School Desk

   I found this school desk in one of the sheds.

  It's an old desk, and I don't mind if it looks old, but in order to bring it into my relatively clean house with new carpet and all that, a good scrubbing was necessary and a coat of paint advisable. I intended to do only minimal sanding, but minimal turned out to be considerably more than I had anticipated.  When I applied some stain, the random nicks turned into legible graffiti. So, I sanded again, and the more I sanded, the more graffiti I found! But never fear, the desk still looks old.

   I couldn't help but think of the Christian life as I sanded. It seems the more work the Holy Spirit does in our lives, the more weaknesses are revealed. The surface dirt hides the real problems, and as that is removed, we see the deeper cuts and scratches. Then, when a coat of finish is put on, and most of the surface looks clean and shiny, the deep, dark cracks that we hadn't seen before stand out in bold relief. When I sanded those out, it created splotches in the surface. The places that had been marred by scratches were now even smoother and lighter than the places that hadn't needed as much work. And so it is. Not perfect, but useful and not unattractive.

The Wrapping

  You saw the afghan. You saw the poem I wrote for the card. Now you get to see the wrapping. I don't pretend to sophistication, but when it comes to practicality, I have an edge. Paper wrapping is pretty, but it ends up in the trash. And when wrapping something soft like an afghan, it requires a box besides. Why not wrap gifts with something useful?

A simple draw string bag can be used to store the afghan, sheets, or linens for years. I made this one out of the lining from a cast off set of drapes. A more elegant fabric and a better seamstress could make something much classier and still very useful.

For the present I didn't draw the string, but folded and pinned it.

I added some yarn and a felt flower. When I have one available, a reusable brooch is nice for adorning this type of package.

                                          Even if it wrinkles, it won't tear!

No losing the card to this gift! The envelope is pinned on under the flower.

Barrettes

   When the plastic coating fell off my Walmart barrettes, first one and then the other, I used the bare hardware for a while. Finally I got around to snazzing them up.

   The blue one is made from my handy little buttons. The one pictured below is made of a felted rose from my stash of extras.

The Rag Bag

   When I started cutting strips of fabric from an old dress, I was thinking it was a variation on "t-shirt yarn," and I told my husband I was making yarn.  He wasn't impressed and told me flatly, "I have a hard time calling that yarn.  It's rags.  You are knitting with rags."  I couldn't really argue.  And here is the

Rag Bag.

   When I cut the strips from my dress, I messed up and ended up with lots of short pieces that had to be tied together.  I knit a garter stitch base with two strands on size 17 needles.  Then I knit around and around on the same needles but just one strand of fabric and using a 4 row YO pattern (YO, K2tog on first row.  SSK, YO on the third.  K the even rows.)  When I was nearly out of fabric strips, I cut up a white t-shirt using these clever instructions. (T Shirt Yarn) I knit until I ran out of that, then put in a couple more rows of dress fabric, decreasing one in four stitches on the second to last row.  Then I threaded a piece of hem from the dress through the loops. That's it.

How to Make a Sturdy Felt Button

   I told you about necessity being the mother of invention, but I neglected to mention that poverty is the mother of necessity.  Perhaps, unlike me, you have the means to buy whatever buttons you want whenever you want.  If you do, these are sooooo cool that you may want to make them anyway.  Or,  better yet ~ check out my Etsy shop.  I hope to offer them for sale soon.

 Trace a circle on a piece of hard plastic.  I used a button for my pattern.
You could skip this and use an old button or even buy plain buttons ~ but I enjoy the thrill of making something useful out of what would otherwise be headed for the recycle bin.

 Cut out the circle and use a seam ripper to poke two holes in it.

  

Sew heavy cotton thread through the holes.

  

Make a bobble with wool.
For a 5/8" button I used worsted weight yarn and size 10 1/2 needles.  

CO 1 st. Knit it 3 times.  On next row, increase 1 st each end. (5 st.)  Work 4 rows stockinette.  Dec. 1 st. each end of next row.  Then S1, P2tog, PSSO. Pull yarn through. Wrap knitted bobble around plastic disc and draw yarn around the edges, pulling tight.
You could also cut circles out of the lesser worn parts of an old wool sweater.
(Finish the edges so they won't unravel.)

 To give a rounded, rose-like finish, you can crochet a chain and sew it on to the bobble in a spiral. 

(You can also add this or other embellishments after felting.)

Now throw them in the washing machine.

Turn the washer to hot wash - cold rinse for the smallest load possible.

Put the buttons in a bag and zip or tie shut.  Add a heavy piece of fabric to increase the agitation.  

One wash did the felting for me.  You may need more.

Felted buttons:

I used the cotton thread to sew the button to a bag.  Then I sewed it again with yarn.