Thank you and happy Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas day!  Enjoy the magic of this celebration, and the amazing story of our Saviour's birth!


Thank you to all who have encouraged me during this little project!  I am not sure what the future holds, but I hope that you have been inspired and blessed by the past few months of blogging along with me!




Stocking Stuffer Stall update:
The total at this stage is over $660 raised for Australian Lutheran World Service, which is a wonderful result!  Thanks to all who participated!

Christmas Angels

I couldn't believe that I had ladies fighting over these angel decorations at the Stocking Stuffer stall, and I got orders to make more!  So I thought I'd share the idea so you can make some too (although it might be a bit late for this year)!


Requirements:
Wooden 'dolly' pegs
Pipe cleaner
Paint - for body and face
Felt tip pens to draw face
Angel wings (available from craft shops)
Wire-edged ribbon
Silver cord/thin ribbon
Hot glue gun

Paint the peg body (I used a light blue) and head (I used a country cream - although the heads aren't painted in the picture above!)  Use a piece of thick cardboard to hold the peg while you paint it.

Draw a face with coloured felt-tip pens, or use a thin permanent marker
Cut a piece of wire-edged ribbon, and gather the wire on one side so that it fits around the 'waist' of the peg.  Twist it together and secure to peg with hot glue.

Glue the wings to the back of the peg, and then add a hanging loop to the back of the head.  Make a halo from sparkly pipe cleaner, thread it over the hanging loop and secure with more hot glue.

Since you've got all your equipment out, create a 'company of angels'!

Christmas Sewing

It was a few weeks ago that I finished my Christmas shopping, but I've been madly trying to find the time to finish my Christmas sewing!  These 'I spy' bags are the gift of choice this year for my young friends and relatives:

Made from polar fleece, the bags have a clear plastic window so that the children can move the contents around and find 30 objects hidden in the filling (plastic beads used for toy stuffing).  Objects are things like a coin, paper clip, buttons in various shapes, dice, marble, etc.  They are great for quiet times, as the game keeps changing - and adults like playing with them as well!


The other big project has been a couple of baby floor quilts - one for a godson and another for a brand new nephew.  You can probably recognise the bear from the bear pattern I made for the street stall!

It was a great quilt to make, but since I am mostly 'self-taught' when it comes to quilting, I still make lots of mistakes... the biggest lesson from this one is that invisible thread is really difficult to unpick!  (But I still think it made my quilting look better when you couldn't see it properly!)


Christmas is here!  I've been working towards it for so long, it seems strange that it will be over soon!  (Although my husband thinks we'll be playing carols until April because my boys enjoy them so much!)

Bailey Bear

A few days ago, I showed you some 'flat bears' that were getting ready to be made.  Well, I finished off seven out of nine bears for the Street Stall, and didn't sell one! (Not to worry, I've already sent one off to a brand-new nephew who was born on Sunday!)

I think they are just so cute, and once I got on a roll, they weren't too difficult at all to make.  The pattern is available from here, and it includes links to Wendi's amazing tutorial videos about how to do every technique to make one yourself - from cutting out the pattern to embroidering the face and sewing him up!

Aren't they cute?!

Stocking Stuffer Stall Today!

Thank you to everyone who has been reading along with the blog! We had the first street stall today - a stocking stuffer stall at my church with money going towards the African Famine appeal through Australian Lutheran World Service.


Here's some pictures of the tables set up:

I was really excited when I saw how it all looked - this is what I had imagined!  I had some girlfriends come and help out as well, and we raised about $450 today.   I am really thrilled!


Many thanks to the people who contributed ideas and donated goods to be sold as well!

Now, I get to catch up on sleep and cleaning my house.  And then onto Christmas sewing!


Blessings!

Last minute frenzy!

Yep, it's 10 o'clock at night the day before the stocking stuffer stall, and I'm still a couple of hours away from being ready.  I think.  I've made a list, I'm checking it more than twice, it's just that some jobs take soooo much longer than I planned!


I've done about a week's worth of work today, and I am so thankful to my husband for attempting to keep my munchkins out of the way as I've zoomed from sewing machine to ironing board.


Here's some wannabe teddies on their way to being finished!  I've still got to sew, turn, press, stuff and close these bears before I get to go to bed!  I'll post some more pics tomorrow and let you all know how we went!

Mod Podge Decorative Tiles

I've been making some more decorative tiles and thought I'd share a few more pictures in this tutorial.

Items needed:

• Mod Podge (available from art and craft stores, online, Spotlight, Lincraft, etc)
• Tile (or a surface to stick paper onto)
• Photo or paper to stick
• Sponge brush
• Flat container

First of all, make sure your tiles are clean and dry.  I am using 15x15cm recycled tiles that I picked up at a scrap yard.

You can print your own design or use photos for this project.  I printed in black ink on scrapbooking paper, and also printed in colour on photo paper.

Pour a small amount of Mod Podge into the flat container.  Using the sponge brush, cover the tile in a layer of Mod Podge.  This acts as the glue to stick your paper to the tile.

Carefully place your design onto the tile.  I cut mine so that there was a white border all around.

Allow to dry for about 30 minutes.  Using the sponge brush, paint another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the picture. It will appear cloudy at first, but it dries clear.This is the sealer which will protect your picture. If you would like a 'canvas' appearance, allow this coat to dry and then brush on another coat in the opposite direction.

Allow to dry completely.  Display either with a plate stand or attach a ribbon hanger to the back of the tile.

Stencilled bibs

Here's a cool, easy gift that you can make with no sewing at all!


You need:

• Freezer paper (this is available from some quilting shops or online.  It is sold like cling wrap in the USA, but not widely available in Australia)
• Fabric to paint on (I've used plastic-backed bibs from Target & K-mart)
• Fabric paints (I've used paints mixed with textile medium by Jo Sonja)
• Sponge brush/stencil brush
• Iron
• Pencil
• Craft knife & cutting board

First of all, draw or trace your design on the paper side of the freezer paper. Cut it out with a craft knife.

Then, using a warm iron, fix the freezer paper stencil onto your fabric.  Place the stencil waxy side down and cover with a cloth (to protect your iron), and then press until the paper has adhered to the cloth.


Mix your paints and using a sponge brush, paint onto the stencil.

Allow the paint to dry, and then carefully peel away the stencil to reveal your design! (This is the exciting part!)

Iron over the design to fix your fabric paint.