into the trees

It's deer hunting season here in Minnesota which means we haven't been out walking in the woods lately.  Since we're surrounded on three sides by hunting land, I get uneasy about letting the kids play outside, even with their blaze orange hats on.  All of this indoor time has made us all a little stir crazy.

I tried to quell some of that excess energy that was coursing through my kids yesterday by having them make some little tree ornaments for the upcoming holidays.  The older boys cut circles out of felted sweater and they all worked on stacking them for a while.  The activity held their attention in spurts but over the course of the day a small forest grew on our table.

The next job will be to sew them all together and add the trunks, something we'll work on together.

Since yesterday was the last day of rifle season we'll be able to venture back out in the woods today to be among real trees.  I can't express how much I'm looking forward to that.

***

Julie made some colorful little trees this weekend too.

Today I'm mailing off stones to their new homes.  A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to look and to those of you that gave my pieces a home.  Thank you.

I hope your week is a good one.

a stuffed chicken

Last week I mentioned that my daughter spends a lot of time carrying our chickens around.  I worried that she might start dressing them soon if I didn't get her a doll.  Clever Tara suggested that I make her a chicken doll and I thought that was such a good idea I sat down yesterday and did just that.

She's a very simple chicken, made out of some garage sale fabric and scraps of felted wool.  Her eyes are antique shoe buttons.  I stuffed her with polyfil from an old pillow I had put through the washing machine. (I always think washing pillows in the machine is a good idea, but it never is...)

I took her outside to show the girls and got this reaction:

I call that the "whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" look.

Poor stuffed chicken was shunned by the flock.

But the girl seems to like her, and that's all that really matters.

And if she wants to dress this chicken, that's just fine.

My boys liked the chicken too but inform me that she also needs eggs, a cracked open egg, and some chicks.  And some more chicken friends.  And a duck.  (which will probably also require eggs, a cracked open egg, ducklings, and more duck friends)

my second toy society drop

I finished up another sleepy baby for my second Toy Society drop last night, just in time to meet my "one drop a month" goal.  This little guy is inspired by local favorite, Paul Bunyan.  The old book I have said that baby Paul was 15 feet long at one month old, but this guy is quite a bit smaller than that.

He's made from a wool buffalo plaid shirt and is stuffed with lavender and wool locks.

His best pal Babe the blue ox is tucked under his arm.

I'll take him tomorrow to a local park and hope that whoever finds him loves him.  It makes me happy to imagine some little one discovering the toy and being filled with excitement.  I know it's just as likely that some unruly teenagers could find it and use it as a football.  In either case, I hope it's enjoyed.

My daughter was a little bummed that she didn't get to keep the sleepy baby so I made her a teeny one this morning that she could keep.  She's curled up on the couch with him as I write this post.

I hope your week starts off with the thrill of discovery and happiness too.

Happy Monday.

Mr. Sun - son

Mr Sun has had a son.  Of sorts.  Created by my son, sorta.

About a week ago the boys and I created a woven sun out of a vintage bowl, some twigs, and strips of vintage fabric.  My youngest enjoyed the process so much that he's been asking to do it again.  When he told me he wants to make some to sell so he can earn money to go on vacation, well, how could I say no?

I mean, kindergarten can be really tough on a guy, so he definitely needs a vacation, right?  Funny guy.

I painted the face based on a drawing he did and assembled the piece from some twigs and an oak branch but Avery chose the fabrics and did the weaving.

My kids know that I make and sell my work so I'm sure it's not a big leap for him to think of doing the same, but I have to tell you, his hands-on approach and can-do attitude made me pretty proud.

So, I've put the sun in my shop.  It's been signed by both of us but Avery will get the money, should it sell, to put in his vacation fund.  I'm not sure where he's headed, but I hope he takes me along too.

cashmere : a challenge

I was digging through one of the piles of wool in my workspace this week when I found a bag with the remains of 3 cashmere sweaters in it.

I had previously used the arms from these sweaters to make socks and I decided that this week I'd use up the rest of them too.

I started with the cute argyle one.

I turned it into a little skirt for my daughter.  I lined it with a brown t-shirt, also from the supply pile, and gave it a little lettuce edge.

Cute and cashmere?  My model approves.

More cashmere to come...

leather mushrooms

This past weekend the boys and I worked on a little project I found over at Elizabeth Abernathy's blog, leather mushrooms.

As I was bringing out the leather scraps and glue, the boys were throwing out random guesses about what kind of project we were doing, and then the teenager asked "are we making our own mittens?" (with a big sigh) which I thought was an AWESOME idea, and he's now really sorry he said that, because it's now on the list of things to do.  (muahaha)  When I asked, "what does momma loooove to look for?" they all shouted in unison... "MUSHROOMS!"  They know me so well.

I get my leather scraps in the form of neglected leather coats found at the thrift store and put out several different pieces to choose from.  I gave the boys jar lids to use as templates for the mushroom caps, and except for the gluing (I used hot glue), they really did much of this project themselves.

1/2 birthday crowns are the appropriate headgear when crafting, don't you know.

It was fun to see the boys choose their colors and textures, and I loved that they weren't afraid to experiment with using the back side of the leather pieces, which ended up looking kind of scruffy and really cool. 

