recently made things

I almost always have a craft project or two that I am currently working on.  However in the last few months it has not been uncommon for me to have several projects in the works at one time.  I don't know what lit the fire in me but lately I have felt like I can't spend enough time making things!  I think it might have been a combination of the new house needing decorations and the arrival of autumn and cooler weather, which always makes me want to crochet every spare minute.  My first big project as of recent was the teepee I made for Arlo, which he absolutely loves, and then I kinda went from there.  If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen most of these, but here on the blog I can provide a link to the project I used as inspiration.

First up, an oversize ruler growth chart for Arlo.  I saw these on Pinterest years ago and have always wanted to make one.  I read several tutorials but this one was the one I most closely followed.  I originally planned to use a stencil for the numbers and just sponge paint them on, but didn't like the look when I practiced it on a scrap piece.  So I opted to trace the stencil lightly with a pencil, and then do all the painting by hand.  This method took way longer but it turned out even better than I hoped it would.  I usually opt for a dark stain for wood but wanted the painted letters to really pop so I picked a lighter color.  Total cost for this project was around $10 as I only had to buy the wood board and fine paintbrush, I had all of the other materials on hand already.  I haven't yet officially made a mark for how tall he is, I plan to mark it on his second birthday in a couple of weeks.

Just before Halloween I had the motivation to do a little pattern writing, so I made these cute little Halloween crochet corks.  You might remember the Holiday cork set I made last year.  These are the same idea -- little crochet figurines around wine corks.  I started with the pumpkin and then made a skeleton and Frankenstein to go with him, and then kind of lost steam after that.  I never got around to publishing the patterns even though I have them ready to go, but there is always next year...  Total cost of this project was free because I already had the yarn on hand and it was easy to quickly down three bottles of wine  ;)

I am not traditionally a painter and had actually never before painted on canvas, but I had so much fun hand painting the ruler growth chart that I decided to try another painting project.  I initially wanted to make just the deer head canvas seen below, but the canvases were on sale at JoAnns and I had a coupon so I bought two.  I made both of these during a single nap time one afternoon.  The deer head was really easy and fun to make, and is currently residing on top of our fireplace mantle as a fun Christmas decoration.  Go here to find out how you can make your own!

The other canvas was something I decided to make once I was home and had started the deer head painting, so it had to be something I already had all the materials for.  Let's call this one an impulse craft project.  And also a Pinterest fail -- turned success.  I followed the instructions for the birch tree canvas and ended up with this:

I sort of liked it, and set it upstairs in the hallway so I would see it frequently before I committed to putting a nail in the wall for it.  After a couple of days I decided it needed a little more work, and spent about an hour "erasing" the blobby black paint by going over it with white acrylic paint.  I then loved how it looked (so birchy!) and will be hanging it in our bedroom when I get around to working on the wall collage in there...  Lesson learned - credit cards are meant for buying things, not for painting things!  I think I spent around $5 on each canvas, $2 on paint, $4 on glitter and $4 on the gold paint pen to make the K + E.  Not bad for two pieces of wall art.

This next crochet project was something I saw some else make and share on Instagram.  I am slowly starting to develop a crochet wall hanging obsession, and when I saw these I knew I had just the right spot for them.  In our new house, we have a front room that I suppose is designed to be a formal living room, but right now it's pretty much empty.  We do have plans for eventual built-in bookcases and new furniture, but for now all that's in the budget is these free crochet hangings, ha.  The pattern was written to be a rug, but with an appropriate sized hook and yarn weight, it can be made into pretty much any size desired.  I used navy yarn that I already had on hand and hung them above our vintage sewing table.  I love, love, love them and kind of want some in every room of the house.  I was a little nervous to hang them up because I had to put eight nails in the wall for each one, but once I put them up I knew I wouldn't be taking them down any time soon.

I took a little break from my constant crocheting to do a little sewing (have I mentioned how much I love to sew?!) and make Arlo a couple of pillowcases for his toddler sized pillow.  I recently started putting his little pillow in the crib with him, and he seems to really enjoy using it.  Standard size pillowcases are way too big, so I whipped up a couple that fit it just right.  I used flannel fabric because we are heading into winter, but will probably make a few more warm weather cases at a later date.  Total cost was only a few dollars as the deer fabric was on super sale and I already had the other fabric on hand.  I used this great video tutorial, but used only two colors instead of three. 

