Craft It Up

Yellow and Gray Wreaths

2012-01-20T14:54:00.008-05:00

Since my previous yarn wreath discovery, I have decided our little gray house needs a splash of yellow. Below are some of my favorites on etsy.

Top row, left to right:
1) Sweet Vintage-y Wreath (NuandBoo)
2) Gold and Cream Rosette (Handmadecollectibles)
3) Yellow and Gray Felt Flower Wreath (EllieBootsCreations)
4) Yellow Berry Wreath (WildRidgeDesign)
5) Yarn and Felt Wreath (Windsongcrafts)

Bottom row, left to right:
6) Grapevine wreath with accents (sweetleighmama)
7) Silk yellow mum wreat h (AH Christiansons)
8) Grapevine burlap wreath (TheWalnutStreetHouse)
9) Flirty Fall (Sisterly Designs)

Christmas Candy

2012-01-09T23:49:00.006-05:00

My first high school job at the chocolate shop taught me the joy of simple foods with few ingredients, like sugar, corn syrup and heavy cream. This Christmas, as in years past, we made sponge candy, chocolate-covered caramels and candied orange slices.

Grandpa Sweater for Baby

2011-12-21T14:57:00.005-05:00

I fell in love with the buttons on this baby sweater and decided to knit my first sweater pattern (on a small scale: For babies!) It's a pretty easy pattern and so fun to knit. So I made two. One for baby Jacob and one for baby Desmond.

Lemon and Berry Wreath

2011-12-12T08:12:00.005-05:00

This wreath was inspired by the magnolia branch and pineapple wreaths that are popular in the south. I secured the lemons with wire and harvested the berry sprigs and pine cone from our yard. Easy!

Red Maple Farm Delights

2011-11-10T00:52:00.004-04:00

My stepsister Meghan and her family live on a farm and are busy making too many delights to keep track of. They gave us this amazing basket of wedding goodies, including homemade wine and beer (both delicious!) fresh-pressed cider, and honey from their hive, comb and all. We're ready to invest in a share of Red Maple Farm.

We mixed the crabapple juice with soda water to make these juice spritzers.

Hand-Embroidered Kitchen Towels

2011-10-25T23:34:00.005-04:00

We received some lovely handmade items for our wedding. I'll post a few to share the craftiness! These towels were embroidered by our good friend Jess. She took inspiration from our registry, so many of the items on the towels are also in our kitchen. Jess also authors this delicious food blog.

A Choo Choooo Birthday Party

2011-10-03T11:11:00.010-04:00

Elijah's 2nd birthday was a smashing success! Ever since Elijah went on the Durbin Rocket steam locomotive in WV this summer, he, like all other little boys, has developed a keen interest in trains. So when I found the invitation and DIY printables here and cute conductor overalls, we were off and running (my excuse for not sewing and crafting myself is the fact I'm about 14 months pregnant...ugh). We made pulled pork mini sandwiches with cucumber slaw, mac&cheese and baked beans as well as Korean beef, kimchi, shrimp skewers and mandu. The Korean food was practically inhaled by all ages, so from this point forward we will not split the bill between American and Korean food - it's one or the other! My friend Meghan of CosmoCookie provided me with the amazing vanilla and chocolate (with cinnamon!) cake recipes which were both frosted with buttercream. The gift bags consisted of wooden train whistles, red bandanas and stickers.

Thank you for all who helped celebrate!

Yarn Wreath

2011-09-26T09:31:00.003-04:00

Check out this cute idea for a wreath posted here on Apartment Therapy. I don't have time to craft myself, but that won't stop me from making suggestions for other people!

Inspiration for a "big boy" room

2011-08-22T10:42:00.004-04:00

The transformation from guest to "big boy" room is underway! I finished painting the walls with Serena and Lily's "Oatmeal" paint and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I decided on a red/gray/blue color palate for the bedding and went with Serena and Lily's red star sheet set, slate/bay blue cabin quilt and white bed skirt. The cute woodlands lamp was on clearance at Serena and Lily (thanks for that, Grandma!). The sweet robot alphabet print is available on Etsy. I'm looking around for a bookshelf and love the idea of the star and fabric storage bin combination (also from S&L). Something like the Boja pendant light from Ikea would be a big improvement over the current flush mount. Stay tuned...

Pickled Ramps

2011-05-08T10:22:00.002-04:00

Our first CSA delivery arrived this week, including several vegetables we'd never encountered (sorrel, black radishes and sunchokes). Ramps are wild leeks that have to be foraged, and our farm has them growing on their land. We grilled some of the ramps this week, and pickled the rest. Here is a very easy refrigerator pickling recipe for ramps.

A Brightly Colored Desk

2011-04-17T20:44:00.007-04:00

I bought a beige steel and formica-topped desk off of Craigslist. I like to think it came from the University of Minnesota because I found interoffice mail envelopes wedged behind the drawers. The project started in February in our one-car garage, which means the one car that used to park there was stuck navigating snowdrifts for several weeks. I sanded the desk with an electric sander rented from our local hardware store. Then I read the directions on the spray paint cans I'd bought and realized the paint couldn't be used in temps below 45 degrees.

I managed to heat the garage with a space heater sufficiently to get the primer on. But the rest of the paint wasn't finished until the end of March. Oops.

I used this DELICIOUS spray paint called Montana Gold. I want to paint everything with this stuff. It is so gorgeous and comes in over 200 colors.

I found this lovable '60s era radio (it works!) at a place called Salvage One in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, a multi-floor warehouse filled with mid-century delights. I'm looking for a dark wood lamp to round it all out. And a shelving system will go above the desk to organize my fabric, craft boxes and files.

Minnesota Onesies

2011-04-17T20:40:00.002-04:00

Some Minnesota sweetness for cousins' babies in Wisconsin and Colorado.

Fabric Storage Bins

2011-02-12T22:29:00.009-05:00

Now that my closets are in order, I can focus on "decorating" them. I've come across several tutorials on sewing fabric storage bins, including the few pictured below, with more styles and tutorials listed on this blog.

JCaroline Creative

Pink Penguin's fabric bin tutorial

I am deciding between some combination of Amy Butler's LOVE fabric and the numerous options from Echino. Any votes?

Amy Butler, LOVE

Echino "perch" in grape

A Closet Makeover

2011-02-12T22:03:00.011-05:00

A laundry room should be a happy place, especially when you do roughly 17 loads a week! I reached a point a couple weeks ago where I couldn't take the mess any more and outfitted two closets with Elfa shelving (thanks, Norway). The professional installation was pricey, so I did it myself.

LAUNDRY CLOSET

There was one narrow shelf that just wasn't cutting it.

Laundry Closet (before - gasp!)

I removed the shelf and patched the walls.

I painted the walls.

Installed shelving! Ahhh...bring on the dirties.

STORAGE/PANTRY CLOSET

I tried to make due with a free-standing shelving unit, which clearly wasn't working. I was using the bar here for drying laundry which was a drag.

Pantry Closet (before - double gasp!)

