Oven Mitt Cuteness

I know I said in my last blog post that I almost made this really awesome double oven mitt from Smashed Peas and Carrots. But then I did:

The only thing I did differently was that I added a layer of insulbrite between the 2 top mitt layers of fabric.

As usual (this is becoming a trend), it took a few hours longer than originally anticipated to make. BUT it was also the first time I used bias tape properly (when I made this project I had no idea what I was doing and just kind of folded it over the edge and tried to hold it all together and sew it down all at once.

I'm happy with it. I think it turned out super cute. I ended up giving it away as a birthday present but I think I need to make another one for me.

Dollar Store Christmas: Footwarmer

Frugal Gift 2: Footwarmer

The husband of this gift recipient is being deployed to Iraq for a year with the army. She's a pretty skinny person and always cold, so when I saw the tutorial for how to make a "hot one" as the author called it, I knew it would be perfect.

"Dollar Store" Christmas Round Up

This year has definitely been a financially challenging one for us. My husband was laid off in January, we had a baby in May which involved a mostly unpaid maternity leave as well as huge leftover medical bills. God has been faithful throughout and we have always been able to pay our mortgage even if it had to be a little late.

But what to do for Christmas? I love giving gifts to people but our budget really didn't have any wiggle room in it to make normal gifts happen. We usually try to do homemade gifts, but this year was going to be a bit more extreme...homemade and inexpensive with an attempted budget of $3 or less per gift. Enter Dollar Store Crafts run by the fabulous Heather. Heather specializes in cheap and fabulous crafts made from dollar store (or other inexpensively acquired) finds. While all the gifts we did this year weren't necessarily from her site, Dollar Store Crafts was definitely my inspiration for this year's frugal crafting Christmas.

Crafty Project Want-To-Make Roundup

I've seen quite a few blog posts lately with some super fun crafts that I can't wait to make. Here are my three faves from this last week:

Repurpose a Tank Top to Make a Fun Bag

Do you have old tank tops that you're just not feeling anymore? Tired of your purses but don't have money to buy a new one? This project is so easy even the most non-crafty crafter wannabes will be able to pull it off. Check it out here.



Make Cool Jewelry From Sea Glass
Gail's tutorial on Can't Stop Making Things makes these fancy and intimidating-looking pendants look super easy to make. I think these would make great gifts. Get your Christmas crafting started now!



Stenciled Canvas Bag

This project uses a paper doily as a stencil. Stenciling normally makes me yawn, but I really thing this bag is super cool looking. I can think of several people who this would make the perfect gift for. Check out the tutorial on TidyMom's website here.


Do any of these appeal to you, too? Have you found any sweet craft ideas lately that you can't wait to try? I'd love to hear your thoughts!