How to make a mini wreath from a purse handle

Now that 99.9% of the Christmas decorations are packed up and tucked away my thoughts turn to the next holiday to craft for.....that would be Valentine's Day!

 The Crochet Dude has a whole bunch of new tools and supplies out. One of which is a col set of clear plastic purse handles.

I was flipping through the new book Indigo Junction's Fabric Flowers and I spotted this recycled sweater wreath.

So I thought I'd get out my stash of recycled wool felted sweater scraps and see what I could whip up for Valentine's Day using the purse handle as my wreath base.

I simply free form cut out a bunch of randomly sized hearts out of a variety of colors and hot glued them, again randomly, onto the purse handle. I used a strip of sweater that I cut out of a collar section to hang the mini Valentine wreath from my cafe curtain rod. I'm feelin' the love!

If you are like me and like making all sorts of pretty things out of fabric (and recycled wool sweaters) I bet you will love:

Indigo Junction's Fabric Flowers
by
Amy Barickman

More about the book from the publisher Indygo Junction:

"Express your individual style by adding a wink to your wardrobe or room with these beautiful blooms from Indygo Junction s Fabric Flowers. You ll find 25 quick and easy flower projects for wearing, decorating and sharing, with inspiring techniques for the novice to the more advanced creative enthusiast. Recycle your jeans, ties, sweaters and t-shirts, combine cotton prints into one-of-a-kind fashion statements, create painterly effects of needle felting, and play with felt, wools, and silks. 50 fabric variations to spark your creativity are included! From a simple rose created from re-purposed denim jeans to a full wedding bouquet of felted roses, the projects in this book teach traditional techniques and introduce you to flower making short-cut methods, featuring Clover Needlecrafts tools: needle felting tools, Kanzashi Flower Makers, Quick Yo-Yo Makers, Flower Frill Templates and more."

Vintage Hankie Scarf made using the tutorial from the Indygo Junction book Hankie Style

Scarf season is here in Southern California and I am cookin' away on quite a few. Today I made one out of something you might not expect-vintage hankies. I have a small collection and I have not done a thing with them other than savor them. Well in this new book Hankie Style
there are lots of great ideas for using vintage hankies and this scarf project looked perfect!
And as usual, the first step is make a mess! But what a pretty mess it is. I spread out all my hankies. I first thought I would go with a blue theme since I had quite a few that had blue in it but then that left out a couple that I really loved so I went with an all different color theme (if that is one???) The directions were great and had some really good tips that made the process go smoothly.

Hankie Style: Fashions featuring vintage & Reproduction Hankies
By
Amy Barickman

From the publisher:
"22 stylish projects including tops, skirts, aprons, scarves, tunics, purse, belt and eyeglass case. Book includes two full size patterns - a cardigan & tunic - as well as 47 pages of instructions and techniques to use new or vintage handkerchiefs to create and embellish clothing and accessories."

I am really looking forward to wearing this scarf since I love these hankies and I now have transformed them into something useful in my day-to-day life.

Cross stitched reindeer sweater cuff

THE SEW-IT BOOK

Reproduction of the 1929 book - The Sew-It Book - Things to make with needle & thread and odds & ends.
17 projects including a child's apron, smock, sun bonnet, rag doll and Kimono-type jacket .

Techniques include sewing, embroidery, doll dress pattern making and tie-dying. 47-page hardback book with an embossed cover.

A keepsake treasure with darling graphics that will charm sewers and quilters, young and old!

So true. The patterns are great in this book, especially the cross stitch, of which I love to do (just check out my other cross stitch work by clicking on the link)

Reindeer are my favorite image right now, I am using it all over the place in my art, craft projects and decorating.

There is a very cool reindeer in the book so I whipped one out using a scrap of cross stitch fabric and a veeeerrrry old all metal hoop that was in a box of old supplies a friend had given me. It worked great!
And this is what I made with my cross stitched deer- a cuff!

The cuff is a recycled wool felted sweater. I attached the cross stitch with 4 heart shaped studs. The cuff closure is Velcro. A note here, you only have to use the hook side of the Velcro because the sweater is just like the loop side and sticks great. This reduces a bit of bulk. In the back ground you can see one of the designs from Subversive cross stitch.