CraftyErin

a UFO complete!

2012-01-21T19:17:00.001-06:00

Summer 2010, when my kids were two and three, we made adorable handprint American flag tank tops to wear. I didn't want to get rid of them when that summer was over, so I tossed them in my to-sew stack with the intent to make something out of them. Tonight, in my on-going project to turn the guest room into a den/school room, I was cleaning out my sewing cabinet and came across them. I decided it was as good a time as any, and whipped out a throw pillow. It'll live on my long bench in the entry way during 4th of July time. It's going to be SO cute!!

I cut out the flags, ironed some stabilizer on the backs of them, and then stitched them onto some red twill I had in my stash. I made it into a pillow shape, and now it just awaits me buying another bag of polyfill to stuff it and finish it up. Maybe I'll remember to do that between now and July.

purple yarn

2012-01-21T08:12:00.004-06:00

I took two skeins of light grey wool yarn that had been in my bins, unloved, for who knows how long (years?) and dyed them with purple (grape) kool aid! Super fun! I used the same method described here (the one with the blues and the crock pot about 3/4 of the way down the page). My results were less dramatic than hers, I think due to the fact that that I started with a gray base and not a white/natural base and that grape kool aid is not as dramatic as blue Wilton's dye. I got a nice semi-solid, though, and I really like it! Much better than the boring gray at any rate.

dress ups

2012-01-08T16:36:00.000-06:00

Before: small, plain, sturdy bookshelf that my husband brought into the marriage. It has been housing various things in the guest room, but nothing that couldn't be relatively easily re-homed. Two shelves had already been removed before I remembered to take before pictures.

Before: dress up storage. Overflowing. Yikes.

After! Ta-da!

Command hooks to the rescue (gosh, I love those things!). I left one shelf, moved it down, and put two smaller bins below. I currently have clothing dress ups hanging, with hats and accessories in the bins. Capes are on the outside, since they're too long for the hanging space inside (plus they get used DAILY). I want to get a couple more hooks for the outside and move the purses and necklaces onto those and out of the accessory bins.

Dress up is the thing around here, so hopefully this keeps ups better organized, makes the costumes more accessible, and fuels the FUN!

lego (duplo) table!

2012-01-02T08:19:00.000-06:00

Thanks to pinterest, I found a new use for my ugly old Ikea coffee table. Pinterest is littered with Ikea Lack end tables turned lego tables, but I had a Lack coffee table, which is bigger, and frankly better, since I have three preschoolers who will need to play here happily (ha!) together. My favorite of the DIY lego tables that I browsed was Jill's from Meet the Dubiens. I pretty much knocked it off. And I love it!

Before, uninspiring $20 coffee table, well used.

Since I was using 2 plates, I attached them together with a big block, to make sure they were aligned correctly. I centered them on my table, and put some tape around the edge so I'd know where to put it back down after I applied glue. Not a very scientific process, but it seemed to work pretty well. I gorilla glued those puppies down, and removed the blue tape. I left it overnight, weighted down with some books.

This morning I added the road (address labels cut with my rotary cutter), and the blocks. They got the Winnie the Pooh set and the school set for Christmas. They also have a Thomas set and a Toy Story set that we can add in when we want to change it up. I grabbed a couple of bins at Target to hold blocks on the shelf underneath.

LOVE!

Christmas crafting

2012-01-01T18:40:00.002-06:00

I crafted Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews this year (and for my mom, but I think I forgot to take pictures of that one!).

A doorway puppet theater (with Ikea farm animal puppets) for the older three

and a hat for my favorite baby, Annie

tutorial for the puppet theater and farm animals can be found here:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/09/14/doorway-puppet-theater/
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40213189/

scarf

2011-12-17T19:56:00.003-06:00

I just noticed that I never blogged my scarf! This was my first ever real object done entirely in knit. I'm still a new knitter, still mostly a crocheter, but I'm learning and getting better. This scarf was for ME, which is just really rare. I never craft for myself. I absolutely love it. Great pattern. Great yarn. Happy scarf.

December

2011-12-17T19:32:00.003-06:00

I have been doing a little bit of Christmas crafting plus a handful of other small projects. I can't blog the Christmas crafts since I don't want to spoil surprises, but here are the other recent FOs.

I do apologize for photo quality on this post. I wanted to get this written, but waited until daylight ran out for pictures, so you're getting indoor shots which are terrible on my camera.

First, felted crocheted slippers. They're really cute, but really just a bit too big. Anyone need any size 9-10 slippers?

Second, a pair of bottle proppers for a friend with newbie twins. I know, I know, never prop a bottle (or encourage your friends to), but unless you've had a toddler plus newborn twins, you just have NO idea. Don't hate.

Third, a knit and crocheted (both skills used in this pattern!) head wrap for a friend who asked really, really nicely. It's not yellow. It's a creamy off white. Bad photo.

And fourth, another mei tai. Long funny story on this one. I gave away my favorite homemade mei tai that I used with my kids when they got too big to want me to wear them. I have regretted that. It was the only homemade carrier that I used and loved. My other beloved carriers were purchased (Ergo, Moby, Beco, ring sling), but this one was special, one of a kind. So, I asked for it back. LOL I asked my friend if she'd give mine back if I made her a replacement. She was kind enough to agree, and this is her replacement. My old one is now in my keepsake box, where it will stay. The color is off on this, too. It's lime green with white leaves.

manger

2011-11-27T08:32:00.003-06:00

I read this idea a few years ago and thought I'd like to try it when my kids were old enough. I think we've reached it, at 3 and 4 years old, so this year was time to make a manger. I had been making plans that involved cutting up yard sticks for construction, which would have been super cute. But then I was in the shed and noticed the leftover swing set parts. Perfect! Our swing set was supposed to have a small picnic table built underneath it, but I have plans to put a sand box there instead, so I have leftover boards. Here was my pile to work from. You can see the beginning plans starting to form as I played with different combinations. My goal was to do as little sawing as possible.

And it worked! No sawing whatsoever. Boards in their full lengths, wood glue, plus screws=manger!

The goal is to have the kids put "hay" (yellow yarn) in it each day as we prepare for the birth of Jesus. The inspiration post (linked above) suggested having kids put hay in when they did something kind, etc. I don't think we'll do that. We'll let each kid put a piece of hay in every day. I don't like tying "being good" to Christmas (same reason we don't do Elf on the Shelf). Jesus didn't come because we were good boys and girls.

I'm so excited about it! It looks so sweet beside the tree. I'm pretty darn proud of my construction skills, too. ;)

mei tai for a friend

2011-11-22T17:12:00.002-06:00

My favorite DIY carrier back when my babies were babywearing age was a mei tai that I made from the Ball Baby pattern. Super easy to sew, super comfortable to wear. I thoroughly enjoyed making this one today. It's for my friend Becca. Hope she likes it!

In case you've never seen a mei tai and don't know what it does, here is a good how-to. The pattern I used is a little different than a Kozy, but same concept, and same usage applies.

milk crates in Expedit

2011-11-20T15:35:00.004-06:00

When we got our Ikea Expedit for the playroom, I couldn't decide what sort of bins or baskets I wanted to put in it for toys. I landed on milk crates! Mine are from The Container Store, but I think any standard sized milk crate should fit in the Expedit cubes nicely. I love the cheerful look the bright colors give to the playroom.

renovation station!

2011-11-11T19:40:00.000-06:00

I can't take credit for any of this "crafting" since we paid someone else to do it, but I'm so pleased, that I had to blog about it anyway.

First, the MUD ROOM!!

before:

after:

and loaded:

I super duper love it!! I have cubbies at the top to hide whatever I want to (currently empty--still deciding). The baskets on the left hold hats, gloves, and SOCKS. I hate having to send kids to two rooms to get socks and shoes. Socks should live with shoes!

The other three projects were much smaller--some upper cabinets in the laundry room, a repaint in Jono's room, and a new pair of shutters for the front window.

acorn fairies!

2011-11-10T09:26:00.012-06:00

Saw this in my morning blog reading and thought it'd be fun on this chilly fall morning. Ours aren't as polished as hers, but they were fun!

the whole collection:

and the process:

superhero capes!

2011-11-07T20:13:00.002-06:00

I made my three super kids some capes! I used this tutorial, with one small change. I used youth size XL tshirts instead of the suggested "ginormous" tshirt. That way, the neck was not too big, so I just left it intact for pulling off and on. So easy--just cut from the back of a tshirt a cape shape, and decorate as you please. The kids love them!

the Wallace jazz trio

2011-10-15T13:31:00.002-05:00

My son asked to be a jazz trumpet player for Halloween. Knowing that it would create a riot for one of them to get a toy instrument and not all three, and since the other two had not expressed strong costume preferences, we're making it a trio!
I made Hazel's little flapper dress with this tutorial. It was super easy, and I LOVE it!! She likes it too, since it's sparkly and purple. I mean, what's not to like about that when you're three years old?!

