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If you haven't yet been over to Creature Comforts to check out EZ's fabulous online holiday guide, Gifted, you should do so now. It's a fantastically curated guide chock-full of unique and of-the-moment gift items. EZ was so sweet to ask me to create some free downloadable gift tags for the guide and I couldn't be more happy to share them all with you. You can find them on page 136. I can't wait to get all my Christmas shopping complete so that I can get to wrapping, wrapping, wrapping!
But before the wrapping, there is the shopping, shopping, shopping. And that's where EZ's guide hits a home run. I'm especially impressed with her round up of gifts for the guys (which, trust me, is not always easy). I would seriously get everything from pages, 20, 27 and 28 for Jon if I could. And after showing Jon, he wholeheartedly agreed. And I think Little A needs the ridiculously cute real tool kit by Romp on page 71 and Little O would love to dress up in the darling Kalon Studios masks on page 72.
And if you want to know how I stay in the spirit of things and somewhat on top of it all during the bustling season, take a look at my interview in last years Gifted guide on pages 15 and 16. And as far as favorite holiday jingles go, I simply must add the dreamy vocals of Zoe Deschanel in A Very She and Him Christmas. I've been waiting for this ever since I first heard her smoky voice in ELF and rest assured I haven't stopped listening to it since I nabbed it at Barnes and Noble last week!
So now to that shopping, shopping, shopping....
OK, so I officially have the quilt bug. I get it. While my quilts up to this point have been very simple, I understand why spending long hours, working on intricate patterns and tiny stitches is completely worth it...and...slightly addicting.
I've had in my mind a simple modern black cat quilt idea for a year now. I wanted to do it last year around Halloween/Fall but didn't get to it. The idea was still intriguing to me this year and I knew I had to do it. After things got settled here I quickly got to work and managed to get this done just in time for the season. And we have loved every stitch of it since.
The boys have spent many a moment curled up on the couch with a book, all snuggled up in our new cotton creation. I knew that I loved it but I was especially pleased to see that the boys really have taken to the quilt as well. They just knew that it was something a little more special than our typical throws (they had seen me work on it so they had a rough idea of how it came to fruition). And Little A loves that it has a cat motif (we call him A-Cat as a nickname). In fact, he asked me if he could take it with him to bed tonight, and I let him...just this once.
After a bit of trial and error I came up with a patchwork construction that I was pleased with and I'm more than happy to share the step-by-step process with you here. If you have ideas to do this quicker/easier/better/etc. please do share! (I recently did a quilt where I cut up a bunch of triangles and then at the end of it all I realized that I didn't need to cut so many triangles! I could have just done one large one and then later quilt it down the middle. That's what I get for just winging it! :)).
OK, so to start, you will need to cut the following shapes in the following sizes (or adjust to whatever ever size you prefer). I have 42 cats total so the following cutting instructions are for this amount. I chose to go with all black cats to keep things graphic and modern but I think a gray to black ombre affect would also be fun as well as an assortment of similar toned patterned fabrics.
Once you have all of your fabric pieces cut, you can proceed to piecing the quilt squares together.
1. Sew two B triangles onto one C strip as per the photo. Let the tips of triangles hang over just a hair.
2. Turn down triangles (cat ears) and press.
3. Turn strip with ears around and sew to A (cat face).
4. Turn around, flip ears up and press.
5. Sew two D triangles onto the bottom of the cat face as per the photo, leaving tips of triangles hanging over the edge a bit.
6. Turn lower triangles down and press.
7. Trim excess fabric.
8. Sew one E rectangle piece to right side of the cat face.
9. Sew the other E rectangle piece to the opposite left side of the cat face.
10. Turn sides over and press.
11. Sew F rectangle to top edge as per photo.
12. Sew second F rectangle to bottom edge as per photo.
13. Turn top and bottom rectangle pieces out and press.
From there proceed to finish all cat quilt squares (I know it seems like a lot but pop in a movie each night while you are working on these and you'll have them done in no time!). Every quilter has a different take, but I must confess that I don't mind the imperfections that I experienced along they way. There were a few quilt squares that I set aside there weren't "perfect". The cat ears were to small, or not even, or there was some other quirk. In the end, I couldn't bare to discard them. They were part of my quilting journey and each told a little story (I can seriously remember what I was specifically watching or talking about during a couple of these squares). I had to include them and I'm so glad I did. For me, they add so much to the quilt story.
