DIY Wrapped Gifts Christmas Cards

Every year I always try to make at least a few Christmas cards at home. This time I opted for the wrapped gifts theme:

How to make these?

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.

Unlined tote bags with pretty seams

Hello, and welcome. If you've been visiting a while you already know I love to sew bags. And I especially love to use them as gift bags. If you think it through,wrapping paper is just a waste of resources. Even if you try to re-use it as much as possible, there will always come a time when it ends up in the trash. And with the global effort to reduce plastic bags, "wrapping" gifts in a fabric bag is a kind of 2-in-1 gift, because the recipient can re-use the bag for a long time to come.

Lined fabric bags are usually my first choice. They are fairly easy to make - see my 20-minutes lined tote bag tutorial - and I love to go through my fabric stash and find just the perfect pair of fabric and lining for a bag. But sometimes, I just need a gift bag on the go, and I don't want to bother with lining - but I also don't want ugly seams to show up on the inside of the bag (yes, I know it's the inside and no none is really going to look in there to check the seams, but I'm picky that way. Hence, these unlined-tote-bags-with-pretty-seams tutorial.

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. 

10-minute double pocket felt pouch

Hello, and welcome. Today I'm sharing a very quick project - just my favorite kind! - the double pocket felt pouch.

The one I made is small, just 9 x 14 centimeters, but still very useful as a purse organizer.

DIY dry erase to-do lists

If you're like me, you always have a long list of things to do every day. And while I have a good memory, I always find it easier to create a list every night with what needs to be done the following day.

Mostly I use notebooks for this, but lately I found myself sticking lots of reminders on our kitchen wall, next to the calendar and the kid's school schedules. I was clearly in need of a more efficient alternative - and so I created a dry erase to-do list.

Upcycled notebook

Hello, and welcome. Today I'm going to show you how I transformed an ugly notebook into something I can now use at the office.

I always like to have my own notebooks at the office, something pretty and not too large, so that it can't fit in my purse if I have to go out for a meeting. As the current notebook was coming to an end, I found myself looking at new notebooks in stores, looking for something inspiring, when I suddenly remembered - if I can make a notebook, why am I buying one?

 

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!

Lined crochet summer purse

Today I decided to show you the crochet purse I finished a couple of weeks ago. I find crochet a very soothing hobby, so I always wonder why I don't crochet more often. I guess the answer is that I just don't have enough time to fit in everything. This purse, however, is so quick to make that you can finish it in an afternoon.

I didn't exactly write a pattern because I just made it up as I went along - but then it's so simple that no pattern is really required.

Felt & Ribbon Notebook Cover

I love creating notebook covers They are hugely versatile and with the abundance of free stationary and clip-arts you have on the Web nowadays, it´s really easy to create cute, customized gifts.

For this one, I started with a piece of hedgehogs themed ribbon I've had in my stash for a while.

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:

Reversible bag with pocket - tutorial & pattern

Hello, and welcome. Today I'm sharing with you a great summer tote bag - with cute pockets and 100% reversible.

Scroll down for the tutorial the link to download the pattern.

 

Felt flower key chains tutorial

Hello, and welcome to another week. Today I'm showing you a bunch of felt flower key chains I made for my kid's teachers.

Every year I search for some quick and easy gifts that can be "mass produced" - my son is now in 5th grade and has a ton of teachers. And while my daughter only has two for now, when you add the ballet teacher, the swimming coach... - yes, well, lots of people to get gifts for.

So this year we settled on key chains. Flower shaped for the female teachers, and with their initials for the male teachers. Today I'm going to show you how we made the felt flower key chains, and I'll post about the other ones later.

My Sailboat Pillow Pattern is now on Etsy!

I'm so happy to finally have a pattern for sale on Esty!

While I love sharing free patterns with all of you, realistically speaking (Keeping it Real here, remember?) I just don't have time to do it all.

So, while I will still be sharing as many free patters as I can here on the blog, an updated and improved version of my sailboat pillow pattern is now available on Craftsy, complete with the materials list and instructions, for a symbolic price.

The original post on the blog (you can find it here) is still up and running and still includes the detailed photo tutorial, but the pattern is now accessible only here. 

Originally I made these two sailboats for each of my kids, but they make such a cute summer decor that I'm thinking about making a few more soon!

Enjoy,

Lace edged candles

I've had two candles - one blue and one yellow - in my crafts closet for a long time. Initially I bought them with the intention of creating a nautical decor with them. I even wrapped the lower portion of the candles with rope, but the whole think became too tick and not at all practical. 

Last weekend I finally decided I either tossed the candles or finished them. And since I was not going to toss two perfectly good candles, I ripped the rope and created a lace edging instead.

 

DIY Play Food: a stack of pancakes

Hello and welcome to another installment of the DIY play food series. It's been a while since I posted a play food tutorial, but today I'm showing you how to make felt  pancakes, complete with several sauce alternatives so that everyone can choose a favorite.

Here's the tutorial:

Pillowcases - quick & easy

As part of my 2018 destashing goal, I've been (slowly) going through my crafts closet, finishing (or getting rid) of long lost projects. This was how I came across a bunch of old crib sheets that I saved years ago, not necessarily for a trip down memory lane, but more because the fabrics were cute and I thought I could re-use them. 

Well, it's been a while but I finally managed to use those old sheets: I made pillow cases.

I was working on a timeline, trying to get the cutting and sewing done early on Saturday morning to avoid leaving it unfinished again, so I didn't take enough photos for a tutorial, but I basically followed the same method as my 10-minute pillow cover tutorial.

And there it is: a nice pile of "new" pillow cases that my kids can use.

All in all, I made five pillowcases. In theory, you can get two pillowcases out of each crib sheet, but the original blue sheet was partially damaged so I I could only get enough good fabric for one pillow case.

This is really a great idea to use (or re-use) fabrics you have in your stash, and those pillowcases are so quick and easy to sew that you can make a whole bunch in almost no time at all. 

See below my other destashing projects so far:

Destashing #1: Scrappy crochet blanket
Destashing #2: DIY Play Food: cloth napkins & napkin rings
Destashing #3: DIY Doll Diaper - tutorial and pattern
Destashing #4: Zippered Pouches
Destashing #5: Felt envelope clutches
Destashing #6: DIY Felt Book Covers
Destashing #7: Upcycled Fabric Covered Tin Can 
Destashing #8: Felt penguin key chain 
Destashing #9: DIY Tulle Gift Bags 
Destashing #10: DIY Fabric Headbands  
Destashing #11: Two Toned Felt Envelope Bags 

Enjoy, and happy Tuesday!