Notice he found a great use for the pocket already? I don't think he minded one bit that the pieces came from old pants. 
Scrappy Scarf 2
Wow! What a busy and fun holiday, but at least I finished the scarf!
Notice he found a great use for the pocket already? I don't think he minded one bit that the pieces came from old pants. I'll try to get a tutorial here soon, I think these would make some great holiday gifts. No time for this right now, maybe after the holidays, they'd make great wintery or early spring birthday gifts too, don't you think?
Notice he found a great use for the pocket already? I don't think he minded one bit that the pieces came from old pants. 
Scrappy Scarves
My brother, the one who gave me the trunk, has been asking me for years, literally, to make him a scarf. I think he has given up on me ever making him one because, the last few requests have been for just a piece of fleece to match his coat. Well, this year for his birthday I decided it was high time he had that scarf, and it would not be just a chopped up piece of fleece, no, he has been waiting years for this scarf so it had to be a little more special.
Old Pants! Yup, way more special than chopped up fleece right? (well not those exact pants, but aren't those little feet too cute?) By now I think you know how much I love to re-purpose, recycle and reuse, who doesn't these days really. I had been saving a pair of pants that didn't make it through more than two washes before falling apart at the pocket (I'm so bad at returning things or making complaints when I really need to.) and a pair of soft corduroy pants that no longer fit, but I just couldn't part with.
When I put the two together I couldn't resist the texture and pattern combination, It was perfect! I started cutting and sewing and before I knew it I had a really cool, really long scarf for my oh so patient brother.
I had the front complete before his birthday party, mid October, and was confident I could attach that fleece he'd asked for, to the back and have it to him the next day for his actual birthday. When I got to the project the next day I realized the amount of black fleece I had left was far to short to work, darn those tall people and their long scarves.
So I whipped up a shorter, matching, scarf with the scraps, used the fleece I had on hand and gave that to my somewhat shorter brother-in-law for his birthday. It's hard to tell from the photo, but for this one, I used the angled cuts left behind from the pant's seams and the cuts I made for my brother's scarf so this one has a much more patchworky feel I thought I wouldn't like as much as the clean straight lines of my brothers, but it actually turned out pretty neat.
My poor brother has waited another month now for that scarf of his and last night I finally got the fleece to finish it, my goal is to have his birthday gift to him before my birthday this week. Can I pull it off, all while entertaining 4 young-uns, finishing craft gifts for the Thanksgiving gift exchange at my in-laws and cleaning the house for the potential holiday company that could overflow from my mom's to our house? I love a challenge.
Old Pants! Yup, way more special than chopped up fleece right? (well not those exact pants, but aren't those little feet too cute?) By now I think you know how much I love to re-purpose, recycle and reuse, who doesn't these days really. I had been saving a pair of pants that didn't make it through more than two washes before falling apart at the pocket (I'm so bad at returning things or making complaints when I really need to.) and a pair of soft corduroy pants that no longer fit, but I just couldn't part with.
When I put the two together I couldn't resist the texture and pattern combination, It was perfect! I started cutting and sewing and before I knew it I had a really cool, really long scarf for my oh so patient brother.
I had the front complete before his birthday party, mid October, and was confident I could attach that fleece he'd asked for, to the back and have it to him the next day for his actual birthday. When I got to the project the next day I realized the amount of black fleece I had left was far to short to work, darn those tall people and their long scarves.
So I whipped up a shorter, matching, scarf with the scraps, used the fleece I had on hand and gave that to my somewhat shorter brother-in-law for his birthday. It's hard to tell from the photo, but for this one, I used the angled cuts left behind from the pant's seams and the cuts I made for my brother's scarf so this one has a much more patchworky feel I thought I wouldn't like as much as the clean straight lines of my brothers, but it actually turned out pretty neat.
My poor brother has waited another month now for that scarf of his and last night I finally got the fleece to finish it, my goal is to have his birthday gift to him before my birthday this week. Can I pull it off, all while entertaining 4 young-uns, finishing craft gifts for the Thanksgiving gift exchange at my in-laws and cleaning the house for the potential holiday company that could overflow from my mom's to our house? I love a challenge.
A Playmat!
So, I've mentioned the crafting that ensues whenever a certain niece comes to visit, right? Well, it just so happens that this particular niece and my eldest are in the same class in school this year. And, one of the teachers just happens to be pregnant.
And, the class was throwing a surprise shower for her. And so, of course, the last time this craft loving niece came for a visit I was smothered with tiny bits of fabric and puppy dog eyes as the two girls begged for me to help them make a baby blanket for this wonderful teacher and her sweet new babe. How could I refuse.
We soon decided that the blanket should actually be a playmat since some of the other moms were working together to knit a blanket and everyone agreed this would be much more fun. Their teacher was keeping the sex of the baby a surprise (so fun!) so the girls decided they wanted to go for bright, cheerful and playful patterns for the fabric.
Cute jungle animals in bold colors with a matching polka-dot stripe (my favorite). The toughest decision was the satin edge trim, brown, black, red, blue oh what to choose.
Once home the girls got right to work. They chose the layout, trying many different combinations, taking photos then looking at each of them on the computer (OK so I made them take the photos and look at each before making the final decision, which was to go with their original layout design, they knew what they wanted the second they had seen it, why couldn't I just leave it at that?).
They had fun pinning and sewing the top of the mat, I love the way my nieces lip twists up in this photo as she sews, too cute, so serious. Then I took over adding straps to the corners for toys to be secured, like the girls wanted, attaching the fleece back, stitch in the ditch style and finishing it off with the red satin trim.
