Monday, February 28, 2011

My Crafty Weekend

Good afternoon crafties! Sorry this post comes a little late, busy morning today, busy indeed! I did managed to squeak out a post though. Below is what got me excited this weekend!


Absolutely INSPIRED by this photo from the same post at Little Birdie Secrets I went thrifting almost the next day and found five shakers plus the cute tray for a dollar. A dollar folks! After a scrubbing (some still had salt and pepper!) I filled them with my very minimal glitter collection. I even raided Wednesday's stash I wanted them filled so badly! Cute though right? I can't wait to pick up more shakers and of course the glitter to go in them. Have any good glittery crafty links? I'm thinking Martha Stewart would have a few yes?

Aside from that I made some top secret stuff, to be revealed soon. And on that note let's have a look at what you got up to last week! The links were few but awesome!

Don't knit? Don't crochet? Then this is the scarf for you! Maya of Little Treasures has concocted this great tutorial for a no knit-no crochet scarflette! A little secret though...you can totally crochet this as well! Visit the link to see what the heck I'm talking about.

Laurie of House To Your Home shared this fabulous guest bath redo. Wait until you get a load of the subway tile shower, it is just suburb! I do love me some subway tile. For other great photos visit her blog here.

Amy of Flexible Dreams shared this wonderful tutorial on how to refashion a drab cardigan into a fab girl's dress. If you are a sucker for a great refashion (especially for girls!) visit her blog here for the great step by step!

Now it is your turn again! What have you been up to lately? Baking, scrapbooking, sewing? How about papier mache? Distressed any great flea market finds? Share with us your creative endeavors! Feel free to grab and share the buttons below! Also, don't forget to visit the link before yours and leave some good comment karma! Have fun crafties!


 


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wednesday on Wednesday

 This morning, within minutes of waking.
Wednesday received her first Barbie doll sometime ago, I think maybe over a year? She was playing with Barbies at a friends house which was part of an overnight trip out of town and as a reward for being a super duper awesome child, we bought her her own barbies. Nothing fancy, two fairy barbies that didn't even come with shoes. (Little pieces and airways and all that.)
 This afternoon, directly after getting home from playschool.
After that though, well, just about every trip to the thrift shops resulted in at least one naked, matted hair Barbie doll coming home with us. She has amassed quite the collection, both new and (very) used since. But I tell you, for being three and a half they are her favourite toys. She brings them to bed with her (they sit patiently on the night tables waiting for her to wake up.) she acts out different things she has learned from the nursery rhymes at play school to real life situations she has been through like time outs.
 Dinah loves to sleep in the Barbie suitcase (scored for a dollar! at the local charity shop.) full of clothes.
 Last week we played dress the Barbies together. She always undresses my dolls though?!
For Christmas, my main gift to her was a Barbie backpack filled with Barbie dolls. babrie clothes, and babrie shoes all found on Ebay. For a song, I found Wednesday all the vintage(and not so) babrie clothes and shoes I had been scouring thrift shops for (and coming up unsuccessfull 98% of the time.)
 
The radius of clothing, shoes and dolls can get pretty big for such a little girl with limited space.
Her interest would wane and then come back double time. But lately, her barbie play is non-stop. From the moment she wakes up (as in the first photo of the post) until she goes to bed (with Barbies on the nightstand) she is wrapped up in imaginative play with these dolls.

dolls
Clothing I made from discarded t-shirt sleeves and some leftover 1/4" elastic.
Some folks might not think Barbies are age appropriate for a three year old but I think Barbie is for every age (minus the wee ones) there are Barbies for eveyone. For the first months (almost year) of playing with the dolls, Wednesday did not want clothing on them, when at a friend's house, the first thing she would do was undress the Barbies. Then she discovered shoes. And then clothing came shortly after it, so that now she regularly spreads the suitcase of clothing around her play space. She has a ridiculously sized collection that was compounded at Christmas (Thanks Ebay, Uncle Rob & Uncle Matthew!) And I am having some trouble finding a satisfactory storage system (I just don't have the wall/door space that the super duper awesome clear shoe holder calls for) but it just fills me with joy to watch her play for hours on end with these dolls.
Today, showing off her "Rock & Roll pants". Coincidentally, that is one of her two first Barbies.
I'll worry later about Barbie's measurements and always fantastic hair having an adverse effect on Wednesday's self esteem. For now she is a little girl who loves all of her dolls equally for different reasons. She loves to dress and undress them, she loves to mix and match clothing and shoes and she loves to name them different names, sometimes after her friends and sometimes completely made up one (my favourite is Stacia.) but most importantly she loves to play. I can let her do that and feel like we are both winning.

