Sycamore Corner Crafts

Classic Vest in Walnut

2012-01-28T10:10:00.000-05:00

Started this week, still amazed I haven't made anything bigger than a scarf for my man. Oh, but he does have three and a half scarves... Loving the size 7 needles after doing a bunch of lacy stuff for myself lately - this is swinging right along. Couple more nights of tv and I'll be up to the armholes. Ravelry notes here.

Poppa Popsicle Stick Seaplane Project

2012-01-27T09:18:00.000-05:00

So pretty. Good job Poppa and J!

Dinosaur Hoodie

2012-01-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

This started life as a regular old thrift store hoodie, now tricked out with Stego plates and a (slightly misshapen) stego applique to cover up a random football logo.

Happy Birthday Jude!

Lavender Leaf Vest Finished

2012-01-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

I started this last summer with linen from Homespun Boutique, my favorite yarn shop. It was lovely to work with, though tended to split as it is about a 5 or 6 ply. Also produced a lot of lint when I knitted in the car. I love the color, and the overall pattern was fun and kept me interested. I created buttonholes when I did the picot edging but decided I preferred a higher single closing, so I created loops. Even though I swatched it and sized up for ease, the linen knit tight and crisp, so if I did this pattern as a vest again (it was originally a cardi) I might add a back or side vents. I'm very pleased with it and can't wait for warmer weather.

Here is a detail of the buttons and loops. Ravely notes here: //www.ravelry.com/projects/carolyndw/leaf-and-picot-cardigan

Gramp and Grammy Crafts - Abacus and Puppet Theater

2012-01-19T11:01:00.000-05:00

Totally blown away by these Christmas presents, hand designed, built, painted, and accessorized by Grammy and Gramp. The puppet theater has a chalk board where you can write the playbill. The abacus fits snugly into J's love of numbers and math.

Feeling extremely blessed and grateful for the gifts of family.

Ballerinas

2012-01-17T10:56:00.000-05:00

Auntie G and Mommy Crafts, for a ballet-obsessed little girl. Best friends? Sisters? Will definitely be making more of these.

From Posie Gets Cozy's pattern.

Peppermint Candy Hat

2012-01-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

This was a stash buster for some completely stretchless cotton yarn - after knitting up from the rolled brim and duplicate stitching on the swirl, we realized it fell off J's head instantly - two shallow and a bit big. I picked up inside the roll brim with smaller needles and knit the ribbing down to make a deeper hat and stretchier - I like how it turned out!

Pickles Pinkity Vest

2012-01-14T13:22:00.001-05:00

Made this Plain Vest in two nights. Cannot even believe how fast it came together, and I just happened to have two buttons that fit perfectly both in size and substance - vintage pearly shanks.

Unraveled baby sweater in Lion Homespun (all acrylic, I know, but very soft and not too warm for a hot-blooded little girl)

She put it right on (but then took it right off. Too hot today!)

All my Ravelry notes here (sized up by using larger needles and knitting up the body 2in longer to armhole cast off)

Tons of free patterns in English (and for sale, and yarn) here at Pickles. Check it out!

Castle Block Bag

2012-01-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

Well, when you get a bunch of castle blocks for Christmas you certainly need a bag to hold them in. With some stash from Grammy I put this easy applique together - just a drawstring bag. Would have gone faster with no applique but I couldn't resist.

Coffee Cosy

2012-01-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

Quick project to protect your hands from hot coffee cups. I used a skein of neutral linen and some stash yarn for funky accents, made half a dozen of them for friends and teachers.

New Year's Quilt

2012-01-09T10:39:00.000-05:00

This was a donation to my kids' school, for auction at their fancy New Year's Eve fundraiser. I really LOVE how it turned out - it was hard to let it go.

Last fall I asked other parents to donate old dress shirts or fabric. With only a dozen shirts I made this, using two old cotton sheets I already had. All I bought was the cotton batting (50% off at Joanns). I had some piecing left over so made a stripey back - I love quilts with the back pieced too. The pattern is available for free online at Amy Butler's site (with many others - this is called Thea's Puzzle Quilt and is about 2/3 down the page) Finished size is 64" square, a nice lap quilt or for the foot of the bed.

Of course, I forgot to take any photos until I was delivering it, so we had to hold it up quickly in a dark room, hence the shadowy photos.

Celestine in Red and Oatmeal

2012-01-06T08:35:00.000-05:00

This was my car project as to Grandmother's house we went.

I ripped it out after the first two points to dramatically decrease the size and also added the contrast - not just because I only had enough red for about half, but also because I'm on a Scandinavian kick recently and I love how they combine red and white.

It isn't really a useful object, unless you are a cat or a child that likes to bat things around or throw them up in the air.

But I like it. Sometimes you can have too much of a focus on the practical, and you need a bit more whimsical in your life! It was also a great way to use up some moth-eaten bright red wool from long ago that had wound up in my stash - since there isn't a lot of stress on this it won't matter that it is thinner in places - and a few nights ago I put it outside to freeze those critters out.

All notes for making the smaller size are on Ravelry.

Happy New Year 2012. Watch Out for the Pirates!

2012-01-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

Arrrgh, mateys! What a grand ole project for cold weather days. Poppa designed and built me with able-bodied mate J at the glue gun. Pirate flag printed on me sails and I'm ready for buccaneering!

Wishing you a wonderful 2012!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:01:00.003-05:00

To you and yours and be back soon with some photos (finally!) of all the Holiday crafting I can show you at last.

All the best, Carolyn

Felicity in Charcoal

2011-12-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

This is probably the warmest hat I've ever made or had. Charcoal wool alpaca from Rowan and wool Latte yum (Ravelry notes here)

I knew I didn't have enough brown for a whole hat and wanted the latte to be the lower border (don't even ask why, I have no idea) so I knit this from the top down, just reversing the m1 and k2tog directions. Not only did I use up the Rowan, but that pom pom is the absolute last of the Latte too.

Lookie! It goes with my warm warm cowl. Ready for snow.

Christmas Card Hanging Ball Decoration Tutorial

2011-12-17T10:45:00.000-05:00

My mom always made these when we were kids. She hated to throw out the pretty cards, but there's no real reason to keep them, knowing you'll get a ton more next year.
So: some way to display them.

I put all the cards we get in an envelope and pack them away with the decorations. The following year, get them out and get cutting.

Using a jar lid or other round object about 5" across trace circles on the cards. You will only really see the center of the circle, so if you are tracing around a photo, try to center the faces in the center of the circle.

Cut them all out - you will need 20 circles for each ball.

Smaller circles make smaller balls - but the smaller they are, the harder they are for small hands to fold and tape them together.

Fold each circle in from the edge three times to make a central triangle shape. The corners of the triangle should be at the edge of the circle, and the triangle sides should be even lengths (that's called an equilateral triangle for you math geeks out there) Here's a photo. I eyeball the first one, then use that as a template for the rest. They don't need to be perfect, because the finished shape has some wiggle room (sorry, Martha!)

If your kids haven't already been helping you trace, cut and fold, definitely call them over because this is the fun part. Start taping the triangles together by the rounded edges. I use a piece of tape over the rounded part (the outside of the ball) and a second piece taping the backs together on the inside. Tape five together to form a circular domed piece, then keep going. Everywhere points meet you need to have five together. Eventually you'll get to the final two triangles to be stuck together all around to close up the ball.

It sounds complicated but once you start it is magical how two-dimensional circles naturally want to make this geodesic sphere.

