CRAFT BLOG — DECEMBER 2007
12.18.07 | EARRINGS
I made these yesterday for one of my twin nieces, and Sonja made a great bracelet to match! It was a fun afternoon project. I really like beading. I hadn't done it for a year - since I made earrings for my nieces last Christmas. I'll have to pop into the bead store again soon...
12.17.07 | A SCARF FROM A CRAFT-TASTROPHE
I had what can only be described as a "craft-tastrophe" the other day. I tried to make the girls each a blanket for Christmas. The plan was for them to be fleece on one side and cotton on the other with a few ties to keep the layers together. Simple right? Well, because I got impatient and didn't pin them properly before sewing, the fleece stretched like crazy and the first blanket came out totally wonky.
I was suspicious that if I pinned ad naseum they would come out okay, but wanted to try it on a smaller scale. Sooooo, since I was already inspired by Kathy Mack's pattern, I made this scarf! I really like how it turned out, and I was right, pinning like crazy held the fleece in place and it came together well. The blankets came together too. I have one more to make...
I thought about giving scarves like this to my nieces for Christmas, but my nieces are in 5th grade and I'm not sure they'll like them. So, I'm going to make the girls some earrings and keep this scarf for myself! I wore it to my concert last night and got three compliments on it within 15 minutes. It was so exciting!
12.15.07 | TOTALLY AWESOME LEGWARMERS
Awesome, yes, and also totally tubular, I guess, literally. Anyway...
Yes, I grew up in the 1980s. But really, these things are coming back in style! (Maybe not for grown-ups and non-dancers.) I recently made a pair for each of my girls from this pattern. They weren't hard to make, but I tell you what - by the third one I was totally over this whole project. I persevered though, and made all six of them.
My girls couldn't wait until I finished them, and well, they've hardly worn them since. I made Ani put them on for the photo above. They are extremely brightly colored, just like they would have been in the 80s right?
One year, it was 1980-somethin', I received about seven pairs of legwarmers for Christmas. One pair was rainbow striped, one pair came with a matching hat and one pair was actually just plain off-white - good for all occasions I guess. You gotta love the 80s.
12.14.07 | TISSUE HOLDERS FOR TEACHERS...AND ME
I'm back on the craft wagon!
I made four little tissue holders yesterday from this tutorial. I liked this pattern because it didn't involve any interfacing like others I've seen. (I've never used interfacing and I'm a little scared to try.) This was simple and easy and fun. I'm going to give these (below) to three special teachers in our lives, and keep one (above) for myself!
All wrapped up and ready to go.
12.12.07 | AN AFTER-SCHOOL SNACK
I haven't taken very many crafty pictures the last couple of days. Too much hustle and bustle around here. Add in a lot of coughing, sneezing, grumpiness and one trip to the emergency room for a severe food allergy, and I'm just about spent.
I took this picture of Sonja's after-school snack one day and thought it was kind of pretty. My snacks aren't always this colorful and fun, but I do enjoy feeding my girls yummy and nutritious food. It's one of the hassles, privileges and joys of being the mom.
I hope your holiday crafting is going better than mine is!
12.10.07 | "GINGERBREAD" HOUSES
We actually made ours with graham crackers. Much simpler. The girls were so creative this year. Bryni put a white chocolate chip at the top of her marshmallow chimney to depict smoke! It was lots of fun.
12.06.07 | I NEVER KNEW
This sewing thing is so darned useful! I never knew you could sew plastic, and yet I did! Perhaps this was foolish, but it seems to have worked for now. No, this raincoat won't be rain-proof. I'm hoping for rain-resistant.
I love this raincoat. It was handed down to us by my brother's family. Their kids really needed this thing - they lived in Seattle and in the Midwest. Since Montana is in like a 15 year drought or something, we don't need rain gear too often, but Sonja will certainly look cute in this again!
I'm sure I should have serged it or something, but I just zigzagged vigorously across the seam. (Is that the same as serging? I have no idea.) We'll see how it holds up! Wish us luck and pray for lots of rain this spring for our parched, but beautiful, state.
12.05.07 | PRETTY ORNAMENTS AND PRETTY LITTLE GIRLS
We made these ornaments from the tutorial on Bella Dia. The kids loved it and the ornaments are a great addition to our tree.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when starting projects like this with the kids. It wears me out a bit, but it's always well worth it.
12.04.07 | CLOTH NAPKINS
I put together a couple of napkins last night from this tutorial. Yes, I even did the mitered corners! I had made a couple of these napkins for my parents a few months ago, but it was fun to do this project again. I picked the colors to match our dishes.
I was inspired by my niece, Betsy, who served lunch to us recently with napkins of a gorgeous mix of blues, greens and purples that matched her beautiful dishes. I was so impressed, and I had to have some for myself.
The hardest part about this project is the endless ironing that must be done on each napkin. But the sewing goes really quickly and the results are worth it in the end. I ended up making mine 18" square, which is bigger than suggested on the tutorial, but is just right for us. I guess we're messy.
12.03.07 | A TREE SKIRT
I can't seem to take a photo in focus today, but here's the tree skirt I made last night. I learned an important lesson - don't applique after 11 pm! In the morning light I could see that I did a really sloppy job. I had fun, though, and soon all the messy stitching will be covered with presents anyway!
