heading out

We're leaving any minute now to go camping for the weekend. I'm so excited, I need a break so badly. Hopefully I'll take enough photos to share them with you all next week when I get back. Hope you guys have a great weekend (with lots of sunshine!).

unraveled

Last week I unraveled an old sweater for the first time, using these directions. It was rather easy (just a little time consuming) and I ended up with a ton of pretty, light blue cotton yarn. I haven't figured out what I'll make with it yet.
I'm really excited about this. I already bought two wool sweaters at the thrift store to unravel to make dryer balls (which has been on my to-do list forever!!). One tip: don't do this right before bed. I had dreams all night of untying knots and clipping seams!
Here's the sweater before:
I haven't had much to share here lately. A couple weeks ago I was really busy in the garden getting it ready and planting. That's almost all finished... all that's left is potatoes and some flowers that I'm going to try to dye yarn with (hopefully!).

I'm taking a couple classes this summer, which started last week. That's pretty much all I've had time for since then. My head is getting crammed with scores and scores of medical terms. May I complain a bit more? I don't remember the last time I touched my sewing machine. It's been dark and cold here for days now. I injured my knee running so I haven't been able to do that in a while. It's very frustrating and I miss it. I have no idea when I'll have the time to prep the soil for the potatoes and get them in the ground. And between my and Brian's schedules, I'm afraid we won't have any chance at all of enjoying summer, even though I know that we still will..

How do you guys juggle busy schedules and stay sane?

10 things I love...

1. Finding a bag of wooden acorns at the thrift store:
2. Black Apple's beautiful new kitchen.

3. These faux bois blocks from something's hiding in here:

4. This fun fabric that was delivered to me today. :)

5. Old sheets swaying in the breeze
6. Instructions on how to develop film using coffee and vitamin C... where was this when I was taking all those college photography classes?!

7. Sharon Montrose's fantastic photographs:

8. Babies!:

9. This ingenious craft from How About Orange.

10. Oh, and the sun, the sun, the sun! It's out and it's warm!!

... have a great weekend!

socks 'n stuff

I have a few things to share today. First, more socks:

These will be a Christmas gift for my mom. I used the same pattern as before, except this time I made them a little longer and I grafted the toe with 10 stitches on each needle instead of the 8 the directions call for. They fit me perfectly, so I think they'll fit my mom perfectly as well. I used Red Heart sock yarn.

Second, I got an award from The Ordinary Housewife (Thank you so much!!):
This award is pretty cool because you only give it to one person. I'm going to pass it on to Rural Mamma. Her blog is great... her little ones are adorable, she takes great photos, I love the quotes and poems she posts, and she makes butter. How awesome is that? That's totally on my list of things to try because of her blog. And her Etsy shop is super cute too. :)

And finally, Grosgrain is having a giveaway for this fabulous refashioned frock:

Did you know I don't own a single dress? It's true. So I hope I win this one because we have a number of showers/rehearsals/weddings to attend this coming up summer and I'm not too fond of clothes shopping... :) Plus I just love it.

what we're listening to

Some of the quilt stitching over the weekend was done while listening to the new album by The Decemberists (you can download it here from iTunes). Brian and I are both really loving it. And I'm also loving the album art.. isn't it great?

randoms

I know I've mentioned this before, but Brian and I have annual passes to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn. I really (really!) love the village, but it's closed this time of year, so in the winter we go to the Museum. I like it when it gets later in the day and all the kids on their field trips go home so I can do things like this and not feel completely ridiculous (just a little ridiculous):


Yep, that's me. A hot dog. A Wienermobile was right next to this little ingenious photo-op, but silly me didn't get a shot of it.

One of my favorite things at the museum is the Dymaxion House. It's crazy to think how different the suburbs might look if these houses had actually gotten manufactured.

Other randoms:

- Check out this yarn. Yum!
- And check out this etsy shop, Thrush. It's full of fabulous vintage clothing and other goodies. I love how she names the items.

- I love this rag rug tutorial from Moda Bake Shop.

