Tried and True

Market Tote

bumblev — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:55:20 +0000

Pretty simple and straight-forward project to make a market tote with three kitchen towels. Extra points if you thrift them or find some cute ones at a Dollar Store. Use the front pocket to store your Market Produce Bags (check out link for tutorial!) or fold the whole thing up into the inside pocket and throw in your purse!

Market Tote

Materials:
- three kitchen towels
- ribbon
- sewing supplies

Instructions:

1. Let’s start with your front pocket first, shall we? Since towels come in all different sizes, I can only give you rough estimates on the dimensions to cut. My towels were 18″x15″ so I cut a 16″x9″ rectangle for the front pocket. The sizes can be customized to fit your towels. The only thing you have to keep in mind when measuring for your front pocket is that it will be tri-folded over itself so make sure you make it long enough.

2. I was able to cut the rectangle I used for my pocket from a portion of the hand towel that had three finished edges. You’ll have to secure the unfinished edge by double folding and sewing in place.

3. Sew a 7″ strip of your ribbon on the inside of the top of your fabric/pocket. Scorch the end to prevent the ribbon from fraying if you can. If not, just fold over twice and sew to seal.

4. Sew a 10″ strip of ribbon 7″ from the other side of the fabric rectangle/pocket. These directions might sound confusing but you’re essentially just sewing the ribbons onto your pocket so that you can close it. It might be easier to picture if you lay out the fabric, fold each side inward (as your pocket will be) and mark where you want the ribbon closures. Check out the second picture in this post if you need to see a full view of the pocket.

5. Position your pocket on the front of one of your towels. Pin in place and sew along the edges, making sure to omit the closing flap.

6. Next, let’s work on the straps. Step 1: Cut four 10″x2″ strips (or two 20″x2″ and skip Step 2 if your towel size permits). Step 2: Sew two strips together using a 1/4″ seam. Step 3: Fold and iron one side of strip .25″ and the other side .5″ inward. Step 4: Fold each side inward to meet in the middle. Iron and sew. Repeat steps 2-4 with other strap.

7. Cut a 13″x5″ piece of fabric. Fold bottom part up and sew along edges to make inside pocket. (Similar to the outside pocket construction.) Sew into the inside of the tote.

8. Using a zigzag stitch, sew straps 5.5″ inward from edge. Repeat for all.

9. Place the two towels right sides facing and sew along the edges.

10. Optional: Depending on the size of your kitchen towels, you may want to alter the length of them so that your bag isn’t hanging down by your knees. I think a French seam is the easiest way to achieve this. First, you’re going to cut your fabric to the size you desire and wrong sides facing, sew along the unfinished edge. Trim close to the seam and flip inside out. With right sides facing, sew a 1/4″ seam along the bottom, encasing the unfinished edge. (Thank you, Sr. Angelus, for showing me the wonders of the French Seam!)

11. Pinch the corners to the desired width (mine is approx. 3″ across) and sew straight across. By the time I get to this step, I’m so ready to be done with the project that I usually just kinda wing it. You can, of course, measure and line up exactly if you’re more patient than I am!

Mint-Ginger Preggo Pills

bumblev — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:41:22 +0000

Don’t you think pregnancy is such an amazing and beautiful time? I seriously loved being pregnant. What I didn’t love was the nasty food aversions I had during the first few months. And while I can’t really complain about my mild morning sickness, I can tell you that I ate more than my fair share of ginger to help with the first trimester “blahs.”

I made the Mint-Ginger Preggo Pills as my submission to the 4th week trial of So You Think You’re Crafty. I most definitely will be using them with my next pregnancy!

Mint-Ginger Preggo Pills

Materials:
- 2/3 c fresh ginger
- 1/3 c fresh mint
- 2 1/2 c water
- 2 c sugar
- 2 tbsp corn syrup
- package powdered sugar (enough to fill your tray)

Instructions:

1. Peel and dice your fresh ginger. Boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes in water. Take off heat and throw in your fresh mint. Allow mint to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain. You should have approx. 1 c of ginger/mint infused water. If not, add a little water to make it equal.

