Fixing Paper Bag Handles.

Ok, here's the thing...I don't have room in my house to store a bulk order of paper bags, but I did need some for a craft show last year.  I happened upon some at a Dollar Store and thought they would do just the trick as I could buy only as any as I thought I would need for the show.  Well, as these things normally go...you get what you pay for.  These bags might be fine to hold yarn, or baby slippers, or something like that, but certainly not pottery.  The handles kept ripping out!  I finally decided it was time to go ahead and fix the handles - and if you are in a similar situation, here's what I did:

 These particular bags just had a thin piece of tape holding the handle down (which I couldn't see at the store as there was a paper wrapper holding them in packages of three).

 I cut the tape and peeled it off the handle...

 ...hot glued the handle back in place...

...and then covered the whole thing with a layer of packing tape.  

Times two sides per bag.

Times 35 bags.  What else was I supposed to do with them?

But my lesson is learned, and after I use them up I will be returning to the fabric bags I have been making the whole time the paper bags were in the "to fix" pile.

Another Giant Game finished for the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market.

Good morning all!  I certainly hadn't intended to be gone for a whole month, but there we are.

Here's just one of the myriad projects I've been working on lately...a giant checkers game.

This one is for the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market Mercantile in August (click here if you are on Facebook for this year's event), or here for pictures of last year's event if you aren't on Facebook.  I am sponsoring the games this year (as Remembrances Pottery).

The checker pieces are sliced from a large maple branch downed in some rather strong winds last year.  My husband cut them with a chain saw, and since a handful lost their bark in the process, N chipped the bark of the rest of them to match.  I painted both sides with some iridescent paint I had lying around, and there you have it.   They aren't quite finished yet because I think one side needs a crown (king me, king me) but S thinks I should draw on chess pieces instead.  Still debating.

The board itself is from an old wool blanket (I love re-using wool blankets and sweaters) that has been stored away for years.  I had fully intended on making it into a hooded cloak, but realistically it will get more use this way.  After all, it has been in the "to do" bin for about 5 years.  I painted it to look sort of like a quilt to match the theme of the show (Pioneer meets Victorian meets Steampunk).  Also, it was taking WAY more paint than I anticipated so I ended up mixing and matching.

I'm quite looking forward to the show.  With each project we finish up, N gets more and more excited to go.  He's the "Gamesmaster" in the Village Green so that if little ones show up with their parents and have no one to play the games with, he's on the scene to play along...and to get races going just generally to get everyone having a good time.  The perfect job for him.

Feel free to weigh in on the crown vs. chess piece debate...which would you vote for?

Linking up with:  Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams
                         The Backyard Farming Connection Blog Hop
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                         Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder
                         Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Up-cycled pallet crates

Now that the weather has warmed up enough for my husband to get out to the garage, he has been looking for quick little projects he can do for fun, or with the boys to teach them how to use the tools.

 Yesterday, he surprised me with these fantastic crates for me to use for my craft shows.

 They are made from some pallets he tore apart a couple of weeks ago, and I think they will be just perfect for "framing out" some of my pottery.

 And they are super sturdy, so they can be flipped upside down to use as little tables.

there is a smaller one in the works that will fit inside these, and another medium size one so that I can put one on each end of the table with a shelf running across.

The biggest one will be quite handy for shows as I will be able to use it to move the pottery, but then once at the show, I can throw a cushion on top for a bench seat instead of having to bring a chair each time.

I'm so excited!  No more soggy cardboard boxes, or flimsy plastic totes, and versatile display units at the same time.  Yay!

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams
                        The Backyard Farming Connection

Annual Elementary School Art Show

For the past 5 years or so, the elementary school my youngest attends has hosted an art show where every piece of art is made of recycled, repurposed or upcycled materials.

Here is what the students (and classes) came up with this year:

 One little girl made an elephant out of an old vacuum cleaner.  Hilarious.

 Not having seen any of the projects in advance, we were thrilled to see that some naturally went together, by colour or style.  See those paintings...the person who submitted them found the frames in the garbage.  They just needed a cleaning, sanding, and coat of paint.

 This was a big hit with so many of the kids.  

 Nice bright magazine page art.

 N, of course, made this monster candy jar by reclaiming the clay I trimmed off my pottery pieces.

 This was a class project (I forgot to take a picture of the artist who's work this is based on).  They made a video to go with it, which we played on a loop through the evening.