Figure out where you want the top of the ornament to be, then get a helper to hole-punch a hanger. I hung mine up in the entry - just using tape at the ceiling
(they are paper after all and hardly weigh anything)

This whole project was great with kids - cutting, folding, taping, and having to be careful of something fragile they were working on (tongues hanging out of mouths - adorable!!!)

Of course you can make these balls out of anything - old coloring sheets, toddler custom-colored-on card stock, photos. They don't store well (ask me how I know) but they sure are a great way to reuse last year's cards and bring people to mind as you write their cards this year.

Happy Holidays!

Yarn Wreath for the Front Door

2011-12-15T08:54:00.000-05:00

My super talented sister made this - AND sent it to me in time to put up this year! See, I could have handled one of those things but not both. Isn't it so pretty? Not only did she wrap the wreath herself, she made the red and green flowers - how cool is that.

As you can see, Virginia is waiting for snow, which makes driving easier but holiday cheer more difficult - unless you have a gorgeous new wreath to look at on your front door, that is. Thanks, G!

Mitred Crosses Blanket Done

2011-12-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

from this:

to this.

I love it, and do you know they raised $18,000 for

Mercy Corps in Japan? Those crazy Mason Dixon knitty ladies.

J loves it. I think it really suits him. And all from stash or free yarn. My Ravelry notes here.

yes, it did take a ridiculously long time to actually sew it together - only because I organized it all in a bag then put the bag out of sight and forgot to work on it. And I'll admit the sewing up seemed daunting. But I used crochet and once I started it kind of flew by. Cheered on by the recipient, who wouldn't crochet faster? Still needs a wash but that can wait.

Right now there are naps to be had and stories to be read snuggled up in it (it is warm warm warm!)

Playset Reset

2011-12-09T09:22:00.000-05:00

A new Fix-it Friday.

From this - monkey bars are mom-heart-attack-inducing high, swing and rings not as much fun as climbing into the tower, which is difficult to say the least.

To this. Easy access to the tower, whether it be a pirate ship (arrr!) or princess castle.

Almost instantly J had rigged up a bungy cord milk crate bouncer.

Great plans are afoot for a snow slide. All we need is the snow.

Thumbprint Reindeer

2011-12-07T09:11:00.001-05:00

Found this on Pinterest, made a Mommy, Poppa, and two little reindeer. Well, actually there were a ton more reindeer - what child can stop stamping? - but these were the most representative.
Have seen them made into cards and gift tags but I'm not sure what to do with this card yet.
Thank you dollar store googly eyes!

Handmade Ornaments by kids

2011-12-04T09:24:00.000-05:00

Well, you get the idea. The kid made ones were really easy, great motor skills crafts, and kept everyone busy for at least 40 min. AND look darling on the tree. I cut card stock circles, made slits around the edge (embellished by J with the hole puncher) then let them wrap away. J also made a tree out of punched holes which he laced himself. I had a pile of embroidery floss from a lovely friend - what a great use for it. There was a pile of felt too, so J and I made the star (I cut and helped him sew) and then there was a pretty plea for a princess ornament. I'd seen a bunch of felt mushrooms on Pinterest lately so I made one of those too, with Sweet P helping place the dots and sitting on my lap while I sewed. I'm not totally sure how the bunny I made a while back got in with the Christmas stuff, but she went up on the tree too and seems quite content.

And in the top row I must describe two important ornaments - a precious glass horn from Germany from Mr. Sycamore's childhood. And a first for this blog - a Memaw Craft! Mr. Sycamore's mother made half a dozen of these little sock children one year from a pattern in a magazine (and still she claims not to be able to sew on a button). Thank you Memaw!

A Little Quilted Tree Skirt

2011-12-01T08:50:00.001-05:00

But not for me... here are my squares for a collaborative project with my multi-talented sister to use some of Mom's stash to create a tree-skirt for the tree at Grammy and Gramp's house where we'll be for Christmas Eve. We started with this pattern from Crazy Mom Quilts and I can't wait to see what we come up with!

UPDATE:

Well, here it is! Sister G did a FANTASTIC job putting it together, quilting, and binding it.

Even the shelf elf approves.

Thank you G and thank you Crazy Mom Quilts!

Handmade Jellies

2011-11-28T09:56:00.001-05:00

This weekend we went to our favorite Oak Shade Farm to cut a local Christmas tree (later we recycle them as chips for the garden). In the barn were old time toys, baby bunnies to hold, cookies and cider, homegrown honey and candles, handwoven wraps and hand-hooked rugs, and these beautiful jams and jellies.

What bounty!

Thanks

2011-11-25T11:22:00.001-05:00

I did it! Thank you heat and bond.

Now, I feel the need to make a turkey sandwich with the leftovers. Thank you.

Cranberry-Apricot Compote

2011-11-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

As I sit down today to make this, I thought I'd repost it for the holiday. It looks beautiful, tastes great, and takes about 20 min to make. This year I used 2C of cranberries (a whole package) and port instead of red wine. It is SO GOOD.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

(2010) From our local Cheesecake Farms Food Blog - very easy, very very yummy.

Here's my version, makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups of delish relish

1c packaged cranberries (about half a package)
1/4 c dried apricots, quartered
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c water
1/4 c red wine

*Wash and drain the cranberries, quarter the apricots
*put sugar, water and wine into a medium pot and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar
*add cranberries and apricots and cook about 5 min, until cranberries pop open
*remove fruit and set aside
*bring juices back to a simmering boil, stirring frequently, for about 10 min or until reduced by half - it will appear syrup-y when dripped off the spoon
*pour over the cooked fruit and stir gently to coat
*cool to room temperature (about 1 hour) then either refrigerate (in a covered container) or serve!

Will keep about a week if you can keep it that long. This makes about 1 1/2 cups.

I can't really tell you how delicious this was. Will definitely be adding it to our holiday staples and probably adapt it next summer to spoon on biscuits. Thank you Karla of Cheesecake Farms!

Summer Flower Hat

2011-11-21T21:53:00.001-05:00

Well, there's been so much making here, and so much of it is hush hush, but I found these photos from the summer that somehow escaped posting but can elude me no longer. This was a sweet bucket hat for a friend of ours who requested purple and blue. The fabric is African hand tie dyed cloth, a kind of thick brocade so I didn't interface it.

Aside from the petal brim, it really just kind of needed ... something. A gigantic flower, perhaps?

Now that I'm knitting hats to warm heads it is fun to look back at hats just meant to keep the sun off.

Lavender Leaf Vest - WIP

2011-11-14T08:08:00.000-05:00

Find all my notes on Ravelry. This is really coming along - a row or two at night while the kids fall asleep and we talk about their days.. an inch or two in the car on the way to a camping weekend. From the Leaf and Picot Cardigan from Interweave Knits - just knit in the round and minus the sleeves. Which should make it take what, half the time? Why didn't I think of this before? Next sweater, I'm only knitting the back.

Fall Wall Art and Coasters

2011-11-10T09:50:00.002-05:00

Remember the weird plate covered hole in the chimney? I had an hour in the sewing room last weekend (thanks Mr. Sycamore!) and created this quick hanging with fall colors from my scraps box and a little cut up left over sheet.

The next step is to get the littles to help me cut out and glue down "THANKS" in cream colored wool. But I couldn't wait to hang it up because who knows if that will even be this year!

With left overs I put together these quick coasters, backed with some black felt purchased a while back on sale. I love the pink bits with chocolate and yellow. Yum.

Happy Fall everyone! Hope you like the new apple-y banner.

Handmade Winter Scarf : Project 2

2011-11-06T20:59:00.005-05:00

Of course! For a girl who loves pink. And big floppy flowers. Ravelry notes here. This was basically a made up pattern beginning with the "easy mistake stitch" scarf from Purlbee, but it turned out lovely.

