Unbaked #8 - Jewelry Holder Frame

For the last ten years, my jewelry has been in a mangled mess inside a little jar that a friend brought back to me from Russia.  Since I'm "growing up" I thought I should have a more respectable holder/display for my earrings and necklaces.

What I used:

Old baseboard (approx 68")

Handheld Saw (and then eventually hubby's power saw)

Spray paint

Hammer

Nails

Lace (I bought a 'sample pack' of 25 pieces of lace 11.5"x14.5" for 99¢!)

Push pins

Ribbon

I found some old baseboards in the attic of our garage (something the previous owners left), and begged my hubby to get them down so I could cut them up and do crafty things with them.  My piece of wood was about 68" long.  So I made a mark every 16" and then I used my quilt mat to measure a 45° angle to either side of my mark.

Then I used my hubby's trusty handheld saw to get the first couple angles cut...  About the time I thought a power tool would come in handy, my hubby came to my rescue and helped me finish the cutting with more precision and less time. (somewhere in there one of my pieces came out shorter than the other three, so I just trimmed a second one down so my frame wouldn't look too funky)  I kept my scraps to fit the thing together...  I'll explain later.

I laid my pieces on a large piece of cardboard, and spray painted my wood white.

When they were good and dry, I flipped them over.  Since I did not have the precision of a table saw, nor do I own a staple gun, I used my scraps to hold the lace in each corner and nailed through the scrap and the lace into the "frame".  I also used nails to keep my lace tight on the sides...  I hammered in my nail part way & then bent it over!  My grandmother, a custom picture framer, and my father, a contractor, would both be so disappointed in my lack of appropriate tools!

I used push pins to make my hanger.  I cut my ribbon so that it was long enough to hang above the frame, and then I tied it around each push pin at either end.  I don't know where the pins came from, but they're flat on top and I was able to hammer them in since I think the baseboards were some kind of hardwood.

Then...  I hung it on the wall and put all my earrings and necklaces on it!  I think it turned out funky but fun.

Unbaked #5 - Sewing! Aprons for Sisters

I have a super cute apron that I got as a wedding gift, and last year for Christmas I used it as a pattern to make a similar one for my sister.  This year I made another one for my new sister-in-law (pictured above)!

What I used:
1 yard of fabric
1 package of bias tape (3 yards)
1 spool of matching thread

What I did:

1. I ironed my new fabric.
2. I laid my apron over the new fabric.
3. I pinned my apron to the new fabric to keep it from shifting.
4. I cut around my apron (avoiding the straps on my apron so as not to cut them off).
5. I unpinned my apron.
6. I folded the new fabric in half to trim it up symmetrically.
7. I cut new straps from remaining fabric and sewed them into tubes, then turned them inside out.
8. I pinned the bias tape and straps onto the apron.
9. I sewed the whole thing together.

The pockets on my sister's from last year were very time consuming and confusing.  To be honest, I'm not a great seamstress!  I did not have the time or patience this year to try to get them onto my sister-in-law's apron.  I think it turned out pretty well without them, and my mother-in-law (my sewing teacher & only reason I currently have possession of a [her] sewing machine) said "who needs pockets on an apron?"  I agreed.

This is my sister's from last year...