Out of the leftover deer fabric I made Arlo a pair of pajama pants.  I didn't really use a pattern or tutorial for these, I just traced a pair of pants that fit him currently and added a seam allowance and an inch or so to the length so he has some grow room.  The decision to not follow a pattern was likely why half of the deer ended up upside down, which initially made me annoyed because at that point I had already cut the fabric and didn't have enough to redo them.  So I proceeded with the project and then posted a pic to Instagram.  Someone mentioned that half the deer would be right side up to Arlo as he wore them and then it all made sense and I loved the pants and all was right with the world again.  Or something like that.  Anyway, pants:

Up next is a quick and easy project I started before Halloween but didn't figure out just the right spot to hang it until nearly Thanksgiving.  It is a cute little pumpkin garland, and I ended up putting it in our living room above our sofa wall collage.  I used sewing pins to hang it so the holes in the wall are super tiny and not visible to the eye unless you are actually standing on the sofa, which most of our house guests typically refrain from during their stay.  Cost: free as I already had the yarn, pattern: here.

Before I even took down the pumpkin garland I knew I wanted a Christmas garland to replace it, so I found this quick and easy tutorial online.  At the time I didn't have a pom pom maker (I have since bought one for other crafts) so I used two empty TP tubes, which worked pretty well!  Cost was only a couple of dollars for the mini ornaments.

I started making this little lamb over a year ago, and finally got around to finishing it in the last few weeks.  I followed the pattern pretty much as written but did go up a couple of hook sizes because I was struggling with the small hooks and that super fluffy yarn.  Not sure where I am going to keep him but for now he is sitting on a shelf in the office guarding my yarn stash, and doing a darn good job of it.

Next project was very quick and easy, and required that I learn how to make my own pom poms which turns out is also very quick and easy.   It uses a large hook and chunky yarn so it can be made in around an hour or less.  Arlo has had quite the hat obsession for a while now and wants to wear them all day (indoors and out) so he was pretty happy about the hat mama made him...  Pattern here but you do have to create an account on the Lions Brand website (it's free and easy!)  I ended up making two hats, one rainbow colored and one red & white, and the cost for each was around $5 for the yarn. 

On our recent drive up to DC for thanksgiving, I started making these adorable earwarmers and legwarmers for Arlo's little friend, Lyra.  The pattern uses a shell stitch which I don't remember having done in the past, and I immediately fell in love with it.  It's an easy, repeatable stitch that is almost meditating to crochet.  In fact, I loved it so much I also made a set for our babysitter's daughter and plan to make myself earwarmers out of a similar pattern.  Not going to mention the cost because it is a gift but I was able to make each set out of exactly one skein of yarn.

Arlo modeling them after I finished them during our trip.  It always helps to have a kid the same size as the person you are making the gift for!  He has actually tried to steal them several times now so he can wear them himself.  Are they still girly if I make him a set in blue and grey??  ;)

 

Speaking of Lyra, she is also now a big sister!  Her family welcomed their new little lady, Lucy, at the beginning of the month.  Of course I wanted to make her a little something, and decided upon this sweet little pixie bonnet (also made with a shell stitch!)  It turned out great and I hope she loves it.  This little bonnet would also make an excellent photo prop for anyone doing newborn photos.  I love the slightly scalloped edge and subtle yarn variegation.

And finally, a couple of my girlfriends and I who regularly get together for lunch dates (I like to think of us as "ladies who lunch" because it makes us sound fancy, ha) decided to do an ornament exchange this year.  I decided that in addition to buying an ornament from the store, I would also crochet each of them one of my Holiday crochet corks.  These little Santas were so adorable hanging on our tree waiting for their new homes that I know I will probably end up making one for myself as well!

And they ended up loving the Santas so much that they requested another one, so I made a few trees and an elf...