I removed two old shelves (and bent my girlie hammer in the process), patched, painted and installed shelves and drawers! I look forward to opening the doors now.

Tie One On!

2011-01-01T21:22:00.011-05:00

An apron, that is.

Several of my nieces are into American Girl dolls so I made them each an apron with a matching one for their doll. Inspired by Kit's apron, I used this vintage apron pattern and dug into my stash of fabric (the orange dots and pink lace are Amy Bulter, the pears are from Superbuzzy.com). Thanks to Mumsy who sent me oodles of bias tape and trimmings!

My oldest niece got an apron from this pattern.

Elijah's Doljabi

2011-01-01T20:42:00.016-05:00

Elijah's traditional Korean first birthday celebration (doljabi, or dol for short) was a smashing success. One of the highlights was a game where the birthday boy chooses an object to predict his future. The typical objects are yarn (long life), rice (abundance), money (wealth) and books/pencil (scholar). We added a ball (athlete), microphone (musician) and rocket (astronaut). After much deliberation, he chose the rocket! I made his doljabi board, raffle tickets, and ballot jar labels.

I picked up these cardboard letters from the Paper Source and painted them for the cake table. I will eventually get around to putting them on a wall or shelf in his room!

The food was ridiculously good...as usual.

Onsie for My Onsie

2010-10-08T21:21:00.010-04:00

I thought Elijah needed a special shirt to wear to school to celebrate his first birthday, so I cut a "1" out of fabric from Amy Butler's Lotus line and his name out of brown corduroy and sewed them to a plain onesie. Ta da!

Greeting Cards

2010-07-13T08:06:00.004-04:00

This month's Martha Stewart featured a vintage bicycle layout with a photo spread of bicycle baskets. I liked the photos so I cut them out and glued them to some blank greeting cards. To make them glossy, I formed a paper frame to protect the paper and sprayed the photos with clear glaze.

Absinthe

2010-07-05T20:40:00.011-04:00

During a weekend visit to Madison I made a stop at Vom Fass, a shop that specializes in spirits, liqueurs, flavored oils and vinegars. A table in the middle of the store featured a full set of absinthe accouterments, and I was immediately transfixed by the stunning absinthe spoons. I wonder how many of my culinary exploits are attributable solely to cool equipment...

The salesperson at Vom Fass spent some time with us explaining how to pour the absinthe. When I sampled their pour, I found it to be milder and tastier than those I've tried in the past - an herbal anise taste, to be sure, but not bitter and medicinal. I left the store with my own bottle and, of course, one of the charming spoons.

Here's the recipe as described by one salesman of fine spirits.

The ratio of absinthe to water should be 1:3. I don't have a special absinthe glass with a built-in divot for measurement. I started with one part absinthe in my own cocktail glass.

Position the spoon on top of the glass with a sugar cube and slowly drip ice water over the cube. The absinthe will become cloudy and chartreuse.

Continue to pour two parts ice water. Set spoon aside and drink. The aperitif was tasty with a radish & goat cheese sandwich, for example.

(Recipe: Slice of bread, slather of goat cheese, scallion slices, radish slices. Optional: Chives, basil or ground pepper. Eat open-face or as sandwich. Thanks to Rachel for this recipe!)

Patio Lights

2010-06-01T08:14:00.008-04:00

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I've been admiring a neighbor's strung patio lights for some time. So I finally hung my own.

Target is selling patio lights for about $12 a string. I also purchased a 20' outdoor extension cord, some pond pebbles and an 8' pole at Home Depot. Martha Stewart helped me figure out how to anchor the pole. (She has some other nice outdoor lighting ideas as well).

First I salvaged a 5-gallon pail and drilled holes in the bottom to allow for water drainage.

I had someone hold the pole in the middle of the bucket while I poured the pond pebbles. The bag of pebbles was so heavy I could barely lift it, which seemed ideal for anchoring. But the pole still moved side to side, so I found some large rocks in the yard to buttress the pole.

I left several inches from the top of the bucket for potting soil, where I planted wheatgrass seeds. I like the idea of furry green grass springing from the base of my anchor.

I attached the outdoor extension cord outlet to the house using two screw eyes and plastic fastener strips. I screwed 3 small hooks into the house and used plastic fasteners to anchor the 3 strands apart from one another. I used the same technique to run the extension cord along the eaves to render it less noticeable.

We really enjoyed the lights during our Memorial Day cocktail party last night.

Amy Butler + Wallpaper = BLISS

2010-05-04T12:16:00.004-04:00

My sources tell me that Amy Butler is introducing a wallpaper line! My powder room walls are very excited.

Dresser Dress-Up

2010-04-11T10:41:00.006-04:00

I have two large bureaus in my bedroom that belonged to my grandparents in the 1960s. The drawer handles have become very worn and tarnished over the past 40 years, so I removed one and took it to the hardware store in hopes of getting advice about metal polish.

The hardware store employee showed me the dull, black backside of the handle and informed me that they were lacquered "pot metal," and could not be polished. I asked him for other ideas and he suggested spray paint. I removed all of the handles, sanded them down so the paint would take to the surface.

The paint worked beautifully. A nice facelift for my family heirloom.

A Spring Quiche

2010-04-01T08:39:00.007-04:00

Last weekend I attended a clothing exchange brunch with a wonderful group of ladies. It's an event we plan a few times a year to purge our closets and bring home crazy new fashions we otherwise wouldn't have the guts to try (hilarious highlights from this exchange included a two-headed dress, a floor-length satin queen of hearts dress, and I came home with a vintage juicer!)

For the brunch, I wanted to find a quiche recipe that could include some fresh tarragon I had in the fridge (tarragon is also really good in egg salad). I added asparagus to this goat cheese leek quiche recipe from Whole Foods. I'm really picky about pie crusts, ever since I started to make my great grandmother's pie crust recipe (below). So I substituted my crust for a store-bought one. I usually keep these balls of dough in the freezer to be thawed and rolled out as needed.

Don't be grossed out. This is the quiche before it went into the oven. The cooked-quiche pic came out blurry.

Alterations to the quiche recipe:

I cut up several spears of asparagus and simmered them with the leeks, then proceeded with the recipe as directed.

My Great-Grandmother's Pie Crust Recipe

*Makes enough for 3 double pie crusts

3 c. flour

1/2 lb. chilled lard

1 tsp. salt

10 Tbsp. COLD water

1 egg

1 tsp. vinegar

Using pastry knife, cut the lard into the flour. Add salt and thoroughly combine into a fine meal. (Be patient). Then add cold water, egg and vinegar. Combine. Separate into 6 equal balls and roll out with flour. Crusts can be frozen between sheets of plastic wrap for later use.

Holiday Sweatshop Item #8: Peppermint Bark

2010-01-09T12:03:00.005-05:00

In keeping with the holiday project theme, here is the only batch of peppermint bark I managed to make this year! Placed in Ball jars topped with Moda fabric (Figgy Pudding line) and a bow, it made a dangerously tasty and cute holiday treat!

