How to Make Paper Fortune Cookies

Emily from Sweetly Scrapped posted this fun and easy tutorial. She provides printable circles and fortunes to cut out for your first fortune cookie attempt. Once you get the hang of it, have fun and experiment! Try heavy fabric, oil cloth, or any other flexible but strong material. Paper or fabric fortune cookies would make fun ornaments, gift toppers, or party favors. Just punch a small hole in one edge and loop a string through it.

Get the Tutorial from Sweetly Scrapped Here

Upcycled T-shirt Rug

"Heather, should I keep this t-shirt?" 

"Noooooo! Look at all those holes!" 

"Yes, keep it, and then make me a rug!"

I know there are many, many things one can do with a t-shirt, but they usually get thrown out before they have a chance to become something else. Thanks to DIY Life, I found a link that took me to Xoelle.com, where I found a tutorial for these soft shaggy t-shirt rugs. With your imagination - and I know you have one - you can create latch hook rugs with multicolored scraps, solids, shades of one a color... I think this has to take the cake for creating something really functional and wonderfully satisfying out of a shameful shirt. Kids and people of all ages can enjoy this project.

Get the Tutorial from Xoelle.com Here

Supplies needed / approximate cost
Latch hook: $3
Latch hook canvas: $6 or more depending on size wanted
Fabric dye if needed: $2 per box
T-shirts: $0 or more depending on your source/thrift shop
(see tutorial link for number of shirts needed) 
Cheat if you must
If you are desperate, you can buy yardage of jersey knit fabric, dye it, and cut into strips. This of course means you are not making an 'upcycled' project, but no doubt you will still be satisfied.

Bake 'n' Take

Do you ever crave pancakes but not the time it takes to make them? Bake your healthy whole wheat pancake mix with berries in a muffin tin, and then you can take your breakfast with you! I thought this was such a groovy idea, I had to share.

Get the Recipe Here

Easy Sewing Patterns

I was on Pinterest.com this morning, when some kimono-style booties caught my eye. I followed the link and found a collection of charming sewing patterns. If you are a beginner at sewing, or just looking for some simple projects, ithinksew designs easy patterns to purchase for your DIY pleasure. Patterns include adorable baby booties, handbags and more. Here is the direct link: www.ithinksew.com

Japanese Fabric and Craft Supplies

On my Gstudio blog, I posted this link for some funky fabrics you can order online. The collections here are great for kid's room projects, bag-making, quilting, or any other fabric project. Gstudio Blog: superbuzzy.com, Japanese fabric and craft supplies...: "Looking for playful prints for your holiday sewing projects? Check out this online fabric shop, full of cooky Japanese fabrics, origami kits..."

I Made an Origami Crane

Its been so long since I made an origami paper crane, I couldn't remember how to do it. Last night I had the urge and found a few tutorials on the internet. It took following several instructions to finally get it right, but by the third attempt I felt like a paper crane folding Master (aside from the obvious imperfections). With no origami paper in the house, I used a legal size sheet of printer paper, and was able to get 3 sizes of cranes from one sheet. Now, I'm thinking about what to do with origami cranes... I see some kind of mobile in my future (I will keep you posted). 

I think origami is relaxing, and also a fun challenge for kids. If you would like to make an origami crane, try this Origami Crane Tutorial on My Digital Stash, where tutorial author Joana also has a clever idea for printing patterns on your own paper for custom origami. Also for some clearly drawn diagrams with a video see origami-fun.com. If you're interested in the art and 'science' of origami, watch this fascinating film, "Between the Folds" found on Netflix.