Once quilt squares are complete, proceed to sew them together one row at a time. Then sew each row together, being careful to align seams.
From there proceed to baste together your top patchwork, batting and back of your choosing (you can find a number of tutorials for how to do this on various quilting sites and blogs and youtube).
For my back, I literally pieced it together from scraps I had with no prior planning. That is what I love about quilt backs, you really have free reign and can have a lot of fun with it. I then chose a simple quilting stitch that really highlighted the cat squares (and was easy for me to do on my personal machine).
And I must say, one of my favorite parts of the quilt is the binding. I spent a lot of time pondering and searching fabric stores for just the right look and I was so happy to have found the fabric that I did. It just makes me smile when I see it.
And as much as my boys love this quilt, I think I might love it a tad more.
I've done a couple of quilts geared for my kids but I have to confess...as much as they love this...it's secretly a quilt just for me. It makes me so happy to look at it and even more so to cuddle up in it with my boys, with Jon ;), a good book or just for a little snooze.
And that is what I love about handmade quilts. They are so much more than just a blanket. They bring joy, comfort, warmth, love and a smile to your face. And there have been a number of smiles in our house as of late.
Hope you all had a most wonderful Halloween full of spooks, spirits and seriously good loot. We certainly did and let me tell you, we are plum tuckered out.
The boys had very specific ideas for what they wanted to be this year and to my initial chagrin, they did not go together. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do about this (try to convince them to pick something themed? etc.) but in the end I just went with it. I was happy I did as it brought an entirely new level of Halloween happiness to the Littles, and in turn myself.
Li'l O told me very early on, and emphatically, that he wanted to be a "puh'kin". He's a lover of all things authentically Halloween and after some initial apprehension, I couldn't be happier at his choice.
Initially I wasn't sure what to do to make this tried and true Halloween classic interesting for me and something we could call our own. But as we explored ideas, I happily settled on something playful, with a vintage vibe to it.
For the basic pumpkin shape I used the Simplicity 0418 pattern. I chose an orange felt for the exterior of the pumpkin and a simple vintage looking fabric for the lining. I switched up the shape of the stem and chose to go with buttons instead of Velcro to hold the straps together. 
For the green striped "jammies" worn underneath, I took a couple of women's shirts I found at Walmart and refit them to work with Little O's proportions. I took the top in quite a bit at the sides, chopped the length and cut off the cuffs and sewed them back on a little higher. The leggings were a bit more complicated. I made these from a woman's XL shirt, using the arms as the legs. It was all pretty piecemeal and a bit haphazard, but it worked out well enough for us. For the face I used felt to create a vintage, cupie doll looking face which I then hand stitched onto the front.
Little O looked adorable in it and I couldn't be happier with his classic choice.
Little A was also very opinionated about his costume this year. After exploring a variety of ideas, he decidedly settled on Secret Agent Perry...the Platypus...from the ever popular cartoon (or at least in our house), Phineas and Ferb (thank you Netflix online...). I wasn't entirely sure what to do for this but he was dead set on it so it was full steam ahead.
I used Butterick pattern 3238 to create the basic body suit and hood. For the tail I put batting between two pieces of orange felt and machine quilted the diamond pattern and then sewed the platypus tail in place of the the tail used in the pattern. I then sewed simple felt eyes on to the top of the hood. Jon found a great hat for only five dollars at the costume shop and I made a simple beak out of yellow fleece.
For the feet I cut out simple felt shapes and sewed elastic to the backs. To prevent the feet from continually turning around and around his ankle, I punched a couple of holes in the top and pulled his shoe laces through and tied the laces atop. This ended up working out great.
It was fun to see how much he lit up when he put the costume on. He immediately turned into "Secret Agent Perry" and started to make "secret agent" stances. He also told me that he couldn't talk when he wore it because Perry the Platypus doesn't talk. It was pretty much awesome.
Not many adults knew who he was but with his fellow five-year-olds, he was a hit. And that was all that really mattered to him.
This year I really learned the magic of making your kids dreams come true. While it's very fun and magical presenting new and fun things to your kids...things that they couldn't dream about until you made that world possible for them, it's all together an entirely new thing making their dreams come true (both are important I think). It was so great to see little A's face light up with delight when he first saw himself as "Secret Agent Perry". And I have to say, it's one of the most gratifying things as a parent to see what your child's personality brings to world. I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for us!
