Made by Me Monday: Felt Bookmarks

Obviously, I've been on a felt kick for quite some time now. I made these cute little bookmarks for some church girls who are near and dear to my heart. Each one is personalized (with their initials on one side, and a picture that symbolizes them on the other).

They are quite simple to make - super easy if you are looking for a last-minute gift!

What you'll need

Felt Scraps in assorted colors

Embroidery Thread (I use the thread used for friendship bracelets)

Embroidery Needle

Ribbon in assorted width

Sewing machine (optional)

Pattern for picture (if you aren't good at winging it!)

Directions

1. Cut 2 shapes from felt for the background of the bookmark. The size I used was about 2 in. square. Cut 2 smaller pieces of felt for bottom of bookmark. (Use any shape, I used a square, star, heart & triangle on mine). Cut a piece of ribbon that is about 8-10 inches long (thin ribbon is fine, but I personally like the way the thicker ribbon looks).

2. Applique (by hand probably is easiest, but you can machine, sew, too if you're patient!) a design on one piece of felt and an initial (or initials) on other piece of felt.

3. Assemble: Sandwich ribbon between larger pieces of felt - you can add some permanent fabric glue to help the ribbon stay, but it probably isn't necessary. Do the same thing with smaller pieces of felt at bottom

4. Sew outer edges of large felt pieces (Hand or Machine), then sew smaller pieces together at bottom.

5. Give your bookmark to it's lucky recipient! (Or keep it for yourself, I won't tell!)

Made by Me Monday: Custom Coffee Cuff

Coffee "cuffs" are not a new idea, and in fact, I was inspired by Lauren Coughlan, who made them for last year's Batten's Boutique (www.bdrsa.org to read about this debilitating children's disease). They were just too adorable not to make some for myself and a few friends who requested some customizing. By the way, Lauren is Noah Coughlan's sister, who is currently about halfway into his cross-country RUN to raise Batten Disease awareness. You can follow his journey here: http://site1.battenjourney.com/

The idea is simple, a reusable coffee "cuff" so you don't have to waste those flimsy cardboard ones at your favorite coffee shop - be the envy of other coffee cups! Inside is insulator-material, and it closes with a simple elastic and button.

Made by Me: Initial Bookmarks

I whipped these cute little bookmarks the other day after being inspired by this tutorial: http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/09/fabric-rosette-tutorial-extravaganza.html

For the main part of the bookmark, I used some old jeans and just "eyeballed" the measurements of a bookmark, right sides together, turned & top-stiched.

For the roses, I used some leftover red cotton (from a couple halloweens ago when our family dressed up as a BLT ....bread, bacon, lettuce, and a tomato with an extra jar of mayo - it was hilarious!) that I cut into long, thin triangles, and then got out my tacky glue and twirled away until I liked the look of the flower.

Then, I cut small pieces of green felt into a leaf-shape, sewed it down (in leaf-vein fashion) and then I hot-glued the rose onto the petals.

I like to personalize my gifts, so I initialed them with some extra felt (all sewn in). I think they turned out super-cute - the only thing I might do differently next time is to reinforce it with the interfacing....I don't know, I think it's fine the way it is, too. I'm also going to be doing some with bible verses or key words like "Faith" or "Believe"....just need a couple extra hours in the day!