Whew!  That was a lot of crafting.  You might think that all I do is craft all day long, but truth be told these were almost entirely done during nap times, or finished up after Arlo went to bed.  None of these projects were attempted whilst our tiny tornado of a toddler was on the loose, I know better than that.  Ha!  More projects to come soon, as I don't have any intentions on stopping this crafting madness anytime soon...

DIY teepee!

I gave a little preview of this project in my last post, and for anyone who guessed that I was sewing a teepee for Arlo, you guessed correctly!  Let me know where to send your can of coconut milk  ;)

I have wanted to make Arlo a teepee for quite a while now, but was a bit intimidated by what a large sewing project it would be.  I always seem to underestimate the amount of time that something will take me to complete, and this project was no exception.  I started it during nap time one weekend afternoon, and together Erik and I took measurements of how large it should be, did the math to add in seam allowances, and then together measured and cut all the panels.  I did all the sewing and set up, but I am so thankful Erik was there to help in the beginning.  The whole project took me about a week and a half, sewing during most naps and in the evenings after the little man went to bed. 

I took inspiration from two tutorials online to make ours, but most of it was made up as I went along.  The main part of the teepee is made from a painters drop cloth I bought at Lowe's.  I wanted to use real wooden dowels for the poles, but Lowe's didn't have any that would be long enough for the project.  So I oped to use PVC pipes that I spray painted to look like wood.  They were also a heck of a lot cheaper than wooden dowels would have been.  The door and flag bunting is made from fabric that I bought at JoAnns.  I used bias tape (for the first time ever!) to give the door a nice edge, as well as hold up the flag bunting.  The star on top is made with felt and scrap fabric using the reverse applique technique.  It was a super fun project to make, and I am really happy with how it turned out.  Arlo seems to really like it as well, he calls it a "peepee."  Guess we need to work on those "t" sounds! 

The quilt on the floor is one that my mom handmade for Arlo, and it serving as a temporary floor to the teepee.  I would love to find a thick round rug to put in it's place, and add some fluffy pillows.  I envision this space as a little reading nook for Arlo.  Books are at the top of his list of favorite things right now and this will give him a cozy little spot to hang out in and read.  The teepee is set up in his playroom, which is actually designed to be the formal dining room in our house.  But it's right off the kitchen and I can keep a close eye on him when I am cooking or washing dishes, so we decided that this setup made the most sense for us. 

The tutorials I used to make Arlo's teepee are this one (you can certainly see where I got most of my inspiration here), and this one where I got the idea to use PVC and sew pockets to hold them in place.  Sewing the pockets also made it so that I only had to spray paint the tops of the poles.  Oh - and if you do decide to make one and go this route, roughly sand the poles first.  I learned that the hard way and ended up painting them all twice when the paint started rubbing off the first time.  I drilled holes in the pipes near the top and secured them together with twine, and then wrapped sisal rope around the twine.  Total cost was I think somewhere in the neighborhood of $50.  The drop cloth (9' x 12') was the most expensive thing and ran around $25.  The poles were around $10 and the rest of the fabric, bias tape, and pom poms for the pillow came to around $15. 

Here is what it looked like as I was working on it, I took over the entire empty bonus room and turned it into a temporary sewing room:

And the final project all set up:

You can see in one of the above photos that I also made a matching pillow with leftover materials from the project.  I saw something similar on flickr, but without any instruction on how to make it.  So I just made it up as I went along.  The bunting is sewed on with reverse applique, and the pillowcase is an envelope style so it is removable.  I still have some large pieces of both the drop cloth and the teepee door fabric, still trying to think of a small project to make with them.

Erik and I are planning a big trip to Ikea in the next few weeks, and one of my main focuses is a storage solution for all of the toys sitting just outside the camera frame in the above photos.  Actually, I would by lying if I said I wasn't using cardboard moving boxes as temporary toy storage right now.  As soon as we find a more permanent solution, I will be sharing a little more of what the playroom looks like.  Hope you enjoyed seeing Arlo's homemade teepee!

toddler crafts

I have been ready and waiting for Arlo to reach the age he is at right now.  My pinterest feed will prove it.  Ever since he was just a newie who couldn't even roll over, I have been furiously pinning toddler crafts and activities that I hoped we would one day do together.  Well, that time has arrived, and oh boy am I excited!  Over the past month or so, we have done a couple of new activities together each week.  Most were free or cost next to nothing, and all held his attention longer than any store-bought toy ever has.  I thought I would share a few of them here today.

