Cousins, monsters, all.

Remember when I made that monster for my lil' buck-a-roo? Well. It was a hit. So I made one for a nephew and then I made these cuties for my two nieces. I made them out of curduroy and flannel (though the flannel when pulled tight with stuffing ends up tearing so I suggest using thicker, better material). I cut a little tummy for these ones and sewed a bow on the corner of the heads and tied it in a bow before sewing the middle to keep the bows tied. I also embroidered eyelashes (3 separate, straight stitches) on them.

Whaddaya think? I think they turned out cute.

Pap, pap, papioca... PAPER

So do you remember this:

from this post?

Well I bought the paper towel holder at Ross for 2 or 3 dollars. It was white and it had a rooster. I'm not a rooster person, not really. So I made it ME. I had hoped to make more as Christmas presents for my sisters but could never find any for a good price and it was hard to find any that were un-varnished.

Recently I was at my local thrift store and picked up two for $1.50 each. SCORE! They had clear coat on them but I just sanded them before painting.

One of these is for my sister. My other sister has one she likes so I just made over the other one for fun. Maybe I'll sell it at a craft/ yard sale I'm planning.

As always: Pick your coordinating paper, cut it out, mod podge, smooth, mod podge, and put together.

I did a smaller circle of a coordinating paper for some visual interest.

My sister has simple taste and her kitchen is black and white so I just did this paper. Simple, but cute. I could have painted the top black, and if she wants me to I still will.

And for the reveal:

Button, button, who's got the button?

Target clearance is fab. I mean really.
I always wanted some fancy leather gloves. Totally Audrey, right? But I am not paying 15$-20$ for a pair of gloves. I'm just not gonna.
So I found this pair for $4.34 (or something), originally $18. They were missing a cute black leather covered button. They only had 3 instead of 4 buttons.
SO! Instead of chucking them aside and still not having a nice pair of leather gloves, I made a stop by my local fabric and notion shop and bought some cute white buttons and sewed 'em on.

Gorgeous, right?!?!

Valentine's gift

So. This project is a little late but I think it would work for Father's Day, Birthdays, etc.
I purchased this baseball card display and instead of filling it with baseball cards... I scrapped 16 cards about why I love my husband or cheesy things about our love and on the backs wrote messages. Now he can have those messages to keep in an envelope and fill the display with  his favorite baseball cards and hang it in his classroom.
But of course, he could keep the cards there if he wanted.
You could do this for children... and use mementos... or anything else.
Have fun! And let me know is you take this idea and run with it. I'd love to see what you come up with.

Happy Crafting!

Do you wanna know how much I love my family?!

I had to find the hole, stuff the veg inside, and then tear up the skin and rub seasoning under it. This is not something I have ever done. I have cooked chicken, but have never done the yuckiest parts -- until the other day. But! Because I love my little family I sucked it up and did it. I hope to never do it again... but there it is. And p.s. home roasted chicken... very good.

You know on the new P&P they eat boiled potatoes when Collins comes to visit? They look so yummy, don't they? I finally broke down and made them. I want you to know something: They are as good as they look.

Peel yellow potatoes and cut any big ones. Boil in water with peppercorns, (plenty of) salt, and a bay leaf until fork tender. Drain. Melt butter and pour over potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and fresh, finely-chopped parsley and enjoy. YUM!!!!!

Let me know if you try them and what you think!

Check out this giveaway!

http://sherbetblossom.blogspot.com/2011/02/giveaway-twinery.html

Manu

My buck-a-roo is a big monster fan. Since he has just started talking he calls them 'manu' and gets very excited to see Sesame Street monsters or read 'There's a nightmare in my closet'. I decided to sew him a monster of his own.

 

I drew the outline of what I wanted my monster to look like and then cut it out.

  

I cut out two pieces of coordinating fabric (my pattern wasn't symmetrical so one needed to be facing forward and one backward) with a dark almost plain on front so his facial features would be visible.

I sewed circles of wool onto his face and then buttons. Then I cut out a mouth and sewed green wool inside. Make sure you do all the facial features on before sewing him together.

Put right sides together and sew leaving an opening for the stuffing. Stuff. Sew up the hole. Enjoy!