Two Dog Beds for 5 Bucks!

Yesterday I made two sizeable dog beds for only $5. Why do I have a need for a two dog beds when I only have one dog, you ask? Well because tomorrow the family and I go to pick up our new PUPPY! It is all very exciting. We haven't had a puppy in the house since my son was 1 year old (he's turning 9 in a few months). It will be a playmate for our dog Katie and a late Christmas present for me who is the "dog person" of this family. My husband is more of a cat man.

In preparation for the puppy the kids and I hit the shops, in that standard "let's go to the pet store and get supplies" kind of way. Right now our dog Katie eats her morning meal off an old, chipped plate and the cats all have matching glass plates. She has a plastic bowl for kibble and our plastic ice cream tub turned water dish was in need of replacing. But the prices are astronimical! I couldn't get over it. If I had bought a new dish for the puppy, one for Katie, and a water bowl it would have cost nearly $30. I am sad to say, I was seriously thinking about it. I even had the dishes in my hand but I just couldn't do it. I put them back, bought just the puppy food and decided to go to Goodwill around the corner.

Goodwill didn't have any "dog" dishes but they did have a nice, small ceramic dish that would be perfect for the puppy, and it was 99 cents. I found an old casserole dish, with a flat bottom for $3 and got it for a water dish. I also found a nice, fleecy blanket for $4 and instantly thought, Dog Bed.



As soon as I got home I went to work. I cut the fringe off and decided to use it. I cut the blanket into four pieces, pinned the fringe to the inside, right sides together and sewed all around the rectangle, leaving a space to put it right side out and to stuff.

Using left over stuffing from another project and quilt batting ends, I stuffed the beds and sewed the hole. Done. One hour of work and $5 of materials. And it matches my decor, looks like I spent $24 a piece and no one will ever know.




Yes!

Making a Wreath

I made a new wreath for my door and I am quite pleased with the results. I used a newer product called "Poly Resin Deco Mesh". It's a plastic type of mesh-like fabric that comes in all sorts of colours and styles. I found some reasonably priced rolls at my local green house that also specializes in greenery for the holiday season.

Using a 50 per cent off coupon for Michael's, I bought a wire wreath form and some floral wire.



You start by bunching the mesh and tying to the wire wreath with the floral wire. Billow the mesh and tie another bunch to the wire wreath making sure it is very close to the first tie. This makes a nice tight billow of fabric. As you go around the wreath try to make sure the billows are consistent so the wreath looks even.



I also bought some Christmas balls and tied them together with wire. I placed these throughout the wreath.



The store also sold pre-made ones for $30 or more, but mine only cost $12 because I did it myself. There are some Youtube videos put out by the companies that make the product and I found these visual tutorials very helpful.

Egg Your House

Easter is a-comin'! I saw something like this Easter Egg Display in a design magazine and I knew I could make my own.




You need:

1 large pot base
1 small pot base
1 small pot

Arcylic paints
Crackle Paint effect stuff
Brushes
A bit of Patience



I painted the pot and base with a base coat of the colour I wanted to see through the cracks. Then I painted the crackle stuff (available at craft stores). Between each coat I waited a few hours to make sure it was dry and then I applied the final coat.



When dry, simply invert the pot onto the base, and then lay your small base on the top. Decorate with paper grass or more real looking stuff. As you decorate you eggs, put them on display. These eggs are paper mache with acrylic paint.

Little House at My House

This is purely a 'Look what I made' post. I came up with an idea to make a peg people playset for kids and my niece and nephew for Christmas. This is the first one, a Little House on the Prairie set for my daughter who loves the books and anything pioneer.



I really enjoyed making this and have even been thinking of selling a few at my Etsy Store.



I think I will make another for my niece for Christmas and include a copy of the book. It's sweet to think of her playing away with her little house while her mom reads the book to her.

I have some other ideas brewing in my head. Eventually I want to make little tables and maybe a bed. I plan to take a woodworking course in November and I am really looking forward to it.

