Christmas things

I kind of went crazy at the Dollar Tree today. I love cheap decorations! It's so easy to just grab one (or four!) of everything because it's only a dollar! I got some giant felt ornaments to go in the craft room and office windows, a pack of sparkly snowflakes, four pieces of silver and iridescent tinsel garland, a Santa hat for Orion, a stocking for Orion, a pack of dark silver glitter ornaments, and a big sparkly Christmas tree shaped ornament. I think that was all.

I also worked on the shirt for my mom some more last night, and made her a coaster. I always give her something tea or coffee related because she likes both, especially trying new kinds. So I figured I'd make her a special coaster mostly because I saw this idea on pinterest (it didn't lead to anything though, so I'm not going to post the inspiration photo because I couldn't source it.)

But, as you can (hopefully!) tell, it's supposed to be a coffee/tea cup! I thought it was super cute, and experimented with a few ways before settling on the one that worked; cutting out my pattern, sewing it right sides together around 3 sides, making sure the 'handle' was in there (totally left it out in one of my three failures), then turning it right side out, and putting a felt piece cut in the same shape inside (to absorb any liquid/make it thicker and more coaster-like). Then I folded in the last side that was left and top-stitched all the way around it. I think it's cute! I think you could also make one using leather and denim, and not have to double up the fabric. I wanted to use the polka dots, though, and it frayed too easily so I couldn't do anything that only used one layer of it.

As for the shirt, it's still not done, but I was extremely pleased with how well the tree came out so I'm going to post a progress picture. I drew the tree onto my heat-bond paper, bonded it to the burlap first, then cut around the edge of it. I think that helped keep the burlap from unraveling while I worked with it. Then I immediately bonded it to the shirt, and did a zig-zag stitch all the way around the edge of the tree. (Very time consuming, but also very worth it.) I think I may do a few pearl ornaments, and leave it at that; I'm kind of loving the rustic look it has right now. 

Pictures! First up, the teacup coaster (this could also work as a ornament for a tea/coffee lover!)

And here's the shirt.

And you can file this one under 'pictures that happen accidentally when you're messing with your camera settings and don't notice your dog walking towards you with an entire tree in his mouth'

Joining: