Cupcake swap package arrived

I received my swap package for The Cupcake Swap I recently participated in. This was a really good swap experience the gallery looks great. I love the package that my partner Kellilee sent me. She put together some quality crafts for me.

She made me a lovely tote bag decorated with this cross stitched cupcake done in linen floss. It has a pretty muted tone to it. I love knitted wash cloths see the cupcake knitted into this one. And you can't really see the cupcake in the bottle cap necklace but it is really cute. And she made me a cute felt cupcake magnet.

My partner sent me lots of extras too. I never expected to receive a bottle of Chardonnay in a cupcake swap but I did. It is from Cupcake Vineyards how cool is that. She included a postcard from her town which I thought was a great idea. Unfortunately I have never seen a postcard from the tiny town I live in. But maybe I could use a postcard from a nearby attraction.

I also got some candy jewelry and other candy. A cupcake cookbook, some herbal soap, some cupcake scented body lotion, a tiny candle in a tin and all the makings for Funfetti Cupcakes were included in my box. Oh and the other fun thing I got were three fat quarters of cupcake fabrics. I love them all and surprisingly I don't have any of these in my stash already.

Since I sent my package out early because of the work I was doing to prepare for VBS I had almost forgot about this swap. So it was extra special to get my package. It was kind of like a treat because it arrived the last day of vacation bible school.

More VBS

I got some better pictures of my Vacation Bible School decorations today. Our theme was Egypt Joseph's Journey From Prison To Palace. My daughter and I made a lot of the decorations and costumes too. We made two life size sarcophagus out of a piano box. I carved several pieces of Styrofoam that was padding in the piano box into hieroglyphics. I painted them with acrylic craft paint. We made the cat statues with empty 2 liter soda bottles and a Styrofoam ball head. We covered it all with masking tape and spray painted it all black. Then we painted the details with white paint.

This lower picture is of Joseph room in the palace. I mostly used things I already had to get this look. The columns I saved from last years VBS. They are corrugated vinyl roofing rolled into a tube and taped together with clear packing tape. The bigger grain bags are real bags of grain that a man in my church brought over from his mill. One of the activities at Joseph's place was for the kids to pretend to be donkeys and get loaded up with grain sacks on their backs. I didn't want to crush any of the kids by putting 50 lbs of grain on their backs. So I made some lighter ones with pillows from my couch and some fabric from my stash.

Even though VBS was a lot of work we had a lot of fun too. It went well for the most part and I had many helpers for which I am very grateful. I am also glad it is over. I just need to take everything down now. I hope to do most of the taking down tomorrow.

Egypt VBS

Tonight is our last night of Egypt Vacation Bible School. We are having a great time and I have been very busy getting everything together for each night. I thought my few readers may enjoy seeing some pictures of the decorations. I will have to get

some better pictures from my daughters camera. I realized I didn't take any clear pictures of the decorations. Most of mine are of the people.

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Egypt VBS

I have been working on items for my churches upcoming Vacation Bible School. This year we are doing Egypt Joseph's Journey From Prison To Palace. One of the things I made for the toy shop is this Senet Board Game. This was actually one of the crafts the program recommended for the kids to make. It was a tiny cardboard game the kids were to punch out and do a bit of coloring on. I thought it was to pricey for something the kids would take home and throw away. But I did think they would enjoy playing the game at VBS. So I created two larger wooden versions that kids can play during their time in the marketplace. I used a piece of balsa wood for the game board and some Popsicle sticks for the space counters. And a package of wooden disk for the markers. This was pretty easy to make I just hope it is not to hard to learn to play. The rules look easy to me.

Some other things I have been working on are costumes pieces and some decorating items. I will be sharing some of these with you with hopefully a tutorial for one or two things. I have been taking pictures of my progress.

A Cupcake Water Bottle Sling

I wanted to share one more thing I made for The Cupcake Swap I recently participated in. I sewed two of these water bottle slings. I sent one to my swap partner and kept one for myself. This is definitely a quick project from my new book Sewing Bits and Pieces. I made one for my partner from the Frugal Living Swap. I really intended to make only one sling to send to my partner. However I managed to cut two of the same side so I had to cut two more of the opposite side. I thought the sling would be handy to have so I really didn't mind making myself one too. This project can be finished in less than an hour.

