Bird Ornament

Step One: Go to the Spool Sewing Blog and download the bird

pattern in their free downloads. It's a perfect little bird! The only

thing we changed for ease and for keeping a continous pattern on

the birds back is to cut the profile piece on a fold along the spine of

the bird.

Step Two: Cut out pattern in heavy card stock, trace around the shape onto the backside of your fabrics. Cut the pieces out and sew them together.

 

I start at the tail and work up toward the head, when I reach the neck I cut the thread and go back and sew from the tail back toward the head, finish the neck and stitch on around the head. Clip all of the curves carefully and turn it. Stuff the bird very tightly, use a chop stick to get the stuffing into the very small areas.

 

Stitch the tail closed. I used pinking shears, trimmed the rough edges and just top stitched the tail leaving the ruffled fabric. Add some ricrac or other edging for fun.

Last Step: Embellish your bird with trim, ribbon or keep it simple. I used tinsel pipe cleaner and a tiny vintage bell to create a wreath around the neck. I used a tiny piece of grape vine for a perch. I sewed this in place with the addition of the floss loop to hang it.

Lacy Luminary Sleeve

I am a jar-saver. I find them to be incredibly useful a second, third or even tenth time around.  So once upon a time I saved these little jars when the candles were finished.... and gave them a second use.

 Which was all well and good until I got a wild hair to transform them again. I pulled out my knitting needles and came up with this... (image on left)

And for non-knitters, I thought of this (see right)

The latter consists of an empty jar that once held marinated artichoke hearts, and one new doily (which are easy to come by at thrift stores and yard sales, but if worse comes to worse... Walmart sells them for $2).

I used white crochet thread and a blunt needle.

Crafty or not, you too can turn a junk jar into a lacy luminary!

Marie's Tips for Using a Re-Purposed Jar:

1. Soak the jar in warm soapy water in order to remove as much of the label as possible.
2. Use Goo-Gone or an SOS pad to remove label remnants and stickiness on the jar.
3. To clean out candle residue, heat the jar in a toaster oven (or traditional oven) on low heat until remaining wax melts. Use a paper towel to wipe out the wax. When no wax remains, give the candle one more quick soapy bath before using it for a re-craft. 

Recycled Sketchbook

Here is a great way to use your cereal boxes and any other cardboard of that weight. This project was inspired by an art class one of my daughters took this summer. They used similar cardboard pieces and made little tiny sketch-books about 3 inches by 3 inches.They were so cute I decided to develop it further and make it into a possible Christmas gift idea. What it turned into is quite good, I think. :)

My plan is to make several of these recycled books for all the kids in my life. Each will obviously be unique and fun. I will include a small bundle of colored pencils or markers - then let the sketching begin!

Step one: Use heavy bailing wire. Cut a section about 10-12 inches long. Make sure it does not have any residue or rust by washing and drying it well. Wrap the wire around a wooden spoon handle. The larger the better. I will use a 1 inch dowel for future ones. The reason you need to use a uniform mold is for when you put the actual book together.If you bend it by hand it will be uneven and be more difficult to feed

through the holes.

Step Two: If you want the wire to be a different color, other than black, you will need to prime the wire and then paint it the desired color. This process will take 24 hours for the paint to completely cure, otherwise it scratches off easily when you are spinning the coil into the holes in the book.

Step Three: Gather supplies - I used any light cardboard I could drag out of the recycle bin and all my usual scrapbooking supplies. Choose the front and back of the sketch book and cut it to the desired size. Then punch evenly spaced holes through the pieces, make sure you are only about 1/4 of an inch from the edge - this makes it possible to turn the pages easily.  Use the front or back as a template to mark where the sketch paper needs to be punched.

 

Step Four: Assembling the Book - I put a grommet in the top and bottom hole of the covers, to ensure it was sturdy. Each complete coil needs one hole. I have 9 holes, adjust yours as necessary. If the coil is too close together, just pull it gently to stretch out the rings until it matches your holes.
Line everything up together! and start from the back with the wire coil. Work it through all of the holes by spinning it. This is the most tedious step, but worth it in cuteness. :) When completely through all of the holes, bend a tiny loop into each end to keep the wire from working itself out of the book.

Step Five: Embellishment - I used paper punches and pinking shears to cut shapes from the other cardboard pieces. I glued them in a balanced arrangement full of color and interest. I distressed sections of the sketch paper edges with bright colored inkpads. I even made a little tag that states the book was made with recycled paper.

Here is a book with a yarn spiral, it was really easy. Just tape the end and "sew" it into the holes in a spiral. Tie off the ends!

Have fun and RE CRAFT EVERYONE!

Don't forget to enter our re~craft contest in the La Vigne section of our blog, the prize basket will be extraordinary!

Playing Card Gift Tags

I spent the better part of Saturday dinking around antique stores and thrift stores with my mom and sister.  There's hardly a better way to spend a Saturday.

An old deck of cards caught my eye... the intricate red and white print, the crisp vintage feel. There's something about a deck of playing cards that makes me think of gathering around the table with friends and family over the holidays, playing Go Fish, War or Rummy. Why not bring a bit of that festive family fun into your re-craft holiday this year?

After a quick dig through my craft stash I came up with a package of white mailing labels, red craft ink, and a large spool of jute. In a matter of seconds I transformed an ordinary card into a lovely gift tag.

The Quick Overview:

• I trimmed the white border around the card, using the decorative design as my guide. 
• I cut the mailing label in half and trimmed the rounded edges to reveal a rectangle.
• Using matching red ink (the kind for rubber stamping), I antiqued the edges of the label and then fastened it securely to the center of the card.
• A quick hole punch and eyelet embellishment finished off the tag, with a strand of jute to tie it.

I now have a set of 52 handsome gift tags that cost me the price of a deck of antique cards (which, in my case, was $1). I am quite certain you could find an even better bargain, or use a deck you already have on hand.

Tray Makeover

I recently received this really cute little tray. It is well made and very light to carry, but it did not match my decor as well as it could. Therefore I grabbed the spray paint and went to work.

The project took me less than 10 minutes and it would make a great gift idea if you needed to throw something together in a brief time.

Remember when you spray paint to only proceed on a day with no wind and a place where any overspray will not matter.

Let it dry completely before touching it or adding embellishments.

Here is my finished tray, I added a modern rub-on from a scrapbook store and I LOVE it! What do you think?

Don't forget to enter our practically perfect re craft contest over in the La Vigne section of the site!

Happy Re Crafting!