P.S. For those Mamas with large naked Barbie collections I reccomend this seller for shoes. You receive lots of different kinds, and bonus is some of the open toe shoes fit the cheap Wal-mart Barbies even better than the shoes that came with them.
Also, for clothing, I did searches for lot barbie clothes used on Ebay and this got me some great auctions. Don't fight the collectors, watch them until they are almost up and bid what you are willing to pay. I scored some great clothing and accessory lots that way, at Christmastime no less.

Monday, February 21, 2011

My Crafty Weekend

Happy Monday Crafters! And, happy Family Day to my fellow Canadians! I hope your weekend was filled with much love, luck and laughter! Mine was absolutely wonderful, crafting, family nad the most wonderful girls night out on Saturday. A French bistro + Chapters + Starbucks + Chatty Cathies = super duper awesome times! Crafty though, did you catch that? Yes, I made myself a necklace. Would you like to see it? Okay...



I am torn about the red seed beads to be honest. That little detail took me over an hour, making me committed to them lol, but I just don't know if I love them you know? Here is the thing with me and jewlery design/making; I am not gifted at it, in fact I don't even think I could call myself good at it. In fact, I am pretty sure if there was a word for opposite of gifted I would be it. But, I cannot help myself! I love it. And whenever I get enough materials together to make an idea a reality (ish) I get lost in it. I guess I am hoping the law of averages takes over and if I try enough times, I am bound to succeed right?

Anyhoo enough about me, what have you been up to? With Valentines Day behind us and St. Patrick's Day and Easter on the way are your creative juices flooding your crafty minds? I have a few ideas for Easter that I am excited to try, I even have an idea that the wee one and I can do together (I rely on the web for the all majority of those ideas!) Last week there were some super cute links, here is just a sample!





Maleah of Little Eme created these amazing little booties. And, now you can make your own pair because she not only has the free pattern but a tutorial to go along with it her blog!

A couple weeks ago Michelle from Falafel and the Bee linked to this adorable messenger bag she made for her little one's valentine collecting. When I asked her if she had a pattern, she responded with a complete tutorial! Is that fabric not just to-die-for?!

Jenn of My Delicious Ambiguity linked to this cute St. Patrick's Day countdown calendar tutorial. So sweet and simple!

Now it is your turn again! What have you been up to lately? Baking, scrapbooking, sewing? How about papier mache? Distressed any great flea market finds? Share with us your creative endeavors! Feel free to grab and share the buttons below! Also, don't forget to visit the link before yours and leave some good comment karma! Have fun crafties!




 


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wednesday on Wednesday

This week,friends of hours held a lil' Valentine soiree for the kids and it was just wonderful. Four kids all age three just having a blast decorating cookies, crowns and eating pizza.

We managed to get a group photo before they were thoroughly involved in the decorating. 

The fabulous mama who through the soiree and her little man!

Laying the icing foundation for sprinkles!

I think she liked the Cake Mate Scribblers more than the sprinkles.

The always fabulous Sydney!

Little A sticks his tongue out even more than Wednesday when he is concentrating heavily. So cute!

Decorating the crown together.

Waiting patiently for the pizza.


Our lovey weekend was full of love.

The party was great. I was surprised that the children (all age 3) participated full in each of the activities, even after eating some cookies. I think part of the success was due to the ten minute play times in between activities. I am so glad we were invited and I can't wait for Easter now! (Wednesday has been talking about dying eggs for over a week now!)

Sunday, February 13, 2011



Alright craftees, are you sitting down? You're on your pcs, of course you're sitting down. Anyways, get this; I got crafty this weekend! I know, did it rain? Nope, not even a snow day. I have been trying to keep my projects simple though, and practical and for my workspace. Also, all projects have been stash busters, which has helped make space in the space. I made a table skirt out of a really pretty thrifted duvet and a dust cover for my serger but I haven't pictures of those yet. What I do have a is a picture of a bulletin board cover I did. I'd like to think it is pretty cool and kind of mod. Not your usual ribbon board, but I'll let yo be the judge.

