Category Archives: Stuff to make

Heart Crayons

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

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

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Sewing, Stuff to make by

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!

Embroidered Hearts

Posted in Boston, Holiday, Recycled materials, Sewing, Stuff to make by

Before we kick into full valentine production at my house, cutting and decorating paper hearts for my kid’s multidinous classmates (maybe this is the best argument for keeping class sizes small), I thought I’d sneak in a little stitching.

It all started with this freebie download for bear and bunny dolls  from wee wonderfuls. I stitched bunny, but not bear because . . .

 . . . I was taken by the urge to create these lumpy little stuffed embroidered hearts! 

I had hoped they’d be reminiscent of these embroidered birds,  but alas, not quite. I learned that it’s really hard to turn small shapes right side out after sewing. Also that I haven’t mastered sewing perfect curves on my machine. And the elusive invisible stitch? I keep trying . . .  

But I did my messy best and enjoyed the embroidery. I used muslin for the front and for the back, scraps of printed cotton and denim and (pink!) cordoroy from recycled pants. The heart paper is from Paper Source in Cambridge. Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!

Paper Rollercosters

Posted in Boston, Kids, Paper, Stuff to make, Things to see by

This paper craft for kids comes straight from one of my favorite museums: the Peabody Essex in Salem, Mass. Yes, it has an amazing Asian art and Maritime art collection (including a room-size model of the S.S. Queen Elizabeth, which never fails to impress us). But sometimes we go just to hang out in the sunny atrium designed by architect Moshe Safdie, admire the sky, and pretend it’s not 4 degrees outside.

The paper rollercoaster craft (offered as part of the PEM’s “Eye Spy, Playing with Perception” exhibit through May) had the qualities of a good kids’ project: simple enough for little guys to enjoy and interesting enough to engage bigger kids. Plus you probably have all the stuff you need right in your house: glue sticks, strips of colored paper, and a piece of paper for a base.

Dab one end of a paper strip and press to the base. Twist, bend, or loop–then glue the other end and press. 

    My 10-year-old made his rollercoaster a continuous circuit. My five-year-old’s design defied the laws of physics, but he thought it looked really cool.

 

 On the way home, we drove by the Salem harbor,

 and it was winter again.

Curtains

Posted in Brooklyn, Sewing, Stuff to make by

Here are some curtains I made using the purl bee pattern lovely lined curtains. In case you haven’t noticed, I am seriously enamored with all things purl. In case you are thinking of trying the pattern, it might be worth noting that it recommends pulling a thread to make a straight line for cutting, which is a very clever trick. After a painstaking hour of pulling tiny bits of thread, I couldn’t stand it and zipped through the fabric with my rotary cutter–so satisfying! But, as the pattern forewarns, it’s pretty much impossible to cut a straight line 60-inches long. As you can see below, my lovely lining peeks out from the bottom of one panel, but it’s really only noticeable upon close inspection. The fabric is from Joelle Hoverson’s collection Cake Rock Beach. I love the seaweed pattern, which reminds me that Brooklyn is actually very close to the ocean!