Going Green Napkins

With the dreary winter we have had, it does some good to focus on something green! ☺

I made these eco friendly paper towels back in June, but didn't want to post about them until they have been put to the test of everyday use.  They were very simple to make.  I cut some 8in x 8in squares out of scrap flannel that I had left over from cloth diapers I made forever ago (Don't you love when those fabric prints come back around into something new and different!).  Pre-shrink your fabric before cutting your squares though, so they stay the right size.  I have a serger, so I just did an overlock stitch around the outside edges.  I suppose you could cut a bigger square and hem the edges, or possibly just trim them with pinking shears and have a little fraying going on.  Overall, it was very easy to make quite a few of them in a short amount of time.

Now, the answer to the question...How did they hold up to the abuse of a family actually using them?...Great!
I thought these things would look so nasty in about a month, but to my surprise, they remained clean and just slightly pilled.  This picture is after 8 months of use.

This is what we do with ours.  We keep the clean ones in a regular napkin holder.  I hung a plastic bin, that I found at Hobby Lobby, on the kitchen cabinet in front of the sink to put them into after use. When it gets full, I just throw them in the wash with a load of towels.
Making this change couldn't have been easier, and it has cut our paper towel use down considerably.  We love the feel of the soft flannel so much better too.  It's better for the earth and the pocketbook!
Give them a try.  You'll be glad you did! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone is having a lovely day!
I have been spoiling my daughter pretty good today.  I went and had lunch with her.  She was so excited when I brought her heart shaped pancakes, eggs and apples.  She told me this morning she is going to give me a back massage when she gets home...after we do crafts of course!  I love how thoughtful and sweet she is.  She's my perfect little valentine!
I hope you have a great day with your perfect little valentine's too!  These are pictures of some of my needle felted creations wishing you a happy day!  Feel free to click and save either of these photos and send one to someone special! 
Enjoy! :)

"Stick With Me" - Wool Felt Valentine Monster

 I wanted to share this pattern of a little felt monster I made last year for Valentines day.  I didn't get my blog started soon enough to share it last year, so I figured I would put it on here now!  He's really simple to make.  I cut mine out of red wool felt...a front and back of the body.  I sewed around it using a whipstitch, leaving a little opening for the fiberfill.  I also did a stab stitch through the arms, securing them between the body front and back. I know that it says to cut 4 pieces for the eyes...and you can, but another thing I did, was put a small piece of pipe cleaner bent like a V up and out of the eye-sockets. I then coiled the remaining pipe cleaner and glued on the felt eyes (you could also use googly eyes).  Once the monster is done, cut 2 pieces of felt  for the heart, whip stitching around it and filling it with fiberfill.  Bring the monster hands forward, either gluing or stitching them to the heart.
You can make this alien/monster happy or sad...or a combo of  both.  I called it "stick with me", but there's no saying it can't be "stuck with you" as well!☺
Like I said, it's quick to make,  fun and a good gift for a boy!
Here's the pattern.

Feel free to ask any questions or leave comments!
Enjoy! ♥

Buried Under the Rubble

What happened...I blacked out!  Who abandons their blog for over 6 months?  Apparently I do!  I wish I had some fabulous excuse for my absence, however none of them are good enough.
It all started when we had to make the choice to tear our building down.  I was pretty busy emptying it out for quite some time.  It was not an easy decision to demo it, but the cost of fixing the damage was more than tearing it down.  It was a really difficult to watch something so old and beautiful be destroyed, but we were out of options.  The building was built in the late 1800's and went down with quite a bang.  For weeks we filled a semi trailer full of all the contents in the building that my dad had collected over the last 25 years.  My sister and I thought the semi trailer parked in front of the building was the one containing all of his things, so when the whole front of the building fell down unexpectedly crushing and flipping the trailer, you can imagine our surprise (which explains my sister's swearing in the video).  Luckily no one was hurt, but here is a video of the building falling down not as we planned.



I guess when the building fell, my blog got buried with it.  I got so wrapped up in it, that everything else kinda took the back burner and I just never found my way back.  I have really missed blogging though and hope to get back to posting on a more regular basis again.  I have done quite a bit of crafting over the months and have plenty of projects to share.
So once again, I apologize for the abandonment and hope to bring you some more fun projects and patterns here soon! :)