Holiday Sweatshop Item #7: Felted Slippers

2010-01-06T00:12:00.002-05:00

These slippers were one of my first serious knitting projects. I needed to take a class to decipher the pattern. Able to memorize none of it, I had to cross each stitch off the pattern once complete. Since that first pair I made one pair for my mom (with the wrong yarn - they felted up into huge fuzzy Muppet slippers. Blessed be the mothers who wear these sorts of "gifts" with pride).

I love my slippers so much that I keep wanting to make them for people. This pair is for my stepmom. Thank goodness I paid attention to the yarn this time.

Here's what they look like before being felted.

Christmas Sweatshop Item #6: Balsam Candles

2009-12-26T09:09:00.002-05:00

I had a large square balsam-scented candle whose wick had run out, leaving large hunks of lovely, scented wax around an empty core. I melted down the wax and stuck wicks in the middle to make recycled candles.

I also reused a large candle jar from another candle that had run is course. I'm not sure how much of the scent's strength is lost in melting down, but for now the candles still smell wintery and wonderful.

Holiday Sweatshop Item #5: Chili Mint Bourbon

2009-12-24T13:30:00.005-05:00

I've been meaning to try this infusion ever since I was served a fantastic Fiery Mint Julep at the Red Stag.

I added a sliced serrano pepper and a fistful of loosely cut mint leaves to 750 mL of bourbon. I let the serrano steep only two days and left the mint in for four days. The result: a fresh-tasting bourbon with a fiery aftertaste. So delicious.

These drinks will be served at my family's Christmas Eve gathering along with our new favorite (thanks to Jess), December Stormies. I also bottled some up as a gift.

Holiday Sweatshop Item #4: Hooded Towels

2009-12-23T13:08:00.005-05:00

I'm told that the super-hero T-shirts I made last year for my niece and nephew were a big hit. So this year I'm going for a variation on a theme: hooded towels that double as boxing robes ...not that I condone child boxing. Xavier (The X-terminator), Cora (The Crusher) and Finn (The Fantastic) all get their first initial sewn onto the back of their towels. Here's hoping bath-time gets a lot more fun.

Thanks to Make and Takes for the idea!

Bed Warmer

2009-12-18T08:33:00.003-05:00

Winter is here. Days are darker and Minnesotans are swathed in Smartwool, shearling, and my household's personal favorite: Long unds. I've only recently discovered that winter is a glorious time of year... as long as you have the right clothing. This little bag of warmth is my new winter staple. I honestly have begun using it several times a day, as well as at night.

It's a variation on a rice bag that you heat in the microwave. I found the pattern on Make It Do. This version is cotton on both sides. I didn't heed the warning about only using 100% cotton, and my first version had a faux shearling-type underside. But upon warming the underside would sweat. I realized the cotton transferred the heat better anyway, so I ditched the shearling in the second version. I chose buckwheat for the inside. When heated it has a very faint grain smell, which I actually find sort of comforting.

Holiday Sweatshop Item #3: Christmas Caramels

2009-12-10T23:58:00.006-05:00

Every year I make an edible gift to give to my very large extended family for Christmas. I've given biscotti, pesto, candied oranges and homemade marshmallows. This year: Caramels. Tonight I was invited to a Christmas cookie exchange so I made the caramels as a test-run.

The recipe is simple but requires patience - the caramel has to be 248 degrees exactly to be the correct firmness. I spent a lot of time peering at my thermometer.

And they came out very nicely. I wrapped these in wax paper, but I found cello wrappers and boxes online for the real gifts.

Guest Post: Super-Hero Capes

2009-12-09T18:16:00.003-05:00

My friend Rachel has been pondering what sort of gift to make for her good friends' 4-year-old twins, Bruno and Natasha. She settled on super-hero capes, but it doesn't stop there.

Blue and pink capes sewed from satin with iron-on letters, inspired by Superfly Kidz.

Rachel is a food writer. She recently reviewed a quirky local pizza joint whose delivery dudes dress up as super-heroes and drive electric buggies to deliver their pies. Rachel developed her own super-hero persona (Pink Thunder), complete with a pink spandex body suit and bulbous white helmet, and rode along for a night of deliveries for her article.

Her plan is to send the capes to Bruno and Natasha along with a picture of her Pink Thunder alter-ego. Bruno and Natasha may still be young enough to indulge in the fantasy that "Pink Thunder" has selected them as her young apprentices... or at the very least they'll romp around and delight in their new play capes.

Holiday Sweatshop Item #2: Knitted Neck Scarf

2009-12-06T14:12:00.002-05:00

The pattern for this neck scarf is in Martha Stewart. It's surprisingly easy, although I had to re-knit this particular scarf three times in order to get the sizing to perfectly match a single skein of yarn I wanted to use. That's a little bit crazy, but so satisfying when it finally worked.

So far the holiday sweatshop is successfully churning out the necessary pre-holiday gift preparation. Plus, I like this scarf so much I'm knitting one for myself.

Black Friday Capelet

2009-11-27T17:43:00.004-05:00

It's the day after Thanksgiving, also known as "Black Friday," and the Salvation Army is having a sale just like every other retailer in the country. I found a salmon-colored sweater marked from $1.99 down to $0.99 - perfect for testing out the tutorial for this capelet wrap from My Mama Made It.

Then I decided to try the tutorial for a layered flower pin.

And it all fits together rather nicely.

Elephant series

2009-11-11T21:53:00.003-05:00

Off to a baby girl shower this weekend. Needed onesie.

Holiday Sweatshop Item #1: Strawberry Hat

2009-11-02T08:08:00.004-05:00

The Christmas crafting has begun. This strawberry hat is a classic. I think I remember Sharon knitting one in college. This little morsel is going to my niece Cora, who was a huge fan of the Super Cora T-shirt she got last year.

Sewing Machine Cover

2009-10-11T14:50:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to make a cover for my sewing machine for the longest time, and it finally happened. Now that I've tackled piping on this, I might need to try the weekender bag. Maybe.

I made up the pattern, which is why it's more the shape of the sewing machine than it's own neat shape.

Sleepy Bunnies

2009-09-21T12:25:00.010-04:00

I found this pattern for the baby binky bunny on Etsy a while back and thought it was adorable! These two bunnies are cousins - the corduroy one is for your little one, Elana! I made one for my baby as well, but have yet to finish the girl bunny (everyone's convinced I'm having a boy, so I started with that one.) Some of the fabric for the quilt is from Amy Bulter, and few are Japanese prints from Superbuzzy. Michael helped organize the quilt squares - he has a good eye!

Lucy was suspicious of the bunnies at first, but eventually warmed up to them. I'm sure she would *love* them if they had a squeaky on the inside!

Pears 'n Hearts Apron

2009-09-20T23:35:00.025-04:00

I made this apron several months ago, and needless to say it fits better on someone who's not 39 weeks pregnant! I used option D from this Butterick pattern and added the pocket from Skirt a la carte, a book of patterns with fabulous skirt designs if you can read Japanese (or have the patience to interpret the diagrams). The fabric is a light-weight Japanese canvas from Superbuzzy that we bought on sale last year.

