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Tips: Sharpen Your Sewing Tools

July 22, 2016 Leave a Comment

It is the last week for sewing tips for July’s Must Have Craft Tips & More.

If it is your first time here, my friends, Michele of The Scrap Shoppe, Bev of Flamingo Toes, Kara of Mine for the Making and I (Allison of A Glimpse Inside), pick a theme for each month and share a special tip to go with that theme every Friday.

And like I stated in the beginning, we are finishing up some great Sewing tips! In case you missed them, check out Tip 1, Tip 2, and Tip 3.

Today, I wanted to share with you a few super simple ways to sharpen those tools of yours!

Most scissors, rotary cutters, pins and needles get dull over time from use.
They can easily be sharpened with a few items you probably already have sitting around the house.

My number one go to is Foil. Yep! Aluminum foil that you have sitting in a drawer in your kitchen.
I know I always have this on hand so I go to it first.

All you have to do is take a large piece of foil and fold it numerous times.
Then get to cutting!
Test your scissors on a scrap piece of fabric as you go to see if you need to sharpen them a little more.

This is perfect for all types of scissors.

This is excellent for Pinking Shears because really, how else are you going to sharpen those crazy, toothy blades?

And is great for rotary cutters as well!

And if foil doesn’t cut it for you, you can also use sand paper or steel wool to sharpen your cutting tools. So Sew Easy has examples of both of these methods on her blog.

I’ve never tried the sand paper but have done the steel wool. I’d highly recommend doing it over a trash can!Now do you need to sharpen those pins and needles too?!
Here are two types of pin cushions you can create to help with that problem.

This cute steel wool pin cushion is perfect!
Just run your pins and needles through the cushion a few times to sharpen them.
Just don’t store the n the cushion! The steel wool will rust your pins.

Another option is to created an Emery Pincushion using emery powder. This one you can use to store your needles and pins.And here is one last tip. It isn’t for sharpening but just a cool tip to help get those pins in and out of fabric a little easier.

Don’t have any more stubborn pins by slipping them into a bar of soap for a little lubricant.

Here are a few pin cushion ideas you can make to create one of these sharpening pin cushions for yourself.

1. 15 Cute DIY Pincushions
2. Embroidered Mason Jar Pincushion
3. Chic Pincushion
4. Le Pouf Pincushion

See you next month with all new tips!

Filed Under: crafts, sewing, tips, tutorial Tagged With: sewing tips, sewing tools

DIY Makers Camp for Kids

July 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello there makers! It’s been a HOT summer here in Arizona and I’ve been having fun finding things for us to do to not only keep us busy but keep us cool. When I found out about Pinspiration’s DIY Makers Camp for Kids, I knew that my daughter would LOVE to attend.

The summer camp is a week long for 3 hours a day and each day the kids are creating something new.

Lots of active participation and engagement in a studio full of craft and art supplies. Talk about the perfect place to let your kids creative juices flow!

A few of the projects my daughter made and came home with were: a teepee, an art caddy, a magnetic dancing doll, shaving cream art, a Tic-Tac-Toe game, and a painted tile.

Each day/week the projects change, so you can register your children for multiple weeks if you want! And we loved the camp teachers… they were so sweet and helpful and patient with all of the kids.

They also listened to a story, did science experiments, colored, painted, played games, and made new friends.

Have you been to Pinspiration yet? It’s a DIY, art and craft studio that has rotational, Pinterest-inspired crafts and projects. I tell you about the top 3 reasons you should visit Pinspiration HERE and we also had a Back To School Party at Pinspiration last year that you can check out HERE.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Snapchat (@mineforthemakin) so you can catch the behind the scenes of all the fun things we do! Here’s our Facebook Live of our first day at camp at Pinspiration in case you missed it!

Posted by Mine for the Making on Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Filed Under: crafts, DIY, kid-friendly, pinterest, summer Tagged With: kids camp, Pinspiration, summer camp

DIY Adventure Frame

July 18, 2016 1 Comment

I was given products to review in exchange for this post. All opinions and ideas are 100% my own and I only share products and companies I really love.

Hello there and happy Monday friends! Our school year is getting ready to start up so I thought it would be fun if my daughter and I recapped all of the fun things we’ve done so far this summer. We’ve explored our state and have gone on new hikes and adventures, which is probably both of our favorites. To remember what a fun summer we’ve had, we made a DIY Adventure Frame and she picked out her favorite picture from our adventures to put inside.

