Making Stuff for Your Room

Crafting With Fabric Panels: The ABC's

A couple of weeks ago, I went into the quilt shop and fabric store in La Pine.  I hadn't been there for a long time, and boy have things changed.  They have so much inventory now!  That is an awesome thing, since my old fabric haunt, the Walmart in Bend, no longer has a fabric section.  I am very happy that I can buy most everything that I need for sewing in La Pine at this point.

One of the things that I bought was three panels of "vintage" ABC's fabric.  This was all before I even knew that I would soon be working as a preschool teacher, but I really liked these, and they were only $6.00 each.  Last week, I decided to get busy and see what I could come up with.

I decided to make three pillows out of one of the panels:

I really like how they turned out:

The second panel I cut into individual pieces and made flash-cards with:

I chose heavy-duty card stock, in the color of cream. for the backing.  I didn't worry about the raw edges at that point.  I was laying them out here:

I used my handy-dandy cardboard box to spray the backs with adhesive:

These have been sprayed and attached to the card stock.  I gave them time to dry.  After they were good and dry, I used scissors (NOT my sewing scissors though) to trim each one up:

Then I brought out my laminator that my girls, Kari and Kristin, gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago.  This is the first time that I have used it, and that turned out to be very easy.  I laminated two per page and then trimmed those:
 

This is how they turned out.  I think that I will use them in the writing area, hanging them on the wall above the table.  These have some old fashioned words/pictures on them, but the letters are nice and so are the colors:

Mini Bean Bags:

In between going on drives and taking pictures of clouds, I have been watching a lot of baseball and working on my cute little bean bags.  So far I have assembled and filled 87 of them with birdseed.  I just need to finish sewing them all closed.  They will be great for tossing, juggling, and playing tic-tac-toe.  Or, they can be used as decor.  Aren't they cute?

First I cut out the squares and sewed button in the middle of the flower.  Then I sewed them on the machine, right sides together.  After turning them inside out and ironing them, I filled them with birdseed.  I couldn't find my small funnel, so I rolled up a piece of copy paper and taped it to use instead.  I used the baking pans to hold the bean bags upright so they won't spill while waiting for me to sew them shut. I am going to bundle them in sets of 3, probably tying them up with rafia and ribbon. 

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I made these cute little bean bags and have them ready to sell.  The can be used for tossing/throwing, Tic-Tac-Toe, juggling, or for decorating purposes.  They are filled with birdseed.  So, don't get them wet.  I suppose I should say for ages 3 and up, or for people who don't eat birdseed.  I am thinking of selling them.  Now I just need to figure out an outlet.  Have you guys had good luck with Esty?  Or Indi Fixx?  Do you sell your stuff at craft bazaars?  Have you had luck with selling your stuff off of your blog?  Please leave me comments about this or email me.  I need your advice.  Thank you!

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 They are packaged in assorted .....

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

... or matching.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Each one has a button sewed in the middle of the flower.  The only thing missing is the gift tag.  There are a bunch of little steps when you do things like this, you know.  Not hard, just time consuming.  Anyway, please let me know what you think!


Fishing Poles from dowels: 

Hello Friends!   I've been busy making things again.  Here is what I have been working on:

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Eleven little preschool pillows and three kids' scarves.  Plus, I finished the edging on four little heart pillows. Yay!

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

At the fabric store, you can usually find panel sets that are meant for sewing into a book.  Instead, I decided to make little pillows out of them. 

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Four are stories from the Bible, and the others have to do with colors.  I chose the appropriate color for the back of each color pillow.  These are kind of neat, because they also have the color and words in Spanish and French, as well as in English.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I still need to finish trimming these pillows, and to add a few more rows to this little scarf.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

It takes a bit more time to stitch around the edges, but it adds value and just looks nicer.  It is kind of peaceful to do the hand-stitching as I am watching t.v.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Blocks:

I have been saving my wine boxes for a long time, just because they are good sturdy boxes, and are a good size for making blocks.  I bought pretty contact paper and wrapped them up just like you would wrap a gift.  I think that they turned out pretty nice, and they only cost me .42 each.

Magnetic Boards:

For years, I have been using old baking sheets for glitter and gluing projects for the kids.  You place the paper inside and the trays catch the extra glitter so that you can save it for use at another time.
Last week, I found some magnetic letters up in our school attic, and realized that the cookie sheets would work great for those too.  I spray-painted the sheets with two coats and a sealer, and then used paint pens for a decorative touch.