Yo-Yo Bracelets

My love affair with fabric yo yos has been going on, well... since forever!
It started way back.
Even waaayyy before I was lucky enough to receive this vintage beauty.

What I love about yo yos (besides their cuteness) is how versatile they are. One can use them for hundreds of projects! They are the ultimate embellishment.


A few months ago, I created some fun bracelets using yo yos.

They don't require a lot of material to make, so it's a great way to use up some of your scrap fabric.

For mine: I used old barkcloth, a vintage tablecloth, and an old linen napkin.
Each bracelet has five yo yos. I attached each yo yo to a 1" wide ribbon. You can either sew them to the ribbon, or hot glue - your preference. I made sure to form my yo yos into a cuff like shape as I put them together so I didn't get gaps between each one. (Does that make sense?)
For a few bracelets, I cut the ribbon 30" long so a bow could be made to tie around the wrist.
For others, I used a 7" piece of ribbon and sewed on a toggle clasp.
Either way is super cute.
Oh, and I also added old glass buttons to the center of each yo yo.

I truly admire the ladies who made thousands and thousands of yo yos by hand back in the old days, oh, and I'm sure there are some ladies that still do. But... if you're like me and have made just one by hand... you know how awesome any help would be.
So...if you don't have a yo yo maker, ya gotta get one. It's one of the best inventions ever! It'll save you so. much. time. Believe me!

Here's a list of supplies if you want to make your own:

fabric
buttons
ribbon
needle and thread
hot glue
toggle clasp
yo yo maker

Snowmageddon or Snowverreacting?

We're in the midst of an Arctic blast here in Western Washington. The news people are so funny to listen to. One minute we're going to have the most snow we've seen in 50 years and the next, they say something completely different. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

We have been enjoying the snow we have gotten so far. Sunday, the girls made a snow bear. And of course she is dressed in pink!

Vintage Valentine Heart Shaped Candy Boxes and Chocolate Tins

Happy New Year!
So hard to believe that we've begun another year, but so ready to, too...
Now that Christmas has been put away, it's time to pull out Valentine's Day stuff!
One of my favorites - vintage chocolate boxes.
I especially love any with roses.

Since I only have a few, I decided to make one of my own to display.

Want to make your own vintage inspired heart candy box too?
Here's how I made mine.

1. Reuse a chocolate box.

2. Cover the top. (I used old wall paper)
3. Next, I outlined the edge with a line of glue.
4. Cover the glue with glitter.
5. Martha Stewart glitter is awesome. It's so fine and sparkly!
6. Cover the bottom with more old wall paper.

7. Before I glued the paper to the bottom piece, I removed the inner heart.
8. Glue the inner heart back on the bottom.
9. Cover the rest of the box - sides of top and bottom with coordinating paper.
To finish: embellish the top.
(I used vintage millinery flowers, velvet ribbon, and lace)

I enjoyed making the one box, so I HAD to make another - ha!

Besides heart shaped chocolate boxes, I have a small collection of vintage chocolate tins.
Roses are a must on these too, and boy are they hard to find!

Have you gotten your Valentine decorations out yet?

Linking up to Romantic Homes Show and Tell Friday, here.

A Peek Into My Holiday Home

I love to tour blogland during the holidays and view all the gorgeous homes. Since I missed the deadline for most of the home tour parties, I thought I'd share quick glimpse inside our home anyways.

My favorite part of our upstairs decor this year... no more ICKY carpet!

Oh, but I do love my collection of vintage tree toppers along the mantel too...

Gift Ideas

Looking for last minute gift ideas?
Have you checked out Pinterest? It's full of inspiration! I spotted these, and knew they would make perfect teacher gifts.
The girls went through my stash of vintage jewelry odds and ends and picked out what they wanted for their teachers bookmark.
Next, they chose some ribbon, I added clamps to each end and attached a few glass beads and the vintage jewelry pieces.
We love how they turned out!

I also whipped up a couple key rings too.
For each, I used two pieces of felted wool, a vintage rhinestone button, and attached the clip with matching ribbon leftover from the book marks.

Such simple ideas, that can be personalized for anyone.

DIY Felt Wreath Ornament

I needed a craft idea for 9 Girl Scouts who were coming over for a Christmas tea party on Monday afternoon...
...and I didn't have time to shop for supplies.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found this idea at 1:45am Monday morning.
The best part, I had all the supplies on hand - yay!
So, by 2am I was busily cutting lots and lots of 1" squares of felted wool!

The girls and I had fun making ours, so I thought I'd show you how we made 'em.
To begin, I cut a 9" piece of craft wire. Sorry, but I'm not sure what gauge of wire I used. It was firm, but easily bendable too - if that helps.
Make a "U" shape on one end of the wire - this is to prevent the squares from sliding off.

Now, from your stash of 1" squares

begin threading pieces of wool onto your wire.
Since the wire was somewhat firm, it poked through the felt easy enough.

I used approximately 32-35 squares of felt.
When you have the desired amount of felt on the wire, twist the ends together a few times.
Trim the excess ends with wire cutters, and bend the twisted part down flat.

For the loop, I ran a 9" piece of ribbon around the wire and tied the two ends into a knot.
Next, I slid the knot (so it wouldn't show) back towards the wire, and tied another knot close to the wool. If your wreath gets a little wonky, just bend it around to form a nice circle.

I made a bow and attached it with tacky glue to finish.

Cute, huh?

I used scraps from felted wool sweaters for ours, but craft felt might work too.

DIY Vintage Style Reflectors For Your Christmas Tree

Something I've wanted for my Christmas tree, but never seem to find or win on eBay are vintage reflectors.
Have you ever watched an auction for them?
Wow! It's crazy how expensive they can get!

I spied a bag of sandbakkel tins in my junk drawer the other day that I picked up while thrifting who knows when... and I had an "ah-ha" moment.
Forget sandbakkels, I'm gonna make reflectors!

All I had to do to make them work, was to drill a hole in the bottom of the tin for the light to fit through. I used a 5/16 drill bit which made a perfect sized hole. Easy peasy.

For $1.99, I ended up with 25 reflector replicas. At approximately .08 cents each, I'd say that was pretty reasonable!
The added sparkle? Priceless!