printable spice jar labels

I recently traded in my modern rotating spice rack for this vintage shelf I thrifted at the local antique mart. I fell in love with the worn paint and the vibrant hue – an added burst of color to our already sunny kitchen. Only problem is that all my jars are labeled on the lids (which are no longer visible). Since it seemed a batch of printable spice jar labels were in order, I decided to share them with you. Click on each set for a printable image. Print onto adhesive paper or affix with contact paper. For a more vintage look, experiment with one of these ideas before putting them on the jars. If I’ve neglected your favorite variety, let me know and I’ll gladly add another set with any requests. Enjoy!

SET 1

 

SET 2

 

SET 3

A special “thank you” to Ohdeedoh for featuring my no-sew fabric bunting earlier this week. I am honored!

The blog tour for I Heart Patchwork (Rashida) and Sew Liberated (Meg) begins today! Click here for the full tour schedule and a giveaway.

fire and ice

{d.i.y. wintry votive}
Seems to me that everyone has snow, but us. We’ve had rain, rain, and more rain. Being cooped up indoors with time to savor your winter wonderlands (and an abundance of glass baby food jars), I suppose my muse was awakened. Every windowsill in my house may be filled with these by week’s end.

baby food jar + tea light + paper doily + ribbon

p.s. The link to the complete list of d.i.y. projects and tutorials has been moved to the navigation bar in the header.

UPDATE: Check out “Childhood: The Fine Print”, a new collaborative on Flickr. Jump in anytime!

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Oh dear… Somewhere between the nose-wiping and sprite-pouring I forgot to post the winner from the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day. Forgive me! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all of your wonderful holiday traditions. Thank you for taking time to share them. Congratulations to Denise K. She writes: My favorite tradition as a child were the presents (2) that we got to open Christmas Eve. One from faraway family & one from “gramma & grampa” who came for dinner Christmas Eve. Grampa always read the story of Jesus birth and we sang CHRISTmas carols, too. Now I am passing the tradition on to my lil’ girl.

design board tutorial

These days I have so many designs swimming around in my noggin but I can’t seem to get my act together. All my crafty notions are scattered from one end of the house to the other and about the time I find one thing, I lose another. With an adventurous toddler underfoot, I squeeze my sewing and crafting into short snatches throughout the day so I’ve determined that if I’m going to get anything completed by Christmas, changes are in order. My sketchbook has become a close companion. It’s filled with inspiration from other places but I’m a hands-on sort of girl and have a hard time visualizing patterns and colors in an abstract way. For awhile I’ve been enamoured with the idea of a design board but all the ones I’ve seen are just enormous and a bit impractical for me. So yesterday I piddled around with what I had on hand and came up with a perfectly sized alternative. Chances are you’ve already got most (or all) of these things at your fingertips so if you need a design board (large or small), here’s a quick tutorial.

materials:
cork board – be sure the back is also made of cork or other soft material
fabric in a neutral color – long and wide enough to cover, with  plenty of extra length for the pocket
wire - this covered wire came from the floral/wreath aisle
clothes pins – I found tiny ones at the local craft chain

1. Lay the cork board face-down on the fabric (also face-down), leaving enough fabric all the way around to wrap around the edges of the board.

2. Starting at the top, fold the fabric over the edge of the board and secure on the back with thumb tacks, spaced 4″ to 5″ apart.

3. Work your way down the sides in the same manner.

 4. When you get to the bottom of the board,  pull the fabric taught and pin to the back, but then fold the excess back to the front of the board to form a pocket.

5. Wrap excess “pocket” fabric around the sides of the board and tack to the back as before. 

6. To add your wires, simply wrap them around the board and twist tightly in the back to secure them.

  

Aaaahhh. That’s better.

