No Sew Flannel Blanket.....Does it Work Like the Tutorial Says it Does?

**I'm a little obsessed with the Craft Interests that I sort through on Stumble Upon and many times I've found myself wondering (as I looked at some tutorial or another) does that really work in real life?  Can anyone truly make that?  In an effort to find out, I've decided to start a weekly series:  Does it Work Like the Tutorial Says it Does?  Each week, I will honestly chronicle my attempts at crafting stuff I find off the web.  I figure if I, butcherer of paper, epic failure at scrap booking and sewing can make something, anyone can.  For my first go at it, we'll try a No Sew Fleece Blanket.**


I'm an obsessive crocheter, and so the first time I saw a fleece no sew blanket, I'll have to admit, I thought it was cheating.  (Cheating on what, I don't know).  But now that the rug rat is just a foot shorter than me and needed a blanket for summer care "quiet time," I thought I'd give it a try.  I found this tutorial on Instructables.com:  No Sew Fleece Blanket and got to work.


SUPPLIES

• 2 pieces of flannel (I guessed and bought a yard and a half of each which equaled a 40 x 48 inch blanket not measuring the fringe)
• sharp scissors
• yard stick
• 5 x 5 inch piece of cardboard
• patience
• ability to stand on your feet for a few hours

I bought a new pair of scissors ($8) and a yard stick ($2), so that added to the cost of this blanket (though I figure I'll use both items again later).  The flannel ran me about $15 at WalMart, though I'm sure I could have possibly cut this price down if I'd waited till one of the craft stores had a sale on fleece.

TOTAL TIME TO COMPLETE
 
Four hours, interrupted by getting aforementioned rugrat in bath tub, then later out of bath tub, then finally reading him a bedtime story.


PHOTOS OF THE MADNESS

Pin that sucker down!

The first part was the most challenging.....getting all of the selveges cut off and then cutting the fabric so both pieces were the same size.  Cutting a straight line fails me so I did as little of it as possible, trying to use the straight edges of the fabric that where already there.  I ended up cutting two sides, plus trimming a third.  You can see from this picture that my cutting leaves something to be desired.  Additionally, I pinned everything down with the help of my husband, who held the first pinned side down while I smoothed out all of the wrinkles.  Patience is not a virtue I possess.

Sad proof of my epic cutting skills

The fabric was mostly straight as you can see from the picture above.  I kept the five by five piece of cardboard to use as a guide in helping me make the rest of the fringe, after my first cut proved I have no eye for straight lines, even at a short distance.

My first attempts a cutting fringe

Use the cardboard square as your guide!

As you can see from that first pathetic cut, having a guide was necessary, at least for me.  It also helped later on when I couldn't put the ruler flat against the fabric because one side or the other was already tied.  The video says no wider than a finger, but I would have been there all night, so I went for approximately every inch.

I do recommend tying as you go, this definately helps keep things lined up properly.  I would stop every foot or so and tie fringe until I reached five inches from my last cut, so I wasn't trying to lay my cardboard guide under or over the bumpy ties.

One End Down!

Finally Done!

OVERALL VERDICT
Doable, but time consuming, at least the first time around, the no sew fleece blanket turned out well.  The fringe is very forgiving and hides any minor unevenness very well.  I would definitely make another (but not while I'm eight months pregnant....being on my feet for four hours was not a good idea).

Learning the Tarot: The importance of Clarity & Reading the Tarot

If you read this blog regularly, you've probably gathered that I'm in the military.  Very, very soon after my little parasite is born, I will be taking a HUGE leap by letting my contract expire after eight years in the hopes that I will be bringing a little sanity to my life.  It is a big leap because while husband can feed us and keep a roof over our heads, paying my credit card debt down (racked up long before I ever set eyes on him) is really not in the budget.  We have about four or five months of savings to cover us then it's back to work or.........(actually I really don't know what comes after the or).  It reminds me of those old maps of the world when it was still thought the world was flat and one could sail over the edge into the mouth of a great monster.  I'm headed to that monster right now.....oh sure, the water is fine now, but soon, I will get pulled over the edge........

