Felt Food for Hungry Caterpillars

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is one of the little buddy's favorite books. So when I came across this post a few months ago on Once Upon a Thread featuring felt food from The Very Hungry Caterpillar I immediately wanted to do it. But then I got thinking about all the time it would take . . . and it went to the back burner. Today the little buddy asked me to read him the Very Hungry Caterpillar. He kept talking about it so I casually got online and showed him the felt food. He got so excited about it and of course said he wanted it. So I asked him if he wanted to help me make some. He sat on my bed for an hour and helped me pick out the felt colors, and put the pieces on top of each other while I cut them out. He lost interest in helping as soon as his caterpillar was made though-off he went talking to his new best friend.

Seriously he has spent the entire day playing and talking about them-that always makes me feel like a good mom. He even took the ice cream and his caterpillar to bed with him :)

Most everything I cut free hand so I don't have any patterns, and some of them didn't turn out that great, but if you want to make your own and have questions I'd be happy to help!

Freebie Friday: Monogrammed A to Z Cards

I mentioned these monogrammed cards a couple of weeks ago, and still think they are fun and versatile-especially if you don't mind cutting out with a craft knife. Although, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one without a silhouette machine and a lot of the things I spend hours doing (and enjoying most of the time) have become effortlessly achieved with it, alas.  I really would like one  . . .  someday. So, if you have a silhouette-go make some fun cards and think of me.

If not, come print a monogrammed card and cut it out old school, use double stick tape or glue to add some dimensional paper or fabric underneath. Then mail a sweet note old school (through the actual mail) and make someones' day!

*A few helpful hints:

• only print the page with the letter you want on it-not the whole document. (Use the print range menu in the print dialog box)
• See other printing suggestions here

• For the cards like "A" or "O" or "P" where there is a piece completely cut out of the middle, I just saved it and stuck it on with double stick tape where it "should" go.
• If you're new, or old, at cutting with a craft knife, this is a great tutorial.

enjoy!

banner cards

It's been too long since I made cards without using some sort of computer element. I had a really hard time figuring out where to start and what to do. I finally came up with these. But I still feel like something isn't quite right. I think I just need to sit down and turn out a bunch to get back into the rythmn of handmade cards. That always works best.

*I used a 1 1/4 inch hole punch and folded it over with double stick tape to make each bunting "flag" worked great-a little big though. I wished I'd had a smaller hole punch.

Freebie Friday: Page Planner

I used to make lists, lists, and more lists. I still do, but not as many. All those lists started weighing me down and I started to feel like I was suffocating under them. So I stopped. But then I was forgetting things, and not being as productive, and kind of floating around lost. I didn't want to go back to the lists and endless lists though. Seriously. What to do.  I needed something to give me a week "planner" at a time, but with my specific needs. I didn't want a real planner-too bulky yet not organized enough. I tried a 3 ring binder-yet again too bulky. Small notebooks? Not organized enough-too many pages to go through-where did I write that down? The things is I needed something portable-to take with me on the go-but also fast-my phone takes too much time (although if I weren't so visual it might be a good option). I also needed something with everything for at least a week on it. All the plans so I don't have random scraps of paper all over with blog posts lists and new recipe ideas. This was my solution: A one page weekly planner that I can fold up for on the go, but cram everything into and have an overview of the week plus my menu, shopping list, goals, and time with the buddy all lumped together. Kind of still lists, but not as hodge podged, and I don't write down "should do" things only "going to do" things.

click on picture for larger image.

Two caviats to this though-I'm very visual and I'm kind of a fly by the seat of my pants sort of girl, so this is trying to give me a little order-most of you are probably way ahead of me on this one. The other is I like to write small-as in 1/8 inch small. So this works for me. I've made it into a two page format for those of you who don't like using a magnifying glass to decipher your "not" lists.

Click here for the ONE page planner (my printer has a no-print margin on the bottom hence the run off on the right--still works for my needs though).

Click here for the TWO page planner

zazzle-yep I did

So, I finally made myself a zazzle account. My etsy shop is geared towards printables and graphic design, and I didn't want to mix that with my fine art stuff. I also didn't have the time to find a professional printer and figure out all that stuff to sale them myself. Zazzle seems to be the perfect solution for now. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck! For now I only have my shoe watercolors in there. Should I add paintings too? I can't decide.

Easter Dress

I wasn't planning to make an Easter dress for the little sweetie until I pulled out my patterns and saw this one that I believe was my grandmothers (I borrowed it from my mother). Isn't it fun? I'm going to make it out of pink gingham. Classic. I love those chubby little legs showing. Now it's just to decide lace or white collar? 

