Valentine's Crafts Ideas

I'm still in a knitting frenzy, though I have one piece to go before I plan to switch back  to sewing. In the meantime, it's time to think about Valentine's crafts for myself and the kiddo.

SuperMom has a great tutorial for making see-through Valentine's. Two options for changing- make them out of gauzy fabric that has to be cut to open, and I wonder if it's possible to simply iron the edges of the wax paper version.

We like to use our heart shaped silicone ice cube mold to make red glittery heart soaps. You can do it with crayons too.

I really like these hair clips

These conversation hearts would make great lavender sachets

We don't have any special plans (yet), and I'm not that great at sewing (obviously), but I recently found Dress a Day and am thinking about giving the whole dress remake thing a shot; maybe I'll end up with a cute dress for Vday. Maybe with a heart cutout in the back.

A quick Ravelry search brings up loads of Valentine-themed fiber arts. Then again, I might not be done knitting just yet...

Recouperating

That was a bumpy 6 months! I'm finally starting to recuperate, by which I mean that I have some free time and am using it. Mostly to craft....

To that end, I welcome you to look me up on Ravelry (Flaming Maiden). See you there!

Also these

I love these teacup bird feeders and want to make a forest of them, via Cap Creations

Recipe card maker, print out cute recipe cards already filled in, via Skip to My Lou

Finding Time

Lately I feel like all I do is find time for everything.  It's become my tag line: I'll find time for it.  This is frustrating because I feel like the different aspects of my life are completely at odds.  Common problem, I know.  It's summer and all of my plans have been completely changed, which is fine because it's work and I'm growing a company and my own skills (and Ezra's tuition savings), but it means less lazing around with my boy.  That makes me sad.

But there lots of things that are also making me happy.  The gardens are coming along nicely.  Ezra has blue hair for the season.  The pool is heated.  And also these things (mostly found via How About Orange, thanks!):

The Victoria and Albert Museum has launched a free online patchwork quilt pattern maker.  You upload a photo and it helps you create a pattern.  I intend to do it with this picture, taken two years ago in Puerto Rico, and I've always thought it would make a lovely quilt for my bed.

Once the design is done, I want to print this photo on fabric and put it on the quilt sort of in front of the buildings part:

And maybe this one too:

I also really love this pretty dry erase board, it solves a major problem I've had for years! I'm looking for an empty picture frame as I type this.

Also, I'm loving this free Lobster font, and the Google Font Directory, which I just now learned about.

So, I hope this helps you find time for something you love too.

Problems with scale

So, about that loose tooth. It's been a week, and that thing hasn't gotten any more loose. Everything still looks good, the damage to the gum from the swing incident has healed, so it actually looks even better than last week's photo. The tooth is still loose, it just isn't making much progress. I had a Mom tell me at a cookout a few nights ago that that's normal, that her son has had the same tooth loose for a month. Can anybody back that up? Our dentist tells me not to worry as long as it all looks healthy and E's not in pain. Frankly, I think it's gross.

Anyway, being the crafty Mommy that I am, I ran out the next day and made E a bag to put his tooth in once it comes out. A tooth bag. I looked them up online just to double check that I'm not entirely nuts, and lots of people make them. They are cute. Most are made of felt, but I wanted a bag that is washable (bloody teeth do NOT belong in unwashable bags), and also reversible so it can be used for other stuff in the future.

I often think that things are smaller than they actually are. I also often go off half cocked and craft something up without much planning. I have problems with scale:

On the appliqued tooth is a rock that I estimate to be a smidgen larger than one of E's actual teeth. Given my problems with scale, who the heck knows? That pebble might actually be the size of E's kneecap if we are trusting me to judge. Moving on; the stripey fabric is the reversible bag, that white tooth applique is just for kicks. Oh yeah, it also has a drawstring!

And that is the tooth bag in relation to my hand.

The tooth fairy is going to be hard pressed to find a teeny baby tooth in there.

In other crafty news, I made my own version of the Gardener's Hand Scrub recipe that I found on the House on Hill Road blog. I used peppermint Dr Bronner's, whereas she uses Mrs Meyers dish soap-- I just couldn't get myself on board with the dish soap thing. Other than that, I pretty much just followed her directions, then I made a little cardstock tag and tied that onto the jar with ribbon, and viola! I gave it to a neighbor who has been hard at work in her garden these two weeks.

