Cross Stitched Sewing Box

During the holiday season I go a little overboard with Dutch Christmas Cookies . It is the only time of the year I eat them. At the end of Christmas I am left with a bunch of empty tins, that for quite some time, have lived in my pantry, collecting dust. While I could just throw them out or give them to a thrift store, I thought this year I could make Cross Stitched Sewing Box for all my stitchy friends. 

The supplies you need for this project are: 

Cookie Tin

Spray Paint

Drill with small drill bit that you can get your yarn or floss through the hole

Washi Tape

Glue

Cardboard

Scissors

Yarn or floss 

Pen 

Image to cross stitch 

 Creating your pattern on your tin could be your first or second step, depending on what you feel comfortable with. I spray painted my tin first and then added my pattern. The only problem I came up with is that I needed to touch up the paint job after drilling the pattern. If you paint afterwards, you may fill in the holes with paint. At any rate, to add the pattern to top of the tin does require the use of a drill so remember your safety glasses. Tape your pattern onto the lid of the tin and then drill the SQUARES of the graph. Think of how you are going to stitch the cross and this will be a no brainer. Stitch all for corner of each stitch. 

 As you can see from the picture, the holes create a box for your cross stitch. 

 Once you have your holes drilled, your lid should look like this. 

 I used an acrylic yarn to cross stitch the lid but you can use floss if you wish. Acrylic yarn will cause a slight fray, but I kind of like it because it gives the tin a sweater feel to it. 

 Once the lid is done, you can work on the inside of the tin...the guts. Cut two pieces of heavy weight cardboard. One 7.50 inches and the other roughly 4. If your tin is bigger than the average cookie tin, measure your piece of cardboard before cutting. 

I did a preplacement before gluing everything in place. Now that you have everything in place you can glue it in! I glued the two pieces of cardboard together first and then glued it to the bottom of the tin. I used a pen to place where the cardboard was going to sit. I used a glue gun but you can use gorilla glue or another kind of epoxy. 

Fill in your sewing box! I filled my with floss, a pin cushion, pencil, paper, quilting wax, scissors and needleminders 

 I was worried about snagging everything on the holes I drilled so I covered the back with washi tape and then added a magnet with a clip to hold my floss and pattern. 

One down....  more to go! 

A little Christmas Crafting

Christmas crafting has taken over my life. It is so much fun to throw on a silly Christmas movie and get my holiday craft on. I am obsessed with ornament wreaths. They are so easy to make and are super duper fancy.

You can make your very own wreath with this awesome tutorial video I made for Craftster.

Tute Thursday: Confetti Glassware

I love the look of confetti glasses and plates. I think it looks so festive but it can be expensive! I bought two glasses and it ended up costing over 20.00! I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my very own. I wanted a nice place setting for Thanksgiving and below is what I created. 

I used glass/enamel paint on the glassware and have washed them several times by hand. Nothing has rubbed off! I think I might make some for Christmas and the summer. 

You can make your own confetti glassware by checking out the latest Craftster video. 

I Blame the Hallmark Channel

Has it really been since the 23rd since I've been here? Holy macaroni! Where did the time go? I had no idea that I have been gone for so long. I blame the Hallmark Channel. Yep, you guessed it, they got me again this year. Another year of sappy romance holiday movies. It is like a bad virus that comes back every year...a bad, sickening sweet, can't get enough of the crappy romance virus. If I had the energy, I would shake my fists at them, but I can't because I am too busy holding onto Iggy and crying about how much the guy with the perfect teeth loves the misunderstood female. 

As you know by now, I am a SUCKER for a made for TV Christmas movie. It doesn't even have to be a  good one. I will watch all of them. The only saving grace is that I trap OMP into my madness. Many times I have been cussed at (under his breath, of course) about getting him sucked into some sappy movie that involves a little girl dying of cancer and the town granting her last wish. 

