Author: spaleksic

Toothasaurus

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toothasaurusWe had a craft emergency this week at our house.  Alright I am not totally deluded, there is no such thing as a craft emergency, unless a glue gun catches fire and burns down the house.  But we did have an event that prompted the quick crafting of a Toothasaurus.  Sasha announced among tears that he has a wiggly tooth.  I can’t remember the first time that I had a loose tooth, but I guess a pretty natural reaction is fear.  Like Sasha I wasn’t expecting wiggly teeth quite yet, he is a week away from his 5th birthday so it’s the right time but I am in denial of my little person growing up.  After we talked about losing teeth and I reassured him that it’s a totally natural normal thing, we discussed the tooth fairy.  That prompted a browse on Pinterest to see what boy-friendly tooth fairy pillow ideas I could use as inspiration.  That was my plan anyway.  I showed Sasha a couple of pictures of tooth, monster and dinosaur shaped tooth fairy pillows and he decided that a dinosaur would be good.  But not just any dinosaur, the exact same one that I showed him a picture of on Pinterest.  So this is where I apologize to the person whose design I blatantly stole from a Pinterest listing.  In fairness the Pinterest link was to a store and they didn’t have any for sale anymore.  I also used a button as an eye instead of the googly one shown in the picture.  With technology as an enabling partner I printed a couple of pictures of the dinosaur image on card stock, and used that as a pattern.  Not so surprisingly I had everything that I needed to make this little dino in my craft closet, even in the right colours.  Having all of the materials excites and scares the you know what out of me, the hording of craft supplies is a post for another day.

Keep crafting, creating and losing baby teeth.

Etsy – Block Parent Designs

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Years ago I opened an Etsy online craft store called Block Parent Designs.  It surprised me when my first orders were in  parts of the US, for some reason I thought that only Canadian’s would buy my stuff.  I have no idea why I though that.  It has been a long time since my site has been active, with 2 little kids and working full-time I barely have time to get dressed everyday, never mind making and selling things online.  BUT because of your overwhelming support I have updated my Etsy online store to showcase some of the items that I have been asked to make recently.   If you should order any of my creations I might just have to make them in my PJ’s, priorities you know.  Thanks for your support.

Here is the link to my online shop https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BlockParent

Ruby’s growth chart
Logan’s Growth Chart
Free knit pattern from http://www.makingalife.me
Free knit pattern from http://www.makingalife.me

Ruby Lina

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Recently, my four-year old and I hoped on a plane to meet the newest edition to the family, Miss Ruby. It’s refreshing after three nephews and having two boys myself to have a little girl in the family. Don’t get me wrong a healthy baby is always the most desired type of baby, it’s just nice to throw a little pink in the mix. My youngest stayed at home with dad but is showing his excitement about becoming a big cousin by sporting his new “Big Cuz” shirt.

When I arrived my sister informed me that we would be having a photo-shoot, she had pinned some ideas and gotten headbands and tutus, and would I mind taking some pictures. I used to years ago, have the same passion for photography as I do now for crafting. My passion for photography has faded and I now take pictures to document our lives, and the rest of the time my camera sits untouched. So I took my sister up on the photo-shoot challenge. After we had completed the photo-shoot I was questioning why I didn’t do this with my own kids more often.

I don’t remember who had the idea but I don’t mind saying that it was a pretty good one, to take a picture of little Ruby, with her button name sign. Ruby is also sporting a pink knit flower hat, made by moi. Reading is a family hobby, we all share books, and read as much as we can, so it’s only fitting that Ruby start young.

In my mind I think of photography and crafting as two separate hobbies, but on this occasion they meshed together to accentuate the beauty of Miss Ruby.

Keep crafting, creating and celebrating.

Bunting Crazy

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sasha 2There is something about those little flag banners that sucks me in, I am entranced by them.  Maybe its the colour, maybe it’s the festive feeling, either way I have been inspired to create some for the kiddies bedrooms.  Just before Christmas when the holiday decorations went on sale I was browsing the aisles at my favourite craft store and I saw a kit for a Merry Christmas bunting, for less than $4.00, SCORE.  I brought it home and went to work creating a holiday bunting, like most things I had to add my touch so I swapped out some of the felt it came with and substituted other colours.  I also thought that sticking the letters on with glue was tacky (get it…I know its so bad) so I sewed them on to add another layer of texture.  Once I knew that this little project was a success, I went back to the craft store and bought all of the kits they had, and even suckered my friend to buy one for herself.  Crafting peer pressure.  I switched the felt using some of what came with the kits and substituting the colours that would work better in the kiddies rooms, I also upgraded the ribbon from white to something with a little more character.  I think that they came out pretty good, for less than $10.00 each.  The pictures don’t really do them justice because they are all quite long.

