Free Tutorial: Carefree Cup Cozy

Today I needed a fun, useful gift for my husband's boss. I quickly made a couple of these and she was thrilled! Happiness all around. :)

I also found a really cute "coffee cup cosy" poem, originally by Yvonne Lowther, and adapted it to use as a gift tag.

Click Here to download the JoyfulRose Carefree Cup Cozy Template
(Note: These are PDFs, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open all the files in this tutorial)

Click Here to download the single Cup Cozy Poem

Click Here to download the full page Cup Cozy Poem (4 poems on a regular letter-sized page)

Supplies for 1 Cup Cozy:
About 12" wide x 4" tall outer fabric (I used Babyville Boutique Sassy Girl Cheetah PUL)
About 12" wide x 4" tall inner fabric (I used JoAnn Fabrics Cream Fleece)
4" of 1/4" wide elastic
3.25" of FOE (I used Babyville Boutique Solid Brown Fold Over Elastic)
Label (I used Babyville Boutique Little Bird and Hearts "Love")
3/4" Button
Sewing Machine, needle, thread, scissors, cutting board, needles

Note: this pattern and tutorial are for a small store-bought coffee cup. It's made with elastic so it can expand to fit a cup snugly, but if you're using a much larger or smaller than average cup, you made need to alter this tutorial to fit. :)

Instructions:
1. Print and cut out the Cup Cozy Template
2. Fold PUL in half width-wise, place Template on fold, and cut. Do the same for the Fleece
3. Match up PUL and Fleece, right sides together, and sew along top, bottom, and one side. Clip corners so they'll turn nicely
4. Turn right side out and cover-stitch
5. Place FOE along the side that wasn't sewn and use a wide zig-zag to stitch. Use Fray Check on edges or heat-seal
6. Place Label in center and middle of Cup Cozy and sew
7. Loop elastic, match raw edges to edge of FOE and sew very securely
8. Measure in about 1.5" from sewn side of Cup Cozy and sew button in the center, very securely
9. Make another one so you have a pair!
10. Print poem using above download link, wrap Cup Cozies with poem, and give to your favorite coffee or hot chocolate-drinking friend :)

Free Tutorial: Wildly Cute Essential Oils Holder

Do you need an awesome gift for your favorite guy?

I recently introduced my sister and brother-in-law to essential oils and needed a manly Christmas present for him. That's how this awesome camo essential oils holder was born. It's now under the tree and waiting for Christmas morning!

Finished Size: About 3.5" wide x 7" long.

Note:
My essential oils holder is made to hold 10 of the 5/8 dram bottles, or 8 of the 5/8 dram bottles and 1 of the 2.5" long roller bottles. If you'll be using different-sized bottles please take that into consideration when cutting fabric and elastic.

Supplies:
About 9" x 5" PUL (I used Babyville Boutique Camo)
About 9" x 5" Coordinating Fleece or another soft, thick fabric (I used JoAnn Fabrics Cream Fleece)
Label - Born to be Wild, from Babyville Boutique
Button - 3/4"
About 20" of 1/4" wide Elastic
7" Babyville Boutique Brown FOE (Fold Over Elastic)
Sewing Machine, Thread, Scissors, Cutting Board, Pins, Fabric Marking Pen

Instructions:
1. Cut PUL and Fleece to 4.75" wide x 8.25" long
2. Place PUL and Fleece right sides together and sew along both sides and bottom, using a 5/8" seam allowance.
3. Turn right side out, top-stitch, and then sew FOE along the top
4. Cut about 4" of elastic, fold in half, match ends to bottom of FOE on outside, and stitch along FOE sew line (be sure to sew this part very securely, back-stitching several times)
5. Sew label so that the top of it is about 1.5" above bottom of Holder, on outside
6. Sew button so that the top of it is about 1/2" above bottom of Holder, on outside
7. Cut 2 pieces of elastic, each about 7 and 3/4" long
8. On inside, measure 1" below top of of Holder and draw a horizontal line with your fabric marking pen. Measure 1.5" below that line, and draw another horizontal line
9. On inside, on first line, starting from left side, put a little dot with fabric marking pen every 5/8ths of an inch, for a total of 6 dots. Do the same for the second line, making sure dots line up vertically with those on first line
10. Mark the elastic: for both pieces of elastic, measure in about 1/4" from edge and make a dot with marking pen. Measure in about 1.5" from that dot and make another dot. Continue until you've made 6 total dots
11. On inside, on first line, starting from the left side, match 1st dot of one of the pieces of elastic to 1st dot on fabric and stitch vertically (be sure to double-stitch each of these lines to make sure the elastic doesn't come undone as it stretches to hold your essential oils bottles!) Continue matching dots and sewing until all 6 dots are matched and sewn. Then do the same for the 2nd row and 2nd piece of elastic
12. Add essential oils bottles and enjoy!

Free Tutorial: Simply Cute 10-Minute Stockings

Need a super fast, super cute Christmas gift? These stockings are perfect! It takes about 10 minutes to do all 3. They're about 4" x 5", and are just right for a full-size candy cane and some candy. Use them for decoration, as gift tags on a present, or make a bunch for Christmas tree ornaments! Also, they take so little fabric that it's a great way to use up scraps.

