February Pin It/Do It - Pins #6-8

Pin #6 - Rolled Paper Cross

When our son, Mitch, and his fiance visited earlier this month, Mackenzie and I found ourselves with a day with just the two of us home and weather that made us decide to hole up at home.  So we began searching for craft projects that we could do with the supplies on hand.  Mackenzie found several pins for these rolled paper crosses:

Saved by Love Creations                (uncredited pin)     

We set out to create our own version from old book pages.  The problem with this plan was that the pages tended to be brittle, so it cracked and broke when rolled.  But with much perseverance and a bit of mumbled cussing, we each created a reasonable facsimile of the projects we saw on-line. 

 Mackenzies' was larger and more ornate than mine - she's got more patience - but I forgot to take a picture before she left.  We agreed that they need a spritz of the clear glitter paint I used on paper Christmas stars - just to give them a little pizzazz. With the correct paper, this would be a quick, easy project.

Pin #7 - Coffee Cup Pincushion

I had admired several pincushions made from tea cups but didn't really plan to make one . . . until I was pondering a use for a pink flowered cup given to me by a dear friend who passed away in 2004.  The mug has developed a small crack so I'm afraid to drink from it for fear of losing one of only two gifts I have from her.  If someone on Pinterest can make a pincushion from a tea cup, surely I could make one from a mug.  Sure enough.  A Pinterest search showed dozens of examples. I'm not crediting one specific pin because they are all similar and mine is based on several sources.  I'm thrilled to have a way to safeguard this mug, yet still keep it visible and useful.  

Pin #8 - Another Pincushion

I do cross-stitch and other hand sewing from my favorite chair in the living room.  I have a bad habit of sticking needles into the arm of the chair while changing thread colors, then forgetting they're there and stabbing my hand - or worse yet, someone else's hand.  
Hopefully, this adorable armchair pincushion from Riley Blake Designs will end that problem - as well as keeping my scissors handy, and maybe even a pen and sticky notes for reading - a dual-hobby project.  


If you've seen any of my other craft posts, you know that I have issues with following a pattern - I have to tweek it here and there.  I found beautiful vintage-looking fabrics at Hobby Lobby and couldn't bear to cut them into squares for patchwork and lose the gorgeous designs.  So I made mine with a solid piece of fabric on top and used quilt batting rather than polyfill. 

On the inside, I anchored it to the chair with a couple straight pins. 

I love the way it turned out - beautiful and functional!

 I have one more pin completed, one nearly there, plus two recipes and two crafts left on my Pin It/Do It board . . . and only 10 days left.  I better get moving.