Yearly Archives: 2011

The Happy Bat Necklace

Here’s a little felt tutorial for you! I made a quick Halloween necklace during a break from sewing quiet book pages.

Make Some Happy Bats:

  1. Grab the pattern here. Cut out two felt bat pieces (front and back) for each bat. The small bats can be tricky to cut out! I did one side at a time, then matched them up and trimmed.
  2. Embroider the faces: Satin stitch fangs, back stitch smiles and French knot eyes. Be creative!
  3. Sew the center bat pieces together with a blanket stitch around the edges.
  4. Cut two 10″ lengths of your ribbon. I used a thin black satin and transparent purple.
  5. Layer a small bat around the edge of the center bat with the ends of one set of ribbons coming out of the other side. Blanket stitch around the edges, making small stitches when you cross the bat and ribbons.
  6. Repeat on the other side.
  7. Try the necklace out for length and trim the ribbons as needed. Using jewelry pliers, attach your ribbon clamp clasp. Mine came with some chain for adjustability.

 

Fall Palette

I finally did my fall clothes shopping, and here is what I got! We went to Kohls, and everything was 40% off or more. Since I was tying to get less items, I chose a palette of colors I could mix and match. I went with gray, brown, natural and rust.

The sweater coat was on sale for $28. I love it! So soft and simple without being boring. I think it has the vibe of Anthropologie or Free People) two stores I CAN NOT afford! I think this sweater will go with everything. The other sweater I chose was only $13. It is a lightweight stripe in rust and natural. Really pretty and good for layering.

I really needed long sleeve layering shirts. I went with rust, brown and gray. I went up in size from xs to s to get a little more length. I hate when shirts ride up!

My “splurge” ($34) was a new pair of jeans. I’ve love my flap-pocket jeans for years, but after wearing them several times a week under my belly throughout my pregnancy, they now have a hole in the butt. I went with an indigo wash with a flared leg. I’m ready for a break from all the skinny jeans! The belt it came with looks cheap, but I don’t have to wear it.

What colors are you into this fall?

My Handmade Weekender Tote

We have a cross-country trip coming up in less than a month, so I’ve had packing on the brain. I have to carry my laptop on the plane so I will be able to work nights during the trip (freelancers get no vacation pay!), and I’ll have stuff for baby and I as well. But what bag to use?

The Inspiration

I fell in love with Kokopax’s Samantha Tote diaper bag in their gray and white “flutter” print. So pretty! I love gray and white together. When I first found it, it was on sale for $62 but I didn’t have the money. My heart sank when it went up to $98. All hope was lost when it went up to $158 (!!) What’s a crafty girl to do? Make her own!

Since I wanted something big enough to put my laptop in, hold baby items and be a purse, I decided on a weekender-sized tote. I want a separate, matching laptop sleeve and a zippered pouch that can come out. I’d had troubles sewing my own bags in the past, so I was leaning towards a pattern. When nothing fit the bill, I read 1,004,572 tutorials and decided to just design my own.

The tote is done! I was only able to sew 15 minutes at a time here and there over a week, but it didn’t take long at all. I still need to do the padded laptop sleeve and zippered pouch out of my leftover fabric.

     

The tote is fully lined with fusable fleece. The outside is home decor weight fabric by Dwell Studio. I splurged on 1 yard when it was on sale for 50% off. It was the only fabric I liked and is much stronger than quilter’s cotton. The straps have fusable fleece in them as well, and they are reinforced for strength where they are attached.

 

Inside, one side has a row of open pockets up high for my cell phone, pocket camera, etc.. The other side has diaper bag style elastic pockets down low to hold diapers/wipes, sunglasses case and more. I added two D rings on ribbons because I like to clip my keys and some anti-bac to the top of my bag.

