Category Archives: Projects

DIY Knitted Duffle Coat

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

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Eme1Eme2I have been wanting to knit up this Vintage Duffle Coat by Sublime for my niece for quite some time.  The pattern is in The Fifth Little Sublime Hand Knit Book, which is full of more sweet baby knits.  I finally finished the duffle in time for our early Christmas celebration last week.  I used the called-for Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, in Plum Pie and finished it off with vintage buttons.  (Etsy has a great selection of vintage buttons here).  Baby knits are always so satisfying and relatively quick to make up, and the chubby recipients make even the cutest sweater look even better.

DIY Salted Caramel Sauce

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

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Caramel Sauce

We are slowly trying to feel normal here after the tragedy in Connecticut last Friday. It feels a bit hollow to be celebrating and decorating in the shadow of such an inconceivable sadness. We are lucky that our girls are too young to understand what has happened, and Chris and I wipe away tears when they are not looking. Our hearts break for those who have lost the ones they love. We hug our children closer now. We find a little more appreciation for the days we have together.

We celebrated an early Christmas this past week with our new cousin and family. The kids opened stockings and presents and the adults cooked and talked and ate good food together. Here is the recipe from the Inspired Taste blog that we used to make Salted Caramel Sauce. We added a pinch of nutmeg to our sauce and it is delicious. We made another batch and added extra cream to make a cocktail base. (It is sort of a caramel Bailey’s flavor). This batch could easily be frozen into yummy ice cream.

Morning Glory Gifts

14 Friday Dec 2012

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We grow morning glories in pots every year and harvest the seeds in the fall to save for the next spring. (Ada called them Morning Glorias when she was little). This year we noticed a proliferation of dried seeds on vines around our neighborhood and gathered some on one of our walks. We mixed the seeds together and had so many that we decided to package some up for gifts. Ada cut morning glory shapes from blue and purple scraps and decorated the recycled tins that once housed photo corners. We can’t wait to see what new colors come out of the harvest this year.

DIY Polar Bear Scarf

13 Thursday Dec 2012

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I need to use tricks to get Ada to wear winter clothes.  These tricks usually involve the color pink, but she loves this scarf and will wear it without a fuss.  I mentioned this pattern briefly last winter, but it is that time of year again.  The Polar Bear Scarf is such an easy project that there is still time to make one up before Christmas morning.  I used this scarf pattern pattern by Pat Feeley for High Country Knitwear, available for download for $1.  I modified the pattern slightly and used a cashmere blend yarn to make it super soft.

Here are some more super-cute kids’ knits:

*Abbey from Aesthetic Outburst posted about these adorable hedgehog mittens, available as a kit from from Morehouse Farm Knits.  Morehouse Farms has more Critter Knits here.

*Elephant Scarf Elephant Scarf at Acorn Toys is soft and friendly.

*Sweet William has a sweet and warm alpaca pullover by Oeuf with bunny ears here.

DIY Dressed-for-the-Snow Snow Globe (Baby It’s Cold in There)

07 Friday Dec 2012

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I always wondered why no one inside the blizzard of a snow globe seemed to be wearing appropriate clothing.  (And how am I supposed to get my four-year-old to wear a hat with all of those bad examples?)  So I decided to make our own version and knit up a scarf for the occupant.  To make your own Blizzard-Ready Snow Globe you will need:

*Recycled Jar

*Small Knitting Needles (We used a US 3 pair)

*Scrap Yarn

*Plastic Figurine (With a neck that will hold a scarf)

*Baby Oil

*White and Silver Glitter (We used a combination of regular, Mica, and a bit of Silver German Glass for sparkle.  Meyer Imports is a great glitter resource)

*Epoxy

*Fabric Scrap (Optional, to cover jar lid)

*Scissors

*Craft Glue

1. Knit up your scarf: Cast on 2 sts.  Work in Stockinette for desired length and cast off.  Trim ends to about 1/4 inch and unravel to make fringe.

2. Wash and dry jar.  Soaking in hot soapy water will help remove label glue.  We also used Charlie’s Soap to get off particularly stubborn glue.

3. Place a dab of epoxy on the neck of figurine and attach scarf.  Tie scarf after dry.

4. Epoxy plastic feet to inside of the jar lid.  Allow to dry.

5. Cut out fabric circle to fit outside bottom of jar lid and glue in place with craft glue.  (This will cover any writing on the jar top).

6. Place glitter inside jar.

7. Carefully squirt baby oil inside jar, leaving just enough space for your figurine to fit.  The baby oil will make the glitter snow fall more slowly than it would if you filled globe with water.

8. Place figurine upside down inside jar.  If there is still room for more baby oil, hold the figurine back up above jar and slowly squirt in more oil.  (I don’t like seeing a big air bubble at the top of a snow globe).  Wipe off any excess oil from rim of jar.

9. Squirt a bit of craft glue around the threads of the jar and screw down tight.  The glue will help keep the jar sealed.

10. Turn over the jar and let it snow!

 

 

Family Photo Album Gift

07 Friday Dec 2012

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Our Photo Albums just arrived in the mail!  Every year we look through all the photos of the girls and have our favorites made into a book for the grandparents.  I love the process of editing and looking over the images from the past year.  Ada and Josie like to pull their chairs up to the computer and look through the pictures with me.  They grow and change so much in a year!  There are lots of online sites to create photo books, but we have always used IPhoto and Apple and love the results.  The editing and page options in Iphoto make it really easy to transfer photos into a book layout and the finished albums are beautiful.  The whole process of putting together a book feels very satisfying.  It makes us feel thankful for the past year and excited for the year ahead.  (And opening the books at Christmas time always seems make the grandparents smile).

