Oreo Cookie Turkeys

Check out these edible and adorable Oreo Cookie Turkeys at the Idea Room. I might have to make these for Thanksgiving this year!

Patriotic Dessert

Easy and Delicious

Damnit Doll

Check out the Damnit Doll I made for a friend. I gave her in a wine bottle gift box.


Here is the poem that goes with the doll:

DAMMIT DOLL

When you want to climb the wall,

And stand right up and shout.

There's a little Dammit doll

You cannot do without.

Just grasp it firmly by the legs,

And find a place to slam it.

And as you whack the stuffing out

Yell Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

If Dammit's not a word you say

Then twist its little neck

And grumble out repeatedly

Oh Heck, Oh Heck, Oh Heck!

And once your done abusing it

Just sit it on the shelf.

But hug it first, as I'd hug you

If I were there myself.

Here are the steps I took:

Cut out arms and legs.

I used a pattern from Circle of Crafters

I stuffed the limbs

All stuffed!

Sewed up the holes I left for stuffing

Ta-da!

Attached the button eyes

Sewed the arms to the front of the body

Careful not to prick your finger!

Sew on the legs

Sew on the hair

Sew closed the body,

leaving room to turn it right-side out

Once you turn it right-side out,

stuff it and close the hole

Enjoy!

I got my inspiration from Old Fashion Tips.

Puffy Photo Album

Here is a cute way to spruce up a photo album (or scrapbook). Patty taught me how to cover a purchased album with batting and cloth for a Puffy Photo Album.

Supplies:

• Photo album
• Fabric (about half a yard, depending on album size)
• Batting (loose in a bag, not flat like cloth)
• Cardboard (to hide the inside covers & to make the photo frame on outside)
• Decorative ribbon
• Hot glue gun

Patty made this one for me:

Lunch Bag

I don't know anything embroidery, but this lunch bag is super cute! It doesn't look too hard to make. You could even skip the embroidery and just add an iron-on patch. Go to this link to see the directions.

Fabric Key Chains

The Idea Room has done it again! Check out her tutorial on Fabric Key Chains. I think I'll give this a try. When I do, I'll be sure to post a photo.

Chocolate Waffle Ice Cream Bowls!

I saw this dessert and thought it looked too delicious not to share! The description says the the bowl ends up being the consistency of a thin brownie.

Go to The Idea Room to see a picture and the complete description.

Pipe Cleaner Dragonfly

How cute is this little Dragonfly? It might be good for decorating a birthday gift. Go to the Craftbits website to see the details of how to make this project.

Personalized Embossed Candles!

Once again, The Idea Room has given us another great craft idea! Check out her description of how to embosse candles using stamps.

We are going to try this project soon and I'll post pictures of our effort.

Quilting Tips

I decided to make another quilt, and this time to push myself to learn new things. I borrowed a beginners quilting book from the library and search through it for new tricks.

Here are some tips I found especially helpful:

1. Even up the edges of the fabric before you start
2. Press your fabric before cutting out the shapes. DO NOT iron. Pressing (not moving the iron across the fabric) prevents the fabric from stretching and becoming uneven.
3. Once two pieces have been sewn together, press the seam under the darker fabric to avoid shadows.
4. When doing a "pillow-style finish" trim the corners of all fabrics off after sewing them together (don't get too close to the stiches!).

With this quilt I am also following a pattern, a first for me! It is going okay so far. Here is what the pattern is supposed to look like when I'm done.

Girl's Barrette Holder

Go to The Idea Room to check out the cut barrette holder she made. Sure beats the zip-lock bag I keep my little girl's hair things in! I just have to figure out how I could adjust it to hold the rubber bands too.

Unfortunately, I couldn't grab the image from the website linked above, but here is a similar idea from The Creative Crate. It could even be used to show photos, or hang notes. Too cute!

Adorable Stuffed Owl

Another cute idea borrowed from a blog I read: make your own stuffed owl. There is a great tutorial on the blog, including a simple pattern.

Here is the photo:

Butterfly Collage

Check out this blog about using paper butterflies to make a piece of art for your house. She used butterfiles, but you could always use other cut-outs.

Here is an image of her finished product:

Scrapbook Calendar

For Christmas 2008 I made scrapbook calendar I made for my husband's grandmother. I bought the kit at my local craft store and then inserted photos of my daughter. The kit included the blank calendar pages, stickers, and decorative paper. I am looking forward to making a 2010 calendar at the end of this year.

Here are pictures of how it turned out:

Ceramic Angel

For Christmas 2004, I painted a ceramic angel for my husband's aunt. I had a lot of help and guidance from a coworker, Jeanne, who has been painting ceramics for years. This project was a lot of fun, and I hope I get a chance to paint ceramics again!

My hand-painted Christmas Angel.

I love the technique used to paint the wings!

The gold paint applied after firing was another nice touch.

Jen's Second Quilt

In Summer of 2006 I finished my second quilt. It was a gift for my friend Linh's new baby boy. I made this one using squares and learned how to easily attach the batting to the other two layers. I'm pretty proud of this one.

Brandon's Quilt

The rubber duckies and frogs were so cute!

Jen's First Quilt

The first quilt I ever made was to donate to Project Linus in Winter of 2006. It was a simple top made up of rectangles. Being a newbie meant that I didn't know how to handle the batting. We didn't connect the batting to the other layers until the end, but it was okay. My mom helped me make the quilt (she had the sewing machine and sewing know-how).

My first quilt!

The fabric was of course a Peanuts theme.

Welcome!

In December of 2008 a couple of friends and I decided to have a monthly craft day. This blog is an offshoot of that idea. I hope to use it to collect ideas for crafts. They can be crafts we want to try or our completed crafts.

I hope you enjoy all of our crafts!