Santa mittens!!

Last weekend I had the idea for these Santa mittens and managed to finished them before the weekend ended. Yay!

It’s always a delight to finish an idea very shortly after being first plagued by it, very often that is not the case for me.

They are finger mittens with a “cap” option. I probably should make a pattern description of this while I still remember how I did it, although, not entirely sure whether anyone would be interested. If anyone is, don’t be afraid to let me know.

Merry Christmas!

 

Pirate Party Preparations Part 4 – Cakes, Balloons and a Treasure Map

Lots of cakes and goodies. I baked the cakes, then bought some snacks.

I drew the treasure map onto a piece of linen, then poured some tea over it, to make it look more old. I was going to rub parts of it in soil, to give it that extra touch, but I ran out of time.

Then I blew up lots of balloons. The balloon game ended up a bit of a flop, though, to be honest. But all was well, anyway.

It was a lovely party.

Pirate Party Preparations Part 3 – Goodie bags

I cut up some fabric for the Goodie bags, lots of simple rectangle squares. Then I folded the rectangle squares and sewed the sides together, forming a square bag. Then I put the goodies in and tied a string around the bag.

Every goodie bag had:

1 pirate coin marked with “6 ára” (6 years old)

1 pirate coin with a decoration/picture by my kid

1 pirate skull necklace

2 sea shells painted silver

1 rock painted gold

 

None of it was eatable. The shells and rocks were collected at the beach. I boiled them and then painted them. The rest was made from “troll dough”, which is half part flour, half part salt, slowly adding water until it turns into a moist dough, then formed into any shape one likes.

I also did candy goodie bags, but I think I forgot to take pictures of those. They had skull candy and liquorice and circle snacks (almost but not really like gold rings).

Pirate Party Preparations Part 2 – Invitations

My kid’s birthday is fast approaching. We did the invitations today.

The cards were shop bought (actually found them on sale and all), had a picture of a pirate skull and treasure chest. Then to give it that little extra touch, I used the seal I got for my birthday as a teenager. My kid relished putting the cards in the envelopes and selecting crayons, while I was on candle duty. I melted drops of crayon mixed with drops of candle wax onto the envelope, waited 5 seconds, lay the seal upon the wax, waited and voila. I was a bit amazed at how quickly we managed to do them, though, and how focused my kid was with her envelope task, because there was a whole bunch of them (only a few pictured below).  They really do grow up fast…

The Yarnie Bus – Killing the mundane

Taking the bus home after work on a grey day in the grey rain. It doesn’t get more mundane than that.

Unless you are taking a step into a yarnie bus! I don’t know if it was the vibrant colours or just the element of surprise, but it really had a happy impact on my day.

I love stuff like that. Pleasant little surprises in everyday life. Which is weird because I am not the “SURPRISE party” type. I wouldn’t want to come home to a house full of balloons and people and whatever.

But a bus full of yarnwork, beautifully crafted, well, that’s my kind of surprise.

And I noticed that same look of surprise on my fellow passengers.

I wish I would have caught a picture of the young girl who stood by the door, as if afraid to take another step further into the bus. She had such a strong expression on her face, like she were extremely disgusted or shocked.

The Hello Kitty Seat

Look of amazement?

Look of bewilderment?

Look of surprise?

Decorative seats

A seat – Too pretty to sit on…?

Back of a seat

Bus graffiti

I was a little surprised that I didn’t find anything about it on the bus company’s website, but my good friend Mr. Google found me this website which has information from the people who created the yarnie bus.

Pirate Party Preparations Part 1 – Telescope

My kid’s birthday is coming up (in September) and I’ve already been preparing some stuff. The plan is for a Pirate Party, with a Pirate hunt and all.

First up, Pirate Telescopes. I got the idea after reading this brilliant craft post from DirtyRottenParenting.com. So, many thanks, Robin!!

The how: I made measurements for the size of the Toilet Paper Roll, cut out a piece of paper that would fit snugly and designed the look. Then I cut out a stencil and started painting. After the paint had dried it was only a matter of glueing the pretty paper onto the roll.

