Owls and Cowls

Owls are so ubiquitous on Etsy that it's something of an inside joke amongst sellers; incorporate an owl into your work and you just might have it featured in one of the coveted Front Page slots.

Or maybe the owl craze has died down a bit...

Given the ubiquity of plush owls, I was surprised when I received a request from a potential customer to make one.
Well, a sale's a sale I guess. Here's what I came up with:






Turns out the request came from a someone who likes owls and is a Spankers' fan. That made a lot more sense.
I do like the way the little owl turned out. Maybe I'll make a few more and see how they do in the shop.

Yard Sale Score!

It's Sunday, so I didn't really expect there to be an abundance of garage sales today, but I checked Craigslist and there was one on the way to the grocery store, and I needed to pick up a few things anyway, so I put the kids in the car and we went to check it out.

Score!





I'd been wanting an armoire or some sort of shelving for this spot. I desperately needed a place where I could organize my craft and sewing supplies, which have so far been stored in bins and boxes around the house and out in our detached office/storage building. I was wasting so much time searching for the things I needed and having to sort through a huge plastic bin of fabric every time I needed a particular one. A lot of stuff was stored in the baby's closet (the only closet with any space in it), so if I needed something from there and he was sleeping, I'd just have to wait.
Now I have almost everything I need within arms' reach of the kitchen table, where I do most of my sewing and crafting, and I can easily tell what fabrics I have and how much. My sewing machine fits in the bottom part easily so it's a breeze to put everything away if we want to use the table for say, eating. The best part; it was only $30! I also walked away with a couple of wool sweaters that are felting in the washer right now. I'm not sure what I'm going to make out of them yet, but I'm pretty sure they want to be turned into plush toys of some sort.

More Handmade Gifts

In a few days we're headed to Louisiana to visit the in-laws, and then off to my sister's new home near Mobile, AL.
There we will be celebrating three birthday's; my middle son's, my niece Madison's and my other niece, Breanna's.
I made a Waldorf-style doll for Madison, so decided to make Breanna's gifts as well.

I found the cutest little free purse pattern here. The first one I made, I reduced the size of the pattern to accommodate the fabric I was using since I didn't have enough for the full-size purse. The result was cute, but so tiny I decided it would be better as a little play purse for Madison (who's turning two), so now I had two gifts for Maddy and still nothing for Breanna.






The next purse seemed like a the perfect size for a nine-year old girl. The pattern is easy to use and these little purses can be whipped up in about an hour's time. I might have to make a couple for myself, although I would probably lengthen the strap a little.






I also made some polymer clay charm jewelry for Breanna. This was a foray into two previously unexplored crafts; polymer clay and jewelry making. Seriously, hats off to anyone who works in either of these mediums, because you need to have some serious patience and good eyes for this stuff. I think they turned out pretty cute, and given that the charms are tiny, I have a TON of clay leftover for future crafts.
I made her a strawberry earrings and necklace set:





Another earring/necklace set with cupcakes:





And a little charm bracelet with various treats:





I'm really looking forward to our trip. Hope the girls like their gifts!

Adventures in Doll Making

I decided I wanted to make a doll for my niece's 2nd birthday, and have been really enchanted with Waldorf style dolls lately, so I set out to make my own.


Since the traditional Waldorf dolls are made with all natural materials like wool roving for stuffing, cotton interlock for the "skin" and mohair yarn for the hair, and because those materials can be very expensive, I decided I would make a "practice" doll with materials I had around the house.


I didn't have any wool roving on hand, but there's usually a giant bag of polyfill around so I decided to use that. And instead of the gauze tubing I used a knee-high stocking to form the head.






There are a few different tutorials on the internet that show how the head is constructed. I consulted this one and this one.

The skin colored cotton interlock that most doll makers recommend for these style dolls is extremely pricey, so my next improvisation was to use some bamboo velour I had leftover from making cloth diapers. It seemed like the perfect choice as it was a close approximation to a skin tone, and it's so soft. I wrapped my shaped head tightly in the velour and hand stitched it in place, then embroidered the facial features. One more improvisation; traditionally these dolls' cheek color is applied using a beeswax crayon, one more thing I didn't have. A regular old Crayola brand worked just fine. Now I had something that was actually starting to look like a doll!



The hair was definitely a challenge. I used a bulky acrylic yarn that I had picked up at a flea market, and I really wanted to make a her wig using the crocheted cap method detailed in this tutorial, but ultimately found this yarn too ungainly to crochet with, so instead I used this tutorial.
I couldn't manage to sew the hair on with a length of yarn as instructed. The yarn was just too thick to pull through the head fabric, but I sewed it on with thread and it seems like it's tacked down pretty good. I anticipate that she may be carried around by the hair a bit since she's a gift for a toddler, so I really sewed the hair down.
I think her hair may be my favorite part of her!

I'm not thrilled with her body; she's a bit long in the torso, and I should have curved her arms, so I guess it's back to the drawing board to make a new body pattern, or I might just break down and purchase one, but all in all I'm pleased with how she turned out. I made her a little cotton dress with matching bloomers. I had to put her out of sight from Lennon, because he really loves her and I don't want him to get too attached; she started out as a practice doll, but she's definitely going to my niece, and I guess the next doll I make will be for Lennon.

I wonder what Maddy will name her? She looks like an Emily to me, but I'll let Maddy decide.

