In My Shop: Play Day Accessories

Remember those LEGO jewelry valentines I made way back when?  Well, I decided to turn those into an offering in my Etsy shop--Play Day Accessories.  I have rings, necklaces and bracelets in a slew of colors, all for the LEGO enthusiast in your life.  These are accessories that designed to be kept, worn and played with over and over as they are imagined and re-imagined on a whim--whether to coordinate with today's outfit or just to reflect a happy mood .  These pieces provide instant entertainment while riding on the school bus, waiting out science class, or during too-long visits with the rellies.  

 LEGO + jewelry = accessory playtime.

How many rings/bracelets/necklaces do you know of that invite fun, creativity and versatility in one package?  

You can find them right here.  

In My Shop: Buttloads of Stuff

Hi.  It's me.  Remember me?  I have been quietly lurking about here at home, shirking my blog, but happily sewing lots of toys and stuff.  It's been nice to make some stuff again.  I even have some tutorials in mind...maybe I will manage to get something out here before Christmas?  It has been hard to make my way back here, but picking up needle and thread again has felt good.  And as you can see, I have been picking it up A LOT.

So, there is a bunch of stuff in my Etsy shop.  If you are interested or care or whatever.   Oodles of ipod monster cozies, recycled crayons galore, a whole nursery full of matchbox monsters (I got to tell you that I am SO tired of changing nappies...), a fresh batch of babies on a stick, and even my much-sought-after-but-rarely-made plush alphabet magnets (act now because it could be another 2 years before I make more)...plus even more.  I know. I got a little crazy but it was good.  

You can find all you see above and more in my shop--right here.   

Happy holiday shopping.

9 Projects: Valentine-ish Things to Make

Are there enough yummy and lovely things out there to make for Valentine's Day?  It was really hard to whittle this list down to just 9 projects.  But I do love every single one of these.  I will be making some of those grapefruit bath salts, and those baked (yes, baked!) chocolate doughnuts with the blood orange glaze because what says love more than a cake doughnut?  Wish I knew how to knit because I would so be knitting some of those heart-heeled socks too (stripes + hearts = true sock love).  And that beribboned necklace made from gum balls is so sweetly pretty. Oh, and the minute-to-win-it candy valentine?  So frickin' brilliant (seriously, go to the post and read about the specifics of the challenge--uber clever)!  

You can find each of the projects here (listed clockwise from top left):  Heart Tote from Hrrthrrr; Grapefruit Bath Salts from Celebrations at Home; Kimono Robe by Atelier Joy found on Craftsy; Pink Heart Milk Cubes (will turn the milk pink!) by A Subtle Revelry; LoveSocks by Devon Clement found on Ravelry; Chocolate Doughnuts with Blood Orange Glaze from Heather Christo Cooks; Minute-to-Win-It Valentine from StacyJulian; Gumball Necklaces from Formal Fringe; Kid's Pencil Arrow Valentine Card Printable from Sweet Muffin Suite

Now go slip on your favorite pink shirt,  put on some dreamy music and get your Valentine's Day craft on because all you need is love (and a few crafting supplies).

Crocheted Hats and Conversations with My Fake Boyfriend

My friend Carrie crocheted the hats with the red initials Beeper and Mr Beeper are wearing.  They love their hats and like to wear them around our drafty old house.  She crocheted them during an afternoon she spent sitting on our sofa chatting with me while our husbands watched football upstairs and our kids made their own videos on an iPod, giggling hysterically the entire time.  I wish I knew how to crochet a hat in an afternoon.  

But what I really want you to know about Carrie is that she has this clever and funny Tumblr called Conversations With My Fake Boyfriend.  It features photos of guys--really attractive guys--and snippets of conversations she imagines they are having with her.  Here's a sample--a New Year's Eve post:

“Would I be standing in this library if I didn’t think staying in on New Years’ Eve wasn’t a capital idea? Wearing my jammies and smoking jacket? Of course not. Now put on your yoga pants, glug that Fresca and stay hip deep in your book, baby girl.”

I read it every day because it never ever fails to make me smile--plus it is a minimal reading commitment since it usually contains no more than 2-4 sentences.  Try it out--I mean, if you like to smile, laugh or just look at photos of hot guys.

Oh, and Carrie is actually a writer in her real life.  Her first YA novel is will be published this spring--it's called Sex and Violence--and yes, it does contain both sex and violence in the story.  You can find out more about Carrie right here. 

