December 17, 2014

Beth – Sew DIY

christmas

DIY Neon Tree

December 17, 2014

Beth – Sew DIY

christmas

Growing up in Oregon, our house was surrounded by towering pine trees. Every year we would trek to the forest (or a local farm), to cut down our Christmas tree. Since moving to California, I've started a collection of small faux trees. I don't really know how it started but I devised a vision of building my own Christmas tree forest. I'm now up to 4 trees, green, blue, silver and the new one this year is white. It's a diverse little family of trees and I adore them. Today I'm going to show you how I decorated my little neon tree one layer at a time. It really helped ensure that everything was spread out evenly and looked balanced.

December 16, 2014

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, christmas

DIY Tutorial – Beaded Tassel Ornaments

December 16, 2014

Beth – Sew DIY

tutorial, christmas

I'm kind of a Christmas tree collector. Every year or two I add another little one to my collection. This year I added a 4 foot tall white one to the collection. To celebrate, I created all new neon ornaments. The beaded tassels are the heroes of the group. They are really fun and easy to make. I think these would be a great craft to make with kids or craft-fearing folks, they're so fun and cheerful, no one can resist their charm.

December 17, 2012

Beth

christmas, tutorial, sewing, Gifts to sew, Small things to sew

DIY Tutorial - Therapy Rice Pillow

December 17, 2012

Beth

christmas, tutorial, sewing, Gifts to sew, Small things to sew

A therapy rice pillow is a wonderful last minute handmade holiday gift. A therapy rice pillow can be used like a heating pad, hot water bottle or ice pack when heated in the microwave or cooled in the freezer . I like to use mine as you would a hot water bottle to warm the end of the bed and keep my toes nice and comfy. You can reuse the pillows over and over again. They really last for years. All you need is fabric and rice. So it's pretty affordable too.

Make them in any size to suit your needs. Make a small one to warm your hands, a medium size to soothe a sore belly or a long skinny one for a stiff neck. A cotton flannel fabric is the coziest of all but any tightly woven cotton will do.

Supplies:

2 pieces of fabric 13 x 7 inches

About 5 cups of uncooked rice

(The cheapest rice available will do just fine. Although I've read the Minute Rice is not recommended.)

Thread

Sewing machine

Step 1:

Place fabric pieces right sides together and stitch around all sides leaving about a 3 inch opening on one side. Don't trim the corners. (Don't believe me? Go read this post from Tilly. It will change your life.) Turn fabric right side out and press.

Step 2:

Pour rice into bag but don't fill it up all the way. You want the rice to be able to move around freely so that it feels comfortable against the body. Five cups was just about right for this medium sized bag. If you stand the bag up on one end, the rice should fill it up about halfway.

Step 3: Stitch over the opening to close the bag. I used a straight stitch and a blanket stitch to make sure it's really sealed.

To heat your pillow, just put in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. You might remember that I made one of these bags a few months ago with a removable cover (see it here). The removable cover is optional. Just know that the bag itself can only be spot cleaned.

You can also make tiny little pillows to use as hand warmers (like here on the Swoon blog) and when you're not using them for warmth you can practice your juggling or have a little game of bean bag toss.