Christmas Fabric Collection

     I’m starting a collection of Christmas fabric.  I’ve never had a really big Christmas fabric collection because when I needed Christmas fabric I would buy just enough and use it up.  But now that I’m expanding my Christmas sewing to include pillow covers, napkins, and potholders, it’s time to have a collection for Christmas sewing.   I found some really cute fabrics this year and I’m also including the pieces of pretty homespun that I bought to make the tree and wreath ornaments this year. 

     This collection will be stored in its very own container so I can find them during the year when I get an urge to work on Christmas 2018 ornaments, pillow covers, hanging kitchen towels, napkins, or potholders for the holiday. 

    And I'll definitely be shopping for more Christmas fabric throughout the year to add to my collection.

Review - Mini Hi-Temp Glue Gun

I bought this glue gun from Amazon.com.  I couldn't resist the colorful plastic cover on this gun, it's awesome. 

I've used this glue gun three times in the last couple of weeks.  It gets hot very quickly (within 8 minutes) and the glue flows very nicely when the trigger is pressed.  I noticed that the glue gun does not drip when I'm not using it which is nice because that will save a little bit of glue.  The stand is actually molded from the plastic (not one of those wire stands) and it works very well.  This tiny glue gun fits in a plastic pencil box along with the 30 mini glue sticks.

Easy Christmas Tree Decorations

    I found these cute Christmas tree ornaments on Facebook and made three to give to my dear daughter.  Here is the link to a similar tutorial made with scrap ribbon.  Link to fabric Christmas trees. 

     I made mine a little different.  I used a dowel that I cut up into three different sizes.  I filed the ends of each piece to round off the edges caused by the cutting.  I painted the dowel stick, then I cut up 1.5" wide strips of fabric into 8" long pieces and I also used some green ribbon I had.  I tied the fabric to the dowel and trimmed it into a triangle.  I found the wooden stars at Michaels and painted them with some silver glitter paint I had.  I glued the star to the top and added a piece of twine for hanging. 

    These were easy and fun to make.

Another Christmas Decoration DIY

   A few weeks ago I was checking out the gift bag selection in all the stores and I saw some cute gift bags, like the scenes with the red truck and cute trees.  I don't need any Christmas gift bags because I don't give gifts at Christmas anymore, so I didn't buy any. 

    By the time I had the idea to buy a bag and put it in a frame for a decoration in the house, I had missed out on the red truck gift bags but I did find this sweet bag at WalMart to cut up and frame.  I would call this a medium sized bag and I cut it in half, removed the handles (carefully) and put it in an 8" x 10" frame that I also found at WalMart.  I think this cost me $7.00 to make.

    I love this.  I will definitely be doing this again next year. 

Rustic Christmas Tree Ornaments And A Quick Product Review

   I made tree ornament with the mason jar band and strips of fabric.  They turn out like little wreaths and they are super cute. I love rustic bows and buttons.  Here is a link to the video tutorial (it's the first ornament she makes in the video) homespun tree ornaments link.   The person in the video uses only homespun fabric for her ornaments but I used a mixture of homespun and Christmas patterned quilting cotton.  I think this will work with any fabric.  Have fun with it.

    I found out while making these ornaments that I desperately need a new glue gun.  I've had my Aleene's Glue Gun for twelve years and I dread taking it out to use because it takes so long to heat up and the glue just doesn't flow very well.  It's time for a newer model.  I went shopping on Amazon tonight and picked out two glue guns, one that takes full size glue sticks and has two temperature settings and a mini glue gun that is high temperature only.  I'm looking forward to upgrading my equipment.  I hope to do a review of my glue guns after I have had a chance to try them out.

    Here are the ornaments I made tonight.  I will definitely be making more of these.

    I want to mention that when I made my pleated/textured Christmas tree I used a product called Craft-Fuse by Pellon (Style 808) Iron-On Backing For Crisp Hand & Added Body.  It's a heavy duty fusible interfacing, and I used it to stabilize my tree piece while adding the sides to it.  It worked great.  It fused easily to the fabric and stayed put once it was ironed.  So if you are looking for a heavier weight interfacing to stabilize that is fusible, try Craft-Fuse.  It really works.  I bought two packs of this from Amazon about a year ago and I forgot I had it until I was looking for interfacing to do this project.  I'm glad I had it.

Pleated Christmas Tree - Framed

   I'm loving the Christmas sales the last few weeks.  I'm finding a lot of items for my crafting on sale.  I found this sweet 8 x 10 frame at Joann's Fabrics yesterday and it was 50% off, so I paid $4.99.   It's got an easel in the back so I don't have to hang it up I just put it up on my kitchen counter to decorate.  I'm going to experiment making these trees a little bigger.  This would make a great pillow cover.  I'm having fun with my Christmas crafting.

Pleated Christmas Tree - Finished.

  The sewing is done on the Christmas Tree.  I just have to put it in a frame.  I love this.  I just ordered some fun green fabrics to make more of these over the next year.  I also ordered a pretty gray with small pin dots that I think will look like a snow covered tree at night.  Fun.  Included in that order was some white fabric for the borders because I am completely out of white fabric.  Weird.

    Here is my finished pleated Christmas Tree. 

 

Pleated Christmas Tree Project and More

    I found this pleated Christmas tree tutorial a few years ago and I made one that I gave away to my daughter.   Here is a link to the tutorial:  pleated tree skirt tutorial.  I've been wanting to make one for  myself and I'm doing it now.  This is easy to make and you can have fun with colors for the tree and the tree skirt.  I stayed with Christmas colors for this one, but I will definitely be experimenting with colors for the next one I make.

    I will add the tree skirt on this one and it will be ready to frame.

      I've been watching Youtube videos on how to make easy and cheap Christmas decorations.  I love the snowflakes made with clothes pins.  I bought very small clothes pins from an etsy seller to make a few of these to add to my decorations.  I need to buy some silver spray paint and silver glitter to make them sparkle.  Here is a link to a Youtube video: Clothes Pin Snowflakes.

     I also like to the decorations I've seen made with the mason jar lid band.  I saw a lady tie a bunch of homespun strips around the band and it turned out extra cute.   Here's a link to her tutorial, she makes four different ornaments in this one.  Homespun Christmas Ornaments Youtube tutorial.  And yes, I have some mason jar lid bands for this project as well. 

    I also found a paper star tutorial on Youtube.  Here's a link:  Paper Stars.  I haven't done a lot of paper crafts, but this one looks doable.  I'm going to give it a try in the next few weeks.  I'll let you know how I get on.

No progress to report on my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt top.  I'm still stuck on the third row.