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My So Called Green Life...: How to Sew a Credit Card Wallet, Business, or Gift Card holder

My So Called Green Life...: How to Sew a Credit Card Wallet, Business, or Gift Card holder
Update: I've finally created a Flickr group where you can upload photos of the credit card wallets you've made. I've seen some really fun versions out there, so please share them with us here~ I'm a huge purse-lover, but I always find myself grabbing my driver's license and credit card when running into the grocery store, post office, out to drop the kids off at school, etc., so I love having these little wallets in a multitude of colors and patterns. They're light enough to grab and go and compact enough to slide in my back pocket. The tutorial I did for this version has been the most popular post on my blog every week since I put it up in November of 2008. Credit Card / Business Card / Gift Card Holder Tutorial Materials: Two pieces of fabric cut to 6" x 4.5" One piece 6" x 4" in coordinating fabric for inside pocket One piece of interfacing cut to 6" x 4.5" Closure - snap, button and/or pony tail band (I'll give instructions for each.)

Holder for Charging Cell Phone (made from lotion bottle) My husband and I both have cell phones. And both of us have phone chargers. And that means lots of obnoxious cords. You never know when one of us may be moving phone cords around, to give our phones an extra charge while we’re chatting away……… or trying to charge our phones up before running errands or something. Needless to say, those phone cords seem to be everywhere…..and are generally in the way and hanging all over the floor. (Okay, and how about when you’re in a hotel or visiting family/friends. I was looking around on the internet for a solution and found this. It made the perfect little holder for my cell phone while it’s being charged. Holder for Charging Cell Phone And no more phone hanging down from the outlet while in this room or that room……..the cord and phone are now up off the ground, and tucked away into the little holder, while the phone drinks up a full charge. If you look closely, you can see that the orange print is fabric. And turns out, it’s pretty useful.

DIY Wrap Bracelet You should all know by now that we are all about stacking bracelets on our wrists. The more, the better. In fact . . . the most, the best! With that being said, we’ll show you how to master a version of the ever so popular wrap bracelet. It’s so simple and addicting, you’ll soon be churning out these wristlets with your eyes closed. Clearly this arm party train isn’t stopping and it’s about time you get on board! You’ll need (for a double wrapped bracelet) :* Lengths will vary depending on the size of your wrist (see comments for suggestions). Fold the length of leather cording in half to form a loop. Place the ball chain along the leather cording with the end of the chain meeting the end of the wrap. Continue wrapping while checking it for fit around the wrist. When you have reached the end of the ball chain wrap the linen cording around the leather strands 2-3 more times. Thread the hex nut through the strands and tie a second knot. Trim with scissors and your wrap bracelet is finished!!

DIY Moleskine Scrapbook Erica and I never leave home without a Moleskine notebook (we still like to take notes the old fashioned way with a notebook and pen)! So when our friend Karen (of Lulu Loves Caleb) showed us her fabric embellished Moleskine Cahier Notebook, we jumped at the opportunity to have her show us how she did it. You’ll need a sewing machine, a kraft brown Moleskin Cahier Notebook of any size, a piece of fabric, a glue stick and a pair of scissors. Start by cutting down your fabric to a size that is small enough to fit on your notebook. It’s possible you won’t be able to stop yourself from sewing fabric to paper…it’s that addicting. (all images by Honestly…WTF)

Two Zip Hipster bag My mum just tried out Erin Erickson's Two Zip Hipster sewing pattern and sent over the result. And now we have a problem on our hands, because I love it so much I want a dozen of them in different fabrics. Is that greedy? It's my new favorite bag design. It's got a zipper closure so no worries about your wallet falling out. There's a pocket on the inside, plus two more on the outside. The 9" x 11" size is exactly what I like in a bag. Here are Mum's thoughts on the process of sewing it: "This pattern looks intimidating at first glance because it contains 32 pages, 17 of which are pattern pieces. The bag has two zippers. One of the things I liked best about making this bag was cutting it out (which I normally hate). So yeah. Update: Erin has now added tips for making an optional iPad pocket.Another update: Mom made another one!

