Frugal Friday #8

So with Christmas just around the corner I know everyone is in need of a quick last minute gift idea. You know the ones you don't plan on, or a party comes up, or you just plain forgot!

This is a quick and easy idea, and you may have most if not all the ingredients already in your house. I had everything but the chocolate chips, so it was easy for me. I mentioned in a previous Frugal Friday post the idea of mixes in a jar. They are simple, cute and kind of fun to make. The one I chose is called Cowboy Cookies. My mother-in-law gave me one a month ago and it was such a fun treat. The cookies were good and super easy. So I went to Recipezaar (love this site) and found the complete recipe.

I also have several great little books by Goose Berry Patch on the same subject. They have great ideas from quick breads and cookies to soups. They also give you tags and recipe cards. Well worth the investment.

This is what you need:

1 wide mouth quart Jar

1 wide mouth jar lid and ring

Funnel

Tamper or spoon

Recipe with ingredients (click on Recipezaar for complete recipe)

Material

Follow the measurements and tamp everything down tightly. Cut a large circle of your favorite material (mine is from old valences that I had) and place it over the jar lid and screw down the ring over the material.

Create a cute little instruction tag ( I made mine using my PC Crafter account) and tie it to the jar with some ribbon or raffia.

Tada! You have a great simple and cute gift. I made up several at once to have on hand, and I am so glad I did. I have already had a few things pop up so these little things will be very handy!
Hope this frugal little idea helps you out this Christmas season! Remember to relax and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas!

My New Obsession

I admit that I am hooked! This new craft for me is wonderful. I can do it with my kids around, it is not expensive, and it is hugely satisfying. What is it? Stitchery! I love it, love it, love it!

I am loving hand stitching. I found this wonderful blog. Shelly, over at Needle in a Haystack had the most adorable projects to make. I even downloaded her e-book on stitchery and LOVED it. She give great instructions on how to do this stuff. I love having it with me. I can work on projects while I am waiting for my kids at school, while I am listening to them read, or while watching a movie. If I could do this while blogging I think my life would be complete. I would need a whole other set of hands for that, and imagine what I could accomplish with 4 hands! Holy Cow! Watch out world!

This one (and the Believe one) is a birthday gift for a friend of mine. Can you believe that I have two friends with the same birthday? I am giving each of them one. I hope they like it.

Here are the supplies for these cute cute towels. You can get the pattern for free over at Needle in a Haystack, just click here. Here are what you will need. Colored towel, that I found at the Dollar Store, Flour sack towels that I found for $5.99 for 4 at Target, and crosstitch floss found at JoAnns for $.37 ea. I already had needles and a small hoop.

This is one that I copied from a towel that my mom bought at a craft sale. This one I am going to be selling at the bazaar this weekend. I hope all the ladies like this little number. Even if they don't I just might have to keep in myself. I am gearing up to make some of these for Christmas presents too.

This pattern you can also get for free at Needle in a Haystack. Super cut and super fast to make. I make this one in while we were at a family function. I chatted with my Mother-in-law while I worked on this. It was so fun.

Girls Hairbow Craft

These are the clips I made up to sell on the bow holders for the bazaar.

You will need:

Silk or paper flowers, from your local craft store

Embellishments-brads, jewels, buttons, etc.

Metal Hair clips(I found mine at Walmart)

Ribbon

Hot glue gun

Glue

Glue the ribbon all around the outside and inside of the clip. The ribbon will help hold the clip in place better, and look more decorative.

Next, take apart the flower and add embellishment. I took the flowers apart because they had a better shape when held together with a brad, and it was easier to glue to the clip when I didn't have to fight that green plastic on the bottom. Glue the flower on to the top of the clip and you are ready to go!

Here are a bunch of the clips that I made up to put on the bow holders. You can be as creative as you would like. My next project is to learn how to crochet flowers for hair clips. I found a great tutorial on those over at Little Birdy Secrets, another of my favorite blogs!

Picture Frame Makover

This is another of the projects that I am doing for next weeks bazaar. I found this great idea for a girls bow holder over at the Idea Room, which is one of my all time favorite blogs. Everything she does is so great. Make sure and check her out!

