Tool Time Tuesday...Mosaic Tile Magnets

Happy Tuesday everyone! We're off to the hardware store again...in the tile department! Today we're making glass magnets, but I'll have other projects with these tiles, so stay tuned this week or next week. I think these would be great for jewelry too...but I have to experiment first!

Mosaic tiles come in different sizes and styles. These tiles are glass or at least they look like glass to me. They are clear, with a backing on it that has the color that shines through to the front.

The tile comes in sheets that are 12 inches by 12 inches. These tiles can cost any where from $4.00 on up. I paid $4.00 for one and $8.00 for another.

However, if you take into consideration that there are 144 small tiles on each sheet, the cost for each tile is 3-5 cents a piece. Now that's a great price!!

Here's a close up...they are so shiny and smooth.

Here is a close up the blue gray tiles.

All the tiles are on a mesh backing to keep it in one piece. It's easier to place the tile on your kitchen back splash or in the bathroom in one large tile verses one by one.

However, we're crafting...not tiling the kitchen, so pluck those tiles off that mesh and let's get started!

Each little tile is about 7/8 of an inch square. Perfect for so many projects.

Here's what you'll need to make the tile magnets.

• tiles
• magnets dots found in any craft store
• glue...I used E 6000. Really bonds to tile. Hot glue pops off.

 This is the glue and the magnets that I used.

Simply glue one magnet to the back of each tile and let dry. DONE!!!

Use the magnets on any metal surface. They'll hold up messages, love notes, reminders, report cards, pictures, patterns, instructions etc...

Great for your refrigerator too.

A whole set of these would make great gifts too. Just package them up in cute little baggies with your children's school pictures or a special  message and the pictures are ready to go up on the refrigerator with a very pretty magnet.

Look for more tile crafts soon.

Have a great day,
~Karen~

Don't forget to visit my Sew Darn Crafty Linking Party...so many great projects or maybe you can join in on the "Make a Gift on the 25th Club"!!



Join my Make a Gift on the 25th Club...

Hi...my name is Karen and I am a proCRAFTinator. There...I said it. Every Christmas I have the best intentions to make gifts for people, but never finish or I am sewing on Christmas eve.

Well, not any more. I am starting a club and would love it if you can join me. The club is called...

 "Make a Gift on the 25th" 

For the next 5 months...July - November...you will start, make, complete or continue to make one gift on the 25th of each month. You can start a new project of your own choice or finish one you've already started. If you can't do it exactly on the 25th of each month, try to participate during the "week" of the 25th. Having a designated time and day will help eliminate proCRAFTination.

This is our button for our Christmas crafting. Seeing this on your side bar each day will help remind you to stay on track to get the job done!!

To add a button to your side bar is easy...

• First, copy the code under the button at the top of my side bar. Place your cursor at the top of the code, left click, highlight and drag until you reach the bottom
• right click and then click COPY
• go to the DESIGN section of your dashboard
• click "Add a Gadget"
• click HTML/Javascript
• put in a title for the button
• then right click and PASTE in the code into the box (sometimes you have to go back and copy the code again)
• click SAVE and you're done

There's plenty of time to get a few gifts done. If we all band together and post our progress, it will keep us moving along. Let this Christmas be the one where we can enjoy the few days leading up to the holidays and not have our heads buried in our craft rooms trying to get things finished.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me...

My name is______________ and I will not proCRAFTinate any more. I promise to "Make a Gift on the 25th" and I will have a relaxing holiday this year! LOL !!

Share this with your friends...I think we all can use a little push now and then!

Have a great day,
~Karen~


Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 22

Happy Sunday everyone!! It's summer here and HOT. It's winter in other parts of the world and COLD. Let's all find a comfy place today and squeeze in a little crafting time. No matter what you do for fun, whether it be sewing, quilting, knitting, jewelry making, painting, scrap booking...CREATE something today. Doing anything for just a few minutes can rejuvenate you for the rest of the day!

If you were busy crafting this past week, share your project with us here at Sew Darn Crafty...  



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~

Iced Coffee Cubes...

I LOVE iced coffee! Well, any coffee for that matter, but iced is so refreshing in the summer. I can only drink one large glass or I get nausea, so when I make it, I make it the best I can! I think I saw this idea a long time ago on the Martha Stewart Show.

I make ice cubes with coffee, so when they melt in the iced coffee the cubes won't dilute the drink!

Perk your favorite coffee or what ever is on sale...coffee seems to be pricey these days.

Pour cooled coffee into ice cube trays. I saved these trays from our old refrigerator, because the new one has an ice maker.

Freeze until solid.

Fill up your glass with ice.

Pour in your coffee and cream...

and enjoy!!

See...if you let it sit for a while and the ice starts to melt, coffee is melting not water. Little extra boost to your coffee.



I've used this idea for all sorts of drinks too...