I love it! I made the tote long enough that my laptop will be a few inches below the top of the bag when on its end. There is plenty of room for sweaters (we are flying from VA to CA in November – big climate difference!) or a blanket, but its soft structure will fold up under an airplane seat. I don’t know if I will carry it as a daily bag, yet. It may be too big for that when loaded. I can certainly make a second bag this winter that is shorter for daily use.

I’ve been on the fence about putting a magnetic snap on the bag since a computer will be in there. What do you think? (Please excuse the pj’s and messy hair! It was one of those days…)

Starbucks Felt Breakfast Quiet Book Page

Edit: Updated photos here.

I wanted a food page in Jax’s quiet book, because he is so into his play kitchen. Since I already did a Starbucks page, I decided to make the food page go along with the same theme.

Nothing too fancy here. Just a lot of food and a plate to play on. You could add silverware too. I didn’t because he would just try to put the food on a felt fork and end up dropping everything on the plane. I made so much food, I had to make two “pastry bags” to hold it!

Here’s what I used: dark green background felt (because I couldn’t find any more of the same brown I’d used on the Starbucks page), felt (in white, yellow, orange-yellow, green, tan, cream, natural, pink and light brown), batting/stuffing, pinking shears and embroidery floss to match.

   

Mini Birthday Cake Donut: Make white French knots as sprinkles on the pink frosting. Sew the frosting to the donut top. Roll a strip of batting into a ring and sew it between the two halves. Banana: Roll a strip of batting into a tube and sew it between the two banana pieces. Using one strand of dark brown thread and a sharp needle, take your peel pieces and run the thread up through the felt as if the felt was made of two layers and you were going between them. Every now and then, come out of the felt and loop back to make a random stitch on the surface, then go back into the felt. Do this to make all the subtle, dotted lines that form on banana peels. Sew the two sides of the peel onto the banana halfway. You could add snaps or Velcro if you wanted the peel to stay closed.

Egg: Sew the yolk down with a bit of batting. Sew the two sides together. Bacon: Cut wavy pink stripes to fit your bacon and sew two on to each side. Sew the two halves of each piece of bacon together. Cheese: I made cheese and an English muffin so you can build a breakfast sandwich. Simply sew the two cheese halves together. English Muffin: Sew the darker circles to the muffin bottoms to make the crust, then sew the two sides together with a thin layer of batting.

Pumpkin Scone: Take a piece of embroidery thread and knot the end. Come up from the back of the icing and lay the thread out in a squiggle as you’d like to have the decorative icing to look. Go back down throughout the felt, being careful not to disturb your squiggle. Make a series of couching stitches all along the squiggle to hold it in place. Sew the icing to the top of the scone, then sew the two halves together with some batting in between.

Pastry Bags: Decide if you need one or two bags. If you make all of the food, you need two! Sew the stars to the green circles to make the logos, then sew them to the center of the bag pieces. You will be making a pleat in the bottom of each side of the bag, like in the photo to the right. Sew the edge of the bag down until you are an inch from the bottom, then sew through the edge and the fold above it. Sew across the bottom, then through the edge and the fold for an in, then up the edge to the top. Leave the top open for a pocket.

   

Plate: Sew the plate down to the background then pin the stitch template to the center. Stitch around the template with gray thread to make the plate edge.

I’ll be sewing this page into the quiet book beside the Starbucks drink page. The logos tie together and you can dunk the donut in the tea or put the strawberries on the plate.

 

If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. I really would love to see your version! Jax loves these pages and had a meltdown after I finished taking pictures and put it away. His favorites are the banana and strawberries (neither of which he likes to eat in real life, silly boy!)

Here is an update on this page.

Hungry yet?

Link-o-rama

Happy Tuesday! Last night was rough (toddler teething), so it feels like the week is lasting forever. But, the baby is napping, chick pea & veggie curry is in the slow-cooker and I’m settled in working.