Yum. Yarn.

2011-11-05T10:20:00.001-04:00

The rest of the story.... It started with a trip to Richmond ...

I couldn't resist the Yarn Lounge (I usually can't). I came away with this fabulously soft Rowan Alpaca Cotton - charcoal brown and grey - for a cowl for me. All the kids are wearing them, right?

Update: After completion, this cowl was too big. Even too big to photograph. But since it only took an hour or two I frogged it completely and started over with a contrasting color - and half the stitches.

I love it. Deliciously warm and cosy, and by redoing the cowl I have enough Rowan left for a hat to match. Yum.

Halloween Crafts Wrap Up 2011

2011-11-02T10:02:00.004-04:00

1. Halloween food,Whipped cream ghost in a jar of orange jello (this was a big hit - as much fun to make with toddlers as to eat). Marshmallow skull cupcake topper with chocolate chip eyes. Jack-o-Lantern Clementine.
2. Halloween food prep, To make the whipped cream ghost in a jar (via Modern Parents Messy Kids), tape a wide straw onto spray whipped cream. Put the straw end all the way down near a side of the jar and spray. Push chocolate chips into place with a drinking straw. For the skull (via Martha Stewart) cut a large marshmallow in half with scissors. Pinch part to make a jaw, then cut with a knife to make mouth opening. Push chocolate chips in as eyes. Stick the cut back of the marshmallow to a cookie or cupcake. For clementine jack-o-lantern (via Household 6 Diva) draw on face with a sharpie. All these foods were super easy and big kid hits in our house.
3. Halloween Paper Plate Spider,
4. Halloween paper plate jack-o-lantern,
5. Halloween skeletons, Print out skeletons, then cut out and punch holes to attach limbs with paper fasteners. This was an easy craft and we needed to use our big "Human Body" book to make sure we put the joints in the right order. Fun.
6. Halloween Milk Jug Skeleton for Outdoors, Via Craptastic Crafts
Save 6 white milk jugs, then cut them up for head, chest, hips, shoulders, and limbs. Jugs cut well with craft scissors and sturdy knife. Poked holes with skewers to attach and used fishing twine. sssspooky! NB this is not really a toddler craft, except to help direct you to put it together, since it requires a sharp knife and tough work with the scissors.
7. Halloween Q-tip Skeleton picture, via Crafts for All Seasons This was mommy's version, the toddlers got bored. I think in future I'd draw the skeleton in glue then let them pick cut-up q-tip pieces to complete the man as they liked. But hey, I enjoyed it!
8. Halloween Many-eyed Ghost, I drew the picture and expected the toddlers to glue on two googly eyes ($1 store purchase). When I turned around - voila. VERY scary :)
9. Halloween Scuba Jack, 10. Halloween Pirate Jack, 11. Halloween Many Eyed Ghost, 12. Halloween Jack-o-lantern Treat Bag My very first blog post and still going strong.

Numbers Match Game

2011-10-25T08:37:00.001-04:00

I realized that both my kids are good at counting but were having trouble remembering which written number went with which. I saw similar games on blogs using clothespins for toddler spelling and thought why not?

It was super easy to put together. I cut cardstock into cards, but you could use index cards, playing cards, etc. Permanent marker on the clothespins. So far we've played that each toddler chooses a card, counts out the dots on the back, then flips it over and finds the clothespin that matches. When we finished matching all the cards we put them in order from 0 to 10.

I think our next numbers matching game will be with postit notes..

Arrrr, Matey. Wanna Scuba?

2011-10-22T10:28:00.001-04:00

This pumpkin is part pirate. Handmade fleece hat with iron on skull and cross bones - hopefully J will still want to be a pirate for Halloween in two weeks.

Or will he want to be a diver for buried treasure? When I came home yesterday, there had been a transformation. That kid cracks me up.

Little Weaver at the Fall Fiber Festival

2011-10-20T10:50:00.001-04:00

As with last year, J was intrigued in the weaving tent. We all loved the fair - seeing the sheep dog trials, eating yummy lamb sausage sandwiches, and browsing the tents of wool and yarn.

I came away with this lace weight baby alpaca/silk in sky blue, destined for a shawl (still working out the details on ravelry)

Grammy Crafts: Alphabet Wall Hanging

2011-10-17T10:43:00.002-04:00

A friend gave my mom this panel a while back and with the help of a quilting friend (mostly for the lattice hanger on the back) it is now done! And up on the wall in their room! And BEAUTIFUL. Thanks Grammy!

Winter is Coming - Scarf Edition

2011-10-02T22:49:00.003-04:00

A while back we went to the Discovery Museum in Winchester, VA - I can highly recommend it for tiring out toddlers - and after ice cream, and crawling on cannons, we were on our way out of town when I spied a yarn shop. Never Enough Yarn, in fact. The kids said we should go check it out - and each chose a yarn for new scarves. Must get around to posting on Ravelry - I modified the Mistake Stitch Scarf (from Purl, of course) to toddler dimensions and as they say, voi - la!

One down, three to go.

Garden Party

2011-09-24T07:36:00.003-04:00

l
A look at summer flowers as the weather turns chilly. Dahlia Festival at Wollam Gardens

Jellyfish in a Bottle

2011-09-19T08:49:00.001-04:00

The photos are much better at this original post which has been knocking around in Pinterest for a while. And now I have read a Thai blog - how cool is that! Don't worry, the post is in English and is simple enough to follow even in Thai.

This little jellyfish really does float to the top whenever you invert the bottle. We made a big one and a little one. I put a few drops of grape koolaid in for coloring - be sure to color the water gently or it will be too dark to really see the jellyfish (ask me how I know!) Although that can be a cool effect too - jellyfish at night!

The other part of this activity I loved was using recycling to craft. Last summer we went to the Sciencenter in Ithaca NY and played on their recycling table - they have barrels full of cleaned out plastic containers, ribbons, and other "trash" plus glue, scissors, staples and other materials to create new things - plus examples of paper plate masks, decorated plastic boxes, and so on to spur your child's thinking on what to make. J has been raiding the recycling bins ever since for "robot materials" but jellyfish materials will do nicely too.

While on the subject of kid activities I want to mention a new favorite book we found at the Borders going out of business sale: Totally Irresponsible Science Experiments While probably for older kids, we've found tons of fun and frugal experiments that we can do with things like salt, pepper, balloons, and of course vinegar and baking soda. The kids LOVE this book and beg to do something new from it almost every day. We've only had one project total fail so far - which was a teaching moment in itself since that is what happens to scientists in real life.

Summer Car Knitting - Blanket for a Boy

2011-09-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

This is my take on the mitered crosses blankets from the fabulous Mason-Dixon Knitting - all the money from the $5 pattern goes to Mercy Corps Japan for earthquake relief and they've raised over $16k so far! Yay for knitters! (you can buy one too! Check the button on the upper right of their site!)

This is stash yarn mostly plus the oatmeal llama wool from Scott Farms. I have twelve squares, and you can see below I had to push the black square to get even that!

I have no more blue for the seams, so ... the seams may become a design feature.

Let the sewing begin.

Before and After - Sofa Slip Cover

2011-09-12T08:22:00.002-04:00

Well, this sofa bed seemed like a good deal at Ikea, discontinued and discounted. After a few days we realized why - the fabric was awful, attracting stains and lint seemingly out of the air. And it was like a big black hole sucking light out of the room too.

Pretty. And a busy print hides the occasional spill, and sections of it can be taken off and laundered without removing the whole thing. A big project but worth it, especially with double wide quilt back fabric on sale.

