How to make a recycled wine crate footstool

I am always looking for fun ways to use my fabric stash and create pretty storage in my home. Today's recycled wine crate foot stool project does just that!

The cushion top is made with Foamology Twelve Piece Design Foam  and 12 of my favorite quilt fabric pieces along with some scrap wood, buttons and 4 wooden ball feet.

My wine crate wasn't the exact size of the Foamology Twelve square Foam  piece so I made the lid a bit bigger. I didn't know exactly how much extra puffy the foam would be with the fabric on it so I decided to cover it first before I made the frame lid.

I wanted to fussy cut some of the fabric to include images and text so I made a velum template.

Once my foam was covered I measured it and cut some strips of wood to make the frame and a piece for the lid base.

 I glued the frame together and made sure it was square with my quilt ruler and the lid base as a guide.

Then I put the cushion into the frame and glued it down to the lid base holding it secure with a c-clamp on each corner.

I glued dice on the underside of the lid in each corner so that the lid would not slide around.

To embellish the cushion frame I cut the shanks off of a variety of buttons USING EYE PROTECTION!!!!!! as the shanks can go flying even if you are holding the button with the shank side down.

 I made 4 rows of buttons to make sure I had a nice variety for each side. All that was left to do was glue the buttons around the frame border and the ball feet on the bottom of the wine crate.

 If you like making things with fabric the book

1000 Quilt Inspirations: Colorful and Creative Designs for Traditional, Modern, and Art Quilts

is a great resource for tons of ideas:

How to make a knit and crochet heart purse with pom pom handle for Valentine's Day

I found this cute heart purse in my box of Valentine's Day decorations and for the life of me I can't find anywhere I posted the tutorial for it. So I thought I'd share it to the best of my recollection.

I'm pretty sure I would have started from the bottom point and did increases on each knit side working in stockinette stitch until I was happy with the the width and height of the heart.

Then to create the top two curves, working each separately decreases to create curves as desired.

Repeat for the second heart.


Seam the two knit hearts together with a chain crochet stitch using an eyelash yarn. Work the top inside "V" areas separately so you can put stuff in your heart purse.

To make the handle thread pom poms onto pieces of coated wire. Link the ends of the wire to the top of the heart where you left the purse opening.

A great book I recomend for all sorts of knitting tutorials and patterns is:

The Complete Photo Guide to Knitting, 2nd Edition: *All You Need to Know to Knit *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Knitters *Packed with Hundreds of Crafty Tips and Ideas *Step-by-Step Instructions and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns
by
Margaret Hubert 



Looking for the perfect book on knitting? It's right here in The Complete Photo Guide to Knitting, 2nd Edition. This stitch guide is the ultimate knitting reference! A comprehensive how-to book about all aspects of knitting, you'll be making scarves, hats, socks, mittens, sweaters, and other projects in no time! Inside this ultimate knitting guide you will find expanded basics for all knitting techniques, from cast-on to bind-off and every step in between. Learn to knit row by row and in the round; understand knitting jargon and how to follow a pattern; learn all the methods for increasing and decreasing stitches, seaming, and adding details like pockets and zippers. With twenty new stitch patterns, this section expands to 220 in all, arranged in style categories for easy reference. Projects at the end of each section give you opportunities to try some of the new techniques you've learned while making knitted items you can use or gift to others. Margaret Hubert will guide you through special knitting topics like cables, intarsia, entrelac, Fair Isle knitting, and lace knitting. With the updated information and all new projects, even if you have the first edition you are sure to want the second edition to complete your collection.

I Heart Quilt

Today I want to share a "throw back Thursday" quilt I did about 24 years ago.

This was made waaaaaay before I had any professional quilting knowledge. I simply just cut squares of fabric up I had around and old clothes. Laid them out and sewed them back together. When I pulled this out it was like a trip down memory lane! The teddy bear and bunny are the ones I had when I was little. As I have been doing a big clean out I can now find a lot of my stuff very easily and bring it out for special occasions. This is inspiring me to finish another quilt top I have in the works.

How to make a recycled plastic food container Valentine " XO" necklace

Making jewelry and playing with letters and type has got to be the ultimate culmination of getting to do two things at once for me. Today I made this fun "XO" (hug and kiss) Valentine's Day necklace out of a black plastic party to-go tray with inspiration from the book Upcycled Jewelry: Bags, Belts, and More.

I die cut the X and O using a Sizzix die cutter out of the black plastic party tray.

I went through my stash of jewelry chain and parts to find elements to put with my plastic letters.

As it turned out a vintage clip earring worked great to use to link the X to the necklace! Totally random and cool.

If you like making recycled jewelry and working with materials in different ways I bet you will really like the book:



Upcycle to create 35 stunning pieces of jewellery and accessories. Discover how to take something that was destined for the rubbish bin and give it a new purpose, transforming it into something beautiful. Expert crafter Linda Peterson shows you 35 creative ways to upcycle ring pulls from drinks cans, zips, plastic, bike chains, tyre tubes and more. From a stylish ring pull belt to a pretty gold zip bracelet, and from stamped plastic earrings to a chunky bike chain bangle, there's plenty here to inspire you to get crafting. Every project has clear step-by-step photographs to guide you, and a basic techniques section covers all you'll need to know.

How to make a washi tape heart on book spines for a Valentine's Day decoration

It seems like altering books and arranging them in fun ways is really popular right now. I have always arranged and enjoyed my shelves of books. As a hug fan of washi tape my growing collection inspires me to make more crafts with it. So combine those 2 elements and this is what I came up with: a heart created with washi tape on the spines of books. These happen to be little blank sketchbooks with not very exciting covers-perfect for embellishing with washi tape.

I also used my Valentine washi tape to decorate a box patchwork style.

Materials
Red, white, pink washi tape
a collection of books sketchbooks are great but since washi tape comes off easy you could use virtually any book
scrap paper
pencil
scissors





Step 1: Place books with the spines up between 2 heavy elements to secure them in place
Step 2: Make a heart template out of scrap paper to fit within your book spine area.
Step: 3: Trace lightly the heat shape on the spines
Step 4: Place strips of washi tape on the spines using the pencil lines as your guide.
               In my case I used washi tape with a white background and pink/red designs for the heart      and more solid background red/pinks for the outside area around the heart.


Love Washi tape and looking for a great book filled with tons of pretty washi tape projects check out:








 Washi Tape: 101+ Ideas for Paper Crafts, Book Arts, Fashion, Decorating, Entertaining, and Party Fun!
by
Courtney Cerruti

If you have never heard of washi tape, get ready to enter a bright new world of paper crafts! Originating in Japan, washi paper is stronger than wood-pulp paper making it perfect for use in projects like origami and scrapbooking. The tape is low tack and slightly transparent, in a mix of adorable colors and patterns, and a brilliant way to make all of your crafts even better. Perfect to use for parties. See how to create invitations, gift wrap, and goodie bags. Holidays have never been more colorful with ideas for ornaments, window adornments, and even garland.

Decorations for your home and office are easy and inexpensive when you use washi tape. Wall décor, borders and lampshades can become unique works of art and give your home a personal touch. You can even use washi tape in fashion. Dress up your glasses, shoes and jewelry using these simple ideas and designs. And because it's safe to use on delicate items, washi tape is great for personalized gifts like vases and photo albums. Washi Tape by Courtney Cerruti offers 101 amazing ideas that will make this new craft tape your new favorite thing. It's safe to use almost anywhere and great fun for children!