Our Wreckorated Sofa

So we purchased this lily-white Ikea sofa with two matching ottomans earlier this summer and foolishly put it in our heavily used all-purpose play/TV/rumpus room.  Let's just say it did not maintain its  virginal color qualities for long before it was sullied with spilled juice, dusty shoe prints, pizza sauce, melted chocolate, and whatever grime seems to come from simply sitting your bum on a sofa cushion over time.  Sure, I made an honest effort with upholstery cleaner at some point and managed a modicum of recovery with much vigorous scrubbing...but I already knew the battle was futile.   

So I just gave up and put out a mason jar full of Sharpies of every color and announced to every child and adult who entered our house that the sofa was open for graffiti and doodling if anyone was so inclined.  Did I get some, "Are you freaking crazy?" looks from parents?  Loads.  Did Beeper's friends look at me suspiciously from the corner of their eyes as they tentatively uncapped a Sharpie and moved toward the sofa?  Sure. But as you may imagine, the kiddos were pretty quick to embrace this notion of doing something normally completely forbidden and this is what we have today: our wreckorated sofa....

My only two rules for drawing on the sofa are: 1) no writing anything unkind about anyone else, and  2) no scribbling over drawings.  Adventure Time related drawings have been particularly popular with the kiddos--and tagging the sofa with their names, of course.  Best of all, the graffiti really does disguise the dirt and grime and spills.  And no, the writing does not rub off on your bum.  

I have found that I love all the color it brings to the room.  It is a design in constant evolution as people add more and build on one another's drawings.  Just this morning I came in and Beeper had added a rainbow platypus with a mohawk to one of the cushions.  Yeah, it made me smile.  I ask you, how often does your sofa make you smile?

Colorful Wooden Utensils

I had been collecting secondhand wooden utensils for the past year or so with the intent of painting the handles and giving them as holiday gifts to friends.  There have been loads of tutorials on how to make these popping up all over Pinterest for years now, so I had plenty of reference instructions before I began. These stripey ones were my initial inspiration (though I decided not to go stripey because laziness superseded the desire for stripes), but I also loved the more subtle look of these, though ultimately decided to go brighter, like these.    

Being secondhand, I did boil these for about 30 minutes just to kill off any wee beasties that may be lurking in the wood, then I just taped the top edge of the handle with masking tape, painted the handles with craft paint (anywhere from 2-3 coats depending on the color saturation desired), set them up to dry (TIP: place disposable cups placed inside glass ones, then place the utensils in the cups painted end up while drying), used a non-toxic shellac to seal the painted handles (lay down newspaper and use brushes you do not intend to keep--this stuff does not clean up easily--I managed to shellac part of a fingertip in the process), and finished them off by conditioning the unpainted portions of the utensils with a combo of beeswax and mineral oil (Stephanie has good instructions for how to make your own wood oil, found here).  That was it.  Pretty simple, really.  I mean, as long as you do not shellac any parts of your body...

Baby Come Back

Dear Blog,
I just have to tell you that I miss you.  Loads.  I know it has been months and months since I have come around to see you, but I still think about you all the time--most every day, really.  You see, I decided (very unceremoniously) that I wanted to try my life without.  Just to see what that would be like--returning to what life was like before you were ever part of it, reclaiming those chunks of time previously devoted to editing photos, creating tutorials, logging new entries--but what I have found is that I miss you so very much.  I yearn for you every time I make something, see something beautiful, admire something that someone else has made--my heart pauses for a moment and aches for you.

There are so many new things I want to share with you still--my iPad and all the inspiring apps I have discovered (no, please don't think of this as cheating--the iPad and I have a different sort of relationship than you and I), things I am creating--and the things I want to share so others can make them too, all the lovely things other people are making, all the new recipes I have made and some of the amazing cookbooks I have found, Beeper's latest moment, the wonder of the later afternoon winter light, some of the changes Mr Beeper and I have found time to make to our home...I need someone to share all of these things with because you are the only one who cares about these very same things.  We just get each other in ways no one else does.

I always knew you were important to me, but I guess this time apart has made it clear exactly how much we are meant to be together.  I promise you that I will be around here more from now on--I hope you can forgive my rude and extended absence--but I know we have a future and I am looking forward to this new year--together.
Love,
H.