Showing posts with label use what you've got. Show all posts
Showing posts with label use what you've got. Show all posts

A flurry of snowmen!


Last month here on the blog we had the 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges. Each day the challenge was to make something for Christmas using what you had on hand.  
Challenge 5 was to take something from your shed or outhouse and turn it into a Christmas decoration.  I made a garden snowman from an old broken fence pailing.

It was so easy to make and looked so cute in the garden, that yesterday my girls made me a few more from other fence pailings we had!

They had fun making them - adding their own touches with different shaped eyes, noses and buttons!
So now we have a whole row of snowmen standing by our pool!


And some new solar lights to add to the effect!


Have you ever made any Christmas decorations from something in your shed? Or do you have any ideas or inspiration to make something this year?




More Upcycled Reusable Christmas Cards




Yesterday I made a few more upcycled reusable Christmas cards to post to family members.

I used a pair of old jeans I got from the charity shop for $1 and fabric scraps I already had, plus cereal boxes I've been collecting for a few weeks!

I stuck to very simple designs this year, making use of Christmas fabric I had.


If you haven't seen my reusable Christmas cards before - they have this message sewn on the back so the recipient knows the idea behind the card!


They have a clear plastic pocket inside where you can slip in a piece of paper with a greeting on.

 I sent my first batch of these cards last Christmas, and I'm curious to see if this year anyone reuses them and perhaps returns one to me !?

To see the cards I made last year and a tutorial showing how to make these cards - go here.
And two more I made this year - you can see here.

Do you make your Christmas cards each year? 
What materials do you use to make yours from?

To see lots of other ideas for an eco-friendly and budget Christmas - you can visit my page:








Christmas Table Runner and Drinks Coasters


The final challenge for the 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges was to make some table decor from your fabric stash.
I have a lot of Christmas fabric, so thought it would be a great opportunity to use up some of that!


Here's how I made my table runner and coasters - in case you'd like to make some for yourself!


First I chose my largest piece and cut a table runner size piece as large as I could from that.  It was about 112 x 32 cm  (44 x 13").
This was to be the backing of my table runner.


Then I set to work cutting strips from my smaller pieces - all 6 cm (2.5") wide. And laid them diagonally on top of my base piece until I had covered it completely.

Then I stitched those strips together one by one.

And pressed the seams open at the back.



As I was going to use the backing fabric as my binding, I needed to cut the top piece slightly smaller than the bottom piece. 
First I cut it to the same size.

Then I trimmed each edge by 2 cm (0.75").

Finally I laid the top part on top of the backing - wrong sides together, and double folded the edges over and pinned to form the binding around the edges. Then stitched it all into place.

Nice and simple!


For the coasters, I simply took the left-over pieces of the fabric strips that I'd cut from the top of my table runner and cut squares that were 
10 x 10 cm (4 x 4") for each coaster. 

I cut more of the backing fabric - 14 x 14 cm (5.5 x 5.5") for each one.


Then, as for the table runner, I placed each top part, wrong sides together on a backing piece; and folded the edges double over and pinned all around then stitched for the binding.

I made 10 coasters in total.

Our outdoor table seats ten, so I figured I'd be prepared in case we fill up the table for a Christmas get together!
I already had a few Christmas placemats that I'd made a few years ago.

Fortunately I had enough of the same fabric to make a few more so that I had ten!
I also had seven red Christmas Fabric napkins I'd made a few years ago, and again fortunately I had enough red Christmas fabric to make the last three needed to make a set of ten!

So now I have a whole Christmas table setting for ten!

Or if it's just the four of us, we can use our smaller table.

For the free downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

I'm really happy with my new Christmas Table Decor. I've used up a fair bit of my Christmas fabric stash too!

Have you made any Christmas table decor?  We'd love to see if you have - please link it up to our linky party here. The party will stay open until Christmas so there's plenty of time to get sewing and crafting if you plan to make something!


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Each day a challenge will be set by means of a video and blog posts giving some suggested ideas and crafts. These posts will also contain a linky party for anyone and everyone who wants to join in to link up their projects - both past and present, that answer the challenge.  The linky party can be found on all our blogs and we'll  try and come up with different ideas and tutorials for the challenges too. So please do visit us all, and then share your ideas with us as well! We're looking forward to seeing how these challenge are met!

Ready, Steady....Let's Christmas Craft!


The 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges is brought to you by

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Vicky @ Vicky Myers Creations
Anna @ Tea and a Sewing Machine
Pam @ Threading My Way
Anne @ Domesblissity


Previous Challenges
Challenge 1 - Upcycle old clothes to Christmas Decoration
Challenge 2 - Make a Christmas Gift from a pair of old jeans
Challenge 3 - Make a fun Christmas snack - use what you've got
Challenge 4 - Make a Christmas Card from a cereal box
Challenge 5 - Make a Christmas Decoration from something in your shed
Challenge 6 - Use Fabric Scraps to make some Gift Wrapping
Challenge 7 - Use something from your garden to make a Christmas Decoration
Challenge 8 - Make Christmas Decorations from Chip Packets
Challenge 9 - Make something to wear for Christmas using what you have in your house
Challenge 10 - Make a stocking filler gift from Fabric Scraps
Challenge 11 - Make a Healthy Christmas Snack from foods you have in your house



Challenge 12 - 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges

For 12 days starting on November 2nd we will set a challenge a day to create something for Christmas using just the resources you have on hand. 
The idea is to show that Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth. If you're reading this, chances are you love to craft, but why not craft with the resources we have on hand - let's get creative!

Let's see what Challenge 12 is!





Here are a couple of ideas to get you started.

Christmas Mug Rugs


Christmas Wine Glass Coasters



What ideas do you have for table decor that you can make? Go take a look at your fabric stash and see if you're inspired!


Do come back in a few hours to see what I make and please add your own projects both past and present that answer this challenge to the linky party below! 

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Each day a challenge will be set by means of a video and blog posts giving some suggested ideas and crafts. These posts will also contain a linky party for anyone and everyone who wants to join in to link up their projects - both past and present, that answer the challenge.  The linky party can be found on all our blogs and we'll  try and come up with different ideas and tutorials for the challenges too. So please do visit us all, and then share your ideas with us as well! We're looking forward to seeing how these challenge are met!

Ready, Steady....Let's Christmas Craft!


The 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges is brought to you by

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Vicky @ Vicky Myers Creations
Anna @ Tea and a Sewing Machine
Pam @ Threading My Way
Anne @ Domesblissity


Previous Challenges
Challenge 1 - Upcycle old clothes to Christmas Decoration
Challenge 2 - Make a Christmas Gift from a pair of old jeans
Challenge 3 - Make a fun Christmas snack - use what you've got
Challenge 4 - Make a Christmas Card from a cereal box
Challenge 5 - Make a Christmas Decoration from something in your shed
Challenge 6 - Use Fabric Scraps to make some Gift Wrapping
Challenge 7 - Use something from your garden to make a Christmas Decoration
Challenge 8 - Make Christmas Decorations from Chip Packets
Challenge 9 - Make something to wear for Christmas using what you have in your house
Challenge 10 - Make a stocking filler gift from Fabric Scraps
Challenge 11 - Make a Healthy Christmas Snack from foods you have in your house





Challenge 11 - 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges

For 12 days starting on November 2nd we will set a challenge a day to create something for Christmas using just the resources you have on hand. 
The idea is to show that Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth. If you're reading this, chances are you love to craft, but why not craft with the resources we have on hand - let's get creative!

Let's see what Challenge 11 is!



Here are some ideas to get you started.





So go and take a look in your fridge and pantry and see what healthy Christmas snack you can come up with!
Do come back in a few hours to see what I make and please add your own projects both past and present that answer this challenge to the linky party below! 

----------------------------------------------------------




Each day a challenge will be set by means of a video and blog posts giving some suggested ideas and crafts. These posts will also contain a linky party for anyone and everyone who wants to join in to link up their projects - both past and present, that answer the challenge.  The linky party can be found on all our blogs and we'll  try and come up with different ideas and tutorials for the challenges too. So please do visit us all, and then share your ideas with us as well! We're looking forward to seeing how these challenge are met!

Ready, Steady....Let's Christmas Craft!


The 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges is brought to you by

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Vicky @ Vicky Myers Creations
Anna @ Tea and a Sewing Machine
Pam @ Threading My Way
Anne @ Domesblissity


Previous Challenges
Challenge 1 - Upcycle old clothes to Christmas Decoration
Challenge 2 - Make a Christmas Gift from a pair of old jeans
Challenge 3 - Make a fun Christmas snack - use what you've got
Challenge 4 - Make a Christmas Card from a cereal box
Challenge 5 - Make a Christmas Decoration from something in your shed
Challenge 6 - Use Fabric Scraps to make some Gift Wrapping
Challenge 7 - Use something from your garden to make a Christmas Decoration
Challenge 8 - Make Christmas Decorations from Chip Packets
Challenge 9 - Make something to wear for Christmas using what you have in your house
Challenge 10 - Make a stocking filler gift from Fabric Scraps





Challenge 10 - 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges

For 12 days starting on November 2nd we will set a challenge a day to create something for Christmas using just the resources you have on hand. 
The idea is to show that Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth. If you're reading this, chances are you love to craft, but why not craft with the resources we have on hand - let's get creative!

Let's see what Challenge 10 is!





Here are some ideas to get you started with 
100 Sewing Tutorials for Stocking Filler Gifts!

So go and take a look at your fabric scraps and see what you can come up with!
Do come back in a few hours to see what I make and please add your own projects both past and present that answer this challenge to the linky party below! 

----------------------------------------------------------




Each day a challenge will be set by means of a video and blog posts giving some suggested ideas and crafts. These posts will also contain a linky party for anyone and everyone who wants to join in to link up their projects - both past and present, that answer the challenge.  The linky party can be found on all our blogs and we'll  try and come up with different ideas and tutorials for the challenges too. So please do visit us all, and then share your ideas with us as well! We're looking forward to seeing how these challenge are met!

Ready, Steady....Let's Christmas Craft!


The 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges is brought to you by