DIY

All I want for Christmas…

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I know that it’s nowhere near Christmas I’m just getting caught up on a few items on my to do list. This is a project that we (my husband and I) have been working on for a long time. Starting with the day that I first saw our current house 4 years ago. When I first saw what would be Logan’s room before Logan was even an idea I knew that the space would be perfect for a built-in bunk bed. But first we needed to get the house, get pregnant, and have the baby. When Logan was born we put the crib in the “nook” and I patiently waited until he was old enough to make the transition into a big bed which happened this fall. I wanted to build this about as much as a five-year old boy would want it. In September we went to Great Wolf Lodge and the boys spent their first night in a bunk bed.

That sparked Sasha to ask for a bunk bed for Christmas. After explaining that Santa doesn’t have room in his sleigh for a bunk bed, Stanko and I decided that it was time to build one in the “nook” in Logan’s room. We finished building it right before Christmas and Sasha promptly moved into Logan’s room. It took me the last 4 months to get it painted, hang the pictures, hem the drapes, and make more pillows.

I love that we have enough space so that the kids can be sleep together, apart, in the same room or in different rooms. If one of them is sick we can separate them into their own rooms, yet most of the time they opt to sleep together in Logan’s double bed. Sasha’s room goes unoccupied almost all of the time so it’s fair game for visitors.

My kids are my inspiration for most of my projects. The following items can be found in Logan’s room.

Here is the before…

before

During…

After…

If you are looking for me I will be napping in the bottom bunk with the drapes closed.

Pom Pom Pillows

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I saw an idea for a pom pom rug on Pinterest and I thought that it looked interesting. But it also looked like a bit of work to make all of the pom poms and then attach them all to a backing. So I decided to do a trial run in the form of a pillow to test the process. It is a lot of work, and I will not be making a rug. Especially since the morning after I finished sewing all of the pom pom’s onto the pillow Logan (my 2 year old) came to me with piles of yarn in his hands that used to be pom pom snowballs). He had sat quietly and pulled apart about 10 white pom poms, now I can’t really blame him, he’s 2 and I am sure it was fun. It was days before Easter when the snowball massacre occurred, and the yarn became the “Easter grass” for the kids new Easter baskets. But this pillow was far too much work to be destroyed by his little hands in a matter of minutes. So until he is over his destruction phase (hopefully before his 18th birthday) this pillow will stay on the top shelf 😦

Seeing Stars

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Star 1For those that know I have a brain tumor, don’t worry the stars are completely unrelated to my medical state. But I do have a tiny obsession with stars. There is something about the odd number of points and graphic nature that draws me to them. Plus real stars are so shiny, and who doesn’t love a little bling.

Often I get started on one project that morphs into one or more others. This one started with a bunk bed and turned into tea towels and pillows. How does that even happen? All I can say is that my mind is a complicated place.

Printing fabric is super easy if you haven’t ever attempted it.

For this project I used:

  • Canvas drop cloth for the pillows – left over from another project purchased at a big box store
  • Flour sack tea towels – left over from the watermelon tea towel project
  • A rubber stamp – Michael’s
  • Acrylic paint – Craft Smart from Michael’s in Blue Jean, Navy Blue, Shamrock and Lush Foliage
  • Fabric Medium – Craft Smart brand from Michael’s
  • Paint brush
  • Yogurt container lid
  • A six-year-old helper (optional)

star 6

Instructions:

For the tea towels or canvas yardage (pillows) the instructions are exactly the same. I like to involve the kids when I make things especially when what I am making is for them. My six-year-old helper decided where the next star was to go by putting his finger on the fabric and then I would stamp the next star in his desired location.

  1. Iron the fabric (optional)
  2. Mix the paint with the fabric medium as per the bottle (the fabric medium waters down the paint which allows it to be absorbed by the fabric a little better and doesn’t make it crusty when it dries)
  3. Paint the mixture directly onto the stamp, and stamp the fabric
  4. Once you have completed stamping the fabric let it dry
  5. Iron to set the colours on the appropriate heat setting for the type of fabric you used

Felt Easter Baskets

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A couple of weekends ago I was supposed to have my crafty moms over to make Easter baskets but I had just received some rather shocking news. But I was pretty determined to make the Easter baskets anyway. So here they are just in time for Easter. These are my take on a masculine Easter basket for my little boys. I used yarn scraps for the filling because my littlest love tore apart all of the snowball pom poms that I made earlier in the week, and it seemed like a pretty good use of his mess.

Instructions and pattern for the baskets are below. Click here for the bunny pattern.

We also decorated the eggs this morning which is a tradition carried on my by husband from his childhood. We were down one egg because Logan stole it from the table and bit into it shell and all.

Materials:

  • Three/four sheets of felt 9″x 12″ – cut one sheet in half for the inside, cut one sheet in half for the outside, cut a circle for inside, cut a circle for bottom, cut
  • One larger sheet of felt 23″ long or longer (paisley) – optional if you only want one seam on the outside
  • 2″ wide Ribbon or felt at least 14″ long
  • 3 plastic canvas sheets 10.5″ x 13.5″ – to give the basket structure
  • two skeins embroidery floss
  • needle
  • basket filler (yarn scraps)

Instructions:

  1. Cut all of the materials as per below images – note 2 felt circles are required but not shown. Ribbon is cut and folded in half to cover mesh handle.
  2. Sew the two mesh sides together, then sew on the bottom with embroidery floss. Safety pins work well to hold the bottom and sides together while sewing.

3. Sew the handle cover sides together with either felt or ribbon using a blanket stitch. Attach the handle to the basket with a straight stitch.

4. Sew the 2 pieces of inner lining together, and then sew the bottom on.

inner lining

5. Sew the outer lining together, and then sew the bottom on.

outer lining

6. With the inner lining inside the basket and the outer lining outside the mesh basket, sew the inner felt lining to the outer felt with a blanket stitch (around the handle I used XXXXX’s).  Fill the basket with yarn scraps, or easter basket grass.

Happy Easter.

Bird’s Nest Cupcakes

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Spring is here, the flowers are blooming, Easter is just around the corner. It’s time for a little cupcake celebration. In honour of Easter I made these mini cupcakes for my son’s kindergarten class.

The baking part isn’t really my forte, so I typically opt for boxed cake mixes. The decorating however is what I really like. Cake/cupcake decorating is like a relaxation exercise for me, I zone out and get lost in the repetition.

Using a Wilton 233 tip and green frosting I made the grass. With a Wilton #5 round and chocolate frosting I made the nest. I did a batch with jelly beans, and a batch with mini eggs.

My taste testers don’t exactly have discerning palates. Anything with copious amounts of sugar typically passes their inspection. I was asked why I didn’t make them bigger by my 6-year-old, and my two-year old asked for more while making a shoveling motion towards his mouth. So it appears that they are a hit.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

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When my son’s school put out a request for silent auction items, or cakes for a raffle to raise money for the school I was debating for weeks as to what I should make.  What I finally decided to make was a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” cake, I hope that there is at least one reader that will get the parrot head reference.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsPZV14I-k

A while back I made cupcake sliders which were the inspiration for this larger version.

Notes about the burger cake:

  • I used a devil’s food cake mix for the patty
  • Vanilla cake mix for the bun
  • Baked 3 cakes using a 8″ cake pan
  • Sprinkled the sesame seeds on the bun just before i took it out of the oven
  • Pickles, onions and cheese are all made of white fondant mixed with food colouring
  • Relish is coconut with green food colouring
  • Ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise are all icing with food colouring

Easter Bunnies

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Knit or Crochet Easter Bunnies

If you are new to knitting or crochet these little bunnies are quick and easy. These are a great way to use swatch gauge’s, small balls of yarn or to try out new stitches.

Step 1. Crochet or knit a square 8″x 8″ square. Size really doesn’t matter in this case.  Neither does the yarn weight.

Step 2. Using an embroidery thread in a matching colour, sew a triangle.

step 1

Step 3. Pull the threads to gather a square to form the bunnies head

Step 4. Stuff the head

step 2

Step 5.  Sew up the head and down the back of the bunny

step 3

Step 6. Stuff the bunnies body

step 4

Step 7. Close the bunnies bum by running a stitch around the edge and pulling tight

Step 8.  Sew on a tail (pom pom), eyes, nose (buttons) and tie a ribbon around the bunnies neck. I used store bought pom poms but you could easily make one too.

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.

I Love Sugar Cookies

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I was asked the other day what is my favourite sugar cookie recipe, and here it is.  With a little person that has some issues with dairy I almost always have to make some substitutions in cookie recipes.  In this case I switch the butter for margarine which works just as well.  I roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper which really cuts down on the cleanup.  If you have a favourite cookie recipe I would love to try it, please send me a link in the comments.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

heart cookies

Sharing the Love

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I don’t know why I feel the need to celebrate every holiday or event with a t-shirt but for some reason I do.  I asked Sasha the other day what kind of shirt he wanted for Valentine’s day and he said one with a big heart on it.  So armed with a couple of white shirts and red felt I cut out some hearts, pinned them on and got Sasha’s approval.  By the looks of the photo you might be able to see that the first heart that I cut for him wasn’t big enough, unfortunately I was out of red felt.  I love that Sasha is interested and engaged in all things handmade so I am willing to find a way to make his vision a reality.  I was not in the mood to go to the store with 2 kids in tow to get one sheet of red felt, so a quick text to a crafty friend and I was ready to cut a very large heart for Sasha’s shirt.  With Sasha’s design approval I stitched the hearts on with embroidery thread.  Here are my boys in their love shirts, aren’t they the cutest?

valentines

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Snowball Fight

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I am going to apologize in advance to those of you that feel buried by the snow.  I miss the snow.  Winter isn’t quite the same without it.  We have the good fortune to live in a part of Canada that only sees snow occasionally. So far this Winter we had snow for 3 hours.  Which was just long enough for the kids to attempt to make snowballs.   I don’t however miss driving in snow, getting into a freezing car, or shoveling.  But I do miss playing in the snow, or at least I miss the opportunity for my kids to play in the snow.  As I was driving on the highway the other day the sun was shining and I was following a car with surfboards strapped to the roof, I came to the conclusion that Winter in Victoria is almost over.  I am not a weather forecaster but the crocuses in my garden are spouting and that seems to me a good indication that spring is on the way.  So it seems that it would be the perfect time to have a snowball fight.  In an attempt to share the fun of snow with my kids I made them a pile of yarn snowballs, and in keeping with the joy of getting up and seeing snow as a kid I placed them outside their bedroom door.  This is the result.

Sorting and Counting