Coffeecake

Craft Project: Nature Brights Kitchen from Sew4Home

via sew4home.com

Sew4home is a wonderful website with fantastic home decor sewing ideas and tutorials. Several times a week they feature a project tutorial or craft idea. Periodicaly they offer a collection of projects using a new fabric collection.  Current it is a "Nature Brights" Kitchen, with fabric from Patty Young's Flora & Fauna Collection by Michael Miller.  Tutorials have already been posted for chair cushions, reversible placemats and napkins, and more projects are to come including an apron, curtains, potholders, and more. 

Baby Tree of Life Throw from Lion Brand Yarn Company

via www.lionbrand.com

While perusing the latest Lion Brand Yarn catalog, I came across this petite version of Nicky Epstein's well-known Tree of Life Afghan.  I have long admired the pattern in its adult size, but am really charmed by this sweet baby size.  It's knit with only a single skein (1020 yd) of Lion Brand's Pound of Love of acrylic yarn.  I have long been a "yarn snob", and thought about knitting this in a specialty yarn, but am going to give the Pound of Love a whirl.  It is machine washable and dryable, which you can't beat (but I will probably still handwash).  And you can't beat the price of $9.49 for the whole afghan!!

P.S. if you haven't checked out Lion Brand lately, check out their new website with TONS of FREE patterns, join them on twitter, Facebook and Ravelry,or better yet, get their iPhone app (I did and it is very cool!).

Valentine's Day Newsletter from MarthaStewart.com

via www.marthastewart.com

Check out Martha Stewart's Valentine's Day website with tons of ideas for Valentine's Day and sign up for her Valentine's Day newsletter--New ideas sent to your inbox weekly now through Feb. 14!

Craft Project: Memory "Scrapboxes" from Martha Stewart Living.

via www.marthastewart.com

The February issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine has a lot of great articles and recipes...go out and get yourself a copy if you don't subscribe (I did, as I had let my subscription lapse.  It will be well worth it as it features one of the coolest art projects I have seen, and it's one you can do yourself at home, although maybe not on as grand a scale.  Darcy Miller, editor of MS Weddings has assembled a collection of "scrapboxes" -- collaged shadowboxes that feature photos and memorabilia of her family.

The boxes feature unexpected elements and ephemera such as candles from a birthday cake, teething toys, and girl's sunglasses.  Because she has three daughters, they are very princess-y, sparkly and whimsical, but I think you could do the same for boys.  I have been toying with the idea of displaying my son's birth announcement in an unconventional way, and had been thinking of a shadowbox instead of a conventional frame and matting.  This has convinced me to do something more creative....I am just not yet sure what that will be.... Knitted booties, a crocheted bib, or something more unconventional?   You could also use greeting cards, silver rattles or spoons, small toys, party favors, perhaps even a beloved pacifier! 

I love how Ms. Miller juxtaposes the objects with an accompanying photo, bringing the photo into 3 dimensions, such as putting a real party hat in a frame with a photo of the birthday girl

For ideas, check out the MS website features Darcy Miller's entire collection of boxes and scrapbooks as well as her party ideas. 

Craft Project: Sparkling Snowman Treat Boxes from Martha Stewart

via www.marthastewart.com

While there is still snow on the ground here (just a little bit), I wanted to share these adorable snowman treat boxes from Martha Stewart. The full instructions are on the website. These would be great for a winter birthday party...child or adult. They do look a little involved, so save them for when you have a little more time.

And who knew, but the MS website actually has a whole section dedicated to glitter crafts!! I have used MS's glitter quite a bit and absolutely love it. The selection of colors is wonderful, and it is super-sparkly. You can find it online here or at Michael's craft stores.

Spud & Chloë: New line of yarns from Blue Sky Alpacas

via www.spudandchloe.com

Spud & Chloe is the new line of yarns from Blue Sky Alpacas.  The line bills itself as luxe yarns in mod colors.  The website features some very cute and whimsical patterns, such as this one:

I love this little hat from the new line of yarns by Blue Sky Alpacas, Spud & Chloe. Think I may have to make it for one of my little ones.

How to Make: Halloween Paper Bunting

I finished this Halloween bunting in the nick of time for the holiday.   To make this, I  used pre-cut flat A4 cardstock in Poppy and Black from Paper Source, ribbon in Poppy and Black from Paper Source, K&Company patterned paper purchased from Michaels, and Marcella by K glitter chipboard letters from Target.  I used a paper bunch by Martha Stewart Crafts for Michaels that is specially designed to punch holes to thread ribbon through.