This frame was a really fun craft and something that you can make with and for your kids. Please be advised that children under 14 should have adult supervision and assistance with this craft. You will need a few supplies to get started…

wooden frame
foam brush
paint
Mod Podge
scrapbook paper
Spellbinders Prizm Die Cutting & Embossing Machine and Adventure die cuts
Spellbinders Tool N One

Once you have gathered your supplies, lay some newspaper down and paint your frame.

Then, following the directions of the Prizm, get your plates, die cuts, and paper set up.

Stack them like a sandwich and feed the plates into the Prizm. Use the crank to carefully slide them through the machine. Pull the plates out on the opposite side.

Use the Tool N One to help poke out the paper from the die cuts. The Prizm cuts so nicely!

Once the paint on your wooden frame is dry, Mod Podge the paper pieces on to your frame and let dry. Then go over the entire frame with one coat of Mod Podge to seal it. Allow 10-12 hours of dry time.

Finally, pick out and print a picture to put inside of your frame.

Now you have a wonderful memory to look back on in a cute DIY Adventure Frame. I bet you have a couple of summer adventures worth framing!

I love the look of the aqua against the map scrapbook paper, don’t you? My daughter was super happy with how her frame turned out and rightfully so. It’s adorable.

What kinds of adventures have you gone on this summer and how do you record those memories?

Filed Under: crafts, DIY, frames, kid-friendly, tutorial

Tips for Sewing with Kids

July 15, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello there and welcome to another week of Must Have Craft Tips- hosted by Michele of The Scrap Shoppe, Bev of Flamingo Toes, Allison of A Glimpse Inside, and me (Kara of Mine for the Making). Every week we share a fun and different tip or trick and this month it’s all about sewing! This week I am sharing Tips for Sewing with Kids… what a great summer activity to get your kids involved in!

Tip #1 Gather and use the correct sewing tools. Before setting your child down to learn to sew, be sure you have all the necessary sewing tools. It’s also a good idea to talk about the names of the tools and what they are used for. Here are 10 sewing tools/supplies you’ll need to get started.

Tip #2 Utilized hand sewing cards. There are so many of these free printables online and they are easy to make yourself too. This is a great hand-on activity that is also great for fine motor skills. You can even utilize this activity while on a road trip, airplane, or camping!

Tip #3 Learn the machine. If your child will be sewing using a sewing machine, it’s important to teach about the parts of the machine and how to safely use and operate it. This will eliminate future problems and create a much easier learning environment.

Tip #4 Sewing Camp! Create a sewing camp for your kid(s) or if you aren’t well versed in sewing, seek out and find a sewing camp or class that your kid(s) can take. They will be able to participate and get a hands-on learning experience with other kids who are learning the same skills.

Tip #5 Practice!! Practice makes progress. There are tons of beginner project ideas for sewing by hand and sewing with a machine. Utilize Pinterest and blogs for great ideas and free patterns.

I hope you find these tips for sewing with kids useful! Be sure to click on the links within the post to get further information, ideas, and freebies related to sewing with kids. Do you have any tips not mentioned?

Let us know if there’s any topics of interest you might have, and we’d love to gather up tips and tricks for you! Have a great weekend friends!

Filed Under: crafts, kid-friendly, sewing, tips

Seven Great Sewing Time Savers

July 8, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello and welcome to another week of Must Have Craft Tips – hosted by Michele from The Scrap Shoppe, Allison from A Glimpse Inside, Kara from Mine for the Making and me (Bev from Flamingo Toes)!

Every week we bring a different fun tip or trick and this month we are all about Sewing tips! This week I’m sharing Seven Great Sewing Time Savers – these are great ways to speed up your sewing projects and make everything easier. Something I can definitely use more of!

So let’s dive right in!

Time Saver #1: Use craft supplies in fun new ways! When I’m sewing multiple rows on something, or even just something with a wide width, rather than having to stop often and measure my seam allowance, I have a fun way to keep track! I add a strip of washi tape right onto my machine to mark where to line up the edge of my fabric. It can be moved easily and it’s cute too! You can check out the whole Burlap and Lace Table Runner here to see what the finished project looks like!

Time Saver #2: One of the things I struggle with is organization! But if you keep your space tidy, it speeds up the entire process because you’re not spending 20 minutes looking for that kelly green bobbin you filled 2 months ago. Here’s a great bobbin storage idea for always finding the one you need quickly!

