You are here: Home / 2012 / Archives for February 2012

It Takes Guts

February 27, 2012 By 10 Comments

When I got all the old stuffed animals from the attic last fall one that I put aside to do something with was a patchwork fabric giraffe. He had several small holes along the seams and one very large rip at the neck that looked like a dog had tried to take his head off. In addition he was filled with chopped foam, and after at least 30 years I didn’t feel good about that at all. I don’t know about you, but sometimes if I’m afraid something will turn out badly I put it aside to think about it later. You know, like Scarlett O’Hara, I’ll think about it tomorrow. Well, finally, tomorrow had come.

Amazingly, other than the actual washing and drying, the project didn’t take much more than an hour. Why did I put it off? Let me think. Worst case scenarios. I started taking out the chopped foam and horrible creatures crawled out? REALLY? Hey, if that happened I would grab my camera and start taking photos, that wouldn’t exactly be a BAD thing. Worst case scenario really would have been he didn’t survive washing. But that was going to happen if it was going to happen. Waiting didn’t make that any less likely. And the sooner I found out, the sooner I would know.

I opened the neck seam with the already big hole a bit larger and dumped all of the very old dried out foam into the trash, turning him inside out as I went. I had to scrape him out as the foam tends to stick to the inside. Then, into the washer on delicate cycle and I held my breath. But, he came through with flying colors. I went ahead and put him into the dryer on low to get a head start on drying, and finished drying overnight hanging over the shower door. When I turned him right side he looked fine. He seemed none the worse for wear, and I wish I had thought to take a photo, but I didn’t.

I did find a little puncture in his nose, which supports my dog at the throat theory and so my first order of business was to patch that. It was big enough to get your pinkie finger in and I knew it would do nothing but get bigger. I simply put a patch with white muslin on the inside, and then stitched it to reinforce. It doesn’t really show unless you look hard because the fabric is patchwork looking anyway.

I could have repaired the small places where the seams had come unstitched by machine but I decided not to bother and just hand stitched them (from the inside).
The hard part was his neck. There was clearly some fabric missing. It was like surgery and I had nothing to do a graft with. So, his neck will forever be a little skinnier at the top. It’s like he got a little jowl lift!

Then I stuffed him with nice fresh hypoallergenic batting, not too full so he would be soft and huggable, finished hand stitching his neck closed, and I have to say, he looks fresh and dare I say, happy! I’m starting to love giving old stuffed animals a new lease on life. 🙂

BTW it’s Handmade Monday again! Let’s all run over and check it out. Well, actually, it’s so much easier than running, we can just click on the link above and don’t even have to get out of our chair! Let’s go!

Filed Under: Crafts, Handmade Monday Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Accidents

February 23, 2012 By 2 Comments
Surprise by sundero
Surprise, a photo by sundero on Flickr.

My D60 is trying to die on me, but this image I think was a gift. I had no idea the spider web was in this photo and in fact I almost didn’t even look at it. But when I checked it out on actual size, the web was there, in beautiful focus. I would have cropped it tighter, but I also loved the light and the palm frond so I left them there as well.
A happy accident! 🙂

Filed Under: Flickr, photography Tagged With: , , ,

Add a Little Spice to Your Life

February 19, 2012 By 11 Comments

One of the things I miss the most about New Mexico is the food.  And so we have to cook it ourselves because most of what passes for Mexican food out here is… well, something else, but it’s not really Mexican food.  I’ll leave it there.

One of the best things about Mexican food is green chiles and several years ago a friend of mine sent me several packages of frozen Hatch green chiles.  These are famous and with good reason.  They aren’t the only good thing about Mexican food but they are one of the better ones.  If you can get your hands on some (and you can) you should try some of the real stuff.  I have a stash in my freezer.  At any rate, when I used up the ones she sent me I had to start ordering my own, so I found a source and discovered that it works perfectly.  They come frozen and ready to stick in your freezer and use whenever the chile bug hits you.

This recipe is simple although the corn takes a little preparation.  But it’s OH so worth it.  I will warn you, it’s SPICY.  Ok, what I mean is, it’s HOT.  I personally think spicy food is good for you.  It clears your sinuses or something.  Well, maybe not, but I still like it.

