A knitting milestone, and Name that Monster

This weekend marked a momentous occassion in my life. I finished my first ever knitting in the round project. And what did I choose? A nice simple hat? Nope. I chose Penelope, the Empathetic Monster:

She was as easy to make as she is adorable, after I got the hang of double pointed needles that is.
I got the pattern on Etsy from DangerCrafts whose business name I adore so much that even if all she sold was ceramic coiled rattlesnake sculptures I'd probably still buy something from her. Thankfully though she sells absolutely adorable knit monster/animal patterns instead.

Even though the pattern is for "Penelope", I'm not sure that my reincarnation of her really looks like a Penelope. I was thinking she was more like a Margaret, or maybe a Mathilda.

What do you think? What should her name be?

New Stuff! Flannel and Chenille - and a Giveaway!

Update: We have a winner. My random number generator (my 5 yr. old) has chosen our lucky winner. It's Michelle a.k.a Busym1. Congrats! and thanks to all who entered.

I scored some sweet cuddly flannel on sale a while back and I ran across it last week when trying to tidy up my craft room. A surprising thing happened. Instead of shoving it in a drawer somewhere, I actually took the initiative to use it in some projects.

I found some soft chenille hanging out in a corner too and ta-da! Some new inventory for the shop. Finally!

I've also been having some fun with my cricut and whipped out some cute little ladybug thank you notes as well.

And to say thank you to all of you for checking out my blog, I'm giving away a couple flannel and chenille washcloths. They're perfect for use as burp cloths, or for wiping runny noses, or even in the tub!

One lucky winner will get 2 washcloths. They look like these except they don't have the ribbon tags.

Just post a comment and I'll pick a random winner on Friday, June 19th. Be sure to include your email address or profile so I can contact you for your mailing address.

Tawashi Knot - hold the sour cream please

For the past couple weeks I've been knitting some scrubbers to use around the house, tawashi knots, to be exact.

I had been looking for a quick and easy knitting project to give me a sense of accomplishment and these fit the bill nicely. I used this great little pattern I stumbled across one day online to make these cute and functional little scrubbers.

They're constructed of a long narrow strip of knitted fabric that's folded into this cute little knot. My husband, who had repeatedly asked me what I was knitting (he didn't quite get it when he saw this long strip of knit fabric, and I told him it was a scrubber) was in awe when I showed him the finished project.

"Oh" he said, understanding finally dawning on his face. "It's a crunchwrap supreme!"

And well yes, yes it is.

Whip it Good! Playtime Indiana Jones Whip Tutorial

My son is absolutely obsessed with Indiana Jones! OBSESSED! I'm not quite sure when it happened or what triggered it, but there's no going back now. We've been eating, sleeping and breathing archeological machismo for weeks! I could recite the screenplay of Raiders of the Lost Arc in my sleep!

Of course the most appealing thing about Indiana Jones to a 5 year old boy is his whip. I'm more into the smoldering good looks and excessive masculinity but that's just me.

Anyway - everything in the house that could possibly be used as a whip has been - a wayward piece of ribbon, a hand towel, an unplugged extension cord (yikes) and I finally determined that I just needed to make the kid a whip.

It had to be realistic yet safe* and soft and so after some brainstorming and experimentation I came up with this: The Indiana Jones playtime whip.

I realize there probably isn't a high demand for such an item, but I thought if there were other people out there with Indiana Jones obsessed kids they might enjoy this tutorial. Of course this isn't just an Indiana Jones whip - it could be a lion tamer's whip, or you could use this same technique with a few modifications to make a safe playtime cowboy lasso.

Here's what you need:

Flannel fabric in your choice of color. (I used 1.5 yards but only because I didn't want to have to piece it together to get the length I needed. You could easily get away using only 1/2 yard) I chose flannel for its minimal fraying and its softness but you could experiment with other fabrics as well.

Sewing machine or hand sewing supplies

Piece of tape or a helper.

Step 1: Cut your fabric

Cut 6 one inch strips.

As I mentioned above I used 1.5 yards of fabric so my strips were the length I wanted (this resulted in a finished whip of approximately 45 inches). You can use less yardage and simply cut more strips and piece them together to reach your desired length.

I'd recommend the diagonal method to sew your strips together to avoid bulky seams that would be visible in your finished product. To piece your strips to avoid bulk overlap two strips perpendicular to each other and sew diagonally.

Clip the excess fabric close to the seam and ta da - a bulk free seam. It's also a good idea to stagger the location of your seams along your strips so they don't all end up in the same spot on your whip.

Step 2:

Stack all 6 strips on top of each other and sew.

Nothing fancy, you just want to hold all your strips together.

Step 3: Braiding

Here's where the fun part comes in. If you've got yourself a partner have them hold the end of the whip while you braid the strips.

Since I ended up making mine in the wee hours of the morning I had to rely on a piece of packing tape to be my helper.

To get the proper bulk you'll double up your strips - so essentially you're braiding 3 strips of doubled fabric (that's why we started with 6 strips instead of 3).

Step 4: Finishing

Once you get about 3 inches from the end you'll want to stop. Sew through all layers of fabric to hold your braid in place and to create the business end of your whip.

To make the handle end simply fold over the top to make a loop and tack it down to the rest of the whip.

Cut a 4" by 5" rectangle of flannel for the "handle". I seamed the 4" top and bottom of this piece for more of a finished look but that is completely optional.

Wrap the handle fabric over the whip being sure to cover up where then end of the loop meets the body of the whip.

Then simply sew the handle as close as you can along the body of the whip and clip the excess fabric with pinking shears or regular scissors. I also tacked the top and bottom of the handle to the whip as well so there was no chance of it migrating down the length of the whip later.

And there you have it - a soft playtime weapon - which as any parent of young boys knows - is a very good thing.

