Hi friends! I hope you are having a great Saturday! Baseball season has kicked off in full force which means lost of rushing here and there to baseball and softball games (we have 2 today, I can work on my tan!) I like to bring knitting and crochet project with me to the game, just simple ones, because I can watch the game and make progress on my projects. Here is my new bag, it is from Creative Options.
Last night it was so cold I think I could have sold knit hats if I was quick enough making them LOL! Actually I brought blankets and cocooned myself in my camp chair to stay warm. We go from 80 to 55 awfully fast here in Maine! Do you want to see what I have in my bag?
Video!
I want to thank Creative Options for sending me this bag and sponsoring the video. You can purchase the bag and accessories at Hobby Lobby.. You may even have a diaper bag that would serve the same purpose. Whatever you choose I recommend a flat bottom shallow bag so items will not get lost and outside pockets for often used tools and supplies. What are your favorite knitting on the go projects? I need more ideas! Leave suggestions in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
Happy Sunday folks, we have another snowy, stay at home, weekend here in Maine and I love it! Recently my girls learned how to stitch on plastic canvas. Their school bus driver prepared little kits for the kids who rode the bus to work on during their rides to and from school. It was a hit with many of the children and my kids asked me if I could get them some supplies to use at home. So the other day I picked up some needles and 7 point plastic canvas and made them up a few project kits. I found some patterns online for free and I also put some plain graph paper in page protectors because free plastic canvas patterns for kids were not as easy to come by as I thought they would be. I tried my hand at making a “minecraft creeper” pattern for my son and lo and behold it turned out OK! Later I realized that patterns for fuse beads (pearler) would also work quite nicely for plastic canvas.
Yesterday I sat on the floor in the living room with my 3 kids and the prepared projects and attempted to guide them on their plastic canvas journey (mind you, I have not used the stuff in MANY years) and within 10 minutes we were all frustrated…how Bus-driver Sue managed to get several kids going on projects AND drive a school bus is beyond me. Then I thought, I need to leave them to it and let them figure out how to re thread their own needles and discover what stitching method makes sense to them. I left the room and all was well.
Before I let the kids know I had the plastic canvas supplies I gave them some choices as to the projects they wanted to make. Maizy wanted to make Mario, Lila wanted to make American Gil doll shoes and Jack wanted a minecraft creeper. I looked to see what was available online for free and let them pick from what I found. Then I took a heavyweight page protector and placed the printed pattern, cut plastic canvas piece and yarn for the project inside (see above photo. ) Then I pout all of the kits in a 3 ring binder. The needles are kept in the packaging they came in and a pair of scissors are in the front pocket of the binder so they do not get lost.
I did not buy any yarn for this (they have the small cards of yarn for $1.39 right next to the plastic canvas supplies at the craft stores if you need it) because I have a lot already. Instead I took my large merchandise tags from papermart (they come in a box of 1000 so I have loads of them) and wrapped them with many colors I already had of worsted weight yarn. They fit perfectly in baseball card page proctors. It keeps them tangle free and in view. If the kids use up a color I can simply refill it from my stash and it is cheaper than buying the small amounts made for plastic canvas. You can get a 10 pack of baseball card page protectors at Dollar Tree.
We are in day 2 of plastic canvas crafting. Lila has almost completed a pair of 18″ doll flip flops, Maizy is half way done with Mario and Jack finished his creeper. Oh, and I had to get in on the fun too and I made a pair of American Girl size flip-flops too using this adorable pattern. Idid not put elastic on mine so they fall off the doll pretty easily, I put the elastic, as the pattern suggests, on Lila’s and they stay on quite well. They are a little rough around the edges…and in the middle…and the back, well you are not seeing the back…that’s why it is the back ha ha, but all in all not bad and we had fun which is the whole point!
I recommend that you keep the binder upright so the yarn cards do not slip out or you could put everything in a box rather than a binder. Another tip is for you (the parent) to cut out the patterns for your child, you can get a lot of projects from a 10″x13″ 50 cent sheet of canvas and you are less likely to make a mistake (hopefully) than your kid 😀 Enjoy your weekend and if you have the kids home this week on vacation you have another idea of what to craft with them. Til next time happy crafting!
Happy Saturday! Yesterday I was determined to learn how to crochet a granny square (boy, my ambition was just staggering this week, wasn’t it?) And I am happy to report that I succeeded!
I love these colors and the yarn was a dream to work with. I do not know the brand because I grabbed 3 skein packs at Mardens for $3.99! The content was Wool/Bamboo and it was made in Turkey which is known for its fabulous yarn. I bought a couple of packs and tried it and promptly went out and grabbed more. I bought enough pink to make a sweater but…well you might remember how that project turned out…if not you can find out here. So, anyway I wanted to share my new yarn storage, my librarian was going to throw away a paperback book spinner rack and she asked if I wanted it (crap about to be tossed, oh yeah, I’m in!) so I took it home, dusted it off and oiled the spinner part and it was as good as new!
