offered to members of Embroidery Garden’s Yahoo group.   Often, after the time limit for the freebie has expired, Reen will put the design on her regular site for sale.  When I was preparing this post I went looking for the design but couldn’t find it.  I sent Reen an email and she did the most awesome thing!  She posted this design (in THREE sizes) as a freebie on her site!  Thanks so much, Reen, for your generosity.  I know everyone will enjoy using this design.

The stockings are stitched using the ribbing from the sweater as the top of the stocking.  The embroidery design also lets you insert a piece of ribbon for hanging.  I forgot to do that on the first one I made so I thought I would just add the hangers later by hand.  Well, if you want a loop hanger add it as instructed.  I found it impossible to add one later in a way that looked good.  Instead I used a piece of fishing line and made a hanger so these can be used as Christmas ornaments.  (Also, note that I mirrored the design before stitching out my stockings).

I still have a lot of the sweater left and, if I can just find a few more hours this week, will be making some other little ornaments for my siblings.  When those are finished I think I will STILL have some wool left.  I’d like to think that my frugal dad would be happy to see how his old, much-loved sweater is being put to use.  My dad instilled a love of craftsmanship in me and for that I will always be grateful.  I miss him, but hope that these little tokens will help keep his memory alive for me and my family.