• iced tea
• lemonade
• fruit punch...add the fruit punch to a bundt pan or jello mold, freeze and have the ring float in a punch bowl
• juices

Hope you can give this a try!

Have a great day,

~Karen~

A Wonderful Give Away...

I've made a new friend in blogland...her name is Kate and she is from an Etsy store called The Adopt Shoppe. Kate's awesome shop has beautiful jewelry and art prints. Her shop is extra special though. All proceeds from her shop go towards their adoption costs.

Here is a little bit from Kate...

I am Kate. I am a blessed mother and wife. My husband and I lost 2 baby boys before we had our 2 biological children. We could not have any more children. Through the miracle of adoption, we are blessed to have another daughter and we are in the process of adopting again!! I opened my little shop to help pay for our adoption expenses. Every penny of profit goes toward our adoption(s). I am passionate about orphans and try to do everything I can for them. I know I am only one person, but if we EACH do something, it will add up to a LOT!! There is also a message behind my work. I hope what I make is inspiring to you! I try to design each wooden tile necklace to be a "billboard for your heart".

To help Kate spread the word about her shoppe, Sew Many Ways is hosting a give away for ONE of her beautiful sewing/quilting tile necklaces shown below...aren't they the cutest!!!

Here are 9 more sewing and quilting designs to look through. I would have a tough time picking one!

Here is her inspiration...now aren't they just the cutest family ever?

I love this photo!

We all have one of these photos in our albums...don't we!!

Just precious...



So here is how you can enter the give away for one of Kate's sewing tile necklaces.

You will have to leave ONE comment on this post for EACH of the chances below.

• pop over to Kate's Etsy Shoppe and browse through all her items...come back here and leave a comment on which item is your favorite. Click HERE to visit her Etsy shop

• visit Kate's Adopt Shoppe Facebook page and "Like" her...come back here and leave another comment to let me know you did it. Click HERE to visit her Facebook page.

• pick your favorite picture of her family above and leave a comment for another chance

Thanks so much for participating in this give away. Not only are give aways fun and exciting, but this one in particular helps a wonderful family. If you aren't the winner, maybe you can purchase a beautiful item for a gift or a little present for yourself. You know we all need a treat once in a while.

I will pick the winner next Wednesday...July 13th, notify Kate of the winner and then she will contact you about your prize!

Take care,

~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Cupcake Holder

Seems like there are cupcakes every these days...fancy cupcake stores, whole TV shows dedicated to cupcake competitions and recipes for crazy cupcakes online. So, I thought maybe I could find a Tool Time for cupcakes. It's a recycling Tool Time too!

These covered plastic cups are what cupcake papers are sold in. What better cupcake project than the cupcake paper package.

They come with a cover too. Each package comes with 36 papers, so you can collect these containers pretty quick since a batch of cupcakes is usually 24. Maybe the cupcake paper company should either put 24 papers in there or 48. (Just thinking)

See, the perfect fit for a cupcake. Not the prettiest cupcake, but it's my kids favorite. The frosting that has mini chips in it.

Ignore those Halloween papers. That's all I had left LOL!!

Cover fits on perfectly.

Now to make it pretty. You just need Mod Podge, which is a glue and sealer in one...and a strip of fabric. I'm sure regular white glue would work great too.

Spread the glue over the outside of the container. Just the outside.

Thin layer all over.

Place the fabric on the glue and press firmly in place.

Now the bottom is a little tapered,

so just pull and pleat the fabric around the curved bottom.

Don't forget to spread glue on the bottom too.

Fold pleated edge onto the bottom

Cut a circle of fabric to fit the bottom, spread a little more glue on the fabric edge and...

Place the circle to cover the pleated edges.

To seal the fabric and give it a hard coating, add another layer of the Mod Podge and let it dry.

Add a little ribbon to the top rim and you're done.

Just add your cupcake.

Cover the container and it's good to go any where.

You can also add a label.

My main thought was to use this for children's lunch boxes or lunch bags to keep a cupcake nice and safe. However, my husband, who is a teacher, reminded me some schools have a no junk food rule for lunches. Here are more ideas...

• cupcake holder for lunch boxes...if ok for school
• muffin holder
• great for children's birthday parties...serve each cupcake in it or send them home with their own cupcake with their name on the outside
• party favor box
• decorate them in the party theme
• snack holder for kids on a car ride...will fit in a cup holder
• would make a cute pin holder for sewing friends

You can't wash or soak the outside because of the glue, so just use a little soap on the inside to wash it out.

Have fun collecting the containers...you have to make a lot of cupcakes to save those containers. Hmmm...it's a win win.

Happy Tuesday,
~Karen~

Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 21

Hello everyone! I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. Here in the states there are 4th of July celebrations everywhere. Maybe you've had family picnics or parties, but maybe you've had some free time to squeeze in some crafting too.

Sew Darn Crafty is the place where you can share your projects and what you've been up to...even your holiday weekend fun.

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 whole 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~