Cloth Snack Baggie

Last month, I featured a cloth snack baggie from Rhinestone Beagle. I was very intrigued by the use of fusible vinyl! I ran out to the store and bought a role, and used neutral "scraps" of fabric from my craft room to come up with an awesome reusable snack bag for myself! I followed Rhinestone Beagles tutorial. It is a well thought out and written tutorial. They did not miss a step, and I wasn't at all confused. 

I want to let you know that there were multiple instances when I thought I was going to break a needle, as I sewed around the perimeter of the bag (on the double sided portion). The fabric along with fusible vinyl was very thick and I had to go extremely slow. Like stitch-by-stitch, slow. 

Here is my finished product. 

The only tricky part to this project was making sure that my bag would fold correctly; so that the print would be facing the right side. If you choose a fabric pattern that is repetitive and can be viewed from any angle you won't have to worry about the way it folds. The best part is that I know of multiple people at my office who have these cloth baggies and spent $5-$8 on each baggie! I estimate that mine maybe came out to be $2 altogether.

If you've made a cloth snack baggie, I'd love to see it--let me know! 

What's Up Wednesday's {Link Party} & Features

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday. We spent 4 days on the West Coast of Florida soaking up the sun and finally having a few days off together (the first time in 2 months)! Needless to say I tried to stay away from anything that could get internet access. I worked on not one blog post, edited zero photo's, and made not one craft. It was a nice break from our busy, busy, BUSY lives!!! The few days "disconnected" from the world gave me a chance to put some priorities in my life. My goal (well our goal) when we first started this blog was to post once or twice a week. I'm (since we all know it's Mrs. Woodsy who writes all the post) fulfilling my goal of writing one post a week, but it's just link parties... it's not show casing the cool things we create. I'm really going to put my best effort into creating at least one creative post a week on top of the link party post. 


With that being said, here are a few of my favorite crafts from last week! (If this is your first time being featured please grab a "featured" button.)

Weekend Wrapup and Washcloth Tutorial from JAQS Studio

These would make for wonderful baby shower gifts (and they are easy to make, too)!

Sunkissed Apron: Finished from Whittle Stitch

Once again, another amazing apron! I mean it--it's on my craft project list! 

Barbie Sock Dress Tutorial from The Moody Fashionista

Ahhh! This is amazing and genius all at the same time! I was Barbies number one fan when I was a child and wish I could have had someone make me custom Barbie clothing! AMAZING! 

Teacher Appreciation Gifts from Creative Mommas

I love this wood block calendar and I've yet to make one! I absolutely love the color pallets chosen on both of the calendar sets!!! 

Twine Ball Yarn Eggs from Sugar & Spice in the land of Balls & Sticks

These are so awesome! They look like something I would buy at a store! 

Bookmarking this project for next Easter! 

Remember, if you aren't doing so already and would like to get our blog post delivered to your e-mail inbox, please subscribe via email! I promise you will start getting some more awesome projects in the near future (not just link parties)! 

Rules for the link party:

-Please make sure you're following us (we'll follow you back as long as you leave us a comment telling us that you're a new follower)!

-PLEASE display our party button either on your home page or on your post. 

-Make sure your link is to your specific post and not your main URL & add a short description.

-Please try to view and/or follow at least two other participants. 

-You can enter as many craft projects as you'd like. (No recipes--go to Katie's Cucina for that!)

-No advertising please (that means etsy). 

-Entering into this party gives us the rights to blog about and feature your blog post. 

What's Up Wednesday's {Link Party} & Features

I can't believe that Easter is THIS weekend! Where has time gone? I remember when I was writing about Valentine's Day, and now we are at Easter! I was on the road last week which meant no crafting for me, but Mr. Woodsy finished painting the outside of our house! He only has to paint the door, and the new shutters we ordered! We also got new outdoor lights, numbers for our house, and a new doorbell cover! Unfortunately, nothing was photographed; however, I guess I do have some photo's of our home "before" we repainted it. You don't realize how faded your house is until you start rolling on the same color paint, and then that's when you realize it! All-in-all I think our exterior paint job plus new fixtures, etc cost us around $400 to complete vs. paying a painting company for a couple thousand dollars! Anyways, we hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and has a little time to craft!

