Wedding Sign & Other Crafts Lately

I made this sign as part of a gift for a friends’ daughter’s wedding. I used the same technique I used in this blog post (one of my most “pinned” posts ever!). It’s fairly easy, but a little time consuming. 

My mother’s group had a painting project for us last week, too. It was fun to paint with a bunch of friends and see how all of our paintings turned out similar, but different.  

Speaking of my mother’s group! I just realized I never shared any of the crafts I taught this year (I served at the Creative Activities Coordinator this year). These were two of our Spring projects... Sharpie Mugs (using oil based sharpies). I wouldn’t really recommend this project since the cups haven’t held up as well as I hoped they would, despite following instructions. 

And photo blocks. These are 2x4” boards, cut to photo size. Then we painted the edges with acrylic paint, modge-podged photos on them, and decorated with fabric/paper flowers and ribbon. They turned out very cute and the moms in the group seemed very happy with this craft. It helps that our kids are adorable!  ; ) 

Wine Coasters {A Tutorial}

My step-mom uses these paper wine glass cozies / coasters. She loves them to help with condensation on the glass and also to help guests remember which glass is their own. However, they are not washable or reusable and the paper gets stained quickly. For her birthday, I decided to make her a set of fabric wine coasters. In the process, I thought I'd photograph my steps and write a little tutorial if you'd like to make something similar. These are very easy and would make a cute hostess or Christmas gift.

I used two 5 inch squares of fabric left over from previous quilts (this one and this one, as a matter of fact!). The 5 inch pieces are the perfect size for standard wine glass stems, but you may want to measure your glasses before you do any cutting.

Decide which one you'd like to be the top of the coaster and cut it in 1/2. Press the cut edges under about 1/4 inch.

Stitch down the folded edges, 1/8 inch from the folded edge.

Pin the two pieces together and cut using a rotary circle cutter like this one (for standard wine glass stems, a CD works as a great guide if you don't have a fancy cutter).

Using the same measurements, cut the second square of fabric the same size.

Pin the two circles right side together and sew 1/4 inch around the edge.

Reinforcing the seams at each end of the openings by stitching back and forth a couple of times.

Turn the coaster right side out.

Press the coaster, pushing the seams out to get a nice round shape.

Top stitch around the outside of the coaster at about 1/4 inch, again reinforcing at the edges of the opening.

Complete!

Be sure to try it on your wine glass...


And repeat with different fabrics to make a cute little set.


If you decide to make some, please let me know - I'd love to see what you come up with!

P.S. If you are a red wine drinker and concerned about staining your new coasters, be sure to check out my favorite stain remover at the bottom of this post. Even red wine, no problem!

Kitchen Crafts : Potholders

I'm not a cook. I'm not a chef. I do enough to feed my kids, but I am just never interested in being in the kitchen. But... we have a good friend who loves to cook and bake. She has even traveled to visit us and ended up making dinner at our house! When her birthday came around this year, I decided I wanted to make her something and I wanted to make it for her favorite room in the house.

Simple potholders - made basically the same way as a quilt, but with 2x the batting to offer more protection from heat. Knowing her kitchen, I know that she doesn't hang her potholders, so I didn't bother to add loops. Just simple 8" square homemade crafts.

Happy Birthday, Jen!