Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

Happy Easter!

I was certain I was going to rush out and buy an over-the-top Easter dress for baby girl.  However after I had looked at a few stores I changed my mind.  Don't get me wrong I saw plenty of outfits that could make you just die from the cuteness.  But little babies tend to get lost a bit in all of that flounce.  Many of the dresses just wouldn't look right on a baby, they needed a toddler that could stand up to do the cute justice. 

So I decided to wait another year for the big time Easter dress.  I should probably warn her now that next year she will be in ruffles and there will be an Easter bonnet.

I figured a cute onesie and a skirt would do the trick for this year.  This was going to be my first craft project post baby.

Let me just say that this little project, that would have taken me a couple of hours pre-baby, took me multiple days and required I forgo a couple of Mom naps to complete.  I think it was worth it!

Onesie -
No big deal here all I did was find a cute bunny picture and stitch witchery it onto the onesie.

Skirt -
I "semi" followed the tutorial found here from Crazy Little Projects.  I will say that this works a bit better for a larger baby.  I ended up having to make the top layer much smaller than it should have been because I didn't have enough real estate to get in 3 layers.  If I had to do it over I would probably make my skirt a bit longer in order to accommodate all 3 layers.  I still like the end result so no biggie!

Leggings
These are probably what I was most excited about on this project.  I love little baby leggings but I can't seem to find exactly what I want.  I had actually tried to find white leggings at the store without any luck.  I was very excited when I stumbled upon this tutorial for easy baby leggings from Make It Love It.  While the tutorial was very simple I was concerned about sewing with knit.  I have a pretty cheapo sewing machine and I was unsure if I could even sew on the fabric.  I made a bold move, bought a twin needle and just went for it.  Despite one complete baby fuss meltdown during a critical step everything went together super easy.  I will be making more of these.  They are very easy and I can get exactly what I want.

So not to toot my own horn but I am pleased with my first post baby craft (even if it did take a long time to complete). 

Add a few Easter eggs and bam...cutest Easter baby ever!

Time Was Ticking...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I think I sat down yesterday for the first time in 5 days.  The holidays are exhausting, especially if you are pregnant!

I somehow managed to throw together the ottoman "packages" before everyone came over to the house for soup and candy house making.  I really should have left this project for next year instead of trying to cram it in last minute but...

Slipcover Packages

Project Rankings
Difficultly - Easy
Frustration Level - Low
Makeability - 100% worth it!

Materials
Fabric
Ribbon
Bow

Warning! I just kind of threw these together not really caring if my seams were good or anything.  They are going to sit under my table for decoration so I didn't take any great pains.  If you are looking for a precise tutorial with perfect corners you came to the wrong place!

Step #1:
Measure the dimensions of what you want to cover and then add some extra for seam allowance.  You want your slipcovers to be pretty snug but not too snug that you can't get them on.  I ended up adding 1 inch to each of the sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance with left about 3/4's of give which seemed to work out great.

Step #2:
This is the hardest part especially if you don't have square ottoman's.  Lay out all of your pieces so that you know which sides connect to each other.  I actually got messed up (I am going to blame pregnant brain) and ended up having to rip out a ton of seams the first time I tried to assemble one of them.  I worked one side at a time pinning them together and then sewing with a 1/2 seam allowance.  I did leave about 1/2 inch open on each end of the piece.  This allows you to turn under the bottom edge to make it look nice.  It also allows you to piece together the corners.

Step #3:
When you get to a corner just kind of bunch and pin all of the pieces together (as shown in the picture and sew all the way to the edge to finish up your corner.

Step #4:
When you get to your last piece you may have to make an adjustment to make your slip cover a bit tighter.  I ended up sewing a 1 inch seam allowance for the final piece as 1/2 inch would have made the cover a bit sloppy.  Again this is a really rough decorative/non-function cover so I improvised.

Step #5:
Note:  I did not do this step but if you want a more finished look you can turn under all of your bottom edges and sew them.  I just kind of tucked mine under the ottoman for this year...maybe next year I will finish the seams (but probably not).

Step #6:
Put your bows on.  I crapped out an bought a bow for the top of my ottomans.  My bow making abilities leave a lot to be desired.  Done.

