Duct Tape Notebook Cover

While peeking around THIS BLOG recently, I came upon a nifty craft that looked like the perfect quick fix I needed. (Sometimes we crafters need to pause for a bit of quick happy crafting.) The original source was found HERE. And it's definitely worth the visit to both blogs to see the fun spin put on this duct tape notebook makeover!

 I've been dying to craft something with those super fun duct tape designs!

Who knew tape could rock so hard?!

 ♥

Beanbag Tutorial

These beanbags are made from felt or fleece--your choice--as both materials do not fray when cut & it makes for a quick project! The other materials you'll need are: fabric, scissors, marker, ruler, contrasting thread, a sewing machine &...


...popcorn. Ok, so mine are not TECHNICALLY "bean" bags. But use what you have: beans, small pasta, rice, etc.

You can make whatever size you want. Mine are made by cutting 2 four-inch square pieces of felt/fleece.

Take one piece of felt/fleece & draw the design that will be the cut-out where the fabric will show through. As you can see, mistakes are perfectly fine. This will be on the inside of the beanbag, so it won't even show.

Cut out your design.

Choose a piece of fabric & cut it smaller than the square, but large enough to cover the cut-out design. Make sure you lay it on top of the felt with the right side facing through the design.

Sew the fabric to the felt/fleece. I stitched as close to the edge as I could.

I actually stitched around a few times in a random haphazard way. It started out as a mistake, & then I realized I liked it.

Next, sandwich your 2nd piece of felt/fleece to the back of the cut-out felt/fleece. Stitch around 3 sides, leaving about 1/4" seam allowance.

Fill your beanbag with the beans. Or popcorn. Or the lentils that have been sitting in the back of your pantry for 2 years. I used about 1/3 CUP. The tiny people like to help with this part. And just have your broom handy.

Sew up the last side & trim up any uneven edges. Or leave the edges all nifty & askew. It's up to you.

One beanbag down! That took less than 10 minutes to make.
I made up the star beanbags with the Kindergarten girls last night in my Daisies group at church. I did the hard part first & they helped me sew the edges & fill it with beans. Look, I even made a personalized one! My nephew will love it!

The dark grey & purple beanbags in the middle row were both made using felt. The others are fleece.

My girls & their sparkly shoes. I gotta get me some.

My girls & I tested the beanbags out.

Yep. They work.

I was thinking that you could even do the cut-outs on both sides. What about making the beanbags to spell out a word or someone's name? What about scented beanbags, adding a bit of lavender (or etc.) to your beans? And, of course, you could embellish the beanbag heck out of 'em too!

Next on my list of things to do is to find silly fun stuff to do WITH the beanbags!

Here's a link I found to get started...

Beanbag Games

UPDATE: Custom beanbags now available in the shop!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed...Root Beer?

I made a visit to see my family at our auto mechanic shop today. Mom, dad, bro & sis all work there. My pops brought out this very large basket full of goodies (a gift from one of their vendors) that we could all munch on & I immediately saw these root beer bottles dressed in full-on reindeer costume & I knew I HAD to share!! Aren't they super silly & festive?? I LOVE them!
I also thought, "Wouldn't it be hilariously awesome to grab a really expensive bottle of wine & do this as a present?!" haha!

What a great little last minute gift to put together, right? Brown pipe cleaners, google eyes, red pom-poms, ribbon & jingle bells!

Yo bro! Here's my little brother sampling the goods. Hey, I think this is his first time on my blog.

Whatever you're doing today--whether wrapping presents, sipping cocoa, or dancing to rockin' holiday tunes-- hope you're all staying warm & cozy!

Elastic Bookmark Tutorial

I purchased these 2 bookmarks last month on a shopping trip to Spokane. The Northtown Mall has a couple shops dedicated to selling handmade stuff. I'm not sure if they're up all year or if it's just for the holidays, but it was quite fun to browse them!

There is no reference as to who made these bookmarks & no link to where I could possibly purchase more. And I'm not driving the 5 hours, round-trip, to get some more. (This should be a lesson for all you that sell handmade!) So, I decided to whip up some more as gifts & give a tutorial at the same time!The supplies are few: Scissors, a ruler, elastic cording (more about the exacts later on), various charms or beads, & possibly some double rings.

The first thing you'll do is take your cording & cut a 15" length. I made some bookmarks using round cord elastic---which is what the ones I purchased were made from---but I found them to fit rather tightly around the books. So, I used beading cord elastic instead, which looks almost the same, except is not as thick. It worked great!

Find the center of your cording & slide your charm to that point. If you don't have charms you can also fasten beads onto head pins or eye pins & make your own "charm".

Some charms might not have a very large opening for the cording to slide through, so you can slide your charm onto a double ring. (A double ring is sold in the jewelry section of your craft store. It looks EXACTLY like the rings you slide keys onto, only it's itty bitty. I used the 6mm size.) Here I used a shrinky dink charm I made. Keeping the cording secure & even, make a knot right above your charm.

Next, knot the ends together. You may need to trim the ends to even it up a bit. That's it. For reals. No lie.

The way these bookmarks work is SO cool. Slide it over the page you want to mark the place of.

And look, this is me shaking the book----the bookmark doesn't even move! You can toss your book in a bag, travel with it, drop it, & you'll never lose your spot!!

To present your elastic bookmark as a gift, just cut a piece of decorative cardstock or heavy paper to a rectangular shape, (I cut a long rectangle & folded it in half), punch a hole near the top, & slide your bookmark through, looping the bookmark through itself to keep secure. Groovy gifts, sweet stocking stuffers! Have fun! I made 5 of these & it took me, like, 5 minutes.