Red.

2011-09-08T08:38:00.002-04:00

Yup, still haven't painted that chair. But look what I did paint! Red!

Rainy Day Indoor Balloon Jet Rockets

2011-09-06T20:54:00.003-04:00

It has been raining. It is going to keep raining. We've been working on some science. This one was easy - tape, string/yarn, balloons, straws.

Stretch the string across a room. We discovered that tighter works better. Thread some straws on the string (I used a skewer to push it through). We tried both a full straw and a cut up piece of straw about 4 inches long - shorter worked better.

Attach the string to the walls at toddler height. Blow up a balloon. Have toddler help you tape it onto the straw. Expect to use lots of tape (my toddler was surprisingly good at this step and found it made him feel important and essential to the experiment).

Count down. 3....2....1....blastoff!!!

Tea Towels

2011-09-02T10:34:00.004-04:00

I've been re-thinking garbage this summer - trying to be more thoughtful about the compost and gardening, trying out worm composting, and trying to cut down on packaging with the things we buy. Not always easy, like the big jar of applesauce that got moldy because I forgot it - those little applesauce cups are so convenient! But little by little we keep trying to reduce, reuse, recycle.

I never really used paper towels when I was single - I'd go through a roll in a month or so - but man, with little kids I sure started using them a lot. In an effort to get back to a reasonable amount, I made myself some brown linen tea towels for the kitchen - for cleaning up glasses, tables, etc. Really wet or gooey messes I still reach for paper. The old icky tea towels are getting recycled into floor cleaning up towels, stored under the sink (thanks to an idea from SouleMama).

These tea towels couldn't have been easier to make and I made three out of only 3/4 of a yard of linen (on sale). Hem up the sides and fray the tops and bottoms and you are done. Plus you get a nice handful of threads for birdsnests next spring - I recycled it out in our hedge.

Modern Dresser

2011-08-27T09:27:00.001-04:00

Found this at our local thrift store a week ago, passed it up with regrets. When it was still there a week later, I knew it was meant to be mine. The mirror attaches to the back off-set which makes it look even more Scandinavian - but it had all the hardware to hang up and we decided to center it, here in our upstairs hallway. For off-season clothes. I'm so happy.

Before and After Bike

2011-08-22T11:56:00.004-04:00

So this is J's present to Sweet P - his old bike. Not that Sweet P doesn't love Thomas, but ...

A pink princess bike is a bit better, don't you think?

I loved getting a $3 can of "Ballet Pink" and having a fun taping, spraying, and untaping project MUCH better than buying a new bike! And J is very proud of himself for thinking it up. He is already a real DIY-er.

Sweet P Turns Three

2011-08-21T09:21:00.000-04:00

Below: strawberry AND vanilla ice cream, angel food cake with strawberry/raspberry glaze, strawberry filled marscapone pie (from Epicurious, and delicious), and strawberry topped cupcakes with pink frosting. Birthday girl was very particular about her menu.

Happy Birthday sweetheart.

Now, lets turn off the lights, turn up the disco, and get our glow sticks out!

Summer Abundance and Tomato Soup Recipe

2011-08-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

My favorite creamy tomato soup - very easy, freezes well, and PERFECT with grilled cheese.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pure-Cream-of-Tomato-Soup-40044

Melt 5T butter in a soup pot. Add 1/2 cup diced onion and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the onion is softened but not browned. Sprinkle 4 T flour over the butter mixture and continue to stir and cook for 30 sec or so. Slowly add 4 cups room temperature milk, 1 small bay leaf, 1 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp salt and continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened. Stir the 1/2 tsp baking soda into 3 cups diced tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the milk, and bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat and put through a strainer or blender. Taste and correct seasonings. Reheat before serving.

And Pretty Flower Girls All In A Row

2011-08-15T11:50:00.001-04:00

This was a sewing project for a family of flower girls in a wedding this weekend. There will be matching sashes.

The flower girl in green is not very clear on the concept and is very disappointed NOT to be a flower girl in the wedding of someone she's never met. Notice out to our friends - if you get hitched or renew your vows Sweet P is available.

Giant Robot from Cardboard

2011-08-13T10:09:00.001-04:00

A GIANT Robot. This robot can fly (if you hold him carefully) but he walks gingerly and must be propped up to stand by himself. Not much for fighting (Mommy is SO glad about that) but very good for conversations.

Thank you Mr. Sycamore for the awesome design and execution.

Summer Projects - Only a Month Left

2011-08-11T11:41:00.000-04:00

Our porch was painted when we moved in two years ago but had already started to peel. Last summer we thought about painting it and laughed at the idea of keeping our toddlers off the wet paint. So this summer we really had to get to it - and I will say that even only half done it looks about a million times better. Thanks Mr. Sycamore for most of the work!

Its Hot. Crayon-Meltingly Hot.

2011-08-09T11:21:00.002-04:00

So I've seen a bunch of these on Pinterest and Modern Parents Messy Kids. The concept is simple - and with weather like we've been having on the East Coast, melting crayons is no problem - just look in the cup-holders in my car.

Some things I learned:

How to get the crayons lined up? Some tutorials call for hot-gluing the crayons in a line across the top of your canvas. This will only work if your crayons still have paper labels on them. We decided to use up our old broken crayons, and it was very hard to get the hot glue to stick the raw crayon to the canvas - it tended just to melt the crayon. I did it with the canvas flat then gingerly tipped it up to a very gentle angle, that seemed to keep most of the crayons mostly in place. I think it might work to line them up then tape them carefully across, then remove the tape once they are melted, but I haven't tried that yet.

What angle? Some tutorials also show a very steep angle of the canvas - I found that made the crayons roll down before they could melt. A gentle angle in full sun worked best to let the colors gently run down the canvas but not spread out on our patio (we already call it the frying pan, it was PERFECT for this project). So instead of putting the canvas on our easel as I'd planned, I just used an empty yogurt container to prop up one side, with the whole thing on newspapers to catch the run off.

Other ideas: While I tried to face the canvas directly toward the sun, you can see that one side melted more than the other. Our budding scientists were very interested in this effect. I think it would be fun to do in the future with three smaller boards and angle them in different directions or hang them on the wall so the drips are perpendicular to each other.

Not that our house gets as hot as the sun, but it is hard to know when this art is really "done." It does seem that there is no way to really stop the potential for further art. I plan to add some details to that empty lower right corner, then spray a clear coat on top to preserve it. Other ideas? Guess we'll find out!

I can recommend this project with kids, especially if you have a bunch of old crayons hanging around that aren't very appealing to color with. My kids love making things out of other things and never want me to throw broken things out - so this was a win-win. If you are going to obsess over the crayon color placement then probably get the materials all out before you call the kids over because gluing the crayons on is kind of fussy.

Good luck!

Summer Vacation!

2011-08-03T07:59:00.004-04:00

The only crafting going on has been car and campsite knitting - more on that when I get a few photos taken. Otherwise, it was swimming, hiking, and appreciating the toddler pace and perspective. Like the huge toadstool above. An slew of fairies could have camped here.

Beautiful wildflowers (some call them weeds) at the side of the road on our twentieth potty stop.

Bucket hats in action, waiting for the ferry on a 100 degree day.

Pitcher plants and sundews in a bog.

Hope your summers are happy and your vacations filled with fun!

Buckets o' Bucket Hats

2011-07-24T22:05:00.001-04:00

I love these fabrics - it turned out well although this was one of my first ones and it is pretty deep in the crown - I shortened the pattern on subsequent hats.

This one has a shorter crown and petal brim. Silly cutie beneath optional.

