Denim coaster - Pinterest test

I had a few pairs of jeans lying around with holes in unsavory places that I just couldn't donate to the thrift store. So I did what any crafter would do and turned to Pinterest for some suggestions.

I loved the idea of recycling old jean hems into coasters. I cut up off the hems from two pairs of jeans and hot glued them into as nice coil, as per the Pinterest instructions.

I mean, it was an easy craft and looks nice....except it's not wide enough to fit my standard work coffee mug and the darn hems are so tall it makes the cup wobbly. None of the tutorials said how tall (vertically) the finished coaster should be.

Also two pairs of jeans didn't even make one measly coaster.

Fail. I think this will have to be a redo.

I'm quilling to give it a try...

Quilled greeting card with daisy and butterfly.

In some older craft books I came across repeated references to quilling. After some research, it seems easy, beautiful and cheap. Quilling is the art of folding or rolling thin strips of paper into intricate shapes, which are then glued together to create decorative designs. It is supposed to mimic the fancy guiltwork or ironwork of more expensive antique items.

Quilling 101 articles said you really only needed a quilling tool and some paper.

I went to Michaels to pick up a ruler (to mark off the thin paper strips) and a quilling tool. Apparently Michaels doesn't carry quilling tools anymore! So I ordered one online for under $5.00. I did however pick up a clear ruler marked with inch grids, which turned out to be very helpful.

I looked around for some patterns online and decided to try this Simple Quilled Daisy Card.

Blank greeting card with pastel gradient.

I always keep some blank card stock on hand because it's cheaper to make a custom card for a friend than to spend $7 on one from Hallmark. For the background I did a pink-purple gradient using chalk pastels and sealed it so it wouldn`t smudge.

I think my first mistake was using cheap printer paper (it was all I had). Cutting your own strips allows you to exactly match the specifications of the pattern. But it would have been easier to order pre-cut strips online. As a result of el cheapo printer paper, my strips didn't want to gently relax for a proper "loose roll".

The pattern said the card should take about an hour. Mine took three to complete; I'll chalk that up to beginners experimentation. Normally I could never justify spending that long on a greeting card!

Here's a comparison of Ann from All Things Paper's card and my attempt. It's not horrible, but I had to give up on some of the finer details inside the daisy, as my petals were too small. There weren`t any measurements for how long your finished shapes should be. Ann sometimes gives measurements for how long a strip of paper you should wind, but not the dimensions you should make your petal or leaf.

I tried to make a heart, but it turned out lopsided, so I made it into a butterfly. Adaptability!

I think one of those quilling templates may be worth the money as part of a starter kit (apparently called a circle shaper).

I'll try another project with better quality paper and see if that helps.

Circus Elephant Stuffed Animal

Gerrard, the friendly circus elephant wants to play! 

I caved and purchased several more pattern books from my now favorite author. You'll see more plushies over the coming months as I tackle some more of her projects.

This adorable elephant was actually supposed to be part of a family that lived in a peanut. But man, these little stuffed animals take a lot of time and hand sewing to complete! I admit I lost patience after making just one.

I think he turned out super cute, I love his flappy, soft ears.

He is also safe for small children because his eyes, cheeks and mounth are all embroidered. No buttons to pose a choking hazard.

My only gripe is that tracing the pattern onto the fabric was difficult. I wound up just tracing it in pen on the wrong side of the fabric because chalk can't capture the all details and simply rubs off. I looked at the fabric store for another solution but there didn't seem to be many other options; the fabric markers' packaging all said that the ink was not guaranteed to wash off. Great.

The pattern also called to do the embroidery once the elephant was pieced together and turned right-side out. (I admit I had to give up on the satin stitch, that wasn't going anywhere). But how are you supposed to knot and hide your loose ends unless you start on the wrong side of the fabric? And in that case, you'd have to do the mouth and eyes before it was pieced together. If anyone has any insights, please let me know in the comments below.

I didn't want to deal with all the embroidery on the blanket, so I used fusible web to appliqué the star on. Another lesson learned is that three layers of fusible web are hard to get a needle through.

But over all I think he's adorable. If you would like to claim him for your own, he's available on the Fancy-Free Crafts Etsy store (shortly).