Sewing Calendar, Part II

February 1st, 2010

So, it’s exactly February 1st, and I’ve still only made one thing from the calendar. I’m not surprised and you shouldn’t be either. I do have big plans though…I’ve happened upon something that I will be making just as soon as I find a food product that comes in a giant can that we’d be willing to consume quite a bit of…

Here’s a quick run down first of what I’ve chosen (consciously, of course – not for lack of time or motivation) to skip:

January 11: Owl egg cozy – cute, but not a priority

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January 14: Mini oven mitt – don’t need it

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January 18: Lunch bag with wristlet – won’t use it

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January 21: Pet bed – I like the boys’ beds and so do they

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January 25: Simple needle case – made a rad one already and will make another like it soon

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January 28: Tin Can Cover – this is my next project, as soon as I figure out what to get lots of cans of because I’ll be organizing some things with these if the first one goes well and I want em big.

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Yolli shoe freak out

January 31st, 2010

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So, I discovered Yolli Shoes, downtown. It’s been there for a while but I don’t get out much, so it’s new to me. I had a total freak out last week with Jen and bought these boots…

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I won’t tell you how much they cost. It’s embarrassing. Enough that I thought putting them on layaway would be the sensible thing to do. They were on layaway for approximately three hours. I couldn’t handle not taking them home with me that night. I did learn something from the experience though – I’m not a very good candidate for layaway.

Went back a week later and got this

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and these

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I’m on restriction from the store for at least 30 days…

Here’s a little something from yesterday. They got all dressed up for pictures…so many prints, so little time.

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Easy Valentine Button Bracelets

January 24th, 2010

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I made some easy Valentiney bracelets tonight. They are very cute and simple and only took about 15 minutes each. The first one is just a piece of red twill tape leftover from a Christmas package and some red vintage buttons (the card read 15 cents for ten!) from a garage sale (and some white embroidery floss).

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And the clasp is a little white pearl heart-shaped button. I just used an embroidery floss loop to close it.

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This one is white ric rac with pastel pink transparent buttons and five vintage pearly pink buttons with white embroidery floss.

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Same loop for the clasp.

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Hopefully they’ll hold up okay. I don’t plan to wear them a ton…

Also, here’s another button bracelet I made in pink for Erin’s birthday in December…kind of goes with the Valentine theme here.

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And finally, Olive had another bout with my mascara. This time the mascara didn’t make it and it actually looks like she got some on a few of her lashes.

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Happy Sunday!

How to make an easy giftwrap bow…

January 16th, 2010

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So, while wrapping holiday gifts, I experimented with a quick and easy bow out of gift wrap and thought I would share. Works great when all you have is wrap and no ribbon. I didn’t take a photo for each step because we were busy wrapping, so hopefully you will get the idea if you want to…

Take a rectangular scrap of wrapping paper and fold it in half so the fold is on the short length. Then cut every half inch or so up close to the fold.

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Then curl each strip with scissors.

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Should look similar to this when it’s all curled.

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Then fold the center portion a couple of times and use it to secure the bow to the package with tape.

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Voila!

Holidays in Review

January 14th, 2010

Thought I would post a quick holiday review…

Here are some Christmas morning highlights:

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The super girl capes I made for the girls…

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Nothing says ‘Christmas morning’ better than bed head…

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…and hot cocoa mustaches…

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and then there were the Flatsy Dolls…

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I’ll let the photos speak for themselves…yes, they really are flat (designed to carry around in your back pocket)

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The sweet little dollies Aunt Hayla made…

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Too much Christmas…

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Mona loves her bear, Ted.

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the following morning…

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Notice anything weird about the tree?

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How ’bout now?

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…hmmm… is anyone missing a baby?

New Year’s Eve on the water with good friends and a lovely view…

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Fun times (congrats Avi & Amber!)

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And finally,

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Look at the one on the left. If I had pink marker all over my neck and was missing a sock, I’d probably be exhausted too.

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Sewing Calendar, Part I

January 10th, 2010

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I’m super excited because I made my first quilt!

Actually, the first project from the calendar was quilted coasters and I made them, not because we’re a coaster using family, but because we’re not a coaster using family I guess (we didn’t have any coasters).

Now, we have four cute coasters and it was easy and sort of fun. Maybe we can practice using coasters in our house now so that when we’re somewhere that we need to use coasters, the girls will know just what to do (instead of wrapping their doll house people in them).

So, I only screwed up once – can you find the coaster that’s different? (I’m not including the fact that I sewed three of the four half inside out.) If I don’t sew part of a project backwards or inside out at least once, then it’s not me sewing. This was technically my first quilt block and on at least one of the four, my points sort of all met in the center like they were supposed to.

Anyway, I’m kind of thrilled because I finished the Jan. 1 project and it’s only Jan. 10! I looked ahead and the next few projects are not for me.

Jan. 4 – Yoga mat bag (I don’t own a yoga mat)
Jan. 7 – Backseat car organizer (my backseat’s already organized and I can’t afford to cover up the pockets on the backs of the front seats because that’s where the girls’ car blankets go. really.)

Which brings me exactly to tomorrow’s project, Jan. 11 – Owl egg cozy. Okay, I’m not convinced anyone needs an egg cozy, but this one’s cute and I guess I could gift it to someone who might need it…anyone need an owl egg cozy? we’ll see…

I’ll leave you with Olive vs. mascara, round 2

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Now ladies, I think we’ve all seen something like this looking back at us from the mirror, haven’t we? Seriously, how do I manage to jab myself right in the eye with that wand at least quarterly?

Happy Crafty New Year!

