Sometimes the best ideas are the really simple ones.  I especially feel this way about holiday projects because holidays are sneaky.  They always creep up on me when I'm not looking and it never feels like I'm prepared for them!  If you find yourself caught off guard by the Fourth of July this year (it's in its way!) and need something festive to wear at your barbecue party or to give as a hostess gift, check out this easy tutorial by Susan from Living With Punks at Momtastic.  She used a pair of Dollar Tree dish towels cleverly pieced together to make a cute gingham-patterned flag apron!  [how to make a patriotic dish towel apron]

Project estimate:

• Dish towels, $2
• Ribbon, on hand or $1 and up
• Sewing machine, on hand

Total:  $2 and up

Last year, I collaborated with Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made to design a printable tea towel calendar. She provided the printable, and I designed the project and wrote the tutorial. I loved last year's design, so I updated the calendar part so we could use it again for 2011. This is a simple project idea, great for hostess gifts, teacher gifts, and gifts for friends, neighbors, mothers, or anyone else who would appreciate a pretty folk art-inspired tea towel calendar.

Project Estimate:

• Flour sack towel or stash fabric, $1 or on hand
• 2 Iron-on transfer sheets, about $1 each
• Patterned tea towel (optional), $1
• Dowel (optional), $1

Total: $2 and up

For instructions on how to make the calendar, check this post: How to Make a Tea Towel Calendar

For tons of inspiration, check out Cathe Holden's site: Just Something I Made

For the 2011 Printables:

Download Printable for 2011 Calendar:

• 2011-teatowel-calendar (Page 1)

• 2011-teatowel-calendar-page2 (Page 2)

if those links don't work, try this (hosted at Scribd):

• Printable Calendar, Page 1
• Printable Calendar 2011, Page 2

linked up:

Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap Up

Anna from Bumble Baybees made these adorable silhouette tea towels for pretty and colorful grandparent gifts. I love them - so happy and fun! These were her submission to Sew Dang Cute's Crafting with the Stars, and one of my favorite project submissions! I LOVE this because it is on-trend but it's a new/innovative take on silhouettes, plus it's useful and it's a grandparent gift. Win-win-win. Anna sewed these tea towels up herself, but you could very easily use the flour sack towels you can buy at the dollar store. Add a strip of designer fabric (or not), and make a freezer paper stencil with your little lovey's silhouette on it. Wouldn't a set of these be cute for those grandparents with multiple grandkids? Everyone, start your crafting engines, it's time to start making your holiday gifts now! [find out how to make silhouette tea towels]

Because of this great project, Anna was chosen as one of the top 12 crafters who got assigned to work with a "star" in Crafting with the Stars. I was the star who got to work with Anna, and it has been fun getting to know her! Round 1 was amazing, with 12 great crafts inspired by designer products. You have to check them all out! Unfortunately, Anna and I didn't get chosen to move on to the next round. I'm sad because I just know that Anna has a ton of great ideas to show off.

Project Estimate:

• Flour sack towel, $1
• Freezer paper and paint, on hand
• Contrasting fabric scrap, on hand

Total: $1

Awhile back, I stamped shirts with stamps and acrylic paints, noting that you can set the acrylic paint with vinegar and make it permanent (no fabric paint medium needed!). Since then, I've learned you can even skip the vinegar step. Have you ever gotten acrylic paint on your clothes while you were painting? I bet the paint's still there! Acrylic doesn't go anywhere once it dries! One of my favorite blogs, Filth Wizardry posted a great idea this week: decorate dollar store flour sack towels with permanent markers and acrylic paint and sew the towels up to make a colorful one-of-a-kind skirt (or shorts). [how to make painted tea towel skirts]

You can find flour sack towels and permanent markers at the dollar store. Sometimes they have tiny pots of acrylic paint, too, but I recommend investing in a few bottles of regular craft acrylic paint at the craft store. It comes in handy often!

