Hanging Around

Okay, okay. I know....I've been a blogging slacker lately. But I've been busy! Really, really busy!

In my last post, I mentioned that I am participating in a craft fair at my kids' school. Well, I've been sewing my fingers to the bone trying to get ready for it. I've never done anything like this before, so I really have no clue what I'm doing. I'm totally flying without a net here. But the booth rental fee was only $30 and goes to the PTA, so I figure if nothing else, I'm being a good parent and making a donation.

But what to make? Like I mentioned before, I'm making some gift-type items (tis the holiday shopping season!) and some of my favorite styles of outfits. I'll also take a certain number of customs orders. I've tried to sew out of my stash as much as possible, so it has mostly been an investment of my time (a lot of time based on the "disaster area" status of my house right now) and not so much money.

Here's one the things I've been working on:

No, it's not fabric spaghetti. It's lanyards:

Lanyards? But I make children's items! Yes, I know. But since this is a school event, I thought cute lanyards would be a great, unique gift idea for people to pick up for their children's teacher.

A much more fashionable way to wear an ID badge or keep your keys close, don't you think? I have given one to my son's teachers, and it always makes me smile to see that they still wear them.

I dug in my "stash" and tried to pick a variety of fabrics. There's some fun bold and graphic prints....

And some great fall-inspired colors and prints.

How about Asian-inspired? (I think these are my faves)

Or maybe something a little more "teacher traditional." Apples and children....

I also made some using basic stripes....

...and some with pretty pink fabrics.

I've cranked out 2 dozen of these puppies. I sure hope they sell. If not, I'm set for teacher gifts for the rest of my kids' academic careers!