Chick-fil-a Cow Appreciation Day *Free Meal*

For those of you that don't already know...today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a July 2014.

Click here for the official website. We have had several cow associated related costumes and attire in the past. This year, I made some simple capes for my three super heroes. I sewed a lightning bolt on the back, and attached some ribbon to tie around their neck. However, you could just as easily use press in tape or adhesive to whip up some of these capes!

 

 

Q: What is Cow Appreciation Day?

A: For one day only, black and white spots, cow bells and furry ears will be appropriate attire in the nation's second largest chicken chain. In celebration of July 11, Cow Appreciation Day, an unofficial – yet nationally recognized holiday, Chick-fil-A will award a free combo meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) to any customer who comes to one of the chain's 1,200-plus restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

 

Q: What does "fully dressed as a cow" really mean?

A: "Fully dressed like a cow" means effort to be dressed like a cow from head to toe. "Partial cow attire" means just a cow accessory, such as a cow-printed hat, vest or purse.

 

Here are some of our past projects...

 

 

We just glued some black felt on a white t-shirt.

 

 

This was a fancier version of the cape we made in the past. I can't seem to find it though after our move 6 months ago!

 

 

Either way, the point is you can score some free Chick-fil-a today! They even have free printables on their website to make it really simple.

 

 

Good luck with your cow costumes! We must fly off now to Chick-fil-a to celebrate this special day!!

 

Easy Sew Envelope Pillow Covers

I am so excited to share with you these lovely and easy to sew pillows. My cousin's wife emailed me with a project idea for her new apartment and I was thrilled. She ordered this fabulous fabric online and wanted to cover her current pillows with a more modern and chic look. I immediately loved her fabric choices. My house is more rustic, so it was a great opportunity to make something with bright and vibrant fabrics for a change.

These pillow are so inviting!

Instructions:

1. Cut your fabric long enough to wrap around your pillow horizontally with about a 6 inch overlay. Measure the height of the pillow and add 2 inches more.

For example if your pillow was 16x16...you would cut a piece of fabric width (16x2+6=38 inches)...and the height (16+2=18).

Goodness, this is hard to explain. I hope the picture helps. I am generous with the 2 inches extra, because it allows me to not have a perfect 1/4" seam.

2. Fold over the fabric on the short ends and sew a seam to give it a finished look.

3. Lay the fabric print side up and lay your pillow on top.

4. Fold up one side of fabric followed by the second side of fabric. Then, carefully slip out the pillow.

5. Once you slip out the pillow, secure the fabric with pins. See picture above and notation of where to sew.

 Sew along your pin line. (This is Sara sewing her first pillows!)

6. Turn pillow cover inside out and stuff your pillow inside your new cover.

The best thing about pillow covers is you can change them as often as you like, and you can also remove them for washing. What a bonus if you have kids, animals, or the husband that insists on eating on the couch! These may have taken us 10-15 minutes per cover including cutting, pinning, sewing, and covering. It's time to spruce up your house for the summer!

Personalized Brown Paper Candy Pouches

Well, I am still in wedding planning mode for the party this weekend. (Stock the Bar and Lingerie Shower). I want it to be intimate like a wedding reception, because my cousin and his fiance are having a destination wedding. Granted, there are about 30 people going, but that just means there are another 50+ that are not. I saw this cute idea for candy pouches on Peppermint Plum. I thought they would make perfect little candy pouches to set around the tables at dinner with mints or snacks. I went to my trusty stamping set and began stamping their last name. I wanted to jazz the brown paper up a bit.

Supplies:

Brown paper or bag

Pencil or pen

Scissors

Stamp set (optional)

Sewing machine

Candy or snack

Directions:

1. I used a brown paper sack from the grocery store to make my heart candy pouch wedding favors. I was able to make sixteen hearts out of one bag. I made a template out of heavy paper and traced my hearts.

2. Next, I stamped the hearts with the wedding couples last name to add a personalized touch. My stamping was not perfect with the stamps I had, but I kind of like the messy look of extra ink. For some reason, I think the extra ink adds a vintage flare.

3. Begin stitching around your candy pouch, allowing a small opening, to insert your candy or snack through.

4. Carefully finish sewing to close the pouch.

5. Guests may just rip the brown paper candy pouch open for their treat!

Of course, you can make these candy pouches for anything. Some ideas I thought of were classroom favors, baby shower favors, teacher appreciation gifts (apple shape), or just lunch box treats.