Little Yellow Coat Rack

2011-07-21T10:01:00.001-04:00

This was a garage sale find for a dollar. A coat of yellow and hung vertically and we have a few more pegs for our million and one coats.

Lavender

2011-07-18T23:13:00.001-04:00

A lovely outing to a local lavender farm. Our closets are smelling really really good.

Garden Bounty

2011-07-14T23:17:00.003-04:00

This was the first tomato! Tons of basil, and a neighbor's gifted onions = yummy summer pasta sauce.

Table Redo

2011-07-11T21:54:00.002-04:00

Yeah, it was icky. This is an old Ikea table that was a kitchen table, then an outside table, then a table we painted for showing our house (it sold, yay. Probably not just because of the cute table) then a spray painting table, then we *may* have left it outside again forgetting that I hadn't put any poly on it - because we were just painting it for showing the house, right? Three years later, we can't really eat on it without paint chips in our food. yuck.

Nice. This time I remembered the poly. White may not be the most adventuresome color choice with our porch but I thought it would be more flexible if we move it again.

Next up, the Ikea chairs that went with it.

Last of the Lettuce

2011-07-06T16:32:00.001-04:00

Its hot. Like, a million degrees hot. The lettuce battled bravely then began to turn bitter. Who could blame it? On the plus side, we have a teeny tiny watermelon who LOVES the sun who is well underway.

This thrifted sheet set makes me think of summer. Found at a garage sale a couple of weekends ago, destined for a little girl bed.

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T22:43:00.003-04:00

Patriotic breakfast!

Rocket decorations! (One year, I will get my bunting made for the porch. Until then, yay for recycling tp rolls and stickers from the dollar bin!)

Real rockets! Happy Birthday, USA!

Wedding Sign Gift

2011-07-02T08:42:00.002-04:00

Kathy and Steve met in a bike shop. Kathy spent several years in Russia in the 80s. I had Mr. Sycamore's student who speaks Russian send me the phrase "Steven and Katya Unite" in Cyrillic script (hopefully that is what it actually says!) My idea was to make a propaganda-y wall-hanging - until I remembered that I don't actually have a lot of artistic ability in the drawing department. As I was doodling ideas, I sketched them with a bicycle and decided to simplify everything down.

I copied the couple in permanent marker on a piece of white first, then cut the phrase out of scrap red felt and heat-and-bonded it. I painstakingly sewed tiny bike helmets out of silver lamé - I thought it sent a better message of my hopes for a safe, healthy, long marriage! - then stapled the whole thing to a painting canvas.

To be clear, the joy on their faces is probably because they just got married. They hadn't even opened our present yet.

Congratulations, guys! Your wedding was beautiful, with thoughtful kiddie bags and mac and cheese on the menu. Long life and long happiness!

Kismet Chair

2011-06-26T23:28:00.005-04:00

A few days ago I posted this chartreuse redo from Better After, my new blog addiction. Lindsey scours the web for - what else - before and after photos of amazing transformation. Some I love, which I've been saving to "painted style" on my Pinterest page. Some are unbelievably awful, even after. Lindsey is always hilarious in her commentary.

Yesterday, I went to a yard sale and scored a $7 and amazingly comfortable chair with a blech floral upholstery job. Remind you of anything?! This one is staying on our porch and will be going white (what else) but probably not chartreuse ... hopefully this after photo - although not MY after - will keep me inspired. Because, yes, the icky nudey bookcase and chair in the hallway - still icky nudey.

Pink Anenome Bowl

2011-06-22T20:20:00.001-04:00

Combining two tiny leftover bits of yarns I loved for their "main projects" into one interesting little bowl? Priceless. I plan to keep bobbins in here - it makes my current recycled plastic bowl used for bobbins shrink away in shame.

From "More Last Minute Knitted Gifts" but, like most of what I have made from Joelle's books, a gift just for me.

Baby Cuteness

2011-06-16T08:34:00.001-04:00

Alas, just not for me. But this hat only took 15 min or so to whip up from some scraps and man, is it cute. Kind of made me feel guilty at all the fuss over how cute - and handmade - when really it would have taken longer to go to the store. And baby stores always make me freak out at how expensive cute things are, some times it seems the more wee something is the more something costs! Like bikinis.

Red? Or White?

2011-06-13T08:02:00.001-04:00

How about a vote? Phase one of the chair re-hab has been completed (the reverse is red ticking) but now the chair looks as awful as the cushion used to!

Should it be repainted white again? Or cherry red? Leave a comment!

First Berries of Summer

2011-06-09T10:07:00.004-04:00

We went berry picking yesterday at a u-pick farm (where geese rested by a pond!) We considered making black raspberry ice cream but couldn't wait long enough - so blackberry smash on vanilla ice cream it was. And it was delicious, more than making up for picking in the million degree heat.

Happy summer!

Bird House

2011-06-08T08:34:00.001-04:00

J has really gotten into construction and has great plans for building his own house - next to our house, so we can visit. To get a start we decided to build a practice house on a more manageable scale - for the birds. Downloaded some dimensions from the computer and found some scrap wood. Mommy did the cutting, and most of the nailing, actually. Poppa helped paint. When dry, we all used permanent markers to color in the details.

No occupants yet, but lots of compliments from the neighbors!

Summer Greens

2011-06-05T08:58:00.001-04:00

I've finished! I really love this "rosebud" pattern, I guess it really would work better as a larger stole but my stash only yielded up the one skein. It will make me think of spring in the dead of winter.

We Made it to the Wedding

2011-06-01T08:43:00.004-04:00

Guayabera shirt, check.

Pretty dress, check. Sans sash. "I don't like sashes" Mommy had a matching pretty shirt, no decent photos yet. We have been pretending to get married - and you always need a flower girl! - ever since this weekend.

Hope you too had a lovely Memorial Day.

Violet Jam. Fail. Lemon Tart. Not Fail.

2011-05-26T08:45:00.000-04:00

About a month ago J gathered a packed cup of violets from the yard for me. I really really wanted to like this idea from SouleMama. The color is divine. I may not have read the pectin package right, but it never jelled into jelly and stayed syrup-y - and tasted like spicy grass smells, with lots of citrus from the lemon juice. Not very pleasant, and not really anything we wanted to eat. So I started to think, if I did this again I might make a lemon curd recipe but add some violets for color. Next spring, will have to try that. J had fun gathering the violets, after all!

While I was thinking about lemons, I happened across this recipe on Epicurious. I cannot tell you how yum it was. Very tangy, and I switched out the pastry crust called for with a chocolate/oat press-in crust - the hint of chocolate was just the right counterpoint to the rich custard. In addition to being so luscious, this is one of the easiest desserts I think I've ever made, next to jello. So thank you, violet jam, for leading me to lemon tart.

Mitred Squares Blanket from Mason-Dixon

2011-05-23T09:04:00.004-04:00

Reader, I cast on.

I've been debating what to do with this partially felted blue wool from my stash. 7 skeins. Too warm and potentially rough for kid sweaters. Only enough for a vest for me. I love many of the patterns in the spring Interweave but I did about 3 swatches and none of them was feeling like something I'd wear once I got it done. Hardly inspiring.

Then I saw this post and thought of the llama wool from Scott Farms as a contrasting color. The only question remaining is, blue or oatmeal crosses? Some of each? I'm going to finish this block then reverse them to see. I have a vision of this blanket with one contrasting block ... you know when you get excited about a pattern? The only drawback so far is the difficulty in remembering which row to knit and which to mitre (every other row. or so)

All funds raised from this pattern ($5 on Mason Dixon through Ravelry) go to Mercy Corps for Japan Earthquake relief if purchased this year, to their general funds after 2011. Go get it!