Click Here to download the free JoyfulRose Stocking Template
Note: it's a PDF, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it

Supplies:
Stocking Template
Scraps of non-fraying fabric (I used 3 different patterns of Babyville Boutique PUL, but you could also use felt or fleece)
About 15" of 1/4" wide ribbon (I used Babyville Boutique Pink Floral Ribbon)
Sewing Machine, thread, cutting board, scissors, pins, needle

Instructions:
1. Print and cut out template
2. Fold fabric in half, wrong sides together
3. Trace template onto fabric and cut through both layers of fabric
4. Cut a 5" length of ribbon
5. Keep fabric wrong sides together, fold ribbon into a loop and place at top left corner
6. Sew along sides (not the top!) with a 5/8" seam allowance, using a wide stitch (or hand stitch)
* Tip: Be sure to stitch securely, especially the top sides.
7. Make at least 2 more stockings.
8. Fill with goodies and enjoy!

Free Tutorial: Fast and Festive Gift Bag

Need a quick gift bag? This one is super easy! It takes about 15 minutes, including gathering all the materials.

 Supplies:
About 1/3 yard of fabric (I used Babyville Boutique Chevrons and Solid Red PUL)
About 20" of 1/4" wide ribbon (I used Babyville Boutique Forest Friends Ribbon)
Sewing Machine, cutting board, scissors, pins, thread, needle

Instructions:
1. Cut the chevron BBVL PUL a bit wider than your gift and twice as long (I added about 4 inches of red PUL at the top and bottom to make it more Christmas-y)
2. Fold the PUL in half lengthwise, right sides together
3. Sew the 2 sides together and turn right side out
4. Sew a 20" long BBVL ribbon to the back
5. Insert gift, gather top of bag, tie in a cute bow. 
Done and done!

Spoonflower - Creations Made from my Designs! - Minecraft Quilt

Check out this gorgeous Minecraft quilt made by Tracy:

I love all the detail; perfect for a boy's room!

It was made by Tracy Forsberg (aka: papatece) using my "Minecraft Inspired Collage 3" Squares" fabric found here: http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/2479785

This is what Tracy said about the fabric:

Christina - I want to thank you for your design!!  I have a 10 year old grand son who is wild about Minecraft.  I have 6 grandsons and am making quilts for all of them.  I chose your 3x3 pattern and blocked with black flannel and then machine "quilt-stitched" between each block.  Did not get pics of him when we gave it to him (sorry that I did not have my camera handy as he was super excited), but did take pics of the finished product.  Thanks again!"

 

Thanks for the pics Tracy; your grandsons are so lucky to have you!

Spoonflower - Creations Made from my Designs! - Minecraft Christmas Stocking

Thanks so much to Lisa George (aka: the_black_scottie) for sending this pic.
It's a stocking she made using my "Minecraft Collage 3" Squares", found here: http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/2479785

It looks so awesome! I love how she embroidered Cameron's name on the stocking.
Thanks Lisa!

Spoonflower - Creations Made from my Designs! - Yellow Brick Road Picture Backgrounds

Thank you to Andy Ritz (aka: crackerboy) for sending me these pics! 
I LOVE how he used my wrapping paper design as the background for his amazing Wizard of Oz collages.
Design found here: http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/1248012

Thanks again Andy! I love your creativity!

Spoonflower - Creations Made from my Designs! - Picture Frame

Thanks so much to Kama Nathan (aka: kama) for sending this pic.
It's a picture frame made using my "Minecraft Collage 3" Squares", found here: http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/2479785

 LOVE this idea!

Minecraft Inspired Collage/Ready-Made Quilt Fabric

I'm having such a fun time designing these 8-bit pixel fabrics! Tonight I finished up a cut-and-sew (aka "cheater") quilt, with input from my local Minecraft experts (my boys). I think it will make for an awesome Christmas present!

Clik here for to my Spoonflower shop :) 

Note: my fabric designs are not official Minecraft fabrics. I am not affiliated with Minecraft or Mojang. I just made a few designs for our family fun. :) If you'd like to know more about Minecraft, here's the link to their site: https://minecraft.net/

Animated Banners for "Leave You In Stitches"

Katie wanted both of her animated banners to have a picture on the right, fading into the left, and moving text on the left. The first showcases her darling owls skirt; second is a Christmas banner. :)

I couldn't decide if I liked her logo behind the name in the first one or not, so there are a couple to choose from!

Merry Christmas from JoyfulRose!

Our customs have been closed the past two weeks and we've had a lot of busy fun creating gifts for family, relatives, and friends. :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Tina :)

Our silly little guys posing for the camera. These are their "Santa smiles" - lol!

Holiday Designs Now Available!

I stocked my shop with lots of holiday designs (Winter, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa). Check out the designs and enter our FREE DRAWING if you haven't already!

Animated Banners for "Creative Mamas" - Holidays

Here are the newest animated banners for the "Creative Mamas" congo.

We wanted to incorporate many of the upcoming holidays and I really liked the idea of a retro-type tree with snowflakes. Hopefully it's a nice representation of the season. :)

Retro Snowflake Tree

New printable design now available!

Inspiration for my Retro Snowflake Tree came from the trees in our front yard and the beautiful snow falling at country cottage this time of year. I wanted to incorporate some retro-type colors and learned a new technique in Photoshop to create the gradient color burst. :)

I'm very happy with how it turned out! I think I'll be using it as part of our family Christmas cards this year.