Every day I fight being a packrat. A few months ago I was getting ready to throw away an empty Saran Wrap box and happened to notice how the cardboard tube inside was oh so strong and sturdy. What useful thing could I make with such a pretty?? It’s round. Not easily crushed. Ah! I could cut it, cover it in fabric, and make napkin rings!

And that is how a cardboard tube ended up in my craft closet for three months. So this rainy-sunny-rainy weekend I sat down, fiddled a bit, and here we go! Cheery fabric napkin rings just in time to brighten up your summertime picnics.

Supplies (for 8 rings):

• 1/4 yard of fabric (you’ll use less but this is the minimum at most places)
• 1/4 yard of n0-sew interfacing (again, you’ll use less)
• 1 yard grosgrain ribbon
• Good fabric scissors
• Zigzag pinking shears
• Invisible tape (optional)
• Fabric glue (or two-sided adhesive)
• Rotary fabric rotary cutter, clear fabric ruler and self-healing mat (Buy a cutter and mat! You’ll use it all the time. Mine is well-loved, as you’ll see in the photos below)

One typical cardboard tube of Saran Wrap will make 8 napkin rings that are 1-1/2″ inches wide and 1-3/8″ diameter. Or you can make wider rings if you only need 6. These rings are best for premium square paper napkins and plastic silverware, but you can squeeze fabric napkins inside with no silverware if you roll them very tightly.

Cut napkin rings from Saran Wrap cardboard tube.

Using your measuring tape, measure 1-3/8″ and mark with a pencil around the circumference of the cardboard tube.

Carefully cut your pencil lines using an Xacto knife. Repeat for up to 8 rings.

Hide cardboard tube markings (optional). I did this step because the striped fabric I used was sort of thin and I wanted to be sure to totally cover up the dark spots of adhesive remnants on the tubes.

Cut 8 strips of no-sew interfacing 1-3/8″ wide x 5-3/4″ tall.

Tape one end of the interfacing to the ring (or use your adhesive). Roll the interfacing around the ring and secure with a second piece of tape.

Wrap napkin ring with fabric.

Cut your fabric in 3-1/2″ wide by 5-3/4″ tall strip (my fabric is shown face down in the photo but it doesn’t matter).

Place the napkin ring in the center of the fabric. Secure one end with invisible tape (or glue it if you’d rather), making sure the tape covers only a tiny edge of the fabric or else you’ll see it in your final product.

Roll the fabric tightly around the ring and secure using a dab of fabric glue, being sure to put some on the raw edge to prevent fraying (alternatively, you could turn a bit of the fabric under to hide raw edges or use pinking shears to make a zigzag edge).

Put a bit of glue on one fabric end, fold inside the ring and glue to the inside of the cardboard ring. Repeat on the other side. Raw edges will meet in the middle of the inside.

Hide raw edges using ribbon.

Using your pinking shears, cut one 4-1/2″ piece of ribbon for each napkin ring.

Spread fabric glue on one side of the ribbon. Curl it up a bit, slip it inside the ring and glue the ribbon on top of the raw fabric edges to cover them up.

You can also use the end of your pencil to roll the ribbon flat inside. Let your napkin rings dry for at least 24 hours before using.

Wrap plastic utensils in a premium paper napkin (folded into quarters) and slip on the ring to secure. Fire up the grill!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

I’m not sure what it is about spring but I go into quiche mode. I noticed the other day at Lovely Bakery that quiche was on the menu, so I decided to make one myself at home …while watching guilty pleasure The Real Housewives of New York City (oof).

I adapted Elise’s recipe based on what I had in the refrigerator, subbing out Gruyère for Parmesan, spinach for asparagus, green onions for shallots, rice milk for milk and ditching the cream. The flavors worked really well together and it tasted great!

Ingredients:

• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 4 slices of deli ham, diced
• 1 1/2 cups shaved Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup rice milk (or you can use regular milk)
• 1 frozen pie crust (or you can make your own)
• Freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of salt

Supplies:

• Emile Henry White Pie Dish
• Baking pan

You can make you own crust or save time using store-bought like I did. Poke the bottom of the pie pan with the tongs of a fork to keep the crust from bubbling up. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until very lightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Turn oven up to 375 degrees.

