Mug Rug

I made this mug rug for a friend of mine for Christmas and wanted to share how I did it.  I wish I had taken pictures of the different steps as I went along, but I was too busy fighting with my evil sewing machine (read all about her here).

I started with a fat quarter of flannel fabric, but you don’t need nearly that much.  I just liked the design and feel of the fabric and wanted to have a variety to choose from (plus, to be honest, I envisioned myself happily sewing up a bunch of these.  Again, three words.  Evil.  Sewing.  Machine).

I selected the fabric for the back and cut it to 9″ x 10″.  I then cut out a 5″ x 5″ square, a 5″ x 3″ piece to fit below the square, and three 8″ x 2.5″ strips.  I sewed the square to the piece that fit below it, then sewed each strip to that section.  After that was complete, I cut a piece of thin backing to fit the top of the mug rug and made a “sandwich” of the top, the backing, and the back, pinning the layers together.  I sewed along each seam, then folded the back of the mug rug over to make the border.  Finally, I stitched an X from one corner of the 5″ x 5″ square to the other, just to have a little extra quilting.

That’s it!  Anyone who has ever quilted will be quick to notice that the corners aren’t done the “correct” way, but this was a quick, rustic project so I felt okay about that.  (Besides, I couldn’t remember how to correctly sew the corners!).

These really are quick and easy, and if you’re looking for a last minute gift or like to have a few “just in case someone drops by” gifts around, I highly recommend them.  Adding an inexpensive mug and some cookies, coffee, and/or tea bag really makes the gift complete!

Sewing Machine Woes

She looks innocent enough–my very basic Singer sewing machine.  I bought it a few years ago and it was exactly what I wanted.  Just the basics.  No frills, no bells and whistles.  Things were fine for a while, then we began our love/hate relationship . I believe the machine could sense that I’m a bit mechanically challenged and decided to have a little fun.  We argued so much that when I took a quilting class a few years ago I completed a lap sized split rail fence quilt completely by hand.  There isn’t a single machine stitch in it.  Yeah…she’s that intimidating.

I thought we had our problems solved.  Someone showed me that I was using the wrong size bobbin and once that was fixed, she ran great.  I was so confident we were friends that I decided to pull her out last night to make a mug rug.  Well, apparently she took offense to being in a closet for several months, and she was going to make me pay.

My mug rug started out great.  But, as soon as I started thinking that this was going to be a really quick project, she decided to prove me wrong and started misbehaving.  Finally, after several (and by several, I mean many) minutes of frustration, I realized that perhaps I threaded the needle wrong–and I was right.  Back to smooth sailing we went.  For a while.  Then, she froze up on me and, wouldn’t you know it, I broke a needle.  Luckily I had a spare, but by this time I was hanging onto my patience by a thread, and was on the verge of saying things good Baptist girls don’t say.

With the new needle in place and threaded correctly, we were once again good to go.  Other than a few hiccups here and there we seemed to be patching up our differences.  I was cautiously happy.  I was down to the last 2 inches of material to sew and…my bobbin ran out.  It was as if she was telling me not to get too confident–she was still in control.

Eventually, I finished the mug rug (and will post the instructions in a day or two), but I’m positive the project took three times as long because of that dreaded machine.

Of course, some would say the entire issue is user error.  Possibly, but I tell myself the sewing machine just likes to prove she’s smarter than me!

To Make a List…or Not

I’m not a huge list maker.  I mean, I make a grocery list and a Christmas shopping list.  I write down things I need to do at work because I don’t trust my memory, but I don’t have a to-do list every day.  Travis has always been more of the list maker.  He gets it from my mother-in-law, who even lists “shower” on hers so that she can be sure to get something marked off that day.  A few weeks ago, though, I decided to make a list of all the crafts I wanted to get completed before Christmas.  I found the list today and marked off the things I’ve actually accomplished.

As you can see, I’ve marked two things off the list.  Mentally, I’ve added several more projects that I just haven’t written down.

Maybe I’m better off not making craft project lists.  Yes, there are projects I’ll forget I wanted to do, but you can’t fret over not getting something done if you can’t remember you wanted to do it in the first place!

Thankfully we’ve got a long Christmas break coming up.  Our last day of work is next Wednesday, and we come back Jan. 3.  Hopefully I’ll get some things done then.  Not necessarily things that are on my list–but things!

Banana Pudding and “Northern” Terms

It’s the time of year for lots of family gatherings and potlucks.  Whenever possible, I like to bring something quick and simple, so banana pudding is one of my go-to desserts.  In fact, I made some last night for a potluck at work today.  It’s super-simple.  This is the recipe:

• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (5 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 c. milk
• 1 (16 oz) package vanilla wafer cookies
• 4 bananas, peeled and sliced

In a large bowl, combine sour cream, whipped topping, pudding mix and milk until well mixed.  In the bottom of a bowl, put a layer of cookies, then a layer of the pudding mixture, then a layer of bananas.  Repeat until all ingredients are used.  (Don’t worry if the pudding mixture hasn’t set yet–it will set up in the fridge).  Refrigerate.

You can’t get much easier than that and it’s always a hit.

I was talking to my boss today (who is originally from Michigan) and a co-worker about the other night’s supper.  Mine consisted of fried potatoes, cornbread, and kraut and weenies.  I don’t know if kraut and weenies is an Appalachian thing or if other people eat it, but my boss put his head in his hands and quickly informed me they’re called hot dogs, not weenies.  I agreed with him, as long as they’re on a bun, but when they’re with kraut, they’re weenies.  He then corrected me and said it’s “sauerkraut”.  Yes, but we shorten that.  Sauerkraut (or sarekraut, as it would likely be pronounced here) and hot dogs doesn’t have the same ring.  Probably wouldn’t taste as good, either.

