Cutlery Holders

A family tradition of ours is to gather at my Mums house for Seafood lunch on Good Friday.  Even though her house is in upheaval as we wait to get repairs done after the recent flooding, she still wanted it to be held.  Most of the cupboards are empty, nearly all crockery and cutlery boxed away, so we decided on a "picnic" style luncheon.

I decided to make some cutlery holders using old Readers Digest book pages.

For strength and stability, I used six pages in total, 3 for each side.  I used scrap booking scissors to cut a decorative edge on the top, which was then folded down approx 1".  Front and back placed together and then sewn with a zigzag stitch down both sides and across the bottom.

I have placed a paper napkin and then the cutlery in each holder.  It looked a little bare, so for the Easter season, I placed a small chick sticker on the bottom corner.  Just enough!

Maybe next time, I may use coloured cotton?

For ease of access, all the new paper holders were placed in a pencil holder, which I tied with a Easter ribbon. 

I love how the ribbon picks up the colours in my garden in this photo.  A simple way to present your cutlery at a informal function.

Just another close-up photo

On another note, I have only just taken the plunge and converted to the new Blogger interface, so fingers crossed there will not be any mysterious changes to my blog.  It is very different in the back end, where I create these posts, but hopefully I will be able to sort my way through.

Tomorrow I am going into town to our Leeton SunRice Festival Parade.  I love parades.

Our Leeton SunRice Festival is held biennially at Easter in conjunction with the rice harvest and celebrates the importance of the rice industry to the Leeton community.

Have a great Easter with family and friends. 

Judy

Blogger Dilemna

I have a question, should you show your craft on your blog if it is not really "up to standard".  Who is the judge, your readers, or yourself.

I have been wanting to make a mug mat for a little while now, just to see what they are like, and if I would like to make some as gifts.  So today, I just grabbed some scrap fabric, loosely followed a tutorial from another blog  (not sure if I should mention the blog, as I muddled my way through it, using materials I had on hand, not what was recommended) and the results show that I did not plan, prepare, follow instructions, or take care ...

The front.. not straight, feature square not centred, binding not even  (not sure I would do it this way again)

The back - this is OK, what could go wrong with just a piece of fabric?

Maybe I can give it to my 5 year old niece for her tea party, I am sure she will not notice the faults (fingers crossed).

I promise I will have another go, and this time, do it properly.  Do you like seeing other peoples mistakes?  Not sure I like admitting to them.

Take care and enjoy your craft

Judy

Little Wooden Signs

I finished off these little wooden signs today, I had already cut them from a length of timber - easy

Stage 1 - Cut length of timber into 4 inch pieces, and small holes drilled - no photo (sorry)
Stage 2 - Stain timber - I used DecoArt Walnut Gel Stain just paint it roughly on, and then use a cloth to rub it into the timber, just a little bit is needed to give wood grain effect

Stage 3 - Attached your printed paper signs using ModPodge  - I just print my favourite sayings onto brown Kraft paper using a variety of fonts.  ModPodge is used as a paste to attach the sign, making sure you smooth the paper sign so that you do not have any bubbles, then put another coat of ModPodge on top of the printed sign.  Once dry, give the top another coat - this acts as a varnish and protects the sign.

Stage 4 - Finish off by threading Rusty Wire through the holes at the top and curling the ends.

  

I will use these to decorate my handmade Santas, Elves etc and I think they will also look great on the Christmas Tree or as Gift Tags ... many uses and super easy and cheap to make.

Judy