Today is the first day of the Kalli-Strong fundraiser I told you about last week, and that means it's time to release my newest crochet pattern: The Kalli Cap! I designed this with my friend Kalli, who is fighting breast cancer for a second time, in mind. It makes a great chemo cap, but it's a darling pattern for all babies, girls, teens, and adults.

I've been sneaking out of the house every couple of Saturdays to do some antique shopping with a cute group of girls I know. Girlfriend time + antique shopping = therapy, I tell ya! Recently I saw some gorgeous yet simple necklaces at a flea market made from an antique key and a piece of seam binding ribbon. For $12. I mean $12 isn't bad for a necklace, but you know me--I knew I could make it for waaaay less. So I did. Here's how.


Vintage Key To My Heart Necklace Tutorial

Supplies:
*Key
*Length of ribbon and some scissors, or a chain

1. Find some cool keys. I checked a few antique stores, and they each had a basket full of old keys for about $1 a key. It took some digging--most of them are not as cute as the ones I saw for $12. But I found two that were pretty darn cute. I loved this one because it looks like it's shaped like a heart.


And I fell in love with the beaded edge on this one.


2. Choose some matching ribbon or a jewelry chain.


3. Cut the ends of the ribbon at an angle.


4. Thread the ends of the ribbon from back to front through the hole in the key.


5. Pull the ends through the loop on the other end of the ribbon and pull tight.



I know, that really didn't need a tutorial, but I just wanted to show how easy these are to make, and for only $1! This would be a sweet Valentine's, Mother's Day, or birthday gift.


Then I started experimenting and adding my key to other necklaces that I have. Here's my key with the charm necklace I made at the Tim Holtz booth at CHA (my favorite make and take of the show--wait 'til you see his cool new metal-drilling tool we used!).


It looked pretty cute with this charm necklace my friend made for me, too!


And I liked it layered with a couple of chunkier necklaces. I've been layering necklaces a lot lately.


But finally I decided it was cute just on a chain with this mini bottlecap charm I also made at CHA. They're made by Bottle Cap Inc. and they're adorable with an image or monogram in the middle, or a sparkly rhinestone like I chose. This was the winner because it is so pretty, yet simple enough to wear with my Target sweatshirt!


And here's the other one layered with pearls for a little more sophistication. I'm thinking Valentine's date!

Since I am seriously organizationally-challenged, I try really hard each new year to work on getting myself to clean up and declutter. And it's hard. But it's a little more fun when I can craft something to get organized! I created this message board to keep all the clutter off my fridge--wedding invitations, baby announcements, cute pics. Now they are enjoyed in the hallway while we hang up our coats. It's so fabulous. And super easy!


This vintage window frame originally had glass panes (similar to this one) and was going to serve a difference purpose, but while I was inside getting painters tape to tape off the glass before painting it, my little one decided to prance on the glass (or should I say through the glass?). I'm just thankful he had shoes on. It didn't turn out to be the worst thing in the world--I love this bulletin board more than my first idea!

Catch the full tutorial over at Make and Takes where we're guest posting today and get organized!

Happy New Year!! Hope you all had a safe and happy end to 2010. I was folding laundry and listening to a book on my iPod when the new year hit (while everyone else in my house slept), but hey, that's my life right now and I'm happy with it! The best part was waking up to Anne of Green Gables on PBS--my husband turned it on to wake me up. I did wake up, but his plan was foiled when I stayed in bed to watch it all morning. 2011 is bound to be a good year with that start! (I know, I'm a nerd, but I'm not afraid to admit it!)

I'm so excited to start the year off with a fabulous and quite ingenious tutorial from the fabulous and ingenious Jennifer. It's a pillowcase apron with an inventive addition. You're going to want to run right out and make it. Good thing it's a holiday weekend!

Pillowcase Apron with Towel Tutorial


When my mother was downsizing her house last spring, she gave me a whole stack of old embroidered pillowcases. I really loved them, but I knew that I wouldn’t be using them for pillows. I already have a whole stack of them that I was given when I got married that I’ve never used. Last spring I saw a friend wear an apron to work that was made from an embroidered pillowcase. I loved it and knew right away what I was going to be doing with that stack of pillowcases. I made this apron for my newly married daughter, who is living in Germany. She loves blue and I knew that she would really like to have one of her grandmother’s pillowcases.