I'm leaving these out where we can all see them, and the kids can play with them.  Best part, they've already asked when we can make more.

What kind of fun projects have you been working on?

my very first toy society drop

Last year I stumbled across The Toy Society's blog and knew it was something I wanted to take part in.  It wasn't until this holiday season, when I made a sleepy baby for my niece, that I realized how I wanted to contribute.

 The Toy Society is a group of people from around the world doing a small random act of kindness - they leave a handmade toy for someone to find.  It's done anonymously and with no strings attached.  It's simply done for the joy of bringing a bit of handmade happiness into someone's life.

It's my goal to do one drop a month this year, each a sleepy baby fitting the theme of the season.  January's here is clutching a little snowball in her mittens and she has snowflakes at her feet.

Her (his?) shape is simple but easy for little ones to hold.  I added embroidered details like a tuft of hair and little bitty eyelashes.  She's made of all recycled wool, mostly from sweaters, and she's very soft.  I stuffed her with wool and lavender so she smells lovely and is delightfully squishy.

I gave her the cuddle test and yup, perfectly squishy.

She was my very first drop, and I left her at a small park in town yesterday.  I hope whoever finds her, loves her.

I think I'm going to enlist the help of my kids for the next drop.   I think it will be good for them to take part in a random act of kindness, and it will make me feel less like a creeper when I'm skulking around a playground if they're with me.

I can't wait to get started on February's.

getting closer - bed linens completed

My goal for yesterday was to make the linens for my daughter's doll bed and I'm pleased to report that I made my goal and then some!

I started pulling out fabrics to create the blanket and was preparing for a semi-complicated process.  I had chosen some pieces, none that I was too gaga over but would do, when I pulled out a matching set of these sort of strange embroidered pillowcases I got a year or two ago at a garage sale.  DING!  A light went off in my head!  I checked the size and yup, nearly perfect for the little bed with very little tweaking needed.  I love that!

All I had to do was lay a piece of batting inside the pillowcase, fold over the decorative top, and stitch it down.  Voila!  Doll blanket!

Using half of the second pillowcase and a piece of leftover carpet pad, I made a mattress to fit the bed.  That still left me enough material to make a little pillow, and I still have one whole panel of the embroidery to play with.  (and what is up with the orange poodle and roses anyway?)

I saved so much time with this project I was able to finish a little friend to tuck in under the blanket.

My daughter loves owls so it seemed like a good choice.  He's made of all recycled materials - wool from coats and sweaters, a scrap of upholstery fabric, and some corduroy pants.  I stuffed him with wool and lavender so he smells nice too.

The paint on the bed is still drying so I'll post a pic of it with the linens tomorrow.

Today I'll be working on this...

My helper is enjoying this task because she gets to build castles while mom carves.

After this I have just one more project to finish and then presents to wrap and cookies to bake.  After that?  I'm taking a break.  (and it is much needed)

'til tomorrow!

Tea for tweets

I took a couple of minutes to make a little something for my garden yesterday.  It is a super simple project and it was just the creative break I needed.  I've been meaning to make one of these feeders for a few years now (years, things sit on my to-do list for years!) and figured now was as good a time as any.

I was going to write a quick tutorial but this one over on Little Birdie Secrets was so well-written that I figured I'd just point to that one.

I have a handful of vintage teacups and saucers on hand that I pick up at yard sales, but If I had the supplies on hand I would have preferred to use a copper pipe and cap as a post.  Instead I used a scrap piece of pvc pipe and a stick.  I have lots of those.  I sanded the end to fit inside the pipe snugly.  The feeder can be easily lifted off for cleaning or storage.

I filled my completed feeder with grape jelly and later hung an orange slice on the spoon, hoping to entice the orioles back to my yard and away from the hummingbird feeders.  Having a big orange bird on their feeders really throws the hummingbirds into a tizzy.  The little guys seem a bit high strung anyway so why add to their anxiety level, right?

Have you done any simple gardening projects lately?

Wool Sweater Re-Fashion (and forcing creativity)

Since I've been in a bit of creative slump lately, I challenged myself on Tuesday to make something of one of the wool sweaters in my sweater stash.  I really didn't know what I was going to make but left it out on the table so I could look at it each time I walked past.  Around lunch time I figured I'd better stop procrastinating and do something with it.  I decided it would become a little jacket for my daughter.  I removed the zipper, did a quick felting job in the washer, and did a quick cut and sew. 

Sweater before: (Avert your eyes from my wrinkly backdrop.  Avert I say!)

Sweater after:

Obviously I am no pro at this, but she really liked it.  She loves hoods and poppets (pockets) so this was just her kind of thing. 

The chickens seem to like it too.

This exercise hasn't exactly cured my slump, but it did get my hands moving in a new way.  What was probably most notable to me was how much I enjoyed photographing the completed project.  I was photographing it for fun and because of that it was fun.  I didn't have to stage anything like I would when trying to take shots for saleable work.  I've felt that my product photos have been lacking a certain luster lately.  Hmmm... work vs. fun...that might be part of it right there huh?  Perhaps. 

Tomorrow is Earth Day, is anyone planning fun things?
Nothing major here.  We'll be starting the rest of the tomato seeds and working on our easter eggs.  I'll be using turmeric again this year for some color but we have a different idea in mind this year that I'll share later.

Have a great day.