I have made the ribbon boards, and there are some pretty ones out there but I wanted something different. I didn't want just fabric and tacks but sometimes ribbons just don't cut it. So I wrapped some cork pieces laying around (From the aforementioned ribbon board) in the same fabric and black, then attached them with upholstery tacks. Easy peasy. I have also covered a lampshade but have yet to take final pics of it or hang it. It is on the to do list though.

Last week the entries were all so wonderful! Below is just a sample of the fabulousness of last week.

Shauna of His Frugal Servant baked this delicious looking "Hint O' Cocoa" bundt cake. Visit here for the full recipe broken down to steps and with a few notes. I know I will be making this one!

This gorgeous workspace is also part family space and was created by Heidi of Budget Wise Home. I cannot believe she shares this space with her boys! To see more great pictures visit the post here.

Amy of Flexible Dreams made this a-freakin'dorable batch of "Nilla Girls". Omgoodness, have you seen anything cuter? If you can handle the cute, visit her blog here for more pictures.

Wow, busy little bees you have been! Now, time to show us what you have been baking, embroidering, painting, scrapbooking! (You know and all the other great stuff you have been up to!) I managed to wrangle up a thumbnail linky for the occasion. I hope that you will visit eachother and leave some good bloggy karma in the form of comments! As usual, here are some buttons, I would love it if you shared them but it is not necessary to play the game! Have fun and get crafty!



 



Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wednesday on Wednesday

Someone has been painting up a storm! I know that I am her mom, but sometimes I think Wednesday is better with a paint brush than I some grown ups are with pencil and paper. And it is true, the adage practice makes perfect because every time she picks up a paint brush she wows me more than before.


Almost as fun as the painting itself, dispensing the paint herself in incredibly important to the process.


You half expect to see the tongue sticking out she is so focused.


She's all smiles while she paints. She said her favourite part of painting is "Making the colours and boys and girls. That is my favourite part."


Right now she is on a mermaid kick and asks The Mister and I too paint her mermaids to copy. This is her version of a mermaid, I was blown away.


This one is my favourite though, it is a rocket ship, and I'll be darned if it isn't a fantastic one at that!


Lately Wednesday has been on a poster paint kick, but most often we keep a water colour set with water and brushes out like most people use crayons. Wednesday can colour in the lines like nobody's business. She is slower and more deliberate with a paint brush than with a crayon. I was going to show you some colouring book pages she has done but it seems she has ripped them all out to give to the neighbor as a gift.

What is your child's colouring medium of choice? Markers, crayons or paint?

Sunday, February 6, 2011

My Crafty Weekend


Happy Monday! There has been much going on here; much organizing, much photoshopping and much scratching ideas into my notebook. I finally have some teaser photos of my craft/sewing area. For your viewing pleasure I present to you a small series of colour.
fat quarter shelf
This is my vintage pillowcase and fat quarter shelf. (Although there are a couple pairs of fabulously printed pajama pants tucked in there as well.)
ribbon shelf
Since my first love was scrapbooking, and my new love is sewing, I have amassed a fabulously huge ribbon collection as this is but a sample.
spool drawer
I have since moved my spools to yet another drawer so that I could fit the black, white and neutral threads as well but isn't the colour wonderful?


And I think most of you either know about or have noticed the new blog changes. Complete with newly made painkalicious buttons! As with my first buttons, the old ones will continue to be hosted so don't worry about little image error messages on your sidebars and posts. But for those of you who enjoy the new look please feel free to replace the old buttons.




Two absolutely fabulous links from last week have the same punches of red but are for two completely different holidays.

This stunning bit of red awesomeness was made by Steph of Silly Precious Piggies (Not to be confused with Three Little Piggies!) and I just love it. It is a faux firework wall decoration for Lunar New Year. The 'firecrackers' are filled with goodies. I love it, and that rabbit is adorable! You can read the entire tutorial here.

Another gorgeous bit of red, this time made for Valentine's day by
Alright folks. It is your turn again. Show me what you have been building, painting, baking and sewing. Also, since I cannot find a linky tool service that offers free thumnail linky tools this week it will be a text only link event. I will visit every link though I promise.