The boys have shirts with faux (appliqued) neck ties, and they'll wear black pants. I've been trying to talk myself out of getting them these hats at The Children's Place, to avoid spending more money on these costumes, but I'm pretty sure they need them. :p

The only decision left (besides the yes/no on hats for the boys) is what sort of hair accessory to do for Hazel. I waver between a flapper-ish headband with a feather or crocheting a flapper beanie. Thoughts?

whoooo!

2011-10-06T15:21:00.003-05:00

Hazel's hat is finished! She chose the color scheme, and honestly, I'm not a huge fan. The pattern is adorable, though. I used this one, but changed the ears to pom poms. I did the ears the pattern called for at first and thought the owl looked too serious. He needed some levity!

She likes it!

spiky dino

2011-10-03T08:50:00.003-05:00

Charlie's winter hat is finished!

Here he is, modeling it as he watches Jono play Angry Birds with Grammy. I found out, after I finished it, that it looks eerily like a character from Yo Gabba Gabba, a preschool show we have never watched. Oh well, I just intended to make a striped dinosaur.

I used this pattern, which worked up beautifully. I made the 3-10 year old size, and it's a little big, but that's perfectly fine with me, since he can wear it for several years.

Thanks for looking!

NICU hats 2011

2011-09-25T15:15:00.002-05:00

Here they are!

I almost punted the tradition this year because of the move, but decided about a week ago that I didn't want to, and kicked it into high gear to finish. For those of you who don't know, I crochet 12 preemie hats for NICU every year in honor of the 12 days my kids spent in NICU (10 for Hazel, 2 for Jono). In the past, Hazel and I have taken the hats to her NICU at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, on the anniversary of her discharge and coming home (June 22). This year we are late because of the move, and need to find a new NICU! I assume NOLA has one, so I just need to look it up.

This year's patterns included some newsboy caps,

some football beanies,

some butterfly beanies (my current favorite hat to whip for girls--so easy and adorable!)

and some bear beanies, because every baby looks cute with bear ears. ;)

Thanks for looking!

ABC bean bags

2011-09-22T13:49:00.001-05:00

I participated in a swap for 5" "I-spy" fabric squares right before we moved. Yesterday, I got around to doing something with those squares. Bean bags!

Each bean bag has a picture on it from a different letter of the alphabet. The majority of them have a different picture from the same letter on the back. Like, the Ants have Airplanes on the reverse, and Karate has Kangaroos. I just chose my favorite side for the picture. Easy peasy project--the squares were already cut, so I just serged three sides, filled with lentils and then serged them closed. The kids have been having fun with them. They like to toss them around, of course, but they also like discovering the different pictures, and (sometimes) telling me what letter they go with.

arts & crafts storage

2011-09-12T13:21:00.002-05:00

I had been wanting to give my kids access to a greater variety of art supplies. I had been keeping everything but crayons in a "no kids allowed" cabinet, requiring them to ask permission. I thought they were mature enough to handle access to more, though, so we're trying this. I put a small cafe curtain rod and hung some tin pails from the Target $1 Spot.

They hold watercolors, markers, scissors, glue sticks, and colored pencils. I want to get something smaller for crayons than the yellow tote since it's only half full. We need as much table space as week can get with three little occupants.

Hopefully by the time Halloween is over and my little tin pails from Target become out of season, I can convince someone who lives near an Ikea to pick me up some of these.

weekend crafting

2011-09-05T19:45:00.002-05:00

I did some decorating work in the master over the long weekend and Tropical Storm Lee-enforced indoor hours. I finally sewed the pillowcases for my bed with the fabric I bought forever ago. And I did my first pinterest inspired project--Mr & Mrs letters for above the bed. I started with the big gold letters from Hobby Lobby and spray painted them. Turns out the cream is a little too similar to my wall color, which is apparently not as dark as I thought it was when I chose paint colors. Good enough, though. I'm not repainting them.

hair accessories

2011-08-27T19:16:00.001-05:00

This was so simple that it hardly counts as a project, but it solves a problem in my house, so I thought I'd share. Hazel has tons of hair hairbands, clippies, bows, headbands, etc. They had been living in a drawer in the kids' bathroom, but it was really really full and difficult to dig through to find what you were looking for. I wanted to keep her hair stuff in her bedroom. She used to have one of those bow holders with the ribbons to clip the bows to, but it didn't work well with her hair accessory collection, since she has more rubber bands and headbands than she does bows with clips. This was my solution:

I took an empty container (that used to hold dishwasher detergent tabs) and mod podged some scrapbook paper to the outside. I added some felt stars for interest. I think putting her in red, right under the lip of the container to the left of the star would be cute, too. I dumped in her hair accessory collection and it can live on top of her dresser in her room. The yellow and red coordinate well in there, and the pattern is not too girly for a room she shares with her brother. Win-win!

Headbands and necklaces were intended to live on the exterior of the container, but it's pretty wide, and I'm afraid headbands might get too stretched out on there. I'll probably just throw them inside, too. There's plenty of room.

Thanks for looking!

wedding shadowbox

2011-08-07T17:56:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to do this forever, and finally got around to it. I put my wedding momentos (invitation, program, favor, candy, and a few photos) in a shadow box. It's hard to take a picture of a shadow box, so I gave you both the with flash and without versions.

I really, really, really wanted to make the entire background of the shadowbox a single layer of jelly beans and then to mount my photos, etc on top of that. But I couldnt' figure out how to make that work. This was my compromise, and I think it'll be ok. Glue is still drying, so it's not on the wall yet, but it's headed to the master bedroom in the next few days.

dolly carseat

2011-08-04T20:54:00.001-05:00

I bought Hazel a dolly car seat at a kids' consignment shop in Sugar Land and promised myself that I would recover it on the other side of the move. The cover it had was old, stained, and sad. The little car seat came up in toy rotation this week, so I got to work making it cute again.

This was a quick and easy project. I took my seam ripper to the old cover so that I could use the pieces as a pattern. I used fusible fleece on the back of the cotton print for some padding. Otherwise, it was just sew parts together, run elastic where the original had elastic, finish with bias tape, and add a harness. Super simple. I tried to figure out how to make it a 5pt harness, but failed. Nan (my Cabbage Patch Kid from childhood) would certainly be safer in a 5 pt harness, but given that she can't suffer internal injuries, I'll try not to worry.

I can't wait to show Hazel when she wakes up in the morning!

One more note: I only endorse recovering dolly car seats. It makes me cringe when people make new covers for their own infant's seats. Not safe, people, not safe! Please only use covers and accessories made for your child's car seat by the manufacturer. Anything else could change the seat's performance in the event of an accident.

2011-07-21T09:09:00.003-05:00

Even better with a throw pillow and back in the babies' room! I forgot to mention in my last post that I used this tutorial to make the skirt. Easy to follow, and relatively easy to execute. Still can't decide if the skirt is an inch too long. Should I shorten it?

skirt

2011-07-19T20:38:00.005-05:00

My husband has a hand-me-down rocking chair that was his grandmother's (?), and frankly, it's not attractive. It's got a nice shape, and it could be cute, with a full scale refinish and reupholster, but I'm simply not up for such tasks. I decided this week to slipcover it, and failed at the full slip attempt. I downgraded to a skirt for the seat, and I have to admit that it turned out quite cute! It's certainly a TON better than the nasty stained and faded turquoise corduroy seat of old.

before:

after:

The rocking chair skirt was re-fashioned from the white slipcover that I bought dirt cheap on uglysofa.com for my living room. I didn't like stark white in my living room and replaced it with an identical dirt cheap but off-white version. The one that became the skirt looked like this one, except it was couch sized, not love seat sized. The love seat lives in my bedroom.

Woo hoo for being able to recycle a slipcover that the potty trainers got to before I could return it!

I do still plan to have the rocking chair refinished and reupholstered in the near future. But at least I won't have to cringe at that nasty seat fabric every time I walk past it until then.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2011-07-17T17:45:00.002-05:00

We love Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar in this house, and I thought the bright primary colors in the book would make an excellent choice for a shared room for my three year old boy/girl twins. With a little bit of help from my sewing machine, and a lot of help from Target and Ikea, I proudly present Hazel and Charlie's new room!

"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf."

"One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and--pop!--out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar."

General info: the leaf, sun, red chairs, and red L-shaped shelf came from Ikea. The red and blue solid quilts, the yellow sheets, and the lime green black-out panels came from Target. I made the valance and the pillowcases, along with the "art" from the hungry caterpillar line of fabric, purchased from fabric.com. I love the rain gutter bookshelves. We had one in the old dining room playroom when they were baby-babies and I've wanted another one ever since. I think all it needs now is a cute plush caterpillar to throw in that rocking chair. Maybe a crocheted one like this would fit the bill (photo from pattern on Ravelry).

first craft in the new house!

2011-06-29T17:24:00.001-05:00

You may have noticed a lack of crafting the past 3 months. We moved! Turns out getting and keeping a house ready to show, packing, and moving is not a set of circumstances conducive to crafting. We are slowly getting settled into our new house in the NOLA suburbs, and I expect a lot more craft projects will be gracing these pages in the days to come.

The first craft project in the new house was this little paint chip garland for Fourth of July. I saw it here this morning, and had to do it. Adorable!

paint complete!

