art therapy

You voted...

here it is!
Life gives you lemons, 12 1/2" x 10" x 2 1/2"

does this fluffy bunny-eared capelet make me look like a dork?

My baby sister Emanhi requested a white fleece bunny-eared capelet for her 14th birthday. I didn't want to make it in white because I thought it would look too much like an Easter bunny costume, but it's what she wanted. It is probably the dorkiest thing I've ever made, but it's cute and I think she'll like it. I'm not sure it's totally done yet. I think I want to add some sort of closure, maybe ribbon ties or an oversized button.

Despite the silliness, I kind of want one. Definitely not in white, though. Maybe black. And maybe not a capelet. A bunny eared scoodie would be cute for the incoming cool weather, don't you think?

for the birds

salvaged chandelier + thrift store teacups + spray paint =

Crafts of the Dead

My partner for the Craftster Zombie Swap received her package yesterday, so I can finally post pictures of what I made her. This swap was obviously right up my alley, and I had so much fun working on it.

Of course I had to make her a doll! After a little online stalking I found pictures of an awesome undead nurse costume she had made last year and decided to make her a mini zombie nurse inspired by it. I cracked myself up with that little knife and hat. I had so much fun making a doll with accessories that I think I'll start making them for the Etsy shop.
Next, an embroidered fabric collage wall hanging. I found a random cool picture I liked on Google, traced it onto muslin, embroidered over it and added the "blood" with permanent marker and paint. Coincidentally, she told me it looks a bit like her boyfriend. Sweet.
This next one is my favorite. A big zombie themed tote bag. I love both zombies and huge tote bags, so I have to admit I was very tempted to keep this one. I still have some of that fantastic stripey fabric left so I think I'll have to make one for myself. The brain applique is hand embroidered flannel with a felt backing to make it a little three dimensional.
And the best part? It's reversible! This side was done with freezer paper stencils, paint, and some cheap alphabet stencils from the craft store.
And last but not least, a blood splatter pillow, as demonstrated by the little nurse. As much as I wish I could, I can't take credit for this idea. I saw something similar in a past zombie swap and thought it was too awesome to pass up. Adam has asked me to make him one too.
I'm really pleased with how everything turned out, but what I'm most proud of is that other than the shipping costs I didn't spend any money on this swap. Everything was made with stuff I already had in my stash. That's a big accomplishment for me. Yay for stash busting!

My partner loved everything, and I should be getting my zombie loot sometime next week, so I'll be posting more undead goodness then. I can't wait!

First stitches

I'm not the sort of mother who gets all teary eyed and gushes to everyone she meets every time her child accomplishes something. I don't call everyone in my address book when she learns to spell a new word or gets a good progress report from school. Of course I am proud of her and I tell her that, but it's not often that I feel the need to brag to others. I'm just not that mom.

But this? This I'm going to brag about.

Autumn is embroidering. Embroidering! The craft nerd in me is rejoicing. We owe this in part to Amanda Soule, who gives some excellent tips for teaching children embroidery in her book, The Creative Family (highly recommended book, by the way). She suggests using burlap and a blunt needle, which worked out perfectly. All I did was thread the needle and hand her the hoop and she took to it like a natural. I figured she would just make a few practice stitches to get the hang of the process, but instead she decided to make a picture.
It's a car! Oh, I'm sorry, not just any car, but a Jeep, according to Autumn. Aside from asking me to change the thread and tie knots, she did this all on her own. I plan on framing it and hanging it in my craft room.

In more than four years of being a parent, I can honestly say this is one of my proudest moments. The other proudest moment involved vigilante justice and plastic flatware, but that's a story for another post. My kid is so awesome.

Crafts for my Kid

As the name implies, Craftster's Craft for my Kid Swap is a swap in which partners send handmade cuteness to each other's children based on their interests. I was partnered with a lovely mama in the UK and her two kiddos, 5-year-old Luke and 3-year-old Abby.

As I was running out the door to take their package to the post office today, I saw that our package had already been delivered! Of course Autumn had to tear into it as soon as we got home, but first here's what I made for our partners.

Drawstring backpacks-pink hearts for Abby and Transformers for Luke.

Abby's was filled with star shaped crayons, an apron and matching potholders for kitchen play. I absolutely love that apron fabric, especially paired with the aqua blue trim. Luckily I bought extra so I can make something for myself with it later on.


For Luke I sent a mixed media painting to hang in his bedroom, a "Super Luke" cape (which was photographed before ironing), and my favorite, a Power Rangers tee. Can you tell I used this swap to experiment with applique?

