Tool Time Tuesday...Sheet Magnets

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. You know I love sharing thoughts, ideas and great finds on Sew Many Ways. Sharing is pretty much the reason why I blog.

Well, today I want to share something with you that someone shared with me! 

At the end of March, I received an email from Dinah...a teacher in Indiana. She found a fabulous product in the hardware store that she uses in her classroom and wanted to share it with me. Dinah doesn't have a blog and has given me permission to share her tip with you!!

You know I love magnets and here is the best deal out there...

Vent Covers. Magnetic Vent Covers that is.

Magnetic vent covers are used to close off heating or a/c vents when you don't want the flow of air through that vent any more.

Vents are usually made of metal, so the magnetic sheets work great to seal it off.

What works great for me is that the magnetic sheets are BIG...8 inches x 15 inches and there are 3 of them in a package.

The BEST part is the package is about $4.50!!! You can find it in the heating section where they sell the air filters and vents.

See...3 big sheets just waiting for you to craft away.

The possibilities are endless with these sheets...sewing to hold you pins and needles, magnets for the refrigerator (Dinah used puzzles pieces glued to the magnetic sheets) and these would also work great to make magnetic games for kids in the car. They'll never lose the game pieces. Car bingo, matching games, checkers, tic tac toe etc. The best part is you can design and create the games yourself with your children.

Maybe you can add some of your ideas in the comments section too!!

Thank you so much, Dinah, for taking the time to email me with this wonderful idea...very much appreciated. Something from the hardware store turned crafty...Tool Time at it's best!!

Have a great Tuesday,
~Karen~

10:03 PM | 0 comments | Read More

Tool Time Tuesday...Sewing Soap Dish

Sewing Soap Dish...What?!? You know me, I'll find anything to transform into something else and this time it was in the bathroom section of the hardware store.

I think a better name for it is Armchair Sewing Table...

Here it is in it's original state. It's a soap dish that hooks onto the edge of a bath tub and holds your soap. I'm thinking armchair, but if you do any hand sewing in the tub...this will work great for that too, LOL!!

Here's my thought process...you need a few STRONG magnets...not the crafty ones. They sell strong ones in the hardware store too.

Put the magnets on the bottom of the soap dish. They stick on their own because teh dish is metal

I found some of the strong silver magnets too.

The magnets on the back of the metal dish make the top part magnetic to hold your pins and needles in place!

If that doesn't work for your soap dish, use my ever popular magnetic business cards. You know I use these a lot. Click HERE for other projects using these magnets

The magnetic business cards have a sticky side...

and a magnetic side.

Peel and stick it to the top of the soap dish.

Now it holds your pins and needles too.

Now onto more fun with this idea. These clips are name badge reels. They hold a name badge and they also pull out with a string like a tape measure.

I found these in the office supply section of Walmart...4 for $1.88.

Clip the reel to the handle of the soap dish.

Open up the name badge holder that has a snap closure and add your little scissors.

Now you can pull the reel to clip your threads, but never lose your scissors in the chair.

Ok, here's where the demise of this idea came for me :(

See that arm of the couch off to the left...that's where this adorable soap dish WAS going to fit. WAS is the operative word here. The couch is fairly new and I forgot that the little brown pillow is "attached" to the arm of the couch, so my little sewing helper doesn't fit here.

Works on the pillow though. I will find a place for this...seems like the armchairs in my house are a little too big.

Still wanted to share the idea though, just in case the soap dish, armchair sewing table, thinga ma bob might work for you.

It is great to have all your sewing needs in one place when you are doing your hand sewing and you'll never lose them in the couch!!

Happy Sewing,
~Karen~

9:01 PM | 0 comments | Read More

Tool Time Tuesday...Magnetic Business Card To Bookmark

Happy Tuesday everyone!! You all know Tuesday's projects can use just about anything from anywhere. Well, today is no exception. You know those magnetic business cards you receive in the mail or from businesses around your town...we're recycling those into this cute bookmark!!