Eden at eden ART took this concept and switched it up by rescuing a princess dress that had been stained. She just painted over the dress, stains and all, and turned her daughter's ruined dress into a work of rainbowy art! I love this idea for two reasons: one, you don't have to be able to sew to take part in this great project. Two, you can rescue stained clothing and give it a second life (especially awesome for special garments such as this princess dress). [how to make a painted princess dress]

Tips for working with kiddos plus permanent markers and acrylic paint:

1. Cover your work area with newspapers, or work outside where spills aren't as big of a deal
2. Clean up any spills immediately (even watered-down paint)
3. Permanent marker comes off skin with a little squirt of hand sanitizer (thanks for that tip, Eden!)
4. I distinguish between these supplies and washable ones with my kids by calling them "big boy" markers and paints and tell them the rules for using them (no painting on self, or on anything other than the designated canvas)
5. Don't use washable paint or markers for this project

Project Estimate:

• Flour sack towels, $1 each (optional)
• or, a stained piece of clothing, on hand
• Acrylic craft paints, on hand or $.50 each and up
• Permanent markers, on hand or $1
• Paint brushes, on hand

Total: FREE and up

Project Estimate:

• two dish towels, $1 each
• 3 1/2 yards 3/4" cotton twill tape, about $1/yd or on hand

Total:  $2 and up

Caroline Sanchez (Care) has been sewing since her mom taught her the basics at around six years old.  She has always been driven to CREATE, even from a very young age.  She is mommy to two little boys and one baby girl, and almost every spare moment she has is spent in her sewing room or working on her blog, Obsessively Stitching.

What do you do when you have spare upholstery samples, a couple of hours to kill, and no sewing machine? You hand-sew a backpack out of upholstery samples, that's what you do! I could have finished this in fifteen minutes with a sewing machine, but there was no sewing machine.* The good news? If you are afraid of sewing machines, you can make this backpack in about an hour and a half. Or, you can have your kids (mid-grade school and up) hand-sew them as a fun summer project.

I made this backpack last week while attending the Summit of Awesome (which, let me assure you, was AWESOME. I highly recommend you put it on your calendars for 2011). They had an all-hours craft table stocked with supplies, which could have entertained me for the entire week. I found a sample of this indoor-outdoor upholstery, which came in two pieces which were the same width, but one piece was about six inches shorter than the other one. The difference in size suggested "backpack" to me, and since I was at the conference sans my little toddler shadows, I thought they'd appreciate it if mommy made something for them. Yes, I craft all the time. No, I never craft for my kids (rarely, anyway). It's a sad fact.

If you don't have upholstery samples, use two dish towels or placemats. Or scrap fabric will also work. I padded the backpack straps with a felted sweater (because that's what they had at the craft table), but you can use scraps of batting or no padding at all. I just like padded backpack straps. I used strips of pleather to make the fasteners for the buttons. You can cannibalize an old purse or a dollar store pleather purse for these if you need to.

*It's a good thing I hand-sewed this, though, because if I used a sewing machine it wouldn't have been done in 15 minutes because I would have complicated the construction by adding a lining, extra pockets, and other things. I kinda like how this turned out - elegant in its simplicity. And a great sewing project for kids.

Project Estimate:

• Set of upholstery samples, on hand
• A bit of scrap fabric or more upholstery samples, on hand
• Scraps of felted sweater or batting, on hand
• Scraps of sturdy, non-fraying material like pleather, leather, wool felt, on hand
• Four buttons, on hand
• Needle and thread or other sewing stuff
• (optional) Pinking shears

Total: FREE and up

To Make:

The upholstery samples come pre-pinked so they won't unravel, which is another great reason to use them. If you are using scrap fabric, use pinking shears to finish the edges, or zig-zag around them with your sewing machine.

If you're cutting your own pieces, you want to

Cut these pieces:

• one about 12x18"
• and another about 12x12"
• two pieces of fabric for the padded straps, about 6x12"
• four pleather straps about 5" long and one inch wide
• two pieces of batting/felted sweater for strap padding, about 2x10"

note: increase strap length for an adult backpack

I'm giving you instructions for hand-sewing. If I made this on a sewing machine, I would change some of the steps, like sandwiching two pleather straps in between the upholstery pieces, at the bottom (they'll be sticking up toward the good side of the fabric, in between the 2 pieces).

1. Place upholstery samples good sides together and sew around the edge with a running stitch (or a straight stitch on a sewing machine). There will be about 6" of fabric sticking off the top. This is gonna be your backpack flap.

2. Turn good side out. Poke out corners.

3. Make straps by taking the 6x12" piece of fabric, laying the 2x10" piece of batting in the center, and folding the fabric over the batting (you're basically folding the fabric in thirds, but putting batting inside first). If your fabric isn't pinked, you'll want to fold the unfinished edges under as well. Pin. Put one of the pleather straps inside one of the edges of the straps, sticking out from the bottom about 4". Pin and sew the whole strap up, making sure the pleather strap is securely attached to the padding.

