Tool Time Tuesday...Recycled Cap Game

Happy Tuesday! I'm writing this Monday night with Internet and cable restored after a long weekend with hurricane Irene visiting. Thank you again for all your prayers for the east coast. So many areas are still without power and were devastated by water damage. Our 2 daughters were due to move into their university this past Sunday, but the school is still without power. No telling when it will be restored.

Today's Tool Time is a recycling project. An old fashion game in honor of roughing it with no technology or electronics this weekend... a matching cap game!!

I used caps from water bottles. Try to save the same kind or color for the game. Save something that you use a lot of...milk caps, soda bottle caps, juice bottles etc.

Here's the top and the inside of the caps...

For the matching game, measure the inside of the cap...usually inside the lip of the lid. You can also find a coin that fits in there to use as a stencil.

Now for the matching part of the game. You can use anything, but make sure you have 2 of each picture.

• letters
• shapes
• food
• animals
• numbers
• colors

You can get them from the...

• computer
• magazines
• fabric with shapes on them (I Spy fabric)
• old books
• scrap book paper
• paint chips from the hardware store

I used the alphabet. You can just print the alphabet or numbers and cut out the circle.

Towards the end of the post, I show you how to make the circles on the computer.

Cut out the shape...

and glue inside.

After you fill in all the caps with 2 of each letter or what ever item you chose, the game is all set to go.

Game instructions...

The kids can turn over all the caps to hide all the letters. Slide them around to mix them up. Then they each take turns turning over 2 caps trying to match 2 of the same item. They need to memorize where the items are to match them again on another turn.

The one with the most matches at the end of the game wins!!

Remember you can use a coin to trace the shape too, but here is the computer version for a circle.

Microsoft word...click Insert (circled in black) Click the pictures to enlarge to see it better.

Then click "Shapes"

Drop down selection you will click oval, but that makes a circle too.

Over to the far right is a measuring box. My caps were .75 of an inch across. When you put your measurements in, the circle forms in that shape.

Double click on the circle and then to the far left click the button to insert text in the circle.

Don't forget to print 2 of each one!! I didn't do the whole alphabet yet, just wanted to show you the basics.



This is not only a great game for kids to learn their letters, numbers, colors etc...it's also great for their memory.

Store the game in a little bag and it travels easily too! Perfect to keep the kids busy while waiting at appointments.

Have fun making this game with them and then playing it!!

Have a great Tuesday,

~Karen~

Blog Buddy...Flipped Pictures In A Post

Hi everyone! Just a little side note before I start. If this post goes through and isn't finished or looks weird...I'm trying to write it before the power goes out on Sunday morning of the hurricane. It's scheduled to post on Monday, so we'll see! Lol !!

Have you every loaded pictures onto a post and they look straight when you have them on your computer, but when you load them to your blog they're flipped?

Well, I am no computer expert and there may be a simple explanation for it, but here's how I fixed this problem for me a couple years ago.

Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 29

Hello everyone! A great big THANK YOU for all your thoughts and prayers for all of us on the east coast. Irene is here and she's a doosey! This is a very quick post, because our power just flickered 3 times while writing this post this morning.

Hope everyone stays safe for the remainder of all of this.

If you'd like to join in the linking party today, it would be great to see what everyone has been up to! Thanks so much for always linking up such great projects.

Take care,
~Karen~

If you're new to Sew Darn Crafty, then grab a cup of something tasty, sit back and join in on the fun (starts Sunday and lasts all week long at Sew Many Ways).

• "Sew" for anything to do with sewing,
• "Darn" for anything to do with knitting. I always think of darning to do with knitting, but in my case "darn" usually is similar to the word I say when I mess up crafting!!
• Let's not forget the word "crafty"...that can mean just about anything we do to create.

So now we all know what Sew Darn Crafty means, let's explain a linking party again. I subscribe to a linking service, which provides the ability to link thumbnail pictures on my blog. The picture is a link that other bloggers provide to share their projects.

