Jolly Good Time!

I know you guys are thrilled that I snapped these pictures from Tuesday night's shin-dig. :) Here are a few pictures for those of you who couldn't make it, and for those of you who might want to do your Christmas shopping there! For the record, everything is way cuter in person!



Thanks Ladies for a wonderful turn-out and for all the lovely crafts!!

Please Come!

Tuesday, the 24th! Tomorrow! Bring what you have made so far, and be inspired to do more! At the Jankovic's home, in the back yard from 7-9 p.m.

Just to make this event more exciting, we will also have a craft/art supply swap. Bring any old fabric or other crafty/artsy goodies and take anything you want. You do not have to bring things to take them, and you do not have to have made a single thing for the Jolly in order to come. Please come and give ideas, drink strawberry lemonade, and just join in the fun of preparing for the Jolly. We will hope to see you there!

Cake Toppers

Here's a fun no-sew idea for all you crafters. I particularly like this project because the kiddos can do their thing with the play-dough while you craft up some of these cuties, guaranteed to make any cake or cupcake cheery and party ready. My sister and I made ours out of the Sculpey clay, then varnished them after they had baked and cooled. Anything is possible, from penguins to polka dots.

Jolly Jewelry

Well, we had a very fun time creating jewelry for the Fall Jolly. I'm posting a sample of

earrings made by Allison Ryan, Laurie Ditton, Christine Cohen, Jamie & Jacqueline Nance, Rachel Jankovic, Patricia Nieuwsma, Sandy Hoeft and Abby Stevenson. Thanks so

much Sandy and Abby for ordering the supplies and sharing your expertise!

Jewelry Workshop II

(Sorry about the lame picture, this is the only one I can find right now, as all my pics are packed.)

Don't forget the jewelry workshop at the Ditton's tonight at 7pm. Materials are provided, but there is a fee of $4. I think there will be a few instructions for beginners, but if you are a seasoned earring artisan, you are still invited to come. (I also hear Christine might make cookies.)

See you there!

Bunny Slippers

So this was my first attempt at baby booties. Over all, I think they were pretty successful, considering I ran out of yarn and and thread by the end! They are very simple to make, just a bit time consuming. But the little tail just makes them worth it.

Puppet mania

I learned how to make this fun, versatile hand puppet in college. This particular one is called a "neutral" puppet because it has no eyes or mouth and allows the operator to decide what kind of mood the puppet is in, or what kind of expression he is making. The pattern is fairly simple (my favorite of all the puppets out there) and I'd be happy to teach anyone aching to learn. :-) But I warn you, some stages are tedious and waiting for the glue to dry is the most boring part. The most expensive supply item is probably the stryofoam ball that forms the head, but even then you can get 'em 2 for $3 or so. And then there's lots of hot glue invovled. (Yes!)

These guys are a little fragile, so I'd probably want to aim them at slightly older children who might be cruising the craft fair, and who have big enough hands anyway.

Dressin' up!

I'm very excited about dress up clothes! When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be in Little House on the Prairie. I can't imagine little girls have changed that much... ? This Apron Bonnet was pretty easy, even for me, who can be kind of slow in sewing. I had to adjust the pattern I found online (http://tipnut.com/projectfiles/apronbonnetpattern.pdf) in order to make it fit smaller ladies. The lovely Summer Stokes (my neighbor) graciously agreed to model for me. :-)

I have many more ideas for dressin' up, including a more "prairie-looking" bonnet, but wanted you-all's thoughts first.

What with the lack of new posts and all...

Yes, it is true. I am posting pictures of unfinished projects. It turns out that I have a bit of a fixation on making rugs. I have not yet completed a rug , but I have started a few. Here are two of the few. Both are ridiculously easy techniques, and I think they are both pretty cool results. The one on the bottom is made with rag strips and yarn. You use a tool that is basically a crochet hook with a yarn needle handle. You thread the yarn through the eye, hook a row of strips through the backing, then pull the hook through them (pulling the yarn through too). The reason I have not finished this one is that in the fever of new project enthusiasm I started a design without thinking about it, with whatever colors of fabric I had that I didn't mind cutting up. I would recommend a more structured plan, or a less structured. The rug I saw that got me into this concept was just a straight rag rug (no pictures) which would be both faster and easier. I do need to finish it, since I refuse to throw it away.
The second rug is knit. This is a very fun method, and although the original concept was to use old T-shirts, I found that it takes a lot of T-shirts, and is kind of a pain. I switched to using knit sheets purchased at Ross. Here's the basic plan: fold a sheet in half, and sew or serge the long edge together. For the fitted sheet, trim off the elastic first. Then, cut strips about 1 " wide. They should be coming out like huge rubber bands. You will then loop these together in the classic rubber band looping technique, and roll into the largest ball of yarn ever. I then knit in basic garter stitch on size 19 needles. Cool rug begins emerging right away. I think that a larger needle would work great on this, as my rug could be looser. Make sure to buy circular needles so that your rug can be wider than 12". Also, I should note that if you are using different fabrics in stripes, make sure that the weight is about the same, so that the size stays consistent. Both of these are very quick and easy to make (says the girl who hasn't finished them), and would make a fun addition to the craft fair. What do you think?