Old Japanese Proverbs Paper Ornaments

A few months ago I was out garage saling with a friend and we can across some people giving away old books.  I snagged these two old Japanese proverbs books.  The other night I was browsing Etsy and found a cute ornament that I thought I could make myself.  I also decided to make a cute heart ornament from a tutorial over at Kitty Baby Love in celebration of Valentines Day. 

My New Bag

I made myself a new bag.  This is the first time that I have used linen.  I have to say that I LOVE linen but I also found that it can be a little tricky because it frays easily.  I learned a lot by making this bag and I like the way it turned out.

pinwheel lap quilt

I made this pinwheel quilt a while back and I really like the way it turned out. I haven't decided exactly how I will do the binding yet but I will post once I get it done.

Stockings

 I made our stockings this year and I really like the way they turned out, other than they are a little narrow.  I added a little hand embroidery on the toe with our initials just to make it unique. 

Pants Refashion

The other day I bent over to pet the dog before I left of work and I felt and heard a rip in my pants.  I quickly did a check in the mirror, because of course I was running late, and everything looked good.  Well, after I got home that night I realized that there was a tear in my pants and it was about 1 inch long right on the butt.  I had to laugh because I went the whole day and nobody said anything....hmmm

Since I am a thrifty shopper.  I headed to the thrift store to find another pair of work pants.  I found these beauties.  I wish I had remembered to take a picture before but here is a picture with one leg done.  This is one of the easiest ways to make the leg part of the pants skinnier.

All you need to do is flip the pants inside out and sew on the inner part of the pants ( the inner thigh side), starting from the bottom of the pants and stitch up.  I actually had to take in about 2 inched on these.  As you sew up the leg slowly merge your new stitch into the old stitch and they will look  awesome!!  After you are done stitching cut off the extra. I did a zigzag stitch over the part I cut just to give it some extra support, I really don't need another rip.

Table Runner

I recently finished a table runner for our table. I am really pleased with the way it turned out.  I found the printed fabric at M&L, for $1.99 a yard and I love it.  I still have some left so I need to find another cool project for it.  The other solid cottons are just from Joann's.  I used an off white linen for the back.  I decided to hand stitch the binding because it makes it look so much nicer.

Color Wheel

I have been wanting to make a color wheel for a long time now I would really like to sew one but I just haven't got around to it yet.  I did however make one that is very easy and quick, a paper color wheel.

I made my color wheel out of  those sample paint cards, you can get them at any hardware store or other place that sells paint. 

I started with going to the store and picking out about 20-25 color shades that I wanted to include in my color wheel.

I then laid out the cards in a circle over lapping them like the picture below shows.

Once I had all the cards positions where I wanted them I glued them down. 

 After the glue dried I used a bowl as my template I cut around the edges to make a circle. 

 I also glued a small circle of brown card stock to the middle. 

I then used a layer of Mod Podge over the entire surface to give it a shiny look.

And you are done.

 I like the way it turned out but after looking at it closer now that I am done I think a few of the colors look out of place....oh well.

I hung it up on my bare wall, it looks so sad.  

I really need to add something else to this wall.