Two things can happen at a linking party...looking and/or linking

• you can be greatly inspired by wonderful projects, ideas or vacation pictures (looking) and/or
• you can share what you've been up to (linking)

If you want to be inspired by all the great ideas...just click on a picture and it will take you to that post from a wonderful blogger willing to share her thoughts and ideas.

If you want to link to the party...see the directions below.

So let's get going...

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your entire blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects, vacations, parties etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the "click here to enter" button and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week,

~Karen~

Battening Down The Hatches...

Prayers for everyone along the east coast the next few days. Irene is fast approaching. We live along the coast of southern Rhode Island, about 6 miles from the beach. This is a nasty one.

I hope to do a few posts today and tomorrow to go up this weekend and next week, but I know we'll lose power on this one.

As they have been saying on the news..."prepare for the worst, but hope for the best"

Say a little prayer for everyone,

~Karen~

Went for a walk on the beach this morning with my husband...calm before the storm.

Make A Gift On The 25th Club...Cell Phone Key Chain Case Tutorial

Welcome back to "Make a Gift on the 25th Club". On the 25th of every month, every one who joins the club will try to make a gift for Christmas. You can read the original post HERE, but the gist is...we all proCRAFTinate around the holidays and planning some crafting or sewing on the 25th of each month will help us stay ahead of the game!! If the actual 25th isn't good for you...some time the week of the 25th is great too!!

So join in on the fun and sign up today. Grab the Christmas button on my right side bar to remind you each month!! If you click the "Button" button it will show you how to add a button to your blog. Wow, that's a lot of buttons is that sentence LOL!!!

To help you each month, I'll try to have a tutorial for you...last month's scarf tutorial HERE

and here is this month's...a key chain cell phone case.  

Thoughts on Thursday...

E.S.P.

Excrutiating. Sudden. Pain.

Biting your tongue or stubbing your pinky toe.

I did both in the same day.

Almost brings you to your knees!! LOL

I know there are worse things in life, but those are up there.

By the way...that pinky toe. What do you call it...pinky, piggy, baby, that broken thing on my foot?  LOL!!!

Happy Thursday,
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Knee Pincushion

I know...knee pincushion? Thought that title might get you!!

Just came up with this idea in the car driving home from a little New Hampshire vacation on Sunday. I was sewing hexagons in the car and forgot my cup holder sewing kit at home. Click link for that tutorial.

I kept using the cuff of my shorts as a pincushion. I said to my daughters..."I need a knee pincushion" and the head band idea immediately popped in my head. Courtney had one with her, so I tried the bobbin of thread I had with me and it fit perfectly!!

Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 28

Hi everyone!! It's Sew Darn Crafty Party time again. I'm actually writing this post Thursday night, because my family and I are leaving for a weekend trip to New Hampshire Friday morning. By the time this post goes up on Sunday morning, we should be spending the last few hours there and then driving home. I'm hoping to have visited a few quilt shops while I was up there too, but they don't know that yet. Lol !!


Let's see what all of you have been up to lately...

If you're new to Sew Darn Crafty (every Sunday at Sew Many Ways), then grab a cup of something tasty, sit back and join in on the fun.

• "Sew" for anything to do with sewing,
• "Darn" for anything to do with knitting. I always think of darning to do with knitting, but in my case "darn" usually is similar to the word I say when I mess up crafting!!
• Let's not forget the word "crafty"...that can mean just about anything we do to create.

So now we all know what Sew Darn Crafty means, let's explain a linking party again. I subscribe to a linking service, which provides the ability to link thumbnail pictures on my blog. The picture is a link that other bloggers provide to share their projects.

Two things can happen at a linking party...looking and/or linking

• you can be greatly inspired by wonderful projects, ideas or vacation pictures (looking) and/or
• you can share what you've been up to (linking)

If you want to be inspired by all the great ideas...just click on a picture and it will take you to that post from a wonderful blogger willing to share her thoughts and ideas.

If you want to link to the party...see the directions below.

So let's get going...