Fueling the Crazy

 

We are officially in Christmas crunch time. 

Cards have gone out, gifts have been purchased, some wrapping has been completed.  I was feeling pretty good about my progress... until yesterday when I went through my list of things I want to complete before we have a large number of people over to our house on Saturday for a Candy House and Soup Party. 

Most days the wife walks a very fine line between remaining in control of her craft urges and going overboard.  I often have to force myself to not over commit to craft projects. 

I have to recite the mantra...  There is only so much time in the day, that project doesn't have to get done it can wait until next year. 

If I don't I tend to get a bit panicky and go into super craft freak out mode where I wake up in the early morning hours to sew.

The husband is usually the one that has to remind me not to go overboard.

Usually...

So what does the loving husband tell his wife?  His wife that is semi-overwhelmed with the amount of nursery projects that remain undone...  His wife that is in her third trimester... His wife that has pretty much every weekend from now until February booked holiday activities, baby showers and birthing classes...

"You know what would be cool?  What if you sewed some Christmas fabric to pull over the ottoman's in the front room and then tied bows or something on them to make them look like packages."

Seriously?

I guess it was my own fault as I had asked him what he though we should do with the 2 ottomans we had previously made for the front room.  They are not very Christmas-ey and I didn't really know what to do with them.

I never actually thought he would give a suggestion let alone one that would require some crafting time.  It was, however, an amazing idea which I now have to act upon. 

I am powerless.  He fueled the crazy. 

I can no longer have people over to the house before I get these slipcovers done.  The idea is just too good.  

I mean how cute would that be?  Ottomans that look like presents......!  Wish me luck!

Holiday Time

This past holiday weekend Wood and Cloth took a break from the nursery and worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas related activities.

First up was cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  We actually go over to the husband's parents' house and have dinner with his family.  We do however like to have a bunch of leftovers so every year I make a full on feast for us to eat at home.  This includes a 16 pound turkey (yes it is only the 2 of us but don't forget we do have 3 pugs...) artichoke stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, rolls, frog eye salad (this is for the husband as the wife will not eat it), and a cherry pie.  This year I also got a bee in my bonnet that I wanted to do turkey stock and turkey noodle soup.  I think I forgot I was pregnant and maybe spending hours on my feet standing in the kitchen working on mounds of food was not a great idea.  Or maybe I was truly feeling my pregnancy cravings and baby girl wanted a ton of yummy turkey day related food.  Either way we ended up with a ton of food that we have slowly been working our way through since Thanksgiving.

It was a good thing that we had some much food as we burned a ton of energy and calories getting the house Christmas ready.  It was a bit of a challenge for me this year. It was hard for me not to be able to run bins of decorations up from the basement.  I could carry the lightweight things but after a few trips up and down I started to feel winded so the poor husband was left with the bulk of the work.  After all of the bins were upstairs in true Wood and Cloth tradition we put on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and started to deck our halls.

The husband and I have done a bunch of stupid DIY stuff over the years.  Sometimes the endeavour is stupid because we should have just purchased something and saved ourselves a bunch of trouble.  Sometimes it is idiotic because there is a chance of bodily harm (not usually death mind you).

One of these stupid activities is hanging 3 very large wreathes in our living room.  This year marks the third year of stupidity.  The first year involved the husband hand carrying the wreaths up a very tall and steep ladder and then swinging them into place.  We actually did have an incident that first year where the largest wreath fell down.  While no one was hurt we do have a pretty good scuff mark on the wall that we have left untouched to remind us of our moronic past.
The second year the husband got smart (well a bit smarter as if we were really smart we would not put up the wreathes in the first place).  The new plan involved rope and a pulley system.  The plan involved looping the rope around the wreath and the top rung of the ladder.  The wife would then pull the wreath up using the rope from the ground while the husband was on the ladder waiting to place the wreath into position.  This system was a success.  No wreaths plummeted to the floor and no husbands feel off of the ladder.