*You still have time to make your own if you need a gift idea.  Our books always arrive in under two weeks.

DIY Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Gifts

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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I always need to wrap these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups as soon as they cool to avoid eating all of them by myself. They are simple to make and really good. We used wrappers from Ikea, boxes from Paper Source and letterpress gift tags from the charming Echo letterpress. Wax paper cut with scalloped scissors keeps oils from the peanut butter from getting on the box. To make your own Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups you will need:

*11.5 oz. Bag of Milk Chocolate Chips (We love Ghirardelli’s)

*1 Cup Chunky Natural Peanut Butter (Smooth works well too)

*1/4 -1/2 Cup Confectioners Sugar (to taste)

*Candy Cups (We made 24 of various sizes with this recipe. You will need two wrappers per cup)

*Wax Paper, Boxes, Twine for Wrapping

*Scallop or Pinking Shears (optional)

1. Mix together peanut butter and confectioners sugar. Set aside.

2. Spread out candy wrappers in a single layer on a tray. (The second wrapper will be placed over the first when the peanut butter cups are finished).

3. Using a heat-safe bowl and heavy bottom pan, make a double boiler by adding a few inches of water to the pan and floating the bowl inside. Pour chocolate chips into bowl. Stirring frequently, slowly melt chips over medium/low heat until they become liquid. (The warm water will keep chocolate soft as you work).

4. Using a small spoon carefully place a little melted chocolate into a wrapper and swirl until the sides of wrapper are coated. Repeat until all wrappers are coated.

5. Place tray of coated wrappers in freezer for 15 minutes to cool and then remove.

6. If chocolate in bowl has cooled, heat again until completely melted.

7. Using another small spoon, place a bit of peanut butter inside each chocolate-coated wrapper. Be sure not to let the peanut butter mound up above the top of the wrapper. (This makes for a neater peanut butter cup).

8. Carefully spoon a bit of melted chocolate over the peanut butter to seal it inside.

9. Return the completed cups to the freezer for 15 minutes to cool.

10. Place each peanut butter cup inside a second wrapper to hide any grease marks.

11. Wrap them up!

Happy Giving!

DIY North Pole Forest

03 Monday Dec 2012

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Ada came up with this project. We started out with paper Christmas tree shapes for her to decorate and she decided she wanted to make a forest with animals that would live with Santa. (Yes, that includes tropical fish). We used these animal image stickers and Ada cut paper into mountains and used crayons to color the water. After gluing paper squares together we ended up with a long picture that fit perfectly across the mantle. To make your own North Pole Forest you will need:

*Construction Paper in Various Colors

*Scissors

*Snow Glitter

*Feathers, Pom poms, Sparkles, Etc.

*Crayons, Marker, or Colored Pencils

*Animal Stickers

*Craft Glue

1. Glue paper squares together.

2. Cut out tree and mountain shapes.

3. Glue down stickers, pom poms, and feathers and add coloring. (We added glue behind our removable stickers).

4. Lastly glue snow glitter over the trees in your Northern forest.

5. Allow to dry flat and then hang up. Ho!Ho!Ho!

DIY Embroidered Jumper

29 Thursday Nov 2012

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This dress is a variation on Purl Bee’s lovely Embroidered Denim Jumper. I love the Purl Bee blog!  The Purl Soho store in Manhattan is an amazing place to visit- it looks like a bright candy store and is full of yarn and fabric and books and projects.  I used some vintage plaid to make this dress for Ada.  The jumper made up so quickly and easily I can’t wait to try the pattern out in other fabrics.  Etsy has some pretty plaid choices here.  The jumper requires very little machine sewing and it was fun to play around with new embroidery stitches.  This dress is the first of the sister dresses for this year.  (Here are last year’s).

Family Portrait Ornament from Child’s Drawing

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

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We have started a little yearly tradition here. When Ada drew her first family portrait last year it made me cry (in a proud and bittersweet she’s-so-grown-up sort of way). We liked the drawing so much we decided to have it made into a made into a ceramic ornament for our Christmas tree. (Which have cost about $15 each including shipping). It occurred to me that we should have the kids draw a family portrait for an ornament every year, then give them as gifts and save one for our tree. Josie is still too little to draw anything that resembles us, but when she’s old enough both girls can make a yearly ornament. I love how Ada’s drawing style has evolved in a year and I look forward to a tree full of these as the girls grow up. To have your own Family Portrait Ornament made you will need:

*White Paper Cut to Desired Ornament Shape (circle, oval, etc.)

*Markers, Crayons, Paint, Colored Pencils, etc. (Ada used marker last year and crayon this year)

*Camera or Scanner

*Ribbon for Hanging

*Internet Access to Transmit Image

*Photoshop or Other Photo Program (To perfect image)

1. Have the artist make the portrait. We found that bright contrasting colors worked best. Encourage child to use up the whole paper space and you will have to do less cropping.

2. Photograph or scan portrait. Be sure to photograph image straight on to avoid distortion. If you are scanning, use a high resolution. We used Photoshop to clean up, size and save our image as a jpeg.

3. Select your favorite custom photo site, choose a ceramic ornament style and follow their directions to crop and upload image. Be especially aware of crop areas so you don’t lose part of your image. If you use the same shape paper and finished ornament design you should be able to easily adjust the image to the template. We used Personalization Mall for this year’s ornament.

4. Wait for the mail to arrive. (The artist will be excited by the results!)

5. Change the ribbon and add text to the back of your ornament as desired. (We used a sticker on the back last year. Some ornament sites will let you order with text printed on the back).

6. Trim the tree!

We also used the drawings for our holiday cards. This year we worked with MOO and like the results. Happy Holiday planning!