A Ton of Love

When I last posted, I thought I would be making caps and bags for children with cancer.  Children I didn't know, wouldn't know, but children who may be helped or cheered in some small way by the items I sewed.  But life took a very unexpected turn.  One of my best friend's 5 year old daughter was diagnosed with an inoperable brain stem tumor.   Five days later the beautiful, smart, kind and happy little girl, Madeline Elizabeth Musto, became an angel.  

Amid the shock and sorrow, the grieving and disbelieving, the support for Maddie's family was amazing.  People locally and from literally across the world who heard of the family's story reached out.  It was like a herd of elephants coming together as a family.  And it was that keen observation by my friend H that was the start of Maddie's Elephants.  She had the idea of sewing stuffed elephants that might help children by having something to cuddle when they were sad or confused.  Elephants would represent the togetherness we all feel in our sorrow and be a tangible way to celebrate Maddie and support her family.  At the start, a goal of making and selling 300 elephants seemed unlikely, but possible and worth pursuing.  

H put together a 'sewing bee' of sorts at her church and with three of us sewing as others cut and pinned, we had about 42 elephants ready to stuff and sell by the day's end.  The following day, we launched a web site that was hastily though expertly pulled together with a great deal of help from my husband.   That was Sunday at about 9PM...by Monday morning we had 51 orders.  On Monday we received another 70 orders!  Orders came in faster than we could sew and stuff and we again saw the kindness and beauty of people coming together to help each other.  Friends who didn't know how to sew helped turn the sewn elephants, helped stuff and helped with donations of fabric and batting.  

Photo Courtesy Kidography by Dania

Over 600 elephants have been sold online, at benefit events and through word of mouth.  Elephants are now keeping Maddie's memory alive in 30 states, over 100 cities/towns and at least 4 countries!  And so while I did end up sewing because of childhood cancer, it was for a beautiful little girl I did know.  I feel privileged to be a part of the Musto's lives and to be able to contribute to "the best day evers" that will come from the Maddie's Mark Foundation.  Please visit the foundation's web page to learn more.  

If you too would like to be a part of "the herd" you can order your own Maddie's Elephant at www.maddieselephants.com and be sure to "like" Maddie's Elephants on Facebook.

Hello folks I'm so happy to be guest posting here in Melissa's world!  I'm Wendi from SewCatSew Creations.  I love to sew (did the name give me away?), craft, design and drink tea to excess.  I do a lot of hand sewing with felt, but also enjoy machine sewing for charity projects and home decor adventures.  Do stop by my space and say "hi"!  But now, let's get to the project I have for you...Quick 'n' Easy Boot Fillers.

I use these to store my good boots over the winter, but also between day-to-day wearings to keep them from drooping and wrinkling.  They take less than an hour to make and only require a few supplies that you likely have on hand.

For today's tutorial I used a piece of flannel that I bought on a whim from the remnant bin, bamboo batting, a piece of ribbon and basic sewing supplies.



First cut out 2 rectangles 22 inches by 10 inches from your fabric.  Fold each length-wise, right sides together and pin.

 

Next you'll sew along one 'short' end and along the long side across from the fold leaving one 'short' end open.  I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance, but precision is not important in this project (bonus!).  Repeat for your other piece of fabric.



Now, turn both rectangles right side out so you have a sort of long, skinny pillow case.



Next up is the batting - I simply rolled out a "log" of batting to the approximate size of my case and cut it off the roll.  I didn't even unfold it from it's original shape out of the package.  Easy peasy!



Stuff the batting into the case.  If you find it's a bit bigger than you need, simply unroll and roll tighter and smaller.  If you didn't get enough from you first cut, just wrap another thickness around to enlarge.  Once the tubes are stuffed, all you need to do is finish them.  I like to pull the bottom sewn corners together and tack them with a few hand stitches for a neater look, but if you're just interested in function, you can skip this step.



To finish the open end, roll the raw edges down into the tube until they meet the batting.



Next, take about 15 inches of your ribbon and tie a nice tight knot and bow around the 'neck' right at the top of the batting.

 

And that's it you're done!  Slide your new fillers into your boots bow side up and smile at how tall and proud your slumpy boots stand and how easy it was to give them a pick-me-up!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and useful project.  Thank you again for inviting me to your blog, Melissa!   Have a great weekend everyone!

The Littlest Warriors: Craft hope Project 16

Craft Hope is back in 2012 with Project 16: The Littlest Warriors.  If you are not familiar with this great organization take a few minutes to look over the past projects on their site and get inspired!

This time around they are collecting handmade beanies/hats and tote bags for children who are fighting cancer.  The beanies can be any style in any size from baby to teenager and the bags can be filled with activity goodies too (ie. books, crayons, puzzles etc.)  The possibilities are endless!  I'm so excited about this new project and am working on some ways to involve more people whether they sew or not!    Here are several ideas for joining in:

• DIY!  If you sew, knit or crochet grab a pattern online or from your stash and get to work!  I've collected several ideas and patterns on one of my Pin boards.
• Learn to sew, or knit, or crochet.  If you aren't already crafty in one of these areas there are oodles of tutorials available online and surely a friend or relative can get you started?  
• Join me and my local friends to sew/knit/crochet in person.  Bring your talent or come to learn.  Dates for a bag sewing night and a beanie/bag session are in the works for this month.  Email me if you are interested in being on the notification list for either or both.
• Contribute supplies - do you have a stash of stuff you meant to get around to using but never did?  Use it or share it with someone who can turn it into a great gift for the kids.
• Don't sew, don't knit, don't crochet, don't want to learn?  You can contribute 'fillers' for the tote bags or donate good old fashioned money at the Craft Hope site.
• Spread the word!  Let your crafty (or non-crafty) friends and family members know about this great project and how they can join in too.