2011-03-20T17:17:00.000-05:00

I am SO pleased with how the dollhouse looks painted! Interior and exterior are finished, awaiting window molding, decor, and furniture.

bedding fix

2011-03-17T19:48:00.005-05:00

Some of you may remember that I posted on Facebook asking for ideas on a bedding fix. My bedding problems were manifold. First, my bed really needs a fun, funky quilt. Like this. See? Drool, right? Someday. When I have time. Now is not the time to tackle such projects. Second, because the bed-making fairy is on strike at our house, shams and throw pillows had taken up permanent residence on the floor. They were no longer pretty things for they bed. They were clutter. I needed a solution that would both rid me of the sham clutter and help me live with the dull red quilt until I have the time and energy to tackle a project like a monstrous king-sized quilt. Wouldn't you know that I found the answer on my favorite crafty blog, Prudent Baby? Turns out Jacinda feels the same way about pillow clutter. She solved the problem with sleep-on-able shams. Brilliant. So that was the plan.

BUT...

I didn't order enough fabric. Darn, darn, big darn.

The concept was still a good one, though. Make three pillow cases from a fun fabric that livens up the red quilt, throw them up there, sleep on them, make the bed or don't make it. No matter. No pillow clutter will reside in the floor.

I'll spare you the list of problems that plagued this project. Ordering too little fabric was only the beginning. Suffice it to say that there was a headache lurking around every corner, and I'm just grateful it all turned out OK in the end.

Would my bed look more pulled together if I stood the pillows up with a trio of euro shams behind them? Sure. But only if I was willing to make the bed every day. Which I'm not. I have a feeling this is going to work out great for me!

the mother of invention

2011-03-16T13:51:00.003-05:00

My friend Morgan had a toddler break through a door for the first time today and asked if I could make her a crocheted door knob cover. I can, but not quickly enough to solve her problems today. When my friend Christina, who was also involved in this conversation, suggested a sock and duct tape (which would probably also work beautifully), I had this idea for a stop-gap measure. It's not pretty, but I think it has the potential to work just as well as my beloved crocheted covers. Ready to try?

Grab a men's athletic sock--the newer and thicker, the better. Cut about 3" off the toe. Take a needle and thread (double the thread for strength) and sew a long running stitch along the raw edge. I sewed my row about 1/4" away from the edge. If I were making another, I'd move in a little more, to 1/2" or 3/4" away from the edge. Cut the needle off leaving two long tails of thread at each end of your row of stitches.

Using the thread ends, tie the sock onto the doorknob. Tie it tightly enough so that it can't be pulled off, but not so tightly that it won't turn.

Trim your ends, and voila! This works on the same principle as the crocheted cover. The sock will slide on the doorknob, and little hands won't have the strength to squeeze it and get enough traction to turn the knob. How cheap and easy is that?!

If you try it, you'll have to let me know how it works.

dollhouse update, paint!

2011-03-12T12:17:00.006-06:00

I've got one coat of paint on the dollhouse! Unfortunately, everything could use another, so the painting stage is far from over. You can get a good idea of how it will look, though.

It pretty much looks like a pastel rainbow attacked the house, but I think it will look very little girl (and very cute!) when it's all said and done. I have some seriously adorable decor plans up my sleeve that I cannot WAIT to get started on.

keepsake

2011-03-11T21:04:00.006-06:00

I was going through outgrown kid clothes today and was feeling nostalgic about this little sweatshirt.

My mom bought it for Jono the winter that he was 18ish months old. He was able to wear it that year and then again the next winter when he was 2.5 (I swear all of that boy's growth has been in his LEGS since he was 9 months old!). Charlie wore it this past winter. No one in my house will fit into it next year. Cue the mama tears. After some nostalgic-ness, I almost tossed it into the hand-me-down pile for my nephew Sam, but decided to do something fun with it instead.

Ten minutes with my sewing machine later, I had turned it into a small football-shaped pillow. Adorable!

How it was constructed, for those of you who care:

I turned it inside out and drew a football-ish shape around the applique with an inch of shirt as border. I sewed on my line, leaving turning/stuffing space, cut off the excess shirt, stuffed, and hand closed with needle and thread.

If you asked me, I would tell you that I'm not very sentimental, and that I am perfectly OK with my babies growing up and not being babies anymore. But I would be lying.

dollhouse reno update

2011-03-01T08:32:00.001-06:00

The dollhouse is sanded and scrubbed, and recently got its hardwood floors refinished!
Next on the list? Priming the interior and exterior for painting!!

2011-02-27T18:07:00.002-06:00

We have a little friend turning three next week. This Princess and the Pea playset is her gift from us.

I am thrilled with how it came out. My favorite parts:
1. The bed is a recycled clementine (orange) crate! Recycling is always a bonus.
2. Her party is rainbow themed, so the mattresses are on-theme!
3. I didn't buy a shred of fabric or batting--all came from my stash.
4. I got to practice with my serger.

I printed this adorable little Princess and the Pea story booklet to include with the gift. It's a really cute telling of the story! I also plan to crochet this pea in the pod set. One small pea is too much a choking hazard with the 14 month old brother of our little gift recipient, otherwise I'd just throw a green bead in there.

I hope our little friend enjoys giving her dollies and stuffies turns sleeping on the bed and discovers that many of them are princesses in disguise. :D

last post on Jono's room, I promise

2011-02-25T17:31:00.001-06:00

I had to show off the new art on the wall. I think it's so cute with his "roads" quilt, and I love the yellow. I think it was Dana, on the Made blog, that said she thought yellow should be utilized more in little boy's rooms, and I couldn't agree more. I'd been thinking about how to put some yellow in that primary colored room of his, and this was the perfect chance!
I also ordered this vinyl wall decal on Etsy. It's adorable, but I'm not very happy with how it installed. My laundry room vinyl just melted onto the wall and looks like I painted it on. It's so secure and happy. This decal looks like it desperately wants to jump back off. I'm not sure what the difference is. I did order it from a different shop, so maybe she used cheap vinyl? Dunno. At least it looks cute in the photo, since you can't see the peely edges like you can in real life.

And finally, on his dresser, in case you're one of the few people who haven't heard me sing its praises, is my FAVORITE toddler product EVER. No kidding. I have a stoplight clock in both kids' rooms and it is seriously brilliant. We set the "alarm" at bedtime, and the red light goes on. They stay in their rooms until the green light comes on in the morning (7:05 am in our house). No early wake ups for us! This thing seriously rocks. Amazon. Check it out.

vroom!

2011-02-25T14:41:00.001-06:00

new art for Jono's racecar room!

Painted the canvas yellow and then used the little to paint tracks in primary colors. Then for fun, hot glued the car to the canvas. Anyone want to place bets on how long he leaves that car on there? I'm thinking not long.

my neighbor Totoro

2011-02-20T18:36:00.001-06:00

a friend's little one is turning 2 this week and is obsessed with Totoro from the movie My Neighbor Totoro. It's hard to find licensed merchandise for Japanese children's films, but Etsy and the crochet hook were able to come to the rescue. Happy Birthday, Avery!

Totoro came out super cute, if I do say so myself, but I was reminded during the process why I intensely dislike working up amigurumi crochet patterns. All that single crochet. All that sewing all the little parts together. Ew! I think I'll stick to hats worked in double and half double for a while until I recover.

2011-02-13T16:49:00.004-06:00

My mom made these adorable snowmen stockings for David and me before we had kids.

I bought some felt stockings with simple snowflake embroidery for the kiddos two years ago, and decided this past Christmas that I needed to add coordinating snowmen to theirs. I made them similar to mom's but with different hats, mouths, and with scarves instead of buttons.

My kids have been color coded since the start of sippy cups and toothbrushes. It's easier to always make one kid's stuff the same color instead of labeling everything. Since I didn't have room for names on their stockings, I color coded their snowmen's hats and scarves for identification. Jono is blue, Charlie is green, and Hazel, pink (of course).

My snowmen are not nearly as polished as mom's are. The workmanship is FAR more variable (note Hazel's too-big bug eyes, and Jono's scowly mouth), but I like them! I think they're cute!

I ordered my felt from this Etsy shop. The sweet, sweet lady who runs it was wonderful in helping me select "happy colors" for my green, blue, and pink. I placed an order for those three colors, plus my black and cream, but forgot to order orange for their noses. A few weeks later I sent her a note on Etsy and asked how small a piece of orange she'd be willing to sell me (I didn't need her usual 8x10" square of it!) and she said, "Don't worry about it!" and dropped a 4x4 square in mail free of charge. SO SWEET! If you ever need felt, I highly recommend working with her.

2011-02-09T16:07:00.001-06:00

I decided I needed A. some serger practice and B. something fun for the kids to give their teachers for Valentine's Day. In about 30 minutes I made 15 of these little reusable sandwich and snack bags. 5 teachers x 3 bags each, made from stash fabric. I think I'll get some Hershey's hugs and kisses to put inside them. ;-)

The tutorial can be found here on Angry Chicken. Serger not required, but faster!

