Flag Bag

At the beginning of each summer I get the itch to make something that is related to our amazing FLAG.  I think it is because school ends and then the 4th of July is right around the corner. This is my project for this summer. 

The only part of this project I needed to buy was the inside fabric.  I had all the red, white and blue and the buttons.  To make this I just initially cut the dark blue fabric and then made the red and white stripes based on the size of the blue.  The blue behind the buttons is denim from a pair of jeans.  The same one from this bag.  Wanted to break up some of the blue and use a different shade. 

There are only 35 buttons for the states!!!  Not sure which states are NOT represented, but I had to evict 15 of them!!  Tee hee hee!  Just kidding, I got lazy with the buttons, guess I could have added more, maybe I will someday. 

I love the stars on the inside.  Makes it a little brighter and fun. 

Overall pretty easy project and useful!!  Love taking it to the store so everyone can see it. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day, 
Cathy

Found some extra Jeans - so I made a BAG!!!

While cleaning up my bedroom I found some old jeans that I don't wear any more.  Thought about donating them to Goodwill, but then, hmmmmm, I could create SOMETHING from them!!!  

Checked out YouTube for something to inspire me, and came across a Quilt as You Go video.  This was the first one to get me thinking, and this second one shows how to start with a piece in the center of the project and work around it. 

I started with the pocket and worked out and around that shape.  It isn't perfect but the final project is ok.  

This is the back view.  Wanted to make it different from the front.  

Handles.  

Finally, this is the inside of the bag.  Looking at it now, I don't love the fabric I chose to line it. 

Thanks for looking, have a great day, 

Cathy

50 Cheers for 50 YEARS!!!

My bestie turned 50 this month and I wanted to do something special for her big day!!  So I made her a cake we could DRINK!!!!  I wanted to keep it!   We have been friends for more than 20 years and have had some wild days in our youth!!  This was the perfect cake for her!  

I'd like to say I came up with this idea myself, but I'm pretty sure I saw it on PINTEREST and filed it away in my brain and some how thought of it for her birthday.

It was pretty much a guessing game of how many cans of beer to get.  I bought a 36 cans of beer to start with and a bottle of wine.  Knowing the bottom layer was the biggest, I had to use the most cans there.  

I started with 21 cans of beer.  Seemed like a good number.  BUT, I forgot to keep in mind that I have a bum arm and can't lift much weight!!  21 cans of beer weighs A TON to me!!  FYI - if you need to transport the beer cake to a party it needs to be built in layers on trays.  And, on this picture you can see I forgot to add the cardboard circle under the cans - GRRRRrrr!!  From the picture of the final cake you can see that I cut out cardboard circles to support each layer and covered the circles with aluminum foil to make them look nice.  

The middle layer had 9 cans in it.  I added the cardboard in the middle so that one can wouldn't move around when transporting.  

 Finally the top layer had 6 cans and a large bottle of wine!!  I changed that later because I ended up buying some small bottles of wine as accents. 

  I added ribbon to each layer. 

And made some easy ribbons to decorate.  

Cute! 

Final cake!!!  The lifesavers on the table were supposed to be confetti!!!  

 Besties!!! 

It was a huge hit!!! She loved it. 

Thanks for looking, 

Have a great day 

Cathy

Casserole Carrier

A little while ago, I was watching one of my favorite YouTubers (is that an actual word??), The Crafty Gemini, and she was showing how to create a casserole carrier.  Check out her tutorial here.  It was so cute, I loved the material she was using.  I thought - Cathy you can do that!!  

So I gave it my best effort.  I used the measurements she gave and her exact directions.  It didn't turn out quite as nice as hers, but it is OK.  I think I may try another one to see if I can't make it a little better.  

Not sure if you can tell or not, but mine is also reversible.  But I still think her fabric colors are much cuter.  

It was fairly easy to make, pretty sure it took me less than an hour to complete.  I didn't do all the quilting that she did but on my next one I will add those details.  

Thanks for looking.
Cathy

Hail to the Redskins....

My husband loves the Redskins!!!  He is a northern Virginia native and has been a fan for years.  Recently I watched a great video on YouTube showing how to make fabric baskets.  Whitney Sews show how to easily make a clever little basket.  I loved the idea.  So I tried to make my own using a bandana I bought from 5 Below when they were going out of business.  I think this bandana was less than $1.00!!  And, the inside of the basket is from a white bed sheet from Goodwill.  YEA, I love a bargain!!  

I used slightly different dimensions than the ones Whitney used.   I used a rectangle 13 inches by 18 inches.  The corner cut out was 3.5 inches.  

 

The video shows the instructions on how to complete the project.  it was pretty easy and I finished in less than an hour.  

I really like the way the Redskins emblem ended up right in the middle of the basket!!  There is no way I would have been able to do that.

Pretty cute!!  

I know I'm going to make more of these because they are so easy to do.  

Thanks for looking, 
Cathy