Thursday, January 30, 2014

Dry Erase Crock Pot Label

Whenever I make something for a party or potluck in my crock pot I always wish there was a way I could label it so everyone would know what it was. Sometimes I make cute little folded signs to put next to it but sometimes I forget or don’t have time. Today, however I was inspired by some old magnetic dry erase boards for the fridge that I have sitting in my craft closet.

I cut one up, added some stickers and viola!  Quick and easy, reusable labels for my crock pots! And now my red one is an owl crock pot, too…

crock pot labels - The Backyard FarmwifeJust make sure you cut them so they fit where you want them to go on your crock pot. My oval one was almost too big…

crock pot labels - The Backyard Farmwifecrock pot labels - The Backyard FarmwifeI think this is one of my best ideas in a long time!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Woodsy Baby Girl Quilt

I started this quilt before WAY before the holidays and finally decided it was time to get it off my to-do table…

I used my favorite, go-to fat quarter pattern from Two Little Banshees. I love this pattern! Quick, easy and so fun to make it unique!

I decided to appliqué this brightly colored quilt with some woodsy little cut outs. I also love the way the yellow gingham binding looks on it!

baby quilt 01baby quilt 02  Quilting inside each block with a 1/2” border is just as easy but more visually appealing than stitching “in the ditch”.

baby quilt 03

I think I want to try a boy version of this quilt someday…

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Tea Bag Gift Bags

The past year I have officially become a tea snob. I just can’t drink tea from a bag anymore. Buying all that loose-leaf tea means I have lots of empty tea bags. I empty the bags into tins that keep the tea much fresher longer. And all those bags get stored in my craft closet hoping to someday get used for something…

tea bag gift bag - The Backyard Farmwife

tea bag gift bag - The Backyard FarmwifeI made these sweet little gifts for my sisters’ birthdays and needed a non-Christmas gift bag to put them in. (I’ll post the gifts after the party.)

Then I remembered my stash of empty tea bags.

Since I wrote the names of the teas on the bags, I couldn’t just stamp directly on them. But I stamped some birthday stuff on white paper, added some extra fun papers and I ended up with two sweet little gift bags all ready to go!

tea bag gift bag - The Backyard FarmwifeSometimes holding on to stuff is a good thing… ;o) 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Craft Room Makeover

Since I'm not homeschooling anymore (still sounds and seems so strange), I decided to make the room less classroom and more craft room...

No big changes, just a few fun additions to the walls.

I started with putting up some new crafty words up on the border by the ceiling. There used to be history timelines the boys made up there…

craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife

I made each of the words out of the material the word is.

craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife

I spruced up the wall by my sewing machine, too…

craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife

Lastly, I decided to cover up the icky old bulletin board by the door. It doesn’t get used much any more but it might as well look cute and crafty while it’s hanging there… (the sewing themed prints are perfect)

craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife craft room makeover - The Backyard Farmwife

I really like it but I still can’t seem to quit calling it the schoolroom… :o)