On an exciting note, we just activated our e-mail subscription notice. You can now receive blog post updates via e-mail! We'd love if you subscribed via email to our blog (you'll find the signup underneath the tabs on the right hand side)! 

Here are a few of my favorites from last week, and if you are featured for the first time please grab a featured button to proudly display on your blog!

The Interchangeable Rosette from Anngela's Pretty Little Things

Being that I just posted about rosettes yesterday, I felt this was very appropriate to feature! Plus I absolutely love the black rosettes Anngela made. I've scene these in real life and they are stunning! 

Hot to turn Jeans into a Skirt from Sugar & Spice in the land of Balls & Sticks

What a genius idea! I'm tempted to cut up a pair of jeans right now and make a skirt! 

Mug Rug from Kitchen Funk

Love these sewn coasters! These would make for a great housewarming gift! 

Chalk Board Tag Labels from City Girl Gone Coastal

Ahhh, I love how versatile chalkboard paint is! Great idea!

Flirty High Waisted Apron from Blissful and Domestic

I absolutely LOVE the fabric chosen for this apron. I've been wanting to make my own for a while... one of these days I'll get around to it! When the time comes I'll definitely be renting/buying the book. 

Rules for the link party:

-Please make sure you're following us (we'll follow you back as long as you leave us a comment telling us that you're a new follower)!

-PLEASE display our party button either on your home page or on your post. 

-Make sure your link is to your specific post and not your main URL & add a short description.

-Please try to view and/or follow at least two other participants. 

-You can enter as many craft projects as you'd like. (No recipes--go to Katie's Cucina for that!)

-No advertising please (that means etsy). 

-Entering into this party gives us the rights to blog about and feature your blog post. 

Craft Lunch: Fabric Rosettes

It had been a few months since our last craft lunch at work. Being that I've been super busy and traveled half the month of March, Sarah, from While They Snooze organized last month's craft lunch! She had been itching to make some fabric rosettes. Our goal for craft lunch is to always pick a craft that has very little pieces and parts, inexpensive, and can be typically completed within our hour lunch break. A majority of the time it involves hot glue. We have a co-worker (and very dear friend of mine) who is obsessed with hot glue, and one day she will start her very own hot glue blog. I swear she will hot glue anything, and when I mean anything... well, you get the point, that's a whole different blog post. 

Sarah and myself compiled a list of wonderful fabric rosette examples for everyone to read up on and choose which rosette(s) they would want to complete within the hour. Most opted for rosettes that required hot glue and a few brave souls opted for the hand sewn rosettes. 

Prior to our craft lunch I saw a blog post on Skip to My Lou with the top 10 fabric flower tutorials. This was super helpful and gave even more examples than the ones Sarah and I found prior to our invite; Little Birdie Secrets, Freckled Laundry, Tip Junkie, Busy B Family, and The Creative Maven are a few more tutorials that show case how to make fabric rosettes. 

Here is the group getting started! 

The hot glue guns were plugged in and the hot glue gun helpers were out and ready to be used!

Andrea, started working on her pink rosette. She followed the tutorial from lillyella. 

Andrea attached her fabric rosette to a hair tie, and wore it around the office!

Erica and Christy were two of the brave soles who decided to sew their rosettes.

Erica choose to make the Fabric Yo-Yo Flower from The DIY Dish. 

Erica's Yo-Yo flower was very nautical, so we had her salute the camera! 

Christy choose to make a hand sewn fabric rosette. It was a tutorial blend of Susie Harris meets Made by the Mama Monster!  

She made one rosette while everyone else who use hot glue made 2-3! 

Christy, modeling her new rosette. She hot glued the fabric rosette onto a pin back and pinned it on her necklace!

An up-close look at Christy's new fabric rosette pin! Make sure you check out her photography blog! She is amazing! 

Here is the two fabric rosettes Rachel made within 20 minutes! She is our hot glue gun queen! She used a thicker knit material that seemed to work the best. She followed the Made by the Mama Monster tutorial. 

Sarah, from While The Snooze, made a head band for her daughter. She wrapped the cotton t-shirt around the $1 headband that she got from Michael's. Then followed the Made by the Mama Monster tutorial. Cut out her own version of a leaf with a dark grey felt. Added a pink pearl embellishment to the middle of the flower, then hot glued all three pieces together! Super cute headband!!! 

