Water Bottle Holders

I wish I could think of a catchier name for these little things but alas I can’t think of one. But I’m open to suggestions…

We bought 5 of these at the Washington State Fair 5 years ago. Since then we have used them TONS! They have gone to fairs, festivals, camping, exploring, hiking… EVERYWHERE!!! Unfortunately we have lost or broke two of them and I decided it was about time to replace them.

Fortunately they are super easy to make!

Run to your local hardware store and pick up 7/8” rubber O-rings. Ours were 89 cents each.

Then cut lengths of ribbon at 34”. You can make them longer or shorter depending on what you want or who you are making them for. Make sure the ribbon is not wider than 3/4” and that is it soft but not silky.

After gathering all your supplies, attach the ring to the ribbon at both ends of the ribbon by folding it over just enough to sew on your machine. Just be sure you fold it the same direction on both sides. Secure with pins.

Sew on your machine, or by hand, making sure that you go over it at least twice to be able to take the weight of the water bottle.

Clip off the extra threads and put Fray-Check on the cut edges of the ribbon.

Now you can just slip your water bottle onto the O-ring and take your water wherever you like!

I made three new holders and I can’t wait to see how they hold up!

Christmas Crafts

I started out with such lofty ambition but then reality got a hold of me. I did not get to do all the cool crafts I wanted to, but I did the ones that were most important to me and they turned out great!

Last January, my mom and I picked up this quilt panel at the shop in Cannon Beach.

I didn’t get it done until guests had already arrived at our annual Christmas open house (and only because my mom helped me take out all the tags and pins) but it turned out PERFECT! Not only do I love the vintage look and the colors, and it fits perfectly in the space I had for it on the kitchen wall, but it is probably the very first quilt I have ever done that has perfectly straight lines and no puckers or ripples in it at all!!!

I love every one of the squares!

  

I even had the exact match of embroidery floss for the ties!

I have always wanted Christmas curtains for the kitchen and this year I finally made one… The retro print is just right for the kitchen decor and I love the little additions I made to it; like a lining and the red and green borders!

I had a bit of the fabric left over so I used the rest to make myself a Christmas apron… I even added a lining to the apron and pleats! I never do pleats, but I think it added a very nice touch!!!

I like the way it looks hanging in the kitchen… It matches my carousel canisters and measuring cups perfectly!

I also decided I needed a retro kitchen towel to hang on my stove. So I traced a cute Merry Christmas in a retro font and embroidered it on an old kitchen towel I found at a second hand store.

Like every year, I made Christmas ornaments for our families. This year I used eggs… I just love our homegrown brown eggs and they made really sweet little ornaments. Just don’t drop one! You can check out how I made them at The Backyard Farmwife…

Black Friday Bonanza

The only Black Friday sale that I bother with. Flannel for $1.29 a yard is just more temptation than I can bear. But I don’t get up at 5am, I wait until the crowds die down and go in the afternoon. Then I grab my number and leisurely do my shopping while I wait for my number to be called.

I got some really nice flannels for making casserole cozies (yes, I will make more someday…) and some cute baby prints as well. Then I picked up some other bargains that I just loved!

These are the prints for cozies

 

Love these baby prints!

This will be a bed for Betsy

I bought a print that matches this during the summer

I don’t know what I’ll do with this one???

Not a flannel but will be the lining of my new messenger bag

The fleece was on sale, too. I have another pattern I want to try with this…

I really like this fabric for making shopping bags! And at 50% off it’s a great deal!

Christmas Wish List

This is my first crafting Christmas Wish List. This is not a list of items that I want to get for Christmas. It is rather a list of things that I want to get done for Christmas. With November almost halfway over, I think I’d better get a move on…

#1- Glitter Foam Christmas Trees from eighteen25 as seen on i Heart Nap Time.

#2- Spool Advent Calendar from Just Something I Made

#3- Shoe holder Advent Calendar from eighteen25

Here’s another one from Chica & Jo (I’m not fond of the Grinch but you could do a million different stories/themes)

  

#4- Yarn Ball Wreath from Life Through the Lens

#5- Stick Snowflakes from Dollar Store Crafts (Love this blog!)

#6- Casserole Cozy in a Christmas plaid I picked up on the free table at co-op.

this isn’t the Christmas print…

#7- Christmas valance for the kitchen window

   This is the print I’m using

#8- Christmas Apron  I have no idea what I’ll use yet!

#9- Embroidered Tea Towels with one of these fonts from Just Something I Made

#10- Christmas Quilt that I bought at my favorite quilt store Center Diamond I love the colors and the vintage look!

I Will Never Do That Again!

When I got the call in August, I was so flattered. Someone finally liked something I made well enough to buy them… And not just one, but 13 sets! So, of course I said yes.

That was dumb!

Now I know I’m no entrepreneur and that was very quickly apparent as I began gathering and purchasing the supplies to make the order.

When I made the original ones, I used all materials that I already had on hand and charged what I thought people would be willing to pay. But buying all new materials to match what she wanted was a whole different ball game. If I hadn’t already had quite a bit of the material or would have not bought things on sale, the project would have cost me about $130 more than I charged her. It did cost me a bit out of pocket but not that much. Thank goodness!

Needless to say, all this made this little project more than a little frustrating. Somehow sewing for someone else just seemed to suck all of the joy out of it. I could have had it done weeks ago if I hadn’t found so many things I would rather do like scrubbing toilets, mucking out the chicken coop or just about anything…

On the bright side I LOVE these things! They are probably one of my favorite patterns I made up myself. I use mine all the time! So I will probably be making more in the future (I’ll just be charging more for them). :o)

    This set is my favorite one!

I love the cherries, apples and cupcakes!

In case you were wondering, this is how you use them…

Slip the bowl into the center

 

Cinch up the strings.

Ready to go…

This is my favorite of the two cozies…

Pull the flaps over…

Velcro it into place…

And off you go!