- Oh! An update on the cloth pads: Awesome. They worked really well and were super absorbent and really comfy. I had no issues with bunching or sliding around. At first I was rinsing them out in the shower, but it took a while and the cold water was torture, so I started filling up the sink with cold water and letting them soak for a while in there first, which helped a lot. Once rinsed, I put them in a glass jar filled with water until all of them were used so I could wash them all together. When I buy/make more I think I'll rig something else up for storage. I felt pretty weird saving them, which is normal I guess when you start saving something you're used to throwing away.

My favorite one was the "medium" size from gogreengirl. It fit really well. The liners seemed a bit overkill, a little too thick for me. I think I'll try making my own liners. Anyone know where I can find organic, undyed/unbleached cotton flannel?

maybe I've gone too far

Sorry if this grosses some of you out. I almost didn't post about this but I think it's awesome so I'm just going to assume that someone out there will agree with me!These came in the mail the other day... yep, cloth pads! I read about them in the Etsy forums (just do a search for "cloth pads"). You can find lots of info on the internet as well. I read that cloth pads can actually make your period shorter and less painful. Plus it's much better for the environment than all those disposables! I absolutely hate disposable pads so I can't really believe it's taken me this long to get some cloth ones.

I did a lot of shopping around on Etsy and I finally decided on these two sets to start with so I could test them out. The polka dot ones are from Pleat and you can find them right here. The white ones are from gogreengirl and you can get them here. I got the sets that have a liner, a regular pad, and an overnight pad.

I haven't been able to try them yet, but they all look very well made and up for the task. ;)And looking at them in person I think they would be pretty easy to make myself.

------

Completely unrelated... Julie from knitsational is having a really cute giveaway on her blog, so check it out!

save handmade toys

Many of you have probably already heard about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that will go into effect in February (if you haven't, you can read more here). I just wanted to urge you all to vote to have this issue amended so handmade children's items can continue to be sold legally in the US.

You can go right here to vote on the change.org site. There you can also email friends and post a widget on your blog.

100 things to make

This is my 100th post. To celebrate I compiled a list (have I mentioned before how much I love lists?) of 100 things to make. I included things you can sew, knit, make with paper, cook, and a few other miscellaneous things thrown in for variety. Some have links.. maybe eventually I will make a link for all of them?

The next time you're itching to create something but you just don't know what, hopefully the list here will help you out a bit. And sorry if some seem a bit random (fairy wings?), coming up with 100 ideas wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. :)

Ok, here it is:

1. purse
2. lunch bag
3. tote bag
4. drawstring bag
5. sachets

6. quilt
7. pillow
8. napkins
9. apron
10. coasters
11. placemats
12. table runner
13. oven mitt
14. tea towels
15. tea cozy
16. juggling blocks
17. cloth book
18. bib
19. burp cloth
20. fabric blocks
21. doll
22. doll clothes
23. stuffed animal
24. felt food
25. fabric ball
26. banner (bunting)
27. dress
28. skirt
29. smock
30. pajamas
31. slippers
32. sewing machine cover
33. curtains
34. pin cushion
35. wine bag
36. checkbook cover
37. book jacket
38. gift bags / wraps
39. pencil roll
40. bookmarks

41. scarf
42. cowl
43. gloves
44. mittens
45. fingerless mitts
46. sweater
47. hat
48. bonnet
49. baby booties
50. socks
51. leg warmers
52. baby rings
53. felted ball
54. pot holder
55. blanket
56. felted bowl
57. wash cloths
58. felted tote bag

59. magnets

60. fabric covered Altoid tins
61. matchbook notepads
62. cards
63. books
64. notepads
65. scrapbook
66. flash cards
67. book plates
68. recipe cards
69. postcards
70. calendars
71. stationery set
72. to/from tags
73. place cards
74. memory game

75. magic wand
76. fairy wings
77. cape
78. finger puppets
79. play dough
80. finger paint
81. dollhouse
82. dollhouse furniture
83. origami
84. snow globes
85. rattle
86. wooden blocks
87. ornaments
88. mobile

89.

lip balm
90. lotion
91. soap
92. shampoo
93. laundry detergent
94. candles

95. chocolate chip cookies
96. smoothies
97. pesto
98. zucchini bread
99. soup
100. pumpkin torte

I won an award!?