Today, I picked up some lavender Dr Bronner's to make some for me because I have major plans for some serious landscaping and gardening activity to happen around here this weekend.

On a slightly more personal note, for those who know just exactly how much fun I've had sitting on the PTA board this year (seriously, some people take the PTA wayyyyy too seriously)-- I get to run the election tonight! I hope to be celebrating with wine spritzers by 8.

Back to the Bonfire

A lot has gone on since I abandoned this space. The most important being that my depression finally became so deep, so dark, so desperate that even I finally recognized what was happening to myself and my family. So, I found a decent doctor and got on medicine that works well to overcome the genetic infinite sadness that I inherited from my Grandmother. So, I'm a lot better, nearly whole. And my family unit is much better, and feels very whole, which is vital as the years of expensive infertility treatments added quite a lot to my depression and my family didn't feel whole and I didn't feel whole and the whole thing was really falling to pieces around me as I struggled to keep them glued back together.

Now Chris, and E, and I are the glue that holds everything else around us together. In a very good, very happy way.

See? Glue.

Along with becoming happy and whole, I started my own company! A little copy writing business that I love very much, and that is growing all the time. For the many friends who have been wondering where I am and why I never answer the phone and rarely return calls, here is the answer:

Chris made the logo; I love it! I have intentions of having that little inkwell tattooed above my elbow.

Which proves that I did NOT turn into a medicated zombie, and that I am indeed still my regular, fiery, The Flaming Maiden: Nicole! self. I turned 30, and my Mom gave me this for my birthday present:

That, my lovelies, is a tattoo on my right shoulder. It is a large (to me) fiery lion. As a matter of fact, it is THE fiery lion that pulls a fiery chariot that carries a fiery Prince, WHO, it turns out, is in fact my very fiery son.

He has learned how to ride a bike this Spring.

Though I don't have as much time as of late, we do still craft. I am currently working on lots of socks, and an afghan for Chris that is a tiny bit like one his mother made him when he was a boy. It rained Sunday, so E and I had time to hole up in the art studio.

I tried to make a pincushion from scrap fabric. I need to reopen it and add some stuffing-- the bottom is rather poky.

Chris's Granny has recently been in the hospital, and very on our minds and in our prayers (she is recovering). A combination of that, and a giant pickle jar induced me to come up with this:

I used a piece of a quilt top that I inherited from Granny's old sewing stash, then I sewed it- wait for it--- using zigzag stitch all around the edges to a piece of-wait for it--- that sort of grippy shelf paper! Do you know what I'm talking about? The shelf liner that keeps the rims of glasses from chipping? Only I have very pretty grippy shelf liner! So now we have a very pretty kitchen grippy for opening jars! And it pretties up the giant pickle jar too!
As an added bonus, Chris informed me that his Mama used to have a quilted jar lid cover that she used on giant pickle jars. Mine is grippy to make it easier to open jars, but it's the same concept. Folks, that's like two sweet things for Chris in one!

Also, he gets to eat the pickles. Unfortunately, we are crazy for giant pickle jars and Ezra and I need Chris to eat two of these jars of pickles as quickly as possible. I hope he's up to the challenge. To be fair, Chris started it. He uses a giant pickle jar to store corks for the miniatures that he carves. I have one giant pickle jar that I store ribbons in (it's so pretty!), and recently had a reason why I need another, though I can't remember just at this moment what it is. Yarn, maybe? Ezra wants one to fill with "pricklies" that he collects on his bike rides around the neighborhood. They are some sort of large, prickly seed pod that falls off, I think it's a ginko tree, maybe. Anyway, he collects them and wants a jar to store them in. He also has plans to grow one of these trees in our yard so that we will have a never ending supply of pricklies. I think we should start it growing in a pot so that it can grow into a sapling before we plant it in the yard so that it doesn't get cut down by the lawnmower.

See? Whole.

Are We There Yet?

