I Made it Monday: Our Primary Colors Quilt

Our home was in the process of being made into a duplex before we bought it, and then someone changed their mind, leaving the home with random doors through out.  We intend to keep two of them, and the others will eventually be replaced with windows.  In the meantime, this door gets a little drafty and isn't exactly cute.  WBH asked me a while ago if I could make a quilt to hang over it.  With the best of intentions, I ordered some nice fabric, and sewed up a top.  Then I let that top sit for more than a year, unquilted.  I bought batting and fabric to finish it... last October.

So this summer, itching to sew, but not clothing, and without budget, I put the pieces together (it took me a whopping three nights.  Silly procrastinator).  WBH took down an unused curtain rod, I sloppily basted a sleeve onto the back for it, and Voila!  Hidden door.  Yes, it's very bright, but being in a climate that favors overcast skies, coming home to a cheery color scheme is something I really appreciate.   Now I'm on to a few paper projects, and a scrappy nine-patch quilt.   What are you working on this week?  

I Made it Monday: Banana Silk Cowl

Awkward self-portrait in dusty mirror.  Yeah.  So let's focus on my the most recent finished object and how it came to be.  I'm allergic to animal fibers- eyes water, hives pop up- and it's really lame.  Fortunately, there are a lot of cool, vegan options available: cotton, linen, rayon, and this super cool yarn, made from the bark of banana trees.  WBH surprised me with this it earlier this summer.  I worked on this onstage during a park scene.  It's got a great, hard to describe weight while staying soft and fuzzy.   I wanted to focus on the cool texture of the yarn, so I kept the pattern simple, worked it all in stockinette  and then the ends were sewed together.  Simple, but I like the statement and pop of color it adds.  It will get more use when the weather cools off. 

I picked up a quilt top I made a while back to finish this week.  The plan is for it to cover a superfluous door in the living room, and hopefully stop a draft when things cool down.  It's pinned and ready for some sewing, and I'm so excited to get it up on the wall. 

I Made it Monday: Long Promised Dress

This dress was NOT a christmas present.  This dress was a birthday present for my sister's thirteenth birthday.  In July. 

I showed her the Valentine Dress design from Built By Wendy Dresses, (a really, really cool book-  try to find it at your library). We discussed a few alterations and color choice, and I finally got it done in time to give it to her.  On Christmas Eve 

Oh well,  right?  Also done that week were Aidan's birthday "mint chocolate Grinch cupcakes."  My hands hurt for two days after piping these.  These were for his family party, his friend party is coming up later this month.  

What's on your crafty horizon this new year?  I'll share my list later this week.

(linked at 733, skiptomylou and MommybyDay)

I Made It Monday: Sock it To Ya

Dudes.  I knit a sock. 

It's just one, and it's not very good, but I broke through the 'socks are too complicated for me' mindset, and powered through, and I knit my very first sock.  Oh yeah, I did.  I found episodes of a show I love online, and as I knit, and thought 'just one more episode!'  it got later and later.   Suddenly it was 3:30am, I was out of new episodes, and I had shaped a heel.  I finished this morning.  

I won't be using it for anything but slippers, but I'm glad I decided to give it a try.  I used Silver's Sock Class, and that spelled it out really clearly.  It's a great place to start.  Now to let my hands rest, and tackle the other.  

I Made it Monday: "I'm Batman!" Knit Beanie

I finally gave in and joined Ravelry.  Because,  you know, I needed something to distract me from all the sewing projects that actually need to be done.  Then, I went and joined the Hat of the Month group.  Again, because I needed a distraction.  Fortunately, this one took only two days of casual knitting while I watched TV.  I surprised Stinky with it the morning after I finished it.  He ran around in it that day, singing "nanananananananananananananana BAT MAN!"  Totally worth the procrastination.

The pattern is the zsa mask pattern  and it is so unbelievably simple- this would make a great beginner project.

shared at Made by You @ skiptomylou.org

I Made it Monday: Rotten's Duck Birthday Party

I don't know why I thought doing a birthday party, Rotten's surgery, starting rehearsals for a play, and WBH going back to work all in one week wouldn't be a big deal. It was. It was a pretty stressful week, and as I look at the pictures of me from Rotten's party, it showed.

However, I think the party went off pretty well. We let kiddos play outside, then came in for the traditional birthday stuff. Here's how it looked:

favors - inside each bag was a rubber duck (colors coordinated on the outside, so you could choose), and some cookies (below).

Cross royal icing off my 30 for 30.  We'll try again, though! 

Unfortunately, our cakes were ill-fated and we had to call in a ringer.

Rotten didn't mind.

Until it got in his eyes.  

