Fall Craft Roundup

The official start of fall may still be a few weeks away, but fall crafting season has definitely arrived. It's time to pull out your gorgeous gold, orange, and brown fabrics and felt and start stitching up some autumn accessories. This week, I've collected six fall favorite projects that I featured on my blog last year. Just clink on the title of each project to go to the original post and instructions.


Tiny Pine Pillows--Super-simple pine sachets are sewn from camp blanket-print fabric and filled with pine balsam.

Squirrel and Crow Napkin Ties--Dress up an autumn table with napkin ties hand-sewn from felt and ribbon.

Acorn Treat Bag--An assortment of earthy buttons adorns the cap of a felt acorn bag that can hold treats for kids or grownups.

Oak Leaf Name Tags--Personalize embroidered felt oak leaves with hand-lettered vellum overlays.

Fall Patchwork Pillow--A patchwork pillow pieced from fun fall fabrics is a perfect project for beginning stitchers.

Oak Branch Cross-Stitch Pin--Cross-stitch a simple oak leaf and acorn design and mount it in a pin setting to create fall art you can wear.

Happy Fall! And happy stitching!

Easy Footstool Makeover

Have you ever had a project that you keep putting off? For one reason or another, you can't find the time to tackle it or you have other projects you'd rather work on. I have had many, but this little footstool wins the prize. I've been procrastinating about giving it a makeover if for years. Now that I've finally finished, I can only ask myself--Why did I wait so long?


I bought the footstool at a local discount store ages ago. It was perfect for stashing sewing supplies, and it was small enough to tuck under a chair. It wasn't this sad looking when it was new, but with each passing month, it became more obvious that it needed help. Luckily, it only needed a face-lift--not major surgery.


I didn't spend a penny on the makeover materials. I just chose a paint color (from the many cans stored in the basement) and a coordinating fabric (from my extensive stash) and got to work. First, I removed the padded lid and hardware and gave the wooden base a light sanding. One coat of primer and three coats of pale gray eggshell paint gave the stool a fresh new look.


When it came to re-covering the lid, I at first thought about removing the original fabric. I quickly talked myself out of that idea, which would undoubtedly involved a lot of time and frustration. Instead, I just measured my fabric so it wrapped around the lid with plenty of overlap, and then used a heavy-duty stapler to fasten the fabric edges on the lid's underside. I stapled a piece of gray felt onto underside of the lid to conceal the raw fabric edges. For the final step, I re-attached the hinges. Ta-da! The project that I had put off for years took me only a few hours to complete--and isn't it adorable? Make me think I should start tackling some of my other "procrastination projects."

Seaside Stars & Stripes Cross-Stitch Picture

If you follow my blog, you know I'm a bit obsessed with cross-stitch. I've shared a few simple projects over the past two-plus years. (You can visit the "Free Cross-Stitch Charts" tab above to see the patterns that are available.) I hope some stitchers have found them and enjoyed them. I also hope I've also inspired a few crafters to give cross-stitch a try.

This week I'm celebrating the (almost) end of summer with my Seaside Stars & Stripes Cross-Stitch picture, which was featured in the Summer 2015 issue of Craft Ideas magazine. The stars are white starfish floating in a blue tide. The stripes are made up of red crabs, fish, and lobsters, and white shells and sand dollars. I admit--it's a big project, but it may not be as difficult as it looks. Once you master each little motif, you just stitch the same design again and again.

If you'd like to cross-stitch your own sea-themed stars and stripes, click here to go to the chart and instructions on the Craft Ideas website. If you'd rather start with a simpler project, try the Cross-Stitch Lobster Ornament that I posted earlier this summer.

Happy stitching--whichever design you choose!

Pom-Pom Flip-Flops & Necklace

I've gone a little pom-pom crazy since I bought a pom-pom maker a few months ago. I love making pom-poms in different colors and finding new ways to incorporate them into my crafting. I had a bunch of red pom-poms left over from another project, so I used them to add some fun to summertime accessories.

Even though back-to-school shopping is in full swing, I have no intention of giving up my flip-flops any time soon. But I do think pom-poms gave my red-and-white pair an extra touch of cuteness. I used red worsted-weight yarn and a 1 5/8-inch pom-pom maker to create the pom-poms shown here. (Visit my Pink Pom-Pom Garland post to learn how to use a pom-pom maker.) After I trimmed and fluffed the pom-poms, I just tied them onto the flip-flop straps. And yes, they do tickle!

As you can see, the necklace is also a super-easy project. I just tied five pom-poms, evenly spaced, to the links of a silver chain I had in my jewelry-making supplies. A clasp finished it off, and now my pom-pom necklace is ready for a summer party.