I'm in Fabric-Land

I bought some new fabric at a 50 per cent off sale the other day. I am just in love with this cotton I bought for future quilting projects. These will go in my stash for later.



This week I am completing the quilt for my niece for her 5th birthday coming up in July. She loves red and pink so these were promptly pulled from my stash and I set to it. Here's a sneak peak...



I will post pictures of the finished quilt in a week or so.

Book: Plain & Simple, A Woman's Journey to the Amish

This book, Plain and Simple by Sue Bender, has two elements that make it one of my favourites. First: it advocates Simplicity as an enriching lifestyle of choice. Second: it has quilts. 'nough said!

It's a auto-biographical journey of a woman, living and working in California who is suddenly called toward the Amish through their simple patchwork quilts. At first she wants to touch and feel the art, then she wants to learn how to make them before finally she decides she must learn who the artists are behind them.

My life was like a crazy quilt, a pattern I hated. Hundreds of scattered, unrelated, stimulating fragments, each going off in its own direction, creating a lot of frantic energy. There was no overall structure to hold the pieces together. The crazy quilt was a perfect metaphor for my life.

-Sue Bender

This is not a new book. It was released in 1989. It is still very relative. Of course the 80s were a harried time for feminism which out and out scorned homemaking and servitude of any form. Now there seems to be a renaissance of homemaking, and keepers of the home. Sue Bender seemed to be a product of her generation. Pushy and driven to work yet drawn to the home and not understanding why.

I found this book wonderfully written, hugely entertaining and very easy to get lost in. It's a short book, a very quick and simple read. Just what I was looking for.

A Quick Project for Easter

I whipped these up last night. You can find the tutorial and pattern at Retro Mama.

I love these little eggs. I used scraps from former quilt and costume projects. I should have stuffed them with some raw sheep fleece I have carded and sitting in a cloth bag waiting to be spun (it's a bit coarser that my normal spinning fleece). To make all seven, it took maybe half an hour to sew and stuff them, and another 30 minutes to ladder stitch the sides while watching a television show.

I had been racking my brain all March trying to come up with an eco-friendly alternative to those plastic Easter eggs that break so easily. We always do an egg hunt and these little guys are so perfect for using year after year. We will combine these with our naturally dyed eggs and have a great hunt.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Knitted Bunny

I have been keeping my hands busy lately completing this white, knitted bunny for my niece for Easter. It really shows how much of an inexperienced knitter I am. I used left over yarn my grandmother had given me. She crochets large blankets for nearly everyone in the family and is often left with half a ball of odd colours. Knitted stuffies are a great way to use up bits and pieces so nothing goes to waste.



While stitching the finished body parts together my kids suddenly showed an interest in what I was doing. My daughter has asked for her own version, which I will get to, hopefully before Easter next week.

I am going to attempt to make a lamb for my nephew for Easter. Hopefully I can get it done before their visit this weekend.

Trimming a Tomato Tree

What do you make when you have a tomato cage, a spent pot of Mums and two lengths of artificial Christmas garland? A Christmas tree of course! Isn't it obvious?

Well okay maybe not that obvious. Look what I have been cooking up this afternoon.



I really wanted to change up my outside decorations for Christmas this year but I did not want to spend a mint. I started thinking about what I had lying around. I always have too much garland and not enough places to put it so I was conjuring images of a wood tripod thing to go on top of my many planters. Then it hit me. I have over twenty tomato cages in my shed. So here is what I did.





I would say these pots are about 10 or 12 inches wide and my cages when inverted sit just inside the lip. I was able to push them down far enough that they are nice and secure. And then I wrapped around the garland, using the wires in the branches to hide the metal of the cage as well as to insure nothing moves. After a bit of fluffing it turned out rather nice. I even fooled my neighbour who was quite impressed when I told her it was a tomato cage.

I used two lengths of garland. And I would recommend taking the cage off the pot, making the tree and then placing the cage tree back on the pot. It just makes it easier to turn around and fluff when you don't have to worry about the heavy pot.