Time Saver #3: Along those same lines is Tip #3 – Keep your Most Used Sewing Tools Handy. It’s so easy for a sewing table to get buried under multiple projects, supplies and more. If you have a spot like this Sewing Machine Organizer, you won’t be hunting for your thread scissors or marking pens!

You can make some similar for your Ironing Board as well!

Time Saver #4: Invest in a rotary cutter and mat. So much of sewing is cutting out straight lines, squares, rectangles and more. Cutting these out will be so much easier and more accurate with a cutter and mat! You can even use a rotary cutter for cutting out apparel patterns. Once you get the hang of it you will find your cuts are more accurate than with scissors!

Time Saver #5: Have Binder Clips on hand! There are several fabrics that you don’t want to use pins on – vinyl, leather and even heavyweight fabrics. These are perfect for using binder clips. They don’t pierce the fabric but they hold everything in place. And they give you an excuse to buy cute office supplies too! (Tutorial for Leather Fold Over Clutch)

Time Saver #6: Keep your supplies for a project together. If you gather up all the thread, zippers, notions and fabric before you get started, it will make it so much easier to finish the project. Especially if the project is put in the To Be Finished pile. Fabric Baskets are so quick to sew up and are great for keeping the supplies together and organized!

Time Saver #7 : Use Resources for Learning More! It sounds silly to say it – but there are soooo many amazing seamstresses out there and they have so many great ideas for improving your sewing. Dive into to sewing groups online, pick up new sewing books at the library, and spend time on Pinterest checking out ideas. (Yep. I just gave you permission to spend time on Pinterest.) There are tons of genius tips and hacks out there and Pinterest is a great place to find them and keep track of them! I’ve started a Sewing Tips and Tricks board if you want to see some of the ideas I’ve collected there.

So we’d love to know – what are your favorite Sewing Timesavers?? Leave all your tips in the comments!

Filed Under: crafts, sewing, tips

Road Trip Tips and Essentials

July 5, 2016 6 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #ShareTheLyrics #CollectiveBias

It’s summertime and you know what that means… vacations and road trips! Our family loves a good road trip. Whether it’s some place in our state we want to explore or a cross country trip, bring it on. We love to travel and most of the time we find it easiest to jump in the car and travel that way. Since we do it so often, we have a routine down… a system that works for us and that I thought I would share with you. Though I am no expert, I am full of wanderlust at heart and we travel often, so here are my road trip tips and essentials. This is focused more on road trips and travel with kids, but take whatever info you find helpful.

If you are taking your own vehicle, be sure to have the tires aired up and checked, fluids topped off, and an oil change if necessary.
Make your kid(s) a road trip kit complete with a road map, road trip seek & find/BINGO (printables all over Pinterest), book(s), coloring books and twistable crayons (they don’t melt as easily and you avoid paper wrappers and sharpening), Mad Libs, small pillow, and a Kindle or iPad with headphones (loaded with new games, books, music, movies).
Download a gas station app so that you can find the best priced gas along the way as well as the nearest gas stations along your journey.
Pack easily accessible snacks and drinks. I utilize baggies and plastic containers to the max. I also love personal coolers because they are nice and compact and there’s a flat top to use as a table top in the car.

Utilize rest stops for bathroom breaks and to stretch your legs (and the kids’). Sometimes I’ll have my daughter do a few jumping jacks, sprints, and yoga stretches to get some of the jitters out. It’s fun with the adults participate too!
Bring quarters for the kids. We reward good road trip behavior with quarters. Then at rest stops they can be used to purchase a treat or in the quarter machines that have stickers and tiny trinkets.
Bring a camera or a phone with lots of empty space for pictures along the way. Don’t be afraid to pull off the road (safely and in the designated areas of course) to take pictures and explore. I love looking back on our family travel photos.
Have a road trip play list ready to go. Have all of your family’s favorite songs ready for their listening pleasure. (This can even include audio books!)
Research ahead of time! Plot out and find cool and interesting places to stop along the way. This can be natural features, museums, parks, monuments, hikes, visitor centers, thrift and antique stores, farmer’s markets and festivals, historical places, restaurants, etc. Explore!
If you’ve done a lot of driving, be sure to check those tires and fluids in the car before you hit the road back home.