So for our third attempt we absolutely were going to use the rope method again.  One small problem.  The wife was no longer in the position to pull the wreath up.  This year the husband had to do the pulling until the wreath was up at the top of the ladder.  I then used my extra weight to hold onto the rope making sure the wreath didn't come down while the husband climbed the ladder to put the wreath in place.  Again no major incidents.  You will notice the "JOY" is a bit off but it was close enough.  I wanted to take pictures of the husband on the ladder and swinging the wreaths into place but that idea was quickly shot down as I was reminded about the husband's fear of heights and that he would like me to stay to steady the ladder.  Fair enough.

With the wreaths in place we went to work putting up the rest of the decorations.  It took me longer this year as I had to stop and take breaks quite frequently.  While I might like to think I can still do everything I did before I am about to start my third trimester and things are getting more difficult.
It took the better part of 2 days for me to get up all of the decorations. 

I couldn't help but think about how next year I will have a 9 month old to "help" me put up Christmas.  I might have to adjust some of my decorations as I am not sure that she will have the patience for Mom to hand tie with fishing line Christmas ball ornaments to the banisters... Next year I may just have to throw some tinsel around and call it good.

Very thankful...

No craft projects today.  The kitchen will soon be a disaster area filled with potato peels, turkey parts, and hopefully wonderful smells.

We are extra thankful and blessed this year for our little one on the way.  My 26 week appointment was yesterday and everything looks great and right on track.  Hopefully I passed my glucose test but seeing as I won't get my blood work back until after Thanksgiving I will be enjoying all of the yummy carbs and sugar just in case I won't be able to over Christmas.

Wood, Cloth and Baby wish you and yours a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fire, Fire Stay Away

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Thanks to all of the veterans and those service members currently in action.

I had a bunch of projects planned for some red, white, and blue fun but I just didn't get around to them.  I did get some fabric slapped on toilet paper rolls...no big whoop.

We, like most of the country have been battling high temperatures, a bunch of wind, and no rain.  That makes for tinder box conditions in the hills directly behind our house.  Almost 2 years ago we came very close to loosing our house when a wildfire came down the hill.  It burned three homes within 2 blocks from us and actually scorched our next door neighbor's back yard.  We had to evacuate and load our keepsakes and the pugs in the car.

Last week there was another fire in the foothills in our town.  We were a bit further removed this last time but the mandatory evacuation area cutoff was about a block from our house.  All of the smoke, orange sky and planes making water and retardant drops brought back a bunch of anxiety.

Then yesterday a very large wildfire broke out in a neighboring town...

As a result I am NOT looking forward to fireworks.  In fact I am so nervous about something catching fire tonight that the husband and I are turning down multiple party invites as I don't want to be away from home if something were to happen.  I want to make sure that we are here to get the dogs out if the unthinkable were to happen.

So please enjoy your 4th of July but if you are in an area with high fire danger please be careful and leave the fireworks to the professionals this year.

Wood and Cloth will be sitting on their deck with the sprinklers going in the yard watching the shows and hoping not to hear any fire sirens.

Cloth - Quick Project - Bunnies and Bunting

Did you know Easter is next week?  I have no idea how that happened and no one consulted me. 

I am ashamed to say that until a few days ago I still had up all of my St. Patty's day decorations.  I knew there was a reason why I never put up St. Patrick's day decs before.  There is no time between Valentine's Day and Easter! 

With visitor's coming for the weekend I had to get my keester in gear, take the leprechaun legs down, and get some bunnies up. 



Project #1: Spring Bunting

No big whoop here.  Fabric + Ribbon = Bunting

Project #2: Spring pictures for my frame gallery in the reading nook.

Project #3: Fabric Bunnies

Instructions for these super cute bunnies along with a pattern can be found from  The Long Thread for Etsy.


As you can see I ended up leaving the faces off of mine.  I was going for a bit more primitive feel.  I may end up putting faces on later...I can't decide.  They were originally designed to be used as bowling pins for a children's game but the weighted bottoms (I used beans instead of rice) make for nice stand-up decorations.

They came together really quick with low frustration which is a great quality in a last minute craft project.

Project Ranking:
Difficulty- Easy
Frustration - Low
Make-ability - 100% worth it

You won't be able to make just one...you know bunnies...if you make one you will end up with a bunch of them in the end.

Cloth-Quick Project-Ruffled Rainbow Pillow

While the husband was away playing tennis this past week I decided to spend the night with Roy G. Biv.

Scandalous!

