'Crystal' Ornament Hangers–Ballard Style

photo from Ballard

I love to spend time each evening browsing for different Christmas ideas. Last night, these cute Holiday Magnetic Crystals on the Ballard site caught my eye. So pretty! But I couldn’t pay $39 for them. That’s just not in our budget.
So I dug out some some old shatterproof ornaments that I bought when my kids were in their Christmas tree destroying phase (not entirely sure that we’ve bypassed that stage yet!), along with some plastic beads, a magnet, spray paint, and the hot glue gun.

A straw and an egg carton from the recycle bin served as a holder for spray painting – look, action shot from the garage. I let the paint dry overnight, and then used my glue gun to attach beads to the top of the ornament. I like the delicate beads in the Ballard ornament, but I had star shaped beads and only a few round ones, so that’s what I used.

I tried using pliers to break a magnet into smaller pieces so that they would fit invisibly on top of the beads, but the magnet shattered. Plan B was a glue dot from my scrapbooking supplies, which worked perfectly.

Here’s the finished ornament. I really love the beads instead of string or ribbon, and can’t wait to make more. Here’s another view:

Linked to:
Sew Dang Cute -- CWTS Knockoffs

Better ‘Bisquick’

I might have mentioned before that my grandparents were bakers. Bakery bakers. So I blame my love of all carby things that come out of an oven squarely on them. Biscuits, for example.
As much as I enjoy biting into a hot, fresh biscuit, sometimes there just isn’t time to whip up a batch from scratch. Enter Bisquick. Nah, too many chemicals. Enter homemade Bisquick. Simple, delicious, and convenient.

Here’s how to make it:
Gather your ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and shortening (or butter!). See? Simple.

Whisk dry ingredients

Add shortening with a pastry blender. (I used a split of half butter and half shortening). Mmm, butter.

See the coarse crumb look to the mix? That’s what you want. Now you’re done! Easy peasy. Store in an airtight container until you’re ready to make biscuits. Since I added butter to the shortening, I’ll store mine in the fridge, but if you use just shortening, it can go in the pantry. Scoop out some mix and add milk to make biscuits, and milk and eggs to make pancakes.

These are amazing with butter. Or honey. Or butter and honey. My husband likes to dunk them in stew. And we’ve made cheesy versions, too, with sharp cheddar and herbs.
Homemade ‘Bisquick’
9 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
½ cup baking powder
¼ cup white sugar (can be omitted, but we like it)
2 cups shortening (can substitute butter, which tastes fantastic, but must be kept in fridge/freezer)
In very large bowl, whisk dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender (or two forks), cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Just like making pie crust! Store in airtight container.
You can use this mix just as you would store-bought Bisquick…for biscuits, pancakes, pot pie topping, dumplings, etc. Delicious!
Biscuits: 2 ¼ cups of mix plus ¾ cup milk or buttermilk. Roll about ½ inch thick, cut, and bake at 450F about 10 minutes. I’m actually a bit lazy with this part, and I just use my hands to roll 2-inch diameter balls of dough, and smooch them down a bit on the baking sheet.
Pancakes: 2 cups mix plus one cup milk plus 2 eggs. Mix and pour into heated pan. Flip pancake when it starts to show bubbles.

Linked to:

Airplane growth charts

One of the things on my to-do list when I was pregnant with my youngest son was to make him a growth chart similar to the one hanging on my oldest son's bedroom wall. Fast forward to last week, when my little guy celebrated his 2nd birthday, and still no growth chart. Fast forward again to 1:30 am on Christmas morning, when I was down in my craft room finally finshing his growth chart. He's napping now, so no photo of his, but here is a snap of another I made as a gift for a friend's son.

The photo doesn't do it particular justice (not surprising since I took the pic in the basement, at night), but I'm really happy with how the growth chart turned out. Best yet, while I chose a boyish airplane theme/palette, these charts would be easy to personalize for both boys and girls young and old.

Here are the basics:

I needed to make three growth charts, so I purchased a 12-foot length of white MDF and had it cut into three equal pieces (4 feet each). Using a foam roller and a sample can of blue latex paint from Walmart, I painted the front and edges of each board -- three coats total, with drying time between coats.

Next, I used yellow craft paint to add colour to three sizes of wooden stars. I did up a bunch at once, and let them dry on a piece of paper, while I used a paint marker to colour the name letters (wooden cutouts from Michael's). One coat did for both letters and stars. Craft paint would have been fine for the letters, too, but I had the pen in mind for marking inches along the side of the board, so thought I'd use it on the letters, as well.

