Mega Scarf Hanger

If you're like me and you have a shamefully massive number of scarves you'll love today's project!

 It doesn't look like much but it takes care of this entire mess of scarves in my closet:

 Right now, they ALL just hang one on top of another on two nails on a wall in my closet and constantly fall down.  But we're going to fix all that!

Here's what you need:

 Materials:
-various sizes of the inner hoop of an embroidery hoop
-acrylic paint and paintbrush
-felt and ribbon
-ruler, pencil, scissors
-glue and craft glue (not shown)
-optional: sparkle mod podge, rhinestones, glitter!

Steps:
1) Paint both the inside and outside as well as the sides of all of your embroidery hoops.

I use spools of thread to keep the wet paint off the table while they dry.

2) While you're waiting for your paint to dry, start cutting narrow strips of felt the same width as your embroidery hoops.

 3) Once your paint is dry start painting glue on the inside of your hoops and adhering the strips of felt.  I decided at the last second to use Aleene's tacky glue and am glad I did.  It gave me a bit more time to work with it, get the felt in place, and not deal with any hot glue.

 4) Glue all of your hoops together at the tops.

5) Cut a length of ribbon or other trim about 15" long.

6) Also cut a rectangle of felt about 2" X 3".

7)Switch to your hot glue gun for the next step.  You'll need to make sure all those hoops are really secure.  With your felt rectangle under the hoops, layer in the ribbon and glue it all together with hot glue.

 And that, my crafty friends, is that!  Voila! You have yourself a new place to hang ALL of your scarves!

Just look at all that space.  The felt helps the scarves not to slip while protecting them from the rough wood of the hoops.

Yes, I still have too many scarves,
but now I can see them all!

I resisted adding sparkle but you could seal the outside of your hoops with some Sparkle Mod Podge, add some rhinestones, or really go to town and add glitter!  Paint the hoops a rainbow of colours, use velveteen ribbon inside instead of felt....the sky is the limit on this one.

Do you have a scarf addiction?  How do you store your stash?  Leave a comment and let us all know~

Show and Tell: Santa Sacks

Well, another holiday season is almost finished.  Was all the chaos and hubbub worth it for you?  I was very lucky this year and was able to give back to some people who are a little less fortunate.  First of all I was able to help serve a Christmas lunch to the homeless last week.  It's heart breaking to see just how many people are in need but it sure feels good to give them a good healthy meal.

On top of that, if you recall from the Spool Knitting post, I said that I was going to make scarves for the homeless in one of our emergency shelters.  I am very happy to say that I followed through.

I made everyone a little Santa Sack that I asked be placed outside every one's door in the middle of the night so that they'd be surprised on Christmas morning.

Inside each sack was a scarf, a candy cane, and a little handmade gift box with either toiletries or tea.

It's not much, but my goal was just to make sure that everyone there knew that they weren't forgotten.  And now I can start thinking of what I can do next year to top it!

If you had a chance to reach out to someone who didn't expect it,

 make sure to tell us what you did in the comment box.
We can all inspire each other! 

If you were too busy (it's ok, it happens) just remember

that you don't have to wait until a special day on the calendar. 

People appreciate kindness any day of the year.

Happy New Year!

(or as they say in Japan...Happy End of Year!)

Don't forget to check out the linky parties all week for lots of great ideas to start the new year of crafting!