Jono's room

2011-02-05T16:49:00.001-06:00

Jono's room was done in lime green and blue guitars, which I loved, but with the acquisition of his race car bed and the quilt from Grandma (which looks like it was made for the race car bed, was wasn't--talk about a PERFECT match!), his room had morphed into primary colors and needed something new on the window.

The problem with window treatments and Jonathan's room, however, is that he has been known to hang from curtains like a monkey, tearing the entire curtain rod down, and leaving gaping holes in the sheet rock. Sigh. Little boys.

So, the criteria for his new window treatment was simple--something that was not easily reachable and that was unable to be harmed or to harm him, should he manage to get hold of it and pull it down. I found this tutorial for a cornice board made from foam core poster board instead of plywood. Lightweight, cheap to replace if need be, adds a splash of color without much work. Perfect.

Love the racing flags fabric. It works so well with the theme!

2011-02-03T12:16:00.000-06:00

baby shower gift for Mr. Levi Dammel!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-01-24T07:07:00.001-06:00

I finished my Valentine's decor this weekend. I love it! Super simple, inspired by this blog and a throw pillow I saw in Better Homes and Gardens magazine this month.

"This one is my favorite, Mommy."

even the back of the bunting is pretty!

I still have tons of leftover fabric, so I'm sure you'll be seeing some more of these adorable prints popping up in future projects.

toddler proof door knob cover

2011-01-19T14:32:00.005-06:00

I'm sharing my most useful crochet pattern today! If you have been to my house, you've seen our yarny doorknob covers. We much prefer them to the plastic ones you can buy in the baby safety section of BabiesRUs, Target, etc. I practically guarantee that no child under the age of three will be able to defeat these. If your kiddo is older than that, it depends on your child's ingenuity. My tall, strong, destructive 3.5 year old is helpless against the crocheted doorknob cover. He can crack the plastic ones off doors in no time flat. Try it!
supplies needed:
small amount of worsted weight yarn (I usually grab some random acrylic from my stash)
size H crochet hook
yarn needle
scissors

row 1: ch3, 12 dc in 3rd chain from hook, join with sl st in first dc, ch 2, turn (12 stitches)
row 2: 2 dc in each stitch around, join, ch 2, turn (24 stitches)
row 3: *2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in second stitch* repeat *to* around, join, ch 2, turn (36 stitches)
rows 4-5: 1 dc in each stitch around, join, ch 2, turn (36 stitches)
row 6: decrease to 18 stitches by dc2tog all the way around , join, ch 2, turn (18 stitches)
row 7-8: 1 dc in each stitch around, join, fasten off yarn, weave in ends. (18 stitches)

cut a length of yarn about 12 inches long and weave it in and out through the stitches of row 7. stick it on a doorknob and tie a TIGHT knot in the length of yarn. trim yarn ends, and voila!

Your doorknob cover will fit loosely on the doorknob. That's the idea. A toddler does not have the strength to squeeze the cover against the doorknob hard enough to create enough friction to get it to turn--that's why they work!

If you try it, let me know! I'd love to know how the pattern worked out for you.

Gunny

2011-01-16T18:46:00.002-06:00

This morning while I was home from church with sick baby men, I spent some time cutting out felt faces for Gunny #1 and Gunny #2. The boy Gunny is an almost exact replica of Cheri's at I am Momma, Hear me Roar. He will be staying with us. My friend Elizabeth is getting Gunny #2. I bet those girls of hers will provide plenty of yummy un-picked-up-toys for her to eat.
Instead of sewing a pillow case-like pouch for Gunny like Cheri did, I used thrifted men's shirts. They automatically fit a hanger perfectly, and made less sewing for me! I used spray adhesive to attach the girly Gunny parts on the back of the pink shirt, but wasn't thrilled with the results, so I took the time to sew the boy Gunny pieces on his shirt. I turned the Gunnys inside out, serged off the arms and shirt tail, flipped them back right side out, and voila! Gunny!

Here my darling daughter demonstrates just how it is that Gunny eats toys. The shirt's buttons can be unbuttoned on the back side to retrieve toys that are ready to be returned, or to insert larger than mouth-sized bites.

Can't wait to see how well Gunny works in our home, and in Elizabeth's!

This would be a great no-sew project for those of you who don't sew but still want a Gunny. Grab a shirt from your husband's closet, turn it inside out, tie a knot at the top of each arm, use some iron-on hem tape to close up the bottom, turn that puppy right side out and glue on a felt face! Easy peasy!

cheery

2011-01-16T10:34:00.003-06:00

I fell in love with this pillow as soon as I saw it on Made. I had admired that striped yellow Ikea fabric but had never bought any due to lack of project inspiration for it. Thanks, Dana! I grabbed a yard, made this little yellow beauty, and threw it in the rocking chair. Helps with the January blahs to have such a sunny new throw pillow.

For those of you who are facebook friends and remember my comment last week about loathing geometry, it was this pillow's fault. In order to change a striped fabric to a chevron pattern, you have to cut strips of the stripe with precise 45* angles. Painful, even with a rotary cutter. Well, at least this non-math girl found it painful.

This is also the project that prompted my facebook complaint about my husband saying one of my craft projects-in-progress was going to give him a headache. Good news, though! He said that the finished product is "not that bad". LOL I'll take it.

THE roman shade

2011-01-15T18:30:00.003-06:00

Seriously, I'm not sure when exactly I started this project. At least eight months ago, maybe as much as a year. Pathetic. This baby sat in the UFO (unfinished object) pile for so long I wasn't even sure I'd still like it if I got around to finsihing it. Good news! I do! I love it!

This is curtain recycling project. I made the roman shade from the curtain panels that I bought at Target years ago and that used to hang on this very same window. When I moved my bed to underneath that window late in my pregnancy (the only furniture arrangement that would accommodate the co-sleeper) I could no longer have long paneled curtains. Eventually, after pouting about having no window treatment and missing my pretty red linen paisley curtains, it occurred to me to re-make them. I'm so glad I didn't get rid of them! That is SO not like me.

So, ta-da! I finished that darned roman shade. And it only took a year. Ish.

oh, and yes. I know that I should take a picture where you can see the whole wall, including the bed. But that would require me to make my bed and tidy up the nightstands. Frankly, I'm just too lazy.

yarny Chucks

2011-01-15T18:19:00.001-06:00

for my super cool friends Phil and Cynthia's newbie. Welcome to the world, Noah Coffman!

yarn is Hobby Lobby's I Love this Cotton. Pattern is a freebie from Ravelry called "crochet baby converse" designed by Suzanne Resaul. Cute little pattern, worked up nicely. Might give these another go for baby Dammel.

operation Dollhouse

2011-01-15T17:04:00.005-06:00

When I was five years old, my daddy built me a mammoth dollhouse. I loved it, and was thrilled to learn that it had survived the years in my mom's shed. We loaded it up and brought it home when we were there for Christmas. This spring's project is dollhouse renovation!

Here is a (nearly) before picture. The only thing I did before I remembered to document the "before" was to rip the wallpaper off of a few walls.

I sort of propped the peeled off wallpaper up against the walls I removed it from, so you can imagine what a true "before" would have looked like.
As it stands in my garage right now, demo is complete. I removed the wallpaper and all of the door and window framing. Too many pieces of framing had fallen off and gone missing, so I get to start over and re-frame.

Order of events for the rest of the process:

all over sanding
a coat of polyurethane on the floors and baseboards
cut, paint, and glue on window and door framing
prime and paint all walls and exterior, using mostly leftover paint from rooms in my house
and (the part I'm most looking forward to) DECORATING!

I have all of my furniture from childhood, as well. Much of it is in disrepair and will need to be replaced, but the living room and bedrooms are in great shape and super adorable. I plan to make bedding and curtains and all the trimmings.

By kiddos' birthdays (mid-June), this house will be ready for this little family to move in and enjoy some play time.

I'll keep you posted as I make progress!

little hostess apron

2010-12-05T19:33:00.002-06:00

I finished this (and it's identical twin, but with red trim instead of black) a few weeks ago, but forgot to post them. Fat Quarter Apron tutorial from Prudent Baby.

Nativity blocks!

2010-12-05T12:21:00.005-06:00

I saw this blog post this week and had to make nativity blocks. Here's what I came up with:

We have had this set of blocks for a few months. I bought them because they were on sale but have just been "eh" about them. They're nice wooden blocks, but they're SMALL. Turns out they were absoutely *perfect* for this project! Woo hoo!

I picked up a package of Oriental Trading Co. nativity sticker scenes at Texas Balloon and Novelty. If you haven't been in there yet, you must go! Stocking stuffer jackpot!

Blocks, plus stickers, plus a couple of coats of mod podge equals four adorable sets of Nativity blocks!

There are slight variations among the sets depending on which blocks I could find in which colors. Some of the blocks had been misplaced by my toddlers, so sometimes I had to improvise to get a full nativity set. I am thrilled with how they came out, though. They were quick, easy, and super fun! My favorite type of craft project. ;-)

I'm keeping the blue set for my kids.

The red set has Lucy and Ben's names on it.

Mom can pick which one (yellow or green) she wants for her house, and then the fourth will be donated for a charity raffle at MOPs on Friday.

from Saturday's photo session!