Each week Hallmark is debuting one or two new movies, but they are not the only ones who have cornered the market on holiday TV, ABC Family is making a list and checking it twice with their 25 Days of Christmas. The 25 days before Christmas is filled with our favorite movies, stop motion animation and a few new broadcast to keep our days filled joy. I will not lie to you when I say that I usually tape everything on ABC Family since a lot of it is from my childhood. 

So, there ya go, one channel pulling at your heart strings while the other let's you relive your childhood memories. I know it is only November 10th but Christmas plans: shopping, watching movies, listening to music, all start after Dias de los Muertos. It will go nonstop until December 26th when Christmas is put away and I start planning for the new year. C'mon, do you really expect anything less from me? A girl needs to stay jolly and bright! 

You can see the Hallmark Channel lineup HERE. 

Check out the 25 Days of Christmas HERE. 

Tute Thursday: Decorate Foam Pumpkins

Heading back down to the Craftster video vault to pull out this Halloween-Fall gem. I still have these pumpkins and I'm planning on using them for my Thanksgiving table. This craft is very simple but you have to be very delicate with the napkins, They can easily rip and when you decoupage them, it can be a bit messy. The above pattern napkins I got from Ikea. Have fun and create these pumpkins to fit your style. 

Feel Good Friday

you should buy this print at The Dreamy Giraffe

You made it to Friday. Go you! You deserve a medal and cupcake and cocktail!

This weekend I am going to a pumpkin carving party. I don't want to do the same old thing. Baby Savers.com has over 700 free pumpkin carving patterns. There is something for everyone. None of this are naughty, they are kid friendly. You can find them here. 

This ring. I need it. I need everything in Moon Raven's shop. Oh OMP-are you listening to me? 

This...this is my life. Every day, every night, every minute. 

Well, there ya go my little chickadees! Some cuteness, some sassy and a little craft. How's that for a Friday? Have a great weekend! Get out there and enjoy the fall season! 

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” 

Chad Sugg

Tute Thursday: Eerie Edibles

Is your little monster a pick eater? Why not serve them up some yummy worms! These are SO gross but very yummy. They are perfect for your next Halloween party or just a night in, watching your favorite scary movie. Check out the video below on how to make your very own jello worms and other dismal delights.

Tutorial: Creepy Tombstones

For the upcoming days till Halloween, I am sharing some of my older Craftster Halloween videos, You definitely want to do a lot of this craft outside. If you don't do it outside or in a well ventilated area, they will be carving your tombstone.

Do you need some ideas for names to put on your tombstones? Check out the list below. I think my favorite is Shirley U. Jest, although Stu Pidity is pretty dang awesome.

Tutorial: A Spooktacular Mantle

It is no secret that I love Halloween. I will spend an entire weekend decorating the house. One of the main focal points of our decorations is the mantle. This year, with a little help from Craftster, I decided to mix it up a bit with spooky glowing heads, lost souls and treats for your little monsters. 

A close up of the candy dish. 

This head is even scary without the light underneath it. 

Your mantle doesn't have to be dismal, check out the latest video and get your evil craftiness on!

Tie One On Tuesday

Halloween parties are so much fun! Dressing up and getting your scare on is such the best! Serving a good punch can make your spooky soiree the talk of the graveyard.

You can never go wrong with caramel apples. Never ever. Add some booze into the mix and you have a recipe for heaven.

Caramel Apple Punch

1 gallon apple cider (just pour in the whole jug)

2cups spiced rum

Caramel Italian soda syrup (Torani's) to taste

Ice

Mix all the ingredients in a punch bowl, add syrup to taste-you don't want it too sweet and serve

Need a punch that will dig up your friends and bring them to the party, why not make Cemetery Slime Punch?  This can be made without the vodka for the little ghouls.

Cemetery Slime Punch

2 liters Root beer

1-2 cups root beer vodka

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1 pint chocolate ice cream

gummy worms

Before making the punch, in an ice tray, make gummy worm ice cubes by filling up an ice tray and adding the gummy worms, hang them off the sides. Half in and half out. In a punch bowl, scoop ice cream into the bottom of the bowl. Pour in root beer and vodka. Add the iced gummy worms. The punch will begin to bubble and look like a slimy rotting cemetery. GROSS!

