First Craft! ~Lizzy's Christmas Present

So, my first completed craft is finally ready to go up on my blogs. In true Sweatshop of Love style, I decided to make ALL of my dear friend Lizzy's (not so) Secret Santa present...in less than a week (poor Jeremy).

So, I was really happy when I drew Lizzy's name for two reasons. (1) She and her husband just bought a new house and I knew they'd need some new Christmas decor. (2) One of Lizzy's BEST qualities is that she gets SUPER excited for things...SO fun to give gifts to!

So, here's what I came up with for her gifts...

(please don't mind the poor quality of pictures, we need a new camera)

Napkins and Napkin Rings: 

After I sewed the napkins, they turned out to be about 12 in. by 12 in. (Next time I'd love to make them bigger, maybe 15 by 15)

You can see how I made the napkin rings below!

Christmas Coasters:

Thank you PINTEREST! These were so easy and inexpensive! Four 4 in. by 4 in. tiles from Home Depot, a page of scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, and clear spray paper (BTW if you are a Chicago friend, you can't buy spray paint in the city...FYI) I totally want to make these for myself!!

Wine Charms:

My lovely friend Lizzy is a BIG wine drinker (as am I). I thought wine charms would be a great addition to her holiday entertaining! I used the same beads and wire as the napkin rings, then added a cute little charm!

I LOVE the way the napkins and napkin rings came out. Fighting against my "sweatshop of love" ways, I decided to just still with ONE tutorial on how I made the napkin rings. So...here goes!

My materials: beads, wire, wire cutters (wine glass and charms from the wine charms)

Start with a bigger bead. Loop the wire around it tightly using the wire cutters.

Add beads in a pattern.

Decide how big you want the napkin ring to be. I used one of my finished napkins by wrapping it up and making sure I like how it looks when I had the napkin ring around it.

End by using another bigger bead. Follow the same process as the beginning.

Now, loop the other end of the wire through the bigger bead's hole.

Wrap the remaining wire between the bigger bead and the rest of the beads. Wrap it 3 to 4 times, or until it feels secure. Snip off the rest of the wire and use your wire cutters to push the tip into the loop. (Don't want dinner guests with bloody fingers!)

Ta Da!!! (Now repeat 7 times!) Then you have.....

Hope you enjoyed my crafty creations! Next time...Gracie's first birthday present!!!

Love,

        SB

What's with the name?

Welcome to my new blog!!! I LOVE creating new and interesting projects. I love giving creative gifts to my friends and family. And I love learning and creating sewing projects. There's something SO satisfying about taking a piece of cloth and turning it into something....

So...what's up with the name?

First, SB?? My first and middle name is Sara Beth. Over the years, different people in my life have called me by this. I even had a group of friends in college that called me SB. As much as I love my name, I thought SB may be a more creative way to go for the blog!

When I get into my crafty moods, I tend to go a little overboard...and by a little, I mean I go TOTALLY overboard. I take on really big projects...that take hours and hours. And I work pretty much non-stop. When I'm not working on my project, I'm thinking about it. But, I love every minute of it and love making things for those I love! So, it's a self-created sweatshop of love!

But why start a blog?? As much as I LOVE working on my projects when I'm in the middle of them, I often have a hard time starting them up. That's where the blog comes in. I'm hoping that sharing all of my fun projects with others will help me to be motivated to work on MORE projects.

Since I'm getting married in June, I have a lot of fun, DIY projects that I want to complete to make my wedding seems unique and feel very "Jeremy and Sara-like." Hope you enjoy! Happy Reading!