Tag: project (page 6 of 7)

March 29, 2010 / 0 Comments

Some Bunny Loves You

These bunnies are too cute for words! I saw them this weekend posted at The Purl Bee blog. They would be adorable set around a child’s place setting at an Easter table (or for grown-up kids too). I would love one at mine!

I come from a very large family of extended aunts, uncles & cousins. Both of my parents are 1 of 8 children and it doesn’t matter how old I am, or how long I have been married, I am still at the children’s table when we go to my grandparent’s house for family events. But, hey, you have more fun with those little people anyway, and with these little finger puppets we would be having a ball!

These bunnies would even be cute tucked in an Easter basket as a surprise from the Easter Bunny, you just have to have one small fun thing hidden amongst all the jelly beans and peeps and chocolate placed in the Easter grass of your basket!

To make your own little bunny Fu-Fu finger puppets follow the directions here:

(Images copyright The Purl Bee, embellishments, Jennifer Michie)

March 22, 2010 / 1 Comment

Ta-Daaaa!

We worked hard over the weekend, planting a few more flowers in the pots and cleaning up our little garden. It is amazing how many leaves and things get tucked between a planter and a wall over the winter, so the planters were moved and the leaves were swept out!

I also got to finish the project I started on Friday, living in a little cottage things can get dusty fast and there is not always enough space to keep everything tucked away, so with the inspiration of a Martha Stewart How-To I saw ages ago, I devised a plan.

With a simple tea towel, I reworked the pattern to fit my doll house sized treasure, creating almost origami styled folds, but making sure to leave enough room to get around all the parts:

Did you guess what it is? Your right, a new sewing machine cover to keep it dust free and sitting pretty!

(Vintage circus image from the Circus ABC by Kathryn Jackson, found on the Golden Gems Blogspot, embellished by Jennifer Michie)

March 19, 2010 / 0 Comments

What Will it Be?

Just working on a few sewing projects today, what will some of this fabric become?

The possibilities are endless, but I have something particular in mind. I think I will use the Cath Kidston Pairie fabric for this project, I can’t seem to get enough of those happy flowers lately.

What will it be? You’ll just have to wait and see….

March 16, 2010 / 0 Comments

Shamrock Boutonnieres

St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow and in case you need to make some last minute St. Patty’s Day crafts these sweet boutonnieres are on the Martha Stewart website.

They are absolutely adorable and would work well as something cute on your lapel to take you through Spring. You could even add a little ladybug on a leaf for extra luck, if you can find one tiny enough.

Tools and Materials:

Cotton fabric

Waxed paper

Paintbrush

Liquid starch

Iron

Scissors

Pencil

Floral wire

Craft glue

Green ribbon

Corsage pins

1. On waxed paper, use a paintbrush to coat both sides of a cotton swatch with liquid starch. Let it dry. Iron the fabric to flatten it.

2. Photocopy shamrock templates to desired sizes. Cut them out, and trace them on fabric; then cut out fabric shamrocks. Crease each leaf in half lengthwise.

3. To make a stem, cut a 4-inch piece of floral wire; fold it in half, and twist it until the ends form a tiny V. Bend the V forward slightly and attach it to the back of each shamrock with a small dab of craft glue. Tie a bow around one stem or a bunch of shamrocks. Use a corsage pin to fasten to your clothing.

Click here to get the full set of directions from the Martha Stewart website.

(All images and direction text, copyright Martha Stewart Living)

January 18, 2010 / 0 Comments

Fairy Mushrooms

While doing a little research for vintage cotton-spun mushrooms, I came across this tutorial for paperclay mushrooms on The Fabled Needle Blog. I know it is an older post but they were just too cute not to share with you.

On such a cold drizzley morning here in England this brought me a little sunshine happiness. I can’t wait to try making them myself, the possibilities of their uses are endless.

I am already envisioning plans for these little sparkle layered snow kissed mushrooms sprinkled around my miniature zinc Christmas house in December and maybe worked into a wreath with tiny gnomes for some Christmas kitsch cuteness. Oh, now I am getting carried away…

You will find her tutorial here.

(Mushroom Images from The Fabled Needle Blog, Gnomes from Layer Cake, embellished by Jennifer Michie)

November 22, 2009 / 0 Comments

Crazy Holiday Ideas

I have these crazy Martha Stewart ideas at times, I see something and I think, “Oh, wouldn’t that be the cutest idea, all made, decorated, beautifully wrapped and lined up in neat rows to hand out…”, the idea I am thinking of, are Thanksgiving goody bags, or boxes in this case.

Whether we had Thanksgiving at our house or someone else’s, everyone always left with a bag of goodies, especially (my mom being an original New Yorker before she moved below the Mason Dixon) if cookies had been sent down from New York, you can’t beat a good bakery! Divine cookies with sprinkles or nuts or a little cherry stuck in them; shaped like leaves and hearts and circles, they were a box of pure happiness!I was looking for something this morning and went to the Bake it Pretty website and saw their turkey cupcake picks and that started off my whole wave of crazy thinking. I thought wouldn’t it be cute, if you made little pumpkin bread cupcakes, iced with mountains of cream cheese frosting (in these retro Sound of Music looking liners), stuck in a little turkey pick, whipped up some acorn shaped sugar cookies while you were at it and had everything all beautifully packaged in a box with some bakers twine or raffia tied through the handle, with something cute stamped on the box.