January 6th, 2010

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So, I’m back online for the New Year and am super excited for several reasons. First of all, apparently I whined and complained just enough about not having a real camera because, voila! I woke up to the greatest camera ever on my birthday! Two lenses even! (Thank you Dave – best birthday ever. Truly.) I’m still a little freaked out by it and it will most likely take the next two years or so to figure out how to use the whole thing, but so far it is taking severely great photos, even in my inexperienced hands. I’m pleased as punch.

Here’s a blurry photo (taken with the ol’ standby) of me and my new little baby on the big day.

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Also, one of my fabulous Christmas gifts was this day-to-day sewing calendar. Same’s the one I picked up for my sister-in-law to add to the rad bag that I made her for her birthday in December; however, I just couldn’t leave it alone and actually removed the cellophane from the pages so I could look at every. single. page. I really did. I made sure they were still in order and put it all back inside the little box it came in and then watched with jealous eyes as she opened it up a few days later. She had it approximately half way out of the bag when I shouted out my demand that she get me one asap. Of course, as always, she came through on Christmas. And, after a fairly lively argument, some hurt feelings, a misunderstanding, a minor silent treatment, and a few confusing texts, we are off and running with our new calendars!

Here’s the thing with the calendar though; I’m totally planning to make everything in it. Really. Sort of. I’m actually thinking of adding a category to the blog where I plan to post all the projects from it throughout the year. It’s actually not 365 projects, but more like one for every three to four days so it may actually be feasible.

Know this, though, if you’re a loved one, you’re highly likely to receive some type of unsolicited handmade gift as the calendar may ultimately produce too much stuff for just one household. A few disclaimers about my calendar sewing commitment for 2010:

1. If I don’t like the pattern, I’m not making it.
2. If I have no use for the item and don’t know anyone who does, I’m not making it.
3. Just because I’m making this commitment doesn’t mean I’m actually going to follow through.

Here are some photos of Hayla’s rad birthday bag and stuff, including a needle holder that I’m super proud of. Crocheted it; felted it; embellished the crap out of it…sort of…just enough… (okay, these photos are too big to post apparently – anyone know how to make them smaller???) got it

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My next post will have better photos. Promise.

Issues

December 12th, 2009

So, we’ve been having pc issues for the last few weeks. Virus or whatever. Since have stripped our laptop and are in the process of getting everything back in order with the help of family, friends, and coworkers. We’re not computer proteges, at least not me for sure. The whole cluster did result in one good thing that we’ve needed to do for a long time anyway, and that is getting an external hard drive.

Anyway, I still can’t upload blog photos, but soon…maybe days…I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

My holiday gift giving plans early this year were all about handmade (and gift cards where appropriate – I know not everyone is cut out to receive something handmade). Anyway, the goal at the time seemed very lofty, but surprisingly, the table in the back room is covered with gifts, may of which are in fact handmade by me. It’s only Dec. 12. I’m a little shocked. I’ll have photos soon.

November 1st and my new best friend

November 3rd, 2009

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Not bad for November 1st, huh? It was like low 60’s or something.

We went for a little hike/walk in the morning…

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Then, I finally chopped down the tomato plants. We simmered soup with a bunch of these.

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It was surprisingly good.

Now – because you’re probably dying to know – meet my new best friend:

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…no, that’s me. It’s that fabulous neck warmer I’m referring to.

So, about a year ago I made a baby hat with that super soft yarn and I had a very small amount left and I was traveling on airplanes and whatnot and I was out of projects to work on so I just crocheted up the last of it in the airport and it came out to a fairly small rectangle – like a quarter of a scarf or something. It would have made a perfect tube top for Carl…

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…but instead, I just put it in a drawer and proceeded with the rest of my year. Then, the other day I was pulling out some of my partially crocheted stuff and I ran across it again and because the yarn is so artificially soft, I just really wanted it to be something and ended up spending about 30 seconds connecting the two ends, slipped it over my head, and kind of fell in love.

Now, when I wear it I keep it on all day and it’s really part of my outfit and I’m so warm. It even looks good with some of my work clothes, which I had a heck of a time taking a photo in while hiding the logo on my top. It’s so much better than trying to wear a scarf all day at work. There are no hangy downy ends to get in the way. I wish I would have thought of it sooner…like last winter when my neck was cold.

I’ll leave you with two of my favorite photos of Olive sleeping. Yes, she is totally, completely, sound asleep in both of these photos.

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Button Bracelets

October 26th, 2009

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I made this back in August for a friend’s birthday present. I really liked it and it was easy and fast to make, so I made more…

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…and then I made a couple more…

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Seriously, these are really easy to do. I just used cotton to crochet a strip as long as my wrist (circumference, not length of wrist – how long is a wrist?) and made the last short row a loop for a “clasp”.

Then, I sewed on a bunch of buttons, which goes really fast because I just use one really long piece of embroidery floss for the entire bracelet worth of buttons. (This method is acceptable because the back of the bracelet gets covered up lastly by a strip of fabric.)

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I made sure to have a good sticky-uppy button on the opposite end for the other side of the “clasp”.

For stability, the back of each bracelet has a strip of fabric hand sewn on (which is the lamest part of making these, but still not that bad). I didn’t get a good picture of that; however, because my camera was made by fisher price. Also, I figured the biggest potential operational mishap with these would be getting them wet while washing hands and then ending up with a giant stretched out bracelet. No good. So, the stability strip works well to prevent that.

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I really hope the people I’m gifting these to like them as much as I do. I need to get some of those cool gift tags from Angry Chicken; the ones that say all the things I’m thinking when I gift stuff.

P.S. Olive just gave Carl a fingerless wet willy. Talk about cutting out the middle man. And she called Mona a “boob-head”. “______-head” name calling is truly timeless.