Wool anyone?

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted...while my break from blogging was several months long I was busy creating fun stuff.  Of course, I photographed basically none of it and gave most of it away as gifts for the holidays, so my bad there.  My resolution for 2012?  1) Take more photos of my projects.  2)  Take more photos of my projects BEFORE giving away as gifts. 

Here are two that were given as gifts using wool...one of my favorite materials!

A tree pillow using my kid's hand prints as the branches & trunk.  The red background is from a recycled sweater found while thrifting.  I was able to get two 14x14 pillow faces out of it, plus some scraps left over for future projects.  The hand/arm print is suede leather from a women's shirt also found while thrifting.  I purchased a bunch of wool felt from Felt On The Fly which made up the leaves once I cut out a bunch of little circles and stacked them up here and there.  The cover has a zippered back for ease of removing and cleaning if need be.

And a little knitting....I like this yarn and hat pattern so much I may make myself one too!  I used Malabrigo yarn, chunky, in the Sealing Wax colorway.  Love it!  The pattern was a free one found on Ravelry but I can't for the life of me find the bookmark so I'm going to have to go do a big search for the pattern again when I have free time to devote to it. The flowers are cut from wool felt scraps left from the above pillow project and hand sewn on. I used this  tutorial for the smaller one and just winged it for the larger one, which is a pinwheel design.

Yeah for wool!

Just Peachy!

I turned this...

Into this...

All on my own! First time canning without my mom to help...so I actually had to read directions this time.

Come fly away...

I sewed up a fleece superhero cape for a friend's son after the kiddos went to bed. Love quick projects that turn out just as I envisioned!

A tid-bit here. A tad-bit there.

I've been in a do-it-yourself mood lately. Got a few things done around the house. Little things here and there that make a big difference to me.

We pulled out a weeping cherry tree in back that just made a mess. Had a big hole and didn't know what to do with it. I solved the problem of having an overloaded drip-line...eliminated 5 drippers going to 5 pots, and instead now have one sprayer going to one big veggie box for lettuce next year.

All the wood came from my dad's ever-handy scrap wood pile for this project.


I have big plans for more veggie garden projects and will post later on those.

Found a vintage linen panel with a parakeet print in an antique store I recently visited. Fell in love with it as it reminds me of my grandmother who is no longer with us. She had parakeets at one time, and outfitted their cage with everything that is in this print. Fake stick perches, little white ladders, mirrors, bells...

I decided my sofas have been bare for much too long and decided to spice them up with some throw pillows. I added a zipper to the back so this turned into a washable case. Super important for a house with small children and a dog.

This is a work in progress using scrap material for a third pillow. I love using stuff I already have on hand. Adding some buttons for added interest. Overall, the cost of my three pillows is $23. Not too shabby considering that might buy me one really unique pillow in a store.

We've moved my sons into the same room, so that freed up our spare room. I quickly set up shop and now have an actual sewing room! I needed a way to keep my sharp tools up out of the reach of curious little fingers. Back out to the woodpile to find a board to make into a second shelf (top one was existing). A little spray paint and some nails, and wha-la!

When both of my grandmothers passed on, I, being the the sewer taught by both of them, was given their button boxes. During my antiquing I found these two old jars. I put my grandma's buttons in one, and old wooden spools in another. The red-velvet topped metal box belonged to my maternal grandma, and the strawberry pin cushion belonged to my paternal grandmother.

A great way to use an existing peg hanger to store all my ribbon spools. Makes them easy to see and get to.

And last but not least, I made a towel hanger for my boys at their level. One can never be to young to be taught to be tidy, so now my 4 year old can start hanging up his own towel. I'm all about one less thing for me to pick up!

This is my first attempt at using dye on the stove top with acid dyes.
Love, love the blue. The orange turned out a bit mottled, but I actually like the effect. Not too shabby if I do say so myself, considering I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to dyes.

These are three large wool interlock soakers for my growing little man still in diapers.