Knee Deep In Ric-Rac

There are less than 3 months til Christmas, my friends!

Holiday projects are underway so I'm knee-deep in ric-rac. 

:-)

Are you working on anything special?

Easter Spoolie Swap

Isn't this little green birdie pincushion adorable?

Cindy from Prairie's Edge Farm 

made this for me as part of the Easter Spoolie Swap we were partnered in.

She sent a whole shaker box full of delightful hand crafted goodies to me.

 A darling, pink, lop-eared bunny with a fluffy tail.

A sweet little daisy embroidered and appliqued easter egg.

And this gorgeous Easter tag. 

And I can't forget to mention the chocolate easter eggs and jellybeans 

which I've already been munching on.

THANK YOU so much Cindy!  I love all of it!

And next I have to show you the spoolies I made for Cindy.

This ducky version used tiny tart pans and a vintage pastry blender. 

(This one was inspired by her love for gardening and making pies.)

The little yellow duck can come out of the nest.

I had so many ideas running through my head after looking through her blog, 

I just had to make another one for her.

The second spoolie I made for her was a tomato pincushion.
(Inspired once again by the gardening theme, and her love
for quilting and all sorts of needle-crafts.)

I also crocheted a small blue basket to hold some of the goodies
 that I sent along to fill the box.


I want to say THANK YOU to Sandy for hosting this swap.
It was so much fun!  And a great excuse to get creative.
I encourage those of you who have never tried a swap, to go for it!

Just A Tiny Little Peek

 Sneaking in just a tiny little peek at the Easter spoolie craft projects I made.
Yes, you do see ric-rac.

But I can't show any more 'til my swap partner receives it.

You'll have to check back later this week for full pictures.

Baby Shower Paper Luminarias

The baby shower is coming up in just a couple of days.

Here are the super-easy paper luminarias I made for the table.

Scrapbook paper trimmed down to size, and rolled into a cylinder.

Beatrix Potter illustrations printed out and glued on.

Add a bit of ric-rac trim to pretty it up.   It really is that simple.

(Battery operated tealight candles will go inside and make them glow.)

Did you catch that sneak peak of the fabrics I used for the bunting? 

I'll show you how easy they are to make in my next post.   

Quick Christmas Gift Tags

Gluing together a few quick and easy tags for Christmas gifts.

Punch out simple shapes, add rhinestones for sparkle, 

personalize with initials, and tie with vintage ric-rac.

Fun and done in less than 30 minutes!

Tweet! Tweet! Felt Birds.

I finished the craft I started in my last post.
Bright colored felt and ric-rac birdie ornaments.

I originally found inspiration for the birds at Craft Kitchen

I pinned them to my craft board on pinterest several months ago,
 so I would not forget that I wanted to make them when it got closer to Christmas.

She did not share a pattern, or post instructions, but they were

easy enough to make just by looking at her photo. 

Here is how I made my birds:

(You may need to adjust your measurements, depending on the size of circles you start with.)

Gather your felt, fabric, trim, thread, beads, sequins and needles.

Start with two different sized circles in coordinating colors-

4.5" felt circle  and 3" coordinating fabric circle.

(I used a coffee can lid and a biscuit cutter as patterns for my circles.)

Lay the smallest in the center of the big one (right side up)

 and zig-zag them together with matching thread.

Fold in half (right side out).

Cut  a beak from orange felt and tuck in at the head.

Cut several 5" pieces of ric-rac.  Fold in half, and tuck in at the tail.

Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam, making sure to catch all the pieces. 

Cut a 10" piece of ric-rac.

 Hand stitch it along the edge of the "wings" (the smaller circle). 

(Be sure to include enough extra to tuck the ends under for a finished look.)

Stitch sequins and beads on to make the eyes.

(I used doubled thread so I could pull it tight and not worry about it breaking.)

 Switch to a larger needle to sew thick floss and beads to the top for a hanger.

Knot at the top.

Finished birds are 7" long and 2.25" high.

Viola!

Tweet! Tweet!

What Is It?

What is it?   

It's a little crafty project I started working on last night.

I needed to use up some of my fabric stash and ric-rac.   LOL!

(Actually, I needed a sanity break from the family project
I've been working on all week.)

I'll post photos of the finished product in a couple of days.

Anyone care to take a guess as to what it could be?
(Don't go looking at my pinterest boards, or you'll figure it out for sure.)

Rainbow Of Glorious Color

Life goes on, even when I'm feeling sad.

So I'm filling my time with favorite people and good things

and trying to make everything seem normal again.

This morning I visited a little shop (Fabric Recycles)  and hit the jackpot on vintage trims. 

I came home with an entire rainbow of glorious color.

And now I'm dreaming of fun ornaments to make for the holidays.

*  *  *  *  *

Thank you to everyone for the kind, heartfelt, messages of sympathy.

I really do appreciate the love and support you shared with me. 

And I will try to catch up on my visits soon.

Triangle Trees

Yesterday I stitched up a few simple little triangle trees

to share with the gals at book club.

So easy! 

It's lots of fun working with all this vintage ric-rac.

Looking at this picture now, I realize I should have added 

a star or some bling to the top.

Oh well... it's too late now.

I think they liked them anyway.

A Trio Of Glittery Trees

I finally finished up the little project I was working on!

A trio of glittery trees!

I saw these sampler trees at Amy Powers- Inspired Ideas Christmas 2010, 

and wanted to give her pattern a try.

So I gathered up all sorts of colorful beads, shiny sequins, ric-rac trim

 and embroidery floss and got to work.

When I posted the sneak peek photo a couple of weeks ago, 

a few of you thought I was making a tree skirt.

That would be a great idea too! 

Just for fun, I laid all three of the flat panels together

to see what a tree skirt might look like.

Anyway, I just love how these little trees turned out.

And can't wait to start decorating for Christmas next Friday!

Be sure to take a look at all the wonderfully creative

ideas in all of Amy's magazines here.

Hope you have a fun and creative weekend!

I'm joining Terri's "Deck the Halls", Christmas Project Blog Hop at  Artful Affirmations.


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Sneak Peek

Here is a quick peek at a little project I'm working on.

I hope to have more to show you in a few days.