Craft Projects for October

I've been busy this month preparing for a Women's Ministry event at my church called Crafts and Conversations. Women are able to sign-up and pick what they want to make and pay for the supplies. They show up and I provide all their supplies as well as a teacher to show them how to make the item.

Even with all that preparation and logistics, I've still be able to make a few things this month. First, I made a baby present for a childhood friend. Her baby came a month early and she kept the name a secret, so I did pretty good to work within those guidelines. I'd seen these all over craft blogs, so I tried my hand at it. As with most projects, I would do a ton of things different, but not bad for the first time making a new item.

Please excuse the poor photography, I was all set to mail it and then remembered I had forgotten to take a picture of it, so I snapped one right before I ran out the door. It's a growth chart that is hung on a wall (or in my case, hung on the corner of my bookcase for display purposes). I love it because it can go wherever you go, no matter how many times you move, or how many times you want to pain your house. You track the child's growth by adding safety pins and tags to the height when they've reached certain milestones, yearly doctors check-ups, etc.Here's a close-up look of the name:

I also managed to make a fall wreath for my boss's birthday and wound up making three more for others that liked them and were willing to pay me to make them.

It was also a dear friend's birthday, so I dabbled a little more in the sewing department and created a set of four of these for her breakfast table.

This is actually the same placemat, I just made two different sides so she can pick which one she wants to use. What made this special is that the birthday girl's friend passed away several months ago and I was blessed to receive all of her unused fabric. The placemats and cloth napkins are made from that fabric, so it's extra special. And to make it even extra, extra special is that at the birthday dinner, the friend's husband was present, so he was able to see the fabric put to good use as well as see who was receiving such a special gift. It definitely took a lot more time than I thought it would, but it was well worth it. I even went to the birthday girl's house last night and saw them displayed on the breakfast table.

I saw this fun idea on a blog also and kept it filed away in my brain. After the school year started and crayons were dirt cheap, I bought a few packs. Then, this week, I went and bought the loops needed to help shape it. I'm not finished with it yet, but this is probably as complete as it will be for awhile. I think I might have spent $3 to make this.

More than likely, I wont post my craft projects for the rest of the year, as Christmas is approaching and most of them will be gifts.