Button Wreath

 I decided to put the buttons that I had to some use.  These were buttons that had to be covered with fabric, but I used ribbon instead and made a wreath.  Here's the antique look.

These were the supplies that I used-- Ribbon that I cut the wire off of and buttons to be covered.  When I got the buttons covered, I glued them to the wreath shape.                

I continued to do this until the wreath was covered in buttons.

Then I made a bow out of some leftover ribbon and glued it to the wreath.  I also used the wire that I had cut from the ribbon as will be seen in a later picture.  

To the top of the wreath, I glued a berry twig and some more wire that I had curled. 

Here is the finished wreath.  And a quick preview to the next post that I will do-- Mr. Snowman...  Just made that one too, but it will have to wait another day before it becomes a post.  

My Mother's Stitches

For the past year or so, Mom has been working on a country quilt- it has taken a lot of time due to the hand stitching she has done with some of the blocks and it is her first quilt.  I am displaying some of the blocks here.  She still has to put the batting and back on it, but the top is together.  A great job, Mom.

From Card to Tag

Last Christmas Mom had purchased some gift tags that were made for a fundraiser.  I thought is was a good idea and a way to recycle the Christmas cards that we had received.  I know that this is far from a unique idea, but I wanted to share it anyway because they do look good.  These two are just group shots of the piles that I have.

I stamped a spot on the back to put the to and from.  

These are just a couple up close.

Here are a few that I have attached already.  I am wrapping as I buy this year.  Now that's a unique idea!

Candy Cane Can

Today I am pleased to be doing a guest post at the following site:  http://redo101.blogspot.com/  Drop over to see my post and to see the great blog that I am posting to.  Lots of great ideas for sure.  Thanks so much for her invite to do a craft for her site.  Here is a sneak preview.  But you will have to visit her site to see what I did with it.  

It was a great privilege to have posted this craft on Ms. Redo site last Sunday.  I am also posting it here so that I can hold on to it.

I started with an idea and then began to look for some materials to make it.  Here is what I started with:

Coffee can
Mod Podge
Fabric-  Candy Cane striped, burgundy, tea dyed muslim
Jute
Glue Gun

I began by covering the coffee can with the burgundy fabric.  I used Mod Podge to do this.  I did it a little at a time so that the Mod Podge would not be dry.

Then I covered it with Mod Podge.

The next step involved using my computer and printing the saying that I wanted to put on the can.  I wanted to transfer the outline of the printout onto the muslim, so I printed it using the mirror image option in the printer settings.  I did this in Red Ink and Black ink because I wanted to have both colors in the paper.  To transfer I placed the paper on the muslim and used a paint brush to make the paper a little wet.  I pressed on the letters and some of the ink transferred to the material.  

Here is the black printout on the fabric.  You can see that it is a little wet.  This is tricky because it you don't put enough water, nothing happens; put too much and the color runs.  This is the first time I tried this on fabric so I did experiment a couple of times before I got the results  I wanted.

This picture give a better view of the whole thing.  You can see the Red outline that I am not shading and the black which I am using my Sharpie to make it darker.

This one is complete.  I did add a little more red in places with a red Sharpie.

 I made sure the lettering was dry and then I cut the fabric to the size I needed for the can.  Used some Mod Podge to attach it.  In hind site I should have done this part first because I could have put it on when the can was still wet.  Instead I had to add more Mod Podge.  Live and Learn.

Next I added 3 rusty stars and a burlap bow.

Glued a piece of Jute to the bottom to protect the furniture from scratched and a piece of a twig with berries.  

To finish, I needed some Candy Canes.  I Googled a template as seen below begin.  I folded the fabric in half and placed the template on the fold as directed.  

The I used a fabric marker to trace the outline.

Place some pins in in each one to keep it from unfolding.

Then I stitched each one around with the sewing machine, leaving a small hole to turn it right side out and to stuff it.  I used a knitting needle to help me to get the ends right side out and to push the stuffing into the ends.

Once I had it stuffed, I used hot glue to stick the hole together-- sort of cheated here since it should have been hand stitched.  However, it did get the job done faster.  I tied a bow around it and then it was ready for the can.