Last Minute *EASY* Gift Ideas

When I say easy, I mean, around an hour. Maybe less. Also, using things you may already have around the house. Interested? Okay, here they are.

First, for girls, friends, daughters, etc. I Heart Naptime brings us the Vintage Lace Cuff. Her version:

My (and my Sister-in-law’s) version:

She did hers with 2 contrasting colors for the petals, and had the idea of adding an extra circle in the middle, under the pearl. I did the other 4. I didn’t have tulle at my mom’s so I didn’t put that on, but I will be making another with that. Altogether, we made 5 in about an hour. And the cost was only the stretchy lace, which was on sale at Hobby Lobby, so about $1. Total.

Second, for girls…etc. etc. repeat above. An infinity scarf. Made from a T-shirt. This one comes from Craftaholics Anonymous, via Infarrantly Creative

I got 2-3 scarves per shirt that I did. I don’t have a picture because I already gave them away, and my shirt looked almost exactly like hers, except it was a long-sleeve turtleneck. Also easy!

This one comes from an Etsy shop, perfect for the racers/runners, athletic people in your life. Every race they do, they get a bib, and here’s a way to display those!

I actually did this for my hubby. It will have to wait until we get re-settled in a place to be used, but he has tons of these bibs, in all different places. Hopefully this will be something cool he can enjoy and use. I did his out of some reclaimed fence wood, because he really likes rustic, natural look, and I had it around. I cut it to size, and then hot glued the pieces together (I’m not patient enough to wood glue this!). Then, I stenciled RACE at the top (with something I printed off, since I’m not cool enough to have a cutting machine ) Since all of his bibs are currently packed, I just taped the little hooks to the wood, to screw them in when I have them to measure with. I actually cut a piece of paper to the size a friend told me the bibs were to make sure I liked the look of it. And since my hubby is #1, well…

I know the letters aren’t perfect, but I intend on sanding them to distress them, so it won’t even matter. I actually had painted them with watered down paint to get the look I wanted too.

For the techies in your life:

Ashley from Make it, love it got tired of tripping over phone cords charging, and who doesn’t!? Here’s her brilliant, and free, solution! I made this for my hubby, but I didn’t put fabric or any decoration on it, so he can tell me what he wants after Christmas!

Okay, that’s all I have time for right now, but I’ll be back tomorrow with my final gift project! Yeah!! I’m done!!

Sewing Tool Bag

I’m not claiming any credit for this idea. I made one for a project in high school, so forgive the fabric of my original one. It’s still “cute” but not necessarily “trendy”

Original closed:

Original open:

So you see it has all sorts of places to hold your tools that you use all the time (here’s my list of tools I love….). I think it’s really nice and convenient to have them all together, especially since I tend to end up sewing at the kitchen table sometimes… Do you want to make one? K, let’s get started:

You’ll need:

2 pieces of the same, or coordinating fabric that’s 18”x22” (that’s a fat quarter size, if you have one you love) (also, if it’s flimsy fabric, you may need interfacing between the layers to thicken it up)

21” piece of 1/2” wide elastic

Matching thread

30” Matching ribbon (for tying it closed)

21” ribbon (for contrast, if you want on the fabric)

Scissors

Marking tool for fabric

Iron & Ironing board

Clear ruler

Tape measure

Rotary cutter & mat (if you need to cut your fabric down to 18”x22”)

First, cut your fabric to the right size, if needed.

Then, iron your fabric so it’s nice and flat.

Next, if you want to do yours like mine, I sewed ribbon onto the outside to make the white look better. Pick where you want it to go, knowing there’s a 1/2” seam allowance. Mark it. I did the top edge at 2 1/2” and 3 1/2”

Then sew it, using matching thread. I sewed down one side of the ribbon, as close as I dared to the edge, then sewed back around the other side. Basically make a big rectangle.

Now, we’re going to sew the front and back together. There’s 2 ways to do this. If you have a serger, you can just sew them together and serge around the edges. That’s what I did on mine in high school. Or, if you want to have a finished edge, you can do it this way. Pin the elastic to the sides at 5” from the bottom, and the ribbon at 9” from the bottom on one of the pieces of fabric. Skip down to where we make the pocket if you choose to serge around the edges.

To make sure you don’t accidently sew the ribbon somewhere, pin it in the middle of the fabric between your layers of fabrics.

Pin the fabrics right sides together.

Then sew with a 1/2” seam allowance, leaving an opening about 4” wide.

Clip corners, and then turn your fabric right side out. Don’t you love my ironing board cover? I really want to re-do it soon….

