polyvore

Recently, although I don't remember where, I read about [polyvore.com] as a place to create "mood boards" and decor ideas for your home.

Since we are moving in with my in-laws in a couple of months, and every wall needs to be painted, the kitchen/living space needs to be designed and installed, and the bedrooms will need to maximize storage and floor space, I've been really enjoying this site.

It's also a nice outlet for my creativity when I know the house is being shown to potential buyers and I'd rather not pull out (and put away) all of my real crafting supplies.

Here are a few of my recent creations:

You can also put together outfits or wardrobes, or "teeny-bopper" collages with artists and movie stars.

It's certainly more fun to play with over coffee than solitaire or Minesweeper :)

Sewing Machine Adventures: It's About Time

I got a sewing machine for Christmas from my husband.  Used, and passed along through the family, it's nothing spectacular, hasn't got any special feet, or stitches, and it certainly can't sew fancy pictures like my mom's Pfaff.  But it stitches a straight line and a few sizes of zig-zags, and it's great for lil' ol' begginning me.
A sewing machine was #1 on my Christmas list, and when it actually came, I found out that I was scared silly of the thing.  I had sewn some before - my mom having been an avid seamstress when her kids were small - but never attempted anything "real" - nothing more than a few simple straight lines of stitches.  And I never had to wind a bobbin or thread the needle or set the tension.  Now this was all my job, and it seemed a big mountain to climb before I could get to the actual sewing part of having a sewing machine.

Last week I spent a few days at my parent's house, and my sewing machine came with me - for an impromptu (and FREE) quickie sewing lesson from Mom.  We sat down together and figured out how to load the bobbin after 12 or 13 tries.  We worked on adjusting tension and talked about fabric choices and sewing patterns and what needles to use with what weight of cloth.

I practiced a few stitches on a scrap piece of cotton, and today I made the first of what I hope will be many sewing projects.

I had received a few mini charm packs of baby-patterned flannelette last year, and saved them - even though I had no intention of sewing anything with them at the time.  Tonight, inspired by this post I turned 6 pre-cut squares of fabric and some of the stuffing out of an old pillow into a brand new soft cube-toy for William.

 

It's not all yellow - just the background of the stars, but I'm still learning about lighting and flash and all the features of my camera.

A Weekend of Spoiled Surprises

I had a single idea for a gift for my husband. One. Single. Idea.  An electric razor was going to be the perfect gift - at the high end of the price range we had agreed to, something I know he's wanted to try, but wouldn't purchase for himself, something he'd actually use, and something that, in the long run, would save us money, since we won't constantly have to replace blades or buy shaving cream.

Yesterday, we were visiting his parents, when his mom comes out of the laundry room with the.exact.model I was looking at purchasing.  Box open, she pulls out the unit and asks if Andrew would like to try using an electric razor, and should she wrap it up for him for Christmas.  OUCH. I stood there, waiting for my heart to hit the floor, but it just kept dropping, no end in sight. 


Andrew also had a great gift planned for me.  His sister, Abby, had recently acquired a new sewing machine from her Aunt Brenda, and her old one (a Janome JS1004) was up for grabs.  Andrew had arranged to give that one to me for Christmas (hooray!), and they had agreed on my in-law's house as a sort of "transfer" point - she'd drop it off, and he'd come pick it up later, as we were in Waterdown for the weekend.

When we came home from my parent's house on Saturday evening, however, there was a message from Andrew's dad on the answering machine (which, of course, I checked, not Andrew), stating that this sewing machine had appeared on his kitchen table, and could someone please come and get it, as he was trying to keep the kitchen clutter-free.


So now we're both out the "perfect gift", and yet, still receiving them both. 

I actually get to have the sewing machine immediately, so this afternoon I'll be off to find appropriate bobbins and some non-dollar-store thread, in an effort to make one of William's gifts (a fabric ball) and finally some coasters for our living room.  Hopefully I can find some appropriate fabric for those coasters.  AND I can get to work making up some more personalized/appliqued onesies.

Project Log: Episode Three

Quick and Easy Appliquéed Onesie

I've seen on various craft blogs here and there the idea of doing simple appliquées on shirts and dresses.

