the thrifty crafter

I’m one of those knitters that never really progressed beyond scarf-making.  I love to buy yarn, however, and have an entire bin of the fuzzy stuff in storage that quietly waits to be used. Recently, I decided that my friends and family had been subjected to my scarves long enough, so it was time to move onto the dog.   I’m not sure he thinks he looks quite as fashionable as I think he does, but it is a great, festive accessory for winter. Just wait ’til you hear all the “Look, Mom, that dog is wearing a scarf!” comments.  It is pretty darn cute.

I fashioned this scarf from plain old, dirt cheap Red Heart acrylic yarn, in basic knit stitch. I casted on 18  for the proper width for my dog’s neck, but you can adjust your width accordingly.  The only fancy thing this scarf has is a keyhole built in so it won’t fall off.  All you do is after you’ve knitted enough to wrap around your dog’s neck (about 90 rows in my case), you begin your next row and at the halfway point, in my case after nine, you tie on a second skein.

Knit both sides at the same time, rejoining the sides with one skein only when you have about a 2.5 inch opening (or whatever is big enough for the width of your scarf.)  Continue for another 2.5 inches to finish and bind off.  Cut and add tassles to end opposite of keyhole for some extra pizazz. Try the scarf on your dog and sew on a button to secure keyhole end of scarf.  Personally, I think the button is what makes this scarf so darn cute!

Finished dimensions for my 20+ lb Jack Russell: 3.5 inches wide, 22 inches long (not including tassles), 2.5 inch keyhole, 2.5-3 inch tassles, 6 inch neck opening when buttoned.

If you need a good handbook for basic knitting, I like Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook.  The Windy City scarf on page 159 has a keyhole, if you need additional help.

Doesn’t he make the best doggie model?

I think everyone has had some version of the acclaimed Better-than-$&# cake.  In my family, we innocently call it Heath Bar Cake but the result is the same – decadent, moist, fudgy deliciousness with a pillow of whipped topping and covered in crunchy bits.  This is the Ultimate dessert, and for good reason, just check out the ingredients! Absolutely no health benefits here, this is pure indulgence.

I changed up the recipe slightly for some holiday festivity, using the Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge boxed cake (the original uses Devil’s Food) and some peppermint bark from Trader Joe’s (the original is crushed up Heath bars).  I might prefer the original just for nostalgia’s sake, but this is definitely a fun and festive variation!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake mix
• 1 can sweetened, condensed milk
• 1 jar Mrs. Richardson’s hot fudge
• 1 tub Cool Whip
• 6-8 ounces Peppermint Bark, like Trader Joe’s, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Bake chocolate cake according to box instructions. Allow to cool, slightly.

Using back end of a wooden spoon, poke holes through the cake.

Pour consdensed milk over top of cake, making sure milk gets down into poked holes.  Wait a few minutes until condensed milk is absorbed.

Warm up your hot fudge to a spreadable consistency, then pour over top of cake.  I like to then tap the pan against a kitchen towel on the counter to encourage the fudge to run down into the holes.

Refrigerate fudge-topped cake overnight for best results.

The next day, top cake with Cool Whip (that you shave stored in the fridge, not the freezer, otherwise you have to thaw and final consistency can be too wet, just ask me how I know) and sprinkle chopped peppermint bark pieces on top.

Don’t be a grinch now, share!

This Christmas, I’ve decided to share with the blogging world the refreshingly minty, sweet joy of these cookies, which my mom has made at Christmas since we were kids.  Over the years, I’ve changed the recipe a bit and now use a brown sugar spiced cookie, which, combined with the minty buttercream frosting, makes for one delicious holiday bite.  I look forward to making them every year, and hope you will, too.

Ingredients:

Cookies (makes 64, 2-inch diameter cookies):

• 2 3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 packed light brown suagar
• 1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:

• 2 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 7 1/2 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4-5 TB whole milk
• 1 3/4 tsp vanilla
• a generous pinch of salt (just under 1/4 tsp)
• 15 peppermint candy canes, pulverized

Directions:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375. In stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat brown sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated.  Stir in vanilla.

