It feels a little bit like Christmas....

Post by Jamie.S

Only 7 more working days left until Christmas day,Yay, I am so excited. Unfortunelty i am in retail so i work Christmas eve and boxing day. One day is just not enough to properly celebrate, but i will take what i can get. At least i get that one day. 

My husband works Christmas eve and Christmas day this year, only 7am to 7pm. So he still gets to spend the evening with us, And open his prezzies. He is also Gluten Intolerant (he swells up when ever he eats even a little bit of it. And it seems to be getting worse) so as he will not be joining us for the Christmas dinner my family does not have to worry about cooking a whole bunch of different meals for him. 

We just put our Christmas tree up early this year, like the first week of November. I love a decorated house, and always find the house to feel so naked after the holidays are over and the decorations are taken down.

Here is my tree feeling much more like Christmas now it has presents overflowing from underneath. 

I have now officially finished my shopping. And i can now sit back and relax. aaaahhhh

Let the countdown begin!!!!!

Co-Worker Gifts

Gift Ideas for Co-workers
By Jamie

     Every year at Christmas time i like to give my co-works a little holiday prezzie to say thank you for all there hard work, But there is 10 of them and i am not made of money.lol. Last year i put together hot chocolate and a candy cane in a nice little package with a note that says wishing you a warm and cozy Christmas.
     This year i can't decide on what i want to make, so i rounded up a few great ideas (from amazing bloggers) i found on my favorite place to explore....Pinterest. :-) I have the links attached so you can check out the original bloggers and find even more great gift ideas.

From 'How She Does It': A pack of sugar cookie dough with the caption: We could all use a little extra 'dough' this Christmas.

Grinch Pills

From the 'Dating Divas': Twizz the season to be jolly

My manager LOVES soup...so maybe this for her.  A big mug with  some instant soup with the tag 'have a Souper Christmas' From the Dating Divas

Now all i have to do is decide on which one i'm making.....hhhmmm

Did you know that there is only 25 days until Christmas day!! yikes. 

If you guys have any other really cute gift ideas for co-works leave me some comments below. I always need ideas. 

Have a great night, and make sure you are ahead of the game and get your holiday shopping done now..before the malls get even crazier!

Busy Bees

Post By Jamie

Hey, so it has been quite some time since myself (jamie) or my sister amber have actually posted anything on this blog. We have been rather busy, and i have always forgotten to take pictures of the few craft projects i actually get round to making. 

Amber has been better than me, she has started her own blog that covers everything she loves, she shares her inspirations, recipes, tutorials, fashion, beauty and thoughts. And if you haven't  checked it out yet, you probably should skip on over there right now and have a read.

Click this link to take you there, have fun: http://amberameliawpg.blogspot.ca/

You may be wondering why we have been so busy, Well many things have happened. Amber and her fiance Rich have moved into my basement. They are getting married next summer...Yay!! and they need to save up as much money as possible  For the wedding, and for there dream house. So pumped for there wedding!! I am the maid of honor. 

        And about 8 weeks ago our mum (sally) had a black out and fell down the stairs in her house. Luckily my dad was home and was able to call an ambulance right away. She was in alot of pain. Turns out she shattered her hip and had to have a full hip and joint replacement OUCH and she broke her right elbow, Double OUCH! She was in hospital for a full 2 weeks and just had her cast removed 3 days ago. She is still in alot of pain. 

If anybody has broken their elbow before and has any tips, advice or stories please share with us, as my mum would love to be able to hear from other people who have gone through the same experience. 

        I have also signed up for distance education. I have decided to take the institute of booking course at red river. I have 9 courses to complete in total until i can get my certificate. I am only on #1 & 2 out of 9. Word 2007 (super easy), and financial accounting 1 (which i am strangely enough really enjoying).

