November 2011

Little Spoils

by Kate on November 29, 2011

1. The Christmas rock my husband made in elementary school for his grandma. She sent it to me one year as a Christmas gift and it’s my most prized holiday decoration. The rock was painted white before he decoupaged a pretty holiday napkin and some glitter on top. Love.

2, 3. Forced narcissus bulbs. They look so happy when it’s dark and cold outside. Plus they smell good, and make original gifts. I’m also trying to force some crocus bulbs for the first time. We’ll see what happens. I can be very forceful.

4. Vintage Hills Brothers coffee tin. I snagged this nugget at a local antiques shop recently. Isn’t it handsome? Things I might put inside: crayons for Stella, Christmas cookies, more bulbs, vintage buttons, hugs from a tiny hedgehog.

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Scrap the halls

by Kate on November 28, 2011

I wanted to adorn our door with something besides the standard yuletide wreath. Scrappy wreaths are an old concept but so goodie. They say, “Hey. The lady that lives here has fabric. And likes to make stuff. So merry Christmas, guy.”

So easy to make, no sewing machine or glue gun required. Let me show you how I made mine. First I pilfered my stash of fat quarters for holiday-esque palettes.

I picked the ones I liked and very roughly sliced them into 2-3″ ribbons with my rotary cutter. Seriously don’t worry about measuring, just eyeball it. Even better if you already have scrap pieces or ribbon roughly the sizes you want.

I used a 14″ foam floral hoop – something any craft store with a selection of silk flowers should carry. I tied the scrap pieces around the hoop (double knots). Don’t worry about the length of your scraps until you’re all done.

Once you’re finished tying scraps, you can go back and give your wreath a haircut. Cut conservatively so you don’t go too short. Afterwards you’ll have a nice little pile of holiday fabric scraps for some decoupage. Or whatever!

And bingo, bango, your wreath is done! Adjust the spacing of the scraps as you see fit. Admire your handy work. Hang it from a fire hydrant, as dictated by holiday tradition.

By the way, I think it’s just as pretty from the back.

Happy scrapping, guys :)

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Shopping Survival Kit

by Kate on November 23, 2011

Shopping list? Check. Caffeine? Check. Giant comfy underpants? Check.

Black Friday is nearly upon us, peops. Is it me or are there more sales, promotions and commercials than usual this year? I usually stay away from the post-Thanksgiving madness but I’m tempted to get up in the mix. I even made a special kit to offset the trauma of fluorescent light and long lines at Starbucks. The essentials: tissues, energy drink, breath mints, reusable shopping tote, aspirin, lip gloss, bandaids.

I constructed this 7×7″ emergency zippy pouch using stash scraps. You could make them in different color schemes, for many types of anticipated crises.

Here are instructions for the emergency cross pouch.

Black fabric pieces:
8×8″ for back side of pouch (cut 1)
8×3″ (cut 2)
4×2″ (cut 4)
3×2″ (cut 2)

Gingham fabric pieces:
8×8″ for inside lining (cut 2)
2×2″ (cut 2)
4×2″ (cut 1)

You’ll need a coordinating zipper at least 8″ long.

All seam allowances are 1/2 inch. Sew the center column pieces together, pressing seam allowances in one direction with a hot iron.

Sew the other two columns together from top to bottom. Continue pressing seams allowances flat on the back.

Sew the middle three columns together, taking care to line the gingham pieces up evenly.

Sew the remaining 8×3″ black pieces on to either side of the center section. You can now stitch around the cross using a contrasting thread, if you want.

From here, the zippy pouch is very easy to finish. Both Flossy Teacakes and Twelve22 have great tutorials for installing the zipper and sewing the pouch up.

Happy sewing and happy shopping. You maniacs! :)

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2-Day Pattern Sale!

by Kate on November 21, 2011

Please check out the 2-day sale over at Noodlehead – super cute patterns on sale. Plus you’d be helping Anna and her kids.

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Cranberry Mojitos

by Kate on November 20, 2011

Add this to your holiday survival kit! It will keep all of the turkeys at your house from going cray-cray this season. That includes you!

Ingredients:
1 bunch of mint, fresh
2 teaspoons sugar
2-4 ounces light rum
Juice from 2 limes
2/3 cup cranberry juice cocktail
A splash of sparkling water
1 cup crushed ice

Mash the mint in the bottom of your glass and mix together with the sugar. Add the rum and lime juice, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cran cocktail, ice and a splash of sparkling water. You can play with the cranberry juice and rum proportions, mixing it to taste. Now give the first one to grandma because she loves you best :)

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DIY Hostess Gift

by Kate on November 17, 2011

The season of parties is upon us! A.K.A. the season of showing up with a bottle of wine. I always wish I had the time and forethought to bring a unique gift for the hosts, but I usually bring the wine. And hey, who doesn’t like to drink a little grapey-grape? However, I’ve finally made the special gift happen. Our good friends are hosting us for Thanksgiving (awesome!) and I’ve whipped together something for the hostess. I hope she likes her new felt blossom brooch!

I followed instructions on Purl Bee to construct the flowers. They have a downloadable pattern for cutting out the pattern pieces but I free-handed mine. I repurposed felt circles from a garland, hence the stitch marks. I cut them as follows.