2. While you wait for your ginger to infuse, pour powdered sugar onto a baking sheet. Find something to make your indentations with. A pen, small bottle, toy…it really doesn’t matter as long as it’s mouth sized.

3. In a large saucepan, add infused liquid, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Lower heat until you have a steady simmer. Keep a close eye on your pan while you bring the liquid to 290-300 degrees (hard crack). You know you’re good to go if you can drop a bit into a glass of water and it becomes hard, not chewy.

(Ok. Break. This is where I have to pause and tell you that I screwed up my first batch. I blame two things. One, my candy thermometer was off slightly and two, my tendency toward impatience. I should have tested my thermometer in just plain boiling water first (thermometer should read 100 C or 212 F) and I shouldn’t have left the kitchen to check my email. I highly suggest you Google “hard candy recipes” to get a better idea of how real cooks make hard candy and apply some of their hints to this recipe!)

4. Carefully spoon mixture into the powdered sugar molds. This was the best part, it’s crazy to see the liquid move over the sugar. Wait to cool completely before removing and wrapping with waxed paper.

5. If you’ll be gifting these, you can place them in an inexpensive small mason jar (found at most craft stores) and embellish with a meaningful scrapbook thingy (Yes, “thingy” is the official name of those). The recipient can either use them by themselves or pop a few in a hot cup of water for an easy herbal tea.

Hope they help, Emilie!

Gold Bow

bumblev — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:17:53 +0000

It’s World Breastfeeding Week and to celebrate, Tried & True was more than happy to donate some Breastfeeding Awareness Pins to the amazing El Paso Baby Cafe!

Want to make your own? Super easy! Just tie a bow out of gold ribbon and glue to a lapel pin. You could always just use a safety pin too.

If you’ll be passing these out, you might want to print the Breastfeeding Awareness Gold Bow explanation page. I took the information off the UNICEF page and formatted it so that the info would print nicely on a normal sheet of paper.

Hope everyone has a wonderful World Breastfeeding Week!

Market Produce Bags

bumblev — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:32:49 +0000

So you may or may not know that I’m currently participating in So You Think You’re Crafty. I made a Market Tote and Produce Bags as my first entry in the Dollar Store category and I’m just barely now getting the tutorial up. Raising a child, running a business and participating in SYTYC is exhausting! I’m splitting these tutorials up into two parts. Next post will be on how to make the tote bag. Who knew the dollar store was such a wealth of crafty goodness?! (Psst! Check out Dollar Store Crafts for more thrifty crafty fun.)

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Market Produce Bags

Materials:
- 2 packages of mesh laundry bags (from a Dollar Store)
- sewing machine
- twine

Instructions:

1. Cut apart mesh bags and findings. Keep supplies for future use (strings can be used for tote!)

2. With mess fabric folded, cut out desired sizes. I made (2) 8.5×11, (1) 11×11 and (1) 11×16 out of each mesh bag.

3. Mark 2 in. down from top.

4. (Ok. This is where it got difficult to photograph. Sorry for the crappy illustrations!)
Sew the two panels together around the edge from one marked line to another. I had to use a wide zigzag stitch to sew the mesh together without bunching up. You might have to experiment with your sewing machine!

5. (Note to self: Do not drink coffee before trying to draw with a mouse.)
Fold one of the top edges over and sew .25 from edge, creating a tunnel for your pull string.
Repeat with other side.

6. (Just in case you’re wondering…No, I did not let my 1 year old son draw these illustrations and yes, I have full use of both my hands.)

Tie one of your strings around a safety pin and pull through both sides of the bag. Repeat with second string. If you feed them into the bag correctly, you should be able to cinch the bag shut by pulling on both strings.

7. Turn all bags right side out and fill with yummy green things from your local farmer’s market!

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Stay tuned for the next tutorial: Market Tote!

Kool-Aid Dyed Playsilks

bumblev — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:24:50 +0000

A couple months ago I came upon a tutorial on The Artful Parent for Kool-Aid Dyed Playsilks. I hadn’t really heard about playsilks before that but upon further investigation found out that they’re awesome. They can be pretty much anything your child wants them to be: capes, dresses, blankets, scenery, tents and the list goes on and on.

