Summer of Jo-Ann: Ice Capades

This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.

Walking into Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts the other day, I was struck by the fall and Halloween décor that dominated the store. I am still in summer mode. Truth be told, it feels like summer has just begun. Possibly because all we have been doing lately is packing and unpacking boxes. We are moving house, you see. My poor daughter. She was so looking forward to a summer of fun filled activities and crafts compliments of Jo-Ann. Unfortunately the craft room looks this:

Lola and I had poured over Jo-Ann’s summer catalog together and picked out a few fun crafts. We were going to sew an alligator, we even have the fat quarters in funky colors. But while there is light at the end of the tunnel, the sewing machine is still very much buried in stuff. I think I have too much of it. Stuff, I mean.

However, we had picked up a Toob of Penguins, some gray, white, and blue felt, batting, and Elmer’s spray adhesive as well. A lovely Antarctic diorama was also on our to-do list. All we needed was some sturdy cardboard to set it up. If there’s one thing that you’ll have a lot of when moving, it’s cardboard. Armed with a rough design, a ruler, and a box cutter, we set out to create our landscape.

We attached a little white tissue paper to our cardboard to cover up some of the brown. Then we added a layer of batting. I found some glitter snow fabric in my stash, but it was not enough to cover the entire scene so we put regular batting on the bottom, and saved the good stuff for the mountains and the rocks.

Once the cardboard was covered in batting, I attached gray craft felt to the back, and the bottom – I get a little carried away sometimes, and hot glued silver ribbon around the edges for that extra icy sparkle.

I used a hollowed out log, perfect for an ice cave, and gave it a felt roof. I cut water out of blue felt, and used various plastic containers to create rocks and a slide.

The rocks are loosely covered with white cardboard and glittery batting, and can be placed anywhere on the cardboard. I added a few real rocks and then it was time to invite the penguins in to play.

Behold our Antarctic diorama:

While I was fussing over penguin placement and pictures, three little ones were watching my every move, ready to jump in. When I was satisfied with the results, I turned it over to the munchkins to play with.

There are so many wonderful projects to make this summer, or later, for every age and every skill level. Just browse through Jo-Ann’s Cape Discovery catalog and see for yourself.

Stars And Checkers

It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the United States and that calls for a little red, white, and blue. But rather than stars and stripes, I went for stars and checkers instead. It looks very festive, I think.

I fused gingham cotton in blue and red onto navy blue and red wool felt, and cut out stars in different sizes. With a small hole punch I made two holes in my stars and strung them on a length of red and white baker’s twine.

Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend, everyone! Enjoy the extra day off. I think I'll go out and do some garage-saling.



I am linking my starts and checkers garland up at:
The Humble Brag Party at One Project Closer
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
Pin Me Linky Party at Diana Rambles

Pastel Hearts

A customer requested my rainbow heart garland for her mother’s wedding which she is planning. She wondered if I could make it in pastel colors. Why, of course! I love how it turned out.

Even better: I was able to go outside for a quick photo shoot without having to put on a snowsuit. Not that I would call it spring yet. Much too cold still. But I did see the first of my bulbs come up. Finally evidence of spring.

Fabric Flower Pots

My husband suggested we make flower pots out of fabric not too long ago. To be honest, I was a little skeptical at first but I have to admit I was wrong. The first pot we made turned out awesome. You’ll have to take my word for it because sadly, there are no pictures and the pot in question was a gift. We used different patterned blue fabric scraps and a piece of matching vinyl as a liner. An idea was born, begging for a repeat.

To give the pots a little more body, I wanted to use a fabric that is a little heavier than the quilting cotton we used on our prototype, such as an upholstery fabric. JoAnn’s carries the new HGTV line of home décor fabrics, which has some beautiful prints. Now I am more of a summer colors girl for flower pots, and I love the combination of hot pink and bright orange. The Urban Blossoms and Checkered Past in Berry fit the bill perfectly.

I have to stop here for a minute and tell you that JoAnn’s and HGTV sent me generous samples of the new HGTV home décor fabric line to play with. But I was genuinely thrilled to see which prints had been sent my way. I mean, look at those pots, how could I not be? It is gorgeous fabric.