The other day I got an award! What a surprise! I got it from The Ordinary Housewife!

So in order to accept the award I need to pass it on to six blogs I love and list six things that I love. Here are the blogs:

Average Jane Crafter

Green Jello

Holiday Queen

Lulubeans

Pimp Stitch

Turkey Feathers

And six things that I love:

1. colors

2. Pearl Jam

3. peppermint tea

4. the smell of apple blossoms

5. being outside

6. old movies

Thank you Ordinary Housewife!

Also, I posted my lunch bags in the shop. Man, I went through so many different designs/sizes/fabrics before I decided on these! It's nice to finally see them finished. I wish there were some school-aged kids in the family, I think they would be great to use as gift bags for Christmas. But adults would love them too. ;)

Oh, and about Christmas.. I know it's not even Halloween yet but I'm starting to get ready for the holidays.. like making lists and planning and such. That's all I've allowed myself to do so far (I'm trying to hold off until after Halloween)! I'm one of those people that think Thanksgiving doesn't get the attention it deserves.. but really, how can you get everything accomplished between Thanksgiving and Christmas? There's just too many crafty projects I want to do. So once Halloween is over, get ready for some Christmas posts every once in a while.. I have some fun things to share.

Dover Clip art

I can't believe I haven't shared this yet! If you're not familiar with Dover Publications, they have tons of books, many of which are filled with royalty-free vintage images, perfect for all kinds of crafty projects. Well if you go to their site on the "free samples" page, or right here, you can sign up to get a sampler email every Friday. You'll get a mix of things, like coloring sheets, games and puzzles, short stories, origami projects, and the clip art I already mentioned. Last week I even got paper dolls of Obama and McCain!!

I think it would be fun to use the games and coloring sheets to make little activity books to give to kids at parties so they have something to do. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's a sucker for vintage clip art! :) So check it out!

I've been tagged!

The Ordinary Housewife tagged me so I'm supposed to share seven things about myself you probably don't know. Here they are!

1. I very rarely eat red meat, but I love ribs.

2. I met my guy Brian on the internet about nine years ago. He’s from Georgia and I’m from Michigan. We didn’t meet in person for two years (because I was 15!!) but we’ve been together ever since. aww!

3. When I was 11 I broke my arm ice-skating in our ditch.

4. My parents let me have ducks when I was younger. They lived in the backyard in a pen that my dad made. It featured a kiddy pool sunk into the ground (which they got filthy again as soon as I cleaned it) and a rabbit hutch with the legs cut off. The ducks eventually went to live on a friend’s farm. :)

5. I can’t stand mushrooms. I hate that I dislike them so much because it seems like they’re in all sorts of great dishes.

6. When I was a kid I was obsessed with the Rocky movies. I think it may have been the slow motion fight scenes with the blood and spit flying through the air.. Now I sound completely crazy. Ha!

7. People used to think my cousin and I were twins. We would let them think we were and made up crazy stories about our parents and the house we live in. (Like we have pet monkeys or we each have a hot tub in our rooms. lol)

I'm supposed to tag seven other people but I don't always follow the rules, sorry! :) So if you're reading this consider yourself tagged! If you do it, post a link to your blog in the comments. :)

Netflix Origami

I was over checking out the Craftzine and I came across a site dedicated to Netflix origami. Awesome!

We just joined Netflix a couple weeks ago because we want to see all of the Academy Award winners for Best Picture, so I was excited to find this site. I immediately grabbed the flaps that were in the recycling bin and made the box and the bullet plane. I'm going to make a few envelopes for love notes for B. Would that be tacky? lol

The Good Old Days

Enjoyed a much loved tradition this weekend. :)

Back to work

After an amazing Labor Day weekend filled with the beach, a barbecue, bonfire, family and friends (and lots of babies!), it's back to work. I'm afraid it's going to be hard to focus today - it will reach 90 degrees and the pool will be calling to me. Perhaps I can squeeze in some time to float..

And now for something completely random

Kitty wigs! Seriously! When I first found this site, I totally freaked out and showed everyone in the house immediately. This one's my favorite, the "Silver Fox". So funny!