Happy sewing, cutting, and crafting.

Growth Charts

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When my first son was born we lived in a two bedroom apartment, so tracking his growth old school on a door frame wasn’t going to happen. A paper chart taped to the wall just didn’t have the importance factor that I was looking for, so I came up with this fabric growth chart.  I saw other growth charts that I liked as well but I was also thinking about how easily I could transport the growth chart if we were to move.  The design I came up with rolls up to about 1″ diameter and 9″ long, which also makes it easy to mail.  I have now made a couple of these for all of the important little people in my life.   We started Sasha’s at 11 months as soon as he could stand  unsupported (February 7, 2010) and of course with the second child we weren’t quite so organized, so Logan’s began when he was closer to 18 months.

Logan getting measured for the first time
Ruby’s Growth Chart
Logan’s Growth Chart
Ruby’s growth chart
Sasha’s Growth Chart
Sasha’s Growth chart all marked up

To make a growth chart start with a heavy fabric, for Logan & Ruby’s I used the left over painting drop cloth from the Cross Dressing Christmas tree project, purchased in the paint section of a hardware store.  I cut the fabric to 7″ x 4’11”.  I bound the edges with binding tape, and hemmed the top & bottom edges at the same time.  With the binding tape I made 2″ loops at the top for the dowel.  After the fabric was sewn, I used foam stamps to print the kids names & numbers.  I taped a fabric measuring tape to the fabric to use as guide for stamping the stars.  I also used painters tape to create a straight line for the names.  I had my husband cut the dowels to 9″ and gently sand the edges.  I painted the dowels a corresponding colour to the names, and after they dried, hot glued them to the inside of the binging tape loops.  Using excess binding tape I made a loop to hang the growth chart, and tied a bow and secured the loop/bow with a little hot glue.  The project took me most of an afternoon with drying time.

Happy charting, crafting and creating.

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Valentine’s Day Blankets

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heart 1heart 3

I saw a super cute picture of a blanket with a heart on it so I searched Ravelry and Pinterest for a pattern and came up empty, so I used a plain blanket pattern and incorporated a heart.  This is the perfect Valentine’s gift for my two littlest loves.  I hope they get lots of snuggles in these warm wooly blankets.

You can find instructions below. Enjoy! Check out the knitting tab above for more knitting projects.

This pattern is intended for personal use only. I offer this pattern for free but I request that you do not sell it or any product made from it.

Valentine’s Day Blanket

Materials

  • 18oz (3 balls) Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman
  • 6oz (1 ball) Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Navy
  • 13(9mm) knitting needles

The Pattern

Cast on 75 stitches.  When introducing the alternate colour (AC) carry the unused yarn along the wrong side.  Wrap it while knitting with the active colour to carry it.  Keep the unused yarn relaxed while carrying it and don’t pull, or the project will become distorted.

Row 1-9: Knit

Row 10: K6, P63, K6

Row 11: Knit

Row 12-26: repeat Rows 10-11

Row 27: Knit

Row 28: K6, P31, P1 Alternate colour (AC), P31, K6

Row 29: K37, K1AC, K37

Row 30:  K6, P30, P3AC, P30, K6

Row 31: K36, K3AC, K36

Row 32: K6, P29, P5AC, P29, K6

Row 33: K35, K5AC, K35

Row 34: K6, P28, P7AC, P28, K6

Row 35: K34, K7AC, K34

Row 36: K6, P27, P9AC, P27, K6

Row 37: K33, K9AC, K33

Row 38: K6, P26, P11AC, P26, K6

Row 39: K32, K11AC, K32

Row 40: K6, P25, P13AC, P25, K6

Row 41: K31, K13AC, K31

Row 42: K6, P24, P15AC, P24, K6

Row 43: K30, K15AC, K30

Row 44: K6, P23, P17AC, P23, K6

Row 45: K29, K17AC, K29

Row 46: K6, P22, P19AC, P22, K6

Row 47: K28, K19AC, K28

Row 48: K6, P21, P21AC, P21, K6

Row 49: K27, K21AC, K27

Row 50: K6, P20, P23AC, P20, K6

Row 51: K26, K23AC, K26

Row 52: K6, P19, P25AC, P19, K6

Row 53: K25, K25AC, K25

Row 54: K6, P18, P27AC, P18, K6

Row 55: K24, K27AC, K24

Row 56-57: repeat row 54-55

Row 58: K6, P19, P12AC, P1, P12AC, P19, K6

Row 59: K25, K12AC, K1, K12AC, K25

Row 60: K6, P20, P10AC, P3, P10AC, P20, K6

Row 61: K26, K10AC, K3, K10AC, K26

Row 62: K6, P21, P8AC, P5, P8AC, P21, K6

Row 63: K27, K8AC, K5, K8AC, K27

Row 64: K6, P63, K6

Row 65: Knit

Row 66-80: Repeat Rows 64-65

Row 81: K6 P63, K6

Row 82-90: Knit

Row 91: Cast off

View of the heart from the back.

IMG_20150305_092605

Happy knitting, crafting and creating.

 

 

 

Family Day

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In honour of BC’s family day I made this crafty piece.  Our names just happen to work together to make this scrabble like piece.  To create this on your own start with a shadow box (this one is 11×17), or a frame deep enough that you have space for the tiles between the glass and the back.  Then using matte board cut the piece that you are going to glue the letters on to, I took the back of the frame off, traced it and cut it with a utility knife.  Next using letters from a scrabble game I bought at a thrift store, I laid out the names, making sure that there was equal spacing on all sides.  Then using painters tape I made straight lines on the matte board to use as a guide when hot gluing the letters on.  You could draw pencil lines on too, but the painters tape is faster in my opinion.  Next using hot glue attach the first word to the matte board, continue placing painters tape, and attaching letters until all of the words are spelled out.   I taped the blue matte (11×17 frame with a 8×10 opening) using double sided tape onto the matte board with the letters.  Assemble the matte into the frame, and that’s it.  This craft should take an hour or so.

Materials

  • matte board or foam board (cream matte board) in a colour you like
  • scrabble tiles
  • glue gun/glue sticks
  • shadowbox frame
  • double sided tape
  • matte (blue in the example) sized to fit the frame

Happy Family Day, and happy crafting.

Dino Feet

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dino feetI was browsing the aisles at Michael’s for inspiration and I came across size 10 toddler suede soles perfect for my oldest son.  My creativity was sparked.  I left the store without the soles because I didn’t have a plan.  A couple of days later armed with a 40% off coupon (never go to Michael’s without one)  I bought the soles with the plan to make some slippers.  There was a pattern inside the slipper sole box so I thought I was set, except I wanted to knit with Super Bulky yarn and the pattern was written for sock yarn (for those non-knitters the pattern only works as written in the yarn specified).  So I searched Ravelry, and searched, and searched and I could not find a slipper pattern in Super Bulky with suede soles for a kids size.  So like any knitter I decide that I will do some math and make my own pattern.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, I rarely follow the pattern exactly anyway, so I might as well just make one up.  Using the pattern that came with the soles as a guide I started knitting, and I am happy to say that these little slippers were the result.

One of the greatest things about making things is sharing them with other people.  If I can inspire people to make things themselves I am happy.  Lots of crafters don’t want people to “copy” their ideas, and I say go for it.

If you aren’t familiar with Ravelry, it’s a knit and crochet online commuity, with tons of free patterns and inspiration.  It’s a fantastic resource for anyone with an interest in knitting/crochet.

Happy Crafting.

New Year, New Socks

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socksI am kicking off the new year with these socks that I finished on New Years Eve day.  These socks are a wool cashmere blend and are pure luxury on my feet.  These are the first pair of hand knit socks that I have worn and had I known how wonderful handknit socks would feel I would have made myself some long ago.  Sasha is begging for a matching pair because he out grew the ones I made him last year.  As I was knitting them he kept telling me that pink is a boy colour too, so he would like a matching pair in his size.  I think all along that he knew how comfy they were, and doesn’t care what they look like.  The only downside is that they are SUPER slippery on our hardwood floors, so the next post might be that I have broken my leg wearing my wonderful socks, fingers crossed that I maintain upright walking posture.

I started knitting just over a year ago, and it’s fair to say that I am now an intermediate knitter.  I haven’t attempted cables or much multi-colour pattern work nor do I have interest in doing so.  So I am thinking that it might be time for a new hobby…  It’s the new year and I need a new crafting hobby.  I am thinking that I will learn how to crochet this year, it’s not that much of stretch from knitting but I already have the supplies.  I will keep you posted on my progress.

Reindeer Cookies

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reindeer cookiesI saw these SUPER cute reindeer cookies on Pinterest, but they were peanut butter based, and with a peanut butter allergy in Sasha’s class, peanut butter is on the no fly list.  So I made nut allergy friendly chocolate chip cookies, with regular pretzels antlers, and a batch with chocolate covered pretzel antlers.  The nose, eyes and antlers can be added to any of your favourite cookie recipes to deal with any of the allergies in your life.  A tip…get those antlers, eyes and noses in fast and then pop them in the freezer to harden the chocolate so they stay in place.  Enjoy.