Category Archives: Hand Crafts

Souvenir Bag Bookmarks

Just a craft quicky for today!

My daughter came back from her super-fabulous trip to France with a stack of tiny bags from souvenir shops from buying postcards and small souvenirs. Instead of tossing the bags, or leaving them in a drawer to collect dust, we decided to turn them into bookmarks for bonus souvenirs!

We used a glue stick to attach different pieces of the bags together (fronts, backs, etc.) and I trimmed them to the size we wanted with the rotary cutter I keep for cutting paper (great for blades too dull for fabric!).

Then, I used my Scotch Thermal Laminator and 5mm pouches to laminate the bookmarks. With 5″ x 7″ pouches, we were able to get laminate two at at time. I cut each one out using my rotary cutter. Super simple!

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Photogenic Florals

All Sudsed Up – Homemade Hand Soap!

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After seeing this recipe for making a gallon of hand soap on Pinterest, I could not resist giving it a try!

It takes one bar of hand soap, 2 TBS liquid glycerin and 1 gallon of water. So simple!

I used a bar of tea tree soap for my version, and followed the recipe to the letter. My house smelled extra-nice for a couple of days, and the soap smells just as good.

For the first few hours after cooking, the soap looked a bit like milky water, but once it was completely cooled, it was absolutely the perfect consistency for a hand pump.

I doubt the refills will last for a year for my family, but we will get a lot of use out of that one bar of soap!

If you try this, make sure you have containers ready to go. I filled all my soap dispensers as well as one empty soap refill bottle, but I had to improvise with the rest.

See you tomorrow for Talk To Me Tuesday!

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Cooking With Crochet

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I have some insanely talented friends. They are inspiring, creative, fun, supportive and just oh-so-many other things!

Amber is one of these people.

She’s the Crochet Princess responsible for Amber’s Originals. She has supported me though many an endeavor and I’m absolutely bouncing to share her exciting news!

Amber has created the most amazing one-woman amigurumi crochet food display, possibly in the history of EVER…

Cooking With Crochet: Tasty Textile Treats features crochet food made by Amber Lowery. The show is live now through July at the Peoria Public Main Library.

Cooking with Crochet: Tasty Textile Treats
Peoria Public Main Library (lower level 1)
107 N.E. Monroe
Peoria, IL 61602-1070
309-497-2000
Monday through Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Amber created 655 pieces for this show AND she made each piece herself over just a three month period!

She’s amazing, creative and insanely talented. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of her show…

Basket Foods
Healthy Choices

Fruit Basket and Some Cheese

Mexican Basket

Dagwood and friends

Sandwich Fixins

Ice Cream!

See more pictures of Cooking With Crochet!

Be sure to visit Amber’s Originals and Like Amber’s work on Facebook!

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STITCHED registration is now only $40! Click for details

Get 10% off your total purchase during June with code SUMMER2012. Offer valid here on Sewhooked and in my Etsy Shop.

A Favor for my Best Friend

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My best friend of close to two decades (holy cow!), had shoulder surgery last week.

Jewells was working on gifts and other obligations (including working full time!) right up to the wire, including making a quilt top for her brand new great-nephew, baby Oliver. I wanted to do something for her as a get well gift and I wracked my brain trying to think of something helpful. It ended up being kismet that she needed a quilt top finished and I needed something special for a get well gift. Long story short, I offered to finish the quilt, and after swearing to her that it would not be a burden to me (it most emphatically was not!!), Jewells sent me all her stuff for the quilt, and I finished it up this weekend.

My free-motion quilting on anything bigger than a wall hanging tends to be a meander or waves (I’m still learning!). This time, I thought meandering was the way to go.

Basted and ready to go!

Quilting, in progress! Look at those happy little monkeys!

Quilting close up!

Fun fact…the border fabric on this quilt is the sashing/border fabric on my Project of Doom quilt!

And more quilting…

More quilting close-ups…’cause I can!

The back!

Quilting on the back.

The awesome label that Jewells made (fabric markers over printed text).

See you tomorrow for Talk To Me Tuesday!

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STITCHED registration is now only $40! Click for details

Get 10% off your total purchase during June with code SUMMER2012. Offer valid here on Sewhooked and in my Etsy Shop.

Patched

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I’ve been patching dishtowels with leftover 2 1/2″ squares. I used random squares and a simple zig-zag stitch, putting a patch on each side wherever my (favorite!) dishtowels were getting thin.

I don’t know why, but it makes me happy to see the different-colored patches sprinkled on these old towels. 🙂

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STITCHED registration is now only $40! Click for details

Get 10% off your total purchase during June with code SUMMER2012. Offer valid here on Sewhooked and in my Etsy Shop.

Unusual Sources

Oh Sweet Mushroom

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I’m elbow-deep in preparations for the blog hop, which is keeping me from my usual big, happy posts.

Not to worry, I’m sure you will have had quite enough of me by the end of April!

I shared this little piece in Talk to Me Tuesday earlier this week. It’s my interpretation of a vintage design. This was made purely for the pleasure of stitching.

EDITED TO ADD: Free Oh Sweet Mushroom Embroidery Pattern!

Happy Friday!

COUPONS:

Now through Friday March 30, Poppies from the Past is half price (that’s just $4!) with coupon code SPRINGPOPPIES. Not valid on etsy or craftsy.

This offer can be combined with the 15% off coupon below.

In honor of my participation in the STITCHED Tutorial Blog Hop, get 15% off your TOTAL PURCHASE from the Sewhooked Shop during the month of March with coupon code MARCH15. Not valid on etsy or craftsy. ENDS MARCH 31.

Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day Garden Party Blog Hop

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Things to Come

Retreat Glee!

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As I write this, it’s Wednesday night and I’m all packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning for my bee’s annual quilt retreat!

Woo-hoo!

And just for fun, a photo of my empty spools from the last year…ready to donate to a pre-school teacher that uses them in her classroom. I anticipate adding a couple more to the pile during the next four days!

See you Monday!

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