I needed a splash of St. Patty's day color and cheer upstairs in the reading nook so a fun scrappy rainbow pillow seemed to fit the bill.

Project Ranking
Difficultly - Moderate
Frustration - Low
Makeability - 100% Worth It!


Materials
Rainbow Fabrics
*I used broadcloth but if you don't want it to fray so much you may want to use a bulkier type fabric like a good quality quilt cotton.
*To make the pattern as written below you will need 1 1/2 inch wide strips by 42 inch long for each of the colors you choose.  If you get 1/8 of a yard of each you will have extra material.
Backing Fabric (main body of the pillow)
*The pillow is 17 inches x 20 inches.  You will need 2 pieces of that size.
Quilt Batting (Optional)
*I used a very light weight linen fabric so I added a piece of batting to each linen panel.  When stuffing with Polyfill for pillows I have found adding the batting makes the pillow look less lumpy in the end.
Polyfill
Threads of various colors

Step 1: Cut your backing and batting fabrics (if desired).  You will need 2 of each at 17 x 20 inches.

Step 2: Cut your rainbow strips.  Each color will be 42 inches long x 1 1/2 inches.

Step 3: Prepare your rainbow fabric strips for gathering.  I use the 2 string method for making gathers.  If you have never gathered before it really is quite easy. 
First you will need to put your sewing machine on the longest stitch setting you have available.  Position your fabric strip the long way under your sewing foot (you will sew the 42 inches) and sew long straight stitches at a 5/8 inch seam.  Clip your strings.  Flip your strip around and sew another long straight stitch 5/8 on the other side as shown below.  Repeat for all colors.

NOTE:  A couple of tips when sewing the gathering stitch guides.  You do not need to sew using matching thread as you will be removing these threads later so any color will work.  As you will need something to hang onto when doing the gathering you will want to leave about 5 inches of length on each of your threads.  Also be sure NOT to put in a setting stitch or backstitch as you need to be able to pull the gathering stitch guides out later on.

Step 4: Find the middle of each of your sewed color strips.  Pinch the middle with your finger and gently pull both of your looser thread, typically the bobbin threads, so the fabric bunches up as seen below.  Bunch up the other side so the entire strip is bunchy (is that a word, is it spelled right?)

Step 5: Take one of your backing pieces.  You will be marking 3 dots. 
First mark is at 10 inches (on the 20 inch side) and 3 1/2 inches from the top.  This mark will be where you place the middle of the red strip.
Second mark is 2 inches from the right side and 4 inches from the bottom.  This is where the right side of the red strip of the rainbow will start.
Third mark is 2 inches from the left side and 4 inches from the bottom.  This is where the left side of the red strip of the rainbow will end.

Step 6: Pin the middle of the red strip at the mark you made.  Gently spread out your ruffles so that the ends of your strip hit the other 2 marks you made.  Pin the strip in a semi-circle pattern.  The red strip needs to go the furthest so you will need to adjust your ruffles so that you have enough length.  If you pull out too many of your gathers no problem.  You can always scrunch it back up again.

Step 7: Make sure your sewing machine is set back to your normal stitch length (back from the long stitch you used while making the gathering stitches). Sew down the middle of the 2 gathering stitches using a coordinating color of thread.  You will want to set these stitches as they are not coming back out.  Do NOT pull out the gathering stitches yet.

Step 8: Using the gathering stitch as a guide pin your next strip ~5/8 inch from each other.  Sew and pin each color.
NOTE:  You will end up with some extra length on each of your remaining color strips. You will only want to sew down your strips to the same point as your red strip.  You will cut of the extra later. 

Step 9: Gently pull out your guide stitches by pulling the at the bobbin threads.  I will say this was a bit tricky because of the curves in the strips.  When in doubt whip out your seam ripper.

Step 10: Cut off the bottoms of your strips so they are all the same length.

Step 11: Pin your batting (if using) to the back of each of the backing pieces (one will have your rainbow on it).

Step 12: Pin your backing pieces right sides together and stitch using ~5/8 seam allowance.  Make sure you leave yourself at least 4-5 inches of opening to turn your pillow out.  Clip any excess seam and clip your corners.

Step 13: Turn out your pillow and poke out your corners using a bamboo stick.

