Tuesday, November 22, 2016

 This little German putz house is for Julia's first Christmas which she will spend in Germany with Oma and Opa. It was my "inspiration", but Merwin actually implemented it by making a paper prototype and then tediously cutting all the pieces out of craft wood, painting, staining and gluing. We brainstormed ideas for attaching it to a tree for use as an ornament and decided to use a clothespin with magnets. The clothespin can be clipped to the branch and then the house just sits on the clothespin. There is a magnet inside the base of the house and on top of the clothespin. The magnets were Merwin's brainstorm, which allows the little house to be equally happy sitting on a shelf (without the clothespin). Merwin put brown stain on the clothespin, which helps camouflage it in the branches. I added the glitter and the little tree. There's also a small hole in the back where a light bulb can be inserted. Definitely a gift from both of us!







 

 

Here is the Pooh ornament for Iris. This ornament commemorates her first trip to Disneyworld this year. She said her favorite character was Winnie the Pooh.

 

 

More poinsettias ... I just used one of the smallest patterns and made some napkin rings by hot gluing them to some circles of red grosgrain ribbon. I'll be making more of these for myself and for a friend.

Monday, November 21, 2016


Here are a couple of yo-yo animals that will be Christmas gifts for Sonja (the elephant) and Julia (the bear). The yo-yos are fun to make. The instructions for sewing the heads together are a little confusing, and sewing all the yo-yos tightly together is a bit difficult. A very strong thread is necessary, since the one I made for Iris, I've had to sew back together a couple times. With these, I ended up stringing two yo-yos and then making a knot to hold them before stringing two more and knotting. I hope they hold up well.




Sunday, November 20, 2016



These organza poinsettias are for Emelie's table décor ... or whatever else she may want to use them for ... I may need some for myself ...

Saturday, November 12, 2016


Quite a few years ago DH made me a large ironing board which is great for quilting and other crafts. I've been pretty hard on it, though, and it became badly stained and scorched. So today, we recovered it. Now it's so pretty and inspiring!


Made a little humbug zip pouch to keep small items in my backpack. I used a tutorial for the Triangle Zipper Pouch from The Crafty Gemini.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZ6BTEnPE4

I just love youtube and other tutorials online!

I think it's pretty cute, though. I may not want to hide it in my backpack after all.



Here's a cross stitch card I made for a friend whose birthday is in December. Trying to get a jump on it, since it's so close to Christmas. The chart is a freebie from Kirsi Huttunen.

Thursday, November 3, 2016



Here's Sonja's birthday card made with fabric from the growth chart ...