"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."...Here comes Valentine's Day!

I can't believe it's almost February. It's time to show the special people in your life you love & appreciate them. Hopefully you're doing this everyday, but on this day maybe take it one step further. Here are a few cute ideas...







Love the hearts on the elbows. So sweet, yet effective. I can think of a few other places your honey may like to see those hearts, but I will leave that to your imagination. All I have to say is even a non sewer can cut and paste!

I just stumbled across this website, Design Finch. What a great resource for making your own Valentine cards. 

The Oj and the gold fish are just too darn cute. Who wouldn't love to get these as Valentines?

Check out our Valentine fabrics, felts, trims, and rhinestone hearts. Perfect for Valentine's day. Whether you want to get crafty with your kids or spice it up for your honey, we have the perfect items for you to make it a special day.

Felt...

I have been coming across so many great felt projects online. I just wanted to share a few of them with you. Also,  since we have felt on sale all week ,I thought it might entice you to buy some. Wink, wink!

This site called Craftsy has lots of great felt ideas. Form cute felt houses to tree garland, and lots in-between. 

Family Circle has an easy stocking template. Something like this would be great to update the mantle, but also an easy craft for all the kids to make at your next holiday party. You could Pre-cut out the stocking and they can decorate it. Now that is a party favor I would like to go home with. mI love the untraditional color selection. I am so into turquoise, greens, and reds right now.



Of course we can't forget Martha. When in need of a craft she is always there to lend a helping hand. I have to say sometimes they get a bit complicated for me, but here are a few that are darling and may not take up your entire day.

      

     

      

      

The felt bag is one that I am really drawn to. I use recyclable totes all the time. Again this would make a great gift. If you had extra time maybe adding the recipients initials would be a nice touch.

Here is the video for the tree wine covers. These really make an ordinary hostess gift much more personal.

Of course, since I have little ones, I love the monster mittens and the Tooth Bear. They are so cute & would make you the hit among all the moms! I think my five year old may have to get the tooth bear this year. So vintage looking!

All the above crafts can be found at Marthastewart.com. They all have directions and pictures to help you make some great felt crafts this winter.

I don't want to leave out Hanukkah, so here are a few crafts that are fun.

 



The 8 nights of Hanukkah Countdown Calendar is from Land of Nod. I love this idea. Kids love anything that counts down and contains some sort of goodie! Again, while this one is great, it would be a nice tradition to make one with your kids.

I love every year when we pull the holiday boxes out, which we have lots, since we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, and my kids, my husband, and myself, gravitate to items that have special meaning to each of us.  It may be the menorah I painted when my husband and I were dating, or the box that my mom put my most special gift in each year, or the ornaments that they made in school when they were little. Whatever it is we always enjoy a few moments talking about those special people or those special times.  They always want to hear the stories behind these personal treasures. I love that. That is really what the holidays are about. Spending time together, cherishing each other, and remember family who can't be with you anymore.

Hopefully one of these crafts will help you make a special memory with your family this year.

A day in the life... from arrival to departure at Michael Levine

Ever wonder what it's like to be a roll of cloth at Michael Levine's? Well here's a behind the scenes view of our operations!
Nearly every day, shipments of new fabrics arrive by truckloads at our warehouse, located right next door to the main store.


New items are unloaded and checked in by warehouse staff:


Some fabrics, as shown above, arrive on a double-fold board. But others, shown below, need to be converted by warehouse staff from large heavy rolls to a more easily-handled, double fold board.


The fabrics are then stickered with prices and other unique information used to track inventory and costs.


Some fabrics are then moved on carts to one of three floors of our expansive warehouse, and down a specific aisle, to a specific shelf.
Fabrics are organized by the category and department of our store to which they belong, and then further organized and stacked by color and price.
The warehouse is a great place to visit when a customer can't find what they need in store, or if they need a larger quantity than what's on display. One of our staff will certainly be happy to bring you here if need be!


New fabrics that have not been previously stocked will await a different cart ride, which will take them over to our main store or home decoration store.  There, they will make their debut as new items:


Upon arrival at our stores, one of our floor clerks will take the new materials to the appropriate shelf, making sure that price labels are attached and that the rolls are not too heavy to handle. The fabrics are now available for sale!


The last step before a material becomes a project is when it gets cut. Yardage is measured and cut at one of five tables and written up on a ticket for sale. This is where customers interact with our friendly staff and exchange ideas and sewing tips with one another.
We hope that next time you visit our stores or website, www.LowPriceFabric.com, you'll take a closer look and enjoy knowing what goes into the daily operations of Michael Levine! Oh...and if you're wondering what happens to those last little end pieces when we finish a roll of fabric, be sure to read the next blog entry about our discounted remnant shop, the Loft!