get crafty

This past weekend we went to a little boy's first birthday party. I had made this little stuffed elephant ages ago just for fun and I thought it would be great for him (Um, I actually forgot all about it until I cleaned my closet a couple weeks ago and discovered it again!). I'm sure he'll love it more than I have. :) The pattern and directions are from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.

(Look at his cute little tail!)

Now that we're (sort of) on the topic of craft books, omg there are a ton out right now that I want. But I got a few for Christmas that I haven't made anything from yet, and I have some older ones (like the one I mentioned above) that I only made one or two things from so far. I can't really justify getting new books when I haven't utilized the ones I already have, you know?

So I came up with an idea. A craft book challenge. I'm going to make at least four things from all of my older craft books and two from my newer ones before I can buy anything new. If there isn't four things I want to make, I'm going to sell the book on eBay. Sounds like a good plan right? But, I am going to separate the knitting books and the sewing books because I only have two knitting books and I really, really want more. Play along if you'd like! I'll post more on what I'm making soon..

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.

hello 2009

And hello to all of you as well! Did you have a nice holiday? We certainly did.. and I think I'm just now recovering from all of the get-togethers and crafting and eating and family and presents... :) One thing I'll do differently next year: plan better. I was a frantic crazy person the entire week before Christmas and I didn't even get everything done. Not fun.. but anyways.. it's a new year. I love the new year, a blank slate. A chance to start fresh. But before I start fresh I'd like to share some of the handmade gifts that made me go so crazy. It wasn't the gift's fault, just that I waited until the last minute to work on them! So here's the first one:

A set of six fabric baby blocks in a drawstring bag. I made two sets of these for the two babies in my life. These were fun and easy. Cut six squares of fabric for each block you want to make. I cut mine 3" for a 2 1/2" block. I stuffed them with bamboo stuffing. I've seen other directions that say to use a foam cube, which would give them a good shape, I'll admit, but that just freaks me out. The foam stinks really bad (chemicals!) and I can't imagine letting a baby chew on something like that.

You can make these as simple or as complex as you'd like. I originally wanted to do a little embroidery on each one but time prevented that. :) I still think they're pretty cute.
I'll share more this week!

added to the shop: felted wool baby rings

from yesterday

I spent some time yesterday editing photos from a photo shoot I did Sunday of a cousin's dog (isn't he a cutie pie?). They will be a Christmas present for her husband.

I made some more baby caps and blankets for the The Caps to Cap-Haitien Project. Um, what possessed me to buy that star flannel? Must have been the rainbow colors. heh

And I played with this little one for a few hours while her mama was in class. We danced and sang Christmas carols. Well, I sang, she just laughed at me. :)

Tutorial Tuesday - Baby Bib

There were no babies in the house when I was working on this, so Henry helped out instead. :)

Click here for the bib tutorial.

Click here for the bib template.

A way to help

The other day, SouleMama shared a project she's been working on called Mama To Mama. Her first project is to make caps for newborns that will be distributed in Safe Birthing Kits in northern Haiti. On the Mama To Mama blog, she has more information and you can also download a PDF with directions and a pattern to make the caps (and an address to send them to once you're finished). They look super easy and they're made out of repurposed t-shirts! Everyone has a few old t-shirts around, right?

I also love this quote that's on her new blog: "I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again." -Stephen Grellet

Handmade baby toys

A few weeks ago I started watching a sweet little baby girl a couple days a week while her mama's in class. She's just now starting to hold on to things, so I thought a few handmade toys were in order.


Knitted and felted wool balls from this book. It's a great book, especially if you're just learning how to knit. You could start at the beginning and work your way through the entire book. A tip about the balls: hand felt them instead of doing it in the washing machine as the book recommends. The bottom ball in my photo was felted in the machine and it didn't turn out anywhere near as well as the ones I've hand felted.

Knitted and felted rainbow chain. This one I made up myself with some trial and error. I cast on 6 stitches on a double-pointed needle and made an I-cord until it measured 6". I then sewed them together with the tail yarn and felted them.

And finally, I made a few Fabric balls from a pattern from the Purl Bee. They were fun and quick and used up some of my scraps. All good things.

Oh, and she loves them all. :)