Stacked Dishes Tutorial

These little dishes on pedestals are great for any number of things: use them to hold soap in the bathroom, candies on the coffee table, cupcakes for a sweet party, or organize your crafty supplies!

I've even used mine at craft bazaars to display some of my handmade things.

They are so super easy to make. You need two things: a random assortment of dishes &/or glassware AND E-6000 adhesive.

Most of my dishes & glassware were thrifted.

The fun part is playing around with your pieces until you get an arrangement that's "just right"! You can make large cake pedestals or small candy dishes or whatever your little crafty heart desires!

TIP: Don't forget to turn your vases or other glassware upside down for a possibly more pleasing look.

Once you get your combo exactly how you'd like it, grab your E-6000 & squeeze some onto your base piece.

Smoosh it together & let it sit to dry overnight.

For my smaller pieces, I turn them upside down to dry. The larger pieces are fine standing as they are.

Once they're dry, you can use them as you would your regular dishes. I usually hand wash mine.

I even took a dinged up tea cup-n-saucer & attached it to a vintage spool.

Now it can serve as a bird feeder in the garden. Or, with a candle placed inside, it can provide a sweet outdoor glow in the evening.

Just start stackin' & gluin' & see what fun pieces YOU come up with!

Restaurant Kits

These kits are SUPER for taking along & keeping your wee ones busy while at a restaurant, doctor's office, or any other appointment where boredom may arise.

I found these awesome plastic containers at the dollar store. Discontinued wallpaper sample books were used to decorate the outside.

The inside can be filled with all sorts of random objects to keep your kidlets busy: stickers, stamps, paper, notepads, tiny craft kits, crayons, playdough, pencils, pens, small coloring books, matchbox cars, tiny paint sets, etc. The dollar store is a great resource. Also, check out the party favor section of large retail stores for some fun little things to toss in your box! (Tiny paint sets were found at Walmart.)

OTHER IDEAS:

*McDonald's toys are a great size for these kits!

*Have your kiddo help decorate the outside of the box with stickers!

*Create your box with a theme in mind. Pirates, princesses, a miniature Picasso, etc & fill it with like-themed toys & goodies!

*Can also be taken along on car trips!

*Include "wet wipes" for sticky fingers!

Luggage Tag Tutorial

I learned of the idea of this project from one of my MOPS buddies Julie. (**Hi Jules!!**) This luggage tag would make a GREAT quick holiday gift for the traveler in your family. You can even take this basic concept & make awesome fabric gift tags.

Supplies: The supply list seems long for such a small crafty project, but don't let that intimidate you. You know I only do simple, easy & fabulous tutes! First on the list is to gather different fabrics &/or felts. You'll also need a plain light-colored fabric for the "I.D." part of the tag. I've just recycled an old flour sack for that part.

You'll also need scissors, (optional: decorative zig-zag scissors), iron-on adhesive, an iron, embroidery threads, needles, grommets & a grommet setting tool

Another optional item is some transfer paper.

The first thing you'll do is cut the front piece of fabric for your tag AND a piece of iron-on adhesive a hair-bit smaller. Iron these together following the directions on the package.

The next step I didn't photograph very well. You'll want to decorate the front of your tag now. I cut out some pieces of felt in the shape of hearts & sewed the green & yellow heart together. Then, I stitched them onto the front piece of fabric with a simple running stitch using orange thread.

Once that is done, you'll want to lay this piece aside & work on your back fabric piece. I took a piece of green felt to use as my back piece. Take a piece of your plain light-colored fabric, cut just a little bit smaller than the back fabric piece & stitch it on in a haphazard way to the felt.

Now you'll want to sandwich your front & back pieces together & iron them -once again following the directions that came with your iron-on adhesive. I laid a piece of fabric over my design before ironing so I wouldn't scorch or ruin the felt heart design.

Use your decorative scissors to trim the tag to desired size.

Now for the grommets! Once you learn how to use a grommet you're going to want to do this technique on EVERYTHING! Make a small hole at the top of your tag. There are two parts of the grommets: One part is just a flat disc--kinda shaped like a flattened donut---sometimes referred to as the "female" piece, & the other grommet has a part stickin' out--sometimes referred to as the "male" piece. Put the "male" part of the eyelet/grommet into the hole you just made, through the top of the fabric.

