New Products this year!

This year we have some great new products that we are selling at the craft fairs!

First off we have wreaths:

The wreaths come in two sizes and have flowers that are made with vintage buttons. They are made with a multitude of colors and we have different color combos for every holiday!

This is one of our smaller wreaths.

Large wreath perfect for Easter or Valentines day....or everyday!

Next Hop...Cashmere bunnies! Nathania came up with these cute creations and we're making them exclusively with our cashmere wool. We have some that have wool and cotton for some pizazz and then some that are completely made out of cashmere!

Finally today, we have our friendly snowmen. These are perfect additions to your Christmas tree. Each one is hand embroidered, and has a whimsical touch unique to each snowman.

Hope to see you at one of our shows!

Sarah

Christmas Ornaments on the Cheap

As my husband likes to say...I'm a little bit of a hoarder. I buy things thinking about the future, especially when the price is right. Things may have gotten a little bit out of hand, but in reality I have made lots of headway in the stuff department. I'm actually using the things I bought and not buying more.

So all of that was to say that last year after Christmas, Nathania and I found these ornaments at Target for less than 10 cents a piece. I bought a whole bunch in them with plans of using them with my students at school. Which I'm still planning on doing, but recently the girls from my small group at church came over to make some ornaments for a service project we are doing.

(I don't know how to flip it...)

Before they came over I looked through my crap craft room and found Christmas fabric scraps, yarn and ribbon, pulled out some felt scraps and of course a glue gun. Some of the other ladies brought in yarn and some little odds and ends to decorate as well. Let me tell you...I have a ridiculous amount of fabric and crafty things...but they came in handy for a project like this.

There were no rules in decorating these ornaments, which was really cool because everyone came up with a different decoration for the ornaments. All similar but still each one unique. Love it.

The overall cost of each of these ornaments was 10 cents. If you had to buy some fabric or paint or such they may be more, but its kinda fun to see what you can find around the house to decorate something like this.

Anyone else doing cheap crafty things lately? Love to hear about them!

Tuesday Tutorial: sugar scrub

I've decided to do a series on items you can make as Christmas Gifts. I will create a tutorial on each item in the series, so you'll have plenty of instructions!

Now why am I doing this so early? Because we all need time to do it. I also think that homemade Christmas gifts, or gifts in general can have so much more meaning. You took the time to make something, which shows you care.

Levels of difficulty will vary from super easy to a little more difficult. Hope you all enjoy it and are able to get some good ideas for some homemade gifts.

For the first tutorial we're going to make something really easy. And fast. oh and cheap frugal!

Sugar Scrub!

You will need:

Sugar

Salt

Dawn dish detergent with Olay

Containers to put it in...I used small mason jars

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of salt

1/4 of a bottle of dawn soap

Mix it all together. You can put more or less detergent depending on the consistency of the scrub you want.

Put into a couple of jars and enjoy!

You could use small Tupperware jars, mason jars, or reuse a small bottle.

Put a ribbon around it and you have a delicious smelling scrub!

Use on hands and feet as a great exfoliant.

Happy Gifting!

Sarah

Crafty Bonanza Day 25....Merry CHRISTMAS!!!

 For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9: 6

We would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas! We hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating the Saviours birth with those you love!

Nathania and Sarah

Crafty Bonanza Day 23....crochet cowl

Anybody else seen the latest craze of cowl scarfs? Well I have, and I decided to try my own! I've seen some really cool cowls, all over the internet, but my favorites have been the ones that are considered cowl necklaces.

To make this one I found some yarn that I had laying around the craft room...it happens to be a all cotton yarn...but I think really any yarn is usable! All I did was crochet a link stitch...I don't even know what it's called because I never "technically" learned how to crochet:)

I used the whole skein of yarn and then wrapped it around my hand and elbow...like you would a long rope. I suppose you could make it shorter, or longer so that you could wrap it twice around.

I think if I make another one...which I plan to do ;)...I would use a heavier yarn or double up two different colors. If you try one I would love to see the results!!

Two days until Christmas!!!

Sarah

PS: DON"T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE MITTEN GIVEAWAY! 

It closes tonight at 9 pm Alaska Time.

Winners will be announced tomorrow morning!

Crafty Bonanza Day 22....yummy treats

I don't know about you but the first thing I do when I get a box of chocolates is go for the caramel ones!!  I love them to death so when I found this recipe I had to try it. Mind you it doesn't have chocolate but it didn't stop me from OD'ing on them :).  They are called Caramel Shortbread Delights and they are delicious!!! I found the recipe on pinterest, my favorite pastime at the moment. Follow this link for the recipe http://www.doughmesstic.net/2011/01/06/caramel-topped-shortbread-bites/.