In seperate bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in 3 parts, beating until just incorporated.   Optional: chill dough for 30 minutes prior to rolling cookies

Use small scoop to portion out cookie dough, roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Use measuring cup (or bottom of a glass) lightly dusted in flour to gently flatten balls.  Brush off any excess flour.

Bake at 375 for 8 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove and let cool on racks.

Frosting:

Remove wrappers from candy canes and break each one into 4-5 pieces.

Place candy canes in a mini-chop and pulse on high until you have a good mixture of finely ground and some smaller pieces.

Add softened butter to bowl of stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment.  Sift powdered sugar into bowl and mix, adding 4 TB milk and vanilla until very smooth.  Stir in pulverized candy canes and salt, adding milk as necessary to achieve good spreading consistency.

Use teaspoon to place dollop of frosting on each cooled cookie, using a knife to spread it over the top.  Let dry, then package as you’d like.  This year, I used glassine treat bags from Michael’s that came with a foiled cardboard insert and tied them off with red and white butcher’s twine.  These make great, festive little gifts!

I found myself in a pinch this week, gifting wine without a wine bag to present it in.  Since presents are most fun when they need to be unwrapped, I scoured my house for something I could use and remembered I had some freezer paper laying around from a previous crafting project (heaven forbid I actually use freezer paper for wrapping things that go into the freezer!).

The nice thing about freezer paper is the width of it – 15 inches – as opposed to using my beloved parchment, which I use religiously for baking purposes, at a mere 12.  It was perfect to fully cover a bottle of champagne, which stands at almost 13 inches.

What you do: Unroll a length of freezer paper and place your bottle, upright, on top.  Take a corner and bring it to the top of the wine bottle to figure out where your ‘center’ is, then use the end still in the box and bring that to the top.  Cut.  Bring two opposite corners of your cut paper to meet at top of bottle, then fold over and tuck in the rest.  Tie off with your choice of string.  I added some red and white baker’s twine and a glittery gift tag that I found in the $1 spot at Target for some festive pizazz.  Once the bottle was wrapped and tied, I snipped the cut edges with scissors.  Inexpensive, cute, and classy.  Just the way I like my crafts. 

We decided to throw together a last-minute party for Halloween this year so I hit up the Dollar Store to see what I could find.  Never a big fan of anything cheesy (though my husband is all about giant blow up lawn ornaments and the like – we’ll battle that one out at Christmas, I’m sure!), I tend to look for inexpensive basics that I can dress up.  What I found on my recent trip were black serving plates, a black plastic tablecloth, some cheesecloth, the fake spiderwebs you find at most places, and some lovely rubber rats. I went to the dollar store specifically looking for black construction paper, which I unfortunately did not find, so went through my scrapbooking stash and luckily found about 4 sheets of black cardstock (which you can buy at Joann’s or Michael’s).

So, for a whopping $6, I turned my food table into a spooky serving place by layering the cheesecloth over the normally-tacky black plastic tablecloth, adding the rats for some extra creepiness.  I used the fake spiderwebs to add some festivity to the front door and the coffee table and used last year’s decor to top it off.

With the black scrapbook paper, I decided to make some bats to hang from the ceiling, after a summer road trip through Austin, TX where we watched the Congress Ave bats take flight at dusk.

To do this, I found a silhouette image of a bat on the internet, traced it onto a piece of paper (don’t yet have a printer in my new house), cut it out and copied it onto scrapbook paper. A trick for less tracing/cutting: fold your paper edge over and line the bat up so he is bisected lengthwise. This way, you don’t spend as much time cutting AND the crease makes the bat look like he’s in flight!

Use a needle and fishing line, or in my case, invisible thread which I had on hand, to hang from the ceiling with clear tape.  I love the way it turned out!

