Sylvia's Simple Shots

It took about 5 hours to find the box, make the dividers, roll all the less than a full skeins onto bobbins. A full evening of busy hands. You can see my pin cushion, scissors and sharpener fit in there as well. 

Now that I have decided that I will continue with stitch work it was apparent I needed to organize my stash of embroidery thread.

I used my Stampin Up Tab punch to create my little bobbins out of 110lb white card stock. Added 2 slits on the bottom as the store bought ones. I punched 75 of them - 3 full sheets.

These are my DIY Embroidery Thread Bobbins.

They measure 2 inches tall and 2 3/8 inches wide.

I placed all the full skeins in a ziplock bag. The spools of embroidery thread went into a smaller bag.  The skiens of "different" thread into another ziplock bag.

There is room in the large bag for the small embroidery hoop as well.

I am very happy with my progress.

There are very many ways to store embroidery thread and I did view a few videos. The small plastic box is from the dollar store.  It is organized by color because that is how I will use my thread.  I am not concerned with the number. Much of what I have is acquired second hand when sometimes the labels are missing.  That is okay with me.

The Bookseller - First Hugo Marston novel by Mark Pryor was a great book.

Hugo is former FBI agent is working as head of security at the US embassy in Paris.  His friend Max the bookseller is kidnapped at gunpoint. 

The police don't seem to interested in getting to the bottom of his disappearance.  Hugo enlists a beautiful and mysterious journalist, a semiretired CIA agent and reluctant police detective to help him negotiate politcal intrugue, police corruption, an escalation drug war, and the ghosts of Nazi collaboration that haunt some of Paris's most prominent citizens.

I love Paris as a setting.  The plot took a lot of twists and turns before the truth came to light.

I will have to keep an eye out for the other 8 in the series.

I found a sparkly at the ReUse center this week. There were a few crystal ornaments which I brought home as well. It was a good week for clear glass and plastic ornaments.

I woke up the next day after I hung it in the window and there were the rainbows on the wall and the floor as well.

I will have to find a better place and way to hang it but it is a winner.

I brought these home as well from the ReUse Center but they were stuck to scrapbooking tags with some sort of glue.  It took quite alot to get them separated.  

These are very small buttons and I think will work with future embroidery projects.

They are pastel colors but 12 is super.

I got some supplies to keep my organized in the coming years.

The page protectors are for half sheets which I use in binders to manage my sewing projects.  My niece was kind enough to order them for me.  I met the delivery guy at the door and he had 7 packages for this building alone.  I wondered how the Amazon boxes arrived at people's doors and now I know.

The small sheets are for my memo binder that lives in my every day bag which I take with me everywhere. I found these at Staples.

I visited a small home based business this week which works at ensuring that unused fabric and sewing notions are given an opportunity to see life with a new owner.

I found this fat quarter of purple fabric, 3 spools of cotton thread, a bit of lace for future embroidery projects and I could not resist the Bernina tape measure.

Nice to support a local entrepeneur and get some goodies at the same time.

Small Gifts - Oil Diffusers - Felt Balls

 

I made these oil diffusers with the popular 1.25 inch felt balls. They are strung on cotton cord with additional embellishments such as fancy beads, metal filigree, and faceted beads. As you can see they vary in length from 4.5 to 6 inches.  Some have wood clothes pins and some plastic for hanging. 

These work well in the car as air fresheners with your favorite essential oil.  As the air blows through your vents the scent is distributed into your space.  It can hang from your review mirror as well. 

The oil used could be for deodorizing for fresheness, calming for the commute, or energizing for the long road trips. 

I'm putting on in my car.

Small Gift - Oil Diffusers - Felt Stacks

These are my felt stack oil diffusers.  I up cycled tealight holders to hold a stack of felt circles.  The circles were cut 1.5 inches in diameter and stacked until they filled the cavity of the holder.

 I believe this one has 10 layers of royal purple felt. I added a silver flower accent topped with a 12mm crystal glass faceted bead.  The purple thread runs from the bottom through the accents then back down to the bottom of the felt stack where it was securely tied.  The heavy glass holder ensures that oil drops don't damage the surface the diffuser sits on.  

I worked with a winter theme for this diffuser.  I chose a blown glass tealight holder.  I cut 1.5 inches felt circles in turquoise, aqua and light blue felt and layered these into the stack.  I topped the stack with a white diecut snowflake and a 12mm clear crystal glass bead.  The accents are held in place with a turquoise thread.  Starts at the bottom through the accents and back down the other side of the bead then back down to the bottom.  The thread is knotted securely fastening the layers together.

This diffuser features pink and grey felt stack.  The holder is a clear glass heavy with smooth sides.  The felt stack was topped with a white diecut daisy and a 12mm clear crystal glass faceted bead. This accent is held in place with grey thread which starts on the bottom, thread through the accents and the goes back down the stack and is tied securely on the bottom.  The glass holder protects the surface from oil drop damage.

Advent Calendar - Boxed

I've been working on another presentation for my Advent Calendar.  This provides a 6 x 6 inch clear box for it to be stored in every year which will reduce the wear and tear on the pages. A jute cord and pins are used to display all the cards a once. The crystal bead marker allows folks to track the count down to Christmas Day by moving it to the next pin every day.  The list of suggested Advent activities is included.

The left inset shows the calendar with all the parts in the box.

The right inset shows the marker on the pin for a given day

Here's a link to the other one in a frame.  Leave me a comment as to which one - frame or box is more appealing to you.  Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks.

The Advent Calendar Kit - Cards Only is available on my Calendar page.