Spooktacular Halloween Blog Hop!!

I got another fantastic package of goodies from Jodie at Prairie Paper Haven for the month of October and I thought what a great opportunity to do a Halloween Blog Hop!  So, along with Jodie and three other fantastic scrappers - Cayla, Tracy and Carlye, we have a fantastic little hop for you. 

This months goodies were all part of the Simple Stories Frankie and Friends line.  I love this line and as always, Simple Stories does not disappoint. 

Since we were decorating for Halloween we decided to make a simple wreath for my daughter's door.  This is a design I have done before, and learned from Beth Kingston of Xyron at Crop and Create in 2012. I love this simple decor wreath and it is easy for kids to assist with. 

First, I cut several one inch strips of 12 x 12 paper and and ran them through the Xyron.  You could use any adhesive. 

I had a leftover styrofoam wreath from Beth's class so I used it.  I have also used very inexpensive weather-stripping tubing from the hardware store with kids classes.  This makes it very inexpensive as with tubing is several feet for about $5.00.  I taped the tubing into a circle using duct tape and proceeded the same as below.  

Start wrapping the strips around the wreath or circle form you are using. 

When you are finished it will look like this. 

I then snipped a banner into each piece.  I added ribbon to hang and embellished it with several of the Frankie and Friends cardstock stickers.

Faith now has a wreath for her door. 

Later this week I will post another project with this fantastic paper!  I love this line!

So here is the rest of the Blog Hop.  I would love it if you stopped by to see their fantastic creations! Please leave a comment if you like what you see. 

Stop 1 - Jodie - Prairie Paper Haven 

Stop 2 - Cayla - Cayla's Crafty Corner

Stop 3 - Tracy - My Crazy Life

Stop 4 - Carlye - Crafty Carlye

Stop 5 - Amy - A Pirate's Life Crafts (that's me!)

Thanks again for checking out the blog hop!  I hope we can do a Christmas one next. 

Other Crafts - Travel Keepsakes

Prior to an upcoming trip with my entire family, I decided that I wanted to make something for the kids.  Thanks to some fantastic friends I have been able to collect several Starbucks Frappuccino Glass Bottles. (I have more projects in mind for these bottles, but this is the first.)

Each kid coming on the trip, and my parents, will receive one of these Keepsake Bottles for them to collect shells, sand and, well, whatever they want to fit in the bottle.  

After using Goof Off to remove all the adhesive from the Starbucks labels, I made a label with our trip location and date.  I tried to use Armour Etch and etch this information in, however my stencil did not work.  I do intend to use Armour Etch on a future project with these, so I will keep playing with that medium.  

I then painted the lids black and added some twine using hot glue.  The charms are from eBay and I used some additional twine to attach them.  The various charms include shells, turtles, pirates, mermaids and fish.

Sewing - Custom Laptop Case

When I was in the US in August I found some amazing Disney Villains material at Joann's Fabrics.  I had to have it, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it.  I recently purchased a small convertible laptop to take to crops with me and it needed a case.  I decided to make myself a case from the wonderful fabric.

Unfortunately since I was not following a pattern and I was winging it as I went, I did not think to take photos.  I hope the sketches below are enough information.  There really is no pattern since you will want to fit your laptop and every one is slightly different.

To start, I measure the laptop and cut two pieces of cardboard the size of the top and the bottom of the closed laptop.  This will give it some stability (but also makes it not washable, I am trying to come up with something different). 

I then laid the cardboard out on my material to gauge the size rectangle I wanted to cut. I left a 1 inch allowance on either side and the bottom and a little extra on the top to be safe.  I also left an inch in the middle between the two pieces of cardboard as that is the width of my closed laptop. 

I ended up cutting two pieces of this large rectangle (front and back):

I also cut one piece that was 9 inches by 2 3/4 inches (approx) to use as a closure. 

I added fusible fleece to all pieces again for some stability and padding. 

I sewed the closure piece first by sewing three sides and turning right side out and ironing flat and sewing the final opening.  I added velcro to one end that will close on the laptop case. 

I estimated where I wanted this piece to go and sewed it in place.  It was the center of the bottom of the bottom piece of fabric. 

This is the part that I found trickiest.  I needed to add elastic to the top piece, the piece that would be against my laptop.  The elastic is used to hold the laptop in place.  I place one elastic just below the keyboard and above the mouse pad, the second is above the keyboard, and the third is below the camera above the screen. I pinned the elastics in place on the wrong side of the fabric before sewing.

I sewed my two larger rectangles wrong sides together on the sides and the bottom allowing for 1/4 inch seam allowance. I was careful not to catch the closure I had sewn on in the previous step.  I turned them right side out and ironed them.  I put one piece of cardboard in and sewed a seam as close to the cardboard as I could.  I left an inch (the width of my closed laptop and sewed another seam as close to the cardboard as I could. (See the blue lines in the below diagram for reference). 

Before sewing the top closed, I added the velcro to the top for the closure. 

Open:

Closed:

I then carefully sewed the top closed by folding the raw edges inside and sewing on the outer edge.

Here is the finished project.  I love this fabric so much, I do have some left over and cannot decide that to make with it!