All you need is...

• one square of fabric 5" x 5". Great for charm packs. You can also use left over jelly roll fabric
• one magnetic business card
• sewing machine

If you don't have any magnetic business cards, you can buy a box of them in office supply stores or online.

They are sticky on one side to attach your business cards to. We won't be using the stick feature today, but you could use it as a short cut with just ribbon and no sewing.

I'm cutting the magnet in half, but you could use 2 whole ones. Just adjust your fabric needs for that.

Cuts easily with scissors.

To start, fold the 5 inch square in half, right sides together.

Pin. Lay magnets on top just to make sure they fit on your fabric.

Make sure there is about 1/4 inch of space between the 2 magnets and enough seam allowance all the way around.

 Sew with 1/4 inch seam on the 3 sides, not the fold. Turn and pivot at the corners.

Leave opening big enough for magnets to fit.

Turn right side out.

Poke out corners.

Iron flat and then insert first magnet piece. Push to the top.

Add the second magnet. ****Make sure you have the magnets going in with the same side up so they attract to each other.****

Whip stitch or machine stitch the opening closed.

Fold in half and pin to find the center.

Push the magnets to either side to give you stitching room in the center.

Sew down the middle. Keeps each magnet on each side.

All Done!! Clip the magnet over the page. Grabs onto the other magnet through the paper.

Make sure you have the magnets facing the same way though!

Great little gift...

I know with the popularity of electronic books, bookmarks are becoming extinct (Lol), but this is perfect for...

• book club friends
• quilting bee friends for quilt book and magazines...make the fabric match a gift basket you give them with sewing goodies.
• people who love to cook...for their cookbooks
• great teacher's gift
• religious groups for bible study

I'm sure there are so many more great ideas to give this quick and easy project...

Happy sewing,
~Karen~

9:01 PM | 0 comments | Read More

Tool Time Tuesday...Magnetic Clamp Sewing/Kitchen Helper!

Welcome to Tool Time. You know I love the hardware store. I roam around just looking at things and think to myself...hmmm, what can I use this for (other than it's intended purpose).

Well, here's this week's tool that I won't be using for painting! It's a magnetic clamp for your paint can.

It clips to just about anything...

If you do use it for painting, it has this little metal thingy that gets under the lip of the paint can to pry it open.

Here is the original use. Clamps to your paint bucket and the magnet holds your paint brush.

The metal part of the brush sticks to the magnet.

Not using it for that here at Sew Many Ways though...

How about clamping it to your stitching patterns to hold your place in the book and the magnet holds your needles.

You can keep several needles threaded and stick them to the magnet.

How many times do you lose your spoon in cake or pancake batter? No more! Clamp it to a bowl and the spoon sticks to the magnet!

You won't being fishing for your spoon at the bottom of the bowl any more. This is made from plastic, so I wouldn't try this on a pan.

Back to sewing. If you have a small table or something next to where you do your hand sewing...use the clamp!

Holds your pins and needles perfectly...never search for them in the chair again!

Now here's the best! I sew a lot in the car on long trips. I've had 2 other tutorials for sewing helpers in the car, but this is the easiest to use.

Just clamp it to your air vent and never search for you needles again!

If you think I don't use my crazy creations, here is a picture of my car Monday morning on the way to work. That red note pad is a tutorial I made from a plastic gift card and a name badge clamp. Way down the end of the picture is the clamp for my sewing.

The clamp is found in the paint section and costs, I think, about $1 or so. Well worth it for a needle keeper.

Here are the links to some of the things I mentioned above...

Click here for the note pad clamp

Click here for the car caddy tutorial

Click here for a cup holder sewing organizer

Thanks so much for stopping by. If you haven't visited this week's Sew Darn Crafty Party, click here to join the fun...everyone shares such great projects. Maybe you can link up too!

Happy Tuesday,
~Karen~

9:01 PM | 0 comments | Read More