Oh, baby!

2009-09-13T18:25:00.006-04:00

The template for these DIY invitations are adorable and free! The cupcake toppers can also be used as gift tags. I modified and customized the design of the baby shower invites in Adobe Illustrator and got the coordinating ribbon and paper from Paper Source.

Baby Swing - Before and After

2009-09-13T16:44:00.016-04:00

I updated our hand-me-down Fisher Price "ocean wonders aquarium" baby swing using fabric I bought ages ago from Superbuzzy and Amy Bulter's cherry full moon polka dot from her Lotus line. Although relatively simple, creating a pattern from the existing seat cover nearly contorted my 9-month-pregnant brain into a pretzel. The fish on the mobile don't really go with the fabric, I don't think the baby will notice.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Homemade Ginger Ale

2009-07-06T14:30:00.002-04:00

Rachel just tried making her very own ginger ale. It tastes great! Here's a recipe. She used a Nalgene bottle instead of an empty 2-liter.

Infusion

2009-06-20T17:03:00.002-04:00

Infusing alcohol is so darn easy. Inspired by Martha Stewart, and by Nick and Jess's blog, I tried lavender vodka, cucumber tequila and rhubarb vodka. I let them sit in a cool, dark place for a week, filtered them through coffee filters and they came out great. Margaritas with cucumber tequila are delicious.

The Lavender Drop

2009-06-08T22:27:00.006-04:00

aka "The Lemon Eye Pillow," or "The Purple Scurvy-Buster."

Recipe

1 serving

1 1/2 oz. lavender infused vodka*

1 1/2 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbsp. (or more) sugar or agave nectar

Add ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake well until ice almost dissolved. Rim martini glass with sugar. Shake. Serve.

*Lavender infused vodka:

Wash several sprigs of lavender. Place in jar and cover with high-grade vodka. Let stand for 4-7 days. Sample flavor to determine strength of infusion. Remove lavender, filter vodka through a coffee filter into a decorative bottle. Enjoy.

Plant Dyes

2009-06-07T16:00:00.005-04:00

This morning was my first trip to the Kingfield Farmer's Market. One vendor was a lovely woman, Kim Christiansen, who experiments with natural dyes and yarn. I was mesmerized by her booth, perhaps because it was 50 degrees and I wished I'd brought my handwarmers.

She explained that the color of a dye is a result of the dye substance, a mordant and the yarn itself. The mordant sets the dye on the fabric and different mordants can produce different colored results.

Pink yarn: Dyed with cochineal, a bug native to Latin America. Cochineal was used by the Aztec and Maya populations, later coveted by the Europeans. Cochineal are now cultivated on cactus plants and you can mail-order them from Oaxaca, Mexico. The mordant for this yarn was Rhubarb leaves! I don't understand what it is about the chemical properties of these two substances together that works, but Kim does.

Yellow yarn: Dyed with rhubarb leaves and stems.

Brownish yarn: Dyed with ivy berries and "unknown berries."

Green yarn: This one is my favorite. Kim was leading a group of middle school students in a chemistry of dyeing class to gather experimental dyes. One kid wanted to try buckthorn berries. This invasive shrub attacks yards and public lands in Minnesota. Its berries are a deep blue and are guaranteed to stain your sidewalk. but, when used as dye on merino wool, buckthorn berries leave a beautiful green. Another wool skein dyed with buckthorn was a lighter green due to the specific reaction between that wool and the berry.

Party Cheesecake

2009-05-24T14:20:00.003-04:00

Summer parties deserve luscious desserts. Last night's early summer gathering inspired me to try a lemon cheesecake. It was my first attempt at the dessert - surprisingly easy once I got over how uncooked the cake actually looks when taken out of the oven. Lemon curd is delicious, but might have overpowered the delicate dairy goodness of the cheesecake. Next time I might not use all of the curd. A nice blueberry topping helped offset the cake's lemony tartness. I candied half a lemon leftover after juicing - nice garnish and delicious to eat.

Rosemary Box

2009-05-24T13:37:00.006-04:00

Deck garden season has arrived. I found a collection of $2 terra cotta pots at the Salvation Army (yeah!), along with this little wooden crate. I didn't weatherize it, and expect it will last only a season. But with some holes drilled in the bottom it makes for a nice little rosemary planter.

Homemade Yogurt

2009-03-31T22:58:00.012-04:00

Homemade yogurt. Here's why:

I like tangy plain yogurt of the variety sold at my local co-op.

I can't possibly re-use all of of the plastic yogurt containers that are piling up in my cupboard.

The containers aren't recyclable. Guilt, guilt, guilt.

Yogurt in bulk. What could be better?

I've made 3 or 4 batches of this with varying results. The most important secrets seem to be the use of milk solids and incubation time. Thanks to the assistance of not one but two yogurt gurus, I have a darn good recipe.

1 quart milk

1 packet starter culture (or 1 Tbsp live active culture yogurt)

1/2 c. non-fat dried milk powder

Heat milk in a double boiler (don't let it boil). When it reaches 100 degrees scoop out 1/2 c. and put it in a separate bowl with the starter culture. Set aside. Note that temps above 120 degrees will kill the culturing bacteria.

Add powdered milk to warm milk and continue heating until it reaches 180 degrees. Hold temp at 180 degrees for about 20 mins and then quickly bring the temp down to 116 degrees. In the winter this can be done by placing the milk pan in the snow, or just use a sink full of ice water. The temp will drop surprisingly quickly so watch it.

Add the 116-degree milk to the starter culture until you have about 1 1/2 c. Then add the starter to the milk. This split process might give the culture a chance to acclimate to the new temp.

Put the milk into a sealed container. Ideally you'll culture it at a constant 100-110 degrees. Without a yogurt incubator, you can warm your oven and leave the oven light on. You can put it in a cooler and wrap a big blanket around it. I tried monitoring a crock pot, intermittently turning the heat on and off. Skip this - unless you have nothing better to do that watch yogurt incubate for 7 hours.

I put the milk in a jar and into a styrofoam cooler. Ideal incubation time is 7 1/2 hours. 5 hours will make it sweet but not solid. At 9 hours it starts to get a little sour. This still might taste good with middle eastern dishes, for example. I tried Doogh, a savory Persian yogurt drink, for the first time last weekend and immediately thought of homemade yogurt.

After incubation, put to yogurt in the fridge right away and chill for a day. The yogurt will firm up more as it cools. My yogurt has tended toward a thinner consistency, likely because I incubate below 100 degrees. But it's tasty and is great in smoothies.

* Recipe thanks to Jamin Johnson's decades-long yogurt experimentation. Additional tips from Lauren Dee.

Baby Monster Onesie

2009-03-15T13:57:00.004-04:00

I bought a book called Sukie Iron-Ons, which looked cool, but my first iron-on attempt failed to yield a satisfactory result. Instead of wasting the bad onesie, I gave it some felt baby monsters instead.

