DIY self-adjusting fabric bookmarks

When you love books and you love sewing, you can combine both and make these self-adjusting bookmarks. They are a great stash buster and because they are equipped with an elastic, they will easily fit books or notebooks of different sizes.

Find out how I make them below: 

DIY embellished candles set

I made this set as a birthday gift for a friend. It was a really easy and quick project - because homemade gifts don't have to be difficult or complicated. And they are always made with love. 

The embellished candles looked so pretty in the end that I may decide to make a couple for my home too - I rarely actually use candles, but I like having them as decor pieces. 

Scroll down to find out how I made these. 

Gift tags with felt hearts

Because today is Valentine's Day (happy Valentine's everyone!) I'm sharing here some Valentine's Day gift tags. I made them with red hearts, so yes, they are perfect for Valentine's, but these gift tags can also be used in a number of other occasions.

Embellished felt pouches

These two felt pouches are the result of two of my favorite things - creating something new and working with felt.

When I started out I had a square of plain gray felt. I cut it in half, folded each piece in order to create an envelope pouch, and then everything else unfolded.

 

DIY clip on pouch - the easy way

Hello, and welcome. Last week my son came home from school and proudly announced his maths teacher had told the class they could already use a calculator for some of the work they've been doing. So, we got him a small, simple calculator - green, of course, because it's his favorite color (luckily for me, it was actually the only color the store had when I stopped by...). The next step was to create a small pouch for the calculator, because the small solar panel wouldn't last that much mixed in with the pens and pencils in his pencil case (and also because mom loves making this kind of things...).

I let him go through my fabric stash and pick the fabric he wanted for the pouch, same with the button. And as an afterthought I decided to make the pouch a clip on, hoping it will be harder for it to get lost that way.

I didn't create a pattern for the pouch because size really depends on what you want to use it for, but there's a small tutorial below in case you want to make one of these pouches too.

Geometrical corner bookmarks - tutorial and pattern

Hello, and welcome. At the beginning of this new week I'm going to show you how to make corner bookmarks - the easy way, of course.

These bookmarks are very useful for book lovers (especially if they're like me and have more than one book going at the same time), but they also make a cute small gift. And if you need original party favors on the go, these are great too. 

And they are really, really easy to make. 

Felt coasters

Remember the handmade felt coasters I made a while ago? Those were a Christmas gift for my cousin and since then I made a few more batches, mostly for friends wanting coasters coordinating with the rest of a party decor - I made a few in two shades of pink for a baby shower, a couple in bold colors for a summer barbecue and others in shades of green and brown for a birthday party. And now I made these for my Etsy shop too!

Making these coasters is a time consuming process because the alignment of the cut out scalloped flower on the top part of the coaster has to be just right, otherwise they look wonky. But I love making them, and I always have a lot of fun trying new color combinations for the top and the bottom.

So... of course I decided to make more.

Valentine's Day gift tags with 3D hearts

Valentine's Day is coming exactly a month from now. This was never a date we celebrated that much at our house, and over the years, even when I decided I could do something for Valentine's, I always left things to the last minute and then ended up not having time.

But now the kids are older and they enjoy exchanging little Valentine's gifts at school so I braced myself and started early.

DIY Reusable Christmas Gift Bags

Every year I make at least a couple of reusable gift bags to store and transport Christmas gifts to our friends and extended family.

This year I was a bit late in getting these ready, but then I went back to my 20-minutes lined tote bag tutorial and I managed to sew two large bags fairy quickly.

DIY custom name banners

Hello, and welcome. Christmas is fast approaching, so I've been busy trying to finish a few homemade gifts ahead of time. This weekend I finally managed to complete two name banners that the recipients (three year old and nine year old girls, in this case) can hang in their rooms. 

Both the letters and the owls were cut using my Sizzix. To be honest, I could have used different themes, but I kind of liked the owl idea after I made the first banner, so I just changed the colors for the second one.

DIY Felt Lined Clutch

Although I desperately need to start working on Christmas gifts, first I had to make a gift for a friend's birthday. I wanted to make her a clutch, and decided to use a striped fabric in colors I knew she would like.

Then I just couldn't find in my stash a lining that matched, so I switched to felt instead. And loved the idea.

DIY Bunny Softies - with pattern

Hello, and welcome. Today I'm sharing two sweet bunny softies. I made them a couple of months ago as a gift for my cousin's baby girl and now I have finally finished drafting the pattern and putting together a tutorial.

They are really very easy to make. All you need is some cute fabric and a little bit of time, and you can create a lovely homemade gift. 

DIY Baptism Memories Box

Sometimes ideas come to us when you least expect. When were invited to attend the baptism of a sweet baby girl, as usual, I was left with the task of getting an appropriate gift. Now, we know there will be lots of guests attending, and I expect most people to lean towards more traditional baby gifts - and I wanted something different and original. 

So I remembered the fabric covered wooden box I made a while ago, and decided I could make something similar for the parents to save all the memories of baptism day.

Explosion Box Designs

After reading the title, you might be asking - what exactly is an explosion box? I had the same question when I was approached by Shari’s Berries about these printables. But don't worry, it's not as scary as the name might sound.

These explosion boxes are lovely folded paper boxes that include pages with personalized details, such as photos, thoughtful notes, or unique decorations.

DIY Stamped Gift Wrap Paper

What do you do when you need to wrap a gift and you have no gift wrap paper at home? Well, of course, you make your own!

That's what I did last week, when I needed paper to wrap a book and all I had in my storage bin was Christmas-themed paper. So, I took a blank page from one of my kids' larger drawing pads, brought out the stamps, and got down to work.

DIY magic wand bookmarks

Hello, and welcome. Today I'm going to show you how to make magic wand bookmarks, which work great as party favors or just to embellish your gift packages. 

The tutu bag

Hello, and welcome. If you've been visiting a while, you already know I love to make bags, so today I'm showing you my latest project - the tutu bag:

I made this bag as a gift for a little girl turning eight next week. Because I was a bit pressed for time, I didn't take enough pictures to create a complete tutorial, but the bag is sewn and assembled in exactly the same way as the 20-minutes lined tote bag I posted here a while ago.

Felt initials key chains

Remember the felt flowers key chains I made a while ago? At the time I also decided to create a less girly version of the key chains, and came up with these instead:

I used my Sizzix to cut oval shapes (two for each key chain). I inserted the chain in between the two oval shapes (adding a few stitches to make sure it was secure) and then joined the ovals with fabric glue.

Then all I needed to do was to glue the initials onto the front of the key chains. Again, I used my Sizzix to cut the letters but you can get pre-cut letters or just use a template to make your own.

Here are the finished key chains, front and back:

These key chains are great homemade gifts, and you can personalize them as an added bonus.

Have fun and happy Wednesday!

Christmas in July: Mini Tree Felt Ornaments

Hello, and welcome to my 2018 Christmas in July post.

I had been planning to make these Christmas tree ornaments for a long time - actually, since before last Christmas - and I thought this was the perfect time to finally get down to work.

They are very, very easy to make:

Felt computer mouse key chain

Hello, and welcome. Today I'm showing you the computer mouse key chain I made as a gift for one my my son's teachers (a male teacher), as it would have been a bit weird to give him a felt flower key chain.

No pattern to share on this one, as I used the pattern from one of my favorite sewing books: Big Little Felt Universe: Sew It, Stuff It, Squeeze It, Fun!: