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.

egg monsters, take two

i have had a lot of inquiries about the egg monsters in my header photo. can't blame you, they are pretty darn cute and oh so fun!! the post i did on them last year can be found here.there are a lot of tutorials around the web about wet felting eggs around a plastic egg form (or a wooden egg). after felting i cut an opening to remove the egg and i blanket stitched the opening with a contrasting color thread. then i needle felted eyes and added tufts of hair (i cut a chunky square of foam to stuff inside the egg while i worked with the felting needle).

some of the hair is just tufts of roving, some was some rainbow leicester locks, and i even used a single strand of yarn for one. these are a huge hit here. most of the ones pictured went to friends in an easter swap last year. each of my children still have one that they adore and we will be making more soon.

check out joy's eggs here. i want to do some of my next ones with the opening cut in this jagged way. what great monster mouths!

hope this is helpful. have fun and i would love to see pictures of your creations!! ;)

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!