Color Wheel Activity for Toddlers

2011-05-21T08:07:00.001-04:00

This was a quick rainy day activity perfect for a 4 year old who loves cutting with scissors, and a two year old working on color names.

I spread out a bunch of magazines - catalogs were some of the best sources - and had J trace a plate on the page to create the circle. Then we started looking for colors to fill it in. I drew a circle a bit larger than a quarter and J cut them out. Sweet P was a "spotter" turning pages to look for the color we asked for.

We started with primary colors in a triangle, then the secondary colors, then we had a lot of fun looking for "in-between" colors and discussing their names (greeny-blue, pinky purple, etc). J wondered where black and white were supposed to go on the wheel and I didn't know, so we made four corner colors also including brown and grey. You can also find a color wheel explanation here, so you can be better prepared for questions!

Blackboard Hallway

2011-05-18T10:44:00.001-04:00

We've had a transformation.

From this ..... to this. I'm like many in blogland and have longed for a blackboard wall for a while. This triangular section of our hallway seemed like a perfect spot for murals, drawings, doodlings, and writing practice. I painted on white lines and plan to paint in the alphabet along the bottom edge - when I get the time to print out and create stencils. For now, I'm practicing, practicing, practicing - and I think I'm getting pretty good at lower case!

KCWC Day 8? - Pretty Dress Now With Rose

2011-05-15T22:36:00.006-04:00

But without sash. Objections were raised, though it is unclear why. Pockets to the rescue!

KCWC Day 4 - Guayabera Shirt

2011-05-13T12:51:00.002-04:00

Ok, this is not a Guayabera pattern, but all I need is pin tucks and pockets and it *WILL* be. To match Poppa for the wedding... Now, to cut it out.

KCWC Day 3 - Pretty Dress part 2

2011-05-11T12:54:00.002-04:00

So I got this far. I made the top of the dress for a three year old, for my long-torsoed toddler, but had to gather at the neck to make it fit. Even though I measured on her, the skirt still needs to be about 2 in shorter. Something to spend an hour on tomorrow!

And, so far it is winning the toddler beaming smile of approval. She didn't want to take it off until I pointed out that without buttons, it was only held on by pins. Ouch.

KCWC Day 2 - Pretty Dress

2011-05-10T08:48:00.001-04:00

A See and Sew pattern - usually I would just put together a pattern but that *sometimes* leads to redoing the whole thing over, so in the interest of time (the wedding is at the end of the month) here is a pattern for a princess dress - I'm sure will get lots of use. The fabric, back in the mists of time, was supposed to be for a summer nightgown when I was preggers, that never got made and then, you know, I didn't need a muu muu anymore (hooray!).

Yesterday I cut it out - but let's see how far I get. With beautiful weather here today this will wait until bedtime probably!

KCWC Day 1 - Skirt from Shirt

2011-05-09T20:51:00.004-04:00

If you haven't checked out Kids Clothing Week Challenge over on Elsie Marley yet, go look. Last week lots of designers and pattern links and interviews. This kind of snuck up on me this year so I'm just going to stick to the idea of spending an hour or so a day on whatever sewing you are planning for your kids - you know, the piles just sitting around for you to have a minute free - instead of creating a full blown item per day.

So this is what I had - a shirt I don't know where came from and never wore. And you see, I have this little girl who loves - of all things! - PINK. And skirts. So I chose a skirt of hers that fits, lined it up on the bottom hem of the shirt, cut straight across, created a tunnel for the elastic, and lookie there.

A new skirt in under an hour - about 30 minutes including trying it on to fit the elastic. AND she's been wearing it all day! I know many of you know the feeling, but some of the cutest things I've made for her have gained nothing but Queen Victorian disapproval. Howling even.

AND, with the extra time I cut out the next kid sewing project - a dress to attend our first ever wedding at the end of the month. See you here tomorrow with my progress on that.

Needlepoint Bluebird Finished

2011-05-08T09:11:00.001-04:00

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Toddler Dragon or Dinosaur Costume

2011-05-07T11:10:00.004-04:00

From three different tutorials! Thank you, the Internets!

Dinosaur sweatshirt was pretty easy and very quick. Take an existing zip-up hoodie and cut straight up the back to the hood. Create your spikes from felt or fleece pin the whole thing together and stitch it back up.

(see Rae's tutorial for the dino shoes here - must make those to complete the look, right?)

The tail (from this Celebrate the Boy flickr pic) was just an oblong tube from an old grey sweater sleeve, with fleece spikes at the end. The spikes came out kind of twisty - I want a horn hat from these for Halloween! Instead of making it a belt as in the tutorial, I attached it to the back of the hoodie.

The wings were party favors from turning 4, also spotted on Celebrate the Boy. These were the most time-intensive, you bend wing shapes from wire hangers (scored for free from a local thrift store - when I walked up to the counter to see if she'd sell them she asked me to please just take them and did I want more), and sew fleece around the frames. Elastic hold them on at the shoulders.

To be clear, J knows that Stegosaurus did not have wings. He knows lots of dinosaur facts. But he likes the wings as part of the ensemble. Slippers next.

Spring Greens III

2011-05-03T09:06:00.004-04:00

From the Spring Interweave Knits - the Rose Lace Stole - knit up as a scarf since I have only one skein. Smitten with the beautiful pattern. Really pleased how this is coming along, and it is a lovely light weight for summer knitting.

Update: I finished!!!

I suppose I should read up on how to get Amaryllis to bloom at Christmas. These beauties came out last week and make me feel all tropical - just gorgeous. Thanks again Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bob!

Tutorial - Toddler Cowboy or Cowgirl Chaps

2011-04-29T09:50:00.002-04:00

In response to some questions, and after using and abusing these chaps for a year, here are some updates:

First, this pattern assumes that a) you know your way around a sewing machine. It is not a hard project, but I don't explain how to thread your sewing machine, for example. b) that you are comfortable "winging it" with play costumes. As you can see from the photo, I didn't make anything exact or perfect.

Second, the velcro tabs work great to close the legs. However, not so great at the waist. I ended up replacing the belt with one from a thrift store that I cut down to my toddler's size. He is working on buckles anyway, so it is good practice, and the velcro buckle was not holding. Ditto the velcro tab for the lasso. I would definitely replace velcro with a snap or a button - however, my son isn't really that into the lasso, so in the end I just cut that tab off.

Good luck! Link to a photo in the comments!

In making costumes, even for toddlers who wear them everyday, I'm not one to get too precious or make sure that every stitch is perfect. In my recent experience with my 4-year-old, costumes are a favorite for a few days, and sometimes get recycled a month or even a year later. The obsessions seem to come and go quickly. Heirloom-quality they do not need to be.

Costumes for pretend play - whatever the obsession - do need to be a few things. They need to be simple to put on "by myself." They need to be comfortable. They shouldn't have certain pieces that "have to" go a certain way - because most toddlers seem to be tinkerers. J came to me with the chaps completely dis-assembled in about 5 minutes - mostly because he wanted to see how everything worked. So this pattern doesn't have a lot of fussy things, uses velcro, and can be completely taken apart and put back together without undoing all your work. It also folds up small in our dress up suitcase!

You will need some other accessories (not shown here). Jeans are good, although any plain trouser pants work too. A flannel shirt will work if you don't have a western one with those fancy pearl snaps (but oh, my J would love one of these). A neckerchief (a red triangle of fabric will work). A hat (but of course). A vest is optional in my opinion. Cowboy boots, or any boots. You will see that these chaps come with a lasso. Here is how to tie one. Ours is made of inexpensive sisal rope from a home improvement store.

