Doodles and Bits of Wool

We've had birds on the brain here. The April YOE theme is bird's nests. This combined with my habit of drawing and sewing little red birds has made for lots of bird crafts. As a result I can finally take this note off my desk.

Nature Girl asked me, back in January when I sewed this red wool bird for Gin, if I would make her a bird too. I gave her some paper and asked her to write me a note so I wouldn't forget. This is the note she wrote. I quickly scrawled a few extra details and put it on my desk to look at later.

I haven't had time to work on it but could you disappoint this sweet little face? No, of course not! She's the biggest supporter and fan of my crafts. She always seems to think I'm capable of far more than I think I'm capable of. She frequently checks on me when I'm crafting to provide her opinion and request that I make things for her. Often with the activity of everyday life these projects get put on hold, so when I had a few extra minutes this past weekend I decided to try to sew her a bird. It took me two months to get to it but I'm finally finished and can remove the note from my desk.

This little green bird was made from a recycled wool sweater. She thought it needed a nest and some eggs so I figured out a way to make a nest from another felted sweater. We added a few little green pom-poms to look like eggs in the nest.

As I worked on the bird she found the cuff of the sweater on the craftroom floor and claimed it. She wore it on her wrist before coming back to tell me it was almost like the fingerless gloves she saw made on a craft show. I had cut the cuffs of the green sweater too short so we pulled out another sweater then cut and stitched those cuffs into fingerless gloves.

See, she loves them! She's been wearing them all week. I think she might be sad now that spring is on it's way and she won't need to wear wool gloves anymore! We've certainly have had fun with our bits of wool!

With the arrival of spring a bird doodle seemed like a good idea. I had a bunch of meetings this morning at school so I doodled this tree as I listened. The drawing needed some color so I took it home. I find coloring to be very relaxing so a spent some time coloring tonight. I really enjoy doodling and coloring!

Spring Clean Up & Recycling

Looking proud of her work.

This weekend we spent some time outside enjoying a day of 60 degree weather. Since it was so nice, we went for a family walk in our neighborhood. As we walked we saw lots of trash, aluminum cans and bottles strewn along the side of the road. Nature Girl was upset that people would throw trash on the ground. She has always been conscientious about putting trash where it belongs and taking care of the Earth. We discussed cleaning up the trash another time when we had bags with us. She agreed that we should clean it up but was worried about getting her hands dirty. Dirty hands, not a problem! We have a box of disposable gloves left over from a tie-dye project.

Monday after school Nature Girl and I set out on another walk wearing our disposable gloves and carrying a few trash bags. We didn't get very far down the road before encountering a new and unfriendly looking dog in our neighborhood. There is a leash law in our town but apparently his family doesn't know about it. We opted to turn around and clean up the other side of the street instead of facing this unfriendly fellow. We filled a bag about a third full with trash and collected half a bag of cans, glass and plastic bottles.

Nature Girl thought we needed a staged photo of the clean up. Here she is picking up a beer can. She crushed and recycled the cans, then sorted the plastic and glass. We took it all out to the the curb where it was recycled the next morning. We'd like to keep working on our neighborhood spring clean up and recycling effort but we have to wait for it to stop raining. It's been raining for days. I just checked the weather and it looks like the rain is supposed to continue through the weekend, so maybe next week.

Progress Not Perfection

I usually try to stay positive and share funny things and crafty tidbits here on our blog but today's post is something I've been ruminating and pondering on for a few days. I just can't seems to figure it out and don't know how to change it. So this is my attempt to get it all down and try to make some sense of it.

Progress not perfection. That has become my mantra in my adult life. I have always struggled with the idea that somehow I am supposed to be perfect, do everything right and never make mistakes. While I know that this is not realistic or even possible, I have never been able to fully let go of this idea. I do not have this expectation of others. As a matter of fact I am very forgiving and understanding of the mistakes of others, after all they are only human! But try as I might I can't accept this idea for myself. Yes, I know this is my own crazy issue! It's one that I usually try to keep hidden but it's come to the surface this week. When Nature Girl was born I learned to let go of some of my internal need to be perfect. She was fussy and had to be held 24 hours a day. I couldn't do things to my previous standard so I learned to let go a little. Apparently not enough!