To continue with the bat theme, my husband has loved the idea of a conceptual costume ever since we donned chick magnet and deviled egg costumes a few years back. This year, we decided he would be a “dingbat”.  Easiest costume ever! Your base: black shirt, pants and shoes. Then, you need some scrap black fabric, about half a yard, for your wings, and a desk courtesy bell that you can find for cheap from your local office supply store.

All I did was cut wings from the scrap fabric by laying the shirt flat with arms stretched out at 90 degrees, lining up the corner of the fabric and scalloped the edge from wrist to hem to look like a bat wing.  When done, simply glue the wings onto the shirt seams, then hot glue the desk bell to the front of the shirt.  Hit the bell, and up go his arms! A hit with the kids, who couldn’t stop dinging him! We fashioned a quick set of bat ears with a headband and some leftover black felt, though my dear husband took the liberty of cutting them without consulting me first and he ended up looking more like a flying dingcat.  But you get the picture. And doesn’t my doggy make the cutest shark?

I never really understood the whole hype with Red Velvet cupcakes until I started baking a few years ago.  I always thought it was weird to eat something with such a strong artificial color to it, and was a bit averse to making them.  After some perusing, I found another baker with the same thought process, and discovered this recipe on Joy the Baker (a fabulous blog, if you haven’t yet stumbled upon it).  These Red Velvets have the delicious, lightly chocolate cake the type is known for, but are a subtle shade of rouge that won’t make you feel like you’ll be peeing red.

À la Martha, I tend to prefer Dutch processed cocoa for its milder flavor and use gel pastes for my food coloring, so those changes are reflected in the recipe below.  I finish it off with my trusty, pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting, adding a bit of cinnamon for a surprise and finally top it off with a cinnamon candy heart in honor of the holiday.  Enjoy and remember to share the love!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

makes 12 cupcakes

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder (like Pernigotti)
• 1/4 tsp red gel paste food coloring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 5/8 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add  the egg.  Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
3. Add in cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

   

4. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and all of the salt and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.
5. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat until well incorporated.
6. Scoop batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

   

7. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(makes 2 cups, more than enough for 12 cupcakes, maybe closer to 16)

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (measure, then sift into bowl)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Have the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temperature. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until blended. Add sugar one-third at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If frosting is too stiff, beat for few seconds longer. Do not overbeat. Stir in cinnamon to taste.

   

2. To finish, use a piping bag to frost cupcakes. Garnish each with a cinnamon heart.

My final Christmas post…whew!  I don’t know how the craft bloggers of the world do one post a day, unless that is their primary job. As a practicing dentist, wife, and mom of a not-so-independent dog, 12 days in a row is certainly a commitment for me! But, I digress.  For our last Christmas-inspired project, I’ve created some napkin rings for your festive holiday spread using oversized buttons and silver jewelry cord.  Paired with bright red linen napkins and set against crisp white porcelain, these little sparklers certainly pop!

Here’s what you need:

• stretchy metallic beading cord, like Dritz
• oversized buttons (mine were found at Joann’s)
• hot glue gun and scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut your jewelry cord into 12-inch pieces.
2. Feed one end of cord through button opening and tie ends together in a double knot.  Snip excess.  From end of loop to base of the knot, length should be around 5.25 inches.
3. Use hot glue gun to secure knot to backside of button, making sure to seal off the ends of the cord.
4. Use loop end to wrap around napkin and over button.

I was incredibly lucky to marry into a family who really celebrates tradition at Christmas.  Of our traditions, these delectable little bites of heaven are lovingly placed in our stockings by a Mrs. Claus who is so busy baking and wrapping gifts throughout the day, she often does not sleep on Christmas Eve. While the flavor and the crunch of these pretzels is divine, its the love that goes into making them that you can taste the most.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter
• 2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp maple flavoring
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 24 oz mini pretzels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Divide pretzels between two foil-lined rectangular pans.
2. Heat butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and maple flavoring in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until bubbly around the edges.  Cook for ~5 minutes, then remove from heat.  Stir in baking soda.

   

3. Pour maple mixture over pretzels.  Mix until well coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
5. Allow to cool, then package as you wish and spread the love!

Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to dress up your coffee table for the holidays.  Varying sizes and sheens of paper doilies are layered together in a seemingly haphazard fashion to create a simple, festive table runner.  The Dollar Tree carries paper doilies in white, silver and a bronze-y gold in 8, 10 and 12-inch diameters that work well for this project.

What you need:

• paper doilies in varying diameters and colors
• photo mounting squares

What you do:

1. Lay out your doilies in a pattern that is pleasing to your eye.  I wanted mine looking asymmetric and almost thrown together.
2. Use photo mounting squares to delicately adhere your doilies together in their final position.

   

Need a new, festive cocktail for your annual holiday gathering?  Sweet-tart raspberries and a splash of rose water add some holiday flair and interest to this classic gin-lime juice-club soda combo. Hendrick’s is a Scottish gin infused with cucumber and rose petals, and is a natural choice to bring out the flavors in this recipe.

Ingredients:

Shopped at Trader Joe’s lately and noticed their holiday paper bags? Gorgeous white winter illustrations on brown paper bags inspired me to reuse them as a decorative band on my smaller Christmas gifts this year.  Add some simple red embroidery thread and you’ve got yourself a pretty, environmentally friendly wrapped present without lots of fuss!

Here’s what you need:

• Trader Joe’s holiday brown paper bag
• scissors
• iron and ironing board
• red embroidery thread (or some other decorative ribbon)
• tape
• gift box

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut out graphics from bag in wide columns.  Fold edge over and iron flat.

   

2. Wrap band around gift box, securing with tape.  If you box is too large, use pieces from the bag to piece together the back (no one will see it).
3. Use embroidery thread to add a bow.  Embellish with a written gift tag.

Thrifty Tip: I was able to decorate three lingerie-sized gift boxes using only one bag!

For years, my mom has made a sugar cookie with peppermint frosting as the holiday treat that is made for family functions or boxed and given away as gifts.  Nothing compares to the gently spiced sugar cookie topped with a refreshingly minty, yet rich, buttercream frosting.   So, since I love to make cupcakes, I decided I’d try to recreate the cookie in cupcake form just for fun.  The results were equally delicious! I used Billy’s Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes recipe (as seen in my March ’09 post) as a rough base and did some tweaking to get the right flavor.

Brown Sugar Cupcakes:

makes 24 cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine brown sugar and butter, mixing until pale and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.

3. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.

4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full.

5. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes have cooled, pipe tops with peppermint frosting.

Peppermint Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• scant 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 16 peppermint candy canes, pulverized to a powder in a food processor

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the sifted powdered sugar.
2. Mix in vanilla, then add milk until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (you often won’t use the entire amount).  Beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Stir in crushed candy canes until well mixed, adding more milk if frosting becomes too stiff.  Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

Thrifty Tip: The bright and shiny cupcake liners were found at Crate and Barrel in the after-Christmas clearance section last year.

Almost as exciting as receiving greeting cards in the the mail are the arrival of holiday catalogs from my beloved home stores.  I love to flip through them slowly, dog-earing my favorite pages, and take in all of their holiday goodness.  In particular, Pottery Barn catalogs are filled with lovely ideas and I especially love their use of reindeer moss for decorating. For today’s craft, I’ve created a truly simple and elegant, nature-inspired ornament.

Start with a glass or plastic ornament, insert some reindeer moss as a soft base, add a clipping from your tree trimming, and gently scatter mini pine cones.  Do you hear the pine needles crunching under your feet as you walk through the forest?

Here’s what you need:

• glass or plastic clear ornament
• mini pine cones
• reindeer moss
• tree trimmings
• long tweezers (or something else to help insert your filler –  I used dental cotton pliers)

No instructions needed!  Finish off with a long piece of twine and tie into a bow to hang.

Tips: Everything Christmas is on sale at Michael’s.  The ornament and mini pine cones were $2 total after discounts and I had leftover reindeer moss from this project.

