Tuesday Tutorial - Pets

Do you sew for your pets? Pet products can be very expensive and this is a good way to save a little money and pamper our furry family members.

How about learning to make a collar and leash. This tutorial is by Sew 4 Home.

Here is a cute dog bed tutorial on BHG.

Having 5 cats I know that litter boxes can be a real problem sometimes.    Here is one you can make yourself from a rubbermaid container.  Use it with or without a cover on it.   Pet Project Blog

Look at this unusual cat bed made from a couple of carpet samples.   It looks super simple to make.   I can see my cats having a great time scratching on this!

And lastly,   here is a cat toy I drew up.    Download the pattern HERE.

Cut the fish from doubled fabric and sew around in a 1/4 inch seam,  leaving a small opening in the tail.

Clip the curves and turn right side out.   Stuff with fiberfill and add some catnip in the middle.    Stitch the opening closed.   

 
You could also sew a piece of jute in the seam and tie it to a stick and play with your cats with it.   I know my cats love trying to catch anything you dangle in front of them.

Thanks for visiting today.
Bette Shaw
www.byyourhands.com

It's Labor Day...

...Enjoy the day! 

May it be spent with family, friends and good times.

Selling Online --- Selling From Your Blog

Blogs have become a very important resource for the crafting business.

It can also be a way to get started in the craft business on a shoe string.

Probably the most popular blog host is blogger.com It is free to use so you can set one up as a way to sell your handmade crafts.

The first thing you will need is a paypal account. It doesn't cost anything to join but you will pay selling fees when you sell a product.

You can make product buttons in paypal to add to the products for sale on your blog that will take your customer right to paypal to pay for their purchase. These can be added to your post or to your side bar depending on how you set your blog up to sell on.

If you have an etsy shop there are widgets you can add to your blog that will show your entire product line enabling you to make sales from etsy right from your blog. http://www.craftcult.com/shop_widget.php?userid

Having a selling blog is the same as any other worthy endeavor, promotion is the key ingredient to success.

It is not enough to add new products to your blog. That would be very boring to your readers. Blog about crafting, things that interest you, or a little about your life.
Free tutorials and free giveaways are a couple of worthwhile ways of generating traffic to your blog.

Other free ways to promote your blog is to post about your blog on twitter or facebook.

It is important to add fresh relevant content to your blog on a regular basis in order to be included in the search engine rankings.


Here are some examples of selling blogs.

Straight selling blog:
http://rustythimblesalesblog.blogspot.com/

Selling Blog/Sewing/Personal blog:
http://flossieteacakes.blogspot.com/
http://rabbithollowprims.blogspot.com/

Trash to Treasure --- Lamps

Today I thought I would show some lamp transformations.     You can pretty much transform a lamp base just by painting it.

This brass chandelier

was transformed into this updated beauty at Trash to Treasure Decorating Blog.

And this lamp shade was given a new life with fabric and trim at Creations From My Heart.
Before

After

And this pretty shade was decorated with flowers on the 1 talented family blog

You can also make a lamp out of found items like this bowl and tea pots.

You can also use parts of lamps for other things.    These vintage glass lampshades can be found all over the place.   Here they are used for votive holders on this dining table.

And finally here is a relatively new use for vintage lamp globes.  Outdoor solar lights.

Learn how to make a similar lamp on the The Hand Me Down House blog.

Thanks for visiting today.
Bette Shaw
www.byyourhands.com

Rag Quilting Tutorial --- Part Five

Welcome to the final rag quilting post.   This quilt is 54 inches across and 72 inches long.   A little big for a lap quilt but wonderful to cuddle up in on a winter evening watching TV.    It is so big I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture.   This covers almost the whole of the top of my queen size mattress.    I also forgot to mention this block is called the Shoo Fly Block and originated around 1850.

There is one final step you need to do when you have all your blocks sewn together. 

Sew all around the outside edge in a 3/4 inch seam and then clip the seam for fringe. 

To completely finish your quilt you can either get it wet in the washer and then dry it in the dryer so the fringe will curl.    Or you can just spray the fringed seams with water and then throw it in the dryer.

I didn't do that yet with my quilt because it is not finished.   I am making this into a queen size bed quilt.
I hope you enjoyed following along with me and are busy making your own lap quilt.

Bette Shaw
www.byyourhands.com