Felt screams cooler weather to me, so I can't wait to get my hands on a pair of brightly-colored felt threads and work some magic this fall. For now, I'll be keeping this project from The Purl Bee close by -- I can't wait to try it and have a feeling that even I can't screw this one up!

The following materials will make a set of six 11-inch x 17-inch place mats:

• Six 18-inch x 18-inch pieces of Ecru Wool Flannel (color of 91)
• Two Wool Felt Bundles. This tutorial uses the spring shades offered.
• OK-To-Wash-It Fabric Glue
• water soluble fabric marker

From there, you'll need to cut, weave and finish! The craft couldn't be easier and would make an excellent art project for your family. Why not let your children pick out their own felt colors to give everyone a personalized place setting? Better yet, with holidays coming up fast, consider gifting felt placemats to your favorite families.

Get to work!

Sometimes I just can't help myself. I see a gorgeous fabric beckoning me from the remnants table and there is no way I can leave it there. I also buy extra material when doing a sewing project, mostly in case I mess up, but for all of those "just in cases" that speak to me as I am over-buying.

The result is an abundance of fabric at my house, usually about a yard or so of each pattern. Do you share my plight? If so, never fear; there are fabulous projects that require a yard or less of fabric. So make sure you have matching thread and get that machine ready for action!

For the kitchen / entertaining

• Make a table runner. Here's an easy pattern you can follow if you have some material for backing and some fusible fleece or interfacing.
• Create a placemat set. There are instructions to make matching placemats for your table runner, and it becomes more economical to make both when buying the other supplies you will need.
• Fashion a set of cloth napkins. If you want to make them fancy, try this pattern for cloth napkins with a binding edge. They look very high-end.
• Sew pockets into a strip of material and make a caddy to take along silverware for picnics.
• This wine bottle cover uses just under a yard and makes a beautiful presentation of your gift of wine

My husband usually takes sandwiches to work for his lunch. I always cringe when I see how many plastic sandwich baggies we go through in a month, and have often wondered if there was a way to reduce or eliminate using them. The short answer is yes.

The Small Object has come up with an awesome way to make reusable sandwich wraps. The wraps are shaped like an octagon, so that it can be used to wrap odd shaped bread or wraps, and can also be used as a placemat. The wrap is made out of vinyl coated fabric for the interior and regular fabric for the exterior. Velcro closes the sandwich wrap.

This is a great way to use up some of that extra fabric you have laying around. The pattern and instructions are easy to follow, and in a short amount of time you can easily whip one up for each member of your sandwich eating family.

via: Craft

If you're looking for Hanukkah decorations that the children can help make, then these three projects are perfect for your family. All of the materials are inexpensive and you probably have most of them stashed away in your craft drawer already. Ashley Fletcher gives step by step instructions on how to make these three Hanukkah crafts that will add to your holiday decor:

1. Hanukkah place mats
2. Hanukkah stained glass window decoration
3. Star of David candle

You'll find instructions for all three projects here. Get the whole family involved, and decorate your home. Happy Hanukkah!

I enjoy magazines, even though there happens to be an abundance of them in my house. At last count, there were over 1500 magazines. While I am a clutter bug, they happen to be inventory, thank you very much. Maybe someday I'll get around to listing them for sale.

In the off chance that I don't get them up for sale, I think that recycling them into drink coasters is an excellent idea. I didn't find any instructions, so I followed all the links and found that you can make placemats, bowls, and magazine boxes too. A Little Hut has great instructions on how to make magazine bowls, and I believe you can use the author's instructions to make any item that you want to, and save the environment too. On the other hand, if you want to save those magazines, read Debra McDuffee's post on making magazine storage boxes.