And don’t forget to refill those coolers with snacks and drinks for on the way back home! I hope you found my road trip tips helpful.

This personal cooler is one of my road trip essentials we’ve been bringing on our most recent adventures and I love it (so does my daughter)! It fits my Diet Coke cans nicely as well as my daughter’s road trip snack baggies and water bottle (we refill it with a jug when needed) while keeping everything nice and cool. It’s not too big and bulky, so it fits well in the back seat or on the floor of the car. The flat top lid makes a great surface for snack eating or even coloring pictures.

I am also loving the new Diet Coke cans with the fun song lyrics on them and felt inspired to add some lyrics to our little cooler. Isn’t it cute?! It’s super easy to do and only took me a few minutes.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to design and cut a vinyl sticker for the front of the cooler. I used lyrics off of one of the Diet Coke cans I was drinking… because I couldn’t get the song out of my head and I thought it would be clever on a cooler that holds our snacks and drinks. Plus, music is a big part of our road trips, as we are often singing loudly together in the car. No shame here! We love music!

Head over to your nearest Sam’s Club for Coca-Cola and Diet Coke and get yourself road trip ready while you sing your favorite song lyrics right off the cans.

Do you have any road trip tips? I’d love to hear where your family is adventuring to this summer!

Filed Under: beverage, crafts, silhouette, tips, travel, tutorial, vacation Tagged With: family vacation, road trip

Sewing: Trim

July 1, 2016 1 Comment

Another Friday means another new Craft Tip. A new month means a new theme! Today we’re talking about a tip for sewing trim.

In case you’re new to our series, each month my friends Bev, Kara, Allison, and myself will be bringing you a new craft tip, with a different theme each month. We just finished up organization tips in June, and we are moving on to sewing tips for July!

I am certainly no expert seamstress. I’m self-taught and have only been doing it for a few years now. I don’t know all the “jargon” and certainly look up my fair share of “how to’s” on Google. I also like to try things my way which may seem outside the box to your average sewer. But, if it works it works, am I right?

This little bottle is my sewing secret. I know what you’re thinking… glue??? With SEWING??? YES!

I was recently trying to stitch some tiny little pom pom trim to a piece of fabric and things were just NOT going my way. Like I said earlier, I’m no sewing expert and this trim was on my last nerve. I really wanted to use it but not if it was going to frustrate me so.

I started searching my craft room for ideas to solve my problem and came across this bottle of Zip Dry. Like it says on the bottle, it is used mainly for paper crafts because, though it is a wet adhesive, it doesn’t wrinkle the paper when you use it. It also dries very quickly.

The precision tip on the Zip Dry allows you to place a thin line of the adhesive exactly where you want it. I decided to give it a try!

Now, two things: 1) I needed to fabric to remain flexible, and 2) I needed to be able to sew over the trim without messing up my sewing machine needle.

I wanted to add a row of blue, white, and red trim to this piece of denim. I glued on each row and gave it just a few minutes to dry.

Unless you put the fabric up to your nose and noticed the lack of stitches you would never know the trim was glued on! Using the adhesive gave me a lot more control over how the trim laid on the fabric as opposed to trying to stitch it in place.

Now, did it meet my two criteria?

Yes! I was able to easily bend the fabric (you honestly could not tell the trim was glued it was so flexible) and I was able to stitch over the trim as needed.

I did a Facebook Live video with my little trick when I first discovered it. You can see how pliable the fabric remained after gluing the trim down.

You don’t have to save this trick for just tiny pom pom trim. Use it on ric rac, thin ribbon, decorative ribbon, rope, or whatever you might be using that you find hard to attach to fabric by sewing.

I hope you found this useful! We’ll be sharing more sewing tips every Friday this month!

Got a craft problem? We’re always looking for new topics to provide tips on! Leave us a comment letting us know what you want craft tips about, and we’ll add it to our calendar.

Filed Under: crafting, crafts, sewing, tips

Must Have Craft Tips and More

June 10, 2016 Leave a Comment

I have such an exciting new series to tell you about today!

If you’ve visited here before, you will have seen the Pinterest Feature Friday posts that we share every Friday. They have been so fun to write and we have all loved finding new friends to follow and pins to keep, but we felt like it was time for something new!

So today I’m introducing a new series that will be held here every Friday – Must Have Craft Tips and more! I’m partnering with Allison from A Glimpse Inside, Bev from Flamingo Toes, and Michelle from The Scrap Shoppe to bring you a fun and creative craft tip every week!