First up, homemade bubbles.  I came across this oversized bubble wand they had on display at the local toy store near our house.  They had it all set up outside to play with, and Arlo's face lit up the second I picked it up and showed him what it did.  I bought him one on the spot and headed next door to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the DIY bubble recipe that was included with the wand.  They are the best bubbles ever, super cheap, and the recipe makes a TON, but we have been making 1/3 of a batch at a time.  Every evening after dinner Arlo stands by the back door and says "bubbles.  bubbles.  bubbles!!"  because he knows that evenings are when we head out to the back deck to play with bubbles and the water table.

There are a whole bunch of recipes out there to make your own bubbles, but this one has been working out great for us:

12 cups water
3 cup dish soap (we use the blue Dawn, not the most "natural" but makes awesome bubbles!)
3/4 cup corn syrup

*simply mix together and use.  makes a whole gallon!  try and keep the solution from sitting out in direct sunlight as it will make them last longer.

The next craft project we worked on was watercolor paints.  Arlo has used crayons and markers in the past, and has done some painting at the babysitters house.  I bought the regular Crayola watercolors, and he loved it.  His favorite part was dipping the brush in the paint.  And then into another color.  And another.  So basically, all the colors end up mixed together but he had fun in the process.  He painted on a huge piece of scrap white cardboard as I wanted him to have a large, blank canvas that wouldn't move around on him easily.

The next one is more of a homemade toy than it is a craft project.  I came across the idea on Pinterest.  Basically you just take an empty plastic food container (I used an Earth Balance tub) and cut holes in the top to push pom poms through.  I have also seen something similar with an empty Parmesan cheese canister and straws to drop through the holes on top (would love an empty cheese container from any of you cheese-eating readers, ha.)  This activity didn't hold Arlo's attention for that long (too easy?) but he seemed to have fun for a few minutes. 

I made Arlo a pair of binoculars earlier this week out of two empty toilet paper tubes, some tape, construction paper, and yarn.  He loved them and played with them all afternoon.  Even this morning he was still enjoying just wearing them around his neck!  This was another idea from le Pinterest.

And I saved the best for last.  Homemade play dough!  I made this last week and Arlo has been playing it with almost daily since.  He calls it "may mo" haha.  I was feeling a bit ambitious when I read the recipe, and made three batches all at once because I wanted to have more than one color on hand.  This was a good idea in theory, however it ended with a trashed kitchen, flour everywhere, and multiple pots and pans to wash.  Next time I will probably stick to a single color, or try and find some natural food dyes from whole foods so I can make a big batch of plain white, then divide it up into smaller amounts and add color.  I used this recipe, and to make the individual colors I used spinach, fresh cherries, and tumeric.  I love that the inguredients are all natural and food-based and I didn't have to worry about what would happen if he tasted it, which surprisingly, he didn't.  I can't say the same for Lucy though, she ended up with quite the snack when we stepped away for a diaper change.  Let's just say she drank a lot of water that afternoon, and we have been very careful to keep it out of her reach ever since!

I gathered up some random toys and baby-safe kitchen utensils to use with the play dough, and Arlo even learned how to roll it into a ball with his palms, and roll it into a log on the table (with some help.)   I have a feeling this recipe will be well loved in our house for a long time to come.

One thing that I love about all this, is that when he is bored of these projects and crafts, the items can easily be tossed into the recycling bin or compost pile, unlike bulky plastic toys that spend the remainder of their life with us shoved in the corner or stored in a closet somewhere.  Not to say we don't have any regular toys, trust me we have plenty.  But I love the idea we can come up with a fun new thing to play with together, usually without ever having to leave home.  #DIYforthewin  :D

That's all for now, but according to my Pinterest page there are like, 794 more toddler crafts that I need to do while Arlo is still this young, ha.  Better get to it!

