sweater sleeve pen holder

the jar we had been keeping our pens and scissors in at school (for teacher use) broke leaving us with a pile of writing implements with no home. a skinny jar was salvaged from the recycling to temporarily house them but i needed something more attractive, of course. ;)

enter this sweater sleeve (pictured inside out here). using a can as a guide, i cut the sleeve to fit snugly over the can.
***i used an eden organics can as they are the only ones that i am aware of that are bpa-free.***

then i needle felted a pair of toadstools on the sleeve and pulled it over the can. instant makeover! i am going to make lots more of these in many colors and designs. a fast and easy makeover and you could use the can for so many organizational solutions!

oh sweater sleeves, how i love thee. there are seemingly infinite ways to use thee.

more february birthday makings

as i try to find my voice in this space again i am also coming out of a bit of a haze that i have been in since the separation. so i'm sure you'll excuse me if i dip back into the past couple of months and share some things i have finally gotten around to photographing. maybe if we start with february it will seem less absurd when i finally post the pics of matt's creations he gifted the children for solstice that i never shared? maybe?

this outfit i made for sienna just before her birthday. she proudly sported it to her birthday celebration at school. the top i printed at jean's (thank you, jean!). sienna and i made each other sculpey heart necklaces. i still need to string mine. we have plans for a trip to the bead store, but it hasn't happened yet.

the skirt is the real star here. my mom brought this angora/lambswool/cashmere sweater for me to upcycle (thanks, mom!). sienna fell in love with it right away. it is oh so scrumptiously soft! i turned it upside down, and using the waistline of the sweater for the waistline of her skirt, i pinned it where it would fit her just right and then cut as much length and width as i could out of the sweater without having to do any piecing. it worked out just right! then i simply stitched up the sides and needle felted a little heart on the front. voila! easy peasy.

i LOVE repurposed wool sweaters (just in case i haven't said it enough here) and this project was a fave. i will have to make more skirts like this for her. this one is so darn soft that she pets herself most of the day when she is wearing it. ;) the production of this skirt is what led to the impromptu sleeve skirt for her doll, birthday.

this sweet little owl accompanied the dolls that i repaired for her on her birthday. he is from the book *wool pets*. i haven't done any needle felting in this style before but it was a lot of fun to learn some new techniques. i did not enjoy wrapping the wire for the talons so gratefully my little sister took that on when she came to visit. they are adorable, heather!

sienna became an *owl expert* when she was studying appalachia (where we live) in first grade. now they are studying africa and she is becoming an impala expert. she has already asked for a needle felted version. um......!@#@!!! not sure i can pull that one off!

handmade holidays wrap up, part I

i showed you the beginning of this flying snake a while ago. here he is finished. this pattern challenged me as a novice knitter, but i enjoyed feeling as though i conquered it (relatively speaking here). my circular knitting certainly has much room for improvement, but being that this was my first project on dpns, i think i did alright. the long body of the snake is hollow and his round head is stuffed with beans.
jasper loves him!! he has provided us with several opportunities to talk about appropriate play, too. ;) a favorite thing to do with him is to slide him across the linoleum floor. in the springtime, he will enjoy much wilder play outdoors, i am sure of it!

the other project i shared at that time was the princess in the forest outfit. well, i started with the felted slippers. i knit them larger than the pattern called for and yet when i felted them, they shrunk to jasper's size! a long ways from fitting sienna.

at that point, i knew i was not going to stress myself about trying to get this project done by solstice. i went ahead and ordered another skein of yarn and the second set of slippers are currently on the needles. it's at times like these that i am thankful that her birthday is just six weeks after christmas!
sienna made such thoughtful and beautiful gifts for jasper. i wanted to give jasper the opportunity to gift something just as meaningful that he helped create for her. i found this wooden box at the craft store. i used my wood burner to embellish it a little and then handed it over to him. he chose pink and blue (and therefore purple) watercolors as they are her favorite colors. then we rubbed it with beeswax polish. i just love how it turned out!! it is a treasure box. a proper place to put those special tokens that she previously had no home for. i lined the inside of the box with a piece of felted sweater.

i also purchased two wooden blanks that matt painted with chalkboard paint so that each child now has their own chalkboard.wishing you all many blessings and good fortune in the new year!!

tomorrow i will show the gifts that dad made. he really outdid himself!

autumnal giveaway!

over the past couple of months, i have once again been the recipient of quite a few wonderful giveaways. i continue to be amazed at the generosity and kindred sense of sharing within this community. i don't often think to blog about my wins but i am extraordinarily grateful for each of these gifts. i don't enter giveaways unless it is an item my children or myself would really enjoy, meaning we have ended up with some very special treasures!
it is time for me to give back. i have not had a giveaway since right after i started my blog. more than a year has passed now, i just topped one hundred posts, and have nearly one hundred followers! never would have thought it. me, a blogger. (i'm still not joining facebook though!) ;)
you don't have to follow my blog to enter. please do that if you really want to, but not just for this giveaway. ;) you do not even have to have a blog. just make sure that i can get in touch with you through e-mail. i admired and gained inspiration from several blogs for some time before i ever commented. i didn't have a blog and thought myself somehow not a part of the conversation. everyone is always welcome to comment here...just so you know!
this acorn fairy was crafted using felted sweaters. she has mohair on her head and is made with natural materials, including the cotton pipe cleaner in her arms but excluding the polyester invisible string she hangs by. she is 5" long. she would love to come and live with you (or you could gift her to a friend)!

to enter the giveaway, just leave a comment. you can tell me what your costume is. you can tell me how (if) you celebrate this time of the year (halloween/samhain/all sts day/dia de los muertos, etc). you can just say hi.

giveaway will end thursday night, nov 4, at 10p est. you may enter once a day, if you wish (because i love when others of you do this!).

sweater jack-o-lantern

while working on another autumnal project recently, i pulled out this orange sleeve (consequently, the same sweater i used for this project). felted sweaters are one of my most favorite materials to work with!
i proceeded to cut off the cuff and use the rest of the material for my project. meanwhile this cuff was calling out to me to become a jack-o-lantern. what, don't your sweaters talk to you? ;)
i started by turning the cuff inside out and pulling it over the recycled jar i planned to use. for this lantern, i chose a squat, wide jar that had previously housed almond butter. i drew a face right on the cuff. then, using sharp scissors, i cut the face out.
here he is trying on his new face. this is where i lack in photos, sorry. i decided i wanted a more finished look for the cut-outs and added a blanket stitch around the eyes and mouth using black floss.then i painted the jar yellow. i didn't do this step at first, but i wanted to have a feeling of *glow* and depth even when the candle is not lit.
we put one of those little led fake tea lights in him and he glowed almost the entire day. at dinner, we swapped the led for a real tea light and he warmed our table beautifully.

don't have an orange sweater? how about a frankenstein or a friendly ghost?

i'll keep trying to get a better picture of him lit....just one of the many challenges of owning a crappy camera. ;)