Simple upgrade: appliqué on to shabby areas on otherwise serviceable oven mittens. This keeps them looking serviceable for a bit longer.
Make do, make better
Use What You Have
Craft Not Art
A multi media play with acrylic paint (thinned with Liquitex), free motion sewing, appliqué fabric scraps and embroidery (lots of French knots).
Intended as a bedside table mat, I put this on quilt wadding and bound it to a corduroy backing before deciding to give it another ‘use’ as a piece of art.
(Binding not as wobbly as it looks when photographed hanging on the wall!)
Feeling virtuous as the only thing I bought for this was the Liquitex.
Mondrian inspired crafting
Following a gallery visit I decided to make some Mondrian inspired beer mats for our newly formed wine club.
Hand cut vinyl sticks well to hoarded beer mats and the best had cork stuck to the base as well.
Easy, disposable, fun.
Slow stitching, quick joy
I have gathered all my embroidery and cross stitch supplies together and realised I have a lifetime’s supply. So I was delighted to find inspiration from Mistikomakes on YouTube.
Not only did this give me lots of practice on fly stitch, chain stitch and French knots it inspired me for little makes that are satisfyingly fast to finish.
Thank you Misti Ko!
They aren’t white, they are green.
I am gradually reducing the fabric stockpile and this project must have used up oh, a millionth, in one go!
Part of a polo shirt, stained beyond use, was sandwiched between two layers of old cotton sheeting to create a new supply of reusable face wipes.
The trick for fast production is to make a large rectangle sandwich then draw on, with a frixion or erasable pencil, circles which you sew around. Then you cut around the sewn circles with pinking shears before ironing to remove the pencil marks.
Now to top up the diy facial cleanser…
Bridge score cards
Why buy when you can make? A set of bridge score cards made in Pages and some holders that are just matt laminated card with scan n cut photo corners stuck with red liner tape.
Now to work on my bidding so I can record some good scores on these!
Little wins
Couldn’t find a holder for tooth picks, which arrived in a big bag, so I made one with card that was out on my desk.
A simple box of four equal scored sides plus a small scored flap for adhesive and bottom flaps also stuck with adhesive tape. Decorated with die cut ric rac strips and some stickles, this was a 5 minute project done and in use.
Frugal foodie
Maintaining this year’s resolution of luxury on a budget means, in practice, a ‘no waste’ kitchen.
Today a lone orange presented a challenge (I have jars full of dehydrated citrus slices). I found a recipe on frugal Jo’s YouTube channel for such an orphan fruit.
Chopped finely (yes including the peel) and mixed with half a cup of sugar then simmered for 20 minutes, this creates a pot of surprisingly good marmalade. A splash of whiskey takes it up a level.
Don’t be sceptical about something so easy. Absolutely worth trying.
Braid aid
Thank you Emma for the bundle of braid you sent. I have used some to upgrade hand towels. They really brighten them up.
Tag Tuesday
Use it up or throw it out! That’s the 2023 mantra for the craft room. The button bowl is overflowing, so a few have been used on tags plus some wandering Christmas cards were chopped and/or die cut as well.
I even used up a few stars from the Christmas embellishments bag before it got packed away.
janecrafts 