From the Work Basket: March

Speaking of aprons, this month's Work Basket project involves a Tie One On apron, completed for the June 2007 theme of The Pocket.

I don't know what kind of time constraint I was under at the time, but this apron was a disaster on the inside. Lots of raw edges showing, and even some holes. I didn't keep any of my Tie One On aprons. Most I donated to Goodwill, at least a couple were thrown away, but a few that I was really proud of I gave to friends. Now that this apron is presentable on both sides, I am ready to give it up. In fact, this apron is destined for the mom of two women that received this apron and that apron.

Peas and thank you, dear friend, and happy gardening.

Remaining work basket projects (in no particular order):

- Quilt for my mom

- Sandwich wrap

- Carpet bag

- Tunic

- Hooded towel repair

- Vest for Hank

- New bulletin board

- Men's shirt refashion

- Skirt

Completed projects:

- January: Baby pants

- February: Baby quilt (using BT's baby blanket)

(I need a time extension on my month of giving - just a couple more weeks, please!)

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Favorite of the day: Pretty backyard

Working on: Kitschy tutorial

Hippity hoppity

Can't believe Easter is already almost here!

I finished Hank's Easter basket last night. It is basically like these baskets - a gardening theme - as I suspect he will enjoy the routine of going out to water some plants daily (I am not making light of mental illness, but we can't help but notice that Hank gets a little obsessive about following routines. For example, to say we are going outside will prompt Hank to go get his jacket and want it put on - even if it is 90 degrees.

For now I only bought pumpkin and sunflower seeds to grow. This is basically our neighborhood (circa 1921), and if you think I'm eating anything that grows out of this soil here, you're the one who is nuts! Hopefully we can build some container gardens for next year.

In the carrots are Target's "Chickadees" (off-brand Goldfish crackers) and Annie's bunny grahams. There's also a little chocolate bunny. 'Cause eating veggies out of soil that is possibly contaminated with oil is way worse for a toddler than eating processed candy that barely contains any recognizable ingredients.

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Favorite of the day: A League of Their Own is definitely in my top ten all time favorite flicks - I would love to "live in" that movie!

Working on: Work basket project!

Hopefully more punk than cosplay*

One of the bluebirds had an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday recently

I wanted to make her an apron. I didn't want it to be the traditional Alice pinafore, but something a bit more funky and hip. I bought some blue fabric with black polka dots for the apron body, and used some lace I had on hand for the trim. The rabbit and heart are from the same source as the circles used here.

The package was wrapped with a tempting phrase attached

and in one of the pockets, a mysterious key...

(Thanks to my Chinese elm for modeling)

* Crash course in cosplay

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Favorite of the day: I love this idea for a modern take on the family tree (via ohdeedoh)

Working on: Easter basket

Blessings

About a year ago, one of my employees learned how to crochet. Her first project was a prayer shawl. She is Muslim, so I initially thought this project was specific to her religion.

Then I found out that the pastor at my church passes out prayer shawls to people she visits who lost a loved one or have been diagnosed with an illness. Prayer shawls are meant to bring comfort to the wearer, no matter which religion.

I would *love* to make one of these quarterly for church, but...given how long this one took me to knit, I will say "1 or 2 per year."

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Working on: Going down the rabbit hole

Can't say I *hope* for happy accidents

but when they do occur, I am grateful

This is a stroller blanket made for a friend*. The color scheme (orange, mustard yellow, purple, magenta) was inspired by some Dwell studio baby stuff I found on sale at Target.

The blanket design is a repeat of one I made for Hank when we bought our jogging stroller about a year ago

Both blankets were made with fabrics on hand, and are lined with soft flannel. They are nice in the spring placed directly on the baby (i.e. under the tray) to give a little warmth, and all year they can be hooked over the tray to protect baby legs from the sun if one forgets to bring sunscreen. Hank's blanket has plain velcro straps to hook it onto the stroller. The new version has the velcro sewn onto fabric strips, so they look a little nicer.

So the accident was that, apparently, at some point during the construction of the new stroller blanket (noticed after I had turned it right side out and sewed it shut, naturally), I cut a small scissor mark in the upper left hand corner. It was too far over to the side to just cover it and leave the rest of this square unadorned. The happy part was that I happened to have a bag of random felt shapes that included circles in appropriate colors. I sewed them on using an X to mimic the design on the purple-striped Japanese fabric, and voila - it looks like I intended it to be that way all along.