2010-11-10T11:26:00.000-06:00

recent yarn work

2010-11-08T18:54:00.002-06:00

The teddy bear and newsboy hats on the top row are two of the oh-so-fabulous patterns written by Speckled Frog Designs. Her stuff always comes out so well! The other two were random freebies off of Ravelry. Love the pink beanie with the butterfly detail (hard to see in the picture). The elf hat and booties were a cute idea poorly executed. Oh well.

2010-11-07T17:17:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago we took a weekend trip to Arlington to see Mom and my brother and his family. Mom has the world's BEST quilt shop (Cabbage Rose, in Fort Worth, TX). She and I had a Saturday morning outing to play with fabric and I brought home some cute prints to whip up a pillow case for each little. I finally got around to sewing this afternoon and they're so cute! Jono's is the full-sized Cat in the Hat one. Hazel and Charlie use toddler sized pillows. Hazel's is the orange and pink trees and birds. Charlie gets the transportation. I'm about to go roll them up, tie a ribbon around them, and throw them in the stocking stuffer stash. :D

2010-10-05T21:10:00.001-05:00

a kid named Walker Mauppin needs some cowboy duds from day one, don'tcha think?

These were both patterns I'd wanted to work up for a while now, and when Ruth mentioned that she was doing a cowboy nursery, it was the perfect opportunity. The patterns can be found here and here. Yarn is random unmarked stuff from my stash. I'm not even sure what the fiber content is on the yellow. Oops!

I am thrilled with the way the boot(ies) came out, but I'm not loving the hat. It doesn't sit pretty like the one in the picture on the pattern. Maybe some wire around the edge of the brim for shaping? Eh, Ruth can take care of that if she wants to.

vinyl

2010-09-26T16:43:00.005-05:00

my first vinyl wall letters! I *love* them!

this girl rocks the headband!

2010-09-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

candy corn bunting

2010-09-25T10:22:00.002-05:00

I saw this tutorial online yesterday and HAD to have some of my own! I used my leftovers to make a mini bunting for the front door. so fun!

This is my first attempt at other-than-Christmas seasonal decorating since the kids were born. I hope the toddlers don't dis-mantel it! :-p

working on the Jessie costume

2010-09-22T19:16:00.001-05:00

Jessie the yodeling cowgirl has a long red braid. My daughter has short blonde curls. This will never do! Solution? Red yarn, a scrap of felt, and a liberal application of tacky glue. Looks almost authentic, doesn't it? ;-)

note: the honey had nothing to do with the project. It just hadn't been cleaned off the table from dinner. LOL

sketch

2010-09-21T15:05:00.003-05:00

Here's the sketch I did of our house with the paint and structural changes I want to make. Compare to the photo below (that I traced for the sketch). Khaki brick, white trim including garage doors, new brown shutters, and remove those weird half walls that you walk between as you approach the front door. Sketch shows no landscaping other than the crepe myrtles, since I plan to rip everything else out and start over. No clue what the new flower bed will look like, so I didn't include it. Thoughts? Suggestions?

as requested...

2010-09-20T18:17:00.002-05:00

Charlie asked for a "puppy hat". I did this pattern, and the fit is great on him. I think the ears are too small, though. I may rework them and make them larger. We'll see how motivated I am. Charlie's first response was not bliss at me finishing his hat in record time, but instead he said, "Where he eyes?" So apparantly the puppy dog hat needs eyes. LOL

Buzz alterations complete

2010-09-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

I bought Jono's Buzz Lightyear costume, but it was one piece. I didn't want his preschool teachers to murder me in my sleep because of nightmares with him and the potty in a one-piece suit. So it underwent alterations. I added a quick yoga-style waistband using some white t-shirt fabric, but I think I'm still going to need to run some elastic in there. Such a skinny little man! I also hemmed up the arms and legs a bit. Jono's costume--done!!

Looks like I laid the pants out upside down for the photo. Note to self--the grey knees go in the back.

finished, finished, finished!

2010-09-18T20:50:00.002-05:00

You've seen some progress pictures of my first-ever quilt along the way, but it's finally ALL FINISHED! I finished the binding this afternoon. Woo hoo! I just love it!

The front is I-spy fabrics, arranged rainbow-ish. Thanks to Care at Obessively Stitching for hosting the fabric swap that started it all. I'm so glad I didn't have to collect all those fabrics myself! My quilt top was heavily influenced by this beauty, as you can plainly see. And the super fun swirly quilting was done by Maddie. Thanks for the help, ladies!

The backing is a panel of playmat fabric. You can see Charlie landing his airplane on the runway and Jono driving his train on the tracks. Perfect!

Can I say again how much I love the way this came out?!

a hat for Hazel!

2010-09-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

That's just a flower on a hair clip, attached through the holes in the hat. You can totally change the look of the hat by changing the clippie attached, or by leaving it plain. Love it!

oh, and isn't that a Lucy face in that 2nd picture? I was so surprised when I uploaded the pics. Take off Hazel's curly hair and she looks a lot like her cousin!

2010-09-12T20:50:00.002-05:00

Yes, friends. That's an elephant hat. It's for my step-sister's baby-boy-to-be. Sheryl and her husband are HUGE University of Alabama fans, so I thought an elephant would be appropriate. It cracks me up!

Pattern by Speckled Frog Crochet on Etsy.

preschool homeschool

2010-09-07T19:58:00.004-05:00

We have Mother's Day Out two days a week this school year, but I wanted to continue to do something intentionally educational with my kids on the days that they're here. I've chosen to do the following mishmash of curricula:

spend two weeks on a letter of the alphabet using Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve
spend two weeks learning a Bible verse set to song (instead of the ones included in the curriculum above--I'm wired to sing!)

Tonight I started the poster for our wall. My kiddos can't read yet, so it's as much a reminder to me to work on our lessons as it is for them. I'll put a flashcard from the adorable set from the blog at homemadebyjill.blogspot.com the top, make a list (in writing or photos/drawings) of people, places, and things that start with our letter on the blank page bottom left. Our scripture goes bottom right.

Our next two weeks with the letter A may look something like this:

tomorrow--eat apples for snack, make apple print art and mail finished art to some of our beloved aunts.
Friday--bake apple bread and deliver it to some family friends whose name begins with A.
next Monday--make collages of animal pictures
next Wednesday--eat ants on a log for snack, make egg carton ants with pipe cleaner legs, go outside and look at ants
next Friday--make hand print angel art (send to another beloved aunt or two), walk down the to sand volleyball court at the park and make sand angels
next Saturday--go with Daddy to Brazos Bend State Park and see the alligators
all the while learning the shape and sound of the letter A!

Doesn't that sound like fun?!

2010-09-05T19:53:00.001-05:00

ingredients:
2 vinyl nap mats
2 full-sized flat sheets
2 12x16" pillow forms
2 no-longer-in-use baby blankets
bits of sew-on velcro

recipe: a lot of trial and error!

yield: NAP MATS!

Hazel and Charlie will be napping in style and comfort on Tuesday! Mats and pillow forms are easily removed for weekly washing. I did these without a pattern--just the measurements of the mats and pillows. I'm so proud of myself!

kids get crafty for Grandma and Grandpa's party!

2010-09-03T08:30:00.002-05:00

busy with some homemade playdough

2010-08-20T20:46:00.003-05:00

I used this recipe this morning and was really happy with the consistency. I think it's a keeper!

sniff

2010-08-18T08:41:00.003-05:00

This dress came out quite cute, despite my constant complaints during sewing that there were too many cute dresses at Target to justify the work of sewing one. I'm just not a garment-maker. And after all that... it's too small. *sniff* I think it's probably more like 6-12 month size than the 2T that was intended. oops.

Maybe I should give it to Morgan at her shower Saturday. Lily ought to be in 6-12 mos in the spring/summer of next year. ;-)

Pattern is the Snappy Toddler Top from the Prudent Baby blog.

2010-08-17T11:53:00.002-05:00

those aren't my babies, but they are knit-by-me hats! The latest twins to hit Crossbridge Church--Jillian (upside down) and McKenna Vann. Such cuties!

Ikea

2010-08-04T06:40:00.004-05:00

We use a loose definition of the term "crafty" here at CraftyErin--a definition that includes the building of Ikea furniture. Yesterday, with the help of some twin toddlers, I put together the following:

Leksvik TV stand

Lack coffee table

Basisk wall lamps

Finishing and hanging the roman shade that is in progress (and ~75% complete) for my bedroom window is also on my summer to-do list. Hopefully you'll be seeing that soon, because that window looks so sad!

a VERY altered Ergo

2010-08-01T15:45:00.001-05:00

I am just slightly (ha!) obsessed with Russian nesting dolls right now, and bought this this fabric intending to make a Snappy Toddler Top for Hazel. The print turned out to be too large for such a small girl, though, so I gave my Ergo a fashion makeover instead. Can I say how much I LOVE it!? I made some bold changes--completely removing the pocket and the hood. I never use them anyway, so it's no loss to me, but I'm sure the Ergo manufacturers are rolling over in their graves. Charlie's really my only one who still wants to "ride in mama's pack-pack" but I'll take all the snuggles I can get!

