Stay.See.Make.Do.

Weaving a giant potholder

I thought I'd share this mat I made a few years ago.  Well, the mat isn't much to look at, but some of you might be interested in the method of the making.

Remember weaving pot holders from cotton loops on a small peg loom when you were a kid?  Frankly, I don't.  But I had at least seen them before, so when I read about this idea in one of the Tightwad Gazette books I had to try it out.   What you do is this:  Make yourself a big loom from some scrap lumber or a big picture frame or some stretcher bars.  Use finishing nails to make the "pegs" about an inch apart along all sides.  Now for the genius - the loops.  Take some old t-shirts and cut them into one or two inch strips horizontally from the bottom up to the armpits. Loops! Actually, you may want to cut your loops before you build your loom so you know how big your loom needs to be.  Then you  just weave it the same way you would a potholder, only bigger.  Make more than one and hook them together in a row or a square!  This is definitely a craft I'm going to try again some day.  Unfortunately I'll have to make a new loom since the one I used for this got left behind after our last move.

Playsilks dyed with Kool-Aid

These were a gift for baby's first birthday, but frankly, everybody likes them.  They are pretty, soft, and light.  They are great for peek-a-boo and superhero capes.  They are incredibly easy to make, and compared to the real thing, about half price.  And it only took about an hour.

I mostly followed the directions in this post at Artful Parent, except I only used two packages of Kool-Aid per scarf instead of three.  As far as I'm concerned they're still plenty bright.  I think I should've gone for a blue one but I knew I had to have a pink one and I'd only ordered six scarves, so there ya go.

Sassy Apron Saturday

I read somewhere (?) that my partner (Hi, Aimee!)

actually did receive this package, so I feel safe in posting pictures of the contents that I sent for the Spring Sassy Apron Swap (see button on sidebar for Swap link).  That's a magnetic notepad, some vintage rick rack, an origami folded box (link to directions again on sidebar) with two naturally green and two quail eggs (blown), heart pins, and the folded apron.

Can you imagine paying 13 CENTS for a package of rick rack?  From Penney's?  Awesome.

This apron was made from a pattern that had a much wider waistband like an inverted V, but when I made it up that way, with a matching pocket no less, it looked terrible! And when I tried it on I just said "blech".  So I took it apart and changed the pocket and narrowed the waist.  Ahhh, much better. Thanks to my partner for her patience in having to wait for her package.

(That tree really leans, doesn't it?  Or else it's our house.)

A Blessed Holy Saturday and Happy Easter to you all.  See you in a few days.

Don't O.D. on the chocolate!

Embroidery

I may be the last person in the craft world to actually sit down and do some embroidery, but that doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention.  There are dozens of books and patterns out there that are incredibly cute and clever.  New and vintage, and even free. 

I have gone so far as to put some floss and needles into my carry-it-around bag.  Haven't added the fabric and hoop yet, so it's just inspiration-en-tote right now.  (aside:  I shop like that, too.  Pick things up, hold them, continue shopping, wander back and replace them if they don't "feel" right.  But not at the grocery store.  And I hate when people leave orphans in the aisles, especially at the grocery store.  I do make an effort to replace items from whence they came if I decide not to purchase.)

One handy item I haven't seen anyone talk about is the iron-on transfer pencil.  Like these here.  I actually own one of these, but haven't used it yet to be honest.  But I think it would be the bee's knees.  Have you used one?  Does it work? 

Stay tuned for some photos of vintage items I've picked up thrifting.

Could I use the word item more?

Putting it together

Once you have your triangle pattern (see previous post) the rest is relatively clear sailing. 
To punch your circles, you may want to turn your punch over so you can see what you're punching:

This can help you line up the design on your paper, or just save paper by getting your punches closer together:

I don't bother with the tracing and scoring of lines, I just use my template to fold around.  You can do this for two sides:

For the third side, you need to remove the template and just use the existing folds as your guides.  This is something like having a seam allowance, but not.  If you know what I mean.  Whatever.  You need to get the template out of the way.

Now you just have to do this nineteen more times.  That's twenty in all, four of each of your five papers.

Now it is a matter of gluing.  For scrapbook paper, a gluestick works just fine.

Now is the time to tie a knot and add a loop for hanging.  One on top and bottom each, if you like.  But I opted not to for this particular ball.  Ok, ok, I FORGOT.  *sigh*  You really need to do that before you glue it completely together.  Or you can punch a hole in one of the ribs later, but I think it looks nicer hanging from the center.

I did get it finished, and it looks nice and I'm happy with it.  So is my daughter - she thinks it's for her!  Well, maybe it is.  After all, she worked so hard to find a coordinating outfit... gee, I'm lucky!

