Quick Handmade Gift: DIY Travel First Aid Kit

I was in need of a "favorite thing" for a MOPS meeting. Well for me, the favorite thing was easy- sewing...what to make was more challenging. I needed something easy and quick...I had one naptime and the items in my craft room to get this done. Now...what would moms like to have? I threw around several ideas when I found this tutorial from Positively Splendid. Perfect- a travel first aid kit. I got busy cutting and creating the pattern...all was going well. I found this fun flower fabric I have had in my stash for awhile now, just waiting for a project. And just enough mustard yellow fabric left over from another project to make the kit...awesome.

Or so I thought, I neglected to read the whole tutorial supply list and realized I didn't have any ribbon to match...crud...what to do. The ribbon is used to close the kit, so it was an essential part of the project. I thought and looked around and finally came up with the idea of using elastic instead. I happened to have matching teal elastic, so I fiddled around with it a bit and came up with the following way of inserting it to hold the kit closed.

First I cut a piece of elastic about 8 inches long. Then I wrapped it into a loop and placed the two ends in the center of the fabric (with the loop laying on top of the center of the fabric) and tacked it down using a few stitches. Then I placed the main back fabric on top and stitched around the outside, leaving an opening for turning, per the tutorial.

When rolled up, the elastic easily stretches around the kit to hold it closed. I made two at the same time, one to give away and one to keep, and have found mine very handy several times already. The item I reach for most is the nail clipper. I have used it for hang nails and broken nails quite a bit!

I would recommend this for a quick and easy project that is also very practical.
Shannon

Ruffle Trees and Christmas Decor

Before I began blogging I made some ruffle Christmas trees to add to my holiday decor. They have held up well over the three years I have had them and each year I pull them out and find some place to put them in the house. This year I thought I would use our upstairs cut out. Our house has a couple of these areas that I love and hate at the same time. While I like being able to decorate for the seasons and holidays, I find the cut outs difficult to fill without looking cluttered and quite frankly, I haven't had the time to decorate them the way I would like...but for the short amount of time we are at home between Thanksgiving and Christmas traveling, this will do :)

Originally I saw the trees somewhere (sorry can't remember where) and thought...I could make that.  To make the ruffle trees you need a few supplies:
-Styrofoam cones- I used two large ones and one smaller one for the height that I wanted
-Felt- I purchased a half yard of each color for these trees (I would have rather purchased a brighter green, but the hunter green color was all they had at the store).
-straight pins
-ribbon
-scissors

 First, take your felt and cut circles, I traced the bottom of a juice glass for my template. And cut lots and lots of circles. I tripled and quadrupled my fabric when cutting to make this faster. Once you have circles, take one and fold it in half, then in half again. Finally, stick a straight pin through the folded tip and stick it on the styrofoam tree. Keep pinning your circles on starting at the base and working your way to the top of the tree. I placed my pieces close together for a fuller look.

 I then took ribbon and tied it into small bows. Stick a straight pin through the center and stick them on to the tree in random spots. And that's it. I made these in an evening while watching tv and I am happy with the way they turned out.

For the rest of the nook I took the silhouette portraits I created years ago using Ikea frames and scrapbook paper and quickly added a new one for my daughter and son (since he wasn't here the first time I made these and her profile had changed from being a baby). On the other side I simply filled an apothecary jar with red, silver, and green ornaments, a jar with dollar store peppermint sticks and a cute little santa...and called it good. It is a nice little way to come out of our bedroom each morning. A little Christmas decor always puts me in a better mood :)

Merry Christmas,
Shannon