I usually save this punch for Christmas but since everyone in my family hates it and thinks it is evil, I will include it here. The Evil Green Punch.

Evil Green Punch

2 liters ginger ale

1 container frozen lemonade

1 large can pineapple juice

1 quart lime sherbet

Mix all ingredients together in a punch bowl but save a bit of sherbet to add to the top of the punch as a float. For extra spooky, make an ice hand by filling a latex glove with ice and freezing. Set the iced hand on top.

Yahoo! Three punches to get your party started. Invite your favorite guys and ghouls over to dance the night away, It will be a thriller.

Countdown to Halloween: Scrappy Dog Sunday

I might be having too much fun with Picmonkey's Halloween themes.

Iggy Pup as a Day of the Dead Dog

Lola may only have 8 teeth, but she knows how to use them.

Don't act so surprised. We all know Jujube is a devil dog. 

Poor little Pete, he is just trying to survive with these three little monsters! 

Check out Picmonkey for more haunted ideas. 

Feel Good Friday

free printable via at the picket fence.

Oh my gawwwd! You guys! We made it to Friday and it is the first weekend in October-time to get our spook on! Have you decorated yet? What are you waiting for? 

I am a sucker for free printables. I collect them just in case I want to use them at a later date or even just to look at again. Live Laugh Rowe created this adorable monster Halloween printable for you to download and frame. The little monsters are killing me. So stinking cute! 

Each year OMP and I get a new Halloween ornament for our trees. Disney has put out several ornaments that I am just dying over. I really need one.  They have several designs from Nightmare Before Christmas. You can see all of them here. 

Thanks to Starshine Chic for this brilliant idea. Instead of putting away my beach and tiki decor for the season, I can use it to make a Cousin It. Love it! 

Dogs in costumes....never gets old. (if this is your dog, please let me know, I want to give you credit for this brilliant costume)

Okay, time for me to get off the computer and spookify my house. Hope your weekend is filled with lots of October fun and maybe a dog martini or two. 

When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

‘tis near Halloween.

~Author Unknown

Countdown to Halloween: Day 2 or....It Came From The Sea...

From the depths of the sea comes a legend...a monster. He has been known to take down ships, destroy men's lives and in his spare time, collect rick rack for art projects. 

I stitched this piece up but couldn't figure out just how to frame it. I decided to have the octopus coming out of the sea, looking for his next victim, or pieces of rick rack; whichever came first. 

31 Days of Halloween: The Beginning

I love Halloween. There is just something magical about this month. Come join me, if you dare, for a month long tribute to one of my favorite holidays. 

Before your ghouls, I mean, guest reach your humble abode, knock their socks off with the spooky and sparkly Halloween themed wreaths. 

I recently made this wreath for my friend Crystal. It was very simple. The balls are Halloween ornaments-just simply glue them on and go! 

The second wreath is an oldie but a goodie. I made him a few years ago for Craftster. I call him Chuck. 

You can make Chuck by following this video. 

Come back tomorrow for other ghoulish delights....if you dare!

Tie One On Tuesday

UGH! Mama's got a cold. My throat feels like I gargled with sandpaper. Doesn't my body realize that I do not have time for this mess. I think I need to quarantine myself, watch some bad movies and nurse myself back to health with a cocktail or two. 

There is nothing tea and rum won't fix. Combine the two and you have perfection. Bran's Dram is a perfect combination of warmth, both from the rum and the hot tea, honey to sooth your throat and a little bit of lemon for taste. 

Bran's Dram (recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit.com)

1 bag of berry herbal tea 

1 1/2 ounce of white rum

1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of honey

Steep tea bag in a mug with 6 oz. hot water, 2–3 minutes; discard tea bag and stir in rum, lemon juice, and honey

When I was growing up, a Hot Toddy was a cure-all. Got a stitch in your back, make a Hot Toddy, stomach bothering ya-Hot Toddy....I think the real reason this drink is so fab for cold and other illnesses is that you have a cup or two and you are out. You will sleep the sickness away.

