What do you think of these? I was inspired to make them when I saw the flyer for the upcoming exhibit from the Folk Art Museum, Infinite Variety, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts. I’ll post more about this later, but will just say now that I am inordinately excited to go and see this in March. I imagined a quilt with little rows of tidy houses, but thought I’d start with a few blocks, just to see how they looked. My husband, who is usually very complimentary of my crafts, said, “Um.” Not good. It turns out that he finds the houses not charming but creepy. Why? There’s no door, for one, and even worse in multiples they look like sinister barracks. (They are also very fiddly to make, so another strike against them.) But, I’d still like another opinion. Charming or not so much?
Category Archives: Stuff to make
Little presidents from Heidi Kenney
I’ve never given much thought to crafting for President’s Day, but it does fall at a good time for some indoor fun. These are so adorable, and look like fun to make. I can imagine making all kinds of little people! Maybe a chess set! The idea comes from Heidi Kenney’s new book Every Day’s a Holiday: Year-Round Crafting With Kids, which I definitely plan to check out, and Etsy has a how-to for this project on their blog here. You can find plain pegs at Caseys Wood or on Etsy.
Please let us know if you give this a try!
Swanky swell fabric
I love buying things on Etsy. There is something so satisfying about supporting someone’s crafty endeavors, and the homemade packaging that the purchase arrives in, often with a charming note from the artisan, makes me feel like I’ve received a present. Then there is the element of surprise. What will the item really look like? In the case of swanky swell, the Etsy store of San Francisco-based designer Nina Jizhar, the answer is fantastic! I purchased two fat quarters to make new covers for some seriously worn out throw pillows. I think they look great, and they are doubly crafty and unique, which I love.
Skinny laminx is another Etsy source for fabric. I haven’t bought any fabric from this store yet, but it’s on my list! I love the Cloud Birds pattern, and the palette is super appealing.
Heart Crayons
I’m squeezing in one last post before Monday for those of you who
1.) enjoy the smell of melting wax emanating from your toaster oven.
2.) own crayons so ancient they are growing a fur of mold.
3.) like to celebrate Valentine’s Day by smashing things with a hammer.
You will need crayons (pink, red, white, purple), the aforementioned hammer and toaster oven, a heart-shaped candy mold, and fingernails long enough to tear at the crayons’ very resistant paper wrappers. I used a silicone heart mold from Ikea, meant for making ice cubes. Not a good idea, but it worked. I have definitely destoyed the mold from ever being used again for its original purpose.
I smashed the crayons to smithereens (inside a paper bag), divided the colored bits into the molds, and placed the tray in the oven at 250F. Watch out: the crayon wax melts quickly (in less than a minute), and if you wait too long, the colors blend together and look like purple soup.
Cooling on the counter (note those uneaten clementines).
Voila.
postscript:
The mailman brought this little package . . .
and inside were pink & gray striped mittens!
My five-year-old cracked up when I tried them on and my fingers poked through.
Thank you, Brig! They are absolutely beautiful.
Little purse
Last year, I went on a business trip for two weeks–to Los Angeles, in February. I have to confess it was pretty fantastic, but I missed Valentine’s Day, my wedding anniversary, and two major snowstorms. I left this little purse and some felt barrettes behind as a present to make up for missing Valentine’s Day (to one of my loved ones, at least). There wasn’t much I could do about the snowstorms, except not gloat about the sunshine.
The idea for the purse came from a linen basket in the wonderfully cute book Zakka Sewing. I changed the square shape to the old-lady-purse shape, but the pattern was very helpful in figuring out how to attach the straps neatly.
The felt barrettes were adapted from the purl bee pattern for rose barrettes.
You might want to try making one of these projects for your own sweetheart!
homemadecity.com 