printable // crafty characters needle book

Over two years ago, I shared a printable for making matchbook-style needle books. Along with that, I showed a little teaser for a version that went out to my mailing list. Well, I think it's about time that I make that printable available for everyone. Because keeping your needles in a simple case covered with cute craft supplies is a must, right?

I love making needle books, and I'm more than willing to spend a chunk of time embroidering and sewing something special. But there's something to be said for fast and easy too. You may even find that these are perfect for putting together little stitching kits for gifts or classes. (I do ask that you not sell these or use them for profit, but I'm totally fine with you giving away the finished needle books!)

Print the PDF below and then head to the original post to see how easy it is to make your own printable needle books!

Download the Crafty Characters Matchbook PDF

printable // kawaii apple coloring picture

For those of you who are enjoying the coloring craze, or for those with kids who might need some quiet time, I thought it would be a good time to share a free printable page. I had thought about doing one with all kinds of fall things, but decided to go with apples. They're still fall, right? And even though it's mid-October, we'll still be enjoying apples for a while.

The decision for apples happened when I started to plan a little gathering, with apples as the theme. But let me back up just a bit.

This summer I volunteered to help out one week in the middle school ministry at my church. I did so hesitantly, but thought it would be good to serve. By the end of the service, I was starting to think I should help more, and soon after that I signed up to be a small group leader for girls in 6th grade.

What I thought would be about an hour and a half of my life has turned into every Sunday plus extra things. And I love it. I love the girls I'm working with and the time we spend together.

One of those extra things is what I'm calling an Apple Gala, which is really just a fancy way of saying "let's get together and make caramel apple bowls (like a sundae, but with apples instead of ice cream), play games, and have fun. It seemed appropriate to make a coloring picture in my Wild Olive style.

That's also why there's a verse on the picture, and the verse is actually a prayer, asking God to "keep me as the apple of your eye." Truth: I had to look up what this phrase "apple of your eye" really means. If you're like me and aren't 100% sure, it's this: the apple of the eye is another way of saying the pupil of the eye. It's the most sensitive part, and therefore it's precious and the part you would protect the most.

Psalm 17:8 is asking God for protection. It's asking God to hold you as something precious. And He does.

I hope this coloring page will be a comfort and hope to the girls in my group, and to you as well. And if you'd prefer the version without the verse, that's here for you too.

DOWNLOAD THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE COLORING PICTURE

DOWNLOAD THE KAWAII APPLE COLORING PICTURE

printable // root beer float straw charms

I just learned that August 6 is Root Beer Float Day, and that deserves a printable! I'm all for celebrating the everyday holidays. And I'm calling these straw charms because they add just some happy decoration to your root beer float straw.

Of course, you don't have to only use them on Root Beer Float day, because really, any day could stand to have a kawaii root beer float in it, do you think?

DOWNLOAD THE ROOT BEER FLOAT STRAW CHARMS

The root beer float on this printable is based on the one in my Soda Shop embroidery pattern. I had actually hoped to make something cute with my embroidery. A root beer mug rug was on my mind. But time is not on my side these days, and so I let that idea go. It's probably for the best, because I'm really happy with the straw charms.

To use them, just print on card stock, cut around the background, punch the dots with a standard 1/4in hole punch, and slide a straw through the holes. You can bend the top and bottom down a little, but you don't have to.




Pick up some root beer and vanilla ice cream, and then make a yummy and cute treat for yourself!

printable // sweet creatures floss bobbins

Are you ready to wrap up some cuteness? I really wish I had thought of these animal floss bobbins back when my Stitch Love book first came out, because these really are the sweet creatures mentioned in the title!

I chose kitties and guinea pigs because, well, that's what lives at my house. And so yes, I'm biased. But I hope you can learn to love having these little friends in with your stitching supplies. They promise to be helpful and keep your floss tidy for you!

Need some new stitchy friends?