Hot Toddy

1 1/2 ounce whiskey

1 tablespoon honey

1 lemon wedge

1 cup hot water

Add whiskey and honey to the hot water. Squeeze in the lemon and sip away the sore throat. 

What do you do when the only thing you have in your house are the fixings for margaritas but you want something warm for your throat? Well, you make a warm margarita, of course!

Warm Margarita

1 ounce tequila 

1 ounce orange flavored liqueur

1 cup apple juice

cinnamon to taste

Warm the apple juice and pour into a mug. Add booze and cinnamon to taste. Relax and feel better!

Just thinking of these warm cozy drinks on my sore throat are making me feel better. I am going to take a nice hot bath, put on my jammies and crawl up on the dog pile. 

Feel Good Friday

via On Sutton Place

Can you feel it? Fall is here! You can smell the difference in the air. No longer is our house filled with the beach and summer. We have switched over to our fall smells and decor. I love it! 

Do you have kids or maybe, like me, you are big kid yourself. Either way, you should check out the Octonauts. The books and show have been around for some time but on the Disney channel, they are still going strong. Think Thunderbirds meet Sea Lab with cute animals and you have the Octonauts. You can read their books, see all their adventures and see other amazing art from Meomi HERE. PS-the toys are ADORABLE! 

Cooler temps can only mean that it is time for me to assess my scarf situation. I love scarfs! I really should learn to crochet better or even try my hand at knitting. In the meantime, I can always sew a new scarf for this fall. Flamingo Toes put together a great list of 30 DIY scarves to make that require no knitting needles. Check out their awesome list. 

It had to be done....

If this is your dog or you know whose dog it is, please let me know so I can come over and smooch it, 

Well cats and kittens, mama has got a lot of work to do this weekend. It's time for me to jump off the couch and get to it. Hope your weekend is filled with silly animals, puppies to kiss and thoughts of the fall season. 

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

Hans Christian Andersen

Tute Thursday: Dyeing Your Own Embroidery Floss

I have always wanted to try dyeing my own embroidery floss but was scared that I would ruin it. What if it turned out ugly pea green mixed with 70's brown? About.com gave me a chance to write a tutorial for dyeing your own variegated floss, It was so easy! I can't believe I missed out for so long. Now I want to dye everything! 

Since this was my first try, I didn't want to put a lot of money into dye so I went with a very simple commercial dye.

• White floss 
• Rit Dye
• Squirt Bottles (I found these in the kitchen section of my local store)
• plastic gloves (I used vinyl gloves like they use in the hospital)
• plastic wrap
• salt

 For dyeing floss, I didn't want to make up the entire batch of dye. I only wanted to make enough to fill the squirt bottles. I also wanted to do this so I could make variegated floss. I added two cups of hot water to the squirt bottle, then added 1 tablespoon salt, and started adding dye, about 1/4 of the packet. The salt is for cotton fabrics and floss. It helps the dye adhere to the floss better.  If you want the dye to be a stronger color, you can keep adding to it. To check and see how vibrant the color was, I tested a little squirt on a paper towel. 

 To prepare the area and the floss, I put down plastic wrap to cover my area, not too much, just enough to cover the area and lay the floss on top. I then took my floss and ran it under hot water. I squeezed out the excess water and laid it on my plastic wrap.

 Now the fun part! Squirt your dye onto the floss.  Be prepared, it will run! As you can see from the picture, the colors did bleed into each other, which is fine since I wanted variegated floss.

 One way to stop the dye from bleeding onto the floss is to add a little at a time, pick up the plastic wrap and then mix into the floss. Continue to add your colors.

 After you have all the colors you want on your floss, wrap it up with the plastic wrap. The color will darker over time. You can let it sit for a day and have dark vibrant colors, or let it sit for a few minutes and have muted tones. It is up to you and experiment with color. Have fun with shades .

 After you have your desired color, rinse out your floss and let it air dry. You certainly can dry it in the dryer but I prefer to air dry.  Once it is dry, have fun and get to stitching with your one of a kind floss. 

