April Showers Card (A Two-Part Mailing)

09 Monday Apr 2012

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We designed this card for my sister’s April baby shower, but it is also a fun spring card for kids to make and send.  Ada liked discovering what colors could be made by overlapping the raindrops.  You will need:

*Tissue Paper in various blues and greens

*Scissors

*Card Stock or blank card

*Gluestick

*Vellum Envelope to fit card

1. Fold tissue paper into width of eight layers.  (You can do more or less depending on the sharpness of your scissors).

2. Cut out raindrop shape through all layers.

3. Repeat until all raindrops are cut and then separate individual drops.

4. Cover front of card with glue.

5. Stick down raindrops one at a time and then let glue dry.

6. Print this message inside card:  “April Showers Bring…”

7. Place card inside envelope and drop it in the mail.

8. Keep checking the blog.  The next step in the two-part mailing will be posted soon!

Play Mat

05 Thursday Apr 2012

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We are so excited to welcome a new cousin into our family soon!  I have been wanting to make this project for a little someone and it is finished just in time for the shower this weekend.  The pattern is from Joelle Hoverson’s More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  I wish I’d discovered the pattern when my own kids were tiny, because I am in love with the finished project and there are so many color possibilities.

I used Malabrigo Worsted Merino 210 yards, 3.5 oz. which comes in amazing colors and is super soft.  (Purple Mystery and Lettuce are two of the colors and my kids seem to have hidden the other tags somewhere – sorry).  The needle is a 60″ (150 cm) long circular in 10.5 (6.5mm).  I’d never used such a long circular before, but it was fun once I got the hang of it.  Hooray for a new baby!

Easter Egg Surprise Ball

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

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I have been wanting to make a surprise ball since I spotted one at Kiosk a few years ago.  And then this week our friends brought us an amazing swan version from Tail of the Yak in Berkeley.  (More on that beautiful surprise ball in a later post).   Ada had so much fun unwrapping the swan that I decided to make her an Easter version for her basket.  This is an easy project that can be customized for any recipient.  You will need:

*Crepe Paper Streamers (at least 3 colors)

*Tiny Goodies (We wrapped: a vintage bracelet, stickers, vintage buttons, temporary tattoos, a dollar coin, a tiny rubber stamp, a bag of glitter, tin bird pins)

*Felt (or stickers or rubber stamps to decorate)

*Glue stick

*Scotch Tape

*Pinking Shears or Scissors

1. Wrap crepe paper around the first treasure and form a rough egg shape.  Remember this will be the last to be unwrapped so make it a good one!

2. Continue wrapping until first object is completely covered.

3. Cut crepe paper with pinking shears and use masking tape to attach a new color.

4. Insert the next goody and continue to wrap.  Be sure to gently pull the crepe paper taught as you go.

5. Repeat, changing the streamer color with every new object.  Position objects to create a rounded egg shape.

6. Once all objects are inside, use the glue stick to stick down streamer end and apply felt circles or stickers for decoration.

7. Let the fun begin!

Collage Eggs

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

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We made these eggs for our friends last year.  They are simple for kids to decorate and a good way to use up some scraps from past projects.  You will need:

*Card stock

*Scissors

*Glue

*Collage Materials (We used scrap yarn, fabric, cupcake liners, glitter, sequins, googly eyes, doilies, watercolors and crayons).

1.  Draw large egg shape on card stock and cut out.  Our eggs are 4″x 3″.

2.  Trace this egg pattern onto the other card stock pieces and cut out.

3.  Hand over the glue and let the kids decorate away.

4.  Wait for glue to dry and place in vellum envelopes.  These make great Easter cards or basket treats for the grandparents.

Easter Peeps Garland

02 Monday Apr 2012

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I love the look of Easter Peeps.  They are the iconic Easter basket filler, and I would miss them if they were not around for the season.  But personally I do not like to eat them.  So, we came up with this bunny garland.  You will need:

*Bunny Peeps (We used 4 packages of 16 for the length of our mantel)

*Embroidery Floss in two contrasting colors

*Needle for Floss

1. Lay out lines of peeps, four at a time.  Do not break bonds between the four bunnies.  Allow peeps to sit out for a day and get slightly stale. This makes the bunnies a bit more durable.

2. Thread embroidery needle with floss and weave the first color over and under bunny ears as shown above.  Carefully adjust spaces between bunnies as you go.  Pull gently so thread will not cut off any ears.

3. Repeat weaving with second color of floss, this time going over when you first went under the rabbit ears.

4. Gently break bonds at the bottom of rabbit bodies, leaving ears attached.  This gives the garland a more rounded shape.

5. Hang garland and let the Peeps dry.

Happy Easter!

Renegade

30 Friday Mar 2012

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I’ve been excited about making these headband crowns for kids lately.  Yesterday we found out that my friend Marissa at Soor Ploom and I got into Etsy’s Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair.  Hooray!  We will be selling our children’s clothes and crowns on June 23 and 24 in Willamsburg.  I’ll put up more details as the weekend gets closer.  For now I need to get crafting!

(The crowns and Soor Ploom’s sweet clothes are also both available at Acorn Toys if you can’t wait until June).

Write

29 Thursday Mar 2012

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Years ago a dear friend gave me a book called The Artist’s Way.  The book required the reader to fill three pages a day with writing, whether or not there was anything to say.  I don’t remember other things about the book, but I still try to keep up with the three pages.  There is something amazing that happens when you ask your brain to match the speed of your hand.  The cursive becomes sort of hypnotizing after a while and the three pages quickly add up to full books.  It seems much easier to move forward once thoughts are organized on paper.  There is nothing I like better than waking up early when the house is quiet and sitting down with a good pen and an empty page.

Storing

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

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This is a project I have wanted to get done for a long time.  Josie is now wearing a lot of Ada’s old clothes and finding the right size before she outgrows them was becoming a challenge.  So we went to Ikea and found these bins.  Their clear sides and tops make it easy to find a specific item.  Clothes are labeled by size and stacked on Metro Shelves.  We got all of our shelves cheap on Craigslist.  It is freezing here this morning, but finding Ada’s hat was easy.

Cherry Blossom T

26 Monday Mar 2012

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The cherry trees are just starting to bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  The festival is not until April, but it is exciting to visit each week and watch the progress.  We made this T-shirt in their honor.  You will need:

*Blank T-shirt (we used a child’s American Apparel T.  They have great organic options too).

*Fabric

*Tulle

*Buttons

*Pinking Shears

*Needle and Thread

1. Cut fabric and tulle into circles with pinking shears.  We made 1 inch circles from vintage fabric scraps.

2. Layer fabric and tulle slightly off-center.

3. Place circle layers onto shirt with button on top and stitch down through button holes.

Hand wash, or turn shirt inside out to launder.  Hooray for Spring!

Enamel Bowl

23 Friday Mar 2012

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Washing fabric for a new project.  I love this enamel bowl.  I got two of them for $9 at an antique shop in Maine.  There are some similar ones here.  I use it is for hand washing delicate clothes and it was Ada’s favorite place to sit when she was a baby.  Simple, functional, beautiful.  Kind of perfect.