Once it’s turned, poke out the corners with something pointy, and then press the fabric, pulling the seam out as best as you can.

Now, sew along the bottom edge. This will be the top of your pocket. Press up 4” on the bottom, and pin. Sew around all the edges, starting at bottom corner and sewing as close to the edge as you can.

You should have a pocket with elastic above it, and your ribbon ties should be on. Now, you’re going to mark all the places you need to sew to make the divisions. I marked mine, starting at the left edge, 3 1/4”, 5 1/2”, 6 1/4”, 7”, 8”, 9”, 10”, 11”, 13 1/4”, 14 3/4”, and 17 3/4”. If you want any bigger or smaller, go ahead and change them how you want them

Don’t you love that fabric? When I finished this bag, I was really tempted to keep it instead of give it to my friend for her birthday. Anyway… Go ahead and sew all the lines you just marked from the bottom of the fabric up to the elastic top.

Sorry that picture was kind of bad. Trim off all your threads, wipe off your marker however the package tells you to, and you should be ready to put your tools in, and roll it up!

Let me know if something doesn’t make sense or needs better clarification!

~Ash

Sewing Tools We Love

My Necessary Items:

Tape Measure: the only way to get measurement around curves, and I use mine all the time for lots of things!

Marking Utensil: you can use pencil, chalk, marker, disappearing ink, but you need one!

Scissors: You have to have good scissors that are only for fabric. Don’t use them on anything else, especially paper! I love my Gingher scissors I got in college

Cutting Board: this may not be on your list, but if you make anything that you need straight seams for (quilts, pillows, curtains), you want one of these! I use it all the time!

Rotary Cutter: I have an Olfa brand of these, and I love it. It’s what I inherited from my mom. You need a rotary cutter, board and ruler for cutting straight lines.

Clear Ruler: This is a definite must if you have a rotary board/cutter. Get one at least 5” wide, and as long as your cutting board

Pins: There’s so many types, pick whatever, but make sure they are sharp. When they get bent, throw them away because they might cause a snag in your fabric

Hand Needles: There’s always something that needs to be sewn by hand, so have a variety of needles to get the right one

Extra Machine Needles: There is nothing more frustrating than sewing late in the night, only to break a needle and not have anymore! Have a few on hand, usually Universal will be just fine, but if you sew heavy fabrics, have a couple denim and heavy fabric needles too

My Nice to Have Items:

Little Scissors: I don’t have this particular ones, but you should have good scissors just for fabric. I clip threads as I’m going, and use them to unpick seams, instead of a seam ripper

Seam Gauge: These are so nice to have, to make sure when you iron, sew, stitch, whatever, your seam is the same width everywhere

Safety Pins: Really nice to use when pinning little kids clothes, or clothes that you have to take off, since they won’t jab you

Nice, But not Necessary:

Seam Ripper: can be used to fix mess ups, but I tend to like my little scissors better

I’ll add more as I think of them, but this is a pretty good list! Now, do you need someplace to put these to keep them organized? Try this holder…

Fab 5 Friday & a Winner!!!

Are you all ready? Last weekend before Christmas! Here’s the things I thought were awesome this week.

How much do you love the glitter ornaments on this pillow from Infarrantly Creative? I sure do. I’d make some if I wasn’t scrambling to finish Christmas and then move!

I am absolutely going to do this to some of my daughter’s shirts that she says “aren’t pretty.” From A Couple of Craft Addicts

Love this printable from Less Cake More Frosting. Also check out this one from a Christmas Carol

Find a fabulous frame, and stick in these printables for instant chic-ness. Best part? Use the frame for something else after Christmas…The next holiday printable or pictures!

Love these votives from glass vases & paper from Thrifty Décor Chick

Finally, wouldn’t this be fun to do with your kiddos over the next week? Cut out some snowflakes and make a cool curtain! Here’s the link. It even has a link to patterns for cutting them out!

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for….The winner of the pattern and 2 gumdrop ornaments is:

Brennon and Torrey said...

I love the spicy yellow gumdrops...no clue what that flavor actually is though! My Christmas shopping is not yet done...but I'm going to use the "I just had my 5th baby" excuse for that one!

Congratulations on the baby! Send me your address to ship to 2craftycousins at gmail dot com

And for the 2 gumdrop ornaments:

Megs said...

I have told all my facebook friends how cool this web site is.

Thanks Megs! Send us your address too!

And just to show you how much I love you, I’m braving the Post Office the weekend before Christmas! AGH! Send me your addresses as soon as you can! If you catch me before I make it, I can even let you choose the ribbon...Red, Green, White, Turquoise, etc. Let's say before 11:30. :) Thanks for reading!