Close up on what the final product looked like all stitched up. This is just one way to dye floss. You can use natural dyes or different foods to obtain a spectrum of colors. The only thing stopping you is your imagination!

Tie One On Tuesday

One of my favorite Fall smells is cinnamon. The cooler weather mixes with cinnamon so well. When you have cinnamon in your drink, it warms up not only your body, but also your senses. 

The first thing that most people pair cinnamon with are apples. Apple Pie martinis and cocktails are everywhere, not that there is anything wrong with that. I love me some apple pie. 

Warm Apple Pie

1 1/2 ounces of Vanilla Liqueur

1/2 ounce cinnamon liqueur 

2-4 ounces of hot apple cider (depending on how strong you want your drink. Start with 2 and work your way up)

Whipped Cream

Combine the vanilla liqueur with the apple cider and top off with whipped cream. It it taste like a liquid Apple Pie ala Mode. 

While the rain and cool weather has hit my area, my home state is still very hot and humid. OMP can not believe that it is still in the 80's during October. For my southern friends who are still sweating it out, here's my refreshing yet spicy drink to honor you. 

Hot Southern Nights

1 1/2 ounce cinnamon schnapps

1 ounce peach liqueur

4 ounces clear soda (7Up or Sprite)

Mix and serve over ice. Some people use Coke or Pepsi instead of a clear soda. I'm not a fan of that, so I switched it up with 7Up.

Apples and cinnamon go together like pears and cinnamon, with a hint of mint. 

Spiced Pear Mojito

2 ounces Pear Liqueur

2 ounces apple juice

1 ounce cinnamon liqueur

lime juice to taste

mint leaves, crushed into the shaker 

Mix all ingredients in shaker and pour over ice.

Mmmm....I'm already feeling toasty and heated up from these yummy cinnamon concoctions. The rain has started and it's time for me to get cozy and enjoy the Fall weather. 

What's on TV?

Every fall I get excited for my old favorite TV shows to return and to find some new favorites along the way. This year is no exception. I think I am more excited this season than I have been in quite some time. 

I am just giddy that 5 of my old favorites that are coming back. Let's start with Sunday night. 

I love America's Funniest Videos. Don't judge me. I can not resist little kids getting knocked in the noggin with beach balls. It's hysterical. You know you laugh at football in the groin. This is the 25th year it has been on and is the last year for the best host, in my opinion, Tom Burgeron. It is on Sunday nights at 7:00pm

Right after America's Funniest Videos is a show that I just recently fell in love with, Once Upon a Time. I tried watching this when it first started and it was just so corny. It did not hold my interest. I decided, a few years later, to give it another chance when they brought in the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz. I binge watched every past season and I'm finally caught up. I'm not sure how the Frozen theme is going to play out. Quite frankly, I'm a little leery, as I was not a fan of the movie, but we shall see. I know it will be silly fun, 

Moving onto Monday nights, Sleepy Hollow is back for a second season. Yahoo! This show is such an interesting twist on the story of Ichabod Crane. I love the partnership of Crane and Lt. Abby Mills. You are not sure if you feel chemistry between them or what. You sort of want them to end of together but then you think about his wife. Maybe this season, questions will be answered.

For something more deep and disturbing, American Horror Story comes back with a sideshow theme. I have heard that the clown alone is so disturbing that it may be too scary to air. Now I'm intrigued. There is a lot of disturbing images and storylines in this show but like all bad wrecks, we are inclined to watch. 

Justified is back for its final season and I will give you one reason to watch...Sam Elliott. I don't think I need to say anymore.

For new shows, I am over the moon about Gotham. The show takes place starting when Bruce Wayne loses his parents. It basically goes through what made the villains so evil. Everyone has a back story and this series is all about that. 

The rainy season is getting ready to hit the Pacific Northwest and being stuck inside won't be as bad with my needle, floss and hoop and a little bit of fantasy, fear and intrigue. 

What show are you looking forward to this season?