It seems that Nature Girl has inherited a bit of this perfectionism. Her report card came home last week. Students are graded on this scale: S- = standard not met, S = standard met, and S+ = exceeds standard. Nature Girl's report card was all S and S+ with the exception of two little areas that were S-. Both areas are skills that just require a little bit more rote practice, which we will ensure she gets. My husband and I were pleased with her report card. We praised her as we reviewed it together. When she saw the first S- she started to cry. I felt so terrible!!! To see her so upset about it was heart breaking! She's just in first grade. It is not our expectation that her report card be perfect but it seems to be her expectation. She has always been a child that does not like to be wrong, make mistakes or lose( I wonder where is got that from?!!).

So this leads me to wonder is perfectionism a trait that is inherited? How can I teach her from a young age to stop reaching for something that is a myth and is never possible to achieve? Better yet how do I teach myself that so I can teach her? Being motivated and ambitious is not a bad thing but feeling terrible when you haven't done something perfect, even when that something very small, is a bad thing! I don't want her to struggle through life with this. Somehow I need to remember the mantra - "Progress not perfection." - and teach her as well. So how do I do that? Telling her that she's not perfect and we don't expect her to be isn't enough. We've already been doing that so it's time for a new plan. I just haven't figured it out what that plan is yet. Wish us luck!

Gnome Bowling

February's YOE theme was gnomes so I made this little gnome bowling set for a YOE giveaway. These gnomes are happily living at Kerry's house now. Nature Girl loved the movie Gnomeo and Juliet so when she saw these gnomes she wanted her own set. I thought she should be able to make her own set.

I gave her some wood doll pins and she went to work painting them. I took pictures of the process along the way and we've created a tutorial so others can make their own gnome bowling set too.
Nature Girl painted her gnomes blue and red like the movie. She had the idea of mixing the colors together. I helped put the polka dots on at her request. I also helped with sewing and gluing the hats on. When she finished making her gnomes she used a Chrystal Light container to make a gnome home to store her game in. I love the ladder going into the tree hole and the little squirrel she drew. It turned out so cute!
The picture is a bit dark but, here the gnomes have been set up for a game of bowling. In between frames the gnomes were paired up and married. The red hats married blue hats and lived happily ever after. It was very cute! If you'd like to see how to make your own gnome bowling set you can look on the sidebar or click here for instructions.

April Fools Equals a Snow Day!

Well, here in the Northeast April Fools Day equaled a snow day. I have to admit I've enjoyed being home with Nature Girl today, hanging out in our pjs and crafting all day. But here's where the fool part comes in. . . for every snow day we have it means another day of school day tacked on to the end of the year. Now school will be in session until June 22nd! We'll be dieing in the heat come June. I work on the second floor with just one small window we open in a feeble attempt to cool ourselves. That's what I have to look forward to in June but for today I enjoyed my time at home.

We made unsweetened ice tea with our new ice tea maker. This is Nature Girl's glass. Yes amazingly she loves unsweetened tea and lemons! She accessorized her own glass with the umbrella and straw.


It was a productive craft day for me. I finished another hedgehog pincushion this morning trying a smaller nose this time. I think I prefer the big honking nose on my original prototype but I love the look of the colorful leave shaped pins I added. I found these pins at JoAnn Fabrics a few weeks ago.