Oh, and excuse the messy ponytail and baggy pj pants. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, and this is how I sew.

Sippy cup harness tutorial!

2009-01-10T19:10:00.007-06:00

OK, it's been forever since I posted on this blog, but I told some people I'd post a tutorial for these, and my other blog is private, so this one gets revived. :D

Disclaimers: the sippy cup harness is NOT my original idea. I purchased one of these, but decided they were too simple not to make a couple more myself rather than pay $5-6 each. If you make one with my tutorial, it would not be ethical of you to sell them. Someone else already holds the patent. This is for personal use only. I know, I know. I'm just saying...

Supplies:

1 yard of 7/8 inch grosgrain ribbon in the color of your choice
1 package of plastic rings or D-rings. I wish I had gotten 1.25 inches instead of 1 inch
1 package of sew-on velcro, 3/4 inch wide
* buy several yards of ribbon and use your extra velcro and rings to make a couple for friends!

Take your yard of ribbon and cut 11.5 inches off of one end. Use a lighter to singe the edges of both pieces of ribbon (4 raw edges). Quickly pass the edge of the ribbon through the flame a couple of times. This will keep it from fraying. You can also use fray-check seam sealer.

Take your short piece of ribbon and pin 2 inches of pokey velcro and 4 inches of soft velcro on one end (pokey closest to the end of the ribbon, soft in the middle). Pin the velcro to the "right" side of the ribbon, if your ribbon has a right side.

Turn that piece over, and pin the long piece of ribbon at a right angle to the short piece. Place the long piece about 2 inches from the end.

At the opposide end of the long piece, fold down about 5 inches, iron a crease at the end, and pin the edge down. You're creating a 5 inch loop at the end here.

Now, go sew everything you pinned. No special instructions, just sew it neatly and securely. Remove pins. You're almost through!

On the short ribbon, fold the end with out the velcro back to create a loop for your plastic ring or D-ring. Fold it so that the end just covers where the long ribbon T's in. Does that make sense? See below. Pin in place and sew.

The end!

Now, to use this lovely creation...

Attach the harness to a stroller, car seat strap, etc. by looping the velcro/plastic ring end through the 5 inch loop at the end of long ribbon.

Thread the velcro through the loop and snug it around your bottle, sippy cup, snack trap, or other object near and dear to your toddler's heart that he is none-the-less prone to throwing on the ground.

Enjoy! And if you have questions or comments, please leave me a note!

another fun contest!

2008-07-04T10:54:00.002-05:00

Babywearing is the BEST! Enter to win FIVE carriers!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

twin soakers!

2008-01-17T17:20:00.000-06:00

The babies' first "twinny" gift was matching pairs of Texas Longhorn booties from Nana. All this time sitting around with activity restrictions from my pregnancy has given me time to finish a couple of soakers to match! I still can't decide if I'm going to try to embroider TEXAS or something on the heiny of them or not (like I did on Jenn's TCU longies). I'll post new pictures if I decide to.

I still love to craft...

2008-01-13T08:01:00.000-06:00

but I have no time. As you've noticed, I'm sure, there has been a marked decrease in the amount of posting I've done to this blog since little man came. That will almost certainly continue when the twins are born.

I have started a new blog to update family and close friends on my pregnancy, little man's antics, and just life in general. It is a private blog, however, due to the need to protect little man's identity as a foster child. If you would like to be invited to read it, email me! I'd love to add you! erin dot wallace at comcast dot net

pregnancy: a great time for craft projects!

2007-12-20T14:30:00.001-06:00

I made some do-it-yourself maternity pants! I had a two pair of "fat" khakis pre-pregnancy. They were roomy, baggy, and comfy. They now fit well (my heiny is growing faster than my belly!), but are too tight in the waist. But this craftster tutorial saved the day! Why not just buy maternity pants? Oh, I will. But the crafty side of me had to try this. The advantage that these have over my "real" maternity pants that I currently own is that they were already hemmed to a good length for my not-so-tall self. I haven't had a chance to have my maternity pants hemmed and I look a bit goofy with big cuffs on the legs. In time, in time.

Ok, enough. Time for pictures.

With the belly up (belly fabric is recycled out of an old t-shirt)...

and scrunched down (how I currently prefer to wear them)...

And yes, I'm already huge. And this is just the beginning. In case you've lost count, I'm 11 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. We'll just chalk the overgrowth up to having twins! :D

Come get your craft on!

2007-10-13T08:32:00.000-05:00

so said the invitation I was handed at church a few weeks a go for a craft party thrown my friend Morgan and her twin sisiter Casey. Who could refuse such a darling invitation as this?

I almost pooped out and stayed home (tired mommy!), but I'm so glad I went. All of my favorite people were there, including (but not limited to) Cynthia, Karen, the other Erin, Kelly, Iris, K-Lo, Christina, and Morgan. We has such fun being girls--chatting and crafting. Here are some pictures of last night's finished objects...

magnets, already on my fridge!

and a "W" block, for my last name, of course! It's my favorite! I haven't decided on its final resting place in my house, so I'm sure I'll carry it around from shelf to shelf today trying different locations out.

Thanks for the good time, Morgan!

fleece soaker!

2007-10-01T06:44:00.001-05:00

I'm so proud! This came out better than I had even hoped...

Pull-on soakers with yoga-style waist bands (usually sewn from wool interlock fabric) are very popular among cloth diapering mamas right now. I found a pattern to make such items, and gave it a try using the last bit of a yard of Malden Mills lightweight windpro fleece that I bought a year or so ago. Windpro is the sort of fleece that outdoor stores' fleece jackets and vests are made from. It's highly water resistant, but is easy to care for (wash and dry) unlike wool. I "borrowed" someone else's idea of an hourglass shaped double layer in the wet zone, and I think I'll be very pleased with the performance of this little soaker!

now to find some good quality wool interlock fabric! nah--I'll wait for summmer...

knitting, and babylegs, and prefolds! oh, my!

2007-09-29T16:23:00.000-05:00

Look! I've found a little more time for some crafting! Woo hoo! Here are the recent projects...

First, an update on the knitting...

I have finished swatches in garter, stockinette, 2x2 ribbing, and seed stitch. I feel fairly comfortable with the knit and purl stitches, and am excited to move onto a "real" project.

I am hopeful that I will find my perfect first project in the book Mason Dixon Knitting, which I have heard wonderful things about, and am now next in line at the library to read. Scroll through some of the pictures that people have posted of their projects from the book on Amazon. Inspiring and simple-looking ideas abound!

Second, I have been making some faux-Babylegs. What are Babylegs, you ask? Basically, they are baby leg warmers. No, they aren't necessary, and yes, some may find them strange, but I think they're cute. They are especially popular in cloth diapering and babywearing circles for some (almost) practical reasons. For the cloth diaperers, you can keep those legs warm on a chilly fall morning without covering up the cute diaper with actual pants. Yes, that will be my ghetto baby in a diaper, t-shirt, and babylegs this fall. Around the house only, I promise. Babywearers like them to cover the gap made when you put a baby wearing pants in a sling and the pants ride up and expose the lower leg and ankles to the cold. How necessary will this be in Houston? Not very. But hey--I can surely come up with more reasons why these are a necessary accessory for the modern baby.

The "real" ones are sold for $12 and up in baby boutiques and on-line baby stores, but you can make them in 10 minutes for the cost of a pair of knee-high socks. Here's the tutorial I've been using, and a picture of the pairs I have made this week is below.

You may notice some color groups. Target is selling knee socks in pairs right now, so the greens, blues, and brown/orange came together. Don't mind the solid olive green pair that looks like it got into a fight with the rotary cutter. It did. But we won't talk about that. Baby man is keeping all the solid pairs, the green striped pair, and *maybe* the brown argyle. See the burnt orange? Hook 'em! The blue argyle is on its way to cousin Lucy, since there is a color a little too kin to pink in there for baby man.

and for his adoring fans, the olive striped pair modeled...

and finally, this afternoon's project--trimming prefolds. I love the fancy diapers that make cloth diapering in 2007 so different that it was when my mom did it in the 1977. You can't really beat a pocket diaper or an all-in-one for convenience. But there's something about the old-fashioned prefold that speaks to me. Around the house, baby man wears prefolds and covers most of the time. I am finding, though, that prefold sizing does not match real-life baby sizing. He grows out of the width of the prefold long before he grows out of the length. A little research has told me that this is a common problem easily fixed by taking the next size up prefold for width, and trimming down the length for a custom fit. Baby man wears infant sized prefolds. The length is perfect on him. The width is getting snug. I have premium prefolds (the next size) in the waiting, so yesterday and today I took the rotary cutter and sewing machine to them. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here is what I did...

On the bottom left, you can see an infant (yellow) and a premium prefold (pre-trimming). You can see that the premium is just about an inch wider (perfect!) but a LOT longer. Bottom right, you can see a trimmed premium. I cut them down to the length of the infants and used the overlocking foot on my sewing machine to finish the raw edge. Someday I *will* own a real serger! I kept the leftover prefold parts to use as doublers to add absorbency when laid down the middle of the diaper prior to folding (shown bottom right). Top left is the pile of doublers and top right is the pile of trimmed prefolds. They fit well, so I'm excited!

