Living a Real Life in an Artificial World
I pinned this Manifesto idea on to my Pinterest boards and it has gone viral in my "real" life! My darling sister has been handing out my blog address as the place to get it. So if you're looking for the Manifesto (it's printable!) GO HERE! (Or just click on the picture!) … [Read more...]
After a 20-some year sewing hiatus, I am in love with sewing again. I can't seem to get enough of it and am spending most of my evenings at my machine, gleefully creating. My husband loves to have matching outfits with our son and I wanted to make them matching ties to wear for Christmas. I was a bit hesitant, but a friend of mine promised me that the patterns were easy. And they were. I'm delighted at the results and I can't wait to make more. I made the ties using patterns from You Can Make This. I am in love with this site! It's like Etsy for patterns and directions for all kinds of crafty cuteness. My husband is 6' 2" and I made him the regular length tie, but it was just a tad too short. Nevertheless, he actually wore the tie to work and received a ton of compliments on it. He must really love me to wear a too short, homemade tie to work! This is Miles' first tie and he wasn't so keen on wearing it around his neck, but he put up with it for a few … [Read more...]
I learned to sew in the 4th grade in my4-H club. My friend's mother was our leader and she taught us how to embroider, sew and cook. But I really haven't done much sewing since then despite the fact that my mother is a pretty decent sewer herself. If I needed something sewn, I just had my mom do it. About 3-4 years ago I purchased a Singer sewing machine on special on Black Friday. I had decided that at the very least I should at least own a sewing machine. Just in case. About 8 months ago, I finally got the sewing machine out (!!) and attempted a "very easy" McCalls pattern to make a dress for my then 4 year old daughter. It was a total and complete disaster. I could not figure out how to get the pattern to fit on the fabric. I gave up and swore off sewing forever. Then, a few months before Christmas I got the idea to make my husband and son matching ties. A friend of mine makes ties for her sons to wear so I asked for the pattern. And wouldn't you know, with my … [Read more...]
At the last minute (like 2-3 weeks before Christmas) I felt the need to knit a few Christmas and Hanukkah presents. Total insanity. I had nothing else pressing, so why not, right?! Mmm hmmm. I actually knit two of these headbands -- the red one here and a light pink one. I've since knit two more. They are super quick and fun and VERY popular! I used various bulky weight yarns, but went down to a size 11 needle. The 13 just didn't create a tight enough fabric for my liking. The pattern is the Ashley Head Band pattern from Pepperberry Knits. The pattern is so well written that I may have to try her hat next. I then decided that I needed to knit my two youngest children slippers. I never knit the two little ones anything, mostly because I know they won't appreciate or wear it. (I gave Sarah a pair of fingerless mitts made out of very nice handspun yarn over Thanksgiving.) I was mostly right about that. They actually love their slippers … [Read more...]
About 2 weeks ago I decided to make fingerless mitts as gifts for a whole slew of people. I ended up knitting six pair total -- all in different colors and yarns. The pattern is Fetching, which took the knitting world by storm about five years ago. I'm a little behind. These are quick and easy and use up hardly any yarn at all so you can get a few pair out of a ball of yarn. And they are tween approved. The top two are knit in Plymouth Yarn wool and the bottom is in a sparkly acrylic from Michael's because I needed some bling! … [Read more...]
I really love hand print/footprint crafts with the kids even though I have getting out the paint with a 3 and a 5 year old makes me break out in a sweat (even if it is washable!). These hand print Christmas trees make an easy and memorable Christmas gift for anyone who loves your kids just as much as you do. I used card stock and Crayola washable paint to make the hand prints. The tree is the hand with fingers closed; the tree trunk is the thumb and the "ornaments" are just their fingers. I painted the stars free hand, but you could use fingers to make those, too. Then I painted dollar store "document frames" with red craft paint. The document frames are 8 1/2 x 11 so they fit paper well. I usually still have trim a bit of the paper down, but it's better than an 8 x 10 picture frame. Remove the glass and paint. Make sure to clean the glass before you replace it as it is usually pretty dirty. I attached the ribbon using packing tape. I couldn't think of anything … [Read more...]
I saw this in a craft book I checked out of the library a while ago (I can't remember which one) and finally got around to making it. It was very easy as I had everything on hand, but the cost of the supplies is minimal if you don't. Al you really need is a jar (any size will work); a small piece of fabric, and some craft stuffing. Just take some craft stuffing and put it over the lid (the flat disk) then pop it in the band. It just sticks right in there! Trim up the fabric so that you can screw on the band. Fill the jar with sewing odds and ends, or not! By the way, I noticed that Michael's sells "craft" mason jars without the imprinting on the outside if you just need a jar or two and don't want to be an entire flat of them. … [Read more...]
I found this gift idea in an Advent devotional that I'm using this season. The author suggested the recipe as a way for the reader to find some indulgence during the busy holiday season, but I thought this would make easy and fun gifts. You can use a combination of salts -- epsom, rock, sea salt, for example, or you can just use one kind of salt. Epsom salts are found pretty much anywhere that has a pharmacy. The rock salt I had on hand from making ice cream in a bag. You can also dye part of the salts to make a red and white striped container, but I'm kind of leery of food dye in the bath tub so I skipped it. I buy my essential oils through a co-op, but peppermint oil is pretty easy to find at a health food store. Essential oils can get expensive, but a little bit goes a really long way. I used half-quart canning jars to package the salts because I have a lot of them on hand, but be creative! Plastic containers, old jars, even a plastic bag would work for … [Read more...]
My friend makes and sells "Thankful Jars" for Thanksgiving. The idea is that everyone in the family writes down one thing they are thankful for every day of November. Then on Thanksgiving all of the slips of paper are read out loud. And if you are really creative, you can turn those slips of paper in to a chain to put on your Christmas tree. The idea got me thinking that it would be nice to have a jar to use all year round for family memories. The idea is to drop things in the jar all year long -- movie tickets, notes, report cards, etc. At the end of the year, say on New Year's Eve, you get down the jar and reminisce. You can either close the jar up and save it (like a time capsule) or empty the jar and start over the next year. I bought these packages of scrapbooks sticker embellishments at Michaels. They have a ton of different themes, but I stuck to family and memories. I just stuck the stickers I wanted on to a 2 quart Ball canning jar. You could use a … [Read more...]
For the past few years I've been wanting to incorporate an advent wreath in to our Christmas celebration. We had one growing up and it had a teeny tiny manger in the middle. I have fond memories of light the candles every week. My husband was raised Jewish and I like that lighting the candles on the advent wreath somewhat corresponds to the Hanukkah menorah (although we do celebrate Hanukkah, too). Every year on the day after Christmas I go looking for an advent wreath and every year I come up empty handed. Last year during Advent, Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter posted about her homemade Advent wreath and I instantly fell in love with it. The only problem is that I don't have evergreen or pine cones readily available. But I decided to make do with what I had... and.... I decided to start by purchasing pink and purple votive candles and small holders. I paid $1 each for the candle the clear glass holder. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with … [Read more...]
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