For my first attempt at caramel's I think they turned out ok. The recipe called for an 8x8 but all I had was a 9x9 so the caramel isn't as thick as it could be and while it set nicely in the fridge once it's out on a plate for awhile the caramel softens and "melts". Not sure I didn't cook the caramel long enough or if that is bound to happen but they are still tasty and just means they have to be eaten quickly! What a shame! :)

Enjoy

Nathania

Don't forget to sign up for the MITTEN GIVEAWAY!!!! You've only got two more days!!

Crafty Bonanza Day 21...christmas garland

Andy and I moved into our house in May last year and have done absolutely nothing about window treatments...the blinds seemed to be enough at the time. The previous owners had some heavy duty window treatments that they took with them, and when they left they took the hardware, leaving ugly peach colored spots that didn't match the rest of the room.

I decided that it might be fun to have some kid of valance over the blinds...at least to add some color and cover up the ugly peach. So I made a scrappy Christmas garland to go above the window.

I gathered all of my Christmas fabrics and tied them onto a thick twine/rope. I cut the fabric about an inch to and inch and half wide....I didn't measure, just eyeballed it. After seeing it in pictures, there are a couple of places I need to add some extra fabric

\

As you can see the fabrics aren't exactly one length...but I like the look of it!

This only took me about an hour, with cutting. It was an easy fun project!

On another note...does anyone know what happens tommorrow?

THE LIGHT STARTS COMING BACK!!! WOOHOO!!! This is probably not as important to people in the lower 48...but let me tell you, it's exciting here in Alaska!

I'm super excited about it!

Whats even better though is that Christmas is only 4 days away! Hope you all are enjoying this season to be with the ones you love! We're going to Skype and spend time with our family and I can't wait:)

Sarah

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE MITTEN GIVEAWAY!!!

Crafty Bonanza Day 17...pretty in pink

Anyone else out there love a good bunting/banner/pretty string to jazz up their lives? Well I definitely do! I made this pretty in pink bunting to decorate a banner in our house. I really like the added pop of color it gives...

...isn't it cute?

 I used some felted wool scraps in different size circles and then layered them. I ran out of the dark pink so I put a solid pink bobbly and made a cute little pattern.

Two colored

Solid pink bobbly

Once again, one of the most fantastic parts of this craft was that I spent...$0!!!! I was able to use some cotton yarn and then the felted wool that I already had in the house. WOOHOO!!

You know what else is great? I'm officially on Christmas Break!! I'm super excited to get to sleep in, craft, ski, hang out with family, play in the snow...and most importantly see the sun!(my office at school has no windows...so I go to work in the dark and leave in the dark!) Bring on the Vitamin D!

Sarah

Crafty Bonanza 16....magazine revamp

Anybody else out there see all the different Christmas trees made out of recycled magazines and books? Well I seem to run into them EVERYWHERE...so that means I have to try them right?

Most of the different blogs I've run into use two magazines to make their trees....but they used skinny magazines. I have a plethora of Real Simple magazines lying around the house, so I figured one of those would equal two skinny ones.

Most of the trees I've seen, either cut the bottom parts off or fold them up. I didn't want to do either...too much work, plus I liked the look of the bottom. It mad it look more like a Christmas tree to me. The problem with keeping the bottom was that it couldn't stand up on it's own without bending the paper...totally defeating leaving it on. SO....

I busted out the glue gun and some skewers I had, as well as a bottom to a little pot that I had gotton as a gift...voila a instant tree stand. It's a little wonky, and hasn't found it's permanent home yet!

It was super easy, only taking about an hour...now it's your turn to try one:)

Sarah

Crafty Bonanza Day 13...ornaments

With the arrival

 of my daughter last September I decided

it would be fun to do a photo ornament each year for

Christmas. Last yr I purchased a store made one (after

Christmas of course when it was clearance)

 but this yr I decided to make one out

of the clear glass ornament balls.

Here's what you will need.

• package of glass ornament balls
• vellum                                          
• scissors                                       
• a circle template                         
• printer                                          



First print out your picture on a sheet of vellum. Make

sure to hold onto the end of the paper as it comes out

of the printer because it rolls up on itself since it is so light.

Lay it flat and let it dry completely.

Next cut out your picture using your circle template.

