Hobo Pocket Recipe

Ok, I know this sounds like a craft only page but I love cooking. Mostly baking.
This recipe can be prepared in your kitchen, on the grill or in the campfire.

Ingredients:
ground meat
potatoes (cubed)
onions (cubed)
Salt and pepper
Aluminum foil
Optional:
red/green bell peppers
spices

Cut a piece of foil about 1 ft. long. (Double layers if you foil is thin and you are using grill or fire.) Make a thin patty of ground meat. I use about 1/4 pound. Lay in center of foil. Salt and pepper the meat (add other spices if desired). Top with potatoes then onions. Add a little more salt and pepper. Bring opposing sides (longest flaps) of foil to top and create a fold to seal. Bring up the other ends and press on top.
To cook in oven place on cookie sheet and cook at 400 degrees for about 40-45 minutes.
To cook on the grill or fire place in the coals for 25 -30 minutes.
Y0u can cook on the grate for 35-40 minutes over high heat.
Place pouch over bowl. Poke a drainage hole in bottom and let fat drain out. Can be served in the pouch or plated.

Add peppers at the same time as onion.
Omit onions if desired.

Special Ringbearer Pillow

The pillow is made from ivory dupianni silk remnants from junior bridesmaids' dresses. The brooch was her great-grandmother's.

Make Your Own Washable Floor Wipes/Pads

I love my floor mop. I only have 2 washable pads. I found a five pack or large microfiber cloths for $5 at Walgreen's.

I folded it in thirds. (photo 1)

I zig-zag stitched all four sides. (photo 2)

I straight stitched to divide into four sections. (photo 3) This is very important to prevent pad rolling-up during use.

Put it on and use as usual. (photo 4)

Up-cycle old shirts

These are good to have around for emergencies. They are also excellent to make for babies in third world countries. I will post information on donations later.
http://fernandfaerie.com/sewing_fitteds.html
This is a great use of old sweaters made of natural fibers.

Chocolate Melting pots????

I am trying to decide which chocolate melting pot to buy. Should I get the one with one pot and lots of extras? Should I buy another brand that has two pots? Have you used one and what did you think?

Aprons as hostess gifts

I made these for the hostesses of my daughter's bridal shower.

I loved making the patchwork. Mixing fabrics is so much fun.

Bead Tutorial: Wire Wrapping

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A32u_jnrpac
Good lesson for beginning beadders. This can be used in a lot of ways that are not shown in the video. How have you used it?

Understitching tutorial

I love tutorials with video. Sometimes patterns are so vague that you don't really know what to do.
http://youtu.be/aRtA6_2QiPE

I made the Jr. Bridesmaids' dresses, flowergirls' dresses and the ringbearer outfit. Thanks to my mother for helping me with the hems and pinning. I also made the ringbearer pillow. Will post later.

Wedding

I am working hard on my daughter's wedding. I will start posting again as soon as it is over. I hope to have lots of pics of our creations!!!

Have you tried this yarn?

Bernat has a pretty yarn called Baby Blanket Yarn-Pitter Patter. I wonder if it is good for crochet.

Mother Daughter Aprons

These turned out so cute. The mother said the girls were fighting over the first one before she could explain that there were two. I love these pictures!

Leftover Yarn Projects

Check out these projects to use up all of your yarn scraps.
http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Dishcloths/Little-Starburst-Dishcloth/ml/1

Purses

I am about to make a purse. I hope it turns out good enough to make another one for my etsy site. Have you made any purses lately? Please share.

Tutorial Link

I found this link today. So far it looks pretty interesting. Especially for the beginning sewer.

http://www.videojug.com/tag/sewing

Tracing Patterns

I finally started copying my patterns so I can use all of the sizes on my pattern.Yay! Now I have pieces for all sizes. Instructions follow pictures.

*I taped down paper from a roll of brown paper. I used masking tape. You might even want to stick it to some fabric before using to help prevent tearing the paper.
*I taped down the large sheet of transfer paper.
*Taped down pattern pieces. The ones that had not been cut out worked much better.
*I used a mechanical pencil with the lead retracted to trace the pattern. I marked all off the special instructions, pattern number, and piece name.
*I carefully removed the pattern pieces and the carbon paper. I left the tape on the pattern pieces and folded it over the edge.
*I checked the pieces on the brown paper to make sure I didn't miss anything.
*I cut out the pieces from the brown paper and used them just like the tissue pieces.<>

The Labels Are Here!

They finally came. They are beautiful. Next time I will have my Etsy store name ready for the order. The price for these was very reasonable. Mistakes happen and I thought they should have rushed the correction but the work is great. I have started sewing them on the items that I still can. All new items will have them.

Felting

I have always wanted to try felting. I do not knit. I have discovered that you can felt crochet. I am currently reading up on it. I'll let you know what I find. Sounds like a good summer project.

Spring Clearance

Fabric.com is having a Spring Clearance. Shop the clearance and $1.95 section and use the coupon code CLEAR311 for an additional 20% off. This sale is good until March 14.

Great Button Rings and Contest

I like the idea that these do not require the use of metal.
Comment on the video for a chance to win a book.
http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/making-button-rings

Just In Time For Spring

I recieve Burda emails. This dress pattern was in today's email. It doesn't come in my size but looks cute.
http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/022011-dress-with-a-line-skirt-and-shoulder-sleeves

Organizing Craft Space

I am a fan of Spoonflower on Facebook. I found this link on their page. http://www.gussysews.com/2011/03/creative-craft-organizing-ideas/

I am working on the guest bedroom idea. Actually, mine will be a craft room with a place for guests to sleep. Right now the room has some of my daughter's stuff, some of her classroom boxes, most of my classroom boxes, and a lot of my craft stuff crammed in there. Can't wait to get it set up. I think I might have to rent a storage unit for the classroom stuff. Please share your ideas.