Ready? Let's go rope some dogies.

Here is the end result, so you can keep this in mind while we go through the steps. Some of the pieces look a bit weird, but it will all work out! I recommend reading through the whole tutorial first to come to grips with the ideas before cutting.

You will need about 1/2 a yard of chap fabric (I used brown duck cloth, you could use pleather, cow-patterned fleece, whatever you fancy); a scrap of buckle fabric (I used yellow felt); velcro, and sisal rope for the lasso.

Here are the pieces. I measured everything against a pair of jeans that fit my 4 year old. The belt is 24 in by 4in. The tabs are about 6 in long.

The violin-shaped chap pieces are as long as his jeans plus 2 in for turnover at the top. The chaps need to be the width of one pant leg, since they are going to "wrap" around the outer part of the leg and fasten around the inside with velcro'd tabs. I just eyeballed the shape - draw a curve down to the crotch for the front and back, then another slight curve in at about the knees on your kid's jeans. Round off the bottom. Trust yourself. They don't have to be perfect, they just need to be evocative of the wild wild west!

Here is the belt. Fold and press in half lengthwise, then fold and press the raw edges in to meet at the center and re-press in half. Stitch down the fold and close in the ends. Alternatively, you can use an existing belt, even one with a big fancy cowboy buckle. If you do, make sure that your chaps have a deep enough tunnel at the top to thread the pre-existing belt through.

Next, fold 1/4 in down on the top of the violin pieces. Serge or zig-zag the curvy edges all the way around, catching in the top fold. You could also hem all around but who wants to fuss with all those curves? If you use fleece or pleather you don't even have to finish the edges! Skip all the zigging and zagging! Why did I even use duck cloth?!

Next, fold down your tunnel for the belt to run through. Mine is about 2 in. Stitch down the fold over as shown above.

Your violin pieces will now look something like this. Lay them out wrong-side up with the rear seat together, as if your toddler were going to lie down face up on them to try them on. At least that helped me visualize how to lay out the tabs, pocket, and lasso loop.

Next, the pocket (on the left chap). I don't know if this is traditional, but it seemed to need something to compensate for its lack of lasso. I just serged the edges of the pocket and hemmed the top, then topstitched down. You could get fancy with the stitching here if you are that sort of person.

Here is the lasso loop on the right side chap. I folded a small tab and stitched it down the center, attached half of a velcro tab to one end, positioned it just below the belt tunnel on the right side out of the right chap, and sewed it down. I topstitched on the other half of the velcro where I had sewn the loop to the chap. To use the loop you just close the two velcro pieces together. You can see below how it will hold the lasso within easy reach of the right-handed.

UPDATE: having seen some heavy use, I have replaced the lasso loop fastening with a heavy duty snap. The velcro came undone too easily.

I imagine you mothers of the left-handed are used to modifying stuff like this for your south-pawed - one of the good things about sewing your own, right?

Now for the tabs to hold the chaps around the legs. The photo above shows you the positioning looking at the chaps right side up threaded on the belt for wearing.

The tabs are positioned on the bumps around the thighs and the calves. Fold the remaining 4 tabs in to the center lengthwise and topstitch to secure. Stitch half of the velcro to one end of the tabs, as shown.

Sew the non-velcro tab end to the bumps running down the rear of the violin piece. When the chaps are on, your kid is going to reach through his or her legs, grab the tab, and velcro it to the front of the chaps at the thigh and calf. The picture below shows the tabs and velcro on the right chap (the one with the loop for the lasso)

If you have a real belt with a real buckle you can use that now - just thread it through the left and right chap appropriately and toss the whole thing to your cowboy or girl.

Here are the chaps, tabbed together and laced up, viewed from the front.

I suppose it is a measure of the success of this costume that all action photos of the whole ensemble (plaid shirt, neckerchief, hat, jeans, boots) are too blurry to show!

Baby Sweater and Blanket

2011-04-26T14:02:00.000-04:00

This is the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from the first Mason Dixon Knitting book, and knit up so easily and quickly I feel like I could have made twenty more.

Then to bust some more stash, my first ever log cabin knitting, a baby blanket. So. Easy. I've started another one for Sweet P who asked very nicely and tried this one out to be sure it works. I wanted to make it reversible, but for the next one I'm picking up all on the same side, so there will be a right and wrong side, we'll see how that works. Thank you Mason Dixon Knitting!

Best of luck Sam!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T08:38:00.004-04:00

I did find time for the crafty not candy Easter basket on Modern Parents Messy Kids. Sponge ball, stickers, matching game (downloaded) bunny nose, and two tiny robin egg chocolates.

Spring Coffee Cosy

2011-04-18T13:39:00.001-04:00

My, this yarn from my stash is quite wintery. To spring it up, added a sprout. A multi-season cosy.

Spring Greens II

2011-04-14T13:38:00.001-04:00

A lovely Luna moth on a pine tree in our yard, fluffing her wings to fly. Love those feathery antennae. And what luscious color.

A project to keep my hands busy - crocheted bowls for no real purpose, just to have fun with a single ball of cotton yarn.

Natural Dye Easter Eggs for Spring

2011-04-11T13:59:00.001-04:00

Easter is so late this year, I've been feeling the urge to get something spring-y on the table already. I saw this cover of Country Living and liked the idea of using natural food dyes, especially to get the blue color. I remember using onion skins to dye eggs when I was a kid, will have to try that next for some contrast. For blue, I sliced up a small head of purple cabbage, boiled 30 min in about 10c water, strained the leaves out leaving just the colored water and added 1/4c white vinegar.

Since these are for a decoration I wanted to keep unrefrigerated, I blew the eggs out (we used them in quiche - yum!) using a long metal skewer to carefully poke holes in both ends of the eggs and I also used the skewer end to break up the yolk a bit so it would come out more easily. Pretty easy, and when I immersed them in the dye I just held them under until they filled up with enough water to sink. Instead of boiling them again as the recipe directed, I left them in the hot dye bath to cool overnight. These are farm eggs from a neighbor, and started out a light tan color - so you can see the color did take well - it was interesting that the dye bath stayed red but the eggs came out blue.

The color layer was quite fragile when these came out of the dye the next morning - you can see how if you rub them before they are completely dry the color shifts around and leaves white patches. I did not rub them with oil - but was thinking they could be coated with clear acrylic craft spray to preserve them and wouldn't they be cute in a felted or paper mache nest on a mantle, or under a terrarium.

I would love to try marbleing them with onion skin or wrapping them with plants as in the cover shot - or spelling out spring as at Stitch/Craft - but I think they look lovely on our table as is and it was certainly a fun and easy craft, 30 min or so plus leaving them overnight.

Dinosaur Party! Come on Over!

2011-04-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

J turned four recently. FOUR. Oh, my. We had our first birthday party, all about dinosaurs!

Luckily it was just warm enough for outdoor play, although everything could have moved inside if necessary. The kids and I made dinosaur bones based on this Frugal Family Fun Blog post (and originally from Martha) Instead of paper mache and paint, we just wrapped them in cheap painting masking tape and buried them in the sandbox. J supervised the creation quite carefully, specifying what bones we would need for our skeleton. It gave us a good chance to look at all our dinosaur books and talk about fossils, science, and different kinds of dinosaurs. This guy was a definite meat-eater - look at all those teeth!

I bought a bunch of 99 cent brushes and the kids "uncovered" the skeleton, just like paleontologists! It helped that several of them had been to the Maryland Science Center where you can do this on "real" bones, on a larger scale.

After uncovering (so carefully! Amazingly for four year olds!) they got reburied and re-dug-up a couple more times - loads of fun.