DOWNLOAD THE SWEET CREATURES FLOSS BOBBIN PDF

Print the PDF on card stock. For sturdier bobbins, I recommend spray mounting the printed page to a second piece of card stock.



Cut out the bobbins. The indent is the trickiest part, but you can do it! If you really struggle, try cutting that part with a craft knife. And don't forget the little slits at the bottom!



Now it's time to wrap up your critter friends! Get the floss right up to the top so that you don't see where the animal stops.



These bobbins are a little larger than the standard kind, or like my happy thread bobbins. But don't worry! They'll still fit in your plastic organizer box. Like the linen-look printable I made for About.com, you just turn them to fit in the compartments the long way.

As you work, your new animal friends can keep your company!

printable // you did it! lists

I do this crazy thing where I get really down on myself when I don't accomplish "enough" during the day. Don't get me wrong, being productive is good and when you work for yourself, it's essential. But when an abstract "enough" is how I evaluate myself, I've valued it too much.

One way I've found to fix this is to look less at my to-do list, and more at what I'm calling a "You Did It!" list. As I work through the day, I write down all the things I accomplished.

Sometimes they're big things: made project & wrote post, designed pattern, photographed three projects, etc.

Sometimes they're small things: sent email, loaded dishwasher, cut pattern pieces, etc.

I write down things I finished, and things on which I just made progress. It's almost like tracking my day, but not so detailed. And why do I do this? Because at the end of the day, I can't say "what did I actually do all day?"

I may not get everything done (big stuff takes time!), but I have evidence that I did, in fact, stay busy.



Often I grab the nearest scratch paper (junk mail envelopes are a favorite), but I thought it would be fun to make a printable. And this one says You Did It! across the top. Cheering yourself on is a good idea.

The page has six lists per piece of paper, so basically a week's worth. You can trim them apart on the gray lines, or try this:



Fold the page in half and then accordion fold it in thirds. Now you have a week of lists all in one handy spot. Have an extra-productive day? Open it up and use the back of a section.



Usually I still work from a to-do list, or something similar. When there are a lot of things to be done, I need to see all the things so I don't miss anything important. But the You Did It! list is crazy helpful for my well-being.

And seriously, the normal life things that take time during the day (dropping off the kids, making dinner, putting away laundry) need to be on your list. They are part of what we accomplish during our days. They take time and they're important.

DOWNLOAD THE YOU DID IT LIST PDF

For an embroidery pattern to congratulate someone on their accomplishments (maybe bigger than loading the dishwasher, unless you're feeling cheeky), visit the Embroidery site at About.com. I couldn't help but make both the pattern and printable to match!

printable // kawaii fruit tea bag notes

Do you enjoy tea? A giant cup of hot tea is part of my nearly every evening ritual. I love trying new flavors, and fruity teas are a favorite. I also like cute stationery. If these things sound familiar, you'll love these printable fruit tea bag notes!



I was inspired to make these after a trip to Japan. Well, the Japan pavilion at Disney's EPCOT. They had some mini stationery similar to this, but I knew that I could make my own that would better reflect my own personal style. That definitely means fruit with faces.

Ready to make some super cute fruit tea notes? Here we go!



You will need:

Paper for printing
Scissors
Craft knife
Ruler
Cutting mat
Glue stick
Small hole punch (1/8" is perfect!)
String

PRINTABLE TEA BAG NOTES PDF



Print the PDF on regular paper. I used 20lb. copy paper, but slightly heavier paper (even just 24lb.) would be nice. Card stock would make it a little too bulky.

Cut out the pieces.



Use a craft knife to cut a slit on the line near the indent on the tea envelope. If you want to skip the knife, you can tape the flap down later instead of sliding in the envelope slit.



Fold the angled flap down, and crease, then unfold it. Fold the indented end up to the crease.



Run a small line of glue stick down each side of the envelope and fold it into the envelope shape. Don't let the glue get too far in from the edges or you won't be able to slide the tea bag in!



