Yo-yo!

It is hard to see in the photo, but I hot glued vintage buttons into the middle of each yo-yo.

I, like many of you, am a busy stay-at-home mom with limited time and often limited resources. I'll post a few easy little projects that only take an hour or so and can be done in stages. These project require mostly scrap sized pieces left over from other projects or charm packs which you can purchase at many quilting stores or online at fat quarter shop. Projects that start to finish take about two hours, preferably less, are my favorites. Most of my crafting occurs in two hour nap window, but I also like to get dinner started and scrub something before my little ones are up.

I discovered yo-yo making last November when my friend Sarri showed me an adorable Christmas garland she made for her banister. I immediately began a garland for Eliot's Christmas tree by simply hot gluing thirty of them to a strand of red ric rack. When dreary February hit, I was again inspired by a charm pack of 4 inch quilt squares which I transformed into another garland for my kitchen window. You do not need a sewing machine to make yo-yos and Sarri even commissioned her seven year old to make them too. I love to work on them while curled up on the couch drinking tea and making them helps me stay awake while watching a movie on the weekend.

I think for Fall Jolly it would be cute to do the Christmas yo-yos on ric rack and put them in a garland of greenery which can be obtained at Wal-mart or Michael's with possibly an added string of white lights. With the right fabric you could make a garland to adorn a nursery wall, a fall display, or Easter tree. Heather Bailey has an excellent tutorial which she has allowed me to post here for your convenience. There's really no end to the possibilities for yo-yo's. I have seen them attached to hair bands, used to adorn a child's dress, or if you're really ambitious sew them together to make a table runner or quilt.