I have to admit that after I was halfway through with Little O's costume he started listing several other costume ideas that he wanted to entertain. This was new to me as Little A never did this at his age (although he did do it this year). I decided to instill a new "once mom purchases the fabric, no more costume changes" policy. This worked well with Little A (who initially wanted to be a ninja, then Perry, then Bowser...and so on) but did not compute too well with a three year old. In the end, I decided not to worry too much about it and hoped that he would put his pumpkin on if he wanted to get candy. And well...it totally worked. He loved it and was more than happy to gear up and get going on getting candy, candy, candy!
By the end of the night, as with this photo shoot, the boys were tuckered out. We really didn't get very far before Little A just started sitting on the porch after ringing the door bell. The home owners were thoroughly entertained by this and I'm sure got the impression that we'd be trucking up and down the streets for hours. So after only about eight houses we called it quits and ended the night with cousins and grandparents. I was definitely OK with this as I'd been scheming up ways to prepare for the massive amount of sugar intake that was sure to ensue. However, having only gone around for a little bit, their treat bags were just full enough to be fun, yet sparse enough to keep a mother (and dentist?) happy.
It was a great haunting holiday for all of us. Here's hoping that you too had a very Happy Halloween!
This year for Little O's third birthday, being a little obsessed with puppets as of late, we decided to take the the puppet show on the road and visit my sister and her Littles. Being as this was supposed to be Little O's year with the family I felt this fit and we wanted to keep things low key. So the morning of the party I gathered all the black card stock I could find, grabbed an x-acto knife and started cutting out monster parts.
I created a number of heads, bodies, arm and leg sets, some crazy wings and a few tails. I then used a 1/8" hole punch to create eyes and holes for the brads where the creatures appendages would be connected. I only put one hole in the bodies for the heads as I wanted to children to be creative about how they were going to attach the legs, wings and tails themselves. I put an assortment of brads in the middle of the table and then let the children go crazy, mixing and matching, creating spooky creatures and silly monsters.
The younger kids needed a bit of help with the hole punching and attaching the brads but they loved the freedom and creativity of it all. I was delighted to see what sort of creatures they came up with and the adults couldn't help but join in on the fun. The ideas were endless and the creatures created were nothing short of amazing!
We taped paper straws to the back of our puppets and let the puppet show begin!
After hanging a white table cloth, my sister held up a studio light from her husband Trent's art studio. The Littles held their newly assembled creations up to the cloth and we had a grand time creating silly, spooky and spontaneous stories.
The Littles had just as much fun watching as they did puppeteering (and I dare say, so did the adults!).
Little O was due on Halloween but came 10 days earlier and I must say, he is definitely a Halloween kid. He is obsessed with anything and everything Halloweeny, spooky and somewhat scary. These puppets were right up his ally but if your Littles might be a little too spooked by these creatures, I suggest using scissors to create more rounded shapes (x-acto's aren't the best tools for curvy corners) and do away with the jagged teeth.
After a wonderful time of puppet play, we headed to the back yard for a low key party spread of doughnut holes, apple cider, festive store bought cupcakes for the Littles and of course...presents.
Little O loved the festivities and the attention. It was fun to see how he "got it" this year and he relished the fun of it all.
It was great fun for all and it really got us all geared up for a delightfully spooky Halloween!
Happy Birthday my little baby. May your third year of life be full of delight, wonder and happiness.
We've been having a lot of spooky fun over here - attending gigantic pumpkin contests, going on school field trips to Pumpkin Land and most recently making these very fun paper mache Halloween puppets.
They are pretty simple and the boys are in love with them. In fact, little O now asks to play with them every other minute.
1. To get started, all you need is a small balloon, some basic home made paper mache mix (1 part flour to 5 parts water... boil about 3 minutes and let cool) and a few strips of newspaper.
2. Dip newspaper strips into the paper mache mix and place over the balloon.
3. Using no more than four layers, cover the balloon thoroughly. You can add additional shapes such as a pumpkin stem...
4. or fold up some paper for some cat ears. Let dry overnight.
5. Once completely dry, paint on desired face.
6. Clip off the part of the head where the tail end of the balloon is. If this doesn't pop the balloon, pop it and then take the balloon out.