Here are some links I’ve collected lately:

  • I don’t take sugar in my tea/coffee, but I adore these DIY sugar cubes!
  • I’ll be posting another quiet book page today. I posted a sneak peek on Facebook.
  • Aw! My boys are in a photo contest! (And so am I!)
  • Treehouses! Go, look!
  • A glitter play dough tutorial.
  • Here’s a video of Jax saying a few words. He doesn’t always like to parrot words back for me, but I am going to try to record him regularly.

Apple Butter

I made my first batch of apple butter this weekend. I also canned for the very first time!

I was sure when I headed to be that I had messed something up somehow. I’d followed all the directions, but the buttons on the lids weren’t sucked in. I didn’t realize the jars had to cool overnight before they depressed. I headed upstairs with an angry, tired toddler (he’d had to wait while I timed the canning process) feeling defeated and swearing not to try canning again.

     

I woke this morning to all 8 jars of apple butter sealed (Dan thought he just heard one pop, but they look fine!) A nice surprise before starting my Monday work day.

I put 20 cups of apples, 2 cups of sugar, 2ish tablespoons of cinnamon and a ½ teaspoon of ground cloves in the crock pot all day to make this. So, so tasty! I ended up with 9 8oz jars for apple butter.

And, how cute is this wee, tiny apple Jax picked?

Sunday Souvenir – Letters

A simple post, as my day has been busy and went downhill right at the end.

When looking through my mother’s things, I found this letter she wrote my grandma when she was 8. The flowers make me happy – especially the little red swirls. So fifties and girly and sweet!

In my grandma’s things, I came across this letter I sent them when I was 5. I believe my mom died in June of that year, just before my fifth birthday. So, I’m not sure whose handwriting this is. Not my lefty dad’s! They wrote with two styles of a’s. I don’t remember anything I wrote about, but I know once i was in elementary school, I had sitters before school then stayed at school in the “after school program” in the cafeteria until my dad got off of work.

Leave a comment if write a Sunday Souvenir and you’d like your link to be added!

Jax’s 20 Month Painting

It is so, so pretty outside! The husband is cooking chili (My apple butter can wait till tomorrow. Chili, yum!), sun is shining and the baby finally took off his cranky pants.

We took advantage of the warm fall weather to do Jax’s 20 month painting. This time I added a sea sponge and showed him how to blot with it. He did a couple times, but them switched to using it like a brush with big strokes. We used autumn paint colors (mostly because that is all I have left!)

Apple Picking

We went apple picking today! I can’t wait to make a big batch of apple butter with part of our haul! To read all about our outing and see the full gallery, visit my personal blog.

What else should I make with our apples? We got 16.66 lbs!

Link-o-rama!

a photo from the orchard

We went apple picking today (I’ll post pictures soon!) and it put me in the mood for all things October!

I’m planning a Halloween craft tutorial for this month, once I finish designing it and get a couple supplies I’m missing.

Here are some autumn and Halloween links to inspire you!

Autumn Pumpkin Bread

Mmm! I love pumpkin bread in the fall (and all year round!) I’ve already baked 2 batches!

The recipe I’ve used for years makes either 3 short loaves or 2 full size loaves. I like to split the batter into 3 pans so I can give extra loaves away. If you just make 2, you’d probably need to bake them longer.

I’m not sure where the original recipe was from, but I’ve changed it a bit over time to make it spicier. Here’s what you do:

Ingredients

  • 1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup of vegetable oil
  • ⅔ cup of water
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups of white sugar
  • 3½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat the oven at 350° F and grease 3 loaf pans. I think ours are 9″x 5″. In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, water and eggs) then add the sugar. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and spices). I like to sift mine together, but I’m a bit addicted to my sifter! Add the dry to the wet and stir until it’s all mixed. Pour the batter into three pans and bake for 50 minutes. (My batter fills the pans ⅓ of the way and the loaves bake up to ½. So you could definitely just use two pans and bake a little longer for larger slices.

Yum! Pumpkin bread is so good with some hot chai tea!

Baking bread is on my Autumn Fun List, but I still plan to bake some yeast bread this weekend.