This ain't my first rodeo, kid.

Your diaper is dry. Your belly is full. And the doctor has given you a clean bill of health.

I know you're faking it because there are no tears, you keep casting sideways glances at me to see if I'm watching you, and if I were to pick you up the crying would cease instantly.

Not being allowed to pull every CD off the shelf is not going to kill you or cause you any harm at all, so get over it and go play with your toys.

I refuse to be manipulated by a 14 month old. You're STILL crying? Wow, you really have stamina! No, you cannot play with the CDs. I can block out your fake crying; it doesn't bother me at all! It just blends in with the other household noises like the refrigerator's hum or the AC kicking on.

That's almost 5 minutes now! I like how you wind it up to a fevered pitch, then go into the pathetic sobbing for a bit, then wind it right back up. One has to admire your dramatic range! But no, CDs are not for babies to play with.

Here! You want to play in the tupperware cabinet? I'll unlatch it for you. No? Not even the prospect of being able to scatter plastic bowls all over the place has any appeal? You really want to play with those CDs, huh? And you're still crying. Doesn't that hurt your throat after a while? Well, I'm sorry, but CDs are not for...

you know what kid? Knock yourself out! They're all backed up on the computer anyway. Take 'em all off the shelf, open 'em up and spill their contents. I don't care anymore.

Just please stop crying.

Lagniappe

The Wikipedia entry for 'lagniappe' (pronounced LAN-yap) defines it as such: "Lagniappe refers to a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase (such as a 13th donut when buying a dozen), or more broadly, "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure."

In other words, a little something extra.

I wanted to include a little lagniappe when I shipped out orders; something just a little more special than "thank you" written on the back of my business card. I also wanted something I could do with all of those fabric scraps that seemed too small to use, yet too big to just throw away. I needed something that wouldn't break the bank. Most of my merchandise is under $20, so it wouldn't make a lot of sense to give something away unless I could keep the cost down to about 25¢.

I decided on fabric-covered button magnets. I'd always known about the fabric covered buttons you can easily make yourself, but was delighted to discover that you could purchase "flat back" versions of these; perfect for gluing a magnet to the back.

All you need is fabric scraps slightly larger in diameter than the button size you'll be using. I used a 1 ⅛" diameter button, so I cut out the fabric circles about 2" in diameter. This task was made extra easy with the second-hand die cutting machine I purchased off of Ebay.

Making the buttons is pretty self-explanatory. Lay your fabric circle, right side down, in the button mold. Place the dome piece in the mold, tuck the fabric edges in, place the button back on top and then press it in. Then pop your button out of the mold.
Glue a magnet to the back and you're finished! I used rare earth magnets, which are surprisingly strong.

I then use some removable glue dots to affix the magnets to a little hang-tag, also made with my handy die cutting machine.
I add two hang-tags to the product itself; one with care instructions, and a larger blank tag so that my customer can use it as a gift tag to write their own message on. The magnet hang-tag is affixed to the outside of the bag, with a little note from me written on the back of the tag.

The Little Details

I just crawled out of bed, and while I was grinding the coffee beans I was struck by a thought, and then really surprised that the thought I was struck by didn't strike me much sooner.

A little bit of backup story: My dad busted his leg up pretty bad recently and required surgery. His recovery requires him to have the leg elevated for 6 weeks and daily physical therapy, thus ruling out any possibility of my mom being able to care for him at home during this time. Once he was out of the hospital, he was sent to what is essentially a nursing home type facility, but they provide him with the medical care and physical therapy he needs.

I haven't been able to visit him yet. I was on tour, then when I got home my mom warned me not to come yet; a week spent in the hospital and she had picked up something and was sick herself. She didn't want to spread it around to me and the kids.
Halloween weekend is my last free weekend before I leave for another tour, so I'd been talking with my sister about her Halloween plans. I could come down and we could take her kids and my kids trick-or-treating together, and the she could take the bigger kids to a Halloween party afterwards.

My sister emailed me the other day. She was going to go have lunch with Mom and Dad at the nursing home on Halloween day. "I'm going to let the kids wear their costumes. The old people there really like seeing the kids."

I've been so busy this week. Lots of band duties, meetings, a photo shoot, parent-teacher conference, volunteering at the school Book Fair, Etsy stuff. Whew! I'd been trying to think of everything I would need to do in order to get out of here early enough on Saturday to drive to Houston and meet up with all of them by lunchtime, and had been going through the mental checklist of everything I'd need to pack and also trying to keep track of everything I still needed to do over the next couple of days. All the time I'm thinking that it would be fun for my kids to wear their costumes to the nursing home too. Then I was grinding the beans this morning. Coltrane is dressing up as the Grim Reaper this year. I can't take the kid into a nursing home dressed as the Grim Reaper. My sister's words came back to me, and I'm thinking that the old people would probably be less than delighted to see a miniature Grim Reaper wandering the halls. Maybe he could just stick his head in their rooms and say "Boo!"

What strikes me most is how this didn't occur to me sooner. What if it had taken longer? I was picturing myself hastily stripping Coltrane's costume off of him at the entrance way to the facility; us standing in front of automatic sliding doors with me struggling with the knot in his cloak or pulling his mask off. Trying to hide the 4 foot long plastic scythe, while explaining to him the inappropriateness of his costume in this kind of setting. Well, the whole thing made me giggle a little.