DIY holiday card display

I have been wanting to make a card display for some time now. We have the perfect spot to hang it in our dining room - a large (nearly) empty wall just waiting for my next Pinterest craft. I had been keeping my eye out for a large (think poster sized) picture frame that I had intended to refinish and then string twine behind to hang cards and photos from. However, I recently came across this tutorial for a card display, and knew it was exactly what I wanted. And the best part - I didn't have to keep hunting for a frame that was taking me so long to find!

I made the display at the beginning of December, and it is currently holding our recently received holiday cards. After the new year (ok, let's keep it real, it will be more like February - I like to leave our cards up for a while!) I will replace them with photos, birthday cards, postcards, and whatever else comes our way throughout the year.

The card display was pretty easy to make, the hardest part was stapling the chicken wire to the back of the frame. I had a hard time getting it to lay completely flat, so it turned out a bit wavy. Not a big deal and probably noticeable only to me. I like how adding in simple nature-inspired elements can help keep the card display appropriate for the season. I opted not to hang a wreath, and instead added in a couple of sprigs of pine branches bundled with twigs and a pine cone. I did make a couple of changes from the original plans - our display is a couple of inches smaller, and used wood that was a bit thinner (depth wise) than they called for.

I really love how it turned out.  Within days of finishing it the Christmas cards started to roll in, and I found myself running excitedly to the mailbox everyday hoping for another card to add to the display. This is pretty much my favorite time of the year to get the mail - I absolutely love Christmas cards of all kinds!

bonus shot of my homemade wine rack (circa 2013) in the background!

side note - if you sent us a card that you don't see on display, not to fear!  I received a few cards within the last couple of days, but had already taken the photos for this post.  If you sent us a card - I can assure you it is hanging on the wall!

We will be spending the next few days with my parents and sister, eating lots of home cooked food, watching Christmas movies, soaking up lots of Arlo snuggles, and no doubt spending entire days in our PJ's ;)

I hope your Christmas is filled with love, warmth, happiness, and the magic that this time of the year brings.

merry Christmas and a happy New Year from the B's!!

Holiday Crochet Corks

It started with pinterest.  it almost always does.

One night, here I am, just scrolling through my feed, and there they are.  The most adorable crocheted Christmas trees I have ever seen.  Okay, so maybe they are the only crochet Christmas trees I have ever seen, but still.  Immediately, I add it to my "hooked" board where the other hundreds of crocheted items live that I someday plan hope to make.

Except these I actually do.  A few days ago I remember said trees and think "hey!  I've got some yarn (just a little - ha) and some leftover wine corks.  Let's make this happen!"

Little did I know that these little trees would be the inspiration for my next set of crochet patterns.  It started with a gnome (to live in the little forest of course) and then kind of snowballed out of control.  Soon my desk was covered with yarn of all colors, wine and champagne corks, and scratch paper where I was furiously scribbling notes about my next idea.  The next thing I knew the windowsill above my workstation contained a gnome, Santa, elf, snowman, and several trees.
did you notice my use of the word snowball?  and you thought I wasn't one with the puns...

So for you today, I am sharing all the patterns - for free!  I know, I know.  I love free stuff too.  And I love crochet.  And I love corks.  And I love miniature gnomes and such.  So basically I have combined some of my favorite things into one blog post and I am gifting it to you.  Because Christmas.

Simply click on the link below the photo to open up the pdf pattern - no downloading required.  Feel free to share with friends and be sure and send me a photo if you make them!

crochet cork gnome

crochet cork Santa

 

crochet cork elf

 

crochet cork snowman

bobble cork Christmas tree


happy holiday hooking y'all! 

thankful chalkboard

On the first day of November this year, we started a thankful board as a reminder of all the things that we are thankful for as a family (and there are a lot!)  Erik and I took turns adding a flag to the twine I strung across our kitchen chalkboard, adding one here and there as the ideas came to us.  On the last day of the month, the last flag was added.  It is a cute daily reminder to smile more and complain less, as there is a lot in our lives that we are lucky to have.

In no particular order of importance, here are a few of my favorite flags:

Last week I made another holiday craft, this time with Christmas in mind.  It turned out great - photos of that project to come soon!