Cute Valentine Bookmarks

Karen at Sew Many Ways has a a great tutorial for a heart bookmark that is perfect for Valentine’s Day.

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2012/01/tool-time-tuesdayfabric-heart-bookmark.html

These literally take minutes to cut and sew.  The only change I made was to trim the seams and do some decorative top-stitching.  I made these to enclose with my Valentines to the family this year.

Red fabric is good for Valentine’s Day but I couldn’t resist making one in an animal print for a daughter who loves it.

The back has a little pocket which slips over the bottom corner of a book page to keep your place.

To accompany the bookmark and to help explain how to use it, I looked through my collection of vintage cards for something with a book and came up with this one.

I scanned it and added the caption, “A Valentine Bookmark just for you”.   The bookmark was slipped onto the bottom edge…

….and I wrote a personal message on the back of the card.

I think this will be a nice surprise as I continue the tradition of sending Valentines to special people.
This Valentine was sent to my mother by her first grade teacher in 1923

A Good Find at Summerfair, Cincinnati

The 44th annual Summerfair was held over the weekend at Cincinnati’s version of Coney Island.  This is a 125-year-old amusement park with lots of old, shady trees and plenty of places to sit and rest between visits to all of the juried crafters’ booths.

Many years, I just stroll and admire all the beautiful crafts without buying anything, but this year, I saw a wall pocket that I really liked.  It was made by the Pottery Boys from Blue Island, Illinois, and I had just the right spot for it in my kitchen.  It is exactly the same color green as my primitive shelf and is just right for a snapdragon cutting from my garden.

Happy Thanksgiving

In the 1990s, my oldest daughter and I had a booth at a large craft mall which we kept supplied with a variety of handmade crafts.  My interest was in decorative painting.  I liked to scour antique malls and thrift shops to find old wooden or enamelware items to paint and sold hundreds of pieces over the years.

Fast forward to 2010 and a walk through the Ohio Valley Antique Mall in Fairfield, Ohio (near Cincinnati).  In one of their beautifully decorated booths, I saw a familiar object….an enamelware platter that I had painted in 1996.  I had adapted the design from a picture in a school textbook, simplifying it and adding a few items.

I had painted the design on several projects through the years but had never kept one for myself.   A week before Thanksgiving, this old platter seemed to call to me to take it back home, so I bought it and after 14 years, it’s on display in my living room.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYBODY.

Granddaughter at her First Grade Thanksgiving Dinner

Primitive Stuffed Pumpkin

I’m not an accomplished craft person, but I was able to make some cute stuffed pumpkins from a free pattern on Quilt in a Day, (see update below) called the Fall Pumpkin Patch.  There’s a small amount of sewing involved, and then some winding of jute twine and gluing of silk leaves.  I used some white chenille salvaged from a damaged vintage bedspread, but any type of fabric could be used.  The size and shape of the pumpkin depends on the amount of fabric used and good directions are given.  I gave a pumpkin to each of my daughters for Halloween, with the thought that they could stay on display through Thanksgiving.

Update:  It was brought to my attention that the free pattern apparently is no longer available on Quilt-in-a-Day.  My personal instructions are below:

Supplies Needed:

• 1/4 yd. pieces or fat quarters or any size pieces of fabric for the pumpkin
• Green, brown or orange pipe cleaners
• Tacky glue
• Raffia strands
• Jute twine
• 2″ wooden stems from tree branches
• Fall silk leaves – 2-3 per pumpkin

All of the pumpkins are made from rectangles.  They can be any size you like (9″x18″, 9″x21″, 7″x17″, etc.).  According to the dimensions they will come out short and fat or tall and skinny.

Fold rectangle in half, right sides together.  Leave a long tail of thread as you begin to sew and stitch a 1/4″ seam down the side of the rectangle.  Leave another long tail of thread attached after you finish sewing.

With a hand sewing needle, thread one tail into the needle and gather up one end of the tube from the wrong side of the fabric, 1/8″ from the bottom edge.  In other words, sew a straight line across one end 1/8″ from the edge.  Pull tightly and knot off.  Turn tube to right side.

Stuff the pumpkin with polyester stuffing or batting scraps.  With the hand sewing needle and thread tail at the other end of the pumpkin, sew a straight line across 1/8″ from the edge, pull tightly and  knot off.   The opening will be covered by the silk leaves.

Using Jute twine, leave an 8″ tail.  Starting from the top of the pumpkin, wind down the sides on the seam line to the bottom, back to the top on the other side, then turn slightly and do it again, leaving thumb or finger on top to keep twine in place.  Make 6 or 8 ridges.  Tie a knot tightly at the top and then a bow.

To decorate, glue a wooden stem into the top center opening withTacky glue.  Wind the pipe cleaner around a pencil and fold in half.  Glue the pipe cleaner into the opening.  Make a bow out of raffia and glue into the opening.  Glue 2-3 leaves to the top to cover the opening.

Display with pride.