Turn the tag over & slide the donut shaped piece onto the part sticking up. (Rounded part up.)

The grommet kit also comes with a little heavy circular piece. Rest the front part of the grommet (the "male" piece) into the grooves of this heavy circular piece. Gosh, I hope this doesn't sound too confusing.


On a hard surface, position the grommet tool into the back of the hole...

...& hold it with one hand while hammering with the other.

This is what it looks like on the back.

This is what it looks like on the front. A nice tight squeeze!

In the blank area where the light-colored fabric was sewn, you can use a permanent marker, like a Sharpie, to enter your name, address & other info. OR, you can print out the same information on some transfer paper through your computer. Remember to print it backwards (mirror image).

Iron it on.

And you're done!!
I used some plastic cording stuff that I recycled from an older luggage tag---but you can also use those rubber/plastic bracelets that are really bendable & flexible that look exactly like my cording piece.

Give a personalized gift this holiday season! A set for a family would be super sweet! (You can leave them blank for everyone to fill out themselves if you want.)

You can also make this project without sewing. And you can decorate your luggage tag in a bajillion different ways. Have fun gettin' all creative-like! Rock on with yer crafty self!

Felt Dessert Picks Tutorial

I recently saw some felt cupcake picks in a magazine. Unfortunately I can't remember which magazine it was. They were of the Halloween theme & the magazine suggested using them as party favors/pencil toppers after use as cupcake picks for a party. I thought that was an EXCELLENTLY clever idea. I'm all about useful crafts with a 2-fer-1 design purpose! I put a twist on the cupcake toppers & my versions follow.

You'll need various colors of felt & thread, needle, glue (not pictured), scissors & picks for your cupcakes (I purchased skewers used for shisk-a-bobs, cut in half. Lollipop sticks would work great too!). Optional supplies: decorative scissors & sewing machine.

Here's a peek at what my family sometimes goes through with my crafty stuff spread all over the dining table. They still love me though.

Decide what design you'd like your picks to be. I decided on owls, acorns, mushrooms & cupcakes. Cut out templates from scrap paper or cardboard.

Trace your template onto the felt. You'll need 2 pieces of each design, for the front AND back of your dessert pick. You really only need to trace ONE---you can then fold over the felt & cut out two.

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

I found these really cool felt cupcake pieces at JoAnne's. They were on clearance too!--A pack of 10 (2 of each color) for 25cents! All I had to do was cut out a bottom cupcake "liner" in an appropriate size.

To make the cupcakes, I created a decorative stitch with my sewing machine, to connect the bottom piece to the top piece. This can also be done by hand, or by gluing. (As an option, all of the picks shown in this tutorial can be done with the simple gluing method.)

And then, by hand, I stitched all around the "frosting" part with a matching color of thread & then the bottom part in a matching color. Remember to leave an opening wide enough at the bottom to fit the cupcake pick AND/OR a pencil.

FOR THE ACORN:

Put the two bottom pieces back-to-back & hand stitch (or glue!) them along the edge. Once again, remember to leave an opening at the bottom.

Then, sandwich the two top pieces of the acorn on top of the bottom part. Machine stitch using a straight stitch & just rotate the fabric as the stitches zig back & forth, creating the cross-hatch style pattern. That's it!

FOR THE OWL:

Hand stitch each side separately--the wings, the beak & the eyes--onto the body. Then, place the pieces back-to-back & stitch all along the edge.

I didn't have any cupcakes lying around, so I had to improvise with some Sunday morning donuts. The owlie, I think, is my favorite.

FOR THE MUSHROOM:

Make sure your white "bottom" pieces are a little smaller then the red mushroom caps that will be placed on top. That way, when you stitch (or glue!) around the edge it won't be very bulky & the white won't show through on the sides.

Glue the mushroom caps on.

Handstitch along the edge where the white part meets the red part.

Sandwich the pieces together & sew along the edge.

Glue on white dots cut out from felt.

The owl, acorn & mushroom make for a great woodland themed party. Oooh, picture them on German chocolate frosted cupcakes. MMMmmm....

The owl & acorn would also be special decorations for your Thanksgiving desserts!

I also thought these would make fun teachers gifts as pencil toppers---or sweet little presents for school mates.