Wow, this is my first blog swap and I am so excited.  Thanks Anne.

My name is Becky from BeckysCraftCloset and I am a craft addict. When I see something new I just have to find out how to do it.  My most important job is as a SAHM with 4 munchkins and a hardworking hubby that I rarely see.  So I also craft for therapy.  Lately I have had a thing for refashioning.

Recently I have been working on turning this women’s shirt (a $2 old navy find) into a dress for my 10 year old daughter.  It was pretty simple it just needed some excitement.  So today I will show you how to add rosettes to fabric.

1.For this project I found some knit in a matching color. (another $2 old navy shirt find) It doesn’t have to match it can be contrasting if you’d rather. Cut into several one inch strips. I used about 2 yards for 3 big flowers.

2.Mark where you want the center of the first flower to be.  Start by sewing in the center of the end of the fabric strip.

3. Wrap the fabric back and continue stitching in the center of the flower.

4. Continue step 3 until your flower is the size you want it to be.  This is a great project to do while watching a good chick flick. (for me it was the Olympics, so sad its over)

I suppose you could do this on a machine, but I know I would really mess something up, so I prefer to do this by hand. Here is the finished product on my little model.  Use your imagination. You can make this into flowers for headbands, purses, etc.

I try to share my advice as I learn a new craft.  I enjoy “trying” to decorate cakes,  Making jewelry, sewing, mostly refashioning and whatever else looks like it would be fun to try…  This week I will be blogging mostly about jewelry.  But not only Jewelry…..

Wishing Anne and all of you a lovely week!!!

Becky

Tying fleece blankets is an easy and fun project to do, especially around the holidays. They make for easy and inexpensive gifts and you can make them really quickly…especially if you make them like this (Thanks very much to my friend Brooke who taught me this fun little trick!!!):

Step 1: I use the length of my scissors to measure—and I cut a square out of each corner:

Step 2: Cut strips along all 4 sides of your blanket. I don’t measure them, just eye it and cut them about an inch or so apart (about the length of my scissors):

Step 3: Fold up your strips and cut a little hole in them with your scissors:

Step 4: Push your strip of fabric through the hole you cut:

and voila!!!

So much faster than actually tying a knot and I think it looks way cuter too! Have fun!

This year (I kid you not) I had the hardest time EVER finding my little guy a coat. I literally went to 10 stores and I found infant coats in every size smaller and larger than the size I needed! I was so frustrated. I finally found this little brown jacket/coat but I didn’t think it would be quite warm enough for these cold Utah Winters. So as I was searching around on-line I came up with the idea to make a car seat bunting. (I found some for sale for $50 plus…YIKES!)

I called up my aunt Diana (this is an aunt everybody on earth wishes they had, and luckily for me I do!) and she had some really warm (and I mean REALLY warm) wool that she said I could have. And then I went to the store and picked up this nice light brown fabric to put on the outside for $5.00. (unfortunately I sewed the wrong sides together, so the nice suede side is actually sewn on the inside…sometimes that’s just the way it goes huh!?! Oh well.)

I actually found a pattern to make one of these on Etsy by ToadsTreasures but I decided to just give it a go on my own…and I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out!

I sewed up the bottom so his little feet would always be covered…

and I added ties on both flaps so he wouldn’t be able to wriggle his arms out…

I am so happy with the way it turned out! And I am happy with the $5 I spent and the $45.00 I saved! YAY!!!

I am now posting on All For This Penny. Please visit me there!

I love all the cute and feminine cardigans I’ve been seeing lately (here for example). They are just adorable and made my plain cardigans look boring. So I had to refashion a few of them. This first one I just added some organdy ribbon around the collar.

Basically I just randomly pleated the ribbon in any which way and sewed down. Simple but sweet. I also tried changing the buttons on this cardigan to white vintage buttons (thinking vintage buttons make anything cuter… ) and it just made it look a little dated for my taste. But those vintage buttons are still to die for.

This cardigan is my favorite (my husband really, really likes this one, too. I’m actually surprised at how much he likes it). I just sewed on some rows of lace (with a zigzag stitch). I love it!

Look at how cute this lace is. It makes me really happy.

I thought I’d show you this next picture because it makes me laugh. While I was sewing on the lace I somehow sewed down my presser-foot. I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention to what I was doing. It sure made me laugh.

Yesterday I made a few Halloween Garlands out of felt. I Got the idea from a post Jessica did awhile back when she made a yo-yo garland for a birthday party. So cute! I’ve been wanting to make one and I thought Halloween would be a great time to try it out! When my little Audrey walked into the Kitchen this morning, she stopped and stared at it and then exclaimed “Mama! I want a pink spark-a-lee one for my room!” ha ha. Anyhow, so now you know—kids are gonna love ‘em!

Just cut circles out of felt (I traced a little lid to get them all the same size) and then sew them together in a long line:

Easy as That!

Have a Happy Felt Friday Everybody!