Craft A Week #29 Rag Wreath

I really haven't had much time for crafting since this was the last week of classes for the spring semester. While I am teaching a class this summer, I'm looking forward to having some free time to get back to crafting.  It really is my therapy and is just so good for my soul.  I have some big projects I am contemplating but, in the meantime, I was looking for a quick and easy project.

In my quest to complete another "pin", I made a rag wreath. Since another one of my goals is to use up the materials I have (rather than buying new supplies) I harvested the fabric I had in my craft room.  For some reason I had an overabundance of pink fabric. I picked up the white/brown plaid and blue at a yard sale on Friday to lessen the pinkness of the wreath. I got 1.5 yards of each for .25!

This project is really simple. Just cut your fabric into 1" strips that are about 10-12" long.  I wasn't too precise.  Some were wider and/or longer than others but it doesn't matter. Here's a tip: fold the material in half and you can cut twice as much in half the time. Or use a rotary cutter: I don't have one but this would have been really handy.  I just cut up the material I had and tossed into a big tin. I then had Natalie (my granddaughter) "stir" the fabric so it was all mixed together, making it easier to just pull from when making the wreath.

I bought a wire wreath from Michaels.  It was only $2.50 with the loyalty discount. I thought it would be much more than that. I bought a large one because I wanted it big for my front door. 

All you do is tie the fabric strips onto the wreath. I chose to tie it across all four wires because of the length of my strips. I thought of doing two rows but didn't really see much of a benefit of doing it that way....except that it would take me twice as long. 

I knotted the strips to make sure they would stay in place. And packed them really tight so the wreath would look full.  This was a really quick project; I completed the tieing in abut 2 hours.  I only used a fraction of the fabric strips. I definately have enough materials for another wreath.  Though the pinks are not really my color, I think it came out very cute and homey.  

This is such a simple and affordable project but it makes a big impact. You could easily (and cheaply) make a wreath for each season.  Now I've got one more thing to keep an eye out for when yard saleing!  I'd like to make an Americana wreath with red, white and blues. That would be a good fit for my style and the door. 

I highly recommend this project. I've got several weddings this summer and think I may make these as shower gifts. They will be perfect gifts for those who have a country theme.  Another super simple project! 

Happy Crafting!

Penn State Teddy Bears

It is the end of the semester so I haven't had much time to devote to my blogging. Between grading papers, prepping for upcoming presentations and summer school, and making sure all graduating students have their internships complete, I haven't had much time to be uber crafty.

With the help of my mom, Dolly-mama, we did manage to make a sweet graduating gift for this year's seniors. I found this cute pattern on Ravelry and we modified it to make them Penn State representations.  Here's the original pattern:

The pattern for this can be found on "All About Ami" located here: Graduation Teddy Bear Pattern

This is our We Are Penn State Proud Bear:

I had the PSU pins (picked up at a yard sale a few years ago for $5/100! Can't beat that price.  I think it adds a nice touch, don't you?

Here's the teddy bear army in process.  I put together 15 of them for students who are graduating this spring, summer, and fall. 

I wrapped each on in a treat bag that I got from the Dollar Tree.

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. I will say though they took a long time to complete. Dolly-Mama crocheted them and sent them to me in pieces. I am so glad she did that! It took me at least an hour to just put each one together and add the decorations. I think I will come up with another gift for future classes!

Here's my students posing with their bears. They really appreciated the keepsake. I'm so proud of them all! They represent Penn State well.

Happy Crafting!

Craft A Week #28: A Week of Love for Easter

A few weeks ago our family welcomed it's newest addition: Marcus Robert.   I know I am biased but I think he's just adorable!

This brings the total of grandkids in our family to 8; four boys and four girls, ranging from 2 weeks to 10 years of age. I love them all and, as you can imagine, it can get quite pricey to buy gifts for each of them for every holiday.  In addition, most of the kids have other family who also buy for them so the kids just get an overabundance of stuff.

This year I decided to make my grandkid gifts. Based upon a pin I found that someone made to send to a family member who is serving in the military overseas, I modified the idea to fit my family.

I made each child (aside from newbie Marcus) A Week of Love From Gam gift. All I did was take 7 regular envelops and attached them all together in a line like this:

I labled each envelop with a day of the week, added stickers for decoration, and wrote "A Week of Love From Me To You" down the left side of the envelopes. 


I then gathered a bunch of little things from the Dollar Store (and other random places).  I didn't really have any plan; I just picked up things I thought would fit into the envelopes.

I used things like fruit snacks, candy bracelets and necklaces, animal crackers, pretzels, erasers, and microwave popcorn (that pops blue). I also had some cute little cards, chalk (for the younger kids) and packages of gum.

I then stuffed one goodie into each day, folded the package up, and tied a ribbon around it.

I love that each child will have little gift every day for a week from Gam.

It didn't cost much to make a bunch of these so it was really cost effective. So, to recap, here's the supply list:

• 7 envelopes
• Stickers and markers to decorate
• Small goodies to fit inside each envelop.  (Lesson learned: the flatter, the better! I got a little carried away and couldn't fit some of the treats into the envelopes.  Things like gum, gift cards, flat candy, etc. would be good).
• Ribbon to tie the package up

 I love this idea, especially for the grandkids who live far away. I think of this as a little emotional hug for them.  If I do this again though I would either use bigger, sturdier envelopes or make my own. I can see some of the kids opening this up on Sunday and having all the little things inside scatter across the room immediately. I also want to look at Target or Staples to see if I can find a 7 day file system that would work. That way the parents could easily refill the file and the gift can be extended. 

I hope you all have a wonderfully Happy Easter.  I wish blessings to you and your family.

Happy Crafting!