To make a similar banner, cut rectangles out of the patterned paper and glue to A4 cardstock.  Glue chipboard letters onto patterned paper. Punch holes along top and thread ribbon.  You can also punch ribbon holes in the bottom and add a tied ribbon at the bottom for decoration. You can add additional embellishments as desired, sequins, decorative gems, brads, etc. I opted to keep mine simple due to my limited time.  You can also spell out a shorter phrase if you are short of time.

Note: depending on what phrase you are spelling, you may need additional packages of the chipboard letters. The package has 2 of some letters and 1 of others. I needed a second package because one of the "p"s was damaged.

Quick Halloween Card

I have been wanting to send out Halloween cards with my son's picture inside for weeks, and finally got a chance to sit down and make some. Because I had limited time and wanted to make about 10 cards, I decided to keep the design simple.  I'm not much into card-making or stamping (I prefer scrapbooking), so that's another reason to keep it simple.  For this card, I used A4 cardstock (with matching envelopes) in Poppy from Paper Source one of my favorite sources for paper supplies.  You can buy the cards and envelopes separately and get exactly what you need (they come in a nice variety of sizes and colors). 

The spider stamp is by Impress Rubber Stamps, and I used a black stamp pad and black glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts for Michaels.   The pumpkin design edge punch used to create the edge is also by Martha Stewart for Michaels. I also used Martha's fine tip glitter glue to apply the glitter.  For the inside of the card, I attached a photo of my son in his vampire costume, mounted on Martha Stewart halloween cardstock (pictured in my previous blog entry on Michael's halloween supplies).

I'm happy with how the card came out, and it didn't take too long to make a bunch of them. 

If you don't know etsy...

If you don't know Etsy, you should. 

Etsy.com is a wonderful website--sort of ebay meets your local craft fair meets the most unique shop in town.  What is it?  It is a website that enables artisans of all types to sell their wares online.  The site itself is beautiful to look out. Every day there is a completely unique home page featuring the editor's hand picked items for the day. I'm not sure how the items are selected, but the photo thumbnails make for a unique monochromatic palette.  The front page also profiles a featured seller, and links to additional articles on the site. 

Etsy sellers sell through their own storefronts.  You can search for items in a variety of ways, including by color. You can also browse through Etsy's gift guides. Currently, the home page features links to the Autumn showcase and Halloween shopping guide.

You can find a wide variety of items for sale, everything from  jewelry, artwork, photography, needlecrafts, stationery and beyond.  The common denominator is that all items are handmade by the seller.  Prices range from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars.  As with eBay, you can look up seller profiles and read feedback from buyers and sellers who have transacted with a given seller.  In order to purchase on Etsy, you have to create an account on the site. 

Etsy is great for gifts shopping, holiday and party items, and has wonderful baby and kids items.  You will find unique items, at prices that are very reasonable, often well below store prices for mass-produced goods. 

Vintage items and craft supplies are also for sale on Etsy.

From time to time I will be posting about some of my favorite Etsy "stores".

Time to order your kids' Halloween costumes!

Lots of websites have some really cute Halloween costumes for kids.

For kids costumes, some great sources are:  PotteryBarn Kids, One Step Ahead (currently has a discount on costumes), Target and Gymboree. 

Good sites for party favors, craft items, and accessories include Lillian Vernon, for personalized items, The Container Store for great wrapping ideas, Oriental Trading Company, and Target.

Get started on your Halloween crafts!

 

Fall is here and if Halloween is at the top of your list of autumn favorites, it's time to get started on your Halloween craft projects.

I recently popped into Michaels, the arts and crafts store and found a great selection of Halloween craft supplies and decorations from Martha Stewart.  Since I am planning to have a little party, I stocked up on favors, including paper bats that sit on top of a goodie bag, and stickers.  There was also a great selection of decorations including banners and retro accordian-style table decorations.  For papercrafters, there are Halloween-inspired paper punches (see my black cat and jack-o-lantern), glitter and decorative paper.  Check out the selection of items at your local Michaels store (they do not sell these items online) and at Martha Stewart Crafts

Great ribbon and labels on sale at Namemaker.com

The website www.namemaker.com now has 20% off on its entire site for a limited time only. Namemaker has a great selection of personalized ribbon and clothing labels. The website has been featured both in Oprah's magazine and on the Martha Stewart show--so you know is has to be good!  Get beautiful ribbon for holiday or school crafts or personalized labels to sew into kids' clothing or add a personalized touch to craft projects.  I personally have ordered labels to put into knitting and sewing projects.  (Note-- the ribbon featured in the picture above is from my own collection and is not available on the website).