Cable Hat

2009-03-14T08:39:00.005-04:00

This pattern started as something more complicated: alternating ribs and cables (I actually needed help with the math to figure out the sizing). After seeing the thickness of my ribs, I went with all cable ribs. I doubled-stranded Frog Tree Alpaca yarn, which everyone at the yarn store insisted I'd "just love." Turns out, it's the tiniest bit itchy - perhaps because, after all that math, it's one rib too tight. But I still like it. I can't figure out why my casting on seems to scallop at the end, but it makes for a nice effect with this hat.

Photo courtesy Benjamin Pofahl, who would like to share that he's just about had it with his lipomas.

Whale Onesie

2009-02-14T18:48:00.003-05:00

Pattern inspired from the Japanese embroidery book (book purchase inspired by Sharon). I've finally added a onesie tag because, well, we keep making them. As Elana says, "When friends reproduce, I produce. Baby onesies."

Lemon Curd

2009-02-01T22:50:00.005-05:00

This recipe from Fine Cooking kind of rocks. Worth trying on crepes too.

Baby booties

2009-02-01T22:37:00.004-05:00

These are called 1-hour baby booties. The pattern can be found in Stitch and Bitch Nation. They really only take about an hour. But the straps take about another hour each. Maybe I labored too long attaching them. Tonight I hosted my own Stitch & Bitch, which was responsible for my finally finishing the straps and buttons.

I'm pretty sure there's a reason babies don't wear booties. I'm pretty sure the booties will fall off as soon as the baby moves its legs. My stitch & bitch comrades assured me that it's enough for the booties to look nice in the gift box and displayed in the baby's room.

Bacon Dessert

2009-02-01T21:47:00.007-05:00

First there was haut-chocolat with bacon. It was good. Then there were pig lickers. They were only slightly less good. Sometimes I wonder if bacon desserts are to my generation what Jell-o was to the 1960s: "the vehicle for subversive and rebellious expression."

I have joined the cause. Today I made Love Me Tender Peanut Butter Bacon and Banana Cookies.

And they were good.

Cook the bacon until it's nice and crispy. For more banana flavor, I substituted 1/4 c. mashed banana for 1/4 c. of the peanut butter. On my next batch I won't bother turning the bacon into a praline. Just use chopped crispy bacon. And I mean cook 1/2 lb. of bacon, chop it up and add it to the cookie dough.

This post does not reflect the views or preferences of all Craft It Up staff and management.

Sunday Afternoon Earrings

2009-01-25T17:38:00.005-05:00

Clothing exchanges have taken Minneapolis by storm and they are fabulous. They involve women I like, brunch, purging unwanted items from my closet, and coming home with free clothes. This is why I love them. Today I scored several items including two necklaces, one of which I shortened to a more flattering length. I made some earrings with the leftover beads.

Panettone

2009-01-19T20:39:00.007-05:00

December's Gourmet magazine featured a recipe for panettone that, despite being altogether too complicated, I found to be very seductive. I'll include the link as soon as it's published online. Note to self #1: Read the whole recipe before starting, including the part about the recipe taking 2 days start to finish. Note to self #2: If a recipe requires making phone calls to find more than 2 of the ingredients, abort! This recipe required locating: real vanilla beans (not hard and my new favorite way to use vanilla); panettone molds (slightly harder to find); and candied citron (surprisingly difficult - ending with my picking a fight with an employee at a local upscale grocery. I mean come on, try being helpful.)

Note to self #3: A recipe that calls for "heavy duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment" needs such a mixer. My puny handheld mixer nearly blew its motor.
This was my favorite part of the recipe: the upside down cooling process.
The ingredients weren't the right temperature. The dough didn't mix as well as it should have, nor did it rise as much as it should have. The citron was for Grandma's gelatinous fruitcake instead of the delicious citrusy citron that is my favorite part of panettone. I baked it too close to the heat source in my 1960s gas oven, hardening the bottom 10% of the loaf... but the thing turned out pretty darn well.

And then I borrowed a big Kitchen Aid mixer to try... a second loaf.

This stuff makes delicious french toast too. We tried it with cream cheese mixed with cherry preserves or cream cheese with marmalade. Now that is the way to eat french toast.

Limoncello

2008-12-25T13:11:00.009-05:00

My Italian host family used to talk about making Limoncello. They insisted one had to use lemons from Sicily. I used Lemons from the natural foods co-op. They're probably not from Sicily, but they're organic. I gave them a good scrub anyway.

Martha Stewart's recipe is pretty straightforward. I used Prairie organic vodka (since Everclear is illegal in this state). Make sure not to get any of the pith when peeling lemons, it will make the vodka bitter. I steeped the peel + vodka in large jars for several weeks instead of days.

All that soaking produces flecks of schmutz, so I used coffee filters and a small funnel to filter the lemon vodka. By the way, I can't wait to experiment with other infused vodkas.

I used organic sugar for the sugar solution, which isn't totally white. The result is a duller, cloudier Limoncello, but still delicious.

One of these bottles had to be re-filtered due to rogue flecks. I tried to ship a bottle to my brother in LA and learned the U.S. Postal Service prohibits the shipping of alcohol. Who knew?

Spiral Rib Hat

2008-12-25T13:01:00.006-05:00

Let me document the fact that I was sitting in my car on Christmas Eve day, having just run to The Yarnery for one more skein of yarn, the car was running to keep me warm, and I was knitting. I mean, I was due to arrive at our Christmas celebration and the wrapping for the gift I was finishing was sitting in the seat next to me. Next year I must remember: there are only so many items that can be knit in the few weeks before Christmas.

But this was one of them. And the recipient seems to like it quite a lot.

It's an M.L. Egan design. But M.L. doesn't seem to have a Web site.

Sponge Candy

2008-12-21T21:01:00.009-05:00

Sponge candy (or angel food candy, as we call it) has been a Christmas favorite in my family. My grandpa taught me how to make it and, since the process is easiest with two people, I asked if we could make it together this year.

It's basically all sugar, as is the case with any good Christmas candy.

The recipe calls for a tablespoon of vinegar. Once the candy reaches 300 degrees, you add a tablespoon of baking soda. The reaction between the soda and vinegar causes the liquid to start to foam. You have to mix it quickly, thoroughly, and dump it into the buttered pan so it doesn't collapse. This is where two people come in handy: one to hold the hot pan, ready to dump, while the other quickly mixes the soda and scrapes the pan with a spatula.
It heaves and grows in the pan for a while, then hardens as it cools. The result is a hard honeycomb.
Melt chocolate (with a bit of paraffin, of course, to make sure it hardens when cools)
Pure sugar. Pure deliciousness.

Checkbook cover

2008-12-09T09:18:00.004-05:00

I experimented with oilcloth for a checkbook cover and it did not sew well. This version was made with the leftover yoga mat bag fabric.

SuperKids

2008-12-07T17:38:00.006-05:00

This weekend I hit the No Coast Craft-o-Rama (sadly, Sharon wasn't with me). One vendor was selling personalized kids' superhero t-shirts. Instead of buying one for $30, I copied them with cheap t-shirts and felt. My niece Cora is 1 & a half and my nephew Xavier is 3. Soon they will be Super Cora and Super Xavier.