But we are going to really make an effort from now on, to keep the blogging up. Well at least Amber will for sure. lol

Easy Minky Blanket

 Hey Guys,

    Today i am doing a minky blanket tutorial, i saw these cozy soft looking blankets on my browsing of pinterest, a daily addiction of mine!! anyways i saw these blankets and was determined to make one for a friend of ours who is expecting a baby in December.  Now i am new to the sewing world so i have been keeping to easy usually squared items such as pillows, so my next step was a blanket...my mom warned me that sewing a minky was not a pleasant experience as the fabric is very slippery and likes to move alot...so i made and did every precaution i could think of, i pinned every centimeter it felt like, and then pre stitched all the edges so when i did my final machine run fingers crossed everything goes smoothing.

First your going to choose your fabric, so as you know i went with the minky for one side in a cream color, and for the opposite sides i did an owl print fleece...i figured as this little bundle of joy is being born mid December it can be pretty cold here in Winnipeg so at least it will have this blanket to cozy up to.

Next you want to measure out your fabric, i did a 42 inch square but by the time you take into account your seam allowance my blanket probably ended up being around 38 inches (being new to sewing i'm not good at doing small seam allowances so half the time my project is actually like 5+ inches smaller than its original measurement so i always take into account of cutting my pieces just a little bit bigger.

  

  Next up is the long process of pinning, remember to pin right sides together!!! now as you can see i did a lot of pins just to be on the safe side...if you are a more confident sewer than you could probably get away with less pins but as i had never dealt with minky i really really wanted to be on the safe side...after i pinned i then proceeded to sew around all the edges but remember to leave a gap so you can turn in the right side round again.

Next up, get that machine out...sorry for my messy sewing area, we just moved and i have yet to completely sort though and put everything away.

Then just sew away...i did it slowly, make sure you take your time try not to rush it certainly if your new!!! I would sew until i hit a pin then take about 5 out then sew till i hit the next pin then take another 5 out and so on so on until you are all done...remember to leave a gap one one side i think i left about a 5 inch gap on one side to turn the blanket the ride side.

Look at all those pins it felt like it went on forever!!!

Next up once you've finished sewing, before you turn it the right side, your going to cut the corner so you can a nice pointed corner on the finished project.

It should look something like this...make sure not to cut over your stitches!!!

Then all you need to do is sew up the opening that was left and your all done!!!! You could also sew around the edges to add a little extra support that i may still do...but thats about it...easy peasy if you take your time at the prepping stage!!!

   hope you enjoyed and go give it a go...i am in love with the finished blanket, i don't want to give it away!!

xoxo amber

My knitting adventures

My First Scarf

by: A.M

Now as a beginner knitter i'm going to say the best way to start is with a scarf its a great way to perfect your stitches, i have found it to be an amazing help as all you do is knit or purl. f you can knit and perfect your scarf moving on to other projects will be a breeze.....i'm not saying its always easy as sometimes i forget whether i just did a knit stitch or a purl as my mind often wonders to other places!  But like anything, practice makes perfect....here is my journey as i perfect my knitting abilities first a couple scarves until i perfect my knit and purl stitches....then my next project is a nice cozy comfy pair of slippers like these....

                                                                

  Here is how i do my scarves

I like to make big chunky warm cozy scarves, i like the infinity look and being able to just wrap it around and not have to worry about the ends always falling out, and if you make your scarf big enough you can use it as a hood also

just like this....

it will keep you so warm in the winter!!!!!

this is what your going to use:

• 8mm or US 11 knitting needles

• bulky yarn any color

what your going to do:

• Cast on 26 to 30 stitches depending on how wide you want it

• for this green scarf i just did knit stitch

• i knitted until my scarf reached 60 inches in length

• the width is 11 inches
• once you have reached your length cast off
• then sew each end together
• wrap and enjoy!!!

here's a sneak peek on my new scarf project:

Hope you enjoyed xx now go knit!!!!