I've been whipped quite a few times wit this thing since it's creation and I can personally vouch for its softness. It doesn't sting at all - at least not when whipped around by a 5 year old and I think that's the greatest test right there.

*As always with any toy - especially rope-like toys - please be sure to supervise your children at all times to avoid any risk of strangulation.

There are starving crafters out there who don't have Cricuts you know!

I'm going to make a confession and hope that you won't think less of me.

I've had a fabulous brand new Cricut Expressions sitting in my craft room since my birthday in March and I just finally used it a couple weeks ago.

I know, I know - It's awful. I'd been pining for that machine for years and then when it was in my hands I was at a loss. I could give you lots of excuses - no time, no planned projects, can't afford other cartridges etc. - but the truth of the matter was I was frightened. Here was this fabulous thing and I was humbled and in awe. Was I worthy?

Well I finally got over it and took the new toy for a spin to create some cupcake toppers for my sweet little nephew's first birthday party (it was a bug theme obviously). I also made some larger bugs to decorate the walls.

But what I've been having the most fun with is using it to cut some intricate images for freezer paper t-shirt stencils.

I'd been wanting to try this technique ever since I saw it several months ago on a craft blog but the mere idea of meticulously cutting images with an xacto knife was enough to make my head hurt. So I got to wondering if I could use the Cricut. And as you can see - yes you can.

I won't give you a meticulous step by step since there are tons of great tutorials by people out there (just do a search), but if you're curious the trick is to apply the freezer paper to your cutting mat with the waxy side up - otherwise it won't stay put and will move and rip when you're cutting your image.

Also you'll need to adjust your speed, pressure and blade settings. I put my blade at 2, speed at low and pressure at medium, but do a sample to determine what works best. Oh and if you're doing text you'll need to utilize the "flip" function on your Cricut since you'll essentially be cutting on the wrong side of the paper.

Once your Cricut has done it's work just iron the stencil, waxy side down to your t-shirt, grab your fabric paint (I used Tulip brand Soft fabric paint) and go to town.

Now that the Cricut and I have become more intimately acquainted I'm sure the projects will continue to flow.

Under the Sea Terrarium

I kind of have a thing for Playmobil figures. They're just so darn cute and I love their little accessories. I found this merman and mermaid at Target a couple months back and bought them for myself - yep wouldn't even let the kids play with them. Why? Because I had a vision! An Under the Sea Terrarium. A small little glass encased world with mossy undersea hills and lush foliage. And finally this weekend I created it!

It's smaller than what I had originally envisioned but I couldn't find an apothecary jar that I liked that was larger than this one. Plus since I have tendencies to kill plants I thought I'd better start small and see if I could get it to survive before I went all out.

It was super simple. I just put some charcoal on the bottom, then layered in some soil and then placed in some fabulous moss and a small succulent-type plant from my very own backyard.


Paired on a shelf with my newly potted succulent from IKEA, it's my new favorite household accessory!

There's no place like IKEA. There's no place like IKEA. There's no place . . .

"Ekktorp, Malm, Brunkrissla" - those words are like angels whispering in my ear - Swedish angels.

I've recently returned from a road trip to IKEA, the shopping mecca for all things trendy,chic and cheap. I can't say exactly when I fell in love with IKEA, it was a few years back. I had heard fairy tails of simplistic Swedish designed furniture and ultra chic accessories for affordable prices and then I went there - and it was all I had dreamed of and more. And don't even get me started on the 99cent breakfast!

Just as I was pining to return my friend Carrie informed me that she longed to head there for her birthday and me and my friend Shawna were all too happy to tag along. The nearest IKEA is 3 hours away so it required some planning, which only added to the anticipation.

I think one of my favorite things about this trip were the days leading up to it. When Shawna was making a withdrawal at the bank she mentioned that she was headed to IKEA and the teller and 2 adjacent customers instantly squeeled, "Are you going to IKEA!?" and then proceeded to launch into stories of how much they loved IKEA. They asked her what she planned on buying, and when she was going, etc. She thought one might actually ask to tag along!

Two days later I was extolling the virtues of IKEA to my mom on the bleachers at Aaron's T-ball game (she's what I like to call an IKEA virgin - hadn't even heard of it - shocking I know) and the guy in front of us instantly turned around and launched into a 5 minute presentation on the wonder and beauty of the place and their products.

You see, everyone loves IKEA.

We spent a total of 7 hours in the store and adored every minute. Here are some of my favorite purchases:

Fabric

My only regret is that I didn't buy nearly enough. You see I was too overwhelmed on our first route through the textile area so I decided to wait to make a decision until we came around for the second pass. By then though we were approaching hour 6 and I was pretty wiped. I wasn't thinking clearly!

I should have bought a yard of absolutely everything! Most of these are destined for throwpillows and the green flowers are going to be curtains for the kids' room.

Elephant tray

I absolutely love this tray. I love elephants first of all, and with the colors and patterns going on in this tray - there was no way I could resist, especially for $6.

Hello - do you see this? The baby elephant, the little birds on their backs, the patterns - it's almost too much. Now if they'd had fabric like this I would have bought the whole bolt.

Tumbler, bowl and plate set:

This may seem silly that I'm excited about plastic tableware but it's hard to find fun tableware for kids that's not made out of that awful melamine stuff that you can't nuke in the microwave and that usually has Dora or some other cartoon character emblazoned on it.

This set is microwave and dishwasher safe and their the perfect size for little ones.

I got lots of other great stuff too and I can't wait to go back. The good news is that I shouldn't have to wait too long. The girls and I have already decided to make this trip into an annual affair and my Mom is renovating her kitchen and after looking at the catalog has determined she needs to head there to check out their cabinetry.

There's no place like IKEA.

There's no place like IKEA.

There's no place like IKEA.