Once everything was dry, I placed the letters and stars on the painted board, along with some wallpaper airplane cutouts. I played around with the arrangement, and used E-6000 to glue down the wooden pieces when I was happy with how they looked.

The wallpaper cutouts were easy to use...just soak them in water for a minute to activate the adhesive on the back and then smooth onto the board. I blotted with a paper towel, and used a plastic straight edge tool to squeeze out extra water.

Next up was adding the measurements along one edge of the board. I used a light pencil crayon and a quilting ruler to mark one-inch increments.

For the first two growth charts, I just used the paint marker to go over the pencil crayon lines -- and that worked fine. For the third, I used a piece of painter's tape to help keep the edges even. Better! When the lines were dry, I went back and freehand continued them around the side of the board and added numbers at each foot mark. Since the boards are only 4 feet long, I started my numbers at two, three of four inches from the bottom. When the chart is wall mounted, the bottom will be just a little under two feet above the floor. Did that make sense?

And here's the finished version again. When my son wakes up, I'll get a photo of his now mounted growth chart so you can see how it looks on the wall.

Edited to add new photo:

Finished and mounted at the proper height!

Update!!  This project is my entry to hopefully become a competitor at 

Linked to:

Sew Can Do

 
(Cost breakdown for THREE growth charts: board -- $12, wallpaper cutouts -- $10.50 (including shipping), paint and paint marker -- $10, stars and letters -- $8. Total: $40.50 or approx $13.50 each.)

Pre-school teacher gifts

A bad cold has really knocked me on my rear and put me behind on everything. Including making Christmas gifts for my son's pre-school teachers. I remembered close to midnight last night. As in 11 hours before the Christmas party where those gifts are delivered. Oops!

Thankfully these little tissue pack covers I saw at Let's Go Fly a Kite are the perfect small gift and quick to make. I finished three of them, including ironing the fabric from my scrap bin, in about 20 minutes. Add a pack of tissues and a small gift card and I was done. Thank goodness for my sewing machine!

The party went as well as can be expected given the number of children, tables full of food and sweets and a visit from Santa -- all near naptime for the younger ones -- but I find these events really tiring. My boys go crazy, and it's hard to keep them from running around at top speed (opposite directions, of course) because they're so excited. No pictures on Santa's lap again for us...although at least this year, we got a snap of them 'sitting near' Santa. My youngest climbed up on Santa for a split second before freaking out and the oldest got close enough to grab his gift and run. Maybe next year. Maybe.

Super Fast Dolly Sling

I don't get to do a lot of girl crafts, but this little doll sling for an almost 3-year-old girl was fast and easy to make.

Turns out there's not a dolly model to be found in my house, so Teddy is subbing in!

If the shape of this sling looks familiar, it's because it's a slightly larger version of my fabric headband.

The sling is made from three pieces of fabric. Cut two rectangles of fabric larger enough to hold the dolly needing comfort.   I eyeballed everything, so no measurements, but I'd guess mine were approximately 16 inches x 10 inches, and I used two different prints. Put them right sides together and stitch up the long sides. Turn right sides out and press seams. Cut another rectangle of fabric, approximately 18 inches long (depending on size of doll and size of child) and 10 inches wide. Fold in thirds with rights sides out and stitch along the long edges. Tuck the ends of the strap inside, giving a finished edge. Then, gather the short sides of the first rectangle set and insert them into the tucked edge of the strap. Secure with stitching, and repeat on the other side, taking care not to twist the strap. When I got to this point, the pouch part of the sling looked a little flat, so I added a couple little side darts to give it a rounder appearance. That's it!

Linked to:

Festive Christmas stocking tutorial

After catching myself singing Jingle Bells out loud to my boys at Walmart earlier today, I decided tonight would be a good time to try a Christmas craft. A couple friends have asked me to make stockings for their families, so this is the sample I made to test out my technique. I think it turned out pretty well! This stocking is quilted, cuffed and fully lined.

I've never done a craft tutorial before, so be patient with me  (=

What You Need:

-- approximately 1/2 yard if printed fabric for front and back of stocking (or a fat quarter of 2 different fabrics if you want variety. I went with this green snowflake print for both front and back).