Card ball in photos

I tried to find this online, and couldn't come up with clear directions and pictures together, so here's my attempt at explaining the construction of a card ball.  And de-mystifying the trick of getting an equilateral triangle inside a circle is maybe the best part.

For my project I didn't use actual card stock, just scrapbook paper.  I chose five different but coordinating prints.  I also used a 1 7/8" circle punch, a glue stick, and took my lead from HellomynameisHeather's Paper Globes. I have to say, all that cutting of templates, pre-scoring your fold lines and using special glue, etc. in her directions is not for me.  I mean, sure, if I was going to be published in ME's Home Companion, but for Stay.See.Make.Do. the motto is Make.Do. - not Make.Perfect.and.Make.Self.Crazy.  (I think a lot of the Crazy would come from the fumes from the E6000 glue she recommends.  No offense meant to Heather,  I'm sure.  Her stuff does rock.)

Start by making your template.  You need a circle and a triangle. Heather kindly gives you a pattern to trace and/or cut out so that you can have an equilateral triangle that fits perfectly inside the circle.  But that only works if you use her circles.  Because I am lazy and did not want to cut twenty circles by hand after tracing hers, I decided to use a punch.

Having taken higher maths in college, I figured something in my trig/calc/geom/diff history would enable me to find the exact measurements to put an equilateral triangle inside a circle.  This is a triangle and a circle, folks.  My preschooler could tell me that much, so how tough could it be?  Well, I struggled for five minutes with fractions (who chose a 1 and 7/8 punch?) and cross-multiplication (she's got two circles/triangles on her instructions) and pi (well, it is a circle after all) and realized that not only had most of my higher maths filtered out of my brain over the past (gasp!) 15 years, but that none of it was actually necessary.  I put down my pencil and decided to rely on my much sharper origami skills. 

Punch a circle out of scrap paper and fold it in half.  Then match the fold lines and fold in half the other way to give yourself the center point.

Now here is the magic:  fold one edge of the circle so that it touches the center point.  Any edge anywhere on the circle will do.

Keep that fold, and do it again starting the next fold at the point of the fold you just made.  Bring the edge to the center point.  Okay, so I don't know how to explain it; look at the picture, please:

Do it one more time and...

There you have one nearly perfect equilateral triangle inside your circle.

****I should point out here that it looks like there is a big hole/space in the center (above) but that is only because the flaps are not lying down completely flat.  When flat, there should only be about enough space to poke a tack through the center.****

No math, no stress. 
My next post will be the rest of the construction of the paper ball.  But if you can't wait, I'm sure you can figure it out from Heather's pdf (linked above).
Ta Ta!

A decorating start for St. Valentine's Day

A card ball, Valentine-style.  Actually made from scrapbook paper, not card.  Instead of cutting each circle by hand, I used a large punch. (Not quite 2" size.)  Took a little finagling to get that equilateral triangle just right, but I think I know the trick now.  Definitely plan to make a few more of these, just for fun and/or maybe for gifts.

Clothespin Dolls and Their Pockets

The pockets were made on the same principle as the crayon roll-ups that you've seen all over.  I made two sets - each had a mom and a dad, but one set had three girls, and the other had two girls and one boy, to reflect the actual families these gifts went to.
Their clothes are simply wrapped and glued embroidery floss, and their hair and faces are Sharpie marker.  *I forgot to add, the loops are elastic, so no ties!  I am going to do this on the next crayon roll I make, too.  Much easier for little hands, and big ones, for that matter.

Clothespin family

Here is a little family with their pocket that I made as a Christmas gift for my goddaughter who has two sisters.  I will post more pictures later tonight.

3D paper snowflake

Where are the headband photos, you say?  I'll just reply that I'm sorry, I got distracted.  Can you imagine being distracted when you have five kids?   And snow outside?  (See the sledding track behind the deer? This is right behind our backyard.)

I also made a skirt for my two-year-old.  Pictures of that to come, too.  It is a pattern from Girly Style Wardrobe, a Japanese sewing book.  The skirt had to get worn right away, which naturally follows that it  had to get dirty, and had to get washed.  It's in the dryer at the moment.

For now, go and try this snowflake.  I learned how to make these years ago from an issue of Family Fun magazine.  The best part about these is that you can make them any size you want, and any color.  I'm going to get the kids busy and see if we can do some really big ones using some of my 12" scrapbook paper.

After they finish playing "boat tent" that is.  Boat tent is one of those games they never tire of.  They made it up themselves - part don't-touch-the-floor, part fort-out-of-couch-cushions, part blanket-tent-camping, part Noah's ark.  The main structures are held up by the coffee table and the card table, with lots of clothespins and sheets, etc.  It takes over the entire room, but is easy to clean up, and occupies them for hours.  Without television.  Amazing.

*Edited to add photos of the results.