Here is the basket ready for gift giving



* I made a baby food making supply basket for this friend for baby #1. This is one of my most viewed flickr photos :) I didn't do a blog post as I was on hiatus at the time.

(here is somebody who does hope for happy accidents)

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Recent favorite: Adorable egg craft!

Working on: My nails

I {heart} our old records

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Recent favorite: If I ever have to move into a pantry...

Must see: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Working on: Still the churchy stuff

A basket of Pooh

It's Easter basket* auction time at church, and I wanted to contribute, but am a little short on cash. I decided to look through my junk to see what I had to work with, and found a big pile of Pooh.



Winnie the Pooh, that is. Two items, the striped scrapbook kit in the back and small green photo book, were items that I bought years ago on clearance. I have been to baby showers since then for moms who liked Classic Pooh, but the moms weren't particularly crafty, so these items have been languishing in a closet. I received the storage bin and blanket as shower gifts, but did not use them.



With these items as my starting point, I found the remaining Pooh stuff (memory book, comb & brush set, booties, toys, and pacifiers) at Big Lots. The best part is that I saw most of these things are still sold online through major outlets for twice as much! That said, the retail value of this basket is probably around $100, but I only spent $25 (this month - not counting the previously purchased scrapbooks).

Hope it does well at the auction! I never did find out how much my reuse basket from last year went for...

*The items are presented in baskets, but they can be any theme

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Favorite of the day: Cute party

Working on: Another church project

Step 2. Let it simmer for three years

Barb is one of my oldest blog buddies

We have exchanged quite a few packages over the years. Those received have always been so thoughtful, and those sent are always fun to put together. You may recall Barb's most recent package to me - a fully loaded flat rate shipping box.

Well, I decided to send her my speciality - a fully loaded flat rate shipping envelope. You may recall that I prepared these types of packages for BT's cousin serving an overseas mission.

I intended for there to be 20 items in the envelope, but looking at the pic there may have been less (?) In any case, it was filled with animal related goodies, Japanese goodness, ephemera, and some random goodies I thought Barb would enjoy.

One item that was nice to finally be able to include in a package to Barb was a vinyl encased recipe card using the pattern she provided a few years ago to Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. I never intended to participate in the swap that was offered when the article was released, but I did always intend to make a card as a gift for Barb to show support for her published work. I assembled the components three years ago (Step 1), but did not put it together until this month.

I chose to do a fun recipe - one that includes the ingredients for reliving your childhood. The directions say "Don't be afraid to try all ingredients. Repeat often." I had the metal "ingredient" words from the start, but didn't find the sticker ones until recently. So, sometimes it is good to let things simmer for awhile, and allow it to grow and develop. Of course the whole point of encasing the card in vinyl is to float objects in the card. I used plastic barrettes on the front and alphabet pasta on the back. That's a pic of 4-year-old me on the front. I had a lot of fun with this!

Thanks for everything, Barb!

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Favorite of the day: Pointing out every truck, bus, and "unusual vehicle" that crosses our path while driving is a very big deal around these parts. These magnets would be great to remind Hank of his favorite vehicles when he is at home.

Working on: Finishing up a baby gift

Happy St. Paddy's Day...?

Sorry for the recycled picture

Today was kind of a bust in the St. Patrick's Day department. My one green shirt (bought post-pregnancy, I might add) did not fit. The cupcakes I tried to make for co-workers were inedible (apparently you can't take any cake recipe and expect to make it into cupcakes). The kid got too hungry at dinner time, so we ended up going out to eat versus making an Irish dinner. I also got a little nostalgic or our St. Patrick's Days spent out drinking green beer at a place called, coincidentally, The Green Dog.

I guess it goes to show that you can't put too much emphasis on one day as "the day" to do certain activities. Any day is a good day to buy a new green shirt. Try a new *official* cupcake recipe. Eat soda bread. Drink some green home brew with a white dog at our feet.

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Favorite of the day: Cute idea

Working on: Still feeling a little glum about a few things, so vegging out watching Hulu is all that is on the agenda for tonight.

I think I figured it out this year - I hate pastels

Easter is upon us, and yet again I have not put out one decoration. No bunnies, eggs, or chicks grace our living space.

I did, however, make up favor bags to give out to the cousins at our family Easter egg hunt! They are festively done up in orange and brown.

Orange and brown?