Spoonflower sells custom fabric. You can design your own fabric. No minimum order required.

Doggie Piddle Pads

I went shopping today for materials for doggie piddle pads. PUL fabric is not available around here so I bought some clear plastic. These are only to try it out anyway. I will order some PUL fabric soon. I am putting fleece on top. The second layer will be birdseye diaper cloth. I will also use cotton flannel. I will sew all of these together. I am putting the plastic between this "quilting" and another layer of flannel.
Has anyone tried making these before?

Dress Time

It is time to start work on the dresses for my daughter's wedding. Her three Matrons-of-honor and four bridesmaids dresses are being ordered. Thankfully! I am making three Jr. bridesmaids dresses, three flower girls dresses, and one ring bearer outfit. I am a little nervous because almost all of them live faraway.

I am trying something new (for me) with the patterns. I am transferring them to thicker paper. I will cut out a copy of each size. That will make re-use easier. I hope it goes well. I have looked up several different ways to do it. I will let you know how it turns out.

If you have a way of doing this please share.

Crochet

If you like to crochet you should check out Hooked on Crochet. If you sign up for their emials you get special offers and FREE crochet petterns. I love the patterns.

ARGH!!! Wrong Labels!

I am so disappointed. I ordered my sew-in labels on January 15th. They came today and were so beautiful until I looked closer. The second line was supposed to say ”meredithcrafts.blogspot.com” but the said “meredithrafts.blogspot.com”. Notice the missing c? it would be ok if I made rafts. Mistakes like that happen. But you really need a different set of eyes checking your work before it goes out. Especially with something like that.

I have just emailed them. I hope I don’t have to wait 4 more weeks for the correct ones. I will tell the name of the company and how they fixed the problem after it is fixed.

I hope that is soon.

My Etsy Address

some people have had a difficult time finding my Etsy shop. Here is the address www.etsy.com/shop/meredithcrafts.com

Do you have an Etsy store?

Some of the items in my Etsy store. Visit Meredith Crafts on Etsy.

Do you have an Etsy store? Share your store name so others can visit you.

Shows, Festivals, Sales?

Please share information about upcoming events that include crafts. We all can help each other.

New Items

I put one new item on my etsy page. I hope to have more tonight or tomorrow. I will have baby boy items.

Diapers or No Diapers?

I am considering making cloth diapers. They will be shaped like dispoable diapers, have absorbant inserts and they will be waterproof. They are supposed to save tons of money. What do you think?

What's Happennin'

Next week I hope to have more products on my Etsy page. I ordered some awsome vintage fabric for aprons. I hope it is enough for two. I should have some hot/cold packs and bibs with matching burp clothes. I can't wait to hear your comments about them.

What is in a name?

So I picked a name. It was Meredith Made. I checked the trademarks and stuff to make sure it had not been taken. I meant to register it on Etsy BEFORE I ordered tags but you know how it is when you are on pain mads. You don't always think straight. So I oredered 100 tags that say, "Meredith Made" in cursive on top and "meredithcrafts.blogspot.com" in print on the bottom. THEN, I went on Etsy and ofcourse it was taken. So I went with Meredith Crafts since it is on the tags and everything else. Oh well.

Help me pick a name

I am trying to decide on a name for my products. I was thinking Miss Amy's Thingies. You know, like Miss Amy's Hair Thingies, Miss Amy's Boo-boo Thingies, Miss Amy's Baby Thingies, etc... But since I do make adult products like the hot/cold packs and aprons (some aprons have matching children's size) I'm not sure if that is so good. I want something that stands out a little, but not too much. I need to decide before I start posting to Etsy. Any ideas?

Herbal Hot/Cold pack and Boo-boo pouches

Hot/Cold pack is big enough for your neck, shoulder, etc.

Boo-boo Poches are just the right size for kids boo-boos.

Also available in eye size. Perfect for migraines and sinus headaches without the extra weight of a full size pack.

Stuffed with a rice and flax seed blend for better heat retention. Lightly scented with lavendar oil.

Herbal Hot/Cold pack

Stuffed with a blend of rice and flax seed for better heat retention. Lightly scented with lavendar oil

Herbal Hot/Cold pack

Stuffed with rice and flax seed blend for better heat retention. Lightly scented with lavendar oil.

Herbal Hot/Cold pack

Stuffed with a rice and flaxseed blend. Lichtly scented with lavendar oil.

...and another bow.

brown and black

...and more...

pink, rose and green

bows and more bows...

Pink and black

Bows and more...

Bows and...

pink, brown and green

Bows

More pink and brown

Some of my first bows...

I love pink and brown.
I have to work on my photographing items.

My daughter's will you be my...?

I saw these on oncewed.com. My daughter is getting married so we decided to make them for her Matrons of honor, bridesmaids, junior bridesmaids and flowergirls. We had to break it down into groups since she had so many attendants (13). The sets were 3 matrons of honor, 4 bridesmaids, 3 junior bridesmaids and 3 flowergirls. I put the doll representing the girl it was going to on top. I learned what I would do different if I had to do it again. They turned out so cute. Everyone just loved them. Check out more pictures on my facebook page Meredith Crafts