Shave the Parmesan cheese, dice the ham, chop the fresh spinach and slice the green onions.

Put 1/2 the Parmesan cheese into the bottom of the crust.

Add spinach and green onions.

Add the diced ham.

Crack three eggs, wisk with the rice milk, season with salt and pepper and pour into the quiche.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Set your pie pan on top of a baking pan to catch any spills. Bake at 375 degrees for another 25 minutes or until the middle of the quiche is set. Let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with salad or fruit. Enjoy!

Last year I made Madison a super cute pint sized kid’s pleated apron out of pink retro Wizard of Oz fabric. I added fun numbers cookie cutters and wrapped both in cookie jar wrapping paper. Madison loves the apron and calls it her “pretty.”

This year’s handmade gift is inspired by the fabric memory game idea at Chicago-based Elizabeth Anne Designs originally featured in the book “Stitched in Time.” Madison lives in Arizona and visits Chicago once a year so I made her a kid-friendly Chicago-themed memory game (and it gave me a perfect excuse to use printable ink-jet fabric. Great stuff …you gotta try it). And I wrapped it in super cute Madison Street Wrapping Paper.

First, my friend Heather and I explored the city looking for kid-friendly photo ops such as a bubble gum machine in a corner burrito joint…

…a colorful Chicago hot dog sign…

…yellow fish swimming on a graffiti brick wall…

…and — of course — a “Madison Street” street sign. To fill gaps, Elena Kovalevich graciously allowed me to me use some of her gorgeous Chicago Flickr photos. Elena takes fabulous photos …do check them out!

This template makes 48 memory tiles which is a pretty advanced game but kids can choose to play with fewer tiles to make it fit for all age groups.

Supplies for memory tiles:

• Kathy’s free Chicago-themed memory game template with 24 photos (each sized at 2 x 2 inches)
• Four sheets ink-jet-printable cotton fabric by Electric Quilt Printables (use the Joann.com coupon to the left)
• Four 8.5″ x 11″ rectangles of printed blue cotton fabric (for tile backs and outside of bag; I used my friend Susan Curtis’ stash)
• Four 8.5″ x 11″ rectangles of stiff hatband interfacing (recommended) or 8 sheets white felt
• Thread
• Good fabric scissors
• Zigzag pinking shears
• Sewing machine
• Rotary fabric rotary cutter, clear fabric ruler and self-healing mat
• Computer
• Ink jet printer (laser printers won’t work)

You’re welcome to use these instructions and Chicago template for free for your own personal use. Anyone using the project simply post a comment below or email me to track its usage.

These tile instructions are different than the original craft; I modified to make them easier and more efficient. Open my free Chicago-themed PDF template. You can use my photos or use my original Photoshop file to add your own. Print out two copies of each sheet on photo fabric using an ink jet printer on high quality. Let dry for at least 15 minutes; I let mine dry overnight.

Peel off plastic backing. Soak for 10 minutes in room temperature water to remove extra ink, ideally in distilled water. Swirl around during that time to keep the fabric moving if you notice a lot of bleeding.

Lay flat to dry on towels. You can blot with paper towels so that water doesn’t pool on your fabric.

Stack the fabric layers as follows: Place the blue fabric printed side down. Place your hatband interfacing (or two layers of wool felt) on top of the cotton. Put photo fabric image side up on the stack.

Machine-stitch through the tile layers around the outline of the photo. Smooth as you go to avoid puckering.

Cut out the images using pinking shears along the gray cut lines, leaving a white border around all sides.

To play the game, put the tiles face down on a table. Shuffle and line them up into rows. Each player must turn over two tiles per turn. If the two tiles match, then the player wins those tiles and can take another turn. If the tiles do not match, the player must turn them face down again and it’s the next player’s turn. The player with the most tiles at the end wins!

I made my own pattern for the ribbon drawstring storage bag. See how to make it after the jump.

Continue reading “Chicago-themed fabric photo memory game for kids” »

So my niece Madison’s 3rd birthday is in April. What a big girl!

