Grocery Sack Holder

A couple months ago I had a very stinky problem in my daughter's room.  I cloth diaper my baby girl, which is great, and I certainly wouldn't do it any other way, but it does cause a slight complication in the poop arena.  Luckily, there is a wonderful thing called a diaper liner.  This magical invention is placed between the diaper and the cute baby tush to catch the "yuckies".  You can either flush the liner and its contents or toss it in the trash.  I don't really trust the plumbing in our old house so that leaves to tossing the liner.  This is where the stinky problem lies.  I always have tons of grocery sacks lying so this provides an opportunity to reuse them, but its certainly not safe to have plastic sacks floating around in a baby's room.  This is where my project began.  Keep in mind that I didn't really measure anything, I just worked with what I had.

You will need:

• A rectangle piece of fabric (whatever size you want--this will depend on how big you would like it)
• Ribbon (cut a couple inches longer than the length of the rectangle)
• 1/4" elastic (cut AFTER sewn in)

Along the length of the rectangle that you want to be the top, lay your ribbon down so you can fold the edge of fabric over and it will extend past the ribbon.  This should allow room for the ribbon (which will act as a drawstring) and a decent amount of seam allowance.  Mark the fabric so you know where to pull the edge to.  Oh and raw edges of fabric don't matter on this one :)

Pull the edge over to the pencil marking and sew, making sure their is enough space for the ribbon.

Once sewn, thread the ribbon through the "sleeve" you created.  My ribbon was pretty stiff and easy to pull through.  You can also attach a safety pin to the end of the ribbon and guide it through the sleeve.  Or you can use the technique I used in the next step.

Do the same on the opposite edge of fabric using the elastic instead of the ribbon (remember to not cut the elastic yet).  This time pin the fabric into place with elastic still there.

When sewing, make sure not to sew over the elastic.

This is where the gathering is created.  Sew one edge of the elastic in place.  Once secure, pull the elastic to the tightness you want, gathering the fabric along with it.  Pin and sew that edge of the elastic.  Now you can cut the elastic.

Pin the raw edges together.  Tuck in the edges around the ribbon.  Once that is done, sew the edge but be sure not to sew over the ribbon.

Once that's done you have a grocery sack holder, wasn't that easy?

Just stuff and pull the drawstring shut.  I hung mine on the wall above my daughter's changing table.

**Just a safety note:  If you are using this in an application like mine, make sure the bag is out of your child's reach.

MIA - Merry Christmas

Sorry I've been missing lately.  I fully intended to do several posts about Christmas but this month completely got away from me.  This was by far the busiest Christmas I've had in my married life.

Unfortunately, I don't have any craft or recipe to post about this time either.  What I do have is an adorable picture of my Santa-loving baby girl.  

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Shimmering Pinecones

Remember when I said that I had another use for pinecones in my Pinecone Owls craft?  Well here it is.  This is a very easy craft using glitter.  Does anyone else get excited over glitter?  I have been eyeing this Martha Stewart fine glitter for literally years but it was $30 for a pack of glitter.  I've even had it in my shopping cart many times but in the end I have always put it back before going up the register.  I just couldn't justify it.  Finally last month when I was shopping for my Pinecone Owls I saw that it was on sale for 40% off!  I must say that I absolutely love it too!

Supplies:

• pinecones
• glitter (Like I said, I love the Martha Stewart brand but any will work.)
• glitter glue or elmers glue (You need a thin glue with a fine tip bottle.)
• paper to catch all the glitter

You should plan to glue and glitter the pinecone in two sections to have a dry spot to lay it down so the glue to dry.  Squeeze glue out onto the edges of the cone scales on one side of the pinecone.

Sprinkle glitter onto the glued scales.  Be sure to lay out some paper because most of the glitter you pour out wont stick to the pinecone.  This way you can pour it back into the bottle.  I like using newspaper because it already has a crease to funnel it into the bottle.

Tap out excess glitter, rotating the pinecone to get it all out.  Set it aside to dry.

Repeat with the other side.

You can even do more than one glitter color on each pinecone.  Just make sure that the first color of glitter is dry before adding the next.

I displayed mine in a gold sleigh by the front door.  Other ideas for display include putting them in a tall, wide and clear vase, an apothecary jar, a decorative bowl or even making them into ornaments for the tree.  Have lots of fun!