I'll be glad to gather the completed items to pack up and mail as a big box of love from upstate New York.  Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, ideas or to participate in person or virtually.

If you do create something on your own, please comment below!

Pin It

DIY Cleaners

A couple of years ago, B.P. (before Pinterest), I happened to notice a lot of people saying they'd made their own laundry soap. I thought that sounded crafty in a way so I gave it a try and posted a tutorial at myfirst blog site Yay For Mommy!  Click over and take a peek.

Since then I've tried various ways to minimize the chemicals I use around the house with varying results.  I haven't been impressed with the old science experiment drain cleaner (you know, baking soda and vinegar combo that is also a 'bubbling volcano' if you're in grade school).  I like vinegar for it's naturalness, but it's smell, eh notsomuch.  I have a small hand held steamer that does a nice job but I usually have the perception it's a big hassle to drag it out.  My floor steamer is nice and makes me feel like I'm really cleaning the (hardwood) floors not just wetting the dust and spreading it around more evenly.

Since Pinterest has come into my life, the ideas for decorating, organizing, crafting, cleaning etc etc etc knows no bounds.  I wish I could say that about my available time to try everything I pin.  I did just try a recent cleaning pin that I've been seeing over and over.  Perhaps you've see it too?  Have you tried it?  Well I did and here's my take on it.

Simple. Dawn liquid, vinegar, spray bottle.  Three ingredients...if you count the spray bottle you need to mix it in, so it definitely has simple covered.

Inexpensive, relatively speaking, though Dawn liquid is far from the cheapest dish soap around.  Someone's instructions said it HAS to be the blue Dawn so I didn't dare try another type or brand.  I suppose I could have just compared ingredients, though. 

Easy.  Heat 12 ounces of white vinegar in the microwave.  Pour into spray bottle.  Add 12 ounces of Dawn ...uh BLUE Dawn dishwashing liquid.   Mix.  Use.

Effective?  Yah I thought it did a really good job.  Not unlike a movie that gets overhyped, I was expecting a LOT from this combo that everyone is raving about.  Not unlike a movie that gets overhyped I was probably expecting too much.  But objectively, I thought it worked really well.  I cleaned two bathroom sinks, a tub, a shower stall, the kitchen (stainless steel) sink, the glass stove cooktop, and the glass oven door.  It didn't do much for the oven door but the rest of the places I mentioned sparkle.

Miracle cleaner?   I like that it's not overly chemically.  As in vinegar is natural and Dawn is at least made to be used on your food serving items.  It does leave a nice shine.  On the down side, I hate the way it smells.  I'm weirdly sensitive to fragrance and dislike Dawn's fragrance.  A lot.  I've also got to learn how much is enough because I ended up with oodles of soapiness I had to rinse away.  I suspect being a bit less trigger-happy would manage that.  It's only a miracle if one use keeps everything clean forever, though.

So I rate it a solid A-.  I don't think I should hold it's smell against it and come spring when the windows can be opened I may even learn to like it.  I definitely suggest you try it - especially if you already have the ingredients on hand.  Then when someone says they tried this new cleaner from Pinterest you can brag or complain about it too!  Oh and of course you can clean with it as well.



Pin It

Pirates Go Shopping

They do?

Dollar Store Addiction

A Hodge Podge of Mod Podge

I do think Mod Podge (often mispronounced Modge Podge) is a pretty cool product. I have discovered, however, that it challenges my inner perfectionist. I can't seem to force it to be perfect and it doesn't give me a "do-over" like I get with a stitch. Anyhow, I have friends who are mad-about-Mod-Podge and I DO like so many of the things made with it, so I've been dabbling. This past Thanksgiving I threw together a wooden sign with a scrap piece of plywood I found in the yard. Really, I just kinda took scrapbook paper and winged it. Here's what I ended up with...

Once it was up on the wall and I couldn't inspect it so closely I came to like it.

I also made a family sign for my sister for a Christmas gift; the top board has hooks on the bottom to hang a seasonal plaque below.  Here's the one I did for 'summer'. 

Winter was four penguins, spring was four bunnies and fall was four pumpkins so there is a family 'picture' to change with each of the New England season changes.

The other Mod Podge project I did is my favorite of the bunch.  I followed this Paint Stick Ornament tutorial that looked like a fun little giftie/decoration idea and added some embellishments of my own.

It's important to always have teeny tiny jungle bells on hand!

 

So there's a sampling of my Mod Podging.  I'm thinking about birthday countdown cubes next....well after I cross off some house projects, and cleaning projects, and sewing projects...<sigh> the list never ends!