Project 21 Week 23 – Crayon Alphabet I have been really excited about this project for a while, ever since I spotted it here. I thought this was the cutest idea, and immediately rushed off to research where I could find nice cheap shadow boxes and crayons. Flash forward a few weeks once I had assembled all my supplies, and this is what you get: I chose the letter B to start in honor of my little guy Basel, my adorable long-haired dachshund puppy. Not to mention, its just an interesting letter. Then once I had the letter sized appropriately I printed it out, cut the paper to size for my shadow box (purchased at Michaels, though I have my eye on some square frames at Ikea) and started cutting up my crayons. The original poster had also broken her crayons into pieces, but I like clean straight lines and edges so I cut mine with my Olfa blade. I think not only do these make cute teacher gifts as the original post suggests, but how adorable for a kids room?! So go out and have some multi-colored fun today! Like this:

Valentine's Day Wall Art I loved how my Valentine's Day garland and wreath looked so I decided to make another Valentine's Day decoration. In our living room we have a big blank wall that is patiently waiting for us to finish the wall art we plan on hanging. I decided to use that space and try to make a simple, cheap wall art. Supplies: Card stock, pattern to print (I did sheet music), scissors, tapeCost: $0 (I already had all of the supplies) I started off by printing off sheet music. Then I found a heart shape that I liked (via google images). I cut out the hearts by hand - I'm very jealous of people with cricuts or other similar machines that do it for you. :-) I had originally planned on just taping the hearts to the wall (I was going for very simple wall art) but decided it might look neat if the hearts stood a little bit off of the wall. Does that make sense? I printed the outline with the folding lines (light grey) onto card stock and cut them out. Then I taped them to the backs of the hearts. All done!

Super cute sewing tutorials Have you visited Anna Graham's blog Noodlehead yet? If you like to sew things that are so cute you can't stand it, rush right over there. Here's her free tutorial for gathered clutches (also available as a PDF pattern with other styling options for purchase right here.) Or maybe you want a little zippered pouch with a key ring. Maybe you want that zippered wallet to have some adorable detailing. Or maybe you want to sew a bike basket, a diaper keeper, a mail organizer, or a host of other useful things listed on Anna's blog. To see the lovely things others have made from her tutorials, like Yellow Poplar's pouches above, visit the Noodlehead Tutorials Flickr pool.

T-Shirt Refashion: Jersey Necklace Sometimes I feel like I ride on the coattails of creative people. Back in January as I was surfing my favorite blogs, I came across this post on Ultra Vroom about cardigans and fabric necklaces. I instantly fell in love and had to have a fabric necklace for my very own. If I remember correctly, I wore that necklace for 4 days in a row. I love my necklace so much, I’ve been wanting to share it with you for sometime, but haven’t worked on the tutorial until just now. Materials: 1 XXL or XXXL men’s t-shirtScissors and/or rotary cutterSewing machine and or needle & thread Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Cut open one end of each strip. Sew coiled ends together. Once finished braiding, sew ends together to make three separate rings of fabric. Cut a 5 x 7 inch square of fabric from the remainder of the shirt, fold it over the three braids and sew. Voila! If you twist the loop twice before doubling over, the necklace looks like this (above). P.S.

DIY+Pregnant Brain Without getting into too many details-the baby is going to be a little longer than we thought. We were afraid that she was going to be early, and now that she isn't, I sort of feel like I'm living life in limbo.I don't know if it's just me, or women in general, who find the strangest tasks to pass time until a baby arrives. Suddenly, the weirdest things pop on to our 'to do' lists, and become oddly important. Right before I had Reuben, for some reason, I decided that my living room futon needed a new cover. Before I had Zeke, I needed to get all my Christmas cards done early-not just written, that wasn't good enough. My mom also contributes to this fun little routine-I think that she nests right along with us. That, and that's what her Mom always did to "help". I couldn't help but laugh last week, when the two of us sat in my living room, and we found ourselves performing the strangest tasks yet-all in the name of "getting ready for baby."

Light Up the Night I'm one of those people that loves Christmas lights year-round. That might put me in the corny category, but I think even Christmas lights can look sophisticated thanks to these ideas. [spotted here: 1, 2, 3]

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