These tips will cover everything from crafting, organizing, sewing, DIY and more and will be great time-savers, cool tricks and new ways of doing things. We’re excited to share our ideas with you all and hope you find the series to be a great resource!

We’d also love to know about any tips you’d like – do you have a favorite craft you would like a tip for – or maybe some help with organization? We’ll be putting our calendar for the rest of the year together so leave a comment letting us know what you’d like to see!

Make sure you stop in next week for our first post in the series!

Filed Under: crafting, crafts, decor, DIY, tips Tagged With: craft tips, decor tips, DIY tips

DIY Flamingo Shirt

May 5, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello there makers!

I am so excited to finally have a chance to share a craft with y’all. Last month I attended a blogging conference (SNAP) and I needed flamingo attire for one of the themed parties. Of course I waited to the last minute (read: I was busy up until the last second) and couldn’t find anything and didn’t have time to order anything online. Insert crafting opportunity at it’s finest. That’s when I decided I was just going to have to make something myself. Check out how my DIY Flamingo Shirt turned out…

To make your own, you’ll need:

Silhouette Cameo (or a similar machine)
freezer paper
craft paint and fabric medium
iron
cardboard
sponge brush
blow dryer
shirt (Walmart for less than $4)

I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the image I wanted on my shirt and then cut the image out on freezer paper. I put cardboard inside the shirt and placed the freezer paper flamingo and hearts on the shirt.

*You could use the inside of the stencil rather than the outside and get a different look as well.

After you place the stencil where you want, carefully iron it onto the shirt. Make sure that the shiny part of the freezer paper is down, on the shirt.

Next you’ll want to get your paints ready. Mix a few drops of medium in with the craft paint and mix around. This will prevent the paint from washing out of your shirt.

Now you are ready to sponge the paint onto the shirt however you want. I wanted mine to look painted, so I emphasized the sponge look.

After the area you want is covered, carefully peal off your freezer paper stencil. I used tweezers to help get the freezer paper lifted.

Use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process and help set the paint onto the shirt. After it’s dry, throw it into the dryer for a quick tumble. Then it’s ready to wear!

Thank goodness for those last minute craft projects that save your booty! I really love the way it turned out and it was perfect for the party at SNAP conference.

I even got a special fan girl moment in my DIY Flamingo Shirt with my all time favorite crafter, Heidi Swapp. Talk about awesome!! More details on my fan girl moment and time at SNAP conference to come… it really deserves it’s own blog post!

So go make yourself some freezer stencil shirts, makers! The options are endless and it’s a fun, inexpensive craft. What would you put on a shirt with freezer paper?

Filed Under: clothing, crafts, DIY, fashion, silhouette, tutorial Tagged With: craft, DIY, flamingo, paint

DIY Party Fringe

September 12, 2015 1 Comment

I have been OBSESSED with fringe lately. . . I just think it looks so fun and festive! I also love that it is easy and inexpensive to make. I typically use tissue paper to make fringe, but I had some left over crepe paper streamers from a previous project, and thought I’d try using it this time. How fun is this DIY Party Fringe?

This is probably one of the easiest party décor DIY projects you can do. . . easy enough you can involve the little people in your life too! This project is also super diverse! You can make numbers, letters, shapes. . . whatever you want to complement your party theme and color.

In this case, I made a number to stand on a welcome table for a two year old birthday party, however, I think it would look adorable on a cake table, food table, hanging on a wall, or even on the front door to welcome guests.

So, let’s get to it. Here’s how to make your own fringe number.

Materials

Cardboard (I used a piece of a diaper box I had on hand)
Crepe Paper Streamers in Various Colors (you could also use tissue paper)
Adhesive
Scissors

*You may also want a x-acto knife to make cutting easier.

Step 1

Draw the shape you would like to create on your cardboard. In this case, I chose to free-hand draw the number two.

Step 2

Cut out your shape. You could certainly use scissors, but since my cardboard was a little thicker, I used a x-acto knife.

Step 3

To help myself create straight lines of fringe, I drew faint lines as markers.

Step 4

Cut strips of streamers to longest length needed to cover your shape.
Fold streamers in half.
Fringe cut the folded streamer.
Open and cut streamer down the center so you have 2 fringed pieces (approx. 3/4 inch wide).