I added a tie and tucked it under the trim before attaching it so that the playmat can be rolled up, tied and taken to whatever play date adventure this little one may be off to.
Their teacher, of course, loved it. I included some photos of the girls working on it in the card. She cried a little, but I don't think we can take credit for that since she was tearing up the entire day. She was so surprised by the whole shower and all of the truly wonderful things she received including a scrap book of quotes from each of the kids on how to care for a baby and a beautiful wall hanging painted by them.
It really was a fun day, but the best was when a classmate, a little boy said, " They made that?! Wow their talented!" The girls were beaming and the teacher felt very special and loved. It was perfect. I love how a handmade, homemade gift makes the giver and the receiver feel so special.
And, the class was throwing a surprise shower for her. And so, of course, the last time this craft loving niece came for a visit I was smothered with tiny bits of fabric and puppy dog eyes as the two girls begged for me to help them make a baby blanket for this wonderful teacher and her sweet new babe. How could I refuse.
We soon decided that the blanket should actually be a playmat since some of the other moms were working together to knit a blanket and everyone agreed this would be much more fun. Their teacher was keeping the sex of the baby a surprise (so fun!) so the girls decided they wanted to go for bright, cheerful and playful patterns for the fabric.
Cute jungle animals in bold colors with a matching polka-dot stripe (my favorite). The toughest decision was the satin edge trim, brown, black, red, blue oh what to choose.
Once home the girls got right to work. They chose the layout, trying many different combinations, taking photos then looking at each of them on the computer (OK so I made them take the photos and look at each before making the final decision, which was to go with their original layout design, they knew what they wanted the second they had seen it, why couldn't I just leave it at that?).
They had fun pinning and sewing the top of the mat, I love the way my nieces lip twists up in this photo as she sews, too cute, so serious. Then I took over adding straps to the corners for toys to be secured, like the girls wanted, attaching the fleece back, stitch in the ditch style and finishing it off with the red satin trim.
I added a tie and tucked it under the trim before attaching it so that the playmat can be rolled up, tied and taken to whatever play date adventure this little one may be off to.
Their teacher, of course, loved it. I included some photos of the girls working on it in the card. She cried a little, but I don't think we can take credit for that since she was tearing up the entire day. She was so surprised by the whole shower and all of the truly wonderful things she received including a scrap book of quotes from each of the kids on how to care for a baby and a beautiful wall hanging painted by them.
It really was a fun day, but the best was when a classmate, a little boy said, " They made that?! Wow their talented!" The girls were beaming and the teacher felt very special and loved. It was perfect. I love how a handmade, homemade gift makes the giver and the receiver feel so special.
New Life for a Well Used Trunk
At least when you consider the fact that it's been used as a blanket box, a toy box, a boat, a car, a house, a spaceship and anything else a wee one can imagine sitting inside of.
Not to mention the fact that it just happens to be the perfect height for a little seat or a stool for peeking out the window to watch the big kids playing.
Obviously it was in desperate need of a little attention. So I ripped off the wicker, asked my husband to brave the bitter cold and retrieve the staple gun from his work truck, thanks babe, and got to work.
I filled the spaces with some green foam I had lying around, I knew I saved that stuff for a reason, it really needs a solid piece of wood or something, but I didn't have any of that lying around. Hopefully no one needs to peek out the windows any time soon.
The fabric is a really cool shimmery sage stripe, it's from my Aunt who's an interior designer and always has leftovers for me.
I did most of the work while the kids were in bed, but I did have one little helper today when I reattached the lid.
He is now guarding the box that he worked so hard on from his baby sister's behind, because, well, it's still the perfect height for a little seat and now it even has a cushy top.
It looks pretty good I think. I may touch up the wicker on the bottom, but maybe not.
Peanuts!
Crafty stuff soon, for real, but first check this out
The kids each got their own section of the garden this summer, my dad told me how much he loved having his little pie shaped piece of the garden when he was a kid and it just sounded like fun. They each picked what would be planted in their section and helped weed and water it. When I asked my son what he wanted in his he said, "What about peanuts?" So we looked it up, bought some raw ones and planted them. We thought we'd lost them to a hungry family of ground hogs, but look! 3 whole peanuts. I don't know if anything is inside them, but he was thrilled with his 3 little peanuts.
The kids each got their own section of the garden this summer, my dad told me how much he loved having his little pie shaped piece of the garden when he was a kid and it just sounded like fun. They each picked what would be planted in their section and helped weed and water it. When I asked my son what he wanted in his he said, "What about peanuts?" So we looked it up, bought some raw ones and planted them. We thought we'd lost them to a hungry family of ground hogs, but look! 3 whole peanuts. I don't know if anything is inside them, but he was thrilled with his 3 little peanuts.
The Hombrew Blog
Yeah, so I can't maintain this blog on a regular basis, but decided we needed another blog for my husband's homebrew hobby. Check us out at Beer BS, and soon, very soon, I'll have something crafty for this place, I promise.
Re-purposing Old Tee's
Is it really October already? Yikes September flew! Well I'm back with some new projects. To start with how about re-purposing old tanks into neat-o bags. My brother-in-law has been working hard and getting in shape, so to celebrate I made him some bags out of tanks that no longer fit, but were souvenirs from a fun vacation.
Now souvenir tee transforms into funky souvenir bag,
And a useful and cool bowling ball hammock,
This is used to clean the oil from the lanes off your bowling ball, it's really quite comical to see it in action, men cleaning their balls and all, hee hee hee. 
Happy October!
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