Matching Gift Tags

Gift tags made to match gift wrap are so cute, aren't they? (And pricey, IMHO!)

 But it you are like me, and most of your gift wrap is clearance stuff you put away last year, you probably don't have matching tags. Here is an easy solution!

You always have to trim off some of the 'wrinkled, ripped end' (after all, the paper's been sitting up in the attic for almost a year) to make the package look nice. What you do is to cut around the motifs on that 'throwaway' piece.

You aren't using the paper itself for the tags! It would be too flimsy. Instead, place them on the scanner bed of your printer. I'd cut as close to the motif as possible (unless the background is white) so you aren't wasting ink on something you're going to cut off later. I know you could cut around exactly, but who wants to do that fussy cutting twice? 

Load your printer with white cardstock and make copies! Then cut out, punch a whole, and string with ribbon. Done! Or really go to town and add some glitter! (How much would you pay for those?)

Oh, sorry there are no pictures. Obviously, gift wrap is copyrighted material. While I doubt anyone from Hallmark is looking at my blog, I don't want them to get mad that I didn't spend a few dollars on two cents worth of paper tags.

More Giraffe

Here is the giraffe with his neck and two 'arms' sewn into one side of the body. The arms are stuffed but I haven't stuffed the neck, yet.
The body is a simple rectangle that has been rounded at the top to make 'shoulders.' The dimensions of the toy are based on the piece of faux 'hide' that I have--a strip from the longest side made the neck, then I just worked from there. The trick was to remember I needed at least two of everything, and 8 of the legs! The head is a little strange, but I'll post that when I get to it. Figuring out how to put it together was a bit of a sewist's engineering feat.

Speaking of feat, I mean feet--he's going to be about 2 and a half feet tall! 

Toy Stove Top Template

I saw this idea on some site or other but could not download it, so I made my own. I'm not sure you can use this, but try right-clicking it and doing a 'save picture as.'

Basically, you just keep making circles in black and red and pile them on top of each other to make 'burners.' The dials are simply black circles with a white rectangle.

I printed this on photo paper because I don't have any cardstock handy. I will cut everything out and laminate it. You could cover the pieces with sticky vinyl, too. Or you could just print it right onto sticker paper.

Then what I'll do is find a box for the 'stove.' I'll glue the pieces on accordingly. I think a big shoebox would do. Then I'll pick up an inexpensive cooking set at the dollar store. The pieces can go right in the box! I think the kids at work will love this. I even have some plastic food bought on clearance a while back to 'cook.'

Just a simple little idea. I hope you like it! Makes me want to look around and see what other household appliances I can make out of little boxes!

Tiny Potholder & Tutorial

Here is a little potholder I made last night. It took me about a half hour. As you can see, it is only about 4 inches square! It will be part of a set I'm designing for a child's gift. (Today I'm going to try an oven mitt.)

Here is the basic pattern, but please don't hold me to the numbers. Just wing it if you want to make it--I wing things all the time, LOL!

I chained about 15 stitches using cotton yarn (Sugar N Cream, for example) and a size G hook.

Then I did a half-double crochet (HDC from here on) in the second chain from the hook.

Then I skipped a stitch and did a single crochet (SC) and a HDC together in the next stitch.

Keep going across like that: skip a stitch, then SC and HDC in the next. You might have to do a single crochet in the end to even it out depending on how many chains you started with.

On the next row (row 2), you will start with a chain 2, then you'll do an SC and HDC in all the single crochets across. Frankly, I just looked for the biggest gap and used that. You won't be skipping any stitches now, btw.

Keep on repeating row 2 until you get a square, then fasten it off.

Now take a coordinating color and do a single crochet all around the square. Make 2 SCs at each corner to make it 'bend' easier.

You make the ruffle like this: slip stitch in one SC then do 3 double crochets in the next stitch. Keep alternating like this until you are done.

I think if I had started the ruffle at a corner, then ended there, my loop would have worked out better. As it happened, I had to make it separate.

I will post more 'tiny kitchen' projects as I make them! Meantime, of course I'm still working on all my other projects! Not much else to do with all that snow outside. If I don't have to go out (and I don't) I'm not going to!

Another Gift Made

When I was a little kid, I just loved miniature versions of 'real' items. It was fun pretending to be a grownup and playing 'house.' Does anyone play 'house' any more?

I bought a huge box of grocery toys on the after-clearance rack at Target last January. There are about 100 pieces of various food, including the cute brand-name ones you see above. It cost me about $3.

I don't know any parent that would appreciate having to pick up 100 little toys, so I'm dividing it up. I made one grocery bag and filled it for the kids at work.

This one is for a little girl who just turned 3. Her aunt is my daughter's maid of honor and her mom is a bride's maid. I have babysat both Julianna and her cousin Angelina over the years.

The bag was super simple. You just need 2 pieces of felt. I cut about an inch off the top of each piece which I used for the handles. The bag is simply sewn on 3 sides, with the bottoms squared off.

All told this cost less than $2 to make, but I think Julie will enjoy 'shopping' for her pretend groceries!