1. Tree Pedestal Cake Stand at Once Wed
2. Cardigan with a Twist at Happy Together
3. Little Pink House Tutorial at Sew Mama Sew
4. DIY Floral Printed Shades at Throw it in the Bag
5. Land of Nod Inspired Cushion at Living with Punks
6. Painted Parasol at Alisa Burke

I ordered some of that cool chalkboard fabric quite awhile ago with the intention of making gifts for some small people that I know. My nieces already had one of these roll-up chalk mats and I think they got some good mileage out of it in entertaining themselves at restaurants and other places on the go, so I thought I’d try to reconstruct that as a gift for others.

What you’ll need:
15″ x 11″ piece of chalk fabric
15″ x 11″ piece of backing fabric
5″ x 4″ piece of pocket fabric
60″ x 2″ strip of edging fabric (in two or more pieces if needed)
2 pieces of ribbon, 12″ each

To start, turn under the long edge of the pocket piece and stitch a hem. Then fold it in half right sides together and sew the short edge closed, as shown below.

To stitch together the edging pieces, lay the ends out so the strips are perpendicular to each other with right sides together and stitch across at an angle. When the strips are turned right side up, they should now form one long strip with a diagonal seam.

Next, lay out the piece of backing fabric and the chalk fabric, wrong sides together. Now you’re going to sew binding around these pieces – ways to do this are illustrated here and here much better than I can do. As these demonstrate, there are various ways to do binding, but basically what I did is to sew the edging strips to the chalk mat side, 1/4 inch from the edge with right sides together. As you start sewing the binding, fold over the end towards the wrong side so the raw edge will be hidden. When you get to the corners, treat them as you would a quilt with a mitered corner (show in both of the tutorial links above).

When you get to the short side of the rectangle, slide the raw edge of the pocket piece between the binding and the chalk fabric and capture it as you stitch along the edge.

And this is what it looks like when you’re done with all four sides….

Lastly, turn the raw edge of the binding under 1/4 inch and then fold the binding in half, rolling it over to the the side with the backing fabric. Pin in place. On the short edge of the rectangle (opposite the side you have added the pocket) pin the ribbon pieces between the binding and the backing fabric. Topstitch along the edge through all the layers of fabric, around all four sides

Add some chalk and a small square of fabric to use as an eraser (which can both be stored in the pocket), and you’ve got your chalk mat!

1. Summer Scarf by made
2. Ruffle Pillow by tidy tipsy photography
3. Ruffle Tank Top by Love Stitched
4. Jewelry Holder by tada creations
5. Fabric Bowl by craftstylish
6. Alice Dress by Little Red Roost

1. Paper Garland at Hambly Screen Prints
2. Scrappy Clutch at From an Igloo
3. Pot holder make-up case by Obsessively Stitching
4. Flower Brooch by Not Martha
5. Soft baby shoe tutorial by Family Centred Life
6. Summery sun hat by Prudent Baby

1. Tiered Cake Stand by Giver’s log
2. Ruffle Shirt by Tea Rose Home
3. Spring Rings by Miss Priss
4. Vintage Book Planner by Just Something I made
5. Modern Outdoor Planter at Apartment Therapy
6. T-Shirt Shrug at Lu Bird Baby

Right before we left on our trip to Costa Rica, I decided to whip up an organizer case to keep all our travel documents in. I hate rooting around in the bottom of my purse for important pieces of paper, or even worse, not remembering where I stuck my passport after the last time I used it. So I thought if everything was in one place it would make things easier. After looking around on the internet for some instructions, I came up empty handed. I did see a few types of organizers that were about what I was looking for and I thought I could puzzle out how to construct something close. This is what I came up with, and I thought I’d document it in case anyone else is looking for something similar. The instructions for the zippers are a little but tricky, but hopefully you can follow the steps that I took without too much confusion.

You’ll need three different types of fabric, cut into the following sized pieces:

Fabric A
10 x 12
4 pieces of 6 x 5

Fabric B
2 pieces of  6 x 10
6 x 8
6 x3

Fabric C
10 x 12
2 pieces of 6 x 5
6 x 3
6 x 10

2 6-inch zippers

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1. Circular vest at threads magazine
2. felt circle pillow at presser foot
3. Turn a bookcase into a bar at apartment therapy
4. pintuck t-shirt at craftstylish
5. Simple fabric scarf/shawl at pretty ditty
6. Rewired and repainted lamp at craft stylish

I used to have this lovely little travel jewelry case that my sister made for me when we were teenagers. She used to make a lot of them and sell them at craft fairs, and they were a great design that kept all your necklaces tangle free in your luggage. I lost that original one somewhere along the way, so I thought I’d try to make a replacement for an upcoming trip.

And it turned out so well that I thought I’d share with you how to make your own!

What you’ll need is:
One twelve inch square and one nine inch square each of two different fabrics
One of each same sized muslin or pattern paper
Two pieces of 18 inch ribbon

To start, measure your pattern circles. You could do this directly onto your main fabrics, but I felt better having a template to work from. Fold the square into a triangle, and then fold over on itself two more times. Using a measuring tape, mark out a 6 inch arc from the tip of your triangle. This will give you a 12 inch circle.

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1. puff pouch at pink penguin

2. Ruffle Tshirt Remake by made by lex

3. beaded fabric flower necklace at pretty ditty

4. embroidered ribbon sleeve at the long thread

5. Felt Flower Winter Wreath at the purl bee

6. DIY pinwheel at style me pretty

A little break from all the cookie talk for some craft project ideas. Make them now, or file away until next year….

1. Pinecone Elves – Martha Stewart
2. Printable Advent – How About Orange
3. Recycled Magazine Gift Bows – Craftster
4. Countdown Calender – Maya Made
5. Gingerbread man Ornament – elsie marley
6. Felt Ornaments – Fantastic Toys