A craft a day...(not quite)

I saw a Facebook page the other day for a 365 day craft challenge...a-craft-a-day. I thought that was a really awesome idea. Especially since I'm lucky if I sew one thing a week right now. Once we move into the camper it will be a major challenge to try and create something new every day. (I might need to turn to interpretive dance, or impromptu comedy since most of my crafting supplies will be trapped in moving boxes for the next 6 months) Though, I might be able to aim more for woodcrafts, since I will be using the power tools on a daily basis. With a compound miter saw and a pneumatic nailer available every day...who knows what I'll be able to create. (thank goodness for Ana White's site...it's linked over on the right)

I'm hoping the studio in the new house will be one of the first (3rd to be specific) rooms that gets completed. I think that's an important order:
1) Bathroom
2) Kitchen
3) Studio
(It shows where my priorities are...)

Until then, I'd like to focus my time on new skills. Specifically ones that can be done from inside a camper, quietly, while kids are sleeping (like knitting and crocheting). Since we're not planning on having a TV in the camper there's even more reason to spend that free PM-time reading, hand sewing, crocheting, sketching, etc. Doesn't that sound nice?

For this week I decided to craft randomly (rather than do an every day sort of thing)
Sunday- yoga bag (I've already used it for four yoga classes this week...and boy am I sore)
Tuesday- French Press Cozy. I use my press every day, but never thought to make a cozy until I saw one on ETSY (the cloud-side is for AM coffee, the other side has stars for coffee in the evening...a special treat in this budget adhering house)



Saturday- Worked more on the baby quilt. (this is a work in progress, but the majority of the front panel is together)

Does a Maybe-Baby Call for More Room?

So I was thinking the other day (out loud)...what if we DO decide to have another child? The simplified 3 bedroom 2 bath home is gonna be a little rough...especially in 10 years when we have a couple of teenagers on our hands. I'm starting to get the feeling that this body isn't done with babies yet. And since we already have one boy and one girl...wouldn't it be fun to have a surprise? Now...I'm not saying we're going to have one...and if we do, it certainly won't be this year. I'm just saying...what if. The last house plan (you know...the one I said was finally the final plan) I posted would be difficult to add an additional bedroom and bathroom into later, at least not without major overhauling. I'd rather frame it out now, and then finish it later. It also makes the house more sellable if for some reason this doesn't work out to be our forever house. So...here it is...head to head...smaller or larger. What do you think?

All in all it's a difference of about 250 square feet. (1832 vs 2090)

The Picasso of Potholders

I made a potholder last week while we were trapped inside due to bad weather. I didn't know it was going to be a pot holder at first. I had an embroidery hoop and some fabric, so I set out to make something. It became a tree. Then the tree grew leaves. Then came the grass and the flowers. After that I hand quilted behind the trees in a sort of wind-like pattern of small spirals. After that it sat for a few days while I tried to decide what it was going to become. Eventually it became a potholder...but not just any old potholder that can be used on the cast iron skillet. Not just any old potholder that will be used, dirtied, washed and fade. I didn't spend all that time embroidering, quilting and binding only to ruin it!!! So...instead I think it will get a small hook on the wall where it can be displayed. A safe little spot to keep it safe from dirt and grime. A pleasant little spot where no matter how cold it is outside, looking at it will bring thoughts of warm, flowering spring.

Yoga Messenger Bag

Since I bought my Groupon for unlimited yoga for a month, it was time to dust off the old yoga mat. I've never had a yoga bag before, so I decided to make one. I found one I really liked on ETSY while I was shopping for birthday gift ideas for my brother. It's from Sundara Studios, which I mentioned the other day. Last night I set out to make one in a similar style before my inaugural class scheduled for today. The things I liked about her bags (everything actually); they are visually appealing, I like the messenger style, plus bonus points for the wide strap and the creative along-the-length opening to make getting a not-perfectly-rolled mat in easily. She also uses some really beautiful fabric combinations; she really manages to balance subtle and eye-popping.


Personally I'm low on really good fabrics, so I went for some REALLY bad ones. I have what looks like a pretty heathered gray, but in fact is a very cheap, thin fabric I picked up for $1 a long time ago. Then there is the lining, another cheap fabric...maybe $2 for 3 yards or something like that. Put them together...and they look great! The double layer makes the thin/cheap fabric more substantial, and the gray balances out the shockingly bright blue and green of the lining. I went with one single tie in the middle of the bag to hold it closed. (It's almost like a big burrito with a yoga mat filling...mmmm) It came together in about 40 minutes start-to-finish and I used my yoga mat (intentionally rolled a little loosely) at almost every step to make sure it would all fit right. There are no raw edges, which is great. Plus it's totally washable and dryable, which is even better.