Autumn also drew pictures for each of them, which I forgot to photograph. She drew a family of pink and green fairies and Optimus Prime. And now what Autumn received:

A Transformers purse (how funny that we both made things with felt Transformers appliques) filled with chocolate coins, jewelry, fun erasers and a tiny pirate photo holder

A Spiderman tee (Autumn's favorite)

A picture frame, Transformers magnet puzzle, and a piratey door hanger

An adorable rainbow sock monkey

A sweet polka dotted dress, an inflatable shoulder parrot (awesome) and a little sewing kit

Needless to say, this swap was a lot of fun and I had an AMAZING partner. Everyone says Craftster swaps are addictive, and I'm beginning to see what they mean. I'm already signed up for another one for next month, and I'm thinking about joining another (or two or three).

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

Due to the gift of the Christmas flu I'm blogging about our holiday a little later than I would have liked to. Santa took some time out of his very busy schedule to stop by Adam's sister Terri's annual Christmas Eve party. Autumn is the one in the red hat without the beard. Luckily last year's Christmas dress still fit her. The shoes didn't, though, so she wore pink high tops to the party.Unfortunately I didn't have the time to make fabric gift wrap for all of my gifts this year, so I went with the next best thing and used recycled brown kraft paper, baker's twine and these adorable handmade tags. These pretty packages contained the aprons and play food for Adam's nieces (packed in mini cake boxes, how Martha of me) and the scarves and a video game (not handmade, I know. Bad Xan) for the nephews.The kids seemed really happy with their gifts, especially the girls. All three of them immediately wanted to put their aprons on and start baking. I was very pleased, and their parents were impressed.

On Christmas I wore my new favorite hat, a handmade gift from Faye. It matched my spankin' new stripes perfectly.Faye also made me this freaking awesome Jack Skellington hat and matching scarf, for my love of all things Tim Burton. I can't help but smile every time I wear them. Crafty friends are the best.In exchange I made her a crochet hook clutch so she can crochet on the go. Well, she already crochets on the go, but now she can do it in style. It holds 8 hooks, including this one I bought her from Etsy. When I made it I didn't have the actual crochet hook on hand so I had to guess at the sizing for the pockets. Luckily it fit perfectly when it arrived in the mail, and Faye seemed very happy with it.Now, on to Christmas morning. Autumn woke us up at a fairly reasonable hour (though Adam was still exhausted because we had stayed up very late the night before) and we all (including my grandmother, who came down from PA to celebrate with us) gathered 'round the tree to watch Autumn open gift upon gift upon gift. There were only a handful of gifts from us. The other ten million or so were from my mom and grandmother and the queen of overgifting, Adam's mom. You know how kids just tear through everything in all the excitement that comes with opening gifts? Yeah, Autumn's not a normal child. She opens everything very carefully and very, very slowly. It took her nearly two hours to finish. But it was plenty of fun to watch and she loved every single thing she got. Her stocking was stuffed with a tube of bubbles, a new pirate t-shirt and a beautiful hand bound book. From Adam and me there were also the puppets and treasure hunt bag, Underdog and Barbie as the Island Princess on DVD, and that final gift I almost wasn't able to make, a sink for her playroom kitchen. It was one of the few things that she requested, and I'm so glad I was able to pull it off. She was thrilled.The grandmothers showered her with lots of wonderful books, new winter clothes, and toys that will surely nurture her creativity and desire to learn. My personal favorite (and hers too, I think) was the Super Fort from Adam's mother, which is currently being used as a pirate ship in the kitchen. I think I'll have almost as much fun playing with it as she will. In fact, I'm off on a high seas adventure right now. I hope your Christmas was filled with warmth and laughter and family.

All is calm, all is bright.

Phew. Wednesday all our ornaments were finished and our tree is set up, decorated and filling the room with that wonderful piney smell. I must admit I didn't think I'd get everything done in time, but I think I was pretty successful. There are a couple of things I haven't checked off of my to-do list yet, though. I didn't get around to making a tree topper, and I ran out of my red and green prints so the soft trees have been put on hold. Plus I don't have the materials I need for Autumn's last gift yet. But other than that I think I've accomplished most of what I wanted to. So without further ado, a tour of our tree.
Scrappy balls...Salt dough shapes, made with the small one...Hand embroidered muslin...Glittered felt...Button wreaths...And a cranberry and popcorn garland.Ah. Now I feel Christmasey.