More Citrus Coasters!

Remember the fun felt citrus coasters I made last summer? While on my recent craft room spring-cleaning frenzy, I was surprised to find a whole set already made, just waiting for their little citrus fabric drawstring bag to live in! Don’t you just LOVE it when that happens??? I whipped up the bag in nothing flat, and now I have a another set ready for a summery hostess gift.  Here are the instructions again:

• Cut out three sizes of circles. The smallest and largest are from colored felt, and the middle is white. (I used the bottom of a yogurt carton, a peanut butter lid, and a random lid from my container drawer for templates.)
• Handstitch the small circle onto the white circle using matching embroidery floss.
  
• With white embroidery floss, stitch three criss-crossing lines across the colored circle.
• Glue the now-attached pieces to the larger circle to cover up the stitches, and trim all the way around with pinking shears.
• For a gift, make four of each and tie them together with a pretty orange, yellow, or green ribbon. Or, if you’re lucky enough to find some fabulous fruity fabric, you can make a simple drawstring bag to gift them in. ♥

Citrus Coasters

I was browsing the department store ads in the Sunday paper a couple of weeks ago when I was captivated by a lovely display of summery picnic dinnerware. When I saw coasters that looked like slices of oranges, lemons, and limes, my little DIY fairy said, “You should make some of those!” So off I went to the fabric store where, serendipitously, I spotted a lovely orange, lemon, and lime print on my way to purchase the felt I’d need. How fun is that!!! 🙂

Here’s how I made the coasters:

• Cut out three sizes of circles. The smallest and largest are from colored felt, and the middle is white. (I used the bottom of a yogurt carton, my trusty peanut butter lid, and a random lid from my container drawer for templates.)
• Handstitch the small circle onto the white circle using matching embroidery floss.
• With white embroidery floss, stitch three criss-crossing lines across the colored circle.
• Glue the now-attached pieces to the larger circle to cover up the stitches, and trim all the way around with pinking shears.

For a gift, make four of each and tie them together with a pretty orange, yellow, or green ribbon. Or, if you’re lucky enough to find some fabulous fruity fabric, you can make a simple little drawstring bag to gift them in. They’re so fun, easy, and colorful . . . you’ll love making your own! ♥

Happy Spring!

It’s always fun to switch out the winter decorations for spring things! Here’s my favorite pillow (and the story behind it!) and links to some other handmade goodies. Enjoy! ♥

Peeps Garland

Fabric Carrots

Fabric Bunnies

Bag O’ Bunnies

Spring Frame

Flower Pillows

Citrus Coasters

Christmas Argyle Pillow

Here is a photo of my new favorite pillow that I finished last night! It just sort of evolved . . . here’s how.

(1) When I recently organized my crafty corner, these two fabrics ended up side by side on a shelf and made me think of Christmas. The red cotton is from a thrifted tablecloth, and the lime green felt is from the citrus coasters I made last summer. Then I saw an argyle sweater in an ad, and a lightbulb went on!

(2) I used a shape pattern from Google images to cut these diamonds from the felt. Then I pinned them in rows and pondered how to attach them. I decided that having the corners loose would give the pillow a more interesting texture, so I embroidered an “X” across the middle of each diamond . . . sort of a “free-form argyle.” 🙂

(3) When I stitched the pillow front and back together (the back is another piece of the red tablecloth, unadorned), I stitched through the middle of each outer diamond, which gave the edges a sort of rick-rack pattern. Finally, I stuffed the pillow and hand-stitched the opening. I may never make another one, but it sure makes me smile! ♥

X’s and O’s . . . er . . . Lemons and Limes

Do you have little ones in your family who LOVE to play tic-tac-toe? We do! Since I bought plenty of orange, yellow, green, and white felt for my citrus coaster project, I decided to use it to make a birthday gift for one of these sweet little girls with a giant orange slice gameboard and lemon and lime game pieces. And how serendipitous to find an orange slice notepad in the dollar bin at Michaels for keeping score! 🙂 At first, I was going to make a bag out of my citrus fabric to hold everything, but then I figured out that the gameboard itself could be the bag with the addition of ties. It worked! Now I’m imagining all sorts of other themes . . . a basketball gameboard with different colors of “team” T-shirts for the game pieces . . . a Disney fabric gameboard with Mickey and Goofy game pieces . . . the sky is the limit! You could also make them different sizes and even add velcro to the gameboard and pieces to play it in the car. Other ideas are welcome! ♥

Lemonade Pie

Like all of you, I’m a big believer in healthy, natural foods. However, my recent addiction to making citrus coasters led to a craving for a piece of lemonade pie for dinner tonight. Yikes! But if you need something quick, easy, delicious, and perfect for summer, here you go!  ♥

• 6-ounce can of frozen lemonade or limeade
• 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
• 8-ounce tub of whipped topping
• homemade or purchased graham cracker crust

Mix lemonade or limeade, sweetened condensed milk, and whipped topping until well blended and pour into prepared crust. Chill at least 30 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.