Brown paper is so versatile because it can be drawn on, painted on, run through your printer, or stamped on for decoration. Good luck making a favor for your favorite upcoming event!

Labels: DIY Wedding Favors, Wedding snacks, Easy wedding favors, Personalized wedding favors, personalized baby shower favors

Heart Quilt for Valentine's Day

I wanted to share with you the first quilt I ever made. It is perfect for the Valentine season. I don't quilt enough these days because of the time involved. I do much better with fast crafts and projects. My youngest, otherwise known as Captain Grouchy in the mornings, adores my sewing machine. I can't sew without him in my lap, and you can only guess how well that goes. There are way too many buttons and shiny moving parts that he wants to touch, turn, and grab.

This heart quilt pattern has a very simple concept. Four squares are made of plaids and four squares are small prints. I created a heart pattern to pin to the 4 squares to cut out the heart form. Then I sewed a heart on top of each four square, alternating patterns. I sewed the heart with 1/4" seam so the rough edges would show and fray with washing.

Ten years later, this quilt is still in great shape. My friends all tease me that I won't have anything to do when I am 90, because I already sew quilts and do crafts. Ha! Maybe I will be better at it by then.

Decorated Dish Towel with Fabric Belt

I love the bright pink and green of summer flowers and was inspired to make a dish towel in those vibrant colors. I found a fabric belt at a garage sale for 10 cents and thought it would be the perfect addition to some green and white tea towels I had at home.

Supplies:

Tea Towel

Fabric Belt

Ric-Rac

I started by folding the cloth belt in accordion style and then I pinned it carefully in place.

I stitched a line at the top and a line at the bottom of the belt to secure it to the towel.

Then I sewed some pink ric-rac down the middle.

It was a quick ten minute fix to brighten a plain green and white dish towel. My kitchen can always use an extra spot of fun and color. I would love to see some of your jazzed up dish towels!

Parties I linked to:



http://gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com/

Challenge: Vinyl Tablecloth Repurposed

I created a fun challenge for myself last week. I purchased a vinyl tablecloth for $3.50 and I wanted to see how many things I could create from my little purchase. (Just remember you can choose any pattern of tablecloth you want. I picked patriotic because it is almost the 4th of July) Challenges help me get my creative juices flowing and they are a great excuse to make some new treasures. The adventure begins...

Here is the tablecloth I purchased at Big Lots. It was oblong and measured 52" x 70".

1. Table Runner: I cut a section off the tablecloth using my rotary cutter to fit over one of my antique buffets.

2. Snack Bag: Cut two rectangles ...x.... Place right sides together and sew around edge leaving 1/4" seam allowance and small opening. Use small opening to turn fabric inside out. Fold over as shown below.

Stitch around three sides leaving the top open. Velcro or a snap makes a great addition.

I was surprised at what a hit the snack bag was. My son asked if he could use it every day.

3. Outdoor Pillows: I sewed two small pillows up and placed them on a red bench on my patio with my cute armadillo. (Armadillo is the Texas State animal)

4. Pennant: Cut triangles out of tablecloth. I kept the finished seam at the top as shown below. I used a hot glue gun to adhere the flags to white rope.

Here are the flags hanging up. I love how crisp they look without any sewing at all! Looks like we are ready to party.

5. Party Favor Music Makers: I wrapped fabric around toilet paper rolls and hot glued it on.

Then we filled them with beans and tied the ends shut. Shake, shake, shake!!

6. Patriotic Cards: I cut some stars out of the extra fabric and made up several 4th of July cards.

7. Hair Band: I cut out several stars and layered them on top of each other. I sewed a button on top and around a hair band.

8. Baby bib: First I traced around an old bib on two separate pieces of fabric. Cut out and place right sides together. I also cut out a small piece of clear vinyl to serve as a pocket. Pin and sew around edges leaving 1/4" seam allowance. I left a small opening to turn the bib inside out. Next, sew around the edges to finish it off. A snap was added at the top. This is one of my favorites!

9. Popsicle Holders: These can be stitched or made using hot glue. There is a great tutorial at Brown Paper Packages for hot glue. Click here. I just sewed around three edges and turned them inside out. I tried them out and they work even better then I expected.

Well,...that is it!! I am officially out of fabric. Thank goodness!!

  9 projects for $3.50

Parties I linked to: