Funky Chicken!

Are you looking for the perfect handmade gift?

Come visit my etsy shop for these

Funky Chicken Roll Basket Covers!

Made from quilted fabric, these colorful, funky chickens are a delightful addition to any dinner table!
It has been a tradition in my husband's family to use one at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for years.

The elastic bottom fits around a basket or bowl, keeping the rolls inside warm and waiting....
for someone to snatch one from the holes underneath the wings!

Choose one with fun and funky color - or go with the more traditional (seen below).

No matter what, one of these chickens makes a GREAT gift, and will charm any dinner table!

Colorful Clay Acorns

There are some darling acorn inspired crafts that you can find on pinterest, or in blogland. 

A few weeks ago I thought it would be fun to do an acorn project with my girls, and add to my sparse fall decor. 

Originally, I thought we would collect full acorns - but that idea was quickly squashed when we got outside and found an oak tree.  The squirrels must have beat us to them, because all we could find were the lids!  After talking to some friends though, I'm glad that this is what we found because apparently the acorns can harbor worms :(-

We gathered about 100 of these pretty lids, and came home and gave them a bath in some warm water with a little bit of bleach in it.  I figured it would help to kill any little worms or critters still lingering on them...

Now, there are a million things you could do with the acorn tops.  These colorful caps would be a fun kid's craft.  And I have always thought that felted acorns are very beautiful!

Antique Jug and Metal Letter Press Drawer

New England is an amazing place to pick up antiques!  This past summer, I went to the fabled Brimfield Antique Fair in western Massachusetts - wow.  It is spectacular...and huge.

And whenever my mom comes into town from Utah, there are a few antique stores we always hit up. 

I can never buy a fraction of what I admire - but here are a couple of things I have picked up recently:

These antique jugs are in just about every antique shop - but they are often very expensive.  I recently discovered a new shop in my home town that had about two dozen jugs for sale.

This one caught my eye for a few reasons. 

1) It has a good amount of cobalt - the stamped colored writing.  This makes it more valuable, and more interesting. 

2) The cobalt says "Boston - Brookline" which I really like, considering how close I live to Boston. 

3) The price was killer.

So you bet I brought it home, and filled it with some twigs and leaves from around my house.  Beautiful for fall :)

This drawer was another steal - one that I picked up at the Brimfield fair.  These drawers were used to hold little metal letters for printing. 

I have had my thimble collection packed away for years - so when I saw this drawer, I was thrilled to discover that my thimbles fit perfectly inside!  I love that I can now display them.  I have picked up the thimbles from places I have been.  It was started for me by my parents when I was a kid. 

I added some hanging hardware which you can see in the picture below.  D-Ring hangers are sturdy and easy to install. 
Now, both the thimbles and the display case look awesome on the wall.

Do you have some favorite antique items you have picked up recently?  What kinds of things do you repurpose them into??

Happy Halloween: Harry Potter Family

Hope your Halloween was safe and sugary!

See the post on Hermione and Hedwig's costumes

See the post on Luna Lovegood's costume

See the post on their Trick or Treat Bags

Luna Lovegood Costume from Harry Potter

So, what does a mommy dress up as when her daughters are Hermione and Hedwig?? 

How about Luna Lovegood?!

I already have the blondish hair that I can make wavy like hers...

About.com has a template for the Spectrespecs - which I printed onto cardstock, cut and glued onto play glasses.

The Radish Earrings I made with fimo clay that I shaped and baked right onto an old pair of earrings so I could use the posts. 

I found an image of The Quibbler magazine doing a google search, and printed it onto cardstock and glued it to cardboard. 

Since I just had a baby a week ago, I figured baby could be "The Quibbler" (fitting??) :) 
So, when I wear her in the wrap, the quibbler can be taped on.  Whatever works, right?

Now, to make daddy Harry Potter...luckily a lightening bolt and a pair of round glasses are pretty distinct.  And I made him a scarf too :)

I love that our kids let us dress up as a family theme.  And thank you new baby for coming in time to let me trick or treat with my kiddos.  I love Halloween!

Harry Potter Halloween Costumes!

My oldest daughter has been planning on dressing up as Hermione from Harry Potter since before last Halloween!  If there is one thing we can say about her, it's that she knows what she wants :)
Since we love having a family theme - we decided to make her little sister the owl, Hedwig.

