Knitting, sewing, and canning my way to Mexico

Wow, a lot has happened since I first announced I will be traveling with Compassion in January to visit Eduardo.

My son is going to Mexico with me!!!

My very first passport arrived!!

So, those were the two big announcements I wanted to share with you, but I wanted to update you on what I have been doing to raise money for the trip.

I have been making a lot of jam, like over 20 batches!! Cranberry-Strawberry, Strawberry, Blueberry, and Apricot. Jam making is something I usually do during this time of the year, sometimes just for us, but a lot of times, I will make enough to give jars of jam as gifts during Christmas. I have been able to sell half-pint jars for $5 each. I hope nobody is expecting jam for Christmas this year!

For bridal showers, I love to give the new bride a couple of hand knitted dish cloths along with an apron. When the trip came about, I had about 10 dish cloths already completed and ready for bridal showers in my closet. After checking prices on Etsy, I decided to sell some of these in sets of 3 for $10. I picked up a huge cone of cotton yarn at Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon. So far, I have made 11 dish cloths from this one cone and there is more yarn on the cone!

For baby showers, I love to sew up a flannel blanket and a couple of terry cloth/flannel wash cloths. I had 15 of these in my closet done already because I usually go to JoAnn’s the day after Thanksgiving and purchase flannel for $1.59/yard. I did purchase more flannel last month to make a few more sets, and I have been selling these sets for $15 each.

So, as you can see, I have been knitting, sewing, and canning my way to Mexico! God has allowed me to use things that I enjoy doing to raise money for my trip. I am amazed at how everything is coming together to make it possible for me and my son to go on this trip!

Stay tuned for upcoming posts on how I am preparing for this trip!

Questions for you: Have you ever raised money to go on a Compassion trip or mission trip? What ways have you fundraised that have worked for you?

Capture Your 365

Time for another week of photos!

ISO 100, 30mm, f/5.0, 1/5 sec

Day 66 – In The Morning: About a year ago, some somewhat local friends and I joined up with the Hello Mornings Challenge. It was very inspiring and motivating to get my mornings started with God’s Word. I am not following the Hello Mornings current Bible study, but I still strive to start my day soaking in Truth. Currently, I am working my way through Romans chapter one. Writing out all the verses, all the cross references, and looking up all the Greek words gives me a better understanding of what Paul is teaching us in this book.

ISO 400, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/50 sec

Day 67 – A Hobby: part of my sewing area, with a pile of baby blankets and wash cloths that need hand stitching

ISO 400, 50mm, f/4.5, 1/10 sec

Day 68 – Me: As the photographer, I am usually not in very many pictures. When the daily prompt arrived in my inbox, I loved the photo that was shared. Here I am copying that photo using a cute mirror that Kelsey has in her room. Are you receiving the daily prompts? If not, be sure to sign up for them here!

ISO 400, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/20 sec

Day 70 – Liquid: While many of my online and blogging friends have been suffering under inches and feet of snow, God has blessed us with an incredible week of beautiful weather here in California! It was time to start brewing some iced coffee for our warm afternoons.

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/1000 sec

Day 71 – Shamrock: Here is where creative license comes into play. I don’t have any shamrocks growing in my backyard and my house is not decorated with shamrocks either. But we do have quite a few bulbs in the backyard that are just waiting to burst forth with beautiful spring colors! Can’t wait to see these tulips!

Be sure to join up with the Capture Your 365 challenge! I would love to hear what you photographed this past week!

 

Valentine Book Garland

Today was the day to take down the winter decorations!

Our poor church family (including my family) has been hit with all kinds of illnesses over the past month or so. Since there are so many sick right now, our weekly afternoon ladies Bible study was cancelled for today, so I knew I would have some extra time to work on a craft after Kelsey was working independently on her school work.

So I checked my Pinterest craft board to find a Valentine craft and was disappointed when the link was not working. The project didn’t look too difficult, so I pulled out some supplies and got to work.

Supplies: a used book, heart template, pencil, scissors, and thread

Start by tracing the heart template onto some of the book pages. The number of hearts you will need depends on how many you want on your garland.

Take your heart book pages to your sewing machine. You will be sewing down the middle of two hearts at a time. Leave a good length of thread at the top of the first set of hearts. When you are finished sewing through the first set of hearts, do not cut the thread! Pull the thread out some, then begin sewing down the next set of hearts. I decided that 4 sets of hearts would work for my windows. Once you sew the last set of hearts, pull the thread a few inches from the machine, then cut the threads.

Take the garland to a table, now fold the heart pages away from each other to create a 3D effect. I did tie a knot in the thread at the top and the bottom to keep the thread from unraveling later.

I tied a loop in the top of the thread and hung each length of hearts from a hook on a tension rod inside the window frame (which is covered by a valance).

Do you decorate your home for Valentine’s month?

Fabric Marble Maze Tutorial

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have seen me pin a marble maze on my gift ideas board. I meant to take a peek at that pin before I put these together, but I decided to give it a shot on my own and see what I could come up with.

We have a lot of little ones at our church and every now and then, some little person likes to sit with us during church. I have been trying to come up with ideas to keep in my church bag to keep these little people occupied if they start to get a little fidgety.

First off, I cut out 8 inch squares of 4 pieces of material, a print for the top, a piece for the back and 2 squares of flannel for the middle. I decided to make these with 4 layers of material, this way the marble has a chance of staying within the fabric a little longer.

Then, put the four layers of fabric together, prints will be right sides together, with a square of flannel against the wrong side of each print.

I like to pin things together, the pieces don’t seem to shift as much while you are sewing them together.

A quarter inch seam all the way around should do the trick, just make sure to leave an opening.

Clip the corners, this helps the corners to lay down a little bit nicer. Then turn the square right side out.

After pressing the seams, make sure you put a marble inside your square between the layers of flannel.

Then sew all the way around the square about a 1/4 inch from the edge.

Now here is the fun part! Creating the maze! With a standard size marble (we found a bag at our local Dollar Store), you will want to allow about 1 to 1 1/4 inch pathway for the marble. Using a pencil and a ruler, lightly draw your maze on the top print side of your fabric.

After you have drawn your maze, sew on your pencil markings. You may have to move the marble around a little bit while sewing.

Slip stitch the opening and you now have a fabric marble maze! You can make these any size you wish, and because the material is all cotton, you can just throw them in the laundry if they get dirty.

What have you been crafting lately?

Baby Wash Cloth Tutorial

Last week, I shared with you how to make a flannel baby blanket. If you made the blanket, you know there will be some extra flannel material. I have been using the extra flannel material to make baby washcloths!

The steps are very similar to making a blanket, just a little smaller this time.

Find a coordinating terry cloth material to go with your flannel print. You will not find a lot of choices for terry cloth at the fabric store, so just pick something that will match most of the flannel you have on hand.

I use my quilting tools to cut out 6 inch squares from the flannel print and terry cloth.

With right sides of one flannel print and one terry cloth square pinned together, I take my scissors and slightly round each of the corners.

Time to move to the sewing machine! I use about a 1/4 inch seam on these, but remember to leave an opening to turn these right side out!

Clip each of the corners like you did for the blanket.

Pull in the right side out through the opening you left.

Give each wash cloth a press with the iron.

Back to the sewing maching to zig-zag stitch around.

Time for some thread and a needle to stitch closed that opening.

Ta da! In less than one hour and for less than $5, you can have a really nice homemade baby gift!