-- same amount of a lining fabric (I used plain white)

-- 1/2 yard fusible fleece or other batting material

-- 1/4 yard contrasting fabric for cuff, or a cute trim piece like I've used.

-- thread

Step one to creating a stocking like the one above is to choose the size and shape you want. I just drew a freehand stocking shape onto a piece of unprinted newsprint and used that as my template. One of the things I considered when drawing my stocking is that I wanted the leg of the finished piece to be wide enough for a small package, oranges, etc. Some of the commercial ones are very narrow and not terribly practical.

When you're happy with the shape you've drawn, use it to cut out two pieces of fusible fleece. You can use other batting material as well, but I like the fusible because you can quickly iron it to your outside fabric and it makes it easy to quilt without pinning. Be sure to flip the fleece over for your second cut, so that you'll have the fusible part facing in the right direction when you attach it to your front/back fabric. 

Cut two rectangles of front/back fabric slightly larger than your fleece stocking shapes. Place fleece stockings, fusible side up, on your ironing board, centre the fabric (right side up) over the fleece stockings and press with a hot iron according to manufacturer's directions. It should stick very quickly. Allow the fused fabric/fleece, and then use your sewing machine to quilt whatever design you like. I used a basic diamond pattern, but I think free motion swirls would be lovely. Cut excess fabric from the edges of stocking, leaving enough for small seam allowance. Do this for both front and back.

My sewing machine came with this little bar that just slides into the presser foot shaft. It makes it easy to keep my quilt lines a uniform distance apart.

After quilting is finished, cut two stocking shapes out of lining fabric, once again turning fabric wrong side up for one of the cuts. Layer your quilted pieces right sides together and top them with your lining pieces, also right sides together.

This is how the layers should look: lining, lining, fleece/fabric, fabric/fleece. Pin all layers together, and stitch around the stocking, keeping your stitches right against the fleece edge and leaving the top of the stocking open.

Clip seams at all curves, snipping through your seam allowance, but not through the line of stitching. This will help the curves sit smoothly once they are turned to the inside.

The next two steps are where the magic happens. First, slide your hand between the two lining layers of your stocking sandwich and turn it inside out, so the lining fabric is showing on the outside of your stockings. The stitched seams should show no raw edges. Quickly press the seams. Next, slide your hand between the front/back fabric layers and turn the stocking inside out again. Voila! This should reveal the front/back fabric on the outside of the stocking while turning the lining inside and hiding all of your interior seams. The top of the stocking will still show raw edges. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of this step.

Now that your stocking is turned out the way it will look when it's finished, you should make a hanging loop for the stocking. To do this, I used a scrap of front/back material and fold it over so that right sides were together. Then I stitched a seam approximately half an inch away from the folded edge. The total length of my loop was about five inches. Cut fabric on the side of the seam furthest from the folded edge, turn it right side out (I use a knitting needle or chopstick to assist), and press it flat, with seam in the centre. Put aside.

For the cuff on this stocking, I used two little pieces of lacy-type material I had in my stash, but you could just as easily use a rectangle of contrasting fabric sewn in half, and turned out, like a larger version of the loop. I stitched the lacy pieces together so that they formed a loop the same width as the stocking.

Place the cuff inside the stocking, with right side of the cuff facing the right side of the lining fabric. Pin into place, matching raw edges with the top of the stocking and making sure side seams are aligned. Tuck fabric loop between the cuff and lining, near the top outside corner of the stocking. The loop part should face downward, into the stocking, while the raw edges of the loop align with the raw edges of the stocking. Hope that makes sense. Stitch around the circumference of the stocking, making sure to catch all layers (lining, fleece, front/back fabric, cuff fabric and loop ends) in the seam.

I used a double zig zag stitch to clean up the raw edge a little, but it's not really necessary. Flip the cuff from the inside of the stocking, over the top and press down into place on the outside of the stocking. The cuff will self cover the seam attaching it to the stocking, and the loop will now be visible.

Your stocking is finished after the cuff is flipped to the outside, but it's fun to play around with embellishments. I auditioned a fabric rosette and some tiny adhesive bling to up the fancy factor of my stocking, but I haven't decided on either option for sure.

Once again, here's the finished product. Congratulations if you've stuck around to the end of this tutorial. I'd love to see your stockings if you decide to try one! Or if you totally love this stocking, I'll be listing it in my Etsy shop, BluePea. Thanks for reading!

Linking to: