DIY – Page 19 – Making A Life

Pumpkin Patch

October 25, 2014October 27, 2014spaleksicLeave a comment

Here are some pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. The pumpkins will be turned into jack-o-lanterns by my talented husband. But we both know that the real reason that he carves the pumpkins is to get the seeds. He makes amazing pumpkin seeds. Recipe & instructions below.

Pumpkin Seeds

For those that haven’t ever roasted pumpkin seeds before just dig them out of the pumpkin and remove the seeds from the pumpkin flesh. In a bowl mix the seeds with salt and cayenne pepper (or what ever spice you might like). Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (or until they are lightly browned) stirring every 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Monkeying Around

October 24, 2014December 3, 2015spaleksic4 Comments

There are lots of things that I should be doing and making sock monkeys is not on the list. I was in Michaels a couple of weeks ago buying these socks with the intention of wearing them as socks when the cashier mentioned that she had bought some to turn into sock monkeys. Obviously I thought that was a good idea because now we have a family of Christmas sock monkeys. Using the great tutorial I found here and a walking foot for sewing knits on my sewing machine it was pretty easy to make these little monkeys. Sasha was quite involved with the little striped one that he has claimed as his. He helped by turning the body parts inside out, stuffing them and selecting the eyes. I am going to have to teach him how to sew next!

BOO, BOO, BOO

October 23, 2014October 23, 2014spaleksicLeave a comment

I am getting in the Halloween spirit. I love Halloween because it’s a chance to make things, and of course eat candy. This year I bought the kids costumes because I just couldn’t make them for what you can buy them for. I usually make my costume to match theirs, last year they were monkey’s and I was a zoo keeper. One year Sasha and I both dressed as the Cat in the Hat, and another year I was the Woman in the yellow hat with Curious Sasha. So this year they are both going as dogs, I was thinking that I would be a dog walker, or a vet, but my husband has suggested that I dress as a fox.

I made these shirts for the kiddies last night and thought that I would share a pic of a very happy little boy sporting his new BOO shirt and of course his festive pumpkin hat.

Baby it’s cold inside

October 12, 2014spaleksicLeave a comment

We haven’t turned the heat on yet mainly because I have good intentions of vacuuming out the base board heaters. You never know what you might find inside the heaters with 2 little people and before we set the house on fire it’s advisable to give all of the heaters a look through. But instead of doing the easy task of cleaning out the heaters it made more sense to me to knit myself slippers. Yes I know that’s not very logical, but it’s way more fun. Here I am knitting them yesterday, and lounging in them today. They do resemble big foot paws but they are warm and comfortable. I couldn’t find a pattern that worked with the yarn I wanted or the suede fleece lined soles so I made one up. All that means is that one slipper is symmetrical and the other is a bit of an experiment. I am giving myself A for effort, sometimes things don’t turn out exactly as you might want them to but I am going to wear them anyway because baby it’s cold inside.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Surprises in the mail

October 2, 2014spaleksic3 Comments

I am a fan of nice surprises and I love getting mail, so imagine my delight when I opened a package today and these cuties were inside. Thanks Mom, you are the best.

Pocket Heart

September 30, 2014May 21, 2015spaleksic6 Comments

I saw a blog post about making felt hearts to give to someone who might be nervous about a new situation and I though that it would be perfect for the first day of kindergarten. So with a scrap of felt, embroidery floss, and some stuffing I whipped up a pocket heart for Sasha. I told him a story about making it from my heart and that I would know when he squeezed it if he was nervous. So on the first day of school he grabbed it on his own, while we were running out the door. The first thing that he reported when I picked him up was that he didn’t need it. The next day we searched the house in a panic to find his pocket heart before we left, and again he reported at pick up that he didn’t need it. On the third day he started crying in the line up because he forgot it, so home I went to get it and bring it back to the school. Note to self, make a couple of these and stash them in the car and purse.

If you want to make one for someone that needs a little love in their pocket see the attached PDF pattern.

Finally…the first day of school

September 28, 2014spaleksicLeave a comment

Sasha started Kindergarten this week, after a slight school suspension. The teachers in BC were on strike advocating for our children, which caused a three week delay in the start date of classes. I wanted to do so many fun crafty things for the first day of school, and because I had no idea when it was going to begin I procrastinated. I managed to get two little projects completed, the first one is a blackboard sign. The second project I will blog about tomorrow.

A shout out to Janaya for the reminder on this one. To make this sign I used an art canvas (dollar store) which I spray painted with chalk board paint (Rona). It was that easy. You are supposed to let the paint dry for 24 hours, but who has time for that, so after 15 hours or so I wrote out the wording and erased, and wrote it again. Kudos to the teachers who write in chalk everyday it’s a skill I have yet to acquire.

Made by Mom with LOVE

September 13, 2014September 13, 2014spaleksicLeave a comment

Just over a month ago my parent came to visit. No visit from the grandparents is complete without presents, at least in my experience. Parents (myself included) can be a little picky about toys and gifts for their kids and often for good reason. Those little people are always putting things in their mouths, so parents want to make sure that the toys are BPA free, non-toxic and age appropriate. But sometimes the list goes beyond safety. People can have preferences about toys with TV/Disney characters, noise, plastic versus more environmentally friendly materials, the quantity of toys, the quality of toys and the list goes on. No judgement here. Parenting is a tough gig. I personally have a preference for handmade versus mass manufactured toys, but that same preference stretches to furniture, coffee mugs, cookies, socks… It’s no surprise that I also want my kiddies to be surrounded by handmade objects. That being said, I am happy when anyone is thoughtful enough to remember my kids and send them gifts of any kind. Variety is a good thing too.

So when Grandma and Grandpa arrived with their bag of tricks imagine my delight when these little guys came out.

Don’t eat me

Peg Knight, Dragon and Castle

Peg Knight

My mother is a maker and these are her creations. They are made of birch wood, non-toxic paint, and real felt (not that recycled pop bottle stuff from the dollar store that I use). But most importantly because they are made by my mom for her grandchildren they are made with LOVE and that is much more important that anything else.

PS. Mom I sent you a pic on Pinterest of a rocket and some astronaut peg dolls. Hint, Hint.

Below are some of the toys I made for my kiddies. Click on the pictures to link to the blog posts.

The Leftover Lunch Bag

August 31, 2014spaleksic3 Comments

Are you heading back to school or have someone in your house that is? Maybe a lunch bag made of leftovers is a great environmentally friendly option.

The Leftover Lunch Bag was made using a torn pair of my husbands jeans and a child’s belt. I was inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest, thank you Between the lines for the idea.

Materials

To make this lunch bag I recommend adult jeans, and not skinny fit, boot cut or straight leg would be ideal. A child size 4-5 canvas belt is great, they often come with pants or shorts and are not required, at least not in my house. This project took me less than half an hour with a sewing machine.

Instructions

Cut pants off just below the knee, or about 16″ from the bottom hem.
Turn the cut off section of the pants inside out
Sew the raw edges closed
Turn right side out
Sew on the belt
Finished

Thanks for reading! Keep creating, and crafting.

Logan’s Birthday Take 2

August 29, 2014May 11, 2015spaleksicLeave a comment

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I love to entertain, and I am often looking for any opportunity to throw a party. Logan had 2 birthday parties for his second birthday, one with family and one with friends. I know that throwing parties can be a lot of work, and some people just groan at the thought of throwing one. But it’s not work when you really enjoy the preparation and the party planning. In truth Logan’s birthday was just another reason to get friends together and have a chat, get caught up and have a bite to eat.

Logan is learning to speak and is putting words together in an attempt to communicate in sentences. Pulling a party theme from his common words and phrases we came up with a woof woof puppies theme. Food consisted of hot dogs, smokies in crescent rolls, chips, veggies, and plums from the yard. It wouldn’t be a party with out Happy Cupcakes which were also dog themed. For the doggie bags I made the kids dog ears, and puppy treats (malt balls). There were also balloons dog themed of course.