Overall, I’m happy with the look. The first papers looked the best, because I was taking my time doing it well until I realised how many I had to make (one for each kid) and it turned into a bit of a mass production thing, with poorer quality, i.e. some of the paint going outside the stencil lines. Also, the silver “circly” things didn’t turn out as nice as I would have, but yeah, overall, I like them.

Now my only problem is that I don’t have enough Toilet Paper Rolls 🙂 Another brand of toilet paper was bought at the store a few days ago and I don’t remember what brand we had before that, but the rolls aren’t the same size! Who would have thought… 🙂

Sometimes I wonder why I bother…

…Behold, the beautiful perler beads numbers me and my kid crafted. She assembled the majority of them, then asked me to iron them, super excited. I ironed them. Two minutes later, she had already ripped a few of them apart. Kids, eyh?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

But I suppose it’s more about the journey than the destination. Or so I tell myself.

And to be fair, she did have a wonderful play of “the numbers store” with them, even the dismembered ones.

More on the crafty book – Judging a book by its cover

Well, what do you know, I did end up sticking the book to an old hardbook cover and put a vibrantly coloured cloth around it.

Measure, measure and measure again, they say. I didn’t, I’m afraid. So, it didn’t end up looking like it should or could have. But my kid loves it, so I’m content.

What I’d change if I were doing this again:

I thought I had a bigger piece of pink paper, so that the cloth folds in the inside cover would have been more “hidden”. So I would either use a bigger piece of (pink) paper or fold the cloth in a more diagonal way.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A recipe for fun – Crafty book out of photos and memories

I made a really silly story with my kid today. We had lots of fun.

I gathered up some pictures of family members (printed on normal paper with a normal printer, so not any crazy quality). I sewed together a couple of pages (could have stapled them together, I suppose). Then we started assembling the storyline around the pictures. And acted silly and made jokes.

Here are pictures of the result (I blurred the faces because, well.. it’s the internet and all).

Frontcover: A girl

Page 1: Once upon a time there was a girl who dreamed of being a princess in a faraway country.

Page 2: A magical bunny showed up and made the girl’s wish come true.

Page 2 (inside bunny): Caramel. That is the word. Caramel. Yummy yum. Caramel. Caramel.

Page 3: Now the girl was a princess. And now the palace was a merry place.

Page 4: Until the wizard showed up. He wanted to be king in the country and rule everything.

Page 5: He put the princess in a dungeon and swallowed the key.

Page 6: Then the princess remembered what the bunny had said. Caramel. That is the word. Caramel, Caramel.

Page 7: Hello! Caramel? The princess is stuck in the dungeon? I’ll be right there! Caramel!

Page 8: Caramel! Said the superhero and saved everyone from the dungeon and stopped the wizard.

Page 9: I don’t want to be a princess anymore, the princess said to herself.

Page 10: And the princess dreamed of being a normal girl again. In a normal house.

Page 11: She took off in search of her home. And found it at last. Knock! Knock! Is there anyone at home?

Page 12: Can I come in? My girl! Of course. Welcome! her mother said and gave her a good hug.

Page 13: That was a good story. The End.

It was a bit of a sprint towards the end because I wanted to finish it (so as not to have yet another unfinished project hanging over me).

I’m thinking of sticking the book to a hardcover I have from an old calendar book I was about to throw away. Whether I’ll bother… time shall tell. It’s not vital, the book is still a book without it, but it would undeniably look nicer if I do.

An anti-prodigy? Is there such a thing?

She’s not a chinese piano prodigy. She’s not playing anything extraordinary. She’s playing something very ordinary.

It’s the song Revolting Children by Tim Minchin from Matilda the Musical based on the book Matilda by Roald Dahl.

So I guess it’s my kid’s version/copying of the song Revolting Children by Tim Minchin from Matilda the Musical based on the book Matilda by Roald Dahl.

I love how long that sentence is. Maybe it’s a folkloristics thing, but I find it hilarious.
Anyway. My Point. She’s playing something very ordinary. But the way I feel when I listen to her is anything but ordinary.