I know I have been a bad blogger as of late, what with the not updating. Due to the poor economy, The Mister finds himself in the position of needing to find a new work position in the course of 5 weeks. As you can imagine, this has the entire household stressed to the max, what with the phone ringing off the hook and the iPhones beeping that Mister has email constantly. It's noisy, and stressful, and at the end of the day we all just want to collapse but the phones just keep rattling.

Which is great, we're just thrilled to have a sense that things will all work out alright in the end. But it is a long road to getting there. There are some very big decisions that must be made- like do we move and have to sell our house in this awful market when a comparable position is likely to be offered right where we are? If we move, with our sense of adventure flying like large red flags, will we regret it in a few years, only to find ourselves in a location with a smaller job market and longer commute? Perhaps most importantly, if we move to said location, can I have fancy-pants chickens? Where can I get some of those wooden shoes so they don't peck my toes when I feed them?

(Thanks to Curious/Funny Photos/Pictures for this guy.)

In the meantime, I am attempting to consider some Spring sewing that I had planned. I am currently coveting Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. All the sewing bloggers are going wild over it, and I really, really want this book-- on top of the clear instructions and detailed information explaining the point of what you are doing, it comes with actual paper patterns! Paper patterns! Say it again: Paper patterns! I am waiting for Mister's job mess to get cleared up before purchasing this fantastic wonder of a book, because I am a responsible adult like that. Geez, I hope it is very, very soon.

The Snuggie Extravaganza

A couple weeks ago, we spent what is hopefully our last frigid Saturday of this winter with some friends who have a most charming daughter. Over the course of our expedition, it was pointed out to me that Maddie (the most charming daughter) was yearning for a Snuggie-- that backward robe/blanket thing they sell on T.V. If you are not familiar with the Snuggie, please pop over to YouTube and familiarize yourself before reading further.

Good. Now that you know what a Snuggie is, you will understand that my sewing self simply could not allow this charming young lady to go around in one. If you still don't understand the inherent problems with the Snuggie, please pop back over to YouTube and watch this. As a matter of fact, at some point you really should go watch this parady, because you will laugh quite hard. Be forewarned, the parady is not appropriate for work or children. There, I've linked the parady several times-- I hope you understand just how badly I think you need to see it.

Got that? Good. Now, as I explained, I simply couldn't allow this darling of a young lady to go through life like an old person. So, we invented our own version of the Snuggie. It's not for sale, and there is no pattern, we just winged it. Also, the back is closed on ours- the whole thing pulls on over the head. And it turned out pretty OK. And, I think she can now get away with wearing a Snuggie - esque thing to sleepovers and still get invited back. Check it out:

Can you see the coolness dripping off of her? SKULL Snuggie, people. I understand her parents had to fight it off her in order to get her to bathe, the warm awesomeness is that great!

Of course, Ezra got one too. I had enough fabric leftover to make him some pants too, which was convenient as he's outgrown his other tye-dyed polarfleece pants and has been going around all winter with them several inches too short and making snarky comments about how that monster for Christmas was great and all, but geez, he sure could use some new tye-dyed polarfleece pants. Now, he has the pants and a homemade version of the Snuggie:

Oh yeah, he's also the Silly Face King.

Reprieve

I finished the great big overwhelming project yesterday and immediately set myself to putting my house to right. Before I could clean, though, I had to take a few minutes to make pillow covers:

I know it's not the most exciting thing to talk about, but it sure felt great to sew a little something. I haven't had time to sew in weeks. That fabric is taken from the stash, and while it's not the world's most lovely fabric, the colors match the room and it's a huge improvement over what those pillows actually look like. And who doesn't love a bit of free decorating? Those are simple covers that just fold in on the open side. I'm all about removable covers so I can wash stuff.

Washing stuff is exactly the plan for today, and I need to get to it.

Valentine's Day

This V-day really has me thinking a lot about Ezra. About him as a changing person, about my relationship with him, about ways that I can use this holiday to help him find the joy of giving (I know, that's supposed to be a Christmas thing). And a lot about this little family of mine, and the intimacy that we enjoy. While it is hard to give up the idea of another child, I really love my little family and the dynamic we have.