Xavier and Cora will soon have a new baby brother or sister, as well as a new baby cousin. The babies-to-be will get onesies for Christmas.

Yoga Mat Bag

2008-11-30T12:36:00.011-05:00

I decided this would be the winter of yoga - I've been hitting the classes pretty hard and just got my own mat (yes, extra long). I didn't have a pattern for a yoga mat bag, but I just sewed a tube, attached a circular bottom and folded over the top for a drawstring.

My extra-long mat is heavy and I didn't want the strap to rip the fabric - this was the trickiest thing to figure out. I attached the strap close to the ends of the mat so it would pull on the ends of the bag instead of loose fabric. I also reinforced it with pieces of the strap on the inside of the bag. On the top strap I tried this technique to avoid pulling on the fabric around the strap. We'll see how it holds up.

I also wanted to be able to bike with the bag, so the strap is a bit longer for an over-the-shoulder. I'm kind of pleased because the bag is super comfy.

The fabric appealed to me as kind of vintage-modern. It's Anna Maria Horner. She has lots of lovely stuff, and a fun blog.

Felt Slippers

2008-11-29T10:43:00.018-05:00

November's Martha Stewart had this pattern for felted slippers.

The sizing template was way off. My first attempt at a size 8 was about a size 6.

They were meant as a birthday present for Elizabeth. The tiny pink ones went to her roommate Milonga so Elizabeth could have an appropriately-sized blue pair.

Financial Crisis Fun

2008-11-16T07:17:00.010-05:00

Making Pillow Covers from Curtains
Our living room needed some pillows and more color. I had some leftover Amy Butler fabric (the patterned pillow)and decided to make the additional pillow out of the fabric I'd hemmed off of recently purchased Ikea curtains. The white seemed a bit boring though, so I added embroidery based on patterns one can find in Sublime Stitching (a really fun book with lots of great patterns, thanks for giving it to me, Sharoni).

Updating a Coat
I bought some fun vintage buttons when I was in Middlebury, Vermont this April at a vintage store called Bejewelled. My plan was to update a tired, yet almost irritatingly durable black coat I have had since time immemorial. The global financial crisis and the onset of winter precipitated putting this plan into action. It wasn't much of a job, and it isn't a groundbreaking idea, but I thought I would share anyway.

Another Onesie

2008-04-26T12:56:00.003-04:00

People keep having kids and I keep embroidering onesies. This one is for a little guy named Zach. Thanks to Elana for the inspiration (I think she has this pattern too!)

Nighty Night

2008-03-25T22:27:00.006-04:00

Here is Athena's first sewing project - a fabulous butterfly pillowcase with ruffle trim. Nice, job, Athena! We can't wait to see your next project!

Baby Sling

2007-12-27T17:50:00.000-05:00

I made this sling for my friend Annie and her new baby Sophia. The reversible pattern by Jan Andrea was easy to follow for a beginner like me. Annie preferred cotton, but fleece would be snuggly too. Sophia didn't take to it right away...

...but Annie's cat Lenny did.

Treeling

2007-12-26T22:03:00.001-05:00

Therese Laskey's "Softies" is packed with zany sweetness. I got it from my mom for Christmas and am now taking advantage of my vacation time to render a few of these very simple patterns. This treeling will be a belated Hanukkah present for my friend Jessica, who adores all woodland plushies.

play time.

2007-11-05T11:48:00.000-05:00

The Duke recently scored a sweet new Husqvarna sewing machine and immediately went to work on some play clothes for Anna who visited the following weekend. Capes are an essential accessory in every wardrobe, and now Anna's is complete. She also made a cute fringe skirt and bandanna from this storybook fabric to complete her cowgirl ensemble.

Chubby Bird Bud Vases

2007-09-30T13:41:00.000-04:00

I think it's clear that I live in the place that becomes dark and cold first, as it seems I am already reaching an autumnal level of crafting. Anyway. Ellen gave me some super fun paper for my birthday, and I picked up these small pharmacy jars at an antique store. I used a chubby bird pattern I found online and used decoupage glue by Decopatch. I removed glue outside the bird on the glass using my go-to handy dandy standby for everything - nailpolish remover.

a self-explanatory apron

2007-09-23T17:35:00.001-04:00

I have sewn an apron. It was easy and back to the kind of 'flat' sewing I like best. There really isn't that much else to. say. about. this. apron. The fabric is Michael Miller Fifties Kitchen. The word apron is starting to look funny to me now.

Pack Your Bags

2007-09-16T23:28:00.000-04:00

Here's Elana and her new weekender bag! For my second attempt (see first version here), I used Etsuko Furuya's Echino Balance bird meduim-weight fabric. The matching toiletry bag was made from Amy Butler's stash & dash pattern (interior is the cheerful full moon polka dot in cherry from Amy Butler's Lotus line).

When friends reproduce, I produce. Baby onesies.

2007-09-08T08:45:00.000-04:00

I also used the japanese pattern book (referred to by Ellen below) to make some baby onesies. I thought a bit about how to make the pattern transfer. I first traced the pattern onto regular notebook paper. Then, on two of the onesies, I used a tracing paper/tracing wheel set for fabric and a ballpoint pen to push the pattern through the tracing paper onto the fabric when the wheel could not catch the necessary detail. For the rather un-detailed rainbow onesie, I just traced the pattern onto a piece of notebook paper and sewed the paper onto the shirt to get the main pattern (before filling in with color etc). The paper was pretty easy to tear away.

Bridezilla's Sweatshop

2007-09-06T13:50:00.000-04:00

During the month of June, I did more cutting, pasting, folding, pressing, taping, measuring, stitching, sewing and tying than I ever thought possible. And somewhere in the middle of it all, double-sided tape became my best friend. Preparation for Elana's wedding pushed me to the edge of craftiness and beyond, and even though it was occasionally lonely being the only worker in Bridezilla's sweatshop, it was super fun*.

Elana picked out gorgeous Japanese paper for the table tents, place cards, wedding directory and guest book, which were all made from supplies we bought at the Paper Source**. The guest book was made from a photo album kit and was bound with the dove gray German linen photo book cloth. I thought the album was the perfect size but I didn't think the vellum paper between the pages was appropriate for a guest book, so I removed each vellum sheet and pasted a strip of the Japanese paper against the spine of each page. If you're into book binding, and even if you're not, you should pick up one of these bonefolders cuz it's a sweet little tool (but not as cool as double-sided tape). Elana came up with the idea of a guest seating directory which listed each guest's name, affiliation to the bride or groom, kids (if applicable), where they were from, and their table number. It was a very practical little booklet and a great souvenir.

The petal cones were made from regular sheets of paper and were covered with white 8" paper doilies. We spruced up three inexpensive baskets with cute white ribbon and stuffed them with the petal cones (that were constructed very late at night, I might add).

Lastly, the photo garland added a personal touch to the reception. I printed out a bunch of childhood photos of the bride and groom, sandwiched them between pieces of vellum paper and stitched them together. Two trusty friendzillas strung them up with pretty ribbon at the reception.