Previously, I crafted a felt rosette wreath that I absolutely adore and use as a decoration at both Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day.  I love the texture of the felt clusters and thought it would make a pretty ornament for our tree this year.  I picked through my scrap fabric bin (I always keep my leftovers!) and had both white and red felt pieces that I used for this craft.  The instructions are the same as for the wreath, except you are pinning the folded circles onto a craft foam ball instead of a wreath form.   Finish it off with a twine hanger and you have a lovely peppermint ball!

Here’s what you need:

• 2-inch diameter craft foam ball
• box of straight pins
• scrap fabric
• stamp pad (i had a green one from a previous project)
• a roughly 3-inch diameter glass/lid (really, whatever size fits your stamp pad)
• scissors
• twine for hanging

Here’s what you do:

1. Use glass to stamp circles onto felt.

   

2. Cut out circles.
3. Fold each circle in half, then in half again and insert straight pin at the corner.
4. Pin each folded circle onto foam ball, clustering tightly to create ruffle effect.
5. Fluff felt after adding a few and continue adding until all visible surfaces of ball are covered.
6. Knot a piece of twine and use straight pin to affix to foam ball.

   

Tips: Using a smaller diameter circle would give you a smaller ball, you’d just have to cut out more circles! The finished diameter here was ~ 4″ – definitely a larger ornament!

I adore photo greeting cards during the holidays.  Being the crafter that I am, I tend to shy away from the printed, postcard variety you can order and like to get photos printed myself and dress them up.  This year, I had 4×6 pictures printed at Costco after using Photoshop to add a festive greeting, purchased green cardstock from Michaels on a super 4 for $1 deal and bought value packs of cards from Target to use as a base – 18 cards for only $5! The cards themselves were a little silly, but had a gorgeous, bright red background that I knew would work well with the photo I chose.  Trying to make your own cards from scratch with colored envelopes and cards from craft stores can get a bit more costly, so starting with the value packs is a great way to make your holiday cards your own without spending a lot of dough.

Here’s what you need:

• boxed cards with good background color or print
• coordinating cardstock
• printed photos
• photo mounting squares (Big Lots has ’em cheap, cheap!)
• paper trimmer or ruler and scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Use your paper trimmer to cut out three 4.5 x 6.5 inch rectangles from each  sheet of 12×12 cardstock.

   

2. Use photo mounting squares to affix photo to cardstock, then cardstock to face of card.

   

3. Add your own personal greeting, sign, seal and deliver!

Cost: $18 for 36 cards! Only $0.50 per card…not bad! Photos were $5 at Costco, cards were $10 total at Target and cardstock for 36 cards was $3 at Michaels.

Running out of room on your fireplace mantel, or just looking for a new way to display the holiday well-wishes from your nearest and dearest? Try this frame made of only twine and push pins to create a focal point for all of your lovely greeting cards.  Shaped like a tree itself, this spirited display lends even more festivity to your holiday decor.

All you need:

• jute twine
• push pins
• scissors
• hole punch
• twine or yarn or twisty ties to fasten your cards

Here’s what you do:

1. Start with the trunk of the tree and create a loop at the free end of your twine.  Use push pin to secure in place.
2. Place another push pin to mark the apex of your tree, loop and knot twine twine, cut and secure.
3. Place third and fourth pushpins to mark the base of your tree.  Starting with a new loop at the apex, wrap around one corner, pull taut and wrap second corner, finishing at the apex.
4. Loop and knot free end of twine and secure.
5. Use a hole punch at the top of your cards and use twine, yarn or twisty ties to secure to twine tree.

   

A while back, I made a reversible dog bandana that fastened with velcro.  While it is a great accessory that can significantly cut down on your doggie accessory stash, this Slip-On Bandana is so fast and easy to make, I couldn’t resist posting another one.  No pins required, just some fabric and a sewing machine.  So get crafting and fashion some pet holiday flair!