Of course, every holiday is an excuse for some great crafting. Ezra made valentines for his Aunt Regan and his Daddy. He helped me put together the valentines for his classmates. And, he made felted soap (from The Little Travelers tutorial) to give to each of his teachers.

You start with wool roving. I got mine at a fiber festival a couple years ago and have managed to keep the moths out:

Isn't it lovely? Though I realized after taking this picture that this particular roving is a wool/silk blend. I wasn't going to waste it on soap, so we used my turquoise and purple all alpaca wool roving, which worked well as the soaps we used are purple.

You fill a bowl with warm water and add a little all natural soap- The Little Travelers suggests Dr. Bronner's and of course I was thrilled to oblige! Then you wrap each bar of soap (all natural bar soap works best, though we used glycerin), dunk it in the sudsy water and basically just wash your hands with it until the wool felts nicely. Young children will need help with this, though Ezra really loved it. It was a great way to fill an hour and get wet and sudsy!

You end up with something like this:

Let them dry a few days on parchment paper, then wrap them in butcher paper, parchment paper, or wax paper. The heart stickers I intended to use to hold the little packages closed wouldn't stick to the parchment paper, so I tied each with a little yarn bow. Ezra was very excited to give them out today.

Of course, I had to steal some time late one night to make some Valentine's home decor:

And the scrap bird fabric from the baby quilt decided where it wants to be.

My Second Quilt

This is for
Mollie. A baby who surely thought she was being born into a terrible, hard, cold world. And the amazing people who took one look at her and knew that she is theirs.

I must admit that I'm thrilled at how well it turned out.

I'm really smitten with the dove flannel. I have plans to see if I can find more. Click the picture to see the lovely details.

For some mysterious reason, it even has a little loop with which to hang it up.

This is the second quilt I've made, the first being a few years ago for my son. Ezra's really doesn't count as I had no idea what I was doing and the whole thing is wonky. While Mollie's quilt definitely has issues (see hanging loop, above), I put a lot of time into figuring out how to best do it properly.
Quite fittingly, all those squares of fleece are scraps from baby blankets past. I used over half my scrap pile practicing with two new sewing machine feet (walking foot and free-motion foot). The quilt itself went together pretty quickly, but I spent days figuring the whole thing out. I loved every minute of it, and am absolutely smitten with the quilt. I can't wait to make more, and am adding a quilting machine to my wish list, since my machine can't handle anything much larger than a baby quilt.

I have one more baby quilt to pull off before May, but the next small sewing project in the queue is a draft dodger, then I have my sights set on some spring pants for Ezra and myself, and a top or two from a pattern I picked up. I need to work on my pattern skills. so the clothes should be a lot of fun.

Snow Week Craft Recap

Tuesday: Fannie the Squirrel feeders out of cardboard tubes, peanut butter, and bird seed.

Wednesday: Snowball fight and work for Mommy

Thursday: Cardboard tube kaleidoscope (Have the child decorate the tube. Then have the child use a cheese grater to grate a bit of crayon onto some parchment paper or wax paper. Fold paper over, and iron on very low, allowing the wax to melt inside the paper just slightly. It will cool very quickly. Then, put the colored part over one end of the tube and secure with a rubber band. Produce bands work well. Ta-da!)

Friday: Footprint snowman t-shirt

I'm running out of ideas and we might get more snow next week! Luckily, I have to work all weekend, so Daddy will be in charge of child-entertainment!

Magnetic Personality

The art studio has become our new family room. Ezra rushes in there every day as soon as he gets home, and it just seems the natural place to hang out. I was looking for a fast Valentine's craft to make, and decided I felt like making magnets. I've been making these for years, and I love that it is inexpensive, can be done on a small space like a coffee table, and cleanup is super easy if you put down paper first (which you absolutely should do). I used not martha's tutorial. Megan does a great job of explaining things, so I recommend checking it out.

Dr. Seuss magnets! The Pottery Barn Kids catalog is great for finding tiny pictures. They just launched a Dr. Seuss bedroom series and I was thrilled to make these magnets! Ezra loves them. Note the Lorax with his truffula trees on the top right.

Hearts and sweet animals for V-day. My favorite is the owl:

Isn't he cute peeking out at you?

