Tote Bag - E is for Environmentally Friendly

The last time I went to Berkeley Bowl, I swear I didn't see a plastic bag in sight. Everyone had brought their own canvas bags. It's a great thing that this is catching on. I just have to make sure to remember it as I'm leaving the apartment on a grocery run.

I went to Joann's and bought the biggest canvas bag that I could find. This thing can fit an amazing amount of groceries. I'll have to sew in a piece of vinyl or something to reinforce the bottom, though, because a lot of groceries can get heavy. I loved this yellow "E" that I found. I think my bag looks very collegiate and it's UC Berkeley colors of course.

Sweater Pillow

So I finally made my pillow which also required me to learn how to use a sewing machine. My roommate Diana graciously taught me how to thread the needle and bobbin. I decided not to use terry cloth because I saw this cute blanket made out of a thermal/sweater material at Target for $10. The great thing is, the material has lines on it which made it easy to guide my sewing. I bought a 24'x24' pillow from Joann's. Click the picture to see an enlarged image.

Materials:

Sewing Machine
Thread
Towel or other large piece of fabric
Ready-made pillow insert (24'x24')

Instructions:

Click here to be directed to Martha Stewart's website.

Martha Stewart Crafts

Marthastewart.com had listed some crafts that I thought were adorable. My next project will be the terry-cloth pillows. But, I'll list the other ones here that I thought were particularly clever. The pictures are linked to their respective web pages.

Terry Pillows

One of the reviewers of this craft on the martha stewart website said that she lies on these when her hair is wet. That's a great idea, but I want to make them because terry cloth is easy to wash and is a very cozy fabric.

Picnic Blanket with Tarp

I thought this was such a great way to keep a blanket relatively clean when sitting on it outside.

Tote Bags

















I need another big canvas bag to bring with me when I go grocery shopping. It would be fun to decorate my own.

Jewelry Box


















Jewelry boxes are quite expensive and this just seems like a very unique, inexpensive, and organized way to store jewelry.

Summer Crafts

Pencil Box

Materials:

1 small cardboard box
extra small pieces of cardboard
1 sheet of scrapbook paper
Hot glue

The pencil box was made out of a cardboard (raisin) box. I simply wrapped it up like a present, leaving the top open of course. I pasted extra cardboard to the inside of the box to reinforce it. I also kept it kind of tall so that it wouldn't fall when it had pencils inside of it. The letters were bought in a box of metal letters from Michaels.

Recipe Box

Click to enlarge image.

Materials:

1 wooden box ($2.99 at Michael's)
1 pack of glass beads (for the border on the top)
1 pack of metal letters
2 sheets of pretty scrapbook paper
brown ribbon
1 sticker sheet of letters
3x5 cards

The orange swirls and brown ribbon were inspired by a pretty wedding invitation that I saw in the craft store.