I'm just not a pastel person. Perhaps it is because - according to my color analysis - I am an "Autumn," so the opposite season, Spring, is my nemesis. Or, in this instance, it could just be because I had an AWESOME trip to the Japanese dollar store and found these big top inspired bunny stickers (in a variety of scents)

and a bunch of small brown, orange and yellow toys

(the other toys include a giraffe finger puppet and maracas)

The checkered twist ties are also from the dollar store. I made up ticket-inspired labels to attach to the bags, and threw in a couple of Dove peanut butter eggs.

Hank's Easter outfit is closely aligned to this color palette. I will most likely be wearing a non-pastel as well - something to highlight my chestnut hair and sallow skin. Ok - is sallow not the worst word ever?

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~ Easter archives ~

Easter baskets and favors:
Basket for a baby + colorful favors

"Bring Your Own" auction basket

Nature/Outdoors themed basket

Flat pack care package
Motorcycle themed

Tiki themed
Quick and easy for kids
Kids Gardening Easter baskets

Food:
Edible Easter grass cupcakes and Sundrop flower cupcakes
Easter train cake
Homemade Peeps
English Crown Scramble

Egg decorating:
Glitter/collage
White Rabbit dye

Decor:
Slightly non-traditional Easter colors
Easter decor "light"
Bunny bunting

Crafts:
Recipe tin
Decoupage bunny
Egg carton craft FAIL
Wee bunny
Frocked flocked bunnies

Misc.
My mom and her dyed chickies
Retro Easter Pez dispensers

Hank at (almost) 16 months

I haven't done a progress report in quite some time. Here is Hank on his first pony ride. He also

~ Says about 2 dozen words (subject to his parents' interpretation). My favorite: Nigh nigh. Oddest: Mole (which he learned is next to my always giggle-inducing belly button).

~ Is making associations. One of his favorite books is only 6 pages long, but takes some time to read. When we get to the page with a bird on it, he points to the bird, then runs over to point to a bird on one of his toys, then runs to the window to point outside where the birds live. The next page shows a dog having a band-aid put on by his mommy, so we need to point to all of the ouchies on Hank and his mama's hands (mama has a lot of ouchies).

~ Speaking of reading, Hank makes the cutest noise of all time when he is pretending to talk on the phone or read a book. For the life of me, I can't get it on video, but it is a cute garbled interpretation of what we sound like to him - his equivalent of the Peanuts' teacher voice.

~ Sleeps like a champ now! I never thought I would say that. Lots of good nigh nighs.

~ Of course we have some typical bad toddler behaviors developing - throwing food, not keeping our hands to ourselves, tantrums. But overall he is a sweet little boy and a joy to have around.

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Favorite of the day: No that we are anywhere near ready to remodel our bathroom (next year's project - hopefully). But when we do, I think there are some good ideas here.

Working on: A special recipe

A special gift

Describing blogging to non-bloggers, as I'm sure you have all encountered, is very difficult -

Trying to explain how people you have never met in person have become such an important part of your life. How some bloggers you *know* better based on email exchanges and the like, while some you don't communicate with much, but feel a special bond with them based on brief exchanges and reading about their daily life. How one can read (ahem) hundreds of blogs and remember facts about the writers, but cannot remember to go to one's own dental appointment.

I have admired Alicia for quite some time. She has an amazing style, has a beautiful house, and makes wonderful crafts. Despite having thousands of readers, she still manages to be friendly and approachable. I have bought handmade items from her - even a bag of drool worthy fabric scraps. Her feature from Romantic Homes is carefully stored in my idea files. Her book is shelved in my library. If I recall correctly, the labels I use on my fabric crafts were purchased after she shared the source for her labels.

I was so excited to hear Alicia and her husband are welcoming a baby girl into their lives. I *knew* I had to make something special to send to them, so I ended up making a yo-yo doll quilt. I love its homey look, and hope Alicia and her new addition do as well!

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Favorite of the day: Searching for favor ideas - living vicariously through another couple as they plan their wedding day.

Working on: Another thank you

Wowzers

Look at this giant box of fabric from A Very Nice Person

MaryAnn is definitely one of the most generous bloggers out there. She has totally inspired me to be more giving in general, but this month specifically. I will be working on a few individual gifts this month, my very belated new year's greeting, a tutorial, and a special giveaway - stay tuned!

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Favorite of the day: Great snack and storage ideas

Working on: yo-yos galore