Shared at sharingtime, skip to my lou

I Made it Monday: Doll Clothes

We don't get much call for doll clothes in our house, so when I needed to make a baby shower for a friend pregnant with their second girl, I was excited to sew these up. Both sisters will have sweet matching monkey dolls, and I thought they might like some matching outfits.

Congratulations, Elizabeth! I can't wait to meet Little Sister!

I Made It Monday: No-Cost Wall Art Do-Over

This is what the big wall in our living room used to look like:

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really us, either. So I decided to use what we had to change it up. Lucky, we had four Ikea frames the matched, searched the house and internet, played with my Cricut, and came up with what you see below!

All of the pictures are 'matted' on fabric from a sheet.

On the left are lyrics from Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds." My pregnancy with Rotten had a rocky and scary beginning, and I was terrified of the possibility of another miscarriage. On the morning of our first big ultrasound, I woke with that song in my head, and couldn't get it out. Two hours later, we saw his heartbeat going strong. I worked that up on my Cricut.

On the right is a map of Argentina, where WBH served a mission for our church. I printed that offline and backed it with paper to matched the couch. Dig me, following the map trend.

On the left is the front of a throw pillow I made that was too small for the form. I love the way the frayed edges look under the glass. On the right, a print I got for my birthday, while we were working to get the drug-dealing jerks off of the block.

I'm really excited about how it turned out, and proud for not spending a cent to put it together. It feels much more 'us' now.

I Made it Monday: Dinosaur Planters Tutorial

Have you seen the awesome dinosaur planters that are popping up online? Considering how much Stinky loves his dinosaurs, I'm just surprised it took me this long to get around to making them.

You score a bajillion bonus points if you name the show. When I picked up the dinosaurs it was all I could do not to start re-enacting this scene in the middle of Goodwill.

You'll need:

A sharp serrated knife

Toy Dinosaurs

small cup or container to fit inside dinosaur toy

soil

seeds or plant

File (optional, but reccomended)

First, cut your container to about an inch tall and make a drainage hole

Then, draw an approximation of the shape of your cup on your dino's back. Stab and cut. Be careful, please.

Cut the hole out of his back, then file away the shredded plastic. It's optional, but it makes it look a lot nicer.

You'll have to crumple up your cup probably, but fit it inside the dinosaur's back. Fill with dirt and plant seeds, or fit your plant inside. TaDa!

I'm going to admit that I've taken out this plant from the brachiosaurus and the stegosaurus and planted basil in them. Why? Because they're herb-ivores. And you thought the TV show reference would be the geekiest part of this post.

You can also spray paint these for an added pop of color, which is fun. Succulents and herbs are a good choice for these, as they won't grow too much for the size of the container. Enjoy!

shared at skip to my lou and 733

I Made it Monday: Father's Day Ties

We've started a new tradition for Father's Day. I took Stinky to choose fabric for a new tie for WBH. Stinky chose the brightest dinosaur fabric he could find, explaining "because my daddy's favorite color is blue, and he teaches me about dinosaurs." I got enough fabric to create matching ones for both of the boys, too. I think they were the best looking guys at church.

I used the Little Boy's Tie and Father's Day Tie, both at PurlBee for Stinky and WBH's, and I just sort of winged Rotten's. It was probably 4 hours of work but totally worth it, and a sewing machine is only necessary for a very small part of it. If you try it out, let me know, I'd love to see them!

shared at 733, Raising Memories

We Made It Monday: Thumbprint Hearts

We wanted a gift to send to my sister on her mission, and the thumbprint necklace at Meet the Dubiens was perfect- so I made six of them, for other women in our family. I added the poem below, too, creating a gift-card combo. Feel free to use it if you do this craft!

"We took our tiny thumbprints,

And pressed them into dough

So that you can feel our love

No matter where you go."

These are off in the mail this week to some loved ones far away. I hope you're having a great monday. Any crafts in your week's plans? Please share, I could use some inspiration!

This is linked up with Skip to My Lou this week!

He Made it Monday: Peapod Earrings

Did you know I'm the luckiest lady on earth?

This guy let me sleep in until noon while he cleaned the house on Saturday. Then he shovelled out the bedroom upstairs after I woke. When it comes to marriage, I SO WIN.

He also planted the 2 dozen hyacinths I bought on a whim at Costco (just before it snowed- good timing, Rae. )




And he made me these beautiful peapod earrings, as well as a matching pair for Stinky's preschool auction.

He's got a few more pairs made up, some with green glass beads and matching pendants. He's selling them for super reasonable rates. We're setting up the etsy shop this summer, but we've got these now. Contact me if you're interested!

I Made it Monday

Look familiar? Sure it's been busy, but I had that January header up a week into February.