So, seven of us got together with our seven toddlers (all under 2 years) and dyed 42 playsilks in total. We started around 11 am and didn’t finish until about 5 pm. We did six scarves at a time, with the other mothers pitching in to watch the child of whoever was working on their playsilks. It was a blast seeing so many babies toddlers (oops) running around the house!

After we did the first batch of Kool-Aid packets, some of the mothers decided to get a bit creative with color combination and as a result we ended up with 14 different color at the end of the day. Most of us only did one round of microwaving/sitting and the difference between those that did two rounds was only minimal. We wrote down most of the color combinations so that we would remember exactly how to recreate a color and I thought some of you might be interested in them. I also made a printable project list with all the color combinations as well. Figured it would be easier for you if you didn’t have to run back and forth from the kitchen and the computer!

Update

bumblev — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:24:16 +0000

I thought I would give you all an update on a few Tried & True projects. Some were a success. Some, not so much. Meh, you win some, you lose some, right?

- Girard Floor Cushion: Woohoo, made the top 10 for So You Think You’re Crafty! I’m really excited and more than a little scared to be included with such amazing crafters. The official season starts on Monday so don’t forget to stop by the SYTYC website and vote for your favorite.

- You all seemed to really like the Cup of Tea Free Print! Please post links to pictures of what you did with yours. I’d love to see all the different incarnations!

- The Garden Forks most definitely did not work. Maybe my dogs are too big to care, too dumb to avoid or too smart to deter but either way, this year’s garden is pretty much a graveyard. So sad. The only things that survived were my cucumbers, watermelon, tomatillo, grape tomatoes, eggplant, lemon cucumbers and jalapenos. Next year I’m really looking forward to trying out a new gardening system set far far away from the large crushing butts of my dogs . *cross fingers*

- Jackson’s cute Potty Chair is still nice and clean. Jackson has taken to sitting on it periodically…with all his clothes on. Hey, it’s progress. He wouldn’t even sit on the previous potties. You may also notice that I’ve gotten over my aversion to the word “potty.” Saying “You want to sit on your potty?” a hundred and twenty-three times a day will do that.

- The Spring Fertility/Easter Bunny Basket has not been packed away yet. At this point, I might as well just wait to put it away after next Easter, right? :)

As always, thanks for reading my silly craft blog.

Bon Voyage Party

bumblev — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:45:58 +0000

Two of our closest friends are moving to Boulder this month and we thought it would be fun to throw them one last shindig before they left. Since we’re all super casual and nerdy eclectic, we went with a fun “Bon Voyage/Safe Journey/Star Wars” theme. Nothing too crazy since we only had a week to plan!

Decorations were basically having Jim pull his old toys out of the garage and setting them up everywhere. I had bought the Williams-Sonoma Star Wars cookie cutters a while ago because 1) they are amazing and 2) I figured they would come in handy for future birthday parties for Jackson…and Jim. Didn’t have time to perfect the art of royal icing so I just kinda glazed them in the appropriate colors.

All in all, it was a great night filled with plenty of beer, good food and even better company. It’s not every day you have to say goodbye to such amazing people and friends. Maybe that’s why we decided to say “bon voyage” instead, hoping that their ship may soon pass our way again.

So, bon voyage, Chris and Rose! We are so excited about what this journey has in store for you. We love you both and can’t wait to visit!

Girard Floor Cushion

bumblev — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:37:40 +0000

I’ve had this floor cushion on my mind for quite a while now, ever since I found this amazing thrifted children’s bedspread at least 4 years ago. The imagery was so simple and modern, how could I not want to recreate it?!

Well, as most of you can relate, the idea for a floor cushion kept being pushed further and further down on a ridiculously long mental list of craft projects to start. Four years pass and then one day, a few months ago, I pulled out the bedspread to make purses with (and before you gasp at me cutting up the bedspread, realize that it wasn’t doing the world any good folded up in my fabric drawer for almost five years!) and suddenly I remembered that, not only, did I want to make cushions but that I also needed a project to submit for So You Think You’re Crafty.

