Gifts - brownie mix in a jar

I have made up several of these brownie mix in a jar for a few of the guys in our family.  With the directions attached they can make up their own snacks or dessert for a family meal any day of the week!!  It would be nice to have a few of these gifts on hand for any last minute occasion.   I have packaged them in peanut butter jars that I have saved over the year.  Therese

 

Sewing - another set of potholders for Christmas

Here is another set of potholders I made for Christmas!!  The triangles were precuts I acquired along the way and I decided to combine them with two different blue fabrics to make up this unique set of potholders.  I will have a good selection of potholders for my family to choose from when we get together!!  I am really enjoying making them and being creative with the fronts.  Therese

Sewing - a few new ways of storing pins, clips, blades and needles

I have been contemplating how to best store my pins so they can be available and easily accessible when I need them.  I have purchased a new set - the glass headed ones on the left.  The ones on the right I have had a few years and I have had quite a few lose their plastic flower "heads" and I have found no real good way of getting the heads back on once they have fallen off.  They are also susceptible to heat though I have only two who have been deformed because of running them over with the iron.  I am now storing them in little shot glasses.  There is enough weight in the glass that they should stay upright and I like that the heads are all at the top and easily accessible.  Because they are not too full there is room to reach in with a finger and pull out one or a few depending on what I need.  My sister has suggested using silicone wine bottle caps to keep them contained when I am not using them.  I had planned to make them little caps so that should work well.  

My sister gifted me some clips last year for Christmas and they store very nicely in their little bin!!  I have a few more glass headed pins that I have collected along the way in the first blue bottle and little short applique pins in the second blue bottle.  

These two boxes hold my straight pins.  The long ones fit perfectly in this little box in which a little craft punch was purchased.  I created a little pin cushion in the lid which keeps them all arranged when the box is closed and a place to keep them available when I am using them.  The shorter ones fit in a small plastic box so I created a small pin cushion for that box as well to keep them easily available when I am using them.  I have cut a little piece of mat board to keep the pins arranged once I close the lid.  I have used clear cellophane tape to create a hinge on the back side of these boxes which keeps all "the things" together so they can be found and stored away properly.  Below is how they look closed.

I have also used a pill bottle to store a variety of needles so they are close at hand and available when I need them.  

Below, I have sorted my pins on my sewing machine pin cushion as well.  I have a few needles, some long pins and two sewing machine needles which keeps them all handy!!

This pincushion sits on the extra thread pin I have on my sewing machine which is really handy.  It is a wooden spool with a cushioned wrap all the way around.  I had planned to make a more beautiful one if this concept worked well.  So far, I have not made a new one.

I store my blades for unstitching in a little plastic tin in which embellishments were sold.  It works really well and they are always safe and handy.  Therese