These letters lean on my eat-in kitchen wall, and were inspired by the "eat" dining rooms signs that seem to be popping up all over the internet. Well, our kitchen/dining is smack dab in the center of our home- and we eat, dance, create, laugh, run, and you guessed it- sing in there. I love the color they bring into the kitchen. In addition to the "eat" signs that inspired it (one blogger said that her husband asked her if she was going to put the word "poop" on their bathroom wall), I must confess that I saw a set of vintage letters that spelled out "sing" on etsy and loved them, but couldn't justify $50, plus hardware to hang or help them stand. These came in under $15, and I got to customize my color. It's a nice reminder, too, I think.

Oh, and the smug-looking little lion cub? It's a bank that belonged to my maternal grandmother. I like the look on its face.

Happy Valentine's Day. It will be heart-shaped food all day long around these parts!

I Made it Monday: Superman Coffee Cozy

Stinky sees me making things a lot. Sometimes he'll get in on the act. Say the word "project" in front of him and see how he lights up. He's also reached the peak of new-sibling insecurity. Well, I hope it's the peak. Anyway, he saw me making the birthday bows last week and asked "When will you make something for me?"

Yeah, pardon me while I pull the knife from my back. I promised him the next thing I made would be for him, and he was satisfied. Then I checked out Iron Craft's Week 4 Challenge. Coffee Cozies? In a coffee-free household, for a four year-old, nonetheless. Awesome. Still, I did promise.

Meet Clark Kent's Coffee Cozy:

It's made from felt and embroidery floss, with a pattern for the emblem made from a Superman sticker. I used this template from LittleRedSaid. As he excitedly watched me stitching it, I refused to tell him what it was, only that it was for him. He'll just have to see when he wakes this morning and gets hot chocolate with his breakfast.

I'll admit, making this for him made me feel a little super. Up, up, and away!

I Made it Monday: Pretty Knit Bows

These bows were a gift for a sweet friend turning two this week. Knit in seed stitch from cotton and cotton/acrylic blends, they're mounted on clips and looked so sweet in her golden curls. I think they look a bit like something the girls from Peanuts would wear. Wouldn't they be right at home in Frida's "Naturally curly hair?" I'll definitely be making more.


What did you make this week?

participating in:

I Made it Monday: Jayne Cobb Hat

Tealah introduced us to Firefly earlier this year- that series was too short-lived. We really enjoyed it, though, and when it came time to make Christmas presents, a hat inspired by Jayne Cobb seemed like a great option. Now I'm making another for her roommate as part of the Facebook Pay it Forward craft trend this year. It never crossed my mind that WBH actually kind of resembled Jayne, until I had him pose for this picture.

For the story of the hat, check out this video:



Happy Monday! Did you make anything this weekend?

I Made it Monday: Marshmallows

Cross one off the list, I made marshmallows on Thursday night. They're fantastic, and more dense than store-bought. They make hot chocolate divine. I used this recipe from Our Best Bites, and it was pretty simple. It requires a lot of attention though, so you'll want to have an extra set of hands for your kiddos when you give it a try. Let me know if you make them- I'm sure you'll love them.

Shared today at Skip To My Lou

I Made it (and to be completely honest, I'm a little embarassed by it) Monday

...and these are the least obscene of the bunch.

I want to be an honest blogger. I like to share my crafts here, when I'm proud of them. So I should probably be honest when I'm not.

I was making cupcakes topped with fortune cookie-shaped caramels, to eat while watching Karate Kid. They didn't look too bad at first. Unfortunately, sitting in the kitchen as I made dinner they sort of started to... slump. As the fortune cookies grew more and more misshapen, the began to look more like something you'd find in the adult bakery that used to cause a lot of rubber necking when the bus drove past it on high school choir trips.

So, what's a girl to do?

You laugh at your mistake take a picture for posterity. Then, you take another picture on your cell phone to send to your friend who couldn't make it to movie night. She shows it to her friends during break from rehearsal who do a collective "heh heh."

Then you post it on your blog, cross your fingers thateveryone else finds it as funny as you did, and secretly hope to make it on Cake Wrecks.

I Made it Monday: Buttoned-Up Cowl

This cowl gift for my friend who lives next door, and it's a great last minute handmade gift. Even a beginning knitter could work this up. I'll be writing up a tutorial for a series next month on last -minute handmade gifts.

He Made More Monday: More Pumpkin Sculpture!

Just before we left for Stinky's preschool Fall Festival, WBH went to get the Wild Things pumpkin, to discover it had rotted and grown mold (don't store your pumpkins inside). So, what to do? Re-do it, and then some! Stinky wanted an Allosaurus:

Then he added a mad hatter to the mix:

and added one of our holiday favorites to the mix:

In total, WBH did 8 pumpkins for us, our family, and friends, and some have talked about comissioning him to do the work next year. He really rocks!