While it may look like I’m wandering aimlessly through the craft store…I’m actually gathering bits, bobs and tiny packets of “information” ….they all came together in this little ornament design! An easy and fun holiday craft, these ornaments are great even without the Needlepoint! If you are making these with kids, be careful with the glue gun and hot glue!! A click on the photo to watch the 15 minute start to finish video tutorial on Instagram!
Anytime you see a mosaic made from square tiles laid out in a grid, you are looking at a charted Needlepoint design just waiting to happen – follow the steps below to stitch mosaics into needlepoint on any iPhone/iPad. This little ornament was made with embroidery floss, wool and 14# plastic canvas. A link to buy the plastic canvas is at the end.
How MOSAIC NEEDLEPOINT came about…..
My child recently spent a gap year in NYC….as a result I spent a lot of time in NYC “Checking In”….and a lot of time in LaGuardia airport.
LaGuardia airport has enchanting mosaics ALL over the airport…when I see mosaics, I see charted needlepoint designs…so I took lots of pictures.
When the time came to move said child out of their NYC digs, it was a bit of a “project” shall we say…the apartment was a sea of clothing, various collected “treasures”, Cheetos, luggage, boxes and needlepoint supplies scattered ALL over the apartment – I found thread in kitchen drawers…why one would keep embroidery floss with spoons and forks is not for me to know…I posted a 5 part Instagram series called “NEEDLEPOINT STONE SOUP – A Cautionary Travel Tale” detailing this expedition here
As we cleaned and packed, I scavenged thread, needles and canvas from all over the apartment and amassed quite a cache of supplies. Upon returning to my hotel room, I realized I could use some of the thread to rework part of a canvas I had brought on my trip.
What to do with the rest? Since I had gone as far as possible on my reworked canvas, I decided to give the LaGuardia Airport Mosaic photos a go…just to see what would happen…this sweet little ice cream sundae Needlepoint ornament is what “happened”.
Mosaics can be stumbled upon while out and about, but they can also be found online by searching phrases like “square tile mosaics” “square mosaic patterns”, etc. Pinterest is a wealth of inspiration as are tile manufacturers websites.
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of my affiliate links I may earn a commission. Please read my disclosure for more info.
Years ago, my Grandmother ordered pads of $1 bills from the bank prior to going on a trip. She always had tips at the ready for maids, baggage handlers, bellman and cab drivers…since banks no longer sell pads of bills, I make my own – it only takes about 10 minutes plus drying time!
Since I rarely carry cash, money notepads are a must for me! If you have any questions, just message me on Instagram (Lifetart)
On Instagram in January, Pipandrooneedleworks posted a Needlepoint travel roll that her husband had made for her and I thought “Hey! I want one of those!” …but I can’t stitch leather like that – so I came up with this! If you don’t have a sewing machine I will bet this will still work by just riveting straps onto a thicker piece of leather – as long as it is still pliable enough to roll up!
This is a rather “rough” tutorial – no time for pretty pretty pictures right now – but the technique and information is here…and that’s really all you need. Make sure you read ALL the information!
If you have any questions, just go to my LifeTart Instagram account, scroll down to the July 17th post and message me there as I don’t “do” email.
There you have it! Make sure to read the information pics below!
In the past I have taken a shotgun approach to gardening – I would just walk into garden center, pick what I liked, bring it home and plant with abandon with little regard for plant light requirements – not good – it turns out that those little plant tags that tell you about light requirements are really important. A couple of years ago, after getting REALLY tired of spending money on plants just to kill them later, I came up with this idea. Now I go to the garden center, check my Sun & Shade chart and buy plants that grow in the conditions of my yard….things are much better now… here’s how to make your own chart on your iPhone!
I’m a big fan of using plastic baskets as car trash cans (try it and you’ll never go back to using a bag!). As I was unloading plants from the back of my car I used the empty trash basket to carry 6 pots of herbs to the patio. Setting them on the table, I noticed that they looked kind of cute in the basket and wondered if I could just use the basket as an herb garden – I figured “it’s plastic – why wouldn’t it work?”. I left the herbs in the basket and put them by my back step and watered them every day. I wondered if they would continue to grow in their little pots… it became evident that they needed to be in more soil than just their little plastic pots… and I was getting really tired of watering them every day!
I wanted to keep them by the back kitchen steps because it is more convenient than where I usually grow herbs and I had become attached to the whole “basket” idea, so I set about figuring out how to plant them in the basket without dirt leaching out every time I watered them – AND how to avoid the responsibility of needing watering them frequently (I live in New Mexico and our humidity hovers around 10-20% ). I came up with this idea and it has worked beautifully – I much prefer it to my old herb container garden on the drip system! If you try this, just make sure to heavily water the basket once a week – the water crystals/granules need a chance to soak up enough water to see the plants through the next 7 days or so!
Give this graduation gift a try – Book safes are my favorite thing to give to kids heading off to college – things tend to “disappear” in dorms and it’s good to have a hidden place to store extra cash and credit cards! This post with video is also on Lifetart Instagram account!
I was at Costco last week and saw these grill mats and thought “Hey! I’ll bet those would be great for working with glue guns!” – they are!
1. They are designed to withstand heat.
2. Glue peels right off of them.
3. The mats are big so you won’t accidentally lay the glue gun down on the table instead of the mat.
4. Four sheets are $16 instead of ONE silicone baking mat for the same price! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😊
I have searched and searched and SEARCHED for how to tie a straight bow! FINALLY I found out how!! Recently I received a gift of Jo Malone perfume from my dear husband. Upon looking at the bow on the box, I noticed how beautiful it was – how symmetrical – how even – how it didn’t tilt to one side like MY bows! As I carefully untied the bow, I took photos of each step of untying (it would drive me crazy to watch someone open a gift as slowly as I did – he is a very patient man!) and I made a video of how to tie this most perfect of bows! Here is a link to the video – for your reference and my own!! Enjoy!!
Since most of the jewelry I make it is quite large by most standards, it is difficult for me to come up with things for teenagers – because they like things small! I came up with these for my daughter for Valentine’s Day and thought they would make such a fun project for you! If you have some experience with silversmithing, these should take about 30 minutes! Enjoy!!
*** feel free to make these for yourself and as gifts – but please do not sell them….because stealing isn’t nice.
lifetart 