Freebie Friday: Gold Coins

The little buddy loves this pirate book we got from the library. The line that is used over and over and over is "where there's a gold I be goin'." But alas, when we play pirates we were fresh out of gold. When I was at Joann's this week I saw those plastic gold coins and almost picked some up. But, then I figured I could make some for free, and since I'm trying to cut out all those cheap little things that we end up throwing away eventually I figured that this was the way to go.

Get the gold "coins" here. (I made six by gluing them back to back and then laminated them).

I also thought they could be really cute as a cupcake topper with a chocolate cupcake made into a "pot" with the little gold coin sticking up. Kinda fun. Anyway, enjoy!

creating: some deep [and maybe a little weird} thoughts

It all started when I found this painting when doing some cleaning out. I painted it 3 years ago. It awakened a desire to paint that has been laying dormant all winter long. It got me thinking a lot about creating. One of the things I love the most about creating is the problem solving. It is rewarding and fulfilling to find a solution to a problem. It might be needing a solution to the mess that is called your fabric stash that needs organizing, or it might be figuring out the exact color when painting a painting. Maybe for you there is another aspect of creating that you love. But it seems that creating is inherent in being human. I think on some level everyone not only has a desire, but perhaps even a need to create. Part of my beliefs involve knowing that one reason we are on earth is to get a body. Creating wouldn't be possible without a body, and having a body gives us an opportunity to take part in the process of creation. I love to create. I think the most important creating process I can be a part of is in my children's lives. I am responsible for creating the life and environment that shapes and molds their lives. Obviously each of my children is also a part of creating their own life, but it is a challenging, and problem solving process that involves a lot of imagination and a lot of work. Sometimes I don't love it. Sometimes, like a couple weeks ago when they were sick and not sleeping and I was running on 4 hours of sleep gathered up throughout the night, I wanted to run away. But I knew it would eventually run it's course and we would be back the normal. And we are back to the fun and the regular. It may not be all the time, but there are moments, sometimes even days, when motherhood it is the most fulfilling of creative processes. Nothing is better than those moments.

Spring awakens my creative hunger, and to me sometimes it is a real hunger. It needs feeding, and when I do something I feel fulfilled. Sometimes mothering doesn't quite hit the button and I need to do something else. Although perhaps not quite as fulfilling on a long term scale, painting is the next best thing for me. It is difficult, demanding, and requires a lot of patience and problem solving--just like being motherhood in many ways. I love it. And when spring comes around I just get this hunger to paint. I think it first really started showing up after I went painting "on location" with my dad 3 years ago. Because of his work schedule we were only able to get 3 paintings in before I moved away to Cleveland. The one above is one of them. It's a farming area not too far away from my childhood home. It makes me miss home, but it also really makes me miss painting. It is exhilarating to paint on location. You only have an hour or two to paint because the sun changes the shadows on everything so quickly that it's a whole new landscape in a couple hours. So we paint small and thin (as in not thick paint-easier to move around, etc . . .) You have to just get the "gist" of the painting because you don't have time for all the details, but the colors, oh the colors are divine! Seriously, of all the creative processes I enjoy, excluding mothering of course, painting is, the most fulfilling and exhilarating. I'm really having the itch . . .

This article was also on my mind a lot while contemplating creating. It is excellent--better than my own musings.

man cards

I always struggle to make birthday cards for men. Hand made cards have a definite tendency towards the feminine. Of course most men won't look at the outside of the card for more than a few seconds anyway, so maybe I make it too big a deal. But, I care. So this year I have decided to go with more a simple statement for the plethora of men in my life (aka. 1 grandpa, 1 father in law, 1 father, 12 brothers/ bro-in laws (yeah we have big families)). Here's what I've come up with: I think it is working really well, and helps to streamline all the birthday cards while still making them individualized. It's good though, with several every month it keeps my fingers in card making-and I really like that hands-on process. I've thought about making this into a pdf for a freebie friday with all the letters of the alphabet. Any interest?

Freebie Friday: { Mini }Treasure Chest Box and a few annoucements

I probably shouldn't admit it, but the buddy is still not potty trained. He's both stubborn and sensitive about it and I am desperate. DESPERATE. This idea came to me awhile ago, but carving out the time to actually make it didn't happen until yesterday.  A Treasure Box to house his "potty booty." A new bribe. It's little, cool, with a secret inside? Isn't that good bribery?

It's small, only 1.5 inches deep and long by 2.5 inches wide, but perfect for a mini candy bar, or other small treat to bribe the pirate loving buddy. Get the Treasure Chest here.

*one note: I have changed the lock on it to be on the front of the box instead of on the lid, so it doesn't get folded in :)

They could also be cute for St. Patricks Day right? Or is that a pot of gold? I get pirates and leprechauns mixed up they both say arrrrrr right? Or maybe it's just the whole Lucky Charms, Marshmallow Matey thing that's got me confused. Still . . . it could work.