More Cupcake Swap

My partner got to open the package I sent her this morning. She posted her pictures in the gallery. For some reason the pictures that I took of the towels I sent her didn't show up on my camera. I thought the towels turned out so cute that I wanted some for myself. These are the towels I made for Kelli. I got the idea from one of my hew books Sewing Bits and Pieces. I used the cupcake pattern and the basic idea but I added the hankerchief. My partner liked to collect vintage hankies. These are not vintage hankies but they do have a vintage look to them. For the towels I used 100% cotton Home Dec fabric. It had a nice heavy weave to it. When I spotted the fabric on the clearance table at JoAnn Fabrics I knew it would be perfect for hand towels. And at only $3.00 a yard even better. I washed it first to remove all the sizing and make the fabric softer and more absorbent for towels. I decided to fringe the top and bottom edges.


I was glad I had enough fabric left to make myself some cupcake tea towels. I actually have enough to make two more towels. And I am keeping my eye out for more fabric. This lower picture are the towels I made for myself. They are pretty much the same as the ones I made for Kelli. I just used some different hankies. I love these kind of cute towels but I do have trouble using them. I need to get over that and just use them if they get all messed up or worn I can just make some more. I do enjoy making these things.

Knitting Necklace

This is the first thing I made for my partner in the Cupcake Swap. I got the idea while visiting a yarn store while on vacation a few years ago. I wish I had taken a picture of the necklaces they had, but I have kept the idea tucked away in my head for a while. I wanted to buy one but the $65.00 price tag told me I couldn't. I'm not sure mine is anything like the knitting necklace they had.

For the Knitting necklace I made has stitch markers hanging from a large hook. I made the stitch markers using Shrink-its. At first I was just going to make cupcake stitch markers for my partner. Then I remembered the necklaces I saw on vacation and I have been wanting to make one for a long time. I had already collected the items I needed to make one. Even though the yarn cutter doesn't match the cupcake theme, I already had it and the necklace need a yarn cutter I think. Then I added 2 row counters. Now my partner will have everything she needs at hand to keep track of her knitting.

I find the stitch markers to be very handy even for simple designs. You especially need them for more complicated designs. But I often forget to change my row counter after every row. I really don't know of a better way. Do they make automatic row counters for knitting that change themselves after every row. As usual I want to make one of these for myself. I have some really cute cupcake stitch markers that I got in the last cupcake swap I was in. I just love them and have used them many times.

Cupcake Apron

I thought I would show another one of the projects I did for my latest swap. I decided to make my partner an apron. She said she would wear one if she had one. And I love making aprons. An apron is a garment you can use all those fun novelty prints with and no one is going to laugh at you for wear something with huge cupcakes all over.

I had all the fabrics already in my stash. I used Aunt Emma's Apron Pattern from Indygo Junction. I liked the hanging pockets in this version. My partner collected vintage handkerchiefs so I thought she would like the half handkerchief I added to the bib. Mine is not really vintage but it does have a vintage feel to it. A while ago I found handkerchiefs at the Dollar Tree a package of 3 for $1.00. I picked up a few packages and have been looking for more ever since. I have never seen them again. They are perfect for craft projects. I usually don't like to cut up any of my vintage handkerchiefs. I used some others for some tea towels I made. For some reason my camera did not save the pictures I took of those. I will have to wait until my partner post her pictures in the gallery to show them here. I really loved the way the towels turned out so I do think I will make myself some. In fact I already have some started.

Cupcakes

I sent my cupcake swap package out today. I was afraid if I waited any longer I would keep making things. I have some things going on in the next few weeks that are going to take up much of my time. So I wanted to get the cupcake package done well in advance of the sending deadline. My partner said she would not have access to the internet for the next week or so. I think it may be safe to show what I made. I think I will only share a little at a time.

These cupcake place mats were the second thing I made. They were quick and easy to make. I used some chenille fabric that I had in my stash. I did spend much more time than necessary to enlarge the pattern to the size I wanted. I am sure I could have done it much faster the old fashioned way by drawing it out on a grid. But for some reason I wanted to conquer my lack of technical savvy. I am really technically challenged. I found the pattern in a old craft book. It was about 2 1/2 inches on a 1/2 inch grid. My first attempt yielded a very large cupcake more suitable for a rug maybe. Then next try made more of a potholder size. So the third try was a charm and that is the size I used for my place mats.

I love the way these turned out and I so wanted to keep them for myself. I think I will make myself some.