There is an on-line cloth diapering store that has wizened up and is having prefolds made for them in custom sizes that fit babies more practically. I think I'll do my prefold buying from there from now on to save myself the trouble of trimming.

learning something new!

2007-09-15T16:26:00.000-05:00

It was time. I can crochet and sew competently. I love yarn and fiber arts, so I tried spinning (a blast!) and it was time to bite the bullet and learn to knit. I have had some impromptu knitting lessons with my friend Cynthia, have watched my mother and sister-in-law, and have spent hours on www.knittinghelp.com (where I was told that any person of reasonable intelligence should be able to teach themselves to knit--ha!), but I needed a professional. So with my birthday money, I signed up for a two week class at my local yarn shop--Yarntopia. Why do yarn shops always have such stupid names? The first two hour session was today, during which we learned all about different yarn fibers (wool, cotton, acrylic, etc), gauge, how to read the band on a ball of yarn, etc (stuff I already knew from crochet), and then we learned to cast on and knit. Here's my swatch so far. (I think it's garter stitch?)

I'm to return next week with it twice as long as it is wide and we'll learn to bind off, fold it in half, sew up the sides, and fill it with lavendar to make a sachet. I thought that idea was brilliant. My teacher said that most beginning knitting classes make a scarf, but she thinks it's intimidating to make something that you or someone you love might want to wear--newbies are too concerned about their mistakes that way. So she likes sachets. They make for good practice, good smells, and can be buried in your lingerie drawer if they're ugly.

Next week we learn to purl so that we can make another sachet in stockinette stitch. I can hardly wait!

to my dissappointed blog readers...

2007-09-07T10:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it has been TWO MONTHS since I updated my blog. The reason is very simple--baby man is in the house. Just a few days after my last post, we got our first foster placement--a darling 3.5 week old baby boy. We love him to pieces and are thoroughly enjoying him, but he seriously limits my craft time. I have managed to do a few things anyway, which follow...

another pouch sling (baby inside!)

It's reversible--red on one side and the same black and white print that I used on Courtney's MT on the other. I have long-term plans to add a pocket to the red side in the black and white fabric. Wouldn't that be cute? Oh, and I also have long-term plans to give it to my friend Iris when God gives them a sweet baby. She tried it on with baby man when she came over last week and it fits her far better than it fits me.

and two baby sweaters...

I love this pattern! I've had it on my to-do list for a while now, but got around to it over Labor Day weekend when David was home to help with baby man. I did the 6 month size at first, hoping it would fit baby man when it got cooler outside, but it was too small. I don't know if my gauge was off or it the pattern runs small, but I had try again! I had some trouble with the 2nd one, as you can tell if you look at the pattern pictures closely, but I improvised, and am pleased nonetheless. Oh, and the 12 month size is perfect for baby man (who is nearly 3 months old--ha!) to wear this winter.

first try...

made from some self-striping yarn I bought at my local yarn shop last winter with a hat in mind (that never got done). I did do buttons for this one in the same purple as the trim, but I took the pictures first.

second try...

worked in Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweeds, which is a mostly acrylic with a little bit of wool blend, with brown acrylic trim.

and from here on, be warned that my craft posts may be few and far between. Or I might decide to broaden the purpose of my blog and just share more about life in general.

We'll see...

blessing...

2007-07-06T18:48:00.000-05:00

The final touch in the foster babies' room...

What can you make with $3 worth of fabric?

2007-07-05T08:13:00.000-05:00

a water-worthy mei tai! I bought 3 yards of 60" wide quick-dry athletic type fabric from Wal-Mart for $1 a yard, and am getting TWO water mei tais out of it! It's not UV protective like those cool solarwearve or solarveil MTs and slings, but hey--it'll do for $3. And the fabric was not difficult to work with like I thought it would be. It actually has inspired me to buy some solarweave to do a "real" one for next year!

Here's one of them (the other is cut, but not yet sewn)...

and if you promise not to make fun of me for trying on my slings/carriers with my doll, here's an "action" shot. tee hee! I finished it last as my husband was tapping his foot impatiently waiting to go to a cook-out at a friend's house for the 4th. So this pic was taken this morning, still in pjs, a ponytail, and glasses (hence the close cropping!)...

I'm keeping one, and giving the other to Katy, since she has a pool loving toddler and a new baby on the way.

rainy day crochet

2007-07-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, Houston is having a bit of rain these days. It's been nice to do some yarn work inside while it rains outside, though. I had so much fun yesterday making my very first baby booties! I googled for "crochet baby mary jane pattern worsted" and up popped this jewel of a pattern. I was so pleased.

I did not set out to make three pair of these beauties, but I ran into a little trouble. I whipped up the first two, and they didn't match! Arg. Then I made a third to match one of the first two--and got a third size. Double arg. After much close inspection, I figured out where I was going wrong and made a match for each of my three, resulting in three cutie patootie pairs of booties. I'm sending one pair to Katy for baby Sachi, along with her soaker, which is also finished but I'm not posting pictures of until she has it in hand. The other pairs will find homes eventually. I should send the teeeny-tiny pair to Erica Yee. She's probably the only human with feet small enough!

The other bit of yarn work I did during rainy days this week was this super girly soaker.

I made it with no particular purpose except that I wanted to practice my sizing a bit (I was frustrated that Sachi's soaker came out larger than I had planned and was determined to make a true "newborn" size). I also wanted to play a bit with ruffles. I think it came out cute! Now to find a sassy little girl to wear it...

babies' room curtain is finally complete!

2007-06-27T19:46:00.000-05:00

You may remember the crib skirt I did for the foster babies room. Today I finally got around to working on the matching curtain. I'm not sure if it looks like it did in my head (no pattern!) but I like it anyway. It's a stagecoach curtain with the top 2/3 brown, and the bottom 1/3 the same stripe as the crib skirt. I decided that stripe was too much to put in the entire window, so the brown is my attempt to tone it down. I may have gone overboard with that since you can't see the stripe much at all when it's tied up, but that will just have to do!

close up

And a room shot from the doorway, where you get to see my nifty Charlotte's Web art, as well. I sacrificed the dust jacket off of my large "read aloud" edition of Charlotte's Web (my all-time favorite children's book) and framed it. I also scanned and printed my three favorite illustrations, which are hanging in a collage frame above the changing table (not visible in this picture--sorry!).

It's all coming together! The only thing I still want to do in the babies' room is to get those fun letters that hang on the wall and spell out a word above the crib. I'm leaning toward "blessing" in chocolate brown letters, but that project will wait until I make up my mind! Word suggestions welcome...

dye results!

2007-06-27T12:57:00.000-05:00

I am so pleased with my fancy schmancy new prefolds! Here's how they came out...

in color piles:

My favorite feature is that the stitching on the t-shirts is not cotton so it didn't take the dye. I love the contrast white stitching on the colored shirts!

all laid out so you can see what all we've got here:

top row are infant prefolds, middle row are preemies, and tees (obviously!) at the bottom. I did two green t-shirts since so many of our little woolens would look good with green.

speaking of our little woolens...

oh, the possibilities for cuteness! Can you see 'em?

and the geek in me had to take this final picture:

It's a comparison of how the bleached Chinese prefolds and unbleached Indian prefolds took the dye. Bleached CPFs are the top row and unbleached IPFs are on the bottom. Overall, the unbleached have richer, darker colors (unsurprisingly), but they also seem to have fewer splotches. I think they actually took the dye more evenly. I like the "mottled" look of the bleached, too, but I found the comparison interesting. And those IPFs are soooo wrinkly! These prefolds are all the same size when stretched and measured, but the wrinkles crack me up!

Now, go dye something yourself, you hear?

I've been dyeing to do this!

2007-06-26T20:06:00.000-05:00

couldn't resist the pun--sorry about that!

I'm dyeing some prefolds today! I'm so excited! I took some of my preemie and infant sized prefolds and some 0-3 month sized lap tees and am dyeing them fun colors!

I deviated from the directions on the packages of Dylon dye, so I'm very interested to see how these come out. Here's my process:

I placed two preemie prefolds, two infant prefolds, and one t-shirt in each of five gallon sized ziplock baggies. The package called for 4 tbsp of salt dissolved in enough water to cover the articles of clothing, but I didn't want to use that much water. I wanted my colors to be more concentrated if possible (I don't have any idea if this will help!). So I dissolved the 4 tbsp of salt in a cup of hot tap water by shaking it in a small Nalgene bottle. I added the salt water to the baggie.

Then I mixed the dye according to the package directions (dissolve in 4 cups of water) by shaking it in a large Nalgene. I moved the baggie to the sink to preserve my countertops and poured the dye in with the prefolds.

After squeezing the air out of the baggie and zipping it up, I just kneaded it until everything looked saturated. The amount of liquid was really quite perfect for the amount of fabric. That was totally luck!

The baggies are still sitting on my counter dyeing (inside casserole dishes in case one of them springs a leak--can you say paranoid?). I could go rinse them out, since the package said it only needed an hour, but I don't feel like it and think I'll wait until tomorrow to tackle that potentially messy project.