Or favor boxes at a pirate birthday party? 

ANNOUNCEMENTS? I said I would let you know when I got these in the shop . . yeah two weeks is a few days right?

Find the Lace Up Card Boys (already made for you) and printable costumes in the shop here 

Last but not least, I finally gave in and made a facebook page. Like me so I don't feel like a friendless loser :) Plus I'll post my freebies a little early for ya!

thrift store rules

So I have loved thrift store shopping since before it was cool. I remember in the fourth grade excitedly telling a friend that I had gotten something from the thrift store (I don't remember what now) and she turned her nose up as fourth graders do and told me she had been there once, and got a booger on her finger! She thought they were gross, I though they were heaven. Still do. You can ask my husband :)

This was my Saturday score: well, some of it. I also got an awesome collection of yellow and blue hardback Nancy Drew novels, some clothes for the kids (among which an awesome vintage dress-which I packed away in the 2T box before I took pictures, alas), and a 1963 Atlas book (same one my parents have-awesome)! I am loving that yellow gingham and navy stripe together. Too bad the yellow is a fuzzy backed plastic tablecloth. I might have to go buy some yellow gingham.I'm also excited about the lamp. I've been wanting a lamp for awhile, but never found anything that I "loved." I love this one, except the brown part. I will spray paint it yellow or white, obviously, do other colors of spray paint exist? Oh, and those boots have never been worn, and for $6 how could I say no? My size? My favorite color? It's like they left them there just for me!OOOOOOoooo I love the thrift store!


Anyway, so I thought I'd share some of my tips on thrift store shopping while I was at it.
1. I always go with some things in mind that I'm looking for: of course cool vintage stuff, but also clothes or shoes or a shelf for that space that needs organizing or whatever. These are what I'm dreaming of finding at a thrift store:

okay, so this one isn't "vintage" it's from anthropologie, but I'm just not willing to spend $200 on a phone . . .

2. I always swing past the sheets/and pillowcases and see what they have there. I use this guide by Candace of Sparkle Power. (She was the one that taught me a love for vintage sheets in real life :).

3. I check the dishes/ kitchen ware for anything yellow or made out of milk glass. One day I will have a beautiful hutch or cabinet to display it in. Someday. But that's just me.

4. **This one I think is especially important.**  Unless you want a hodge podge of vintage-which in and of itself can be cool-try to stick with a theme for your vintage-ness. Of course my theme is yellow. But it could be deers, or flowers, or lace, or of course a color. But it helps tie it all together and make all these found objects more co-hesive. Plus, it will keep you from buying a boat load. I find things all the time that I think are cool, like pyrex, casserole dishes with flowers on the side, but 9 times out of 10 they aren't yellow so I pass them up.

5. Ask yourself several times and in different ways. "Will I really use this?" or even more helpful to me, "Will I think about this for a month and kick myself for not buying it if I pass it up?" That's usually the clincher for me. If I can't stop thinking about it and love it immediately I usually buy it. If I like it, think it might be useful, want to love it, know someone else who will love it, but don't love it, I don't buy it. Usually. Like the bright yellow 60s drop waist pleated skirt dress I found. It was bright, I almost passed it up. But it was yellow. . . and I love pleats. But it was so bright. I went back and forth. Finally I said to myself "will I dare wear this anywhere?" the answer was probably not. So I left it there.

6. Be picky about quality. After I've decided I'm going to purchase something I try and find all the reasons why I shouldn't, is there anything wrong with this?  As in the case of the bright yellow dress (even though it was only five bucks)  the material  had all these little fuzzy pills in the rayon fabric. It bugged me. Alas. So it made me feel better about leaving it be.

7. If at all possible don't bring your kids. Usually I do, usually I don't spend as much time as I'd like either. It's too hard to make decisions.

8. Be prepared to walk out if they don't have anything you want. Don't feel like you have to buy something just because you went in. This is especially true if you go often-which if you really have a "list" of things you are looking for might be a good idea.

Really, just go with a plan, an idea of what you want. they can be overwhelming and they can be time consuming, and they can be a little bit scary dirty but rest assured I've never gotten a booger on my finger.

yellow makes me happy

 

Cabin fever is definitely setting in. We are finally on the tail end of two weeks of sickness at our house. But this is making me happy. Yellow makes me happy. I tease my husband that I married him simply because his last name was Lemon :) Anyway, other things that are making me happy? The little buddy can't say his "L's" so he says a "Y" or "W" sound instead. My favorite is "yiddle" for "little." But he's not yiddle anymore. He reminds me daily that he's a big boy now.