What’s your biggest challenge to keeping your workspace/studio organized and efficient? Do you keep your stash tidy or do you find you work better surrounded by chaos? If you sew, how do you store your fabric? (This problem befuddles me to no end.) Then again, perhaps chaos is good for the creative soul. And when you have a moment, I’d love to hear what you think about this. I felt more free just having read it. But I still can’t find my measuring tape…

p.s. the link to the rest of the projects and tutorials has moved to the navigation bar in the header.

UPDATE: 1.12.2010:

no-sew fabric bunting

I’ve been quite smitten with all the colorful buntings that seem to be popping up everywhere. It’s such a fun way to add a splash of color. Only problem is that even though I love sewing as much as the next person, my time at the machine is very limited. Still, I wanted a cloth bunting for her “big girl room”. Paper just would not do so I put my thinking cap on and came up with an alternative. This no-sew fabric bunting  is so simple, and apart from one step, can be done just about anywhere.

1. Assemble your supplies:
 - assortment of colorful cotton fabrics (this is a great stash-buster)
 - narrow polyester ribbon
 - pinking shears
 - stapler
 - hot glue gun
 - iron

2. Determine the length of your bunting. Be sure to allow extra ribbon at both ends for fastening. Cut your ribbon accordingly.

3. Using pinking shears, cut out your flags. If you like you can create a paper template to get perfect triangles but I chose to free-hand mine because I didn’t want them to be exactly perfect. Once you cut out the first one, you can lay it on top of your uncut fabrics to use as a template.

4. Once you have all of your flags cut, lay them face-down in a straight line, top corners slightly overlapping, in the order you want them to hang. Lay your ribbon on top of them, along the top edge, also facing downward. Beginning at one end of the ribbon, insert three staples across the top of each flag to secure it to the ribbon.

5. When all your flags are secured, fold each one back, over the ribbon, and press flat with a warm iron.

6. Lift each flag (as shown above) and add a few TINY drops of hot glue on the inside of each fold (I put mine on the top of each staple), using your fingers to gently press it down until it sticks. Be careful not to use too much glue, as it may show through.

Hang and enjoy!

More tutorials, d.i.y. projects, and printables here.

UPDATE: You can see the finished nursery here.

 

UPDATE: 1.12.2010:

a simple sewing tutorial

For two years, he spent his days and nights at our feet. He became a seventy pound lap dog and all was right with the world. When we announced we had a baby on the way, I swore to unbelieving friends and family that our firstborn would not lose rank but it wasn’t long before my swelling belly and piles of pillows forced him out of the family bed and onto the floor. He forgave us, once again, but he’s been on the floor ever since. On several occasions we purchased beds for him but they always found their way to the garage on the grounds that they were just too cumbersome, taking up an inordinate amount of space and a royal pain to keep clean. Thankfully, he’s seemed happy enough sprawled on the cool hardwoods. A few weeks ago as I was rifling through my fabric stash, I uncovered a panel of red and cream ticking and an oddly sized scrap of fleece and sometime later, an old no-skid rug mat. Somehow, my mind connected the three items…and he’s thankful. It came together so quickly that I thought the washable pet bed would be a great project for anyone who’s just beginning beginning to sew.

 

 

 

d.i.y. dry erase organizer

These days I seem to stay perpetually behind on all the little things. At day’s end, it’s not the mammoth tasks that lie undone, but a predictable pile of small things I’ve neglected – freshly laundered clothes  forgotten on the bed and the morning coffee grinds waiting to be discarded.

Pre-motherhood, I was a keeper and lover of lists. I had one for everything. I have long since been broken of this habit since I prefer a writing utensil that is neither sticky or wrapped in Crayola paper. On a recent outing, I discovered 8×10 magnetic photo frames, perfectly sized for displaying a week’s worth of predictable two-minute to-do’s and dinner menus (and a few blank spaces each day for the inevitable extras). I keep a few dry erase markers handy to check things off. The list wipes clean on Sunday evening.

If a task is once begun
Never leave it till it’s done ;
Be the labor great or small,
Do it well or not at all.

perfectly paired

Recipes for mom here and here.