Lots of flowers and cutesy girlie things.  I don't have any girls.  Just my Little Man. 

So I went with a tie.

So quick and simple - it took me about 45 minutes from creating the tie-template on cardstock to the last [hand-stitched] top stitching for a little bit more dramatic feel.

Pretty cute, eh? 

My Little Man in a little Business Casual:

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Personalized Baby-Wear

Haven't taken much time to post recently...I've been making moving arrangements, starting to pack, napping, playing with an ever-giggly baby boy, doing crafts, and learning to sew - by hand...life goes by a lot slower when you're sewing by hand and giving each stitch your full attention.  I am praying for a sewing machine for Christmas.

Yesterday I tried a new craft. I found the idea here.  It's adorable, and inexpensive!  I used acrylic craft paint ($1 at Dollarama) and a rubber stamp ($1 for a pack of 10 stamps at Dollarama) to stamp "Sweet Baby" onto one of W's onesies (on hand), set it with a 50% water, 50% vinagre solution, and dried it on high heat in the drier to make the paint permanent.  Voila! Super cute, affordable, personalized baby-wear!  Now I want to go buy more white onesies and rubber stamps and maybe use this as a Christmas gift idea for the other little boys in my life.♥♥

Project Log: Episodes One and Two

Easy Faux-Flower Headbands

I found this really cute craft idea on a blog somewhere...can't remember where, but I thought I'd share my version. 

This is a really simple, inexpensive, cute, girlie project.

I bought all of my supplies for this project at the dollar store this morning. 

You'll need: 

* silk flowers

* elastic headbands

* needle

*thread

Step 1: Pull apart your silk flowers.  Arrange them by size, since you'll be working largest to smallest.

This is everything I used for a single headband:

Step 2:  Sew the leaf onto the headband.  I sewed an 'X' through it to give it a little more stability through the next steps.

Step 3: Sew the petals on, working from largest to smallest.  When you get to the last one, bunch it up or fold it over a few times before sewing it in, to give it a little "bud" look in the centre of your flower.

Step 4: Tie off your extra thread in the back and trim so that there are no "danglies".

My finished project looked like this:

One each for Eliana and Lizzie.

To wrap them, I followed this tutorial by Sarah at Create Studio.

I think they turned out pretty cute!

Getting Craft-y

Lately I've been getting excited about doing crafts. 

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I hand-made all of the thank-you cards for the two baby showers I've had in the last two weeks.  Plus I've made a few Christmas cards, and other whimsies.  I'm not really great at it yet, but with the limited supplies I've got, I think they turn out just fine.

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I started quilting some coasters for my living room about 2 weeks ago, but I kinda' got side tracked - it's pretty tough to start with something so small, because there's no way to keep the fabric taut and my stitching keeps getting lost in the batting.  But I was practicing for my first big project: I want to make quilted Christmas Stockings for my little family.  I will get back to this eventually, but....we might just have to use socks this Christmas.

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When I put the haitus on quilting, I turned to the idea of sewing.  Now, I don't actually own a sewing machine, but it's on the top of my Christmas wish-list.  I have a few ideas, mostly gleaned from Jill's blog, "homemade by Jill".  My first project will be a quiet book for William.  It will be his Christmas gift, even though at 4 months he probably won't get too much use out of it - soon enough he'll have all the little felt pieces to chew on and eventually he'll get to all of the fine-motor-skill activities "hidden" in its pages.  After that's finished, plans for William's 1st Birthday gift are already in the making.  A play house - Jill's was made to go over her kitchen table, but I think I'll make mine to fit on a PVC pipe frame so that I can collapse it when necessary and keep it even if I ever get a new table.

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Today I thought of a great gift for my sister-in-law for Christmas - earrings!  My mom is having a jewelry party next week, this is what inspired the idea.  Unfortunately, the jewelry from this party is fairly pricy, and I have a budget to stick to.  So off to Michael's we went.  I bought a small jewelry-making kit with my 40% off coupon, and a few bits and pieces to make my own earrings.  I love them! I want to keep them for myself.  Once I had the various pliers, the earrings probably cost me about $4 and 20 minutes of my time.  And they look great!  They're not perfect - they are my first attempt, after all, but I do like them.  I hope Em does too.

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