Appleton Dance

With Mother's Day coming I thought that a Fabric Board would be a great gift for the craft room that my Mom has been setting up.  I have wanted one of these...for my many quilting projects...since I saw my friend Alisande's jumbo size one about 10 years ago!    The design board post at Oh, Fransson! was a great help.  I borrowed her idea of using quilt batting instead of flannel, but after skulking around the lumber section of Lowe's on my lunch hour I decided that I wasn't crazy about the foam insulation board as a base.  I headed over to Jo-ann to pick up the batting without a firm plan and found a 36" x 36" stretched canvas on sale and decided to use that.  I think it will be easier to hang and will be sturdier over the long run. Here's how I made mine... Supplies : Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% Cotton Needled Batting - crib  size 45" x 60"    $9 at Jo-ann after 40% off coupon. Gallery Stretched Canvas - 36...

  A leak rendered my dilapidated kitchen a disaster area beginning the week after New Years and ending April 25. In the process of reconstruction we addressed two dozen issues including demolition of damaged cabinets, painting, patching, new overhead light, new plugs, new counters, new sink and faucet, new Elfa pantry and wall shelving, and total cleaning and reorganization. My friend Janet asked for some pictures of the result, and I hope she is pleased by my offering here. This kitchen is by no means fancy, but every bit of it makes me very happy. I thank Duane from ServPro in Brighton, MI who supervised the construction, all his helpers, and my daughter Alisa for guiding and helping every step of the way. Alisa ordered and installed all the custom Elfa shelving and she recycled and re-purposed several carloads of material from the kitchen reorganization. She made all the hard things seem easy, as always. Thank you, all. Nebby friend Drake Mallard wants to see what's go...

These paper bunnies were inspired by these adorable felt bunnies from Crate & Barrel.   The Crate bunnies have great texture, but I wanted something with pattern so I started with printed scrapbook paper that I cut down to 8.5" x 11" to fit into my printer.  You could also use colored card stock and skip pasting two printed sides together. How To: Print this template on the wrong side of the printed paper.  Try printing at 50% or 75% to make different size bunnies. Cut out the two shapes. Use a glue stick to paste wrong sides together onto the other half of the scrapbook paper. Cut the shapes out again using the original as a guide. Cut a slit in each shape as shown.  Widen the slits as necessary to accommodate the thickness of your paper. Slide the bunny base (with the tail) down over the body (with the ears) so the bunny stands on its own. If necessary, trim the bases to stand straight. Arrange & enjoy! -Alisa...

I had pinned this cute clutch   from blogger Eighteen25 to my Pinterest craft board because I just loved the fabrics and the idea of sewing with snack baggies.  Last weekend I ran across the same Target potholder (lonely and alone on clearance for $1.59) and I knew I had to try it for myself! The directions at Eighteen25 are very good and I followed them step by step.  My clutch only has 8 sections, instead of ten.  I should have loosened the tension on my machine quite a bit, but (to my amazement) you can sew baggies to fabric and end up with a quite sturdy result.   Sew the baggies in, add a button and loop and you are ready to fill it!   This one has the usual bandaids, aspirin, stamps, floss, eyeglass cleaner and a few other 'emergency' supplies in it.   A small notebook and pen and a travel-pack of wipes reside in the front & back pockets.  A small pack of crayons would also be a great...

As the summer of 2011 waned, Ben began to build a winter home for the chix that had spent warm months growing  in the garage. By the end of August, he had a good start on Cluckingham Palace, as Jen named the chix crib. (Photos by AJT and BLT) Frame Right side Left side Door added Interior with added run-side entry Exterior of run-side entry Exterior with insulated nest boxes and vent window above Painted interior showing vent window Exterior closeup of nest boxes and vent window After clearing brush, and putting up a new fence, by September 19, Ben had the painted coop up on his site. The run was completed by October 19 and by November 6, Jake was an old hand wrangling chickens in the hen house. Nice job, Ben. Sweet dreams, chix.

A tinier tote (3.25-inch square) serves many uses: Ornament Gift card holder Gift bag Doll tote Party favors Placecards My friend Joy T. asked if the tiny totes  (Appleton Dance, Nov. 25, 2011) we made for shower favors could be used for Christmas ornaments and I told her the originals were a little too big for hanging on the tree. But I thought Joy's idea was great, so I sized the totes down and made some in the tinier size of 3.25-inch square. The tinier totes make cute Christmas tree ornaments. And the 3.25-square-inch tote size is perfect for presenting gift cards or other small gifts, like jewelry or candy. The small size also makes a great tote for a favorite doll. Made up in holiday colors, the tinier totes can also be used as favors and/or placecards at holiday parties. These tinier totes are very versatile! Use the following information in tandem with the Tiny Totes how-to in the Tiny Totes post   (Appleton Dance, Nov. 25, 2011) . Cutting list for ea...

I just made this for a baby shower.  I thought they turned out super-cute and can't wait to see my new nephew in them! I got the idea from this blogpost on TipJunkie .  The download file and instructions are available here as free printable from Parties by Hardie .  I hadn't used the iron-on transfers before and was really happy with how easy they were to use and how well they stood up to the wash.  One of them got a little damaged, but I think it looks cool. I gave them as a gift along with a frame with 12 windows, one for each month's picture.   Now all we need is the baby to arrive! -Alisa PS - Jenn at  Parties by Hardie  has lots more neat printables available on her  Etsy  store.  (We used some of the  Monkey Baby Shower  images at the shower and they turned out adorable!) Instructions I used these supplies: 3 sheets of   Avery T-Shirt Transfers for Inkjet Pr...