So, for the next month, I’ll be participating in the 4th season of SYTYC! So excited. I don’t know how far I’ll get (the competition is fierce and uber crafty) but for each project we have to submit, I’ll be posting my tutorial the following week. First one up…

Girard-Inspired Floor Cushion

Materials:
- cream duck cloth (or any other thick fabric)
- interfacing
- assorted felt (feel free to change up the colors)
- black embroidery floss
- piping (optional)
- fluff (bought or recycled)
- sewing supplies

Instructions:

1. Decide on the size of cushion you would like and find a circle that is large enough to use as a template. Cut two circles from the duck cloth and interfacing. My cushion is about 18″ wide and I used a large mixing bowl for the template. I’d love to make another one using a hula hoop as the template!

2. Using a tape ruler, measure the circumference around the template. Cut a rectangular strip from the duck cloth and interfacing the length of the circumference by 4 in (circumference x 4″). You can adjust the 4″ measurement if you want your cushion to be thicker.

3. Cut “sun rays” from yellow felt freehand with a pair of sharp scissors and sew on top of cut edge piece (duck and interfacing). I had to cut four panels of rays and sew them together. Sew ends together.

4. Using a disappearing pencil, draw the face. Don’t worry about making the face look exactly like mine. The imperfections of one drawing to the next are what make Girard so wonderful! Cut circles from felt and sew in place (duck and interfacing). My templates for the circles were drinking glasses for the chins and a shot glass for the chin. The mouth I just kinda winged.

5. Hand embroider the rest of the face, making sure to go through the fabric and interfacing.

6. Generously pin and sew the edge to the front of the cushion (if you’re adding piping, sew that first around the edge of the front). If you’re like me and find you have miscalculated the length of the side a bit, go ahead and pinch in the excess fabric, sew a new seam and cut off the stuff you don’t need. Just try to make it as symmetrical as possible or else the back side of the pillow won’t fit.

7. Pin the back side of the pillow (fabric and interfacing) to the side and sew, remembering to leave an opening for filling. Turn right side out, fill with fluff and handstitch opening close.

Tada! You have now finished a Girard-Inspired Floor Cushion, perfect for the cutest little bum in the world!

Cup of Tea Print

bumblev — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:29:24 +0000

Are you as addicted to tea as we are? We live in sunny ol’ Texas and still drink hot tea on most days. The world could be coming to an end and zombies could be knocking down our door but you can be sure that there’s a kettle whistling on our stove…and a crowbar in our hand. For the zombies, you know.

But back to tea, I made this small print to go along with all the other tea art in our kitchen (namely my favorite print by the Keep Calm Gallery). I had no idea what colors I wanted the print to be so I made it a cut-out which allowed me to mix and match colors and patterns. It also allows you to make this print anything you want! Just use an x-acto knife to cut out the tea cup and letters, tape the fabric to the back and place in a frame. Super easy customizable art, right?

If you’re a bit strapped for frames and have no interest in waking up your 1 yr. old to go to Target, you could always sandwich the fabric between two pieces of card stock and hang with a binder clip (heh, I had to Google what those “black office clips” were). The options are endless! Click on the image below to download the pdf. Let me know if you have any problems!

Garden Forks

bumblev — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:13 +0000

We built our garden beds last month and the dogs must have gotten confused because they heard “beds” and instantly started sleeping in them. Not such a big deal if it’s just dirt (which it was for quite a while). Pretty big deal if they are trampling all over our new vegetable plants.

I really didn’t want to put a fence around the beds and it was virtually impossible to catch the dogs in action. (Or I should say, “inaction.”) I had no idea how I was going to protect my sweet little plants…until I came upon a picture in my Flickr stream!

Absolutely brilliant and it just so happens, I had a jumbo pack for forks in my pantry. I felt kinda bad at first for using clear forks but Zefram and Clover haven’t even tried to step foot in the beds for a week.

I think there just might be hope for my veggie garden yet!

PS: has anyone grown pineapple sage before? Absolutely amazing plant! It smells so delicious and pineapple-y that I keep on pinching it every time I pass. I have it a medium sized pot right now but I think I’m going to transplant it to the front where it’ll hopefully attract some hummingbirds. Mmm, pinapple sage tea! More recipes here.