Check out this giveaway--and the fantastic project ideas!

I came across this site in my Google reader when the author posted a project on one of my favorite crafty sites, Little Birdie Secrets. At Jones Design Company she is doing a week of her favorite projects, and I cannot wait to try some of them (the book page canvas is adorable!). But for even more fun, Emily is also giving away some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G items from her shop, including headbands, notecards, and more. You can participate in the giveaway here. I hope you will visit this site, be inspired, and enter to win this wonderful giveaway (let me know if you do:-)

Fun websites, giveaways, and such

Okay, it has been rainy today and I have spent/wasted some time looking at a variety of blogs.

So You Think You're Crafty is fun--each week the competitors enter their crafts and then the viewing public gets to vote on their favorites. This is the second 'season', and the crafts have been amazing.

Similar concept, different theme: So You Think You Can Decorate has LOADS of wonderful, thrifty ideas for decorating your home. I spent a long time looking at one of the competitors' websites and now I want to go thrifting (shopping at thrift store! Fun!)--Check out All Things Thrifty

And a random giveaway that I came across: Custom Stamp Giveaway

Enjoy!

New home decoration project!

I love this. New project? I hope so...

2009 Thrifty Christmas Gift Idea #5

One of my favorite blogs to read is Little Birdie Secrets. They always have fun, easy craft ideas that work for everyone! Recently a couple of their ideas really caught my eye (both involve some Mod Podge, which the ladies at Little Birdie Secrets admit to LOVING!):

Easy Photo Blocks and Tiles

Easy Wooden Picture Frame

2009 Thrifty Christmas Gift Idea #4

This past weekend, my friend and I met in Charlotte, NC, to spend the day together. We went to the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, the Mint Museum of Art, and Ikea. All three places were AMAZING!

The museum gift stores contained many wonderful items, especially the gift store at the Craft and Design Museum (which specializes in handcrafted items in addition to typical gift store fare). I found these adorable vintage button rings and fell in love with them. I tried on multiple rings, but did not buy one because none of them felt right (I bought one for my friend's daughter, though:-). Then, at the next museum, they had another display of rings. Jeni walked right up, picked up a ring and said "This one is yours!" And it was (that is why she has been my friend for 20+ years)! I love this ring, and thought what a great gift this would make.




The internet being the amazing thing that it is, I found an easy tutorial for homemade vintage button rings here. Another fun gift for you to try!

2009 Thrifty Christmas Gift Idea #3

These are just perfect for the girls in your life, and though they use fabric, they require very little sewing:-) Enjoy these Fabric Flower Earrings. I really want to make some of these! Too cute!

2009 Thrifty Christmas Gift Idea #2

I found these recipes for bath soaks recently, and I included the "Oatmeal Cookies & Milk Bath Soak" in the 'pampering kit' I made for my friend two weeks ago. It was very simple to make, and used ingredients I had on hand! For a more involved gift, the bath salts look amazing as well. Many of our moms or girlfriends could use a little bit of relaxation, don't you think?

2009 Thrifty Christmas Gift Idea #1

Last year I posted several Thrifty Christmas Ideas, so I thought I would do that again this year.

Okay, so here's the deal. I can't publish pictures of all the things I am making/hoping to make this holiday season. But that doesn't mean I can't share some of the projects that are inspiring me, right? Just know, family and friends, that just because I post something DOES NOT mean I am making it for you! It also doesn't mean I am not :-)

So here's one I just found--a photo Rubix Cube. How fun, simple and memorable is that? Find it here.

Time waster

The Sew, Mama, Sew blog is hosting another Giveaway Day! Check it out, and waste lots of time trolling blogs and entering for fun prizes. I know I will! I love Giveaway Days. I have actually participated once, but just didn't have time this December. However, I am methodically going through their lists and entering:-) Let me know what fun discoveries you make.

Just in time for Cyber Monday

Before you start shopping online tomorrow, hitting all the sales you didn't make on Black Friday, make sure you check out Ebates.

Ebates is a website that offers you cash back for shopping online, and during the Christmas holidays, their cashback offers have greatly increased. For example, if you shop through Ebates at Old Navy, you will get 10% back on your purchases (compared to the usual 2%)--Kohls is 4%, Shutterfly is 15%, and I could go on and on. In addition to cashback for purchases, they also offer coupon codes and discounts to TONS of stores.

So how does it really work? Simply go to Ebates and sign up for an account. Then search for your favorite store and see what kind of offers Ebates can find for you. Click through to the store, which will open up a "ticket", do your online shopping, and you are done! Once a quarter, you get a 'Big Fat Check' from Ebates. Oh, and did I mention that you will get $5 simply for signing up and making a purchase? Not too shabby!

Fun Christmas Stocking!

As I have mentioned, I love Sew, Mama, Sew's Homemade Holidays that they have through the month of November. Last week, I won a free pattern for a Mary Jane Christmas Stocking from Sew Lola's Etsy Shop. You should check out her items. Not only is the stocking ADORABLE, but her clutches and broaches are super cute too. Guess I know what I will be making this Christmas:-)

I'm sure you wonder if I still sew...

I promise that I do. But I came down with the flu this weekend (just the flu, not the Swine Flu), and have waited several days to work on projects to make sure that I am germ free! I hope to get back to sewing no later than this weekend. I have several projects in the works: nursing cover, little girl's jumper, skirt for my loyal babysitter, numerous baby gifts, and oh yeah CHRISTMAS gifts! I need to get cracking!

