Cardholder Project

This is one of the little projects I whipped up in about 2 hours in one of the Singer classes at work. (The classes are my absolute favorite perk of working at Martha Stewart!)

We used decorative stitches on the outside of the cardholder.

The only issue I had was that my fabric was kind of bulky in the corners (even though I clipped them), so the machine kept getting stuck and creating what looked like birds' nests in the corners. I trimmed most of the mess and pretended nothing happened...

I sent this gift to my Craftaholics Anonymous Gift Exchange partner as a little bonus to go with the Anthropologie-Inspired Bracelet I sent her!

Mini Lasagna Cups

I'm always jealous of food bloggers because not only do they get to make awesome food, but they also get to eat that awesome food. Win-win.

I've been pinning recipes over on Pinterest like a madwoman. A few nights ago I made these Mini Lasagna Cups, which are made from wonton wrappers. Genius.

I like the crispiness of the wonton wrapper even more than I like pasta. In summer I'm usually partial to Everyday Food's No-Bake Summer Lasagna recipe, but I think this one is good for rainy days when you need some warm comfort in your tummy.

Baby Janes, Now with Buttons!

The Baby Janes I made a few weeks ago now have buttons!

I used cute flower buttons from Joann's to complete the project. Here's my niece modeling them:

I started calling my niece Cricket because she likes to rub her feet together. Unfortunately, that means she's not fond of the Baby Janes because they interfere. I got an action shot of her in Cricket mode:

After about 5 minutes of this, she successfully ditched her shoes. Maybe her parents will have better luck keeping them on her feet.

Handmade Gift Exchange

I'm always bummed when I come back from vacation (I know you feel me there), but sometimes little things make coming home a lot nicer.

This time around, I had a package from my new friend Martha in Minnesota, as part of the Handmade Gift Exchange sponsored by Craftaholics Anonymous.

I sent Martha an Anthropologie-Inspired Bracelet, and she sent me these!

I think these will be perfect for bike rides and going out when I don't want to haul a huge bag with me.

If you want to get in on these, Martha has an Etsy shop!

Thank you so much, Martha!

Knotted Baby Hat

Warning: there will be lots of baby pictures in the next few posts because of my visit with my niece.

First, I tortured her with the Top Knot Baby Hat from Prudent Baby.

This is one of the quickest sewing projects I've ever made. I used old tee shirts as the fabric. (The below shirt is one my cousin impulsively picked up at a clothing swap. Thank goodness she couldn't fit it into her suitcase when she left.)

And the result on my niece was exactly what I wanted. I liked the double-knotted one much better on her. The green one-knot made her look like a Snork.

But the pink double-knotted one was pretty cute. I added a flower to this one.

Without the baby cuteness, they just aren't the same.

Anthropologie-Inspired Bracelet

As part of the Handmade Gift Exchange, sponsored by Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous, I sent my gift partner this Anthropologie-Inspired Bracelet that I found on Flamingo Toes.

Hand-sewing the yo-yos was surprisingly therapeutic!

The bracelet before adding the extra bling is also pretty cute!

What I liked about this project:
It was fast.
I already had most of the supplies in my fabric stash.
You can change up the bling and the yo-yos to make a lot of different styles.

What I didn't like about this project:
If I made another one, I'm not sure I would use hot glue for the filigree bling. The glue kind of went through the tiny holes and I had to scrape a lot of it off.

What I was listening to while I made this: Chuck Berry

Many thanks to Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous for organizing the Handmade Gift Exchange! Count me in for November!