Fold the tea bag and tag pieces in half. If you don't want your tea bag to be double sided, you can cut these pieces in half and make two bags with one print.



Punch a hole on the non-folded side of the bag and tag.



Cut a 6-inch piece of string and tie the tea bag and tag together. Trim the ends.



Now you can add a note to your tea bag. They are fun as little cards, adding a tag to a gift, or even as miniature invites to a tea party!




With the tea bag safely tucked inside, slide the flap into the slit to hold it closed and write the recipient's name on the oval.

I love that it really does look like a tea bag!



And of course, when you make a whole fruity flavor rainbow of notes, it just gets better. Oh, and don't feel like you have to match the colors up on the bags and envelopes. Make your notes colorful!

Oh, and if you wanted to include a longer note, try this: Punch a hole and tie the string through only one side of the folded tea bag. Or, cut through the fold after both sides are tied. Then you can open the note and have more room for writing!



And one last tip: these are so much fun when you include fruity puns in your notes. Orange you glad I reminded you of that?

printable // cheery cherry chain

Happy Presidents' Day to my American friends! To celebrate, I thought we might go for a classic president theme...cherries! If you're not from the US or up on your American history, you might be wondering what in the world I'm talking about.

Our first president, George Washington, has a little folk lore about him. Story goes that he chopped down a cherry tree and when asked about it, he owned up to it, saying he could not tell a lie.

And so, cherries! What's good about these is that you can cut out a chain of cheery cherries any time of the year. They aren't really just for Presidents' Day!



DOWNLOAD THE CHEERY CHERRY CHAIN PDF

Print the PDF on regular paper, and grab a decent pair of scissors.



Fold back the white edge on the left side of the page. Accordion fold the paper at the dotted line, and then back and forth matching the folded edges. You can trim off the white edge on the right side of the page, or trim the excess that will be left later.



Cut out the cherry shape on the white line. Take care that when you are cutting you keep a bit of fold intact on each side.




After you've cut them out, gently open them to reveal half a dozen cheery cherries on each strip. They're pretty cute just like this, but you can join them up to make longer chains too.

In fact, you could print several pages and just keep adding more!



To connect the pieces, go to the left edge and you should have that folded flap from the beginning of your folding. At the right edge of each piece, make sure you've trimmed away the flap.

Apply some glue stick to the flap on the left edge and attach it to the back of the second strip. Add as many as you want!



With all these cherries smiling at you, you can't help but smile back!

Maybe some other fruit would make more fun cut out paper chains. What do you think? Any favorite fruit you'd like to see as a paper-doll-style printable?

printable // crafty kawaii valentines

Something you may or may not know about me is that I was homeschooled. (Yes, I know you're now thinking "ahh...that explains Mollie's awkward!) And while I loved it so much, there were a few things I missed about not being in a class full of kids. Valentines are one of those things.

I didn't have classmates to give little tear-apart Barbie cards to, and that was sad. I still got a box of Valentines every year to separate, sort, give to a few folks, and then keep the rest for myself. But that's not quite the same, right?

Ah well. Now I get to make my own Valentines to give to all of you!

This year's Wild Olive Valentines were originally posted on Skip to My Lou. I'm a little late sharing them here, but that just means you can save them for next year. Or quick print them out for weekend Valentine greetings!






I was inspired to make these after seeing the Wool You Be My Valentine? cards from Hello, Wonderful. Then I went in search of more crafty puns, and for the most part they are based on vintage Valentine cards.

Wouldn't they be fun to give to one of your crafty friends? They may be kawaii cute, but that doesn't mean they're only for kids! In fact, think they are perfect for gifting some beautiful supplies to someone. (Think Aurifil thread, fancy sock yarn, or other favorites!)

DOWNLOAD THE CRAFTY KAWAII VALENTINES PDF

Have a very happy Valentine's Day, friends!