And because I'm starting to get desperate for spring (it's - 1 degree this morning), lady bugs:

I love the little Miss on the stalk (bottom left).

Worth Getting Excited Over

Jessica, over at How About Orange has a post up today about a new movie coming out in which EVERYTHING is Made. By. Hand. I love that. I'll have to go see it in the theatre. Hopefully I can find somebody to go with me (hint, hint). Check out the info and the trailor over at Coraline.

It is done! Sort of.

Yesterday we cleaned up the paint supplies, though we still need to paint the trim a fresh white. We can do that when we paint the kitchen cabinets and trim-- I couldn't wait any longer to get our art studio up and running!


The furniture is currently mismatched. That sewing table is a treasure given to me by my dear friend Regan. Appearantly her family has several of them just collecting dust, so they were kind enough to send me this one. I love it! It's my first real sewing table! A place for my machine to live, without ever having to be packed away!

This is Ezra's work station for now. He and I each have old card tables. I covered them with old table cloths because the card tables are in terrible condition. Plus, the purple cloths are kind of fun.

You can see Chris's work station to the right. He has the sturdiest table for now, because he carves miniatures and needs a sturdy table to work on. You can also see his new DayLight lamp that I got him for Christmas. It has a great magnifying glass on it too. Last night was the first time he was able to set it up. It's a winner :)

We are planning on figuring out just exactly what we need over the next few months, then doing an Ikea run. We are thinking maybe mounted cabinets above, with lights coming down, then something this like for work stations:
That's the Ikea Vika Amon/ Vika Annefors combination. We're giving ourselves a few months to use the space before we make any final decisions. When we do, Ezra will get his own new workstation too.

So, the furniture is mismatched, but even so, I really love it. It is great to have my sewing maching off my computer desk, and just to have a designated space for each of us to craft. We had to pry Ezra away last night to put him to bed, and this morning he took advantage of a few extra minutes before school to sneak in there again. Of all the ideas we've tossed around for the tiny bedroom next to ours, this is absolutely the best.

You've Met Your Match, Mr. Monster Under the Bed

Beware the Oogely Oogely Monster! He throws his arms and legs at people!
A few weeks ago I asked Ezra to draw me a monster. I was awarded with this:


And decided to make it for him as a Christmas gift.


I also framed his drawing (we'll hang it over his bed, I have the perfect place in mind), and made a simple pillowcase with monster-themed flannel. You can see it a little just over Oogely's head. The great thing about Oogely is that those long, long arms are attached with large snaps. They can be removed and thrown -- get this-- at people!

I made this monster out of flannel instead of felt so that he can thrown into the washer. Big. Fat. Mistake. I should have followed the instructions (see prior post for link) and used felt. Because I used flannel, the whole thing had to be sewn inside out, then turned right side out. Ack! Hopefully it will pay off and Ezra will love Mr. Oogely so much that he needs a good cleaning occasionally. Next time, I'm using felt and sewing it from the outside. Dirt be damned.

Mr. Oogely is about to get wrapped up for Christmas, so for those who talk to my kiddo, please don't mention it until after Christmas morning!

Have a great Holiday! I will probably be away from the blog for a bit as we not only have Christmas, but also a dear friend's birthday and my own birthday this weekend. *Shout out to all the Christmas babies!* Happy Holidays and Happy Birthdays!

The Christmas Spirit

I've come down with some sort of cold/flu thing that keeps making me cough with a sound not unlike that which cows emit when laboring in the fields. I feel about like that too, struggling. Be that as it may, tomorrow is the last day of school before the Holiday Break, and I am too far behind to give up now. I am behind where I want/need to be with work, behind in laundry, behind housework (*ack, this one really makes me twitch), behind in my Christmas crafting. So, while hubby works a few feet away, doing his best to ignore my unattractive coughing and throat clearing, I am at my desk making a monster:

... from a picture that Little Man drew me. It is not an original idea on my part; a little birdy told me about it.

So, here I work, wishing for some honey'd tea, greatly looking forward to getting our art studio set up so my sewing won't be on my computer desk, and excited about a monster that throws its arms and legs at people.