It was in this agitated mood that I approached the Tarot one night (can you see where this is going?) and asked about my immediate future.  The cards came back to me, not as I'd hoped, (with a glimpse of the future or some hint as to what avenue I should take) but instead with a reading that made me say, "No shit, Tarot!"

My very first deck, used for personal readings only

What I got back was just an immediate reflection of what I already knew......conflict: between having many choices ahead of me and trying to make plans.........my short term future:  BIG Changes coming!  How I see myself: feeling like I'm becoming a big moocher because I'll be staying home with the baby for a bit.....and then funniest of all, the over emotionality of my future outlook card .  I say funny because as anyone who has had a baby knows emotions are insane right after birth and for a bit thereafter.....with my first child, I cried at the drop of a hat for a long time, at anything (though mostly baby commercials).....things are a bit hormonal at first.

So now, getting to my point.  Reading the Tarot is more than just shuffling some cards, laying them out and looking up meanings in your favorite guide.  Clarity and connection are important.  Clarity of mind allows for a true connection......not a reading jumbled with emotions  and desires of the reader.  If you have decided you want to study the cards, it's important that you prepare yourself each time to read the cards properly.
Some ideas on how to do this:

• Read in the same spot every time.  Pick a place without a lot of distractions, away from noise as much as possible.
• Create a ritual.....I'm not talking spells and curses here.....just a routine that you follow each time you read.  For example, you can shuffle the same way every time or split the deck exactly the same way.
• Give yourself a moment of silence before you begin touching the cards.
• Clear your mind of everything but the focus of your reading or question being asked.  Let nothing else cross your mind until you have finished laying out the cards. 

Clarity of mind is very important for those seeking a reading as well.  Coming to your reader in an emotional state will get you a very disconnected reading.  Try and approach your reader with a calm a mind as possible.  Push all thoughts away of anything else but the issue or question at hand.  Focus in on it until the last card has been drawn.   Keep this in mind and you too can avoid your own, "No Shit, Tarot!" moment.

Elephants Remember Joplin.....and Bears too.....

 

Today I sent off these three little guys to a wonderful little girl name Cee Cee who is working very hard to raise money for the victims of the devastating Joplin tornado last May.  These guys will be part of her toy drive for fifty five children who survived the tornado that will attending a special camp on the 17th.  You can read more about her and even help her in her efforts (even if you're not a crafty person) by visiting her Face Book Page:  Elephants Remember Joplin.  These guys were made from the first crochet pattern I've ever committed to paper, Flat Teddy Bear.  And while I think the pattern turned out pretty decent (not great, but decent), I'm not fond of that white bear.......grey and tan bear look pretty cute......white bear looks a little shady.....giving me an "eye" even...........maybe I'll stay away from the color white on future bears........

Lady Love Tarot loves Tarot (and nothing else, apparently)

Long ago, when I was but a wee lass (and by wee lass I mean awkward teenager), I had a teacher who was the quintessential former flower child....long flowing clothing, messy hair, eclectic friends.  One day, while we were out on the playground, I lingered near her and another teacher, as she did a spread from the Medicine Cards for her coworker.  Fascinated, yet slightly scared of what she was doing, I pushed the idea to the back of my head for many years, until, as an adult, I found myself studying the Tarot.  It was only then, nearly twenty years later, that I remembered the Medicine Cards and sought them out on a trip to the local book store.  They were still in print, just as I remembered them.....eagerly I bought the package and took it home, ready to delve into the wisdom the cards might hold.

It was then that I was highly disappointed.  What had seemed highly mysterious, mystical even as a kid, was obviously nonsense.  There is little in the way of symbolism to connect to upon looking at the cards.  To make matters worse, the corresponding book seems to be filled with trite, condescending Native American "spiritualism."  (And by spiritualism I mean a complete and total butchering of what the author probably believes Native American believe.)  It made me sad, looking back on that teacher, that even as an adult (she was easily in her forties at the time) she could not see the mockery this made of Native American religions.  There may be really good alternatives to the Tarot out there, sadly this is not one of them.