We had a "dinosaur egg" hunt - a few of the eggs even had gummy worms hidden in them. Because everyone knows dinosaurs can't resist gummy worms.

After a meal of dinosaur mac and cheese (green) we decorated tar pit dinosaur cupcakes!

These were really so easy and they came out looking so awesome. I'm not really a huge fan of frosting, especially after the gummy worms and with all the chocolate. The cupcakes were from our favorite zuchini chocolate cake recipe (they are so good for you! Eat more!) The tar pits were vanilla yogurt with a bit of Ovaltine powder - chocolate-y without all the sugar of pudding and with the healthiness of yogurt. Sprinkled with Ovaltine on top it really looked like dirt - totally cool! We colored coconut green with food coloring for grass and placed chocolate granola on for boulders. Finally, an edible sprig of mint stood in for a prehistoric fern and each child got to pick a dinosaur to trap in the tar.

Then back outside to burn off all that chocolate power!

Happy Birthday, J. I love you buddy.

Meet Benjy

2011-04-06T08:43:00.002-04:00

My first softie and totally designed by me!!! With lots of help from Posie Gets Cosy's book "Stitched in Time" which shows you how to turn a drawing of a quadruped into a softie by adding a stomach/inside of legs gusset. I'd been wanting to try it for a while and it was totally easy.

The things I learned: make sure all the seams are double stitched. I've already repaired the legs two times where a seam split. I'd also recommend using a small zig zag rather than straight stitch, for the same reason. Also, when making brontosaurus softies for assertive children, over stuff the neck and tail, or they will morph from bold upright appendages to limp handles for dragging.

And you can't see it but there is a tiny embroidery heart where a heart should be. Because who doesn't need to know how much their dinosaur loves them?

Welcome Spring!

2011-04-05T09:07:00.001-04:00

Hello to everyone visiting from Momtastic or Modern Parents Messy Kids!

We had some toddler guests over to our house a couple of weekends ago and look what we did! A fancy flower garden in our front hall and in the office art area. Thank you Valerie of Frugal Family Fun Blog for the idea.

This was a super easy craft and very easy for young children (2, 3, and 4). And it didn't take a long time to set up. I get a bit miffed with kid craft projects that take me a precious hour to put together for 5 min of crafting time!

Valerie used flower-shaped postit notes, but I couldn't find any without going to more stores than I wanted to, so I bought a pack of 4 pastel colors and before the activity I cut them into petal and leaf shapes. By cutting about 5-6 sheets at a time each flower had a little "petal pack" that the toddler could use. We also had some left over heart shaped postits from Valentine's day crafting, so we used those for petals too. I dug out a roll of green package ribbon and we taped that up for stems - the taping was an in-demand toddler activity, even more so than sticking the postit note petals! Go, fine motor skills, go! Finally, we had the littlest ones help with sticking label "dots" for the center of the flowers the bigger ones had made.

The kids were really cooperative about this activity - I don't know if it was just because we timed it right or because I'm starting to get better at keeping activities short and focused. After a flower fury of five minutes or so, we all raced outside for play. The only clean up was to put the unused petals and scissors up out of reach! Definitely my kind of kid craft.

Thank you Valerie and Stephanie!

Dyeing to Wear Dark Brown

2011-04-03T08:32:00.001-04:00

Mr. Sycamore's hat had faded from this color to tan, and he nicely asked me to magically turn back time. I haven't used RIT dye in ages, I thought I'd give it a whirl although I've been reading up on natural dyes and we do have lots of oak trees around - the leaves are supposed to give a dark chocolatey brown. But, that would be months away! While I had the dye bath around, I also dyed these thrifted napkins which I had to admit were more of an off-white greyish color and not all that appetizing to use. Then I went a step too far and dyed some towels - but without enough dye left they turned a wierd burgundy - kind of a deep pepto bismal. I'll wait to show them until I can dye them to something not quite so hideous.

Spring Color

2011-03-31T08:28:00.010-04:00

Good grief look at this chair.

I LOOOOOOVE it. Could I ever do it? Remember my hideous brown chair still waiting for what I now think is an utterly mundane and boring coat of white paint?

Maybe it is just waiting for spring but I am really seeking color. Here are some more colorful blogs if you are too!

Modern Parent Messy Kids

Attic24 (found through a Flickr search for log cabin knitting)

And Dana's Peeps Bunting on MADE are back for Easter, in this post with a bunch of other crafty colorful suggestions

Great Grammy Crafts - Knit Dress

2011-03-29T14:00:00.001-04:00

I can't really convey to you how tiny the stitches are in this sweet little dress. It must have taken forever, in very very soft weight wool. I wore this when I was this age! How cool is that?!

Japan Relief - Crafty Benefits!

2011-03-29T09:55:00.004-04:00

Another great round up of Japan Relief crafts from Alicia of Posie Gets Cosy Definitely scroll through the comments for even more links to artsy things for sale or raffle to benefit Japan.

And a print/notecard shop donating to ShelterBox, which provides crates packed with place-specific needs for self-sufficiency after disasters - in this case, tents, cook stoves, warm blankets, etc. They've already raised $8000!

Yellow

2011-03-24T08:42:00.003-04:00

Photo by Mr. Sycamore. Makes me happy.

In other news, check out the downloadable instructions for the mitred square cross blanket over at Mason Dixon. All the proceeds are going to Red Cross Japan and they have raised over $5000 in something less than a week. The blanket is totally lovely and looks easy.

Kay and Ann pointed out that Ravelry has a Japan Relief Thread listing patterns where the seller will make a donation.

And you can search on Etsy for amazing cuteness that also benefits Japan Relief There are over 9500 items already listed.

And... I'm totally overwhelmed by my friend Stephanie's idea to hold a bake sale in her (big) office building for Japan Relief. She raised over $1000 bucks in two days and her company matched it. She posts that she is tired and completely out of flour and sugar. But that everyone who bought a cookie did a good thing.

I think of these options I may head over to purchase the blanket instructions. Or maybe buy something cute on Etsy to send to Stephanie!

Eyeballs Filled With Catnip

2011-03-21T09:11:00.000-04:00

Mmmmm. Catnippy eyeballs.

First Spring Flowers

2011-03-19T08:11:00.001-04:00

Is there anything sweeter?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T09:09:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Valerie, for the wonderful idea! Pots of gold and rainbows! Come here, little leprechans!

Birthday Banner for Mr. Sycamore

2011-03-16T08:50:00.003-04:00

This morning the kids hopped out of bed (fortunately not at the crack of dawn) to give Poppa their "presents" - a selection of their toys which they hoped he would enjoy. J concluded his "gift" with "I really don't want this one anymore..." At 2 and almost 4 they are a little unclear of the concept but certain that a birthday includes presents, cake, and ice cream. And you know, Poppa looked like he couldn't be happier than to have received an old fire truck.

Hope there are many many more, sweetie!

Japan Relief

2011-03-11T23:16:00.002-05:00

I lived in Japan for 3 1/2 years in my younger days and my heart goes out to the people there.

For more information on donating through the American Red Cross:

Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org and donate to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. People can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

For the Google based people finder (available in English and Japanese):
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/

For NHK News in English: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html

I'm sure Craft Hope will tackle something (they are not really a fast-response group). I'm sure I will figure out something I can do in the next few days more than donate and wait to hear from my friends there. Right now I'm just feeling amazed at the destruction and so sad for the victims and families dealing with loss.

Seeing Stars

2011-03-10T22:19:00.001-05:00

Still celebrating my boy - a star patch for ripped jeans for my star. What's good for the goose..