What you need:

• scrap fabric (I used a holiday print)
• sewing machine with matching or contrasting thread
• scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. Approximate how large of a bandana you would like on your dog’s neck. My little pup is a Jack Russell mix and is about 20 pounds.  I made his bandana to a finished 5.5″ at the base and 5″ tall from the folded base to the point.
2. Fold your fabric in half and cut a out a pentagonal shape with right angles at the base, making sure to put the base along the folded edge (one less edge to sew!). My original dimensions were 6 inches at the base, 4.5 inches along the parallel sides, then 5 inches on each side that makes the point.

   

3. Turn fabric inside out and sew along all edges, leaving an opening to turn it right-side out.
4. Turn out and press, then fold remaining edge in and top-stitch shut.
5. Fold base edge over (this is the slip-on part so make sure your collar will fit) and stitch.

   

Cost: I purchased my fabric quarter from Joann’s in the clearance bin for $0.50.  Can’t get a thriftier craft than that!

Ever wanted to throw a fall dinner party that isn’t a full-on Thanksgiving or host something the weekend after Thanksgiving, when, in your mind, it is still a bit too early to decorate for Christmas?  If you’re like me, who celebrates the bountiful holiday at someone else’s home, you have all of these beautiful gourds and pumpkins that haven’t yet their moment in the spotlight.  So, what’s a girl to do for decor between major holidays?  Try mixing some silvers and purples into your existing fall color scheme and see what you get.  You might be pleasantly surprised!

This table setting was inspired by some clearance napkins I found at Cost Plus World Market in the summer (again, the key to entertaining thriftily is thinking ahead and always being on the lookout for deals!).  They have a gorgeous mix of plum, deep purple, natural white, burnt orange and woodsy browns:

When I saw the napkins, I immediately thought of the plum table runners I’d made for my wedding a few years earlier that were still sitting in storage at my in-law’s house.  Since I prefer to use placemats as opposed to runners, I thought, how easy would it be to convert a few of these gorgeous runners (that I’ll almost never use again) into placemats?  Even if you don’t have table runners that you no longer have a need for, it is quite easy to make your own placemats, since they are basically two rectangles sewn together!

What you’ll need:

• 1.25 yards of interesting, textural fabric (I used a weave from Ikea)
• 1.25 yards of plain backing fabric (I used a simple broadcloth from Joann’s)
• matching thread
• sewing machine
• scissors
• long ruler or measuring tape

Here’s what you do:

1. Iron material prior to cutting.
2. Pin fabric together.
3. Cut out six 13×19 rectangular pieces out of pinned fabric (if your fabric is the standard 45″ you should be able to measure 19″ from the end, then cut out three 13″ pieces with ~6″ of  leftover scrap, repeat a second time for a total of six placemats).
4. Thread machine with matching thread and sew 3 sides of rectangle with 1/4 – 1/2 inch margin.
5. On fourth side, start from one end and stitch until left with a 3 inch unstitched area.
6. Turn fabric out and iron edges.
7. Turn unstitched area in and sew closed (you could also do this by hand with an invisible stitch, if you wanted, though it takes longer).

Now for the centerpieces!  I was inspired to make something fun when I saw some Styrofoam balls that I found at Tuesday Morning for much less than craft store retail prices.  What I ended up doing was using a combination of things I had (excess muslin from previous craft projects, twine, and Indian corn husks) and new materials (preserved leaves and dried pinto beans) to create natural-looking, fall-into-winter centerpieces.  All of my materials incorporated colors that are in the napkins.

Here’s what you need:

• two sizes of Styrofoam balls (Tuesday Morning or retail craft stores)
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• scissors
• craft spray glue
• preserved leaves (Michael’s)
• jute twine (Big Lots or 99 Cent Store)
• muslin (retail craft store or Walmart)
• purple Indian corn husks (local grocery store in produce section)
• 2 bags dried pinto beans (Big Lots $1 per bag)
• galvanized or silver rectangular trays (I used my trusty tart pans again!)