For my circle template I used biscuit cutters but any

household item will work. Find one that is the same

diameter as your glass ornament and trace a circle

around your picture and cut it out.

I left the top of my picture flat and it ended up fitting really well.
Now take the top off the ornament, roll your picture up and stuff it
in. It will unroll itself and you can adjust the position as needed with
pencil. Second to last thing to do is put the top on and voila you have a super cute
picture ornament. Make sure to put the prongs from the ornament top behind
 the picture. Since you used vellum you can see the image on both sides and
the Christmas tree lights shine through it which I think is very pretty.  You can
also experiment with adding beads or anything else to the bottom for added
decorations. Last thing to do is wash the outside with windex to get all the finger
prints off and make it nice and shiny.

Happy crafting

Nathania

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Natural Cottage

Crafty Bonanza Day 11....Mom to the Rescue!!!

Well...Nathania and I both realized that we had nothing to post for today....not super good on that whole planning ahead thing!  What do you do when you need something to post?  You call your mother of course! Without further ado...here is our Mom:

So...my daughters are getting desperate to keep their promise to post something everyday this month of Dec.

Here's a tree skirt for you non-crafters.

 I was at the fabric store and found some reversible bonded Christmas fabric for only $3.00 a yard seems it had some wrinkles that the store thought would be permanent. I bought 1 1/2 yds, took it home, ironed out the creases. This stuff is great because it does not fray.  I folded it into a triangle and then once again to get 1/4  then I measured and marked the same distance  about 23" from the point and  cut the bottom to make a circle. This is an example of the pattern I used:

 I measured two inches and cut the same for the hole for the tree.
I found some old trim and stitched it all around. I decided that next time a glue gun would be better. I made a cut from the end of the trim to the inner circle.

 Since it is reversible I am going to get some more trim and glue to the other side to cover up the edge.

Voila a two-sided tree skirt.

Turned out great right? Thanks Mom! Love you and appreciate you posting your beautiful tree skirt!!

Happy Sewing!

Sarah

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!

Crafty Bonanza Day 9....please pass the napkins

Fabric has always been one of my loves...I could spend hours and a lot of money in Joanns! However, one genre of fabric I've never really gotten into is Christmas novelty prints...well really any holiday novelty print (not a big fan of Halloween, or Flags, or Hearts...you get the point!)

A few years back I bought some fat quarters of some Christmas prints...cause they were like .50 and I have never been able to pass up fabric that cheap, that easily. It has been sitting in my stash for probably a good three years...I liked them, but had no idea what to do with them. We really enjoy using cloth napkins in our house and so I decided why not make a set of four Christmas napkins?

I cut out squares of the novelty print...the greens and reds, and thought they would be fun paired with some of the extra fabric I had from making Alex's quilt. I used a pre-exisiting napkin I had as a template.

I put the right sides together and sewed around the edges just leaving a small hole to turn it around...like a pillow.

Before turning them right sides out, I snipped a little triangle from the corners. This makes it so you don't have a lot of fabric bunched up in each corner and they are a lot flatter too.

So I somehow forgot to take pictures after I turned them inside out but I think you can figure it out:)

After they were turned right sides out I ironed them and then topstiched around the edges.

These are the prints close up.

I like the way they turned out! It only took me about a half an hour from start to finish. I think this would be a great, easy and quick hostess present, or even just a fun present to make for some friends!

Happy Sewing!

Sarah

Crafty Bonanza Day 8...Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I've always secretly loved those tiny

 Christmas trees in pots that go on your porch BUT they're

 always a bit too pricey for me, imagine that :)!!!  So when I saw a lighted

 ChristmasTree made out of tomato cages on Pinterest (again)

 I decided to give it a try. 

Ideally it works best with 2 cages the same size that you place

 inside one another so that you have evenly spaced spokes to wrap

 the lights around and get a circular tree.  But because I hadn't removed all

 my tomato cages from the ground this fall and because winter comes early in

Alaska they are frozen solid in the ground and I was left with only

 1 medium and 1 small cage. 

  

To keep the cages from moving you can use florist wire to

 tie them together but I couldn't find mine so I wrapped some fake garland

 around the cages first and used some of the branches

 to connect the cages together.

I then started wrapping the lights around,

 starting at the base and covered it all with one strand of lights.

It looked a little

 bare so I added a second garland

and I like the final look.

Tomorrow I will see if any of my

   flower pots are large enough to place my awesome

 Christmas tree in as a base.

Not bad for tomato cages, garland and lights!! 

Now it's your turn

Nathania