Here are the three fabric rosettes I came up with! The first one is more like a rosebud than anything. I used a silk material that was a bit difficult to wrap. I also followed the the Made by the Mama Monster tutorial. My goal is to make these into a necklace... maybe next month I'll get around to showing these fabric rosettes love and glueing them down! 

Here is the same picture above, but I manipulated it using instagram! If you follow me on Facebook you saw this picture almost a month ago! 

I hope you will go host your own craft lunch or at least make a few fabric rosettes on your own! Super easy and inexpensive project to make anytime--anywhere! 

What's Up Wednesday's {Link Party} & Features

I'm on the road again, this week for work, so I'm going to make this short and sweet! I did not do to much crafting last weekend since I was busy attending the Food Blog Forum Seminar. Learned lots of great new things and I hope that everyone will start seeing some improvements in the coming weeks to our blog!

Here are a few of my favorite crafts from last week...  you know the deal if this is your first time being featured grab a button and display it proudly!

Citrus Pillowcase Skirt from While They Snooze

LOVE this skirt. Wish I could make a pillowcase skirt for myself... guess it would have to be quite large! Ahhh to be a child again! 

One Dandy Chandy Makeover from Life in Rehab

I absolutely love what Sunny did to her drab chandelier! This is beautiful! 

Nothing but Blue Skies from now on! from Posy the Porcelain Pig

I'm beyond impressed that Mikalah was able to refashion this $3 Goodwill find into an amazing skirt! Great job!

Custom Carpet Tile Runner from Rhinestone Beagle

Rugs can be so expensive! Great job getting creative and making your own!

A New Spring Wreath from Amanda Mays Design Studio

I love this revamped spring wreath! I always tell myself I need to make more of these and yet I never do! It's on my list... 

Rules for the link party:

-Please make sure you're following us (we'll follow you back as long as you leave us a comment telling us that you're a new follower)!

-PLEASE display our party button either on your home page or on your post. 

-Make sure your link is to your specific post and not your main URL & add a short description.

-Please try to view and/or follow at least two other participants. 

-You can enter as many craft projects as you'd like. (No recipes--go to Katie's Cucina for that!)

-No advertising please (that means etsy). 

-Entering into this party gives us the rights to blog about and feature your blog post. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year I've had the "Birthday Blues" as they are called. It's not because I'm getting older--I simply have a lot of stuff going on in my life + Mr. Woodsy has been working a non-traditional work schedule. I knew I wasn't going to spend the evening of my birthday at a nice restaurant with him nor any of the weekend. I am going to a Food Blog Forum Seminar this weekend, which is definitely the highlight of my "Birthday weekend".  I've made no plans with friends (outside of work) and all of my family is working. Luckily, my co-workers were able to turn my frown upside down. 

Last year, they transformed my cube into a kitchen. To be exact, they transformed it into Katie's Cucina. I work with a very creative group, and we celebrate just about everyone's birthday in our department! 

This year, they transformed my cube into a crafty space! 

Apparently, I'm the next Martha Stewart! They photo-shopped my face onto Martha! lol. 

They printed out a sewing machine, pictures of thread, placed a real piece of fabric on the machine along with some glitter glues! It looks realistic! 

They made a flag style banner {like I make for birthday's} along with re-branding Martha's Living collection with my name! My mother in-law brought me flowers and balloons, too! 

Here is another view of the banner and picture of me!

And I even got to cook with Mario Batali! 

I'm so grateful to have such great friends and coworkers. They made my day special, and without them the day would not have been the same!

What's Up Wednesday's {Link Party} & Features

Thank you to everyone who linked up last week! Unfortunately, I didn't get any crafting done (nor blogging completed). Here are a few of my favorite crafts from last week!

Ruffle Pillow Tutorial from vixenMade

Oh, how I love thee ruffle pillow! I absolutely can't wait to start making tons and tons of throw pillows for my new revamped master suite! This will be one of them *but in black*! Great job on the tutorial! 

{Plumbing} Zen Bamboo Arrangement from Life in Rehab

I would have never thought to use copper tubing to make a decorative covering for a potted plant. This is so awesome and very creative! 