So what is “kraut and weenies”?  Sliced hot dogs fried in a pan with sauerkraut.  Simple as that.

While we were on a roll with “northern” terms (yes, I tease him about not being from around here), I learned that what we call a toboggan is called a stocking cap in his part of Michigan, and, a toboggan there is what we would call a sled.  Just a little useless trivia for the day!  I personally think it’s interesting to see what things are called in other parts of the country (or world).

Tonight, I think I’ll enjoy a meal of leftover fried potatoes, kraut and weenies, and banana pudding while I settle in for one of the coldest nights of the year so far.

 

‘Tis the Season to be…Stressed?

Every year I tell myself I’m going to really have my act together when it comes to Christmas.  I’m going to do all my shopping, make some gifts and several crafts, and have lots of free times in the evenings to kick back, watch Christmas movies, and relax.  And, then every  year I laugh and laugh at how stupid I was for thinking that!  Yes, I’m a bit stressed.  I know Christmas isn’t about the gifts or the decorations, but I’m a mom and a wife and I want my kids to grow up with wonderful memories of Christmas.  Add to that the fact that I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator, and you get the picture.

Travis and I did head out Friday to do our annual marathon Christmas shopping day.  It’s the day of the year that we go out and try to get all (or at least most) of our shopping done in a matter of hours.  We started doing this as newlyweds in our 20s and enjoyed it so much that we never stopped.  Of course, now we’re in our 40s and our stamina isn’t what it used to be, so we spend more time recovering from the shopping than we do shopping.  Friday was the perfect day for it–cold and a bit snowy.  It’s hard to tell from my picture, but there were some snow flurries flying around.

We did manage to mark most of the gifts off our list, but I still have several things to do…

A friend at work is having a baby next month and her baby shower is a week from today.  I’m making a baby blanket for the little one, but am only about halfway there.   I’m determined to finish it, though, before he starts kindergarten (unless, of course, my arm falls off from all the frantic crocheting, which is highly possible).

I also have this cute flannel fabric I picked up on our shopping day that I plan to turn into mug rugs.  This week.

And, then there are these wooden stars that I plan to paint with chalkboard paint to use as gift tags.

Yeah, so, that’s a lot to get done.  Did I mention I have a full-time job, too?!  Oh well.  Next year will be relaxing, right???  By the way, if anyone has tips on how to keep my fingers/arm from going numb while I crochet, I’m open to suggestions!

Christmas Trees

Christmas is coming very quickly (at least it seems that way to me–my kids may say it’s taking its own sweet time), so I thought I’d showcase one of my favorite parts of the season–Christmas trees.   The one above is the tree we have in our living room.  I’m not sure if you can tell or not, but it stands right in front of the door.  That may seem a bit odd, but we never use the front door and it’s mostly glass, so it seemed to be the best place for it.  After our first Christmas in the house we found out that the previous owners (who lived in the house until they passed away) always put the tree in front of the door, too!   I’m glad we’re not the only ones who think the way we do!

These are two little trees I whipped up for our mantle.  They were very easy to make.  I bought two Styrofoam tree forms and wrapped them in jute, hot gluing the jute periodically.   I then hot glued red pearl garland to the trees, and also glued individual red “pearls” for additional decoration.

This is the little tree I have in my office.  I spend so much time there I figure it should be festive, as well.

Finally, this is a necklace I made from the Festive Forest workshop I took last week.  I made the necklace pretty long, and love it.  Yesterday I went to Subway during lunch and one of the workers wanted to buy one, so of course I agreed.  A sandwich and a sale–what better lunch could you ask for?

Tomorrow is our annual marathon Christmas shopping day.  Travis has the Excel spreadsheet ready and I’ve got a few ideas for folks in my head.  Hopefully (with plenty of help from caffeine) we’ll get the majority of gifts marked off our list.  It’s a tiring day, but obviously since this has been our tradition for 20 years we really enjoy it!

Hope you’re making lots of progress with your holiday shopping!

Festive Forest Workshop

I’ve been a huge fan of Heather Powers from Humblebeads for years.  If you’re not familiar with her work (polymer clay and jewelry), I highly encourage you to look her up.  Last week she offered a workshop on how to make holiday pins, pendants and earrings, so I had to enroll.

I had a blast whipping up the projects above.  I started by making the frames while watching a Hallmark Christmas movie Saturday, then added the beads while watching The Walking Dead last night (I know…that’s going from one extreme to the other in terms of tv shows!).  Since this is a paid workshop, I can’t share the instructions with you, but I will say they were very easy to follow, and the projects worked up quickly.

I never thought I’d be able to make a pin–it just seemed too daunting–but it was surprisingly easy.

I plan to add a long chain and a few other sparkly embellishments to this pendant.

These earrings are fun and will go with pretty much any of my holiday attire.

So, again, check out the Humblebeads blog.  It may not be too late to sign up for the workshop, and she also has some wonderful gift ideas!

Noel

Quick, inexpensive crafts really can have a big impact on your decor.  For years I’ve been seeing Pinterest posts where people have used painted letters and a small grapevine wreath to spell out Noel as part of their holiday decorations.  I’ve always loved the look, so I decided to give it a try this year.

I simply purchased unpainted letters and a small grapevine wreath at Michaels, along with paint colors that go well with my living room color scheme–dark brown, tuscan red, and white for contrast.  A couple coats of paint and I was finished.  Very fast, very easy, and cheap (I spent less than $10 on supplies).

I fell in love with the way they look on my mantle.  The family said they like it, but none of them get as excited as I do when decorations come together well.  This is why I have friends who do share my excitement.  And a blog!