Now I'm ready for class for a total of $0 (I don't really assign a cost to old fabric bought years ago that I really had no plans to use) It's great that I can find ideas to use as inspiration for myself at home. Ideally, in a perfect world (where I could afford stuff) I could buy whatever I wanted. (If that were true I might never get off of ETSY, I'd just buy stuff all day long) But, I don't live in that world...frugality is more than a motto in our house...it's a life style. So once again, my mom's sewing machine (that she loaned me 3 years ago...shhhh) saved the day.


To those of you who can afford the real deal, go check out the bags. The fabrics are great and the bags look fantastic. And I'm always up for supporting an Etsian. (plus there are additional features in the real ones...zippered internal pocket, snap closures, roomier size...it's the little details that make the big difference)

ETSY Love

I love this for me (from KnitStorm)



I bought this for Erik (from MiniatureRhino)



I wish I could afford this from TheSteelFork



but I can afford this from them.



I want to buy this for Laurel for her birthday from SerpentMandalas, very reasonable prices.



And how about getting these beatiful origami roses for Valentines from MyBohemianSummer?



And I'm going to make something like this for my yoga mat. (sundarastudio)


(I just bought a Groupon for unlimited classes for the month for only $20...that sounds like a great reason to make a messenger style yoga bag!!!)

I'm also going to buy something like this for Abby for her Birthday from ThePrettyPetals.


I almost don't want to though, because I bought from her back in the fall for Corey's birthday...and while the necklace was great and the prices were awesome...the customer service was AWFUL. I've never seen a seller with so many negative feedbacks on ETSY. In fact, it's rare to have a seller with less than 100% positive feedback. But sadly...between the uniqueness of her work and the prices (most necklaces around $15) it's hard to resist. Other sellers on ETSY would sell their work for 3-4 times what she does. Come on...look at this one...gorgeous.

and this one...it would make jeans and a t-shirt look like a night out on the town, no?

Sigh...I'm in love with ETSY.

Potty Training

I received a guitar from my husband 2-3 Christmases (is that how you write plural Christmas?) ago. I have not learned how to play. But if I did know how to play, I would write a song. A song about poop. A song about a boy and his mom and their struggle with poop. It would be set in a small bathroom in a quaint town in America. It would be a long, slow, painfully smelly song...but just when it's at it's bleakest...it will turn around and become a song of triumph! (ok have I carried this intro on long enough?) It's been two weeks since we started potty training, and I think I can officially claim success. Potty took three days for Luke to grasp, and has even had to go potty in a public bathroom already. Poop was a whole other ball of...poop. But, I can safely say he is now trained and life will be a bit different now. It isn't perfect of course...it's a work in progress. But he knows when he has to poop, and he can poop into the toilet. That's a good start.


Here are some pictures and videos from Luke's No-More-Diapers party. We did the same for Laurel when we potty trained, it's become sort of a family tradition. (does twice constitute a tradition?) Anyway, partygoers wear pull-ups on their heads...though the potty-boy chose big boy underpants to wear on his. The party wouldn't be complete without a diaper cake with frosting poop and potty. (homemade orange-cream cheese frosting no less) Fun was had by all, and it helped kicked off the training that followed.

Wishful Thinking

After being trapped in the house for a week due to ice and snow...can you tell what's on my mind? Laurel and I have been trying to sprout avocado pits, apple seeds, wheat berries...anything and everything it seems. I am so ready for spring. So ready to till some ground and plant some seedlings. So ready to taste the fruits of the harvest. This will be the first year we have the land to have a REAL garden. Like my grandmother did. I have the boots now (Christmas present) and now I'm ready. In fact, Laurel and Luke got theirs for Christmas too...we are garden ready. I even have plans for outdoor cubbies on the back porch to keep the boots in so that they are ready to throw on every morning to feed the chickens and goats and to collect whatever food might be ripe and ready.




Jon actually has a line on a goat that will be born in the spring and he seems ready to jump. If he's ready, I'm ready. Spring needs to come now because I'm ready to grow something.