In the stores I see trees like this for $50 and up but even if I had bought each piece (instead of scavenging the house) it would have only cost me $10 to $15 for the garland, $2 for the cage and $7 for the pot. But since I only use the pot and cage in summer, the real cost would be the garland and lights which only come out at Christmas. All in all, a good frugal creation if I do say so myself.

Rail Fence Quilt Sneak Peak

I am working delegently on a new quilt that I intend to give my nephew for Christmas. He is 18 months old and I hardly get to see him but I think of him often while I am working on my quilt... er...I mean his quilt. I picked out the fabric months ago and have been just giddy looking at them.

I am not quite done the quilt but I wanted to share a sneak peak of what it will look like in the end.



First each colour was cut in to 1 1/2 inch strips. And sewn together lengthwise, using a 1/4 inch seam. After pressing, I cut 7 1/2 inch squares from the strips.





When side by side, one block is horizontal while the other is vertical.



Placed in a pattern like this you create the Rail Fence Quilt Pattern. I am finding this pattern very easy for a newbie quilter like me.

Using 7 1/2 inch blocks, I need 9 sewn together (side by side) to make a row (width of the quilt). I will need 10 or 11 of these rows and in the end I will sew them together to finish the quilt top.

Passing on the Passion

Photo taken by Sophia. I had put some books and yarn up for display for the 'students' to see.

I held a workshop at my house yesterday, sharing my passion for spinning with a small group of homeschoolers who wanted to learn. I taught them a bit about sheep, wool and the each got to use a drop spindle. I forgot to take pictures (silly me) but the day was a success. I am forever fascinated at how young people got straight ahead not caring if they make mistakes, not worrying about goofing up. By the end of the session all children had made good progress.

Despite being filled wall to wall with people, the house was almost completely silent as everyone concentrated hard. No one spoke. They all sat, concentrating with eyes on their drop spindles trying to work out the complexities of spinning. Once a person becomes better at eye/hand coordination spinning can be quite relaxing and enjoyable. For me there is nothing quite like working something with your hands and then enjoying the finished product. Whether it be bread, yarn, a newly sewn garment, something toiled over passionately can be worth more than gold.

Quilted Table Runner

I tried a new block pattern, the Pinwheel pattern. It is pretty easy to assemble. Each triangle is cut from a square and then those triangles are mismatched with a contrasting colour and sewed together.



I have a few more pieces to put together to make another runner but I have a feeling I won't get to it before the end of this harvest season. As it is I have two twin sized quilts and two wall hangings I wish to get done before Christmas. And I also have my son's Halloween costume to complete but my sewing machine decided to keel over while I was doing the hem of my daughter's costume. Of all the times for my sewing machine to die it had to be when I am most busy and gearing up for the holidays.

I have a vision for my quilts. Eventually I would like a quilt done up for all seasons (harvest, Christmas, Spring, Winter etc) so that my quilt rack will always have something current and decorative. We are always snuggling up on the couch with my quilts but when we are not using them they are on display. Quilts are wonderful. They provide a use while being viewed as a piece of art as well.

My New Purse

My cat peed on my purse a few weeks ago. Since my tom cat, Ash died, our two intact females have been drawing a lot of attention from the other tom's who were previously not allowed to step foot in our yard. Even though our two females never venture outside, they howl and mark their territory every time they go into heat. We have found surprises on the floor, in laundry baskets of dirty clothes and baskets of clean clothes and my personal favourite IN MY SHOES!

We had our kitten's fixed a few days ago but not before they claimed their latest victim...my purse! I have been looking for a nice messenger bag style purse, something a little larger than my previous one. With two kids with water bottles, crayons, bandaids, snacks and of course my wallet I need lots of room.

So I made this one....





I like how the straps are tied at the top which I can make long or short depending, I like that I could choose my fabric, my colours and style. I also liked that it cost me less than $5 when the cheapest store bought one I found that I liked was $24.