More Goodies for my Booth.

Today, I whipped up some lotion bars for the TVAM Holiday Fair. As far as bath and body products are concerned, lotion bars are some of the easiest to make. They are awesome for super dry skin, and they last a long time. And the ones I just made, smell...scrumtrilescent!....Half are Cucumber-Melon-Kumquat and half are Sage and Lemongrass. Here is my super easy recipe:

1 part Sweet almond oil
1 part Beeswax
1 part Coco Butter or Shea Butter (or a mix of the two. That's what I did)
Fragrance oil to desired strength.

In a microwavable glass bowl, combine the beeswax and the butter(s). Microwave on high until melted, stirring occasionally. Mix in the almond oil and the fragrance oil. Pour into molds.

Once your lotion bars have cooled and hardened, they are ready to use.

Vintagey Deliciousness

I made these "vintage-esque" tea towels for my sisters birthday. Now that she has them, I can write about them without spoiling the surprise! The embroidery pattern is vintage. The red ric-rac is also vintage, out of my great-grandma's stash!

As I started to stitch, I realized, "Crap...you can see the back." Yep, nowhere to hide mistakes on a towel. I was worried that it was going to look really bad, and everyone would point at the back of my embroidery and laugh, hurling insults ad rotten fruit. Somehow, I managed to get over my ugly-embroidery-back anxiety, and kept working.

I worked the outline of the fruits in chain stitch, the stems in stem stitch (duh.),the green loopies in cable stitch, and the writing in split stitch.

I have to say they turned out really cute and no one has thrown a single piece of rotten fruit at me.

Tag-a-rific Toy

Here is a fun little tag toy I made this morning. It's for my cousins baby boy. It's even crinkly, thanks to an upcycled Doritos bag! It's kind of interesting, all the materials in this toy are remnants from things I've made for other people.

Ribbons- Carol's ribbon sleeve ren faire corset.
Red Ribbon- Kyle's monster play quilt.
Farm Print Flannel- Katie's diaper covers.
Red satin backing- Marlene's Victorian corset.

Did I mention I love to make stuff for my favorite people?

Ami-what?...Amigurumi.....

This is my first attempt at amigurumi. It's a fun little Easter bunny for my cousin's 3 year-old girl. She is the only little girl in the family, so she gets all my girly crafts. Like this one.

I think it turned out alright. I did make one mistake though; I used yarn from hell. I used that fuzzy, cobwebby acrylic stuff. If you feel the urge to use fuzzy yarn for amigurumi, just don't. My hands were killing me from trying to force the crochet hook through all those little fibers.

I used this pattern. It was OK, but I did need to to add many more rounds to the legs to get the "string bean" look shown in the picture.

Something Spicy and Pink for Valentine's Day.

Hubby got me the cutest pepper grinder ever for Valentine's Day. It's much more than a cute counter top accessory, though. It's made by William Bounds, who are known for their incredible quality and lifetime warranty. They are even made in the USA.

Tutu Cute

I LOVE girly stuff! I love pink. I love sparkly. Ruffly. Ribbons. Bows. Poufy, froufy and fluffy too. I love it all.

I've really been wanting to make a tutu lately. But who would be my pink tulle covered victim? I get spit-up on too often to wear one around the house myself. Both of my kids are of the male variety. So I had to move on to my extended family in my search for a lucky tutu recipient. I decided that my cousins three-year-old, Emma NEEEEDS a tutu.

The tutu making process was rather painless.

Step one: Find a toddler you have laying around the house. Use this small person to figure out the waist and length measurements of a similarly sized toddler.

Step two: Make a band of elastic according to your measurements.

Step three: Go nuts slicing 6 yards of tulle into incredibly uneven and misshapen strips.

Step four: Tie tulle strips to the elastic band. Hope that no one notices that the tulle looks like it was cut with a chainsaw.

Step five: Add bows and admire your handiwork.

It's Monster Time!

Ok, so I'm way into monsters right now. This means I went nuts making monster themed toys for Christmas! (Jayson will also be having a monster 3rd birthday party in February. But that's another post...)
I made Kyle (6 months old)a monster play quilt, complete with rattle-y and crinkly goodness. This was my first quilting project. I still haven't decided if I love or hate quilting. On one hand, I love the result and the creative freedom; on the other hand, it's booooring! I don't think I'll ever do a huge quilt, but I think there are some quilted pillow covers and maybe some place mats in my future.
For Jayson (almost 3) I made a monster bowling set out of felt. It's pretty flippin' awesome. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it before I wrapped it! So, it will have to get it's own post after Christmas.
I have become the Crazy Felt Lady lately, as I also made felt food, a felt crayon roll and felt book. My house currently looks like it was hit by a felt hurricane. Maybe I should be cleaning instead of writing this...nah...