Alternately: Skip the padding, and just cut two strips of pleather about 16" long and 2 inches wide, and use those for straps.

4. Sew top of strap to top of backpack by folding the strap over, and then sewing securely through the width of the strap. I used a backstitch for extra reinforcement.

5. Sew buttons to bottom back of the backpack, roughly corresponding to the placement of the straps.

6. Cut a slit the size of your button in the bottom of the pleather strap. (You can cut an additional slit above the first slit, if you want to make the straps slightly adjustable. Just leave plenty of space between the two slits to give the strap adequate structural integrity!)

7. Sew two pleather straps to the flap. Make sure they're securely attached to the flap.

8. Sew buttons to the front of the backpack, roughly corresponding to the placement of the pleather straps on the flap.

That's it! Hope this will keep your natives entertained for a few hours this summer!

Here I am making the backpack! Woo!

I stole this photo from the Summit of Awesome Flickr pool but I can't figure out who I stole it from! Sorry person!

Whenever my nieces come over, they raid my dish towel drawer for "dress-ups."  Yes, they use dish towels for everything from dresses to capes.  It's very fun, and very cute -- but it makes for a lot of laundry!  :o)

Last week at the dollar store I spotted some dish towels -- flour sack style, but a bit smaller and in fun, bright colors.  It was meant to be!  I went straight home with a few and turned them into Dish Towel Superhero Capes -- complete with contrasting lining and a superhero initial!  And it only took about 15 minutes per cape!  [come see how I did it!]

Project Materials:

• two dishtowels, $1 each
• scrap of fusible webbing, on hand
• velcro, on hand

Total: $2!

Caroline Sanchez (Care) has been sewing since her mom taught her the basics at around six years old.  She has always been driven to CREATE, even from a very young age.  She is mommy to two little boys and one baby girl, and almost every spare moment she has is spent in her sewing room or working on her blog, Obsessively Stitching.

Have you seen these ribbony dishtowels at Dollar Tree? They really are as cute in person as they look in the picture. Reader Ash at Bandy Canyon made this adorable dress for her toddler out of just TWO dish towels! She doesn't provide a pattern, but I have listed some tutorials below for you. [see Ash's dress here]

• Sunny Day Dress and Top Tutorial at House on Hill Road
• The Pillowcase Dress from Red Instead would work well with dishtowels
• Use an old t-shirt or onesie along with the dishtowels to make a version of Disney's Playdress at Ruffles and Stuff

Project Estimate:

• 2 dish towels, $2
• Sewing stuff, on hand

Total: $2
Other Resources:

• All kinds of inspiration clothes in this Girls' Clothes Tutorial Round-Up at Sew, Mama, Sew! You can use the ribboned dishtowels for several of these great tutorials
• If you missed it before, here's the 5-minute T-shirt Tunic - would work with one dishtowel
• This Bandanna Dress will also work for dishtowels

Dollar Store crafting friend Xine made this adorable clothesline dish towel inspired by an Anthropologie towel she admired. Such a cute motif, and Xine tells us exactly how to make it at her blog, Jane Avion. You can use a dollar store flour sack towel and your fabric and ribbon scraps to whip one (or several) of these up. This would be a very fun bridal shower gift (or if you can get it done this morning before you go over to Mom's for lunch, a Mother's Day gift). [click here to find the tutorial]

Project Estimate:

• Flour sack towel, $1
• Fabric scraps, on hand
• Ribbon scraps, on hand
• Embroidery floss, on hand or $.25

Total: $1 and up

Fast forward to two weeks ago!  My son recently had a birthday, and on a trip to our local library we learned he was now old enough to get his very own library card.  Oh, the excitement!  But where to keep it, so it would be safe?  His idea:  He needed a WALLET!  Today I'll share how I made it!  [get instructions]

Project Estimate:

• dish towel, $1
• velcro scrap, on hand
• heavy-ish interfacing, on hand

Total:  $1

Caroline Sanchez (Care) has been sewing since her mom taught her the basics at around six years old.  She has always been driven to CREATE, even from a very young age.  She is mommy to two little boys and one baby girl, and almost every spare moment she has is spent in her sewing room or working on her blog, Obsessively Stitching.