 Kindergarten project:  They had a hard time understanding why they couldn't take their little bugs home with them last week, so we gave them a tour of the show in the afternoon.  Now they get it.

 One family worked together to build a whole house and yard out of recycled materials.  This little cauliflower was one of my favourite bits.

 There was a whole collection of these little robots made of scraps and leftovers, made by the grade 4/5 class.

 Ah, the sloppy jalopy...one of the big hits of the show.  It's an old bike that someone has had in their garden for a couple of years, fixed up with a few bits added.  The little fold down table goes back up and locks into place in the triangle of the bike frame.  The front of the drink holder even has a bottle opener attached to it.  Note the rolled up picnic blanket rolled up and strapped in underneath the bottles.  

 Another kindergarten project...a whole collection of little owls made of juice lids and bottle caps.  As much as I love that the projects are all made of recycled materials, it is sometimes a little discouraging to see how much waste is still being produced.  There were about 25 of these owls, each of which had water bottle lids for eyes.  Why, oh why, are people still drinking water from plastic water bottles with all the options out there?

 One of the teachers brought in all of these partition walls from their church.  It really helped make the displays come together.  It was nice to have the teachers on board this year.

The special needs class outdoes themselves every year.  These sheep are made of the material they used to use to make casts but that isn't used any more (our school is across from a hospital).
Here's a close up:

It was a fun night, once again!

Linking up with: Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Some little desserts...for display.

I'm still working on the little felt food props to go with some of my dishes at the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market Mercantile.

I had come across these little doughnut pincushions via Pinterest and decided I wanted to make something similar.

The size was determined by the scraps I had on hand...three strangely shaped oblong pieces.  I traced the inside of the packing tape roll to get the outside diameter, and a thread bobbin for the "hole".

 I decided to cut the "hole" a little smaller than I had traced it to allow for how much it would change while stuffing the doughnut.

 I stitched the "hole" first, and then stitched about 1 inch of the outside at a time, stuffing as I went along.  It takes a surprising amount of stuffing to fill one of these tiny little doughnuts.  A good solid hand full I would say.

 Nearing the end of the stitching, I stuffed as much of the stuffing in as I could fit, and  then stitched it shut and massaged the stuffing around to even it out.

 For the icing, I traced the same outside diameter, but then...

 ...I cut it all drippy and melty.

 And repeated the same on the inside.

 I stitched the icing into place with matching thread (In hindsight, it would probably be easier to stitch the icing and beads on first and then sew the doughnut sides together, but this way wasn't bad either).

 Added some "sprinkles"...

 ...and made a few different "flavours".

 I think they will be just the thing for the section of my table that is set up for dessert and tea.

 And I can switch them around as items (hopefully) sell.

In the meantime, we will use them on Wednesday at the Earth SmART Art Show at the school for the picnic bicycle display - photos of which I will share after the event.

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams
                        Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Game #3 for the Village Green

I'm still plugging away at making a few of the games that will be available for families to entertain themselves with at the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market Mercantile in August.

This month's contribution is "Tic-Tac-Toe" ---and in true pioneer spirit it is made from a flannel shirt, 2 pairs of corduroy pants, and a few bits of felt scraps.

You'll want to change the sizes to suit whatever fabric bits you are using, but I'll give you the run-down just in case.

I cut the biggest square I could from the back of the flannel shirt (18" square) and then used the front and the sleeves for the bean bags.  I cut 9" x 4.5" rectangles, folded them in half right sides together, sewed one side and the bottom, filled  the just under half way with beans, and machine stitched them shut.  Although it would have been easier to add the Xs and Os before-hand, I wasn't sure what I wanted to use, so I hand stitched them on after the fact.

I made a paper template for the Xs and Os to make sure it would fit nicely, and then traced them on to bits of felt.  I chose to keep them neutral, but depending on the event, nice bright colours would work just as well.

 For the "game board" I cut 6 1/2" squares from two pairs of outgrown curdoroy pants and sewed them together in a 3x3 grid using a 1/2" seam allowance.  I ended up cutting a little of the sides so that I could turn the edges of the backing over instead of using seam binding.  After the back and front were sewn together, I sewed a line 1/4" from each of the seams to give it a quilted look, and to stabilize the whole thing.

I'm pleased with the result as it looks a little "boyish" - the boys thought I should balance out the games since they thought the Hopscotch looked a little "girlish" by the time it was done.

We tested it out...I was X's...

...and one of them never learns.

Enjoy.

Linking up with: Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

                        Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins In Wonder