I crammed all of the little wire baskets with my yarn, it was chock-a-block, stuffed to the max 2 weeks ago so you can see I have used some, yay! I can see what I have so I will actually use it. Full disclosure: I still have some yarn in a tote, in my bedroom closet and in a basket..OK 2 baskets…but it basically all fits in here. I’ll try not to buy any more yarn until all that I own can fit on this rack but if I come across $1 wool skeins at Mardens I make no promises! I am taking on another knitting group too so I’m sure I will knit through some of my stash with my students! Well that’s it for this Saturday, we have a pretty low-key weekend with basketball, cheering and a birthday party thrown in so there should be plenty of time for some more granny square making… any idea what I should make with my squares? BTW I have put the video that I watched to teach me this technique here, It is not me of course but it’s I great video! I think the “trebble” crochet she uses is what we call a double crochet in the states but don’t worry about the names, watch her and you can follow right along:) Til next time happy crafting!
Happy Black Friday everyone! I did not go out into the madness but I cheered on all of my girlfriends who kept me updated on facebook…vicarious Black Friday shopping is probably more my pace anyway. I do intend to check out some Cyber-Monday deals if my kids ever tell me what they want for Christmas LOL! Today I have a storage tutorial for you. I have made a storage bag for the luscious newbaker’s twine I got from Papermart but this would also be great to get all of your holiday wrapping ribbons and string in order too!
Here is the video:
You can use this method to store any ribbon, yarn, string or fibers. Just punch more holes as needed! Be sure to save the bags that bath sets (we always seem to get some of these as Christmas gifts don’t we?) curtains and blankets come is because the plastic is thick and the zippers are sturdy and best of all the bags are clear so you can see your ribbons and trims! Speaking of ribbon, string and trims be sure to check out the wonderful selection at Papermart. I have realized that if they sell it it will be the cheapest place to get it. Sometimes the quantities are large but you can always split it with your stamping friends, I do that a lot!
Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
I used to spend more time reorganizing my supplies than actually using them….or hunting for an elusive stamp, button or roll of wire. If you’ve been there maybe you can use some of these storage ideas…They are cheap (mostly free!) and effective!
Binders hold unmounted stamps.
I have a large collection of rubber stamps. My clear and unmounted stamps are stored in binders. I have them sorted by manufacturer except for holiday stamps, they are in one dived binder. I put my small dollar sets in baseball card sheet protectors ($3 for 10 sheet at staples and each sheet will hold 9 sets), I put smaller sets in 4″x6″ protectors (Also at Staples) and the big sets are on their original storage sheet in regular 8 1/2″x11″ sheet protectors. The binders are 4 for $8 at Sam’s Club. I love this, I can grab a binder and find my stamp in seconds!
Recycled (free) storage!
I scored this rack (originally made for sandpaper) at a hardware store. The no longer needed it and it was free! I put my wood-mounted stamps in clear acrylic frames (they were $1 each at a discount store) and put labels on the end describing their contents! BTW most of the wood mounted stamps here I bought for $1 at the same discount/surplus store! They had a truckload of them once, lots of k&co, Inkadinkado and they were big ones $12-$16 regular! That was my best sale ever, If you are ever in Maine, USA you need to find a Marden’s, you won’t believe the stuff they have there!
In the olden days all my stamps fit in this HA!
I love these crop in style drawers but at $10 for 2 drawers they are too pricey for me, I’d rather spend my $$on the stamps rather than the storage! I have labeled these too. Labeling is key, I used to think these women were nuts when labeled everything in their craft rooms but it makes such a difference!
Drink three bottles and call me in the morning!
We received a 3 bottle boxed set of wine for Christmas last year and behold, it fits my stamp wheels perfectly…now if I could get another one of those…hmmmm, maybe I’ll pick one up before the next craft night, I’m sure the ladies will approve!
a wooden cassette rack holds my ink-pads
An old record cabinet hold paper.
I bought this cabinet made for holding record albums, remember those, for $10 at an antique shop. Hubby painted it and it holds my 12″ cardstock perfectly! Note: bare wood is acidic, line the shelves with contact paper or paint them with acrylic paint before storing any paper. I also put lame scrapbook paper against the dividers to buffer any acidic materials.
This pen rack holds my markers/pens/pencils and was only $10 when my LSS closed 😦Stack of Iris and Steralite carts with the wheels removed
This set up used to be in my bedroom. I sewed a canvas cover that snaps closed at the sides with strong snaps to keep my mess out of sight and to keep curious kids out of my paint! I would but these carts when they went on sale for 50% off at Rite-Aid but you can get them for less than $25 at Target or Wal*Mart.
Crop in style cubes (a gift from my mommy 🙂
These are pricey, $30 a cube but it is designed to hold 12×12 paper. I love these especially the ones with 5 paper shelves. Each shelf hold 2 big DCWV stacks of paper, we’re talking the 180 sheet stack too! If you are handy you can make ones just as nice from plywood and paint it white!
My yarn stash...most of it LOL!
Here is another freebie, the black shelves are made to hold caulking, you know that stuff in the big tube you need a weird gun to use at the harware store. They had extra, yay me! Notice the brightly colored filing cabinet? check out the little translucent embellisment holders. My brother in law works at a paper mill and they get rolls of tape in these little containers, they just through them away so he saved them for me! I used E6000 glue to glue strong magnets to the back and they work great to store brads, sequins, band-aids…you get the picture and since they are translucent I can see what’s inside! If you know someone who works at a paper mill ask them to save you some!
Thanks for reading through this long post, I hope it gives you some ideas on how to organize your supplies and save a little cash too. Untill next time happy crafting!
