Thing No. 10: It's big and pink...

It isn't immediately obvious in this picture what you're looking at...I mean, besides a really big pink flower. And that's what it is! It's a really big pink flower...that happens to be a barette. It's about half the size of my daughter's head, and it just makes me giggle to see her wear it.

We stopped at the "big" Michael's (across the state line, in New York state) and found that the huge gerbera daisies were on sale for just $1.09! I held up a few against Ming Wai's face and picked the color that looked the best...and, by that night, she had a new barette. Snazzy, yes? (I promise to try and get some better pictures later so you can actually see the rest of Ming Wai's head. We had an unexpected day of good weather today, and I was too busy to take advantage of the great light with my camera!)

(Full disclosure - it's really heavy, for a barette. The only way I can keep it in her hair is to first put a rubber-backed elastic headband on her, and then clip the daisy to her hair and the headband together. The rubber keeps it in place. Someone suggested that I stick a few small pieces of rubber shelf liner between the barette sides. I might try that as soon as I get my hand on some rubber shelf liner!)

Thing Number 9: Dahlias!

This afternoon, I was determined to Make. Not just dinner. Not just a mess. Not just bread. (Although we did turn out 3 loaves of tasty LoLo Bread today. Mmm.)

So, I did what I love to do - first, I "made" A List. I started by listing everybody who I felt needed something from my two little hands, and then I listed everything I intended to make for them.

HA!
haha.

Oh dear.....if wishes were pennies...

Moving on!

For example, the kids need summer clothes sumpin' fierce, and...well, Myrnie needed a brooch for a fabulous new cardi she made herself. (I believe the exact description she used was "enormous" and "gaudy." Heh. I can help with that!)

Luckily, I have a fabulous calendar from my sister in law with a new project every few days! I've loved the projects...and, what I love most of all, is that most of them come from other crafty bloggers.

Earlier this year, I made some pinwheel coasters, inspired by one of the projects from January.

Since I was looking for a brooch for mah sistah, and this week's project just happened to be a brooch...I decided it was fate.

I had a little trouble getting started, but a quick look at the blogger's original post (and comments) cleared up my confusion and helped me turn this...

...into this.

I finished it by gluing another circle of felt onto the back, to hide the stitches and give it a little more stability. I'm going to send it off to its new home soon...and Myrnie, since I know you're reading this, just go ahead and hot-glue a pin to the back. I don't have any in my stash, and I think if I add one more package of anything right now (pre-move!) to the chaos that is my craft room, it might just implode. I know you understand.

I really love how this turned out...and I plan to make more this week! The link to the tutorial is above, or if you're an instant-gratification kind of person....well, I was going to say I was going to list them in my shop, but it's not my tute...but it is a craft that was supposed to be really popular 30 years ago, so is it copyrighted? *headache kicking in* (The shop is, currently, empty. I'm kind of re-thinking it right now, so if there's something you'd like to see in there, let me know in the comments! I'm vacillating between listing some quilted things...or more aprons...or just the end results of tutorials here. Thoughts? Of course, this dahlia isn't my tutorial...but the end results of my tutorials could end up in the shop. )

Handiwork

I haven't been here in ages...because I haven't really been crafting. I know!!!!


This morning, I'm hosting a sort of a Crafty Playdate. The house is baby-proofed, there a non-messy cookies cooling on the counter, and I'm expecting anywhere from 1-9 ladies to descend on my house (with or without kiddos) and Craft it Up. The only problem is that I have no idea what I'm going to work on today.

If you had two hours set aside to craft with your friends, what would you work on? What portable craft do you have in your work basket?

How to Make a Quilt in a Week

 

Step 1: Allow your children to run amok for a majority of the week. Cheerios are a nice safe option – they sweep up easily, and can be eaten just as easily from the floor as they can from the bag.

Exhibit A:

Step 2: Have a party! Call it a Quilting Bee, call it a Playdate…but whatever you do, don’t forget to hand a needle and thread to everyone who walks in the front door.

Step 3: Make sure your friends have plans for their own children if Running Amok doesn’t top their Fun List. Sprouting an insanely long lap and sewing around her twins seems to have worked for Wendy Girl.

 

Step 4: At the end of the week, let your children model the quilt for you and tell them Good job! After all, they did most of the work. Running amok is hard work!!

~Ruffles And Stuff~: "Ruffle Your Stuff" (and Win!!)

~Ruffles And Stuff~: "Ruffle Your Stuff" (and Win!!)

Oh my goodness, I'm excited about this one - Ruffles and Stuff is holding a contest, March 1 to April 2nd. Click over for details, but the basic stuff is this: Make something ruffled, enter to win some AWESOME prizes. Seriously. There will be like EIGHT winners or something crazy. I'm excited!