I wanted to make one of these for Addison for Christmas (ssshhhhh, don't tell her) and thought they would be fun to sell too. I also made the flower clips to go on the holders. I will post a tutorial on those later.

So here is how I did it. Cut batting and material just about 1 inch larger than the piece of glass that goes in the frame. (I spray painted the frame white) Cut the strips of ribbon longer than the opening of the frame (sorry I don't have a pic of that step, but you can go here if you need to see that step)



Duct tape the material and batting to the glass. (You can also use metal, cardboard, wood, or foam board) Whatever you have on hand.

Place the material over the ribbons in the frame and glue the ribbon down to the material. I used hot glue for this step. Make sure you pull the ribbon very tight before gluing. Also check that the material does not pucker.


Place the back of the frame in place and you are done. It is a snug fit, but I was able to get it together.

Here is the finished product! You can use any type of frame, large or small depending on the number of hair bows you have. Have fun!

Here are a couple other styles I made up. I sure hope they sell!

I am sharing this idea over at Metamorphasis Monday. Go check out the other projects.

Craft Fair Coming

So, many of you may know that my Mom is getting ready for her big craft bazaar here in my town next weekend. So, I decided to pull a few things together for the sale. A little extra Christmas money! So I will be posting what I have been making.
The first idea came from a prize that Amy at Keepin the Sunnyside won in a giveaway. I thought it was so cute. Hers came with tea, but I decided to make mine a stocking stuffer with a serving of hot cocoa inside. I love to put things like this in stockings. It makes it so much more personal and sweet.
This is a super easy craft to make. Cut a piece of felt 8 inches long by 3 inches wide. Fold over and stitch the edges.

You can straight stitch or blanket stitch. I did both with mine and liked them both ways. Sew on a snap to keep it closed.

Add some sort of cute bling to make it adorable. I found these super cute snowflakes at Jo-Ann's. I just hot glued them on. You could use a little flower, button, or any other embellishment you might have.
This is the finished product all ready for the show. I hope they sell! If not my kids love them!

Gobble Gobble Craft

I wanted to get this post done before Thanksgiving was over! These are some fun turkeys that I have been making off and on for quite a few years. My Mother-in-law, hi Carol Jean, sent me one a few years back and I just made up a pattern for it and took off. I love making these things because it is therapeutic to do hand work.

Supplies you will need:

Colored felt sheets- 6 for a large turkey, 5 for a small turkey

Cotton thread in cream or black

Poly-fil stuffing

Needle

scissors

black eyes

fall embellishments (ribbon, buttons, etc.)

Hot glue gun-glue sticks.

Here's the pattern for the turkeys, if you are so inclined to make a few for yourself. The felt sheets are very inexpensive. Be creative on your colors, I have used red, black, green, orange, and many others.

Lay your pattern on the felt and cut it out. Make sure to cut two of everything.


Next, blanket stitch around all the pieces, making sure to leave an opening for the stuffing. If you don't know how to blanket stitch I found a Blanket Stitch Tutorial on YouTube that was pretty good. It is a bit different than they way I do it, but it will get the job done.

This is the type of thread I use. It is a thick cotton and can be found near the yarn section of you local craft store.


After you stitch around each section, stop and fill loosely fiberfill, just make sure not to over stuff. You want your turkey to be soft and squishy. Finish stitching the section closed. When you have all the pieces stitched and filled. Hot glue them together so they stand on their own. Add the embellishments, don't forget to put on a nose and waddle. These are buttons, and I will cut the shank off to make gluing easier.

I just hand cut the nose and waddle, there is no pattern. You may think it looks terrible when you are cutting it, but when you put it on it will look fine. I glue them on also.

These are a couple samples I have done. You don't have too many embellishments on your turkey, it is personal preference. Have a ball and get crazy! Sorry the pictures aren't so great, my camera does not like to take pictures inside and the flash tends to make everything look possessed, so you have a nice Thanksgiving orange glow! Sorry, maybe Santa will leave me a new camera in my stocking! Hey, a girl can dream!