* Since I used Mikey's apartment as my craft studio (thanks, Michael!), he kept me company and provided feedback, so I wan't technically alone...

**Warning: The Paper Source is a great store but can be a dangerous black hole for enthusiastic crafters. Never go into the Paper Source just to "look around" and never go by yourself - either situation will result in a state of total delirium.

Ragtastic!

2007-08-02T15:26:00.000-04:00

Here is a rag doll I made from a pattern Sharon sent me, you can find it on http://www.kingpod.com/; click on mailorder; click on pattern six (currently sold out, unfortunately). This doll was certainly one of those projects that required faith to continue. When I first started making the doll, it initially looked like the kind of doll Sauron would want to play with, if he was interested in dolls or had a body. I didn't want to go to bed with it in the apartment....But I pressed on and it took shape quite nicely! I had seen elsewhere that it was good to cut the dress longer than the pattern indicated and had good luck with that. I would also recommend cutting everything slightly larger to facilitate larger seam allowances - the dolls shoes, for example, ended up being quite small because the fabric I was using was prone to fraying and I had to use rather substantial seams to make the shoes sturdy. It's a great way of using odds and ends of fabric, buttons, ribbons etc.

Sassy fruit and veg tea towel

2007-08-02T15:18:00.000-04:00

This is a tea towel I embroidered for Ellen and she kindly sent me this photo. Primarily I want to showcase her very cool stove. The towel I embroidered was a bit too loosely woven, I think, and was consequently more difficult to work with for embroidery and more prone to shrinking/curling from washing and drying. I would recommend sticking with tightly woven cottons for real durability and ease in embroidering.

Baby Lizard... wait, caterpillar?

2007-07-28T16:27:00.000-04:00

Sharon told me about this intensely cute embroidery book. Here is my first design.

Sarah Kusa's Web Store Debut

2007-07-25T10:35:00.001-04:00

Sarah Kusa, friend and rower extraordinaire, has just launched her online store! She's been designing hand-screenprinted home decor goods for the past year and is taking her business to the next level. Check her out.
Sarah Kusa Design Goods

cased

2007-07-22T12:32:00.001-04:00

Here is a pair of pillowcases that I made to honor the ever so wonderful SOB (sister of bride), who was also a fantastic maid of honor. I loved this old-fashioned pattern by Bucilla that duke sent me and the bright summery colors it required. The pattern, stamped directly on the pillow cases, washes out, but you have to select fairly hot water (40 C/over 100 F).

Repainting dressers

2007-07-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

Spring came and with it the desire to upgrade the look of the bedroom, which hosted some gems, like a fire engine red dresser and a totally useless IKEA bathroom cupboard that was desperately trying to live up to the demands of clothes storage. I found a $10 lime green dresser at a school fundraiser, thusly relegating the IKEA cupboard to presiding over greater order in our basement storage space. The fire engine red dresser, in its ruddy health, was not to be discarded or moved, but transformed.

I started first by finding new drawer knobs that could be used on both dressers to create a little more furniture harmony in the room. I found that at a store in Norway a bit like Anthropologie, where it is possible to order new knobs online. I wanted to keep the bedroom rather light, as the room is small, so looked for a paint color in the white family with green undertones and bought paint. We used about 1.5 liters of semi-matte oil based paint for two dressers, be sure not to buy too much as paint is expensivo! Oil paint is great for trim and furniture. In addition, I bought a new roller and a new brush.

On both dressers, Lars and I started by removing the existing wooden knobs and then sanding them, merely to rough up the surface lightly so that it took paint better. I then washed both dressers with a light soap to remove dust (in fact when sanding the red dresser, I wet the surface just before sanding in order to keep red dust down as we were doing this inside). On the light lime green dresser, we skipped the coat of primer as the color was quite light and then over the course of three days we applied three coats (with 24 hour drying time). The red dresser got a coat of primer first and then only required one further coat (and we ran out of paint...).

I think our only surprise was that as we didn't assiduously clean the roller (used for the broad flat surfaces such as top and fronts of drawers), the roller sponge became uneven/a bit prickly and in later coats would rough up the surface a bit. I kind of like the not totally glossy, flat look anyway, and better than opening up white spirit in the apartment to clean the brushes (yuck). Very fun to make something old into something new!!

Spring-- er, summer skirt

2007-07-14T18:42:00.000-04:00

Thankfully I finished this before fall. It's my first solo sewing project, thanks to a lot of guidance from my mom. Things I learned: zipper, hem, waistband... um, everything.

Funniest potential blunder: I knew the back should be hemmed slightly longer than the front. I thought an inch difference might do the trick. Right. Like I have an inch's worth of badonkadonk that needs accommodating (wishful thinking). Had my mom not stepped in to suggest a hem-pinning with the skirt on, I might have ended up with something like this:

clutch!

2007-07-14T14:08:00.000-04:00

Ta da! Here is the purse I made for Elana's big day! I wanted to make something special out of the hem from her bridal gown and decided a little purse might come in handy. Unfortunately there wasn't enough fabric from the bridal gown for the exterior, so I purchased a matching fabric and stitched together the hem from my SOB (sister of the bride) dress for a spicy interior. The small hearts embroidered with their initials and wedding day are made from her g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s dress fabric (we're talkin' buttery, here). The 8.5" purse frame and Guterman glue came from U-Handbag.com and I followed the directions they posted to assemble the clutch purse.

Paper Doll Apron

2007-06-05T11:28:00.000-04:00

The Duke made this apron out of paper doll fabric by Timeless Treasures that we bought online from Lady Button Fabrics. The finished apron has two pockets on the front and was made from Simplicity pattern 3802 (view 'C'). The ruffled straps and piping is absolutely adorable! The remaining fabric was used to make a potholder, placemats, napkins and a tea towel. Anna's kitchen is open for business!

Birthday Pressie for the Peanut

2007-06-04T10:43:00.000-04:00

This ditty is for my precious little niece, Holly, who is turning the big o-n-e at the end of June. I made the dress from Burda pattern 9709 and the gingham and fruit fabric is from Sew Contempo, a store in Houston. This was the first time I've made anything from a Burda pattern, and I think both the instructions and illustrations could be improved for clarity. It was an interesting adventure, however, and would definitely be easier if I made it again. I hope it fits!

Manga Me

2007-05-20T15:03:00.000-04:00

I saw an extremely cute idea on Craftster.org and since my wonderful cousin had a graduation coming up: Yo. Time for another crafty gift. I found my way to the manga section of Barnes & Noble, which is fairly substantial (to a newbie). Luckily there was a pre-adolescent boy sitting in the aisle whose hunched posture and intense eyes-to-page proximity said to me, "Expert right here. Ask me." Thanks to him I now own my first manga: Love Hina (3).

Here are my versions of the earrings:

Then I stumbled across instructions for folding a paper wallet. Since my friend Ben is *really* good at saving money (and it happened to be his birthday) hark -- another crafty gift opportunity.

