Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year filled with good health and happy memories in the making!  My family and I are hosting some very special friends for an evening of laughter and laid back fun.  Hopefully we'll all make it to midnight...

The OFG Team's January White Sale is about to begin!  If you're looking for beautiful primitive items to grace your home, this is your chance to grab them at a discount.  I have several items marked down, and will be adding more for this once a year event!

Merry Christmas!!!

Memories of childhood dreams and anticipation of that big day...this is a picture of me with my brothers taken about 40 (gulp!) years ago.  Mom stitched up matching jammies, and I remember how excited we all were.  Brother Matt with his ear to ear smile and stylish crew cut, and little Jeff (the judge) as he embraced the world with those monster sized cheeks, and me with my long braids.  Hope you have a holiday season filled with great memories!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Last Minute Fabric Wrapping Fun

This year I've found myself with some pretty sizable boxes to wrap up for Christmas gifts.  The thought of using nearly a whole roll of wrapping paper for one gift has my thrifty side cringing.  I haven't had to restock my wrapping paper supply in a while, and don't relish the idea of heading back to the stores this late in the game.  So I find myself happily sorting through my largest stash of fabric to put it to good use!  Just a yard or two of beautiful inexpensive fabric will yield many opportunities to be used, and then there's the gift of that fabric for any of your sewing friends too!

If you're wrapping a gift with a piece of fabric, you can certainly wrap it just like any other paper wrapped gift, but you will incur some bulk around the folded ends and corners.  For me, that added to the charm of my daughter trying to guess what in the world it could be!  I used safety pins to secure the seams and ends and lots of beautiful wide ribbon for a bow (again, from my stash).  The fun part for me was waiting a few days before putting a name tag on the boxes...keeps 'em guessing.

Now originally, I wanted to gather a huge piece of fabric to the middle of the box with a rubber band and create a center pouf, but even my largest chunk of red fabric couldn't match up with these two humongous boxes.  I don't think these are too bad though, and the great thing is that my garbage bin won't have much in there this year.  What wasn't wrapped in fabric was placed in fabric gift bags and reusable decorated boxes!

There are a lot of great websites for tips and techniques on wrapping gifts with fabric.  I found this beautiful collection of photos of packages with much more style than mine offer:  https://www.google.com/search?q=fabric+package+wrapping&hl=en&rlz=1C1TSNO_enUS461US461&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CEfyTpiHC-bc2QXp4ISDAg&ved=0CJgBELAE&biw=1600&bih=775.  But heck,  these are for a 10 year old who really doesn't care about anything other than what's inside those bright red boxes!

Have a great day!  Ilene

Sew...you need some inspiration?

It's the beginning of the countdown to the 25 days of Christmas!  Are you ready?  Have you finished up all of those projects in your head for gift giving this season?  Whew, I'm not even close!  But I did find some new (to me anyway!) websites and blogs that have great quick sewing projects and tutorials for those extra special handmade gifts.  Come take a look at these cool sites:

http://erinerickson.com/ Has great tutorials for little bags and pouches as well as awesome advice on taking great pictures...check out her VERY cute dog in a bag! 

http://pinkeeps.blogspot.com/  I've admired this blog for a while, as she has great tips and tutorials.  Check out her latest...a thimble keeper!  Great idea, as those little guys get lost so fast in my sewing room!

http://www.craftpassion.com/  Another favorite...check out her tutorial in July, 2011 for a very unique coin purse.  I need to try this one and use up some scraps

Now, I hope that you won't stray to far from me, as I'll soon have another tutorial for you!  I've been invited to join the Nancy Zieman Tablet Blog Tour in January!  I'll have my own rendition of these new tablet keepers for you to see and make.  However, if you can't wait and want to make your own now...check out this great tutorial from Clover:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhYVERqxYpQ

Sew...are you inspired yet???