Wine Bottle Gift Bag Tutorial

Recycled Sweater

Wine Bottle Gift Bag Tutorial 

by J.S

When i had finished making my cozy Sweater throw pillow, and had managed to tear myself aware from staring at its cuteness. I went to clean up the mighty mess i had made in my craft room ( i am not a tidy crafter) But in my defense cutting up an old sweater does lead to a lot of fluff.
I looked at the arms of the old sweater and just couldn't throw them away, I am definitively a material hoarder, ok just a general craft supply hoarder. You just never know when you are going to need that little piece of material or paper scrap.

Anyhoo, this sweater gift bag is perfect to give as a hostess gift with a nice bottle of wine tucked away inside its cozy home.

Step 1: Take your Sweater sleeve and place it over the bottle you will be gifting. Cut where you think would be a good place.

Step 1

Step 2: You are going to want to turn the sleeve inside out. Now go find yourself a piece of scrap fabric and cut it into a circle the size of the bottom of your sleeve. I just used an old tin and traced around it.

Step 3:  Now go ahead and pin this circle to the bottom of your sleeve. (Wrong side of the fabric facing you) Stitch all the way around it.

step 3

Step 4: You are basically done. Turn the bag right side out. For the tie, i just took another scrap of sweater, rolled it up, gave it a quick stitch down the middle to kind of hold it together, and then tied it round my bottle. Yay. You could also use some ribbon, or the same fabric you used for the base. Its up to you.

The hardest part is giving it away.

Recycled Sweater Throw Pillow Tutorial

Sweater Throw Pillow Tutorial

By. J.S

I just finished making my new throw pillow. I love it!! So warm and cozy. All i need now is a hot chocolate to go with it...mmmm chocolate. 

My mum and i were spending a wonderful Saturday together going round thrift stores to see what treasures we could find. This jumped out at me, a large cozy sweater and only $1.00!! What a steal of a deal, how could i possible say no to that. So i bought it, its new purpose was to become another cozy couch pillow.

As you can tell from the picture, my dog Chewie also agrees that it is indeed cozy. lol.

So all you need to make this is a Size Large or Extra large sweater, depending on your desired finished pillowcase size. 

Cut the sweater into two equal size squares just a bit bigger than your pillow form. Iron some interfacing on the wrong side of your sweater. This really helps hold it all together.

Sew around the edges to seal in the ripped seams.

Now just place the right sides together and sew around all 3 sides. Turn right sides out. 

Now put the pillow form in and slip stitch the edge shut. Easy Peasy!!

Purse Organiser Tutorial

My New Purse Organiser

by J.S

My bag is a mess! The bigger my bag the more stuff i collect inside it. Sometimes i have everything but the kitchen sink in my handbag. Well not anymore, this year is my year to become organised, well at least try. lol.
So i made myself a purse organiser now everything has a home, and i will be able to find my phone before it stops ringing.

Step 1:

You will need to cut out your fabric and interfacing. I like to have coordinating fabrics but you could use the same.

2 pieces of fabric : 8 inches x 26 inches
2 pieces of Interfacing: 8 inches x 26 inches


Step 2: Iron the interfacing to the WRONG side of each piece of fabric

Step 3: After you have the interfacing ironed on good. Place each piece RIGHT sides together, pin in place and stitch 1/2inch seam around all edges, leaving about 2-3 inch gap so you can turn it right side out.

Now very carefully (you don't want to rip your nicely stitched edges, turn you piece right sides out

Step 4: Give your organiser a nice iron. Now you will want to edge stitch all the way round the 4 edges.

Step 5: Turn the bottom edge up about 3 inches. And pin in place. Stitch along each short edge.

Step 6: Now this is where you have to look through your handbag and pick all the items you want to be able to find quick and easy. measure the width of each item and add 1 inch. So my cell phone is 2 1/2 inches wide, i would want to measure out 3 1/2 inches, and i just placed a pin in the place to mark it. Do this to every item.
Stitch up every pocket you made.

You now have a COMPLETED purse organiser. And it took about 30 minutes.YAY YOU!!