Runaway

Time seems to be running away. I have been working on plenty of crafty things, however getting around to posting them doesn't seem to make it high on the priority list and then I blink and a week has already gone by.

Some friends of our had a birthday party for their recently turned 3 year old. Last year I made him a dino tale and a couple of books about tails. Luckily they are they type of friends who appreciate handmade gifts.

I had about a week to whip something up which sounds like a lot of time until you take into account the toddler running around the house. So I pulled up Pinterest and looked at my boards. I ran back across the Car Caddy Tutorial by homemade by jill and decided to take a look in the sewing closet. Low and behold I had basically everything for this project already which in my mind was a good sign. I didn't use a heavy fabric for the liner fabric (red in my case), it's just a cotton. I also ended up using flannel for the road (gray) and next time I would probably try to find felt to use for it. But the pockets and numbers came out great. I had never used freezer paper stencils before and they are totally as easy as everyone says that they are. You should do them if you have, like right now. I did use piping all the way around the project and I like how it gives it a nice finished look, but if you haven't used pipping before this might not but the project where you want to learn, it gets thick in some spots and Jill's directions aren't super clear about using it. Lastly, I used two straps to close it when it is folded up. I didn't like the idea of a strap going right across the car applique.

N loved playing with it before it got wrapped up which I think is a good sign. Plus, really can little kids ever have too many cars to play with?

Valentines

I like valentines day. Not because I like getting roses and stereotypical grand gestures but because of the sentiment of telling people you love and care about that you love and care about them.

I didn't do anything creative with cards this year but I did do a little sewing. I mostly used Soule Mama's Gratitude Wrap (scroll down the page until you get to the sew section of the tutorials). I sewed in snaps rather than doing a tie closure. I also used binding like a quilt rather than double fold bias tape and last but not least I added a pocket for a pen on some of them. Doing it again I probably wouldn't have measured the pockets so precisely, it took up more time than it was worth....at least in my opinion.

All in all I made five and sent off four of them. All of the insides were a little different and I sent them with some cards, a pen, a few stamps and a little notebook.

I have used mine already and think that at some point it will probably live in my car or purse for when N is older and I have free time to write while waiting for her at swim class or soccer or whatever she has an interest in doing.

I managed to use all scrap and/or stash fabric for these. Fat quarters work really well for the exterior and interior for that matter. I have been trying to buy less fabric and work with more of what I have. So far it seems to be working, I also realized just how much fabric I do have! Perhaps a little bit less now though.

Blackboard

Syracuse, NY use to be an industry town. All around town there are lovely old brick factory buildings, which now are mostly empty and just waiting for someone to come along and see their potential again. Now Syracuse mostly revolves around the University economy. There are a few in town but the most notable and largest is Syracuse University. We happen to live in the University neighborhood which aside from being close to our public library branch and co-op also allows for excellent sidewalk scores. Growing up in Alaska this type of thrifting was not something that I grew up doing. In Alaska there's no such thing as curbside recycling or trash pick up. You haul everything to a transfer station to be taken away. In the few short years we've lived in Syracuse we've managed to score some pretty awesome sidewalk loot. N's changing table/dresser, her train/play table, a foot rest, and most recently a chalk board.

C gets all the credit for this one, as he picked it up on his way home from work one day. Sidewalk shopping takes a certain DIY eye as most of the things need a little love, and the chalkboard was no exception. The wood frame was overall solid but needed a few new screws/nails and the slate needed some new chalkboard paint. Luckily chalkboard paint is all the fad right now and is easy to come by at your local Joanns. I ended up putting four coats of paint on this and still have probably half of this little bottle left. Then we popped it back into the frame and C tightened it up with some new hardware.
Now it's good as new and is already getting some toddler loving.

Blondie

N is blond. Quite blond. Both C and I have dark brown hair so it was a surprise that she was born with blond hair and that it has stayed as light as it has. I didn't realize until I finished her Christmas sweater last week and put it on her that the light yellow sweater was a pretty good match for her locks.

The pattern is the same that I used to make my nephews Christmas present and is avaliable here. I used old yarn from a sweater that made a couple years ago and ultimately didn't like. It's perfect for a baby/toddler/kid since it's soft and squishy and I'm pretty sure that it's machine washable. As with my nephews I love how it turned out. It's easy to get on and off, keeps her warm and fits while still has plenty of room for N to grow. All my notes are here on raverly.

As much fun as it is to knit for babies and toddlers the knitting is almost faster than trying to get a good picture of said knitting being worn. I did manage the two pictures above but most of them look like the three below, and there's at least 10 more of these that were not even worth posting.

Valentines is just around the corner, are you making any thing special?