Sewed my Own Top from Making this Home

I've never sewn a top before, but I am beyond intrigued to make one (or two or even three) of these! I absolutely love it!!! Great job. I think you should try sewing more of your own clothes!

Book Page Crafts from The Wonderful World of Wohler

    

Love both of these book page projects! I love Mod Podge and am addicted to it! Is it bad that I own 7 different varieties? 

Knockoff Juicy Bag from Sawdust and Paper Scraps

Wholly bag this is amazing! I'm am very impressed by this bag! It's awesome, and I'm sure it's even more awesome in person! 

Rules for the link party:

-Please make sure you're following us (we'll follow you back as long as you leave us a comment telling us that you're a new follower)!

-PLEASE display our party button either on your home page or on your post. 

-Make sure your link is to your specific post and not your main URL & add a short description.

-Please try to view and/or follow at least two other participants. 

-You can enter as many craft projects as you'd like. (No recipes--go to Katie's Cucina for that!)

-No advertising please (that means etsy). 

-Entering into this party gives us the rights to blog about and feature your blog post. 

Tutorial: Fabric Bulletin Board {revamp}

A really good friend of mine gave me a beige on beige fabric bulletin board last summer. I knew I wanted it, but I also knew that the beige on beige was going to have to go! For months I looked for fabric, and thus I found this beautiful black and off white print. I scoured the ribbon aisles at Michaels Crafts and fell in love with this turquoise. Thankfully, Mr. Woodsy helped me with this project. I have the begining stages of arthritis in my hands, so gripping a nail gun is out of the question. I even have a difficult time using pliers without my hand cramping/freezing in place. It's sad and it stinks especially since I'm not even 30 yet! But I guess it's the facts of life. Thankfully, I have an amazing assistant to help with projects like these!

*A follower asked the question of how much fabric and ribbon did we use? I know for a fact it was less than a yard of fabric and less than one spool of ribbon. Wish I had the exact measurements, but I don't! 

First you will want to lay your fabric out, pattern side down, and draw a "T" line. 

Line up your old bulletin board with your "T" line. 

Cut around the old bulletin board. 

Tightly, wrap one side and begin stapling. 

Repeat with the stapling--pulling the fabric tightly, so that there are no loose ends. 

For the corners you will want to tightly gather the corners. 

Hold your thumb near the area you want to staple. 

... And staple! 

Then cut off the excess ribbon. (*I have to comment how much I love Mr. Woodsy... not only did he help me re-cover this board he uses pink scissors without any hesitation!) 

Next, you will start with one end of the ribbon and wrap it on the back of the board, followed by one staple! 

Here is another picture of how it looks when you first start your ribbon.  

After you secure one side of the ribbon, wrap it diagonally across the board, and staple it. Cut the ribbon and repeat on the opposite side, so that you'll have an "X".

We drew a diagram prior to unwrapping the ribbon off the old board, so that we could follow it for the new board. 

Now, this is where the challenging part comes in to play... start in the center of the board. Secure the ribbon, bring to the middle of the board (so that a smaller "X" will appear), staple it in place...

... then loop the ribbon around, so that you can bring it down to form another smaller "X". Repeat this until all four corners have been completed. 

Once the ribbon is secured, you will want to place a staple in the center of each of the "X's". 

Make sure that when you staple the ribbon you do this on a surface that can be damaged if necessary. Our staples were a bit long, so they went right through the board. Mr. Woodsy used pliers to fold the staples down. 

Next, you will want to work on the buttons for the board. 

Next, you will want to use pliers to snap the backs off the buttons. 

Backs have been removed from the buttons! 

Heat up your hot glue gun and get ready to start glueing your buttons on to the staples/ribbon. 

Place a small amount of glue on the center of the button. 

Press firmly on the button to secure it. 

Repeat until all button have been secured into place. 

I flipped the board over and applied a little hot glue to the edge of the fabric. In some cases the fabric was a little loose. I tightened it up by placing a thin line of hot glue on the edge. I then used my handy-dandy hot glue gun helper thimble to smooth out the glue. *no hot glue gun burns here*

Lastly, it's time to hang up this amazing little revamp project!

Make sure it's level... 

Voila! 

My laundry room is looking a little more complete... now on to find a new rug!