I used this tutorial by Crafty Dame to make the apron. It was really fast and pretty easy, although if I make another one I am going to make the waistband (not the ties) a little bigger and have less gathering in the skirt. It took just about an hour to make it.


My husband teases me that my life is always form over function (he’s an engineer). While it is true that I tend to make things more pretty than functional, it’s not always the case. I knew while I was making this apron that it would be hard to use in the kitchen because I wouldn’t want to get it dirty. I also know that I am always looking for a kitchen towel to wipe my hands or wipe up messes, so I decided to add a kitchen towel to this apron.

I sewed buttons to the waist band of the apron. I tried to make them match the embroidery. I didn’t worry too much about the size because I wanted them to be a decorative element if you didn’t have the towel attached.


I used a bar mop which I folded over about 5 or 6 inches and sewed button holes into it.


The bar mop just buttons on and off over the apron and is perfect for wiping hands, cleaning up messes, protecting the apron from grease and can even be used as a hot pad in a pinch. When it gets dirty just unbutton it and throw it in the washer. The bar mop is not anywhere near as pretty as the apron, but I thought it made the apron a lot more functional.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week (at least in America)? If you're expecting family or friends for the big day, this gorgeous vintage Thanksgiving banner would be perfect to welcome loved ones. We're so excited to have a fabulous tutorial from my friend and banner-maker extraordinaire, Jennifer Barnhart (of Lasting Memories fame), that not only shows you how to make it, but gives some great hints and tips for all banners. She'll show you how to separate digital collage art into separate images in Photoshop Elements, and how to pre-plan and calculate the size of any banner you make. I'm so thankful for this tutorial!

Vintage Collage Art Thanksgiving Banner

I love banners! I love holidays! With Thanksgiving approaching, I decided that I needed a new banner celebrating this season. I had a hard time deciding between “Give Thanks”and “Welcome”. I finally decided that “Welcome” was the feeling I wanted to convey to guests. I wanted a simple project that would be quick and inexpensive to create. I made this banner in under an hour, for less than $5 and it’s exactly what I needed for my front door.

When I make a new banner, the first thing I decide is where I want to put it. Then I design it for that location. This banner is going to hang in a doorway. It is always good to first measure the place where the banner will go. Add 2-4” to drape the banner. Divide that number by the number of letters in your banner to decide the size of each banner piece. In this case, I am using a doorway with 7 letters in the word “Welcome”. I decided that each piece should be 31/2” wide. (Ok, I know this sounds like a lot of math! Don’t worry, it really isn’t that complicated. You could even get your kids to help you figure it out.)

Supplies:

*Thanksgiving Collage Sheet. You can purchase these from Etsy. Here are a couple of sellers that I really like (It can take up to 24 hours to receive your collage sheet by email, so you need to plan ahead on this part):
- Xander Graphics
- MajikDesign
- Piddix
*Two pieces of the same color 12x12 card stock in a color that coordinates with
your home and your collage sheet for the background.
*One piece of 81/2x11 card stock in a darker color for the letters
*About 50” of ribbon you don’t have to be exact here – you may even want to add a few inches, depending on the width of the molding around your door and where you are hanging your banner from
*24” of contrasting ribbon – again, you don’t have to be exact
*Glitter Glue (like Stickles)
*Tombo Mono Multi glue (or any other glue that is good for gluing paper together and will dry flat)
*Scissors
*¼” hole punch
*Paper trimmer

1. Download your collage sheet. Open it in Photoshop Elements. Go to Image>Divide Scanned Photos to break apart your images. Not every collage will have clean white space between the
graphics. To make this easy, you want to purchase one that has white space all around the images.

2. Choose which images you want for your banner. Hint: Go for images with lighter backgrounds; the letters will be harder to see if the images are dark.

3. Resize the images. Go to Image>Resize. Make the width 3”. Hint: Make sure that you have your “constrain proportions” box checked and let the height float.

4. Now it’s time to print your pictures. You don’t need to use special paper, but you
can if you would like to.

5. Cut apart your images and use glitter glue to enhance them. I highlighted collars,
cuffs, hair ribbons, wheat and pumpkins with my glitter glue. Platinum glitter
glue looked great on the wheat and clear glitter glue looked great everywhere else.