This Hermione costume is made up of an embellished black robe, a Gryffindor scarf that I made from flannel, and a fun DIY felt trick-or-treat bag - made Hermione style. 

Below you can see the simple steps I took to make the scarf...
1) I cut rectangles of yellow and maroon fabric - about 7" wide and 4" tall
2) I sewed the rectangles right sides together along the long edge.  2 lengths were required - each about 48" long.
3) I sewed the long lengths of fabric, right sides together, along 3 edges (leaving 1 short edge open for turning right side out).  This created a tube and once it was turned right side out, I sewed the opening closed with a top stitch. 
4) Using a freezer paper stencil, I painted a Gryffindor crest onto one of the yellow rectangles.
5) I made a little tube of flannel with a button on one end and a button hole on the other to wrap around the scarf to keep in place on my daughter's neck.
6) Shows the Completed Scarf

The trick or treat bag I made from felt.  These bags are so fun to make - and add a really unique detail to whatever theme you are going for.  This bag is supposed to look like books, since Hermione loves school and loves to read. 

Above, one side of the bag is the book Hogwarts: A History.
Below, the other side of the bag is is the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Hop on over to that post to see the full tutorial!

And here is our little owl.  She loves to say "Trick or Tweet" :) which I think is so cute...

I got inspiration from a tutorial I found on Alphamom.  I got an inexpensive white long sleeve shirt from the thrift store, and sewed tons of feather shaped pieces of fabric onto it in rows.  I think it turned out really cute.  The hat is a couple pieces of felt sewn into a cap shape, with an elastic on the bottom to hold it on her head.  The eyes and nose are brown felt and yellow buttons.

Her bag is also custom made - with the same tutorial I referenced earlier.  It is the Hogwarts acceptance letter that the owls carry to Harry Potter.

We are so excited to go trick or treating this year - and I love that my sweet kids are all good with homemade costumes.  Even my little week old baby will be incorporated into my Harry Potter costume (I told you this was a family affair), but you'll have to wait for those pictures :)

Happy Harry Potter Halloween!!

Sheet Fort - Over the Table

Do your kids love making forts?
Mine go through spurts - and I remember thinking forts were totally fun when I was a kid.  We just have such a small house, that it is hard for them to find space, and for me to live with piles of blankets and pillows around for any amount of time.

When I saw these amazing card table playhouse covers on etsy - I was inspired! 
How clever to give the fort a table for a frame - and it doesn't take up any extra space in our house!!

So, I gathered up a few unused flat sheets from the linen pile, and decided to piece together a cover for our big dining table.  Nothing fancy - but the kids sure love it!

I cut pieces of different sheets for the top and all 4 sides of the table - and I used the already finished sheet edges as the edges that hung at the floor.  This saved me a lot of hemming!

The back side (pictured above) has no embellishment, so I sewed it to the top, right sides together.  That's all. 

The front side has a door, a mail slot, and a little sign.

The door is a rectangular hole, and the raw edges are covered with double fold bias tape (seen below).

The door is made out of flannel -- 2 rectangular pieces (slightly larger than the hole I made in the sheet), sewn right sides together with a little hole for turning right side out.  Then top stitched all the way around to close the little hole.  Ultimately I added a heart shaped window, edged with double fold bias tape also, and a flannel circle for a door handle. 

A line cut on the right front side and edged with bias tape made a mail slot, which I covered with flannel shaped like a mailbox. 

Below is the flap of flannel (it is secured to the sheet across the top only), with the word "mail" on it. 

Below you can see a picture of the front side.  The door is sewn across the top edge only.  The whole front side was sewn right sides together with the table top piece.  Again, notice how I used the already finished edge of the sheet to hang at the floor... easy peasy...

Here is a picture of the little sign - made out of flannel and iron on printer paper. 

The left and right sides have simple windows cut out of them.  4 square holes, with a bit of flannel along the edge. 
Adding the sides to the whole fort is done by sewing them to the top sheet (right sides together) and then connecting them with the front and back by sewing the adjoining edges right sides together before turning it all right side out. 

The construction is all very simple - but it makes a great cover for the table, and a perfect fort to play in!!  I left this on for a few days, and the kids were inside every day playing with toys and sending each other mail through the slot.  Success!!  Now I have something to pull out whenever they ask to make a fort :)