So, go indulge your inner chile monster and check out Roasted Corn & Green Chile Chicken.  Then be sure and check out Handmade Monday because believe it or not, it’s that time again!  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Filed Under: Food, Handmade Monday Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spring is Around the Corner

February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Actin' Squirrely by sundero
Actin’ Squirrely, a photo by sundero on Flickr.

The squirrels are out and about and pairing up. That can only mean one thing, baby squirrels! I can’t wait! We don’t get much wildlife in the yard here, and I’m not sure exactly where the squirrels live, because I see them only once in awhile, but every year I do see the young ones playing around in the trees.
So, hopefully, soon they will be doing their acrobatic best!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Some Things Seem So Easy

February 12, 2012 By 23 Comments

Do you ever think of things that seem so easy, but when you try them they thwart you at every turn?  Yeah, me too. I had seen this recipe for making marshmallow peeps awhile back and wanted to try them –I think I was going to try Halloween ghosts but never got around to it. So, later I thought, “Oh, Valentine hearts, that will be cute and easy!” Oh, I’m so misguided sometimes!

Maybe if you’re a pastry chef.

I’ll just cut to the chase.  I made it work but if you’re going to follow my directions you don’t need the pastry bag and tip.  Unless you just want to try it that way.  Or you’re a pastry chef.

Anyway, it’s Handmade Monday again!  Yay, now THERE is something that works right every time.  🙂  So, after you check out my Heartmallows go check out what everyone’s doing for Handmade Monday! See you there. 🙂

 

Filed Under: Food, Handmade Monday, Holidays Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s a Wrap

February 10, 2012 By 3 Comments

I love little boxes. And that means there are always some around, so I have to think of things to do with them. I needed something to put the little Valentine necklace in because I think presentation of a gift is almost as important as the gift. I had thought of making a bag, but I’m still in the middle of reorganizing my craft room (let’s just leave it there) and so it was easier not to try to get my sewing machine out.

But, I did have this cute little box some bit of jewelry or other came in, so…

I simply painted it with an acrylic paint called Metallic Bright Red, but it looked for all the world like red fingernail polish to me. Perfect! It took a couple of coats to cover the box, which was black. Then I glued on a wooden heart which I got at a craft store ages ago –one of those things I saw and thought, “This would be cute on something.” I have a metal tin with various hearts, buttons and wooden, just for this sort of thing. Don’t you? I just glued it with regular white glue.

I waited until the next morning so everything would be nice and dry, put the necklace in with the filling that was already in there (I always save that too, but you could use tissue paper or batting or whatever) and then tied it up with a thin little ribbon and voilà! Now it’s sort of a dual gift, since I think the little box could be used to keep something in too. Oh, and if you don’t have a little stash of hearts to glue on top, just cut one out of cardboard, I think that would look just as cute –paint it a slightly different red so it will stand out. 🙂 OK. Now, go make something pretty, Valentine’s Day is almost upon us!

Filed Under: Crafts, Holidays Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Snips and Snails and New Tools

February 5, 2012 By 16 Comments

 

I did a few small things this week, no big projects.  But it’s Handmade Monday again and there is only one more before Valentine’s Day! Plus it’s the 52nd one, which means we’ve been doing this for an entire year. I got in almost at the beginning of it, so I’ve been doing this for just short of a year too. I’m sure everyone has made all sorts of cute things with hearts and things, and I can’t wait to go see what they’re doing.  Click the link and check it out after you’re done here.  🙂

I posted a candle in a cup I did using Penny’s method, so if that interests you, please check it out here.  It turned out so well, as you can see from the photo here (I did finally light it!) I’ll share it again!

I get so many good ideas from other bloggers.  Penny, at Planet Penny has such a fun blog, and in addition to good ideas and beautiful things to look at, it’s always fun to read.

I have also been working on a little jar for a young boy for Valentine’s Day.  It’s a little difficult to make things for boys for this particular holiday.  Girls are easy, jewelry and well, everything just fits.  I ended up making something not all that Valentine-like but it came out cute enough to share anyway.  I didn’t take photos as I went, but it wasn’t rocket science so, I’m really just going to share a photo of the best part.  The jar is a plastic jar that shaving cream comes in, then Mod Podged with green tissue paper.  I put the boys name on one side and “Stuff” on the other –both cut with the Cricut of course because I could never cut letters out by hand.