The colors I chose were sunflower (the yellow), poppy red, burnt orange (hook 'em!), lime green, and royal blue. I have no idea if the rinsed and washed product will be as vibrant as they now appear. My guess is not, but I'd love it if they were!

I'll update with finished pictures tomorrow!

one final trade...

2007-06-26T19:49:00.001-05:00

I'm through with trades for a bit--too much to do with foster babies due any day now, but I had to show off this last one...

Again, I made a knitting needle roll for a 'pin friend who did some knitting in return for me. Lea was so kind and generous through all of our talks about what I was looking for. I wanted a green soaker, knit in a specific pattern that I had seen and loved (Little Turtle Knits Hybrid Rib). But that's not all. I was even pickier. I wanted kelly and lime greens--no teal. And I wanted a rolled cuff on the legs instead of the one the pattern calls for. Now, who in their right mind would agree to do that for me in exchange for a measly knitting needle roll? Sweet Lea. And get this--she hand-dyed the yarn. Now, she does this all the time and even has an Etsy store for her yarn, so it wasn't that unexpected of her to offer, but enormously generous all the same. And then she sent me a surprise 2nd soaker. Stinker. When I told her she shouldn't have sent me two, she replied, "Well, what else was I supposed to do with 2 oz of hand-spun wool?" That's right--she spun the yarn for the blue one herself. I'm in awe. They're both breathtaking. I absolutely love them.

And what did I do for her? Well, it was one of my favorite needle roll assignments yet. Lea sent me a picture of her knitting bag and asked that it match, or at least not clash. So, how'd I do?

and yes--I did an extra one, too! travel sized, for the knitting bag.

Thanks, Lea! It was fun!

will work for prefitteds!

2007-06-26T19:42:00.000-05:00

Trades are so fun! I made a knitting needle and crochet hook holder for Tammy of Tinkle Traps in exchange for her converting 6 of my premium prefolds into fitteds. She emailed today to say that they're finished, and I can't wait to get them! These will be serged in brown variegated thread with khaki colored velour doublers. Doesn't that sound dull and neutral like me? tee hee!

Tammy asked for her needle rolls to be coordinting, but not matching, in jewel tones, and not super girly. I hope these fit the bill!

must. finish. before. vacation.

2007-06-17T15:34:00.000-05:00

I had two baby gifts to deliver on vacation last week. I finished Courtney's mei tai the day before we left, and Jenny's longies and hat at the bed&breakfast about 15 minutes before we left to go to her house (cutting it close!).

Courtney's MT--she chose black and white, but I chose the exact fabric

a bonus pic of me and Courtney (we've been taking this same picture periodically for at least 15 years, and we're starting to look OLD!)

and the gender-neutral longies and (supposedly) matching hat for Jenny's little one due in October

and a bonus pic of me and Jenny

my summer wardrobe...

2007-06-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

I'm totally into fun summer skirts this year. So much so, in fact, that I doubt I'll wear much other than skirts with tshirts and flip-flops all season. I've made two more since I last updated the ole' blog, and here they are...

browns and pinks, with an increasing about of pink in each layer

khaki linen with embroidered off-white polka-dots (you may need to click the pic to see the skirt well)

and as a bonus, you get to see the chalk wall in Charlottesville, VA, where we had dinner for our anniversary. I had written our wedding date on the wall, but I doubt you'll be able to see it amid the other scribbles up there.

when your airplane is diverted to San Antonio due to weather in Houston, you...

2007-06-17T15:20:00.000-05:00

a. whine
b. try to nap, but can't get comfortable
c. crochet

Anyone? Well, the answer turns out to be all three, but I did finish up this soaker I had been experimenting with. This is a made-up-as-I-went-along soaker, with a fun twist. I decided to try to crochet two layers of wool through the wet-zone (um, crotch) for more waterproofness (is that a word?). I am so pleased with the way it came out. This yarn is super soft, and the choice of stitch that I used for the top 2/3 of the soaker is surprisingly stretchy for crochet, which has a reputation of not giving as much as knits do. I'm hoping Katy will like it and I'll get to do this pattern again for little Monwai in the coming weeks.

TWIN babies!

2007-06-17T15:10:00.000-05:00

My sweet friend Kara from the Pecos House is the proud new mommy of twins! She and her husband Peter have a nearly three year old, and have been planning to add to their family a sibling pair through fostering-to-adopt. Imagine our joy and delight to hear that God had chosen to give their family a sweet sibling pair of newborn twins--a boy and a girl. The evening before I found out that Kara and Peter would be welcoming twins, I had begun work on this mei tai for no apparant reason. It's reversible--with a boy side and a girl side, and the fabrics were purchased WEEKS before these babies were even born. So let's just say that the reason I was making it became apparant pretty quickly!

boy side

girl side

and a toy sized mei tai for big sister to carry her baby dolls in, too

Miss T

2007-06-17T14:55:00.001-05:00

Let me tell you about my fun 'pin friend Miss T. Not only is she the coolest gal on earth, she knits beautifully and is willing to work up fun trades with me! I made Tanya a knitting needle holder in exchange for an "umbilical cord" hat.

What did I receive in my mailbox? TWO hats, PLUS a lovely soaker!

She did spill the beans about going above and beyond our agreed trade, so I sneaked some stitch markers into her needle roll as a a surprise, too. Thanks, T! You're the best!

been moving... which means slacking on my blog!

2007-05-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

We closed on our new house 2.5 weeks ago, and boy have we been busy! Here are some craft projects from the last few weeks...

First, some painting in the house (I think it counts as crafty!)
dining room before:

dining room after (ditched the electric blue for a nice green and added a green stripe)

entry way before

entry way after (again, ditched the electric blue)

and just a fun shot of the whole living area in the new house

baby's room after painting it blue and the crib skirt I made (curtain in the same stripe to come...)

and my first ever garment--my "hippie skirt". I wear this thing several times a week, so I need to make a couple more! So easy and so comfy! Here's the pattern...you should try!

In the next blog update look for Tanya's knitting needle roll, Courtney's mei tai carrier, and the babies' room curtain!

more babywearing fun!

2007-05-04T08:07:00.000-05:00

You can answer a few questions and enter to win your own Ergo carrier on this website through the end of May! Try it everyone!

Ergo contest

Spirograph, anyone?

2007-04-17T17:30:00.000-05:00

Here is Miss Sydney McNeil's super cool Spirograph MT, complete with (blurry) pictorial instructions for her mother of how to wear it. Enjoy!

Instructions...

First, tie the waist straps (the short ones) around your waist and let the body of the MT fall down in front of you as if it were an apron.

Second, pick up "Syd" and froggy her legs since she's too young to straddle your waist. When she grows, you won't need to do this. (note: the part of Sydney McNeil is being played today by Stella the doll.)

Next, pull the body of the MT up behind Syd's back and throw the straps back over your shoulders. Keep at least one hand on Sydney the whole time!

Then reach behind you with one hand and pull a strap across your back and to the front on the opposite side. Keep holding Sydney with the other hand

Hold both the now-in-front strap and Sydney with one hand, while you reach behind and pull the other strap to the front.

Give both straps a good tug and tie them in front, behind Sydney's back. When she's older, you may prefer to tie them under her rear.

Back view:

It'll be in the mail to Lubbock tomorrow! And again, my sincere apologies for the blurriness. I was too lazy to re-take them. Let me know how it goes!

the week in review...

2007-04-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

I have not updated my blog in over a week, but does that mean I have not been crafting? Oh, no! Of course not! Here's a summary of this week's projects...

first, the "mini tai"...
I made a small mei tai this week. I saw a post on www.thebabywearer.com where a woman had made a small MT, with a narrow seat so that her young infant could sit down on her bottom and not have her legs "froggied." Since our Hancocks is going out of business and I stocked up on some cute MT fabric, I thought I'd give it a try for my (anticipated to be) small foster babies. Here's the result. I just love it!

I have loaned it to a 'pin friend with a one month old boy who does not like any of his current carrier options. I can't wait to see it in action!

second, speaking of the Hancock's going out of business sale...
I have chosen the fabric I want to use on a crib skirt and hopefully a curtain in the foster babies' room. I've bought as much of it as my two Hancocks have, and Lamar is checking the one in College Station to see if I can get my hands on any more. Here's a swatch...

Picture it with pale robin's egg blue walls. Cute, huh?

and finally, a bitty bootie baby gift....

close up...

for my friend Katie from church. I love bitty booties! Oh, and inside the package are some fun board books--a girl's got to be scholarly as well as stylish, you know!

a family of mei tais

2007-03-29T07:08:00.000-05:00

I made three mei tais for the Goodyear family. Jessica requested one for her to wear Tessa in, and I volunteered to make 2 toy MTs for her big kids so they could wear their dolls. All three are finished and will ship today. I'm so excited to hear how they like them!

Jessica/Tessa's mei tai is pink corduroy with a girly twill print.

Claire's is red twill with a soft yellow print, and Grant's is denim with red bandanna fabric.

Have fun babywearing, Goodyears!