Crafty Staci

If you followed the Good Neighbor Award, you know that Crafty Staci is the giveaway winner . . . a “What Can You Make With” redo of a loved but no-longer-worn garment. I received her choice in the mail last week—so beautiful! I’ll save that photo for the reveal, but today I want to share the gift Staci sweetly included. She makes lots of adorable coffee cup sleeves (as well as fun camera accessories!) to sell in her Etsy shop, and she sent me this fun pencil sleeve. It’s perfect for my “real” job, and I just love it! She even has a new bat sleeve for Halloween! Plus, Staci’s packaging is so tasteful and professional, including printed sleeve holders and lovely fabric tags. Thank you, Staci, and I’ll be starting on  your project very soon! ♥

DIY Poppy Sugar Bowl and Creamer

Do you ever squeal with delight when you see a blog post? Of course you do! 🙂 That’s what happened when I saw the DIY Poppy Teapot from the lovely Natalie of La gang à Nat. Seriously, go look at it now right HERE. Isn’t it gorgeous??? And all I could think of was that I had a plain white sugar bowl and creamer that I’ve used for YEARS, and wouldn’t they look LOVELY with Natalie’s poppy a-la-mode? So I emailed her to make sure I could copy her design and post it here, and she said YES! (She’s VERY nice!) The only difference is that I used Sharpies since I already had them on hand and then baked the items in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to set the color. I just LOVE them . . . thank you, dear Natalie! ♥

Still MORE Coffee Cup Recipes!

Mmmm . . . my favorite quick breakfast!  A few months ago I posted this Microwave Coffee Cup Scramble and 3,2,1 Cake in Not Just a Coffee Cup.  Later, I shared a few other mini-serving ideas in More Coffee Cup Recipes.  Here are some new ones I’ve been collecting from other bloggers. Someday I want to try them all!  But . . . (DESSERT ALERT! 🙂 ) . . . if your current “chic chick” resolution is losing a few pounds (mine is!) you might want to bookmark this post for later! ♥

• My Home Life
• The Wannabe Chef
• Omnalicious
• Butterfly Kisses
• She Wines Sometimes
• Prudent Baby  (plus here and here!)

What can you make with a polo shirt?

This is my third “What Can You Make With A . . .?” blog post, so maybe I’ve inadvertently started a new series! 🙂 The first remake was a flannel shirt and the second was a lace tank. This time, my sweet husband Dave donated an old polo shirt that he no longer loves, and as usual, I went a little crazy with it! I’ve already blogged about the scrabble tile pillows, which required four 8-inch squares from the front and back. Here’s what I did with the rest of the shirt:

(1) The sleeves are now fabric bins for my embroidery floss. After cutting them off the shirt, I simply evened up the sides and bottom, stitched, and made triangle corners at the bottom so they will stand up. (If you’re not sure how to do these corners, you can read about them on this tote or bracelet purse tutorial.) I previously had my floss in a large, pretty bowl, but I’ve been wanting to use the bowl elsewhere so this worked out perfectly!

(2) The ribbed collar and top-stitched hem are now a scissors pocket necklace to wear when I’m sewing or crafting, since I move from the sewing room to the dining table to the kitchen island and my scissors are always in the wrong place. (Does anyone else do that???) First, I cut the collar into thirds and used the parts with the finished ends for the bag and the other part for a flower. Then I used red buttons for the flower center and to attach the shirt-hem strap on both sides of the stitched-and-turned bag. I love it!

(3) Two random remnants are now a coffee cup cozy to take when I meet my friends for coffee or lunch. I used the cafe’s cardboard version as a pattern, cutting the fabric big enough to allow for seams, padded it with some soft quilt batting, and sewed in a red hairband at one end. After turning and pressing, I top-stitched in red and added a vintage red button. I can’t wait to try it out!

(4) One more random remnant became this pyramid bag I’ve been wanting to try from Craftser. The tutorial says it takes fifteen minutes. It does, and it’s super-cute, too!

Someday I’ll embroider over the frayed spots on the placket and pocket and reuse them along with the other small scraps I have left. When I do, I’ll be sure to share. ♥

“Notepaper” Coasters

I’ve loved notebooks ever since I was a little girl . . . maybe that’s why I decided to be an elementary teacher and writer when I grew up! Anyway, awhile back I started on a B-I-G embroidery project (post to come!) and I wanted it to be on fabric that looks like notebook paper. I found a lightweight knit in white with black stripes . . . perfect! The other day I noticed the remnants and decided I should turn them into something, too. So I cut them into twelve squares, embroidered a red stripe on half of them (my other road trip embroidery project), stitched them right sides together with a square of quilt batting added to the stack, trimmed, turned, top-stitched, and had a set of six cute coasters in no time at all. I think they’ll make a perfect gift for a teacher or writer . . . and I know lots of those! ♥

More Coffee Cup Recipes

A couple of months ago I posted two fun recipes you can make in a coffee cup: Microwave Coffee Cup Scramble and 3,2,1 Cake. Recently The Wichita Eagle published four more. For copies, click on a recipe and it will appear on a new page for printing. The paper sculpture at left is by a MOST amazing artist, Matthew Sporzynski. Oh, yes . . . and here are the recipe notes. ♥

• A 12-ounce cup works best for these recipes.
• You may need to adjust cooking times depending on the strength of your microwave oven.
• The cup and mixture will be very hot, so allow to cool a bit before eating.
• Each recipe makes one serving.

P.S. UPDATE: Here are even more from a 7-13-12 post by Look What Mommy Made!