I know I have talked about this blog before, but you really need to check out the Sew, Mama, Sew blog this month. November is Handmade Holidays month for them, and every day they post multiple tutorials and ideas for homemade Christmas gifts. I am so inspired by all the ideas...now if I only had an extra hour in the day:-)

Value of the Day

Have you seen this? WalMart has a Value of the Day website, where they offer one item at rock bottom prices for one day. Today the site has a Lexmark all in one printer for less than sixty dollars. I think that's a fabulous deal. I will be checking back often during the holiday season! The catch is, it is while supplies last, so the printer is already sold out. I'll check early tomorrow!

Swagbucks alert!

Hi everyone! I have posted about Swagbucksseveral times before, but I was just looking at the "Swag Store", and saw that you can earn $5 in PayPal funds for only 70 Swagbucks. That is a great deal. PayPal funds are great for shopping at Etsy or Ebay, which is where I find a lot of my fabric and craft supplies. If you have never used Swagbucks before, it is easy--just use it as your search engine, earn Swagbucks, and redeem the Swagbucks for prizes. Also, refer your friends to Swagbucks and you can earn along with them! I hope you will check out this website. I personally like to collect the Amazon.com gift cards:-)

My Glade Scented Oil Tin Design

Glade Scented Oil Candles has a contest right now to design a new tin for their candles. It is a simple process using their predetermined design items and colors. I had fun playing around with my design last night. Check it out, give me your opinion, and make your own!
Check out this design entry from the "Design The Next Glade® Scented Oil Candle Tin Contest"

Get Crafty

Last night, I had the opportunity to demonstrate basic sewing at an event called "Get Crafty." Several different crafts were demonstrated, including stamping, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, and sewing. It was a fun evening of learning more about crafts, and spending time with other women. If you are reading this because you watched my demonstration last night, welcome! I will post pictures of the skirts I made later, but I wanted to give a link list of things I discussed last night.

I demonstrated simple sewing by showing the ladies how to make this skirt.

My sewing machine is a Brother-CS6000i, and I love it! It is not terribly fancy, but it accomplishes what I need.

For more simple sewing, try out this tutorial for Swaddling Blankets here--it is all straight lines, which is great practice for a beginner. If you want more of a challenge, I love this top by Made by Rae.

Other great sewing websites to check out:
Sew, Mama, Sew Blog
The Long Thread
Moda Bake Shop
I will be adding a blog list soon, and you can check those out.

My favorite online fabric stores:
Sew, Mama, Sew
Fabric.com
Pink Chalk Fabrics
JoAnn Fabric and Craft (I get most of my notions at my local JoAnns, but I often find things online as well)
Etsy (search for fabric under supplies)
EBay (it is best to search by fabric designer-i.e. Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, etc--to help narrow the search)

I would love to hear your favorite sewing/crafting website! Thanks for reading.

I have no originality

Seriously. All my creative ideas come from someone else. So, when I want to participate in something like this swap at Tip Junkie, I have no idea where to begin. I don't know if I have any good, original trade secrets that I can share in a swap. And that is kind of depressing. Anyone have any secrets they could loan me? :-)

Monday Links

Since many of my current projects are gifts, I am hesitant to post pictures just yet:-) Instead, here are a few links to projects and tutorials that I have recently discovered. I hope you enjoy them, and perhaps add them to your list of "projects to try" as I have!

Glueless Collage Gift (great gift for toddlers)

Little Pink House Tutorial (from Sew, Mama, Sew's hand sewing month)

Tooth Fairy Bags (too cute to resist!)

Shirt to Dress Refashion (if only I could look at my clothes in this manner--always available for redesign!)

Reusable Sandwich Wrap (cute way to help reduce waste)

Paypal money from Swagbucks

I know I recently posted about Swagbucks, but I thought I would let you know something that I just learned. Swagbucks now has a Paypal gift certificate that you can 'purchase' with the bucks you earn searching the internet. Right now, you can get $5 Paypal money for 70 Swagbucks. That is a great offer, and it is free money, since you would be searching the internet anyway! I am hoping to put a few of these together so I can...wait for it...buy more fabric:-)

Free books!

Free 'stuff' is always fun, and free books are truly wonderful (right up there with free fabric)! I am not talking about borrowing books from your local library*, but rather books that I purchased through Amazon.com for free. How did I do this, you may ask? Good question! The answer:
Swagbucks!

Swagbucks is easy to use--simply sign up at Swagbucks, start searching, and earn! The results from a Swagbucks search comes from Google and Ask.com, so the search results are reliable and similar to what you find using Google. When you search, you will win "Swagbucks", which you can accumulate for a variety of prizes from gift cards to IPhones. You can also earn Swagbucks by trading in cell phones, video games and consoles, and through Swag codes that come in the Swagbucks newsletter. I like to trade in 45 Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon.com gift card, which is how I earned the free books.

Some tips for using Swagbucks:
1. Sign up now, and start referring your friends! As your friends sign up and earn Swagbucks, you also get a portion of what they earn.
2. Download the toolbar for quicker searching and points earning.
3. Check Swagbucks first thing--use it to do your first few searches in the morning, and try to go ahead and win your bucks. Once you have earned Swagbucks for the day, go about your regular internet use.
4. Use Swagbucks on Fridays, which is Mega Swagbucks Day! Swagbucks are often awarded in the 1, 2, and 3 dollar amounts, but on Friday they can be much higher.
5. Sign up for the Swagbucks newsletter, which often has a free code that you can 'grab'.
6. Play around the site and see all of the ways you can earn and win, and all of the wonderful prizes available.


I purchased these books using Amazon gift cards that I had saved from Swagbucks as well as an Amazon gift card from a credit card rewards program. Free books!!


*Checking books out of the library is the next best thing to getting books for free, and sometimes may even be better if you are not certain you want to purchase the book. Use your local library!