Then I finally got around to finishing and posting a felt bunny in an egg tutorial(it's on the side bar.) I made the one in the picture for Nature Girl last year for Easter. I'd like to make a few more to use for Toy Society drops. Maybe I'll get them done this weekend.
I also made this little apron for Nature Girl. I have three more like it cut out waiting to be sewn. I wanted to make them for my nieces in Hawaii. I planned to have them done before we visited but as you know we've already been to Hawaii and back and I haven't started sewing them yet.
Sewing an apron today meant I got to use my brand new iron for the first time. I read Karen's post about her new red T-Fal iron and decided to try it for myself. It arrived this week along with the ice tea maker. So now I'm sipping ice tea and ironing. For those of you who know me and know that I rarely iron my clothes with an iron. . .yes, it's true I use the dryer for ironing. . . you maybe questioning why I even need an iron. It's purely for crafty purposes like apron making, sewing, etc. and for the occasional yet extremely rare ironing of an actual article of clothing. The iron worked like magic today and it shut itself off. Definitely a good thing.
well, I'm off to craft a bit more before bedtime, for tomorrow the snow day is over and it's back to the real world of house cleaning and school work! I enjoyed nature's April Fools joke and made the most of the snow day.

Chicken Loving Aprons

So this is a bit late but I had to share the fabulous chicken apron I received from Chrissy as part of the Chicken Loving Mamas apron swap. Chrissy sent me this beautiful apron in my favorite color scheme black/red/white. Just check out the fried egg and polka dot material on the ties and ruffle. It's hard to see but the top of the apron has smocking. Not only do I love the colors and prints on the fabric but I have to say that I think the cut and style makes me look skinnier so I love that too!


Chrissy sent some delicious looking recipes that I haven't tried yet and this beautiful red(my favorite color) chicken cookbook stand. Isn't it marvelous?!! The cute felt owl clips were included for Nature Girl. She loves them!

I started off with a totally different apron in mind but ended up making this whimsical chicken half apron for Chrissy. You know me, I love the make my aprons reversible so that you have choices for your apron wearing pleasure. You can't really see it in the picture but the chicken's wing sticks out.

The back of Chrissy's apron is a pink/brown/white polka dot print. Pink is Chrissy's favorite color so it seemed like a good choice for the reverse side of her chicken loving apron.

Chrissy has a beautiful little daughter named Regan. I had fun making a little apron, also pink polka dot on the reverse side, for Regan. I made a little stuffed chicken doll and included the book The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza for Regan. You can see the little red hen doll nestled into the pocket on her apron.


I borrowed this photo of the chicken I made from Chrissy's blog. Stop by her blog to see more pictures of their aprons. I had a blast sewing the aprons and putting this package together for Chrissy and Regan. Thanks for a fabulous swap!

March YOE

Hedgehogs! The March YOE theme was hedgehogs. I was excited because I think hedgehogs are among the cutest of forest creatures. The task was to create a hedgehog ornament for your YOE tree. Check! The challenge for March was to create a hedgehog pin cushion. Check again! So here they are.

I made the ornament from felt and hand stitched his quills one night a few weeks ago while my husband and I watched Red starring Bruce Willis. I thought he turned out rather sweetly but wanted to try more of a 3-D hedgehog for my pin cushion so I stuck with the same basic shape but added additional pieces to the back and nose to get more of a rounded look.

My hedgie pincushion is made from recycled, felted wool sweaters, black beads and a black pompom. I had a hard time sticking pins in him. As a matter of fact I heard him cry out in pain but hedgies are used to spines and pokey quills so he got over it quickly.

I have greatly enjoyed making hedgehogs this month and have several other ideas I'd like to try. I also have the makings for another wool hedgie pincushion cut out and ready to stitch up when I get some time to do it. I think I might need to add the hand stitched quills on the second hedgie pincushion.
I have to say I am LOVING the YOE swap! It's been so much fun to stretch my creativity. Even better I've gotten to keep the last few things I've made. Imagine that, I hardly ever make and keep something for myself! Now that the hedgies are done and March is drawing to a close, guess what the theme for April is. . . . bird nests. I have a perfect idea to try and am anxiously awaiting some time to get started. I also feel a few felted wool birds coming on. I went to a bag sale a local thrift store this weekend and got a garbage bag full of wool sweaters and jackets. Tweet, tweet!
I'll try to catch up later this week on some belated posts like the Chicken Loving Mama's apron swap, more pictures from Hawaii and some Nature Girl at her sweetest(yes, she's always sweet!)