These are my Martha Stewart moments, the ideas that I would be insane enough to do, but will not. I just love the idea of it!

(Images from the Bake it Pretty website)

P.S. I heard my 1st Christmas song of the season on the radio this morning, I did a Charlie Brown Peanut’s dance of happiness!

November 15, 2009 / 0 Comments

Gobble Gobble

I was looking over the Gooseberry Patch Blog this weekend and this post was at the top of their list. It made me think of being little. We made little apple turkeys just like this in elementary school, sans the cereal feathers, they were all marshmallows going up our little feather toothpicks.

I loved celebrating holidays in school. At Thanksgiving we paraded around with our construction paper pilgrim hats or Indian headdresses upon our heads. We brought canned goods in for the needy and made turkey pictures out of our hand prints.

There are times when I think we forget how simple our world’s were when we were little, that there is something to just taking in life, having fun in the moment and just breathing. Looking at the Tom Turkey apple made me think of just that. I think I am going to hunt up some apples and mini marshmallows and have a little fun of my own!

Click on the picture above for a How-To, to make your own little turkey apples.

(Images copyright to Gooseberry Patch)

October 21, 2009 / 0 Comments

Everything is coming up Rosy with an Ice-Skating Afternoon

I have just received my Ice-Skating Afternoon kit from “Rosy Little Things”, better known as: Posie G ets Cozy. If you have not come across Alicia Paulson, you are truly missing out on a very warm, witty, creative and cozy woman. I saw this kit last year when I first found her blog and I was saddened that she had completely sold out. Lucky for me, she sold the kits again this year with a new set of 3 ornaments, Walk in the Woods to coordinate with her previous designs.

I had the kit sent to my parent’s house and as my Mom and I skyped, she waved this adorable package in front of the screen, taunting me with cuteness. But, it will have to wait, I refuse to let her send it to me, because I have so much I am trying to complete for the Christmas Fair at the moment. Today, I am sealing my gingerbread wreaths. So, the kit will be my reward for finishing all my little tooth bears and Christmas bears and apple garlands and mitten garlands….

The kit was beautifully packaged and holds almost everything needed to make each ornament. Once it is is in my hands, I know I will just gaze at it for ages before I bring myself to start cutting up the gorgeous colored felt and snipping into pretty threads. Not only was everything so nicely packaged, it held within it a handwritten thank you, and it is those personal touches that make it truly special. Even though it is more work, when I create my pieces for the fair I like to make sure that all the items have personal touches from me; so, it is lovely when you meet other kindred spirits who do the same.

Unfortunately, Alicia has sold out of the kits for this season but she has informed me that in the next few days, PDF versions of the kit patterns will be available through her website. So keep checking there and on her blog for information, these are too cute to miss!

Now, my hardest decision will be which one to start with first? A pom-pom adorned ice skate, a warming cup of cocoa, or a Heidi-ish looking gingerbread girl? Please check out Alicia’s site if you have not before, it always brings a smile to my face when I do!

(All images used are copyright to Alicia Paulson, Posie Gets Cozy)

August 21, 2009 / 0 Comments

Did You Hear the Good News?

Have you heard? Mary Engelbreit has started her Blog. She promised us to stay tuned in 2009 since the cancellation of her magazine that she would still stay in touch with her readers and she has!

I find this so exciting as I have really missed pouring over the pages of her Home Companion magazine. There was nothing better than making a cup of tea, lighting a candle, curling up under a quilt and flipping through the pages. I would go to it again and again, always seeing something new! I hope that one day she will be able to put it to publication again.

In the meantime however, she is sharing this wonderful Blog with us, filled with projects and hints and tips. I can’t wait to try my hand at the “Cozy Night-Light” project, you could do one for each holiday, so you always had something new. I love that idea, as we decorate for every holiday in this house!

This will definitely be a Blog I will more than enjoy reading and seeing develop!

Click on the Night-Light to go to this cute project.

(Both images used were taken from the Mary Engelbreit site)

May 27, 2009 / 0 Comments

Yo-Yos

The days seem to be ticking by faster than I want them to, as I still feel like I have so much left to do for the Fair. This year is going to be very exciting, it sounds like there will be a very good crowd of people coming and an even more diverse range of stalls.

One of the projects I have been busy working away on involves making yo-yos. I was never a fan of them before but after seeing them in a magazine, they somehow began to grow on me. Now, I seem to notice them everywhere. The possibilities of what you can make with them are endless.

My mind has been buzzing non-stop with ideas which led to the creation of one of my main Fair projects; a collaborative concept formulated by my Mom and I. I had so many notions, some of which have come into being however some will just have to wait until the Christmas Fair.

Knowing that November seems forever away until the Christmas Fair, when we will all be together again, but this time, in the coziness of an inviting house, with a crackling fire, Christmas trees adorning every free space and a coming together of friends old and new to have fun and raise money for a worthwhile charity along the way.

Like the March girls we gather, shaking the snow off our boots and heading for the kitchen, where a kettle is always boiling on top of the Aga. We gather to share ideas, celebrate each others company, love and cozy warmth.