6. While the glitter glue is drying, cut your background papers to 3 1/2” wide by 3 3/4” high.

7. I used my Silhouette to cut my letters 21/2” tall. The font I used was Euphorigenic from Dafont.com. You can also use any other die cut system or click here to learn to do it by hand.

8. If your glitter glue is dry, glue the digital image to the background rectangle. Glue the letters on top of the images, making sure that they are not placed over an important part of the design.

9. Punch two holes at the top of each rectangle and thread your ribbon through. Use the contrasting ribbon to tie knots in between each rectangle.

10. Make a loop at each end to hand them with.

11. Hang the banner. Grab anyone who is nearby to ooooh and ahhh over your cute banner.

That’s it!

I've had a stack of felted sweaters sitting around since last winter (you know, wool sweaters that have been sometimes purposely, sometimes not purposely, shrunk for crafting purposes) . I finally got around to doing something with them, and I'm so glad I did, because it's getting chilly outside! Here's an easy tutorial for upcycling a felted wool sweater into a super cute neck warmer with a felted flower accent. So go through your closests or make a quick trip to the thrift shop for a wool sweater and felt it, then join us for this easy project, just in time for the cold weather!

Felted Sweater Neck Warmer Tutorial

Supplies
*Wool sweater (60-100% wool) that has been felted (washed in hot water with high agitation)
*Rotary cutter and mat (or scissors)
*Needle and thread
*Magnet or pin back for flower

1. You're going to use the bottom half of your sweater for your neck warmer. Fold it up so the bottom cuff almost reaches the armpits. Using a rotary cutter, ruler, and mat, cut the top half of the sweater off where it meets the upturned cuff. That's it! Unfold it, then fold it in half with wrong sides together. No need to hem the cut edge. Since it's been felted, it won't fray!


Add a flower accessory to spice things up.



Felted Sweater Peony Flower Tutorial


1. Cut 4-5 free-hand flowers out of your felted sweater (you don't even need a pattern, just cut 5 loose petals). If it has been properly felted, the edges will not fray when you cut them.

2. Fold your first flower in half.


Then in half again.


3. Using a needle and matching thread, sew several stitches through the bottom to secure.


4. Fold another flower like the first, and stitch it to the first flower, using several stitches. Repeat with remaining flowers until your blossom is full and even.

Today is a great day because we get to hear from my sweet friend Bethany. She's at it again with some great ways to re-purpose beautiful vintage handkerchiefs and doilies. Yea for us!


I've had this stash of vintage handkerchiefs from my grandma for a long time & have been wanting to do something with them, besides letting them take up drawer space! All are in pristine condition & have such sweet detail on them. (I imagine that the ones that have embroidery on them were too good to use after the person spent time on the intricate handiwork!)


For the first project, a Hanky Table Runner, I simply choose five of my favorite hankies that were about the same size. I used hankies that were approximately 13.5" square. I ironed each hanky to make sure the edges were nice & flat, layed them out in the order I liked and then, using a 1/4" seam, simply sewed them edge to edge. I pressed the seams flat & voila! A pretty little table runner was born. Can't you just see this used on a table for a garden party or bridal shower?




The next two projects, I made hanky buntings. Using my rotary cutter, quilting ruler & mat, I simply cut various hankies in half. Using a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine & some white bias tape, I sewed each half of hanky along the bias tape.



For the second bunting, I cut various yellow & white hankies on the diagonal & stitched those to a length of yellow seam binding. These just shout summer tea party to me & wouldn't they look so pretty waving in a gentle breeze?




Since I was in bunting mode, I also made one by cutting doilies in half and sewing those to a heavy twill tape, again with zig zag stitch. I so appreciate the handiwork of vintage doilies & again, had a stash from Grandma's treasures that I wasn't sure what to do with - since doilies on the end tables aren't exactly my decorating style! I love how this gives me a little more modern way of displaying these beautiful vintage textiles.



Thanks, Bethany! Isn't she amazing? I wish I had that collection of vintage goodness. Lucky girl! Check out Bethany's blog, Ribbon, Glitter, & Glue, for more gorgeous ideas, including some great papercrafting inspiration (think cards and mini albums). I loooove her recent card post which includes cards made with the Earth Love line from Cosmo Cricket. (I just noticed some of the pieces of this line and other Cosmo lines are on sale here!)


And her winning page submission to Citrus Tree Studio's Sketch Challenge using the Thrift Shop line from October Afternoon (one of my all-time fave lines!).