Here’s what you do:

for leaves:

1. Remove leaves from their stems.
2. Use hot glue gun to secure leaves to styrofoam ball in an overlapping fashion until ball is covered.  In my example, on one large and one small ball, I displayed the waxy side of the leaf and on another two, I displayed the underside.

for muslin:

1. Rip fabric into 1-inch strips
2. Cut strips into 1×1 inch squares
3. Use hot glue gun to secure fabric squares to ball in overlapping fashion until ball is covered.

for corn husks:

1. Remove purple corn husks from Indian corn, being careful not to tear or rip the husks.
2. To soften and use the inner, shiny side of the husk, heat some water to boiling in a tea kettle and lay husks over opening to relax leaves with steam.
3. Use hot glue gun to apply corn husks to styrofoam ball in an overlapping fashion until ball is covered.

for twine:

1. Secure twine to one pole of styrofoam ball with hot glue.
2. Apply craft spray glue in sections and wrap twine around styrofoam ball.
3. Once ball is completely wrapped, secure end of twine to opposite pole with a spot of hot glue.

Note: As you move from a smaller diameter to a bigger one, this wrapping is easy.  However, as you hit the equator and start to move from a larger diameter to a smaller one, this craft can become frustrating as the twine will want to roll toward the smaller diameter pole.  Have patience, or if you don’t, you can always snip, glue end and start wrapping from the opposite pole and have your twine meet in the middle.  I prefer the uninterrupted look, myself.

Finally, pour pinto beans into trays and arrange your covered ball decorations to your liking!

Halloween is quickly approaching and I wanted to share some costume ideas that we used last year. After a discussion with a friend who introduced me to the idea of a “conceptual” costume, my husband and I decided we wanted to be clever in our costume undertaking.  These creative costumes are derived from popular phrases and take a relatively abstract idea and conceptualize it.  Best of all, they are easy to make from items you may already have at home and are super inexpensive and thus, very thriftycrafter friendly.

My husband was a chick magnet.

Here’s what you need:

• Black shirt and pants
• Plastic Barbie dolls from the Dollar Tree or 99 cent store
• Magazine cut outs of hot chicks (from Maxim/Stuff)
• Safety pins

Here’s what you do:

Use safety pins to attach barbies and magazine cut-outs to your man, who is dressed in black.  Voila!  Easiest costume ever! In addition, you could spray paint a shoe box black and attach it to his back so the magnet concept is more obvious, but most everyone understood and loved his costume without it!

Cost: $8 for 7 barbies and a box of safety pins at the 99 cent store

I was a deviled egg.

Here’s what you need:

• white strapless dress (I used a white terry cloth beach cover-up I already had)
• large piece of yellow fabric (I used leftover felt)
• devil’s horns and tail (and a pitchfork, if you have one)
• safety pins

Here’s what you do:

1. Cut out a large oval shape from your piece of yellow felt to represent an egg yolk and use safety pins to attach to the front of your dress.
2. Wear devil’s horns, pin a tail on, wear some red patent heels and go wild with your hair.  Voila! Still kinda sexy and clever…a powerful combo!

Cost: Free! (because I used leftover scrap fabric from making my dog’s costume)

Note:  If you don’t already have devil’s horns or tail, but have red scrap fabric, pillow stuffing and a headband like I did, you can very easily fashion these items on your own.  Here’s how:

1. Draw out a horn shape on a piece of paper first, then copy to your fabric (I used leftover red felt – something less stiff would be easier to turn out but might not stand up as well) .  Cut out two. Then, flip your original shape horizontally to mirror your design, trace and cut out two more.
2. Stitch each horn along outside edge, leaving bottom portion open.  Turn out and stuff with pillow stuffing.
3. Hand sew the base of each horn closed, then spot tack one horn to your elastic headband.  Look in a mirror to check spacing and angulation, then sew the second one on.
4. For the tail, fold your fabric in half and draw a tail shape onto your fabric.  Pin and cut out two tail shapes.  Stitch tail along outside edge, leaving base open.  Turn out and stuff with pillow stuffing.
5. Hand sew the base of the tail closed and use a couple of safety pins to attach to the back of your dress.

These costumes are only two ideas, but the opportunities are endless!  Time to get creative!