I used a simple pattern for a lined bucket to make my pots. Out of each print I cut a 19.5” by 10.5” rectangle and a 6.25” circle. Because I was making flower pots I used Pellon Vinyl Fuse on the liner fabric to make it somewhat waterproof and protect it from the dirt. Great stuff, easy to work with. It makes the fabric very stiff but I had no difficulty at all sewing through it.



First you make a tube by sewing the short sides of the rectangle together with the right sides facing. Iron open the seam. A word of advice: use the protective paper backing from the vinyl fuse when ironing the seam of the fabric fused with vinyl. Use it not only on top of the fabric, but also on the inside. Your tube will otherwise melt together. Trust me on this one.



Then you pin the bottom to the tube you just made and sew it in place. Go slow.







Do not turn the inner layer inside out. Repeat these steps with the outer layer and turn that one with the right side facing out.



Place the outer layer inside the inner layer. Line up the tops and pin in place. Sew together, leaving about a 4” opening.





Pull the fabric through the opening and turn the bucket inside out. Push the inner layer into the outer layer and topstitch along the top edge to close the opening. If you like, you can fold over the inside a little, or a lot.



That’s all there is to it. Lovely and vibrantly colored flower pots. Of course you don’t have to put a plant in them, you can use them to hold whatever you want.





If you too would  like to try the new HGTV home décor fabric line, there is a 10% off coupon valid through May 4. (And if you can wait a little bit longer, the HGTV line is available at 50% off starting April 14.) Enjoy!

I am sharing my pots at:
The Humble Brag at One Project Closer
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Bunnies

Perhaps it’s because there is still at least a foot of snow on the ground, and more falling as I type, but I am just not feeling the pastel colors this Easter. I went for navy, gray, and white instead.













The blue bunnies are made of a very heavy navy wool with gingham cotton in two sizes fused to the back. I used a small rectangular hole punch to create holes in their ears and strung them onto some lovely yellow satin ribbon.

The gray and white bunnies are made of 3mm thick 100% merino wool felt, strung on yellow and pink baker’s twine. Now all I need are some branches to hang them from. Normally I would go outside to snip a few here and there, but not today. I am staying inside.

I just listed them in the shop if you would like some, too. Happy Easter!



Linking up at:
The Humble Brag at One Project Closer
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

You’ve Got Mail

Our local Variety Store closed last summer, making way for a Family Dollar store. Progress? I think not. But what are you going to do?

With the disappearance of the Variety Store, we also lost the touristy type postcards. Our local supermarket sells greeting cards, but that wasn’t what I was looking for when I decided to send a complete stranger a birthday card.

I resorted to making a card myself. With one or two exceptions, I am not the card making type. My mother is the one who makes elaborately embroidered cards, not me.

My new sewing machine is capable of sewing the alphabet. Actually, since it also an embroidery machine, it is capable of much more, most of which I am still in the process of discovering.

I think the white thread does not stand out enough, to be honest. The red letters are much easier to read. Other than that, I am quite pleased with how my card turned out.

Since the recipient of this card lives in Holland, I sent the card in an envelope. However, I was curious to see if it would hold up in the mail by itself. For that, I made some changes to the back.

After several failed attempts, I figured out that a 3/4” border sewn onto 3.5” by 5.5” cardstock gives the card the sturdiness it needs and enough room to write a short message.

The lines are sewn with the sewing machine. A single, short straight stich works best. I taped the thread ends to the back, to keep the stitches from coming undone.

My cousin and his wife are working very hard on opening a new restaurant & café in Milwaukee: the Blue Jacket Bar. I butchered their logo a bit for this project, I hope they’ll forgive me.

The card goes in the mail today. I’ll keep you posted (pun intended) on its journey.

While I was busy designing cards for strangers and yet to be opened bars, I let the birthdays of one of best friends, my sister, and my sister-in-law pass me by. Hmmm. Not good. I better get to work.

I will be linking my postcards up with:

Friday’s Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia