Birthday Princess 4.0

Now here's a girl who knows how to open birthday presents. I think in this shot she's unwrapping undershirts. And she could not have been more excited. It was adorable.

Anyway, as you can see she was quite pleased with the Sleeping Beauty style crown and necklace set I made from stash fabric. She and Grace love to play princess dress up, so I know they'll get a lot of use. (I'm thinking about writing up a tutorial for making these crowns. They're definitely a minimum-work-for-maximum-impact kind of project.)

I was excited when she got to the little purse set her mom hired me to make. (It was a bartered hire, just the kind I like. I got four big bottles of laundry soap, and countless hours of babysitting. Plus a couple weeks of dog sitting. And the kind of like-a-sister friend every girl needs. Yeah, I totally overcharge.) Abygail's take included a purse, a keychain, a makeup bag, and a wallet. And stickers! Inside the wallet! Abygail was beyond thrilled.

And I was too.

Happy Birthday Princess Abygail!

Super O!

I'm often annoyed with myself for forgetting to take photos of a project before giving it away. Usually, in the rush to get out the door to the party or shower, I don't take the time to snap a few shots, and then I regret it later.

This time, however, I almost regret taking the photos. This project looked better in my memory than it does here in the photos, which I just pulled off the camera and looked at for the first time this evening.

The model looks sharp, I'll admit (he always does), but the details are sloppy. The cape looks wrinkled and ill fitting, and close up especially, the appliques are a mess.

See?

And see?

But you know, this blog is more about recording my projects and the things I learned while making them than just showing the pretty pictures.

So, while I love this metallic gold fabric (also used for princess crowns here and here), I won't use it again for an applique project -- or anything else that leaves raw edges exposed. It just falls apart too easily. And I really need to work on my stitching technique. How do you backstitch a zig zag stitch without the overlap looking so sloppy? (See the (not so) super O above?) I stuffed the CTR letters to add dimension, which I like, but there are several sections of batting peeking out the edges, which I don't like. There's got to be a better way to do that. And I don't know if it's because they're polyester or what, but both the black and the blue background fabric were impossible to get (and keep) wrinkle free. I pressed and pressed and pressed that thing, and it still looks like it spend a month in the trunk of my car. (Not that anything would ever sit in the trunk of my car for a month, of course.)

It's frustrating to spend time on a project and not have it turn out as well as I'd wanted. And yet, I still count this one a success. I was happy with it when I wrapped it up (it's been a couple weeks now), and all reports say Super O loved it. It was made entirely from the stash, I completed it in just a couple hours, it's personalized, and it's not plastic. Plus it's righteous. What more could a six-year-old want? Perhaps most encouraging, Sam wants one for himself. (I think for him, though, CTR stands for "Choose the Rocketlauncher." He's really into munitions lately, but that's probably and entry for another blog.)

Princess Katie

Jean

Rachel

Three

Grace turned three, so I made her three dollies.

I'll admit that some of the details were more for me than for her. Jaguar ruffles, rhinestone barrettes, vintage lace and buttons.

But I think she likes them anyway.

Copy Cat

I had a jewelry party last week. It was a lot of fun, and got me in the mood to do some more beading again.

That's a good thing, because I have a lot of beads.

This is what the project area looked like after the party. After about 10 ladies had used the stash to make stuff and left with it. This was LEFT OVER! See all the stuff back there on the sideboard? Beads. Plus, there's stuff I didn't even bring out of the back room. Yeah, the stash is a bit out of control.

Anyway, before the party I bought a bunch of jewelry from Old Navy to use for ideas. Amber liked this one (with the tag attached, on the right below), but looked at me like a crazy person when I suggested she try making it from a length of chain from a bike lock (cause that's the kind of stuff I have in my stash).

The next day, I decided to give it a try. I've never purchased jewelry with the intent to copy before. I don't think I'll make a habit of it, but I don't feel particularly bad about it because it's Old Navy -- not some struggling artisan. Plus I made a few changes. And mine is completely recycled from old and broken jewelry.

Here's the side-by-side comparison.

And here's the glamor shot.

My favorite part is the pearl button at the bottom of the bike chain. It's a clip on earring.

Commissions

Before Christmas I made a bracelet and earring set for my friend Tiffany to give to her cousin. We wanted to get together so I could teach her how to make it herself, but the schedule just didn't work out. So this became my first commissioned project. It's shockingly similar to this set made for Dawn last year. But this time I got better pictures of it.

And then last month a friend who works with Shane ordered a little purse, also shockingly similar to purses previously featured here.

It is a bit thrilling to have people like my stuff enough to buy it, and while I've contemplated opening an Etsy shop or actually doing a craft fair, I think I like crafting best as play, not work. It's more fun to create something for the first time than to make it to order. And when I'm making gifts, I don't mind spending a lot of time on it figuring it out. That's just part of the gift and part of the fun. But it's not quite the same when I'm thinking of my time as money. So, yeah. No shop for me. I'm still happy (and flattered) to take an occasional order, but this isn't anything I'm ever going to make real money off of. And I'm fine with that.

But you know what would be awesome? Bartering. I make purses, you clean my house. That kind of thing. I don't expect any takers, cause my house is a disaster and everyone knows that. But still, it's fun to dream.

Busy Week

In the past 10 days I've been to baby showers for four women, and birthday parties for two little girls.

I need to write a post about everything I've learned while making "quick and easy projects" gone slow and complicated. But all's well that ends well, right? So for now, I'll just post the pictures.

