Burlap bag

Sometime last year I got these huge burlap totes at Pottery Barn for real cheap.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but knew I'd come up with something.  I remembered them yesterday and thought it might make a nice sewing bag.

But first I wanted to do something to make it a little less plain.  I thought about painting something on it using a stencil, but I've never had any luck with that so I decided to try backstitching a "d" on it.  

I already had the thread and just printed the letter on regular copy paper.  I should have made my letter bigger.  The tote is huge!

Finished!  

Its not perfect but I like it....especially since I have about $5 in the whole bag!  It may not work as a sewing bag though.  It has that burlap smell to it so I may have to find another use for it.

Finished Projects

I completed a few of my crafting projects so I thought I'd share.  Like I said before, I like to start projects but oftentimes I never get around to finishing them.  I had to laugh when I see which projects I finished.  They were all so easy, I shouldn't even consider them crafting.

First up, have you guys been seeing white owls all over the place like I have (maybe I'm looking for them and don't realize it)?  I semi-like owls so I thought I would see how one would look in my house. 

I found this out-of-date owl for $12 at an antique store in town and thought it would be perfect to spray paint.  

What do you think?  I like him!  If nothing else, I think he'll blend in well with my Halloween decor. 

Next up are the scrapbook paper coasters I've seen on several blogs/DIY sites.  These are so super easy.  And my new paper cutter helped because I have a hard time cutting a straight line and I would not have been able to get the same size squares every time without it.  

Cute, but I'm not sure what to do with all 8 that I made!  The tiles were only 18 cents and the Mod Podge and scrapbook paper weren't much more than that, so these were cheap too.

And last, the easiest of them all....

I have a slight obsession with fonts, monograms, and numbers.  For this project, I cut a piece of scrapbook paper and stuck it in an old, plastic, gold 5X7 frame that I spray painted black.  Then I just put scrapbook stickers on the glass for our street number.  This one turned out to be my favorite of the finished "crafts".   It would be cute with an inspirational word too.

I'm still thinking about the sewing machine and appreciate the advice some of you gave.  I need to make a decision because I continue finding projects I want to try that I need it for.

Crafting

Between blogging and Pinterest, I'm overloaded on DIY and craft ideas right now.  So since I was home alone today, I decided to try some of the projectss I've had on my to-do list. There are some very inspiring ideas out there in Blogland but to be honest, I don't have a use for most of it.  Most of what I worked on today just turned out to be pieces of bigger projects but Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday's so I'll just have to wait to finish them.  I'll try to post some pics of the finished products but don't hold your breath.... I love to start and hate to finish.

I like to spread out and make a big mess when I'm crafting.

I'm starting to think that I really need a sewing machine.  I've wanted one for a while, but 1) I don't know how to sew and the few times I've tried were basically disasters, and 2) there are too many sewing machines to choose from.  When it comes to things like this, I really just need someone to tell me what to get.  Any suggestions?  I grew up with my mom sewing all the time, but she didn't pass that trait down to me.  And I have little patience for tedious work (like cutting or sewing a straight line) so I don't want to waste (potentially) too much money on it.  I have my mom's first sewing machine that I've used a couple times but I don't know how to thread it even though she's shown me more than once.  So I think I need to try a newer model, one that threads itself.  :)