See how the pieces come together over at Purl Bee. I sewed the bottom of each blossom to a light green felt circle, and I attached the brooch pin with hot glue.

Voila! A charming little gift for a splendid hostess. Oh, and yes, we’ll still bring the wine.

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Pumpkin Whippy

by Kate on November 15, 2011

I love me some pumpkin pie with whipped cream but I usually ditch the crust. Meet my new fave Thanksgiving dessert: whipped pumpkin. This recipe is creamy without being overly rich or sweet. It’s easy to make and kids eat it up too. The original recipe came from Taste of Home but my version has a couple of modifications.

Ingredients:
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant butterscotch pudding mix
1.5 cups cold milk
1 can of pumpkin
1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups Cool Whip dessert topping.
optional: crumbled graham crackers, cinnamon sticks, gingersnaps

Combine the pudding mix and milk in a large bowl. Mix until the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the pumpkin, pie spice and vanilla, and fold in the Cool Whip. Pour the mixture into dessert dishes and chill in the refrigerator. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip or real whipped cream. Optional: top with crushed graham crackers or garnish with cinnamon sticks and ginger snaps.

Whip it good!

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DIY: Thanksgiving Headdress

by Kate on November 14, 2011

Stella and I have teamed up to bring you the Holiday Headdress Tute. This is a fun and easy (feasy!) project you can do at the kitchen table with your lil’ monkeys. You can likely use stuff that you already have around the house.

You will need:
A brown paper grocery bag
Adhesive (craft glue, Fabri-Tac, or hot glue will do)
A paint brush for glue
Decorations (feathers, fabric scraps, fringe, tissue paper, gems, glitter, etc.)
1 yard yarn or ribbon cut in half
hole punch
scissors

Start by making the headband piece of the headdress. Cut a strip of paper from your bag that is approximately 7″ wide x 19″ long. Fold the strip in half once lengthwise, then unfold. You will have a crease down the middle of your paper with two equal sides. Fold each of those in half towards the center (see below). Then fold once again towards the center – exactly the same way that bias tape is created. This will give you a nearly 2″ wide headband with smooth, folded sides.

Cut feathers of various sizes from the remaining paper. Cut as many or as few as you would like.

Here comes the fun. Let your kiddo use a paintbrush to apply the glue. Sometimes it’s hard for little hands to squeeze glue from the bottle and aim at the same time. Now stick those decorations in place! Stella loved laying down strips of ricrac and dumping glitter everywhere. We’re still picking glitter off of ourselves :)

Once your feathers are dry you can assemble the headdress. This is the part where you may want to use hot glue (parents). It dries fast so kids can wear their headdress right way. Open your paper strip and run a bead of hot glue along one side, near the crease. Place your feathers in the glue, bottoms down. It’s helpful to figure out the order of your feathers before laying the glue. Next, run another bead of glue along the top edge and fold your paper strip back together. Your feathers are now securely sandwiched between the two sides of the strip. Once the glue dries, you can decorate the headband piece of the headdress.

Punch a hole about 1″ from each end of the headband piece. Thread a piece of yarn/ribbon through each hole. You’ll be tying these together once it’s on your child’s head.

Your fancy new headdress is ready to be worn! Hooray!

This is a great project for kids to do on Thanksgiving day. Set up a little craft table with some adult supervision and let them go nuts. Let the kids wear the headdresses at dinner for some fun holiday photos. Cheers!

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Retro Style

by Kate on November 9, 2011

Vintage pattern illustrations are inspiring to me. I used to copy the beautiful groovy drawings when I was a kid – I actually became sort of a pro at sketching feathered hair. Not to brag or anything. I was pretty amazing at it. But not to brag. My friend Ashli spoiled me with a very generous and lovely gift. She found a stash of vintage patterns in her mom’s attic, boxed them up, and sent the whole treasure trove to me. Thank you so much, Ashli and mom! I’m told that Ashli’s mom and aunts made many of these outfits for themselves. And honestly, a lot of these styles are in stores right now. What am I going to make?

Hold on to your ric-rac because easter is coming a little early this year. Nothing tells the world you’re a grown woman like whimsical tulip pockets.

It’s hard to look playful when a shark is attacking your calves in shallow water. These models manage beautifully in their multi-kinis.

Leslie was forced to leave the potluck early after someone vomited rigatoni on her jumpsuit.

“You fool! I’m carrying J.R. Ewing’s bastard baby, which makes my child a legal heir to the Ewing oil fortune! Stay out of my way or I’ll use harsh language with Miss Ellie!”

“Hey Nancy, let’s make some aspic.”

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Paper Chains

by Kate on November 5, 2011

We like to create creations up in this creative house. Some of our projects are involved and very messy, even chaotic. That’s why it’s nice to make something simple, easy and fun. Yesterday we busted out the good ol’ construction paper and tape. Paper chains, y’all! To make quick strips I used my cutting mat and a rotary cutter designated specifically for paper. I think most preschoolers can put these together and they get a quick result. I highly recommend getting a weighted dispenser if you have lil’ chillins that like to use the tape. It’s much easier for them to maneuver the tape off the roll with two hands.

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