Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 42

Hello Everyone!! I have definitely been blogless since Tuesday. Here in the states, Thursday was Thanksgiving. The girls were home from college, friends and family visiting from out of state and we had Thanksgiving here at our home. Wonderful week, but crazy busy.

I'm sure you've been busy too, but hopefully you had time for some fun projects, crafts or recipes. So let's start off this week with another wonderful Sew Darn Crafty Party. Can't wait to see what you've been up to.

Starting in December the linking parties will have Christmas / Holiday Themes. See the list below or on the upper right side bar.

Here are the weeks and the theme for the weeks to come...so start putting all your great posts together!

December 4th...Christmas/Holiday Decor
December 11th...Cookie Recipes
December 18th...Last Minute gift ideas

If you want to add the button to your blog...Click HERE for a tutorial for adding a button


If you're NEW to Sew Darn Crafty, then grab a cup of something tasty, sit back and join in on the fun (starts Sunday and lasts all week long at Sew Many Ways).

WHAT IS SEW DARN CRAFTY...

• "Sew" for anything to do with sewing,
• "Darn" for anything to do with knitting. I always think of darning to do with knitting, but in my case "darn" usually is similar to the word I say when I mess up crafting!!
• Let's not forget the word "crafty"...that can mean just about anything we do to create.

WHAT IS A LINKING PARTY...

So now we all know what Sew Darn Crafty means, let's explain a linking party again. I subscribe to a linking service, which provides the ability to link thumbnail pictures on my blog. The picture is a link that other bloggers provide to share their projects.

Two things can happen at a linking party...looking and/or linking

• you can be greatly inspired by wonderful projects, ideas or vacation pictures (looking) and/or
• you can share what you've been up to (linking)

If you want to be inspired by all the great ideas...just click on a picture and it will take you to that post from a wonderful blogger willing to share her thoughts and ideas.


HOW AND WHAT TO LINK TO THE PARTY...

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your entire blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects, vacations, parties etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the "click here to enter" button and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week,

~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Toilet Paper Roll Gift Box or Advent Calendar

I know...long title, but I wanted to get it all in!!

This is a great recycling project to use up all the cardboard tubes from rolls of toilet paper, paper towels or the tubes from gift wrap paper!! Those are long, so you can cut a lot out of one tube...so start saving!

You will need

• decorative paper or fabric
• glue or hot glue
• cardboard tube...toilet paper, paper towel or gift wrap paper cut into pieces
• ribbon

Just an FYI...those little scrapbook paper sampler books are the perfect size for this.

However, who can resist a good red and white polka dot!!

Cut a piece of paper or fabric wide and long enough to fit your tube.

Glue or hot glue the long seam and the round outer edge.

Go all the way around and seal the end piece.

Done!

Now, here is the first fold. Make sure the seam of the paper is centered and is under your thumb. Squeeze to crease.

I hot glued this because it dries fast. Hold til sealed. If you use regular glue...clamp it until dry.

All sealed shut.

At this point, it will look like an open tube of toothpaste.

For the second squeeze, make sure the first crease is in the opposite direction of the second. Meaning, one should be running north to south and the second runs east to west. Does that make sense?

Here it is in this picture. The first crease is on the table...north to south. The one I am pinching is east to west.

After that second pinch, you can add your little trinkets or gift...great for

• candy
• mini toys
• money
• jewelry
• gift certificates
• coupons you write out for free babysitting, dinner, chores etc

Just hot glue to seal and add a little bow and gift tag. This is a good picture of how the seams are running in the opposite direction.

If you don't want to hot glue the last seam shut so it's easy to get into and reusable, punch two holes on the top edge...run your ribbon through there and tie.

That hole on the left looks a little sketchy, lol...don't try punching a hole through dried hot glue!!

Here is the box used for gift giving.

If you want to make 25 of these in the same paper or all different papers, you can add numbers and make an advent calendar out of them.

Just number them 1-25 with a marker or scrap booking stickers.

I have one of these little decorative hangers...I think it's to display a special ornament.

Just hang each day's advent packet from this.

Or you can string them together like a banner and your children or grand children can take one down each day.

This is a great project for any age...young or old. It's quick, easy and practically free! Have fun making them.

Have a great Tuesday,
~Karen~

Address or Gift Label Tutorial...

You all know I love labeling everything....everything!! If you stand around too long at my house, you might leave with a label on your tuckus.

Avery labels are my favorite and now they come in the best shapes ever. They have the brown paper look in round, oval and square...great for your craft business. Check your local office supply or the Avery website. I have no affiliation with Avery...I just love them. They make business cards too.

These are a few of the ones I use. They're great for...

• address labels...especially for all those Christmas cards coming up!
• return address labels
• gift tags
• organizing labels

Here's a quick tutorial on how to use Microsoft Word to make labels. Mine is 2007 on my computer, so things may be a little different on yours. The process is the same...just the buttons might be in a different place.

When you open up Word, a new page will appear like this. Click on the word MAILINGS...circled in red

Then click the LABELS button.

A window will pop up. Click the word OPTIONS.

Another window will pop up and you will scroll for the corresponding number that matches the number on the label that you have purchased. My address labels are #5160.

When you're done, click the OK button.

Now click the NEW DOCUMENT button.

and the template that matches your labels will appear.

If you want to have your print center in the label, click the LAYOUT button and then click the CENTER button. It doesn't say center...it just has lines centered in the middle for the top and sides. It's circled in this picture on the right.

Now you can go back to the HOME button and play around with fonts and letter size.

just left click and drag to high light when changing a font or font size.

Not sure about your printer, but mine has to have the labels go in upside down in the paper tray. Practice with plain paper before you waste the sheet of labels.

Hope this helps during the upcoming holiday season. You can use these for so many things this time of year.

If you make out your Christmas card list, you can type in all the address labels and save it on your computer and then just print it out each year.

Have a great day,
~Karen~