Saturday, uh, Sunday Crafts Recycle Everything I Would Have Thrown Away

This weeks crafts are awesome recycling of crap most of us think is useless once it has served it's original purpose.

Old T shirts

Probably the coolest use of something most of us have in abundant supply, I'm dying to try out this rag rug using all of those old tan Army shirts I own once my ETS date rolls around....so close, yet so far.........  This beautiful rug idea comes from Julie Ann Art:

Recycled T shirt rug by Julie Ann Art

Sandwich Box

Milk jugs, in general, drive me nuts.....they seem so useless once they've served their original purpose.  That's why this idea from Family Fun is so awesome. 

Sandwich Box from Family fun

Cell phone/charger holder

I love this reuse of one of the most useless of all of the things that cross our recycling pile......a phone/charger holder made from a lotion bottle by Make It Love it.

Phone/charger holder from Make It Love It

Tin Can Garden

There are many tutorials out there on how to reuse tin cans, but I thought this one made the cutest use of them.  I highly recommend using a Smooth Edge Can Opener, which can be found in most local big box stores or online. 

Tin Can Garden by Kaboose

Now, I just need to find the illusive practical reuse of a toothpaste tube.....

The Scariest Card of All

I was minding my own business, laying out the cards for a client when it appeared.......that pesky card that plagues Tarot card readers world over. 

Death..........my personal nemesis as a card reader. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the imagery of the Tarot, I love the symbolism, but it oftentimes comes off as far too melodramatic.  I cringed as I set the card down.  This reading, unfortunately, wasn't for a client in front of me, but rather some poor soul  who would be opening an email from me and see it staring at them in all of its melodramatic glory.  I wouldn't be there to reassure them, "It's not really Death!  I swear!"

But it is, (at least when it's you're reading) and all you can think about is: my future says death.  Guh.  Despite what Hollywood would have us believe, Tarot Card readers (at least legitimate ones) don't normally go around predicting their clients' deaths.  The card Death, like all cards in the deck, is symbolic.....it asks us to be ready for change.  Big change.  Life altering change.  Death, after all, is the greatest change a living person will ever go through.  When Death appears in your reading, the cards are giving you a heads up.....change is coming.....life as you know it will never be the same again.

In the case of my client,  Death was actually a very promising card.....her financially life had been really difficult up to this point.  The change that the Death card promised forecasted a promising financial future.  I can only hope she took my explanation to heart.  I cringe to think she stopped reading at the word death.

Random Saturday Crafts

So I've spent way too much time lately on StumbleUpon.  Like way too much time.  I think I'm slightly addicted. And to add to the madness, I'm now adding (on a daily basis) to the list of crafts I want to attempt.  Here's of collection of what I've come across in just the last few days.......


SOAP!

 

Solid Bath Sugar Scrub by Teach Soap 

Directions for these beautiful solid bath sugar scrub cubes can be found at www.teachsoap.com along with a ton of recipes for making soap, bath fizzies, lip balms and lotions.  Awesome website......looks like tons of fun.


DOILY LAMPS

 

Doily Lamp by More Design Please

I grew up really poor.  Unfortunately, like my mom, I've always had this desire to make things (usually crap, but every once in a while I do pretty well), so when I was about eight or so, I discovered paper mache.....the perfect craft for the poor kid who wants to make something all of the time.  This Doily Lamp by More Design Please takes the idea of paper mache and turns it into something beautiful with very little effort.  Gone are the hours of sanding and panting.....this doily lamp is pretty much good to go from the moment it dries.....no painting skills or patience necessary.




PAPER FLOWERS

 

Paper Flower Balls by Find Inspirations

Flowerless weddings seem to be all the rage these days.....what better way to avoid the allergies and expensive of real flowers by substituting with paper flowers?  In the past when someone mentioned "paper flowers" I instantly cringed....thoughts of tissue paper in bright colors filled my head, but Find Inspiration's take on paper flowers is both beautiful and elegant.  With a bit of time and patience, these beautiful flowers can cheaply replace some or all of the floral arrangements in your wedding.

Have a great Saturday!