I actually shellacked the wallet for durability with the same clear spray glaze I used on the earrings (not high-gloss). I'll check back with Ben to find out how it's holding up (although maybe the Biggest Saver won't be taking it in and out of his pocket very much.)

Loungetastic

2007-05-15T23:34:00.000-04:00

Nothing compliments lazy weekends at the cabin quite like a comfy pair of lounge pants! The pattern for the wide leg, drawstring pant is from Amy Butler's In Stitches book, of course! You may recognize the flower print from a previous project (those bedspreads give you oodles of fabric!) and the trim is a tangerine polka dot from Amy Butler's Lotus line. Duke scored her citrus jammies as a mother's day bonus.

Kimono Robe

2007-05-15T23:09:00.000-04:00

The pattern for this kimono style robe came from Amy Butler's In Stitches book and is made out of a red asian flower bedspread from Urban Outfitters - a fabric tip from Mrs. Butler herself. It's the perfect cover-up and those of you who live in cold weather climates (ahem...) could line it for additional warmth!

Cabled Handwarmers

2007-04-29T23:49:00.000-04:00

This pattern was created by Cheryl Niamath. Thanks, Sharon, for walking me through the cable how-to during our crafting weekend!

Whale Tee

2007-04-29T23:38:00.000-04:00

The felted swatches continue...

(He's kind of swimming off to one side, no?)

This one I had to hand-sew because I wasn't getting the tension right on the sewing machine (novice, here). But sewing by hand offered some nice precision.

Cute Enough to Eat: The Baguette

2007-04-21T23:41:00.000-04:00

I might have to carry this bag every day for the next 5 years in order to justify the time I took knitting it and sewing the liner. Felted carpet baguette pattern from Noni.

Collaborative crafting: The button was Elana's idea. Good thing she reminded me to add the button loop before sewing the liner. And the liner, it must be said, was all my mom's doing.

Sour Lemon and Ecstatic Tomato Baby Onesies

2007-04-21T05:35:00.000-04:00

Hello craftamaniacs! I am here to counter sauron's (sharon's) growing empire of high quality crafts and clever (and informative) descriptions that are expanding over this site.

I embroidered two baby onesies using some iron-on patterns Ellen sent me last year in my holiday card as a gift for a colleague. The company that makes these transfers is Sublime Stitching. One of the most important things to remember when doing transfer patterns like this is that it is important to have your iron on high heat, but NO steam.

Next stop is a super cute rag doll pattern Sharon sent me. But before that - Kazakhstan....

Sweet Dreams!

2007-04-09T11:24:00.000-04:00

Upon giving Angelina Ballerina and her bed to a granddaughter, it became apparent that bed linens were a necessity. The bed came with a mattress, so I just needed to make a fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillows and pillowcases. I also knitted a blanket with textured yarn in a straight garter stitch. It's such fun making little items and clothes for dolls. Could it be because they are not fussy about how something looks or fits?

-Carole (a.k.a. The Duke)

Mmmm...Fabric and Bread

2007-04-01T23:42:00.000-04:00

So much fabric and so little time! I should have started a new project today but I made challah bread instead. I used a recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking book - it's deeelicious!

Belts and Blossoms

2007-04-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

I happened across an adorable sewing store, Sew Contempo, outside of Houston a few weeks ago. They had a ton of great ideas and fabric, including materials for belts. I sewed interfacing between the ribbon and attached it to a tortoise belt buckle ($3). I saw the exact same belt in a cute store in Charlottesville yesterday for $64!

The cherry blossoms in DC are out in full force this week and are truly amazing!

Pooch on a Pouch

2007-03-27T16:26:00.000-04:00

I want a dog sooo badly!! Instead of going to the pound, however, I made a pup for a pouch. The exterior of this doggie pouch is made from soft, pink corduroy and I used fabric scraps for the pooch and lining. I used the pattern from this zipper pouch tutorial. Very fun and easy!

Patchwork Bag with Zipper Charm

2007-03-25T22:55:00.000-04:00

This patchwork bag was my first attempt at a quilting project as well as installing a zipper. I made the bag from a pattern in Amy Butler's In Stitches book and used fabric scraps from previous projects. It turned out to be the perfect size for my knitting supplies and extra yarn! This lined bag was VERY time consuming, however (a good weekend project for the cabin), and the instructions were difficult to interpret at some points. It sort of resembles a Vera Bradley bag, which wasn't my intention...the fabric combinations in the book were way cuter!

The Weekender Bag!

2007-03-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

Yea for the Amy Butler weekender bag! This is a time consuming adventure but it's well worth the effort! I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The exterior fabric is from Amy Butler's Sunbloom line. The most time consuming parts were cutting out the fabric pieces (figuring out how to cut the pieces so that the pattern lined up appropriately nearly twisted my brain) and sewing the bag together so that the cording was flush with the seam. After ripping it out numerous times (ugh!), I finally got it to work. I would recommend stitching a few seams across the handles at the top for stability. Next time I might add an interior pocket...It's the perfect weekend or gym bag!

Handwarmers

2007-03-25T13:13:00.000-04:00

Knitting these handwarmers is like knitting a big tube. Thanks to Sharon's help, I've now moved on to cable-knit handwarmers with a partial thumb.

I would recommend making these with a hearty yarn that doesn't show a lot of wear and tear. After one winter mine look a little ratty.

Pattern in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.

All Knitting All the Time

2007-03-25T12:51:00.001-04:00

The first time I wore this skirt to work, I realized my biggest challenge would be to find a non-knit top to wear with it. The skirt is a bit knit-overload, but I love the puffy felted flower complete with little roots hanging off the hem. The skirt (basically like knitting a really big hat) and flower patterns are in Stitch 'N Bitch Nation. For the drawstring waist I folded the top over and sewed it, then knit a drawstring of the same yarn. This puffy flower marked the beginning of my felted swatch obsession.

Drawstring:
On a single dpn, CO 3 sts.
Slide sts to opposite end of needle; bring working yarn behind the needle and, w/ a 2nd dpn, K3.
Do not turn work; keep same side facing you at all times and pull the working yarn firmly around behind the sts on the needle to form a knitted tube.
Work in this manner until cord measures desired length.

Felted Clogs

2007-03-25T11:51:00.000-04:00

This was my first knitting project that I couldn't execute while watching a movie. They were worth it. The pattern is Fiber Trends' "Felt Clogs."

Felted Swatch Nation

2007-03-25T10:48:00.000-04:00

Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch Nation has rad sweater pattern that includes cutting felted swatches to make a flower and sewing them onto a sweater. I first tried this on a knitted skirt and now I want to sew felted swatches onto EVERYTHING. I am a sewing novice and this was my first time using the zigzag stitch on the sewing machine. If I were to do such a detailed shape again I would probably sew it by hand. The key is to use "stitch n tear" (tear-away stabilizer) behind the fabric onto which you're sewing the swatch. I embroidered the froggie features. Little dude is a bit uneven, but I like to think he looks rumpled and cute. Watch for an even cuter (hopefully) felted whale Tshirt!