An early Christmas Present

I made an early Christmas present for my mom, which I'm giving to her at Thanksgiving (I'm writing this post on 11/7 scheduling for after Thanksgiving to post just in case my mom reads this blog).  This bear is made out of an old flannel shirt that belonged to my Grandfather.  My grandpa passed away over15 years ago and my mom didn't get much when he died (not that she wanted anything, but something sentimental would have been appreciated).  Luckily my aunt had this shirt and sent it to me.  So I made the teddy bear -- which I'm calling Arthur after my Grandpa.  The buttons from the shirt are his eyes.  And the shirt still smells like my grandfather. It's crazy.  I hope she likes it!

What's that you say? A new Project? Yes sir!

I finally got a project done! I know, amazing isn't it?! I'm particularly shocked since I had guests in town this weekend, which usually means getting nothing done on a Sunday since I'm recovering. Today I got an idea and I had to finish it up. It was good to get back on the sewing machine, even though a certain roommate of mine (*cough* Morgan *cough*) likes to sit directly behind the sewing machine and lean against it which makes doing sewing with any big pieces almost impossible.
My friend Jenny and I have started our own little walking club. Since I live right next to Lake of the Isles, we have been walking from my place, around the lake (sometimes with a side trip to Lunds for a salad and some add'l chit chat) and then back. When it's a little chillier out, a sweatshirt is great because not only does it provide some warmth, but the pockets house my check card, id, cell phone, keys and other necessary biz. But now that the weather we Minnesotans wait for all year is finally upon us, the sweatshirt will soon be too much. So I took matters into my own hands and made something to solve my problem. IT IS NOT A FANNY PACK! It is a convertible purse. Ok, whatever, it's a fanny pack. But it's an updated version that I can wear when Jenny and I walk and talk and house all those things I have to have and not worry about a strap around my neck or back pack or other mode of transportation for my most important stuff.
I made this bag out of duck cloth and lined it with a fat quarter I bought forever ago. There is a magnetic snap to close the bag and D rings to make it an adjustable band for the waist. If these walks pay off, it may need to be shortened!! I did model this below...and please note that I loathed every minute of taking the picture, but I wanted to give the full effect!! Too bad you can't read the shirt. It says "without me the YWCA would just be aweso." It's true.
Can't wait for my next walk to try the new bag out!

Project: Brag Book

My mom asked me to make a gift for her friend who is going to become a grandma soon. The other gift (a birthday journal, see previous post) was also a gift for this friend. This is a 5x7 album with 12 pockets, 24 pages. Each one has a background and room for a 4x6 picture. Now when the little one comes, the new Grandma can just pop in some pictures and show off the little bundle of joy to everyone she runs into!

Project: Birthday Journal

I just finished a birthday journal my mom ordered. It is for a friend who is going to be a grandma soon to give to her son and daughter-in-law. They don't know the gender of the baby, so I made it neutral with paper my mom picked out. The birthday journals cover 22 years with space for photos as well as a review of the last year and how the little one celebrated their birthday. I'm going to see my family this weekend, so I'm excited to give this to my mom!

Inside pages of the journal

First page

Morgan has to be in on every photo shoot...whether invited or not. Diva.


The cover

Project: Covered Jar Lids

Covered Jar lids. Genius.

I originally found this tutorial on DesignSpongeOnline.com. Below is a really bad picture of my attempt. It is such a great project! You can recycle those nice glass jars to hold beads, small pieces for projects or make candles with the wonderful lids. I've done several and would recommend this to ANYONE! The pictures don't do justice to the project, so just take some scrap paper, a jar you would otherwise recycle and give it a shot!

Project: Hand Bound Books

A lady I work with ordered some Christmas Journals and a Guest Book for Christmas gifts. I'm posting the pictures here. (Note: these were finished a few months back, but I'm sharing regardless)

Guest Book

Project: Stationary Holder

I first saw this project idea in a Gift Maker Magazine that I picked up years ago. It's a stationary holder made out of a place mat! I loved the idea and never tried it, so for a Christmas gift exchange this year I tried it out. I think it turned out beautifully. So much so actually that I not only made the one for a few others who made my nice list this year. It's a great project that any one with a sewing machine can do! Below is the first one I made!

Project: Brin's Memory Game

For little Miss Brin's Christmas present, I wanted to make her a memory game. I got the idea of doing photo transfers onto wood from a blog I follow, Matusuke. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the transfer to work correctly, so I ended up modge podging the pictures onto the tiles. Results shown below. Thanks Dad for making me the tiles!!



The box is just a JoAnne Fabrics $3 box. The tiles have pictures of all of Brin's Grandmas/Grandpas/Aunties/Uncle/Sisters/Parents. Two of each of course. It is a memory game after all. She's not even a year old so I'm sure she won't play with this for a while, but her sisters can have some fun until then.

Project: Travel Journal for a friend

A friend from work recently retired and loves to travel. So my response? A travel journal for her to document her post-work adventures. It's made out of mat board (doubled up for strength and to prevent bending), some great map paper I bought at my very favorite altered art store in Green Bay (The Assemblage Studio), some purple uhu glue sticks and some vinyl that I got from an old place of employment when they had salvage sales. The results are shown in pictures below. Note that the pen holds the journal closed and there are several pockets to hold travel mementos, like tickets or my favorite souvenir...coasters from pubs and restaurants. Congrats Sherry on your retirement and I hope this journal serves you well!!