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your entire blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects, vacations, parties etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the "click here to enter" button and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week,

~Karen~

Fabric Twist Tie...

Do you have pipe cleaners or should I say chenille stems hidden away from an old craft project. Well, get them out...we're going to pretty them up!!

Scrap fabric and a  quick stitch will make this great fabric twist tie for any gift bag. You can also make it to match the gift or the gift bag!

These are called Fuzzy Stems...there must be so many names for them now.

You can use any color, because we are covering them with fabric. We just need the wire part to act as the twist tie.

Dig through your scrap basket...these 1 1/2 inch strips worked great!

Cut the strip an inch or so longer on each side of the stem

Fold fabric in half the length of strip, wrong side together.

Iron flat...

Start on one of the short ends and stitch to a 1/4 inch from the long edge. Pivot and then stitch down the length of the strip with a 1/4 inch seam.

I used black thread so you can see it in the pictures. Have your thread match the fabric.

Leave the other short end open to insert the pipe cleaner.

After pipe cleaner is inserted, stitch opening closed with a short stitch.

Using pinking shears, trim close to stitching...about an 1/8 th of an inch away or so.

Trim down the length too. Pinking prevents the fabric from fraying unless you want the frayed look.

Here you have a quick fabric covered twist tie to secure any gift bag.

Great for sewing or quilting friends...add a little fat quarter, tape measure, thread, ribbon etc!!



Get out those old pipe cleaners and start sewing...great for the holidays too. Maybe we can start these early, so we have them in time for Christmas...ahhhh...I know Christmas!

Happy sewing,

~Karen~

New Venture in Advertising...

"Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool

or you go out in the ocean"

~Christopher Reeve~

I've decide to venture out in the ocean...

I've thought long and hard about the decision to ad advertising to my blog...taking baby steps though. I would love it if you would click over to my advertising page (also located at the top of my blog) and see what's new here at Sew Many Ways. Click here to go to that page.

My life has grown and changed so much because of this blog and I love it! Just wanted to take a swim out in the ocean!! Wish me luck!

Always Thankful,
~Karen~

Thoughts on Thursday...

This was in my fortune cookie...

"No matter what your past has been, you have a spotless future."

Hmmm...makes you think, huh?

I like this one!

Have a great Thursday,
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Photo Album Recipe Organizer

Recipes...we all have them. Some we use ALL the time, some we have committed to memory and some we only use once in a while. Where do we keep them? In a box, in a drawer, in a folder, in a book...messy or organized. 

I keep mine in a photo box organized by category. They are a mixture of my recipe cards, my mom's cards and cut outs from magazines. However, I probably only use a quarter of them. I keep going to the same recipes over and over...and those are just thrown on top of the file in a big mess.

Why not take just your FAVORITES and put them in a special place. I found this photo album in a thrift store...50 cents.



It has three hanging booklets stored in the wooden box.

Each booklet has 12 double sided pages for 4" x 6" photos. That's 72 pages.

I don't print too many pictures any more. The pictures I do print go in frames or on the refrigerator. The rest are stored on memory sticks or on the computer.

So why not use this for all my favorite recipes. You can use 4"x 6" index cards or the 3" x 5" cards fit too.

I labeled each hanging section with my most used categories.

If you want to be really organized you can re-print all your recipes on the computer in 4" x 6" text box in your Microsoft Word program or the program on your computer.

For Microsoft Word Users...

• go to top left corner and click "insert"
• then towards the right, click "text box"
• from drop down box, I pick "simple text box"
• once your box appears, go to upper right corner and put in 4" and then 6" or the size you need for your photo album
• type what you'd like inside the box
• click another text box and drag it to bottom of page
• you can fit 2 per page

 Print out the pages on regular paper or card stock.

Cut out the 4" x 6" recipe card. It fits perfectly inside the page protector like a picture. They are protected from the mess by the plastic holder.

I like this method, because I can make the font larger for these "getting too old" eyes.



Easy to find and easy to see.



Not bad for 50 cents and a little organizing time.

Happy Tuesday,

~Karen~