Step 14: Stuff to desired fluffiness with Polyfill and sew your opening closed.

Now all you need is a pot of gold!

Wood & Cloth-Project Update-Projects! Projects! Projects!

As often happens we don’t get nearly as much accomplished in a weekend as we think we will.  As I posted we had great plans for our President’s day weekend.  Some things got done, some didn’t.

No big whoop.

Analysis of productivity:

Projects Started:  60%
Projects Completed: 40%
Percentage of initiated projects seen to completion: 66%
Cloth projects completed: 40%
Wood projects completed: 50%
Wood & Cloth projects completed: 33%
Percentage increase in new projects added to the list after the blog posting: 30%

I know..I'm a nerd.

Mystery Project #6

Okay so this project was pretty lame we painted a door.  However when that project has been on your "To Do" list forever it feels like a pretty big accomplishment.  Sometimes you need to make a big deal out of small victories.

With the study remodel phase 2 completed it is nice to have the door actually match the room!

Mystery Project #7

If you read the last post you know that these socks turned into some cute Leprechaun table legs.  If you didn't read the post what are you waiting for....link on over!

Mystery Project #9

Not an earth shattering project but another one that had been on the list a long time.  I spray painted a paper mache pineapple.  It still counts as a project and a completion.

I actually picked up this paper mache beauty at a garage sale last summer for 5 cents.  When the husband saw me carrying it around the sale he thought I was nuts but I insisted it fit into my vision for the study.  He liked it because on Psych they used to hide a pineapple in the background of the show during one of the scenes and asked viewers to try and find it.  Maybe we will have to take turns moving the pineapple around the house for the other to find.  Or maybe it will just sit in the study looking pretty...

Mystery Project #10

Not all projects are glamerous and fun.  Some projects just have to get done.  Wood & Cloth took a break from some of the fun stuff in order to do a much needed mop down of all of our tile.  Sometimes it takes doing one of your "have to" projects to enjoy working on your "want to" list.

Cloth-Quick Project-Valentine Barcode Love Notes

Times they are a changing…. Terms like “Tweet Me” and “Text Me” are now conversation heart staples.  Don’t waste your time looking for a “Mail Me” heart.  Unless there is an “e” in front you won’t find one.   So either I can get out my fuddy-duddy clothes and join the ranks of the “back when I was growing-up there was only one flavor of conversation heart and they all said love” or I can get with the times and whip up some high tech Valentine’s.

I do realize using the word fuddy-duddy automatically puts me into the old person category.  Moving on…

Pretty much everyone has access to a barcode scanner today in the form of a phone or touch device app.  Combine that with the fact that there are multiple websites which allow you to generate your own barcode messages and you get a fun way to encode secret love messages to your hubby or kids.  

There are multiple free sites on the web that code different kinds of barcodes.  This is the one I used  http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/qr/  I used the “qr” format as I thought they looked cooler than the line barcodes.  You will want to check your barcode app to make sure it can read the format you pick before you print a bunch.

Love Note Ideas

*Place a note at the breakfast table
*Tuck a note inside backpack/work bag/briefcase/gym bag.
*Fill a bowl with notes and let your special person pick one.
*Make valentine coupons (good for one backrub, one extra hour of TV)
*Lead your valentine on a scavenger hunt to a hug/kiss/chocolate

Project Ranking
Difficulty - Easy
Frustration - Low
Makeability - 100% Worth It

Cloth - Quick Project - Fabric Valentine Heart Basket Filler

The house always looks so bare when the Christmas decorations are finally put away.  Thankfully Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  I don't really go crazy with decorating for Valentine's Day but I do like to put a few things here and there.

Most people have at least one "basket" around the house that they fill with either decorative balls or potpourri.  This is a simple project to upgrade your basket with some red and pink cheer.

Supplies:

*Assorted Valentine fabrics (Remember you will need to cut a front and back piece.)
*Polyfill
*Heart patterns in various sizes (I did a big one and a small one)
*Thread
*Sewing machine (optional).  I stiched mine using my sewing machine and a zig-zag stich for a little bit of a primitive feel but you could easily just stitch them up by hand.

No real instructions here just remember to leave yourself a hole so you can stuff the polyfill in!