7. Grab a handy sponge brush to use as the perfect puppet stick.
8. Fold up sponge brush and carefully place inside of head.
9. Leave the very tail end of the brush outside of the head to act as a stabilizer.
10. Now that you have your puppet structure assembled, you can choose what type of fabric you would like. I cut 2 sheets of fabric at 10"x 9".
11. Sew sheets of fabric together at the sides (with right sides facing each other). You can either choose to hem the fabric at the top and bottom or leave it as it for a fun, unfussy, spooky look. From there, use a gathering stitch to gather the top of the fabric together.
12. Hot glue the gathered end of the fabric straight onto the base of the puppet's head. Let it dry. Feel free to repeat the process for any number of festively fun puppets! Have lots of fun puppeteering for the rest of the afternoon!
And having fun puppeteering is just what we did! It's always so exciting to see which projects really pull the boys in, and I'm happy to report that this one was a real winner!
They spent hours with the puppets and I spent the rest of the afternoon seeing happy faces and little orange and black heads bobbing up and down.
Little O was particularly taken with them and will still ask me if he can play with them nearly every other minute, promising me that he will be Oh so careful with them. It's so adorable, so I of course let him.
This project is also a great one to pull the Littles in on. I made a few extra pumpkin heads for them (or you can have them get their hands dirty and do the paper mache themselves! They'll love it!). Simply use the tail end of the balloon as the stem, give them some orange and black craft paint and then and let them have at it.
They really got into painting their little Halloween creations. I'm especially fond of the creepy black paint dripping from Little A's pumpkin head. So fitting.
And they make great center pieces which happily remind me on the fun we had. And I must say that it's nice to have a set that is more kid friendly. When the boys threw them around the house and smashed in their sides, I was perfectly OK with it.
The puppets on the other hand...
well those are showcased in a safer place and come down only with some supervision...which merely means I'm supervising...A LOT.
Remember these Easy Breezy End-of-Summer scarves? Well, as temperatures are dropping and fall is at our door step, I've been itching to make a few more of them, but this time for the Littles.
And if you think the first version was easy breezy, you'll be more than happy with how quickly you can whip these mini-little variations out.
In fact...it's so easy you'll probably want to bring your Littles in on the fun. And I can think of no better beginning sewing project than these. It is a perfect "learn how to sew a straight line" kind of endeavor. And depending upon the age and ability of the child you can have them just sew the initial straight seam which connects the two ends of the fabric together and then sew the french seam and hem it for them. Or you can have them do it all, walking them through it step-by-step, offering any needed help along the way.
And as for sizing, I would have fun with it. Choose whether you want it a little larger and billowy (Like Little O's in the above three pics) or if you want to have it fit more snug and slightly bandana-like (such as Little A's in the following two pics). Mix it up. These things are so fun and easy to make you won't want to stop experimenting. In fact, I've got a mind to cut up a few old sweaters for when things get really chilly.
(And can I just insert that I've had to start bribing Little A to pose for pictures? Now that he's a grade school super star, he's too cool for mom and her photo shoots. He still loves the crafts mind you, but posing for the camera is so blasé. So yea, he gets a couple of marsh mellows and then he's off to conquer dragons and pester his brother).
And, with all this cowl fever going on over here, I couldn't let the boys have all the fun.
So I made a variation for myself, using my newly-most-favorite-fabric ever - a gorgeous indigo Indonesian Batik found at the tried and true, JoAnn's.
This fabric came in a 45" bolt so I solved the "too tight to wrap around twice" problem by simply leaving it hanging as one simple loop. And I must say, I completely love it.
And you don't have to twist my arm to pull on a cardigan (my new all time favorite wardrobe staple) and wrap around a scarf to cozy up to a delicious cup of hot cho (especially when served in this little mug that I seriously don't use as much as I should!) in front our first fire of the season in our new fire place.
HELLO FALL.
You are indeed welcome here.
I'm not a big fan of run-of-mill office items, so whenever I would look at this boring wire mesh office bin (which held my wrapping paper rolls) I would cringe a little. I'm not even sure where it came from. My college dorm days? Jon's? I don't know. Wherever or whenever it came from, it needed a face lift. So with a little gold spray paint and minimal effort I was able to transform this drab little bin into a gilded win (I know...where do I come up with these fantastically cheezo titles, right?...).
Now I love it so much that I can't bear to hide it in the back room with all the rest of my craft supplies. So it makes a statement here in the living room/office area.  Oh how I love simple transformations that have a pleasing and strong impact in then end. Total win.
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