For the babies:

For the three-year-olds:

If you're counting, you may notice that there are only three baby gifts pictured. I didn't bother taking a picture of the fourth, but I'll tell you about it because I think it's a pretty great idea and you might want to use it sometime. Get a package of disposable freezer containers and wrap them up with a list of your favorite meals that freeze well. Write a note telling your friend to pick five (or whatever) and return the list so that you can stock her freezer before the baby arrives. Bonus gift: stock your own freezer while you're at it, cause you might as well.

Black Apple Dolls

I may be the last crafter on the Internet to discover Emily Martin and her Etsy shop, The Black Apple. But I'm sure glad I finally did, because making these little dolls (as featured on Martha) just might be my new addiction.

This first set went to a couple of strawberry blond cuties who just turned one.

Turning those skinny arms and legs right-side-out is a bit of a pain, but other than that these dolls are a breeze to make. Unless of course you have a giant stash of fabric. Then it will take you hours to contemplate all the possible combinations. Everything here came from the stash -- most of it from the stockpile I swindled from little old ladies. These vintage prints are perfectly suited for this sort of thing, aren't they? I'm already planning more for an almost three-year-old I know. Shhh! Don't tell Grace.

Ornament Exchange

One of my favorite Christmas craft traditions is the annual ornament exchange. I've been to several now with friends in multiple states. Every year is different; every year is fun.

I love decorating my tree with all the handmade goodies I get to bring home. Seeing all those treasures on my tree reminds me of friends near and far, and because I'm silly and sentimental like that, I feel like I've brought home a piece of them (but not in a gross, body-parts-hanging-from-the-tree kind of way).

Anyway, I should have taken pictures of all the ornaments I've brought home through the years, but I didn't think of it until we'd put away all the Christmas decorations. But I did manage to get pictures of the ornaments I made. Miles was my assistant for the photo shoot.

I wanted to make a beaded snowflake. I've had it in my head for years, but I've never succeeded in making that vision a reality. This year I thought with a little help from Martha, I could make it happen.

I was wrong.

Feel free to click and make it bigger. You really should see it close up, in all of its spindly, awkward glory.

I would have taken it apart to salvage the beads, but I actually spent quite a bit of time on it. I found myself in that awkward position of trying to convince myself to like it to justify my investment of time. To make mattes worse, Sam and Grace loved it. It was kind of funny actually. I make stuff all the time, and the kids hardly pay attention. They're hard to impress, usually. But this one, they carried around like some precious object. They called it a starfish, and wanted to give it a place of honor on our tree.

I thought it might still be passable to take to the ornament exchange, until I heard Shane's feedback. He tried so hard to be diplomatic as he offered suggestions to "make it look better." By then I was over it. I just said I'd try to make sure it went to someone I didn't' like.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone on the guest list I could wish it upon.

In the end, I came up with something a little more presentable, and no one had to pretend to be excited to take the starfish home.

These beaded wreaths and icicles were quick and surprisingly easy to make while holding a baby. I made them mostly with beads and ribbon from the stash. I purchased a couple strands of filler beads, and some wire to hold it all together. I spent less than $10 on the whole batch.

Cheap. Crafty. Sparkly. My favorite.

Craft Fair Purses or Fancy Math Lessons

Once upon a time I got together with some friends to rent a table at a local craft fair. I decided to make little purses. Because you can't have too many little purses.

Or maybe you can.

Because the craft fair didn't work out. We lost our spot, due to not registering. (Oops!)

I was relieved, though, because I'd planned to have dozens of purses completed by mid October, and I barely eked out four.

Two of each design. They're reversible. (So it's sort of like I made eight. (But then again, they're duplicates, so it's like I made two.))

Anyway, the point is, here are some purses I made. And this isn't the last of them. In my mad attempts to mass produce, I cut out fabric and trim for 20 more. (Just 10 more designs. But they're reversible. So it's like 40 purses. You can't have too many little purses.)

That's my bag, baby.

There's a lot to do to get ready to bring home a new baby. First you probably ought to get the kid a place to sleep. And it's a good idea to dig out his big brother's baby clothes from the attic, before he comes home and charms you with his first blowout. (Adorable!) If you're a show-off, you can wash the hand-me-downs before you put them in the drawer because it's been five years since those little onesies have seen the light of day.

But don't go too crazy, because there's lots more to do and you're running out of time. In fact, you'd better get started on the MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT OF ALL: Your diaper bag. Sure, you could use one of the old ones lying around from previous babies. And you probably have a whole closet full of assorted satchels and back packs handed out like candy at all of the professional meetings your husband attends. But don't bother. There's no happiness down that road; only disappointment. You'll spend the next six months switching bags for every outing because none of them are quite right.

What you really need is a purse big enough to use as a diaper bag, or a diaper bag cute enough to use as a purse. And since you have that ridiculous stash of fabric hoarded at closeout sales and swindled from little old ladies, you should probably make it yourself. And you should probably use this tutorial because, well, look at it. It's perfect!

And when you're done it should look like this.

Now that it's finished, force your husband to admire your handiwork. Insist that he inspect each compartment individually. Point out the handy key fob.

Pay no attention when he observes that you've filled all the pockets with your own stuff, and there's barely any room for baby gear. Distract him with lies: tell him that you picked out that manly chocolaty brown color for him -- so he could carry the bag (and the baby) with pride all the way to the changing table!

When he's finished admiring it, wait until he leaves the room before you kiss the bag. He's supportive of your hobbies, but being pregnant can only explain so much crazy. The rest is all on you.

And of course, by "you" I mean "me."

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have an enormous pile of onesies to wash. And a diaper bag to smooch.