I then made a little snail with Sculpy and made him some antennae with copper wire I had in my jewelry making box.  I used 2 little beads for eyes.  I made the shell and body separate so I could paint them different colors easily, using acrylic paint.

I attached him to the lid with hot glue, but he came off once, so I cleaned the hot glue off of everything and reattached him using hot glue and then put white glue around the edges.  Hopefully he will stay put.

He is so cute, I’m thinking of making some more and maybe painting a little smile on his face!

I also made a Valentine’s Day card.  I’m not going to mention who it’s for in case they see this (and this person does sometimes read my blog!).  I’m not quite done with it, but I wanted to share what I have done so far because I thought it turned out not too bad.  I really didn’t have much in mind when I started except that I had a bag full of red hearts of various sizes I had cut with my Cricut and I had a new tool (which I will tell you about in a minute) and some red ribbon.

I started with a precut white cardstock (the kind that comes in sheets with 2 cards per sheet and you feed them through a printer–I have a package of them for making cards on the printer).  I used my cool new tool and cut out a heart “window” toward the bottom.  I had a piece of red woven something that is, well, I don’t really know what it is.  It feels like something between paper and fabric.  I can’t remember where I got it, but it’s been in my “stash” for a long time.  I glued it behind the heart “window” and then decided to try cutting a heart out of it with my new tool.  That worked, altho it left the edges fuzzy and I had to trim it a little.

Then I just added hearts until I liked the way it looked.  I put the heart from the “window” inside one of the bigger red hearts, and let everything dry.  Then I made a bow with some organdy ribbon and sewed it on.  I hope I can mail this without crushing the bow too badly.

Oh, my new toy, er, tool is a Fiskar’s Squeeze Punch.  They are a little pricey, but they were on sale so I bought a couple of different ones.  I love them because you can cut “windows” OR you can cut shapes.  Just one more fun thing, and very, very easy to use.

Only one more week until Valentine’s Day, so I had better get these things in the mail!

Filed Under: Crafts, Handmade Monday Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Cup of Hearts

February 4, 2012 By 3 Comments

I got this idea from a blog friend of mine and of course I changed it a little bit, but I never would have gotten the idea without Penny!  So, all kudus to Planet Penny (besides, she does such wonderful stuff over there anyway, it’s well worth your time to check her out if you don’t already make it a habit).

I wanted to use some leftover bits from 2 favorite scented candles of mine.  I love the Clean Cotton candle, and always there is some wax left at the end when the candle refuses to burn anymore.  So I scraped the leftover wax out of 2 candle jars (which I will use for other projects, by the way) and put them into this cute little heart shaped cup I had that I wasn’t using for anything else.  It is an adorable cup a friend gave me a long time ago, and says “Butterfly Kisses” around the edges of the saucer and has a little butterfly on the side of the cup.  It’s just perfectly sweet and Valentiney.

Penny had mentioned a much easier way to make candles than the difficult way that I don’t really like –yes, I know candle making is some people’s cup of tea, but it’s not really mine.  So, I did basically what she did, almost.  I poured hot water into a pan and set the cup in there and stirred until the wax was melted.  By the way, I use wooden chopsticks that I get when we eat out or take home Chinese to stir things like this.  Recycle/reuse!

However, the wax was white and I thought, for valentines day I wanted a pink or red candle, so I got a partially used up red taper that was in my candle drawer and added a few pieces of that.  It melted at a different rate, but that’s ok, it finally did melt and I kept stirring until it was blended.

Penny used a wick from another candle, I think, but I had an idea.  I had a little heart shaped tart (or tea light) candle.  I thought maybe it would look cute to use as a “wick”.  So, after the wax dried just a little, I stuck that down into the wax, carefully.  I know that it won’t burn for a long time, since the wick doesn’t go very deep, so I will have to address that, but to be honest, I don’t think I will burn this often.  It’s just really pretty.

Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,