I work near Madison Street in Chicago and couldn’t resist taking a photo of a street sign to top her package. The sign perfectly fit with the theme of the handmade present I made her (I’ll be posting her gift soon).

Madison is such a popular name in the U.S. so I hope this idea will come in handy for you.

Supplies:

• Free photo of Madison Street in Chicago
• Wrapping paper
• Two-sided tape and regular scotch tape
• Pinking Shears
• Paper scissors
• Computer and printer

Wrap your gift in wrapping paper. Print my Madison Street photo on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, either in color or black in white, your choice. Cut all four sides with pinking shears to create zigzagged edges. Using double-sided tape, secure the photo onto the top of the box. Voila!

Za Vas! Heather Crosby and I continued the Upper Crust Social Club event series by co-hosting a Russian-inspired vodka infusion party.

Guests brought their own homemade vodka infusions …such a range of tasty concoctions from Watermelon Rosewater Vodka Infusion to Skittles Vodka to Cucumber Mint Vodka Infusion to Bacon Maple Vodka Infusion to Apple Cinnamon Vodka Infusion and more. (You should make your own. It’s easy.)

Each guest received a vodka tasting packet and voting tokens to reward their favorite creation. The winners, Matt and KC MacQueen, got bragging rights and a very fancy Vodka Infusion Champion trophy for their popular Habenero/Orange Peel/Peppercorn vodka infusion.

For decor, we kept things white and red with Russian accents …white tablecloths, white & red flowers, assorted Russian books and jewelry from Alex (our favorite Russian), cutey-pie Russian matryoshka nesting dolls…

…dolly handmade signs reminding guests to “fill your belly,” “cleanse your palette” and “clean your glass”…

…signs of tot-holding old school Russian-esque lasses…

…and super fun individual tasting booklets with enclosed voting tokens.

Now take note: This is a vodka *infusion* tasting party theme which means mixers like 7up are definite no-nos. Because guests sipped straight vodka after vodka we supplied ample pitchers of water, dumping buckets for extras, a crunchy tater tot bar with five dipping sauces to help soak it up, orange slices for palette cleansers …and our special top secret “Morning-After Hangover Cure” party favor (free template and instructions below).

The vodka infusion theme would be perfect for bachelorette parties and birthdays. And a collection of vodka infusions in nice glass jars would be a great gift. Our excuse was to gather our friends and festively warm everyone up from the inside. It worked.

You’re welcome to use these instructions and templates for free for your own personal use. Anyone using the template simply post a comment below or email me to track its usage.

Free printable party templates: (thanks, Heather!)

• Free Russian nesting dolly signs template (PDF)
• Free tater tots Russian girls sign (PDF)
• Free voting token template (PDF)
• Coming soon: I’ll post the super cool tasting booklet along with a video on how to properly fold it

Hangover Cure Favor Supplies:

• Heather’s free template for the hangover cure label (PDF)
• White printer paper
• 1/2 inch Black Electrical Tape
• Test tubes (we used the 18×150 glass ones but you could go smaller or get plastic)
• Test tube corks (we used size 6; be sure to match your test tube size)
• Emergen-C packets (one for each guest, choose your flavor)
• Pop Rocks (1 packet = 3/4 guests)
• Scissors
• Xacto basic knife set, Ruler and Self-healing cutting mat (strongly recommended for straight cuts …otherwise, use scissors)
• Computer and printer (or send to FedEx Office)
• White paper bags (optional, one per guest)
• Pretty stickers OR 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of sticker paper from an office supply store to make your own custom stickers on the computer like we did (optional)
• Red tissue paper (optional)

Carefully pour one packet of Emergen-C into the test tube. Poor about 1/3 packet of Pop Rocks on top in a contrasting color. Top with one cork; avoid pushing too hard which might crack the test tube.

Print the free template and cut into strips using your Xacto knife, ruler and self-healing mat. Fold each strip in half lengthwise. Fold the strip over the cork, making one end longer than the other (see the picture). Cut a short piece of electrical tape and wrap it around the label and test tube to seal.

Try not to shake the test tubes; they look nice layered.

Place a test tube into a white shopping bag with red tissue paper. Place a sticker on the front. Na zdarOv’ye!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this theme and templates for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!