Gifts for little ones, made by (not quite as) little ones.

My sister had a baby boy recently, so I finally have a nephew!  Yippee!!!  In our family, there is me and my two sisters.  I have three girls, my middle sister has three girls and now my youngest sister, bucking the trend, gave us a little boy.  How lucky are we???

My girls wanted to make this wee little one some nautical themed gifts.  My sister is very cool, has a great sense of style and might work for one of the most amazing fashion companies ever.  She puts me to shame she’s so fancy.  Needless to say, she can buy anything for that baby boy, but we all know here she would love handmade over anything bought.

Here is what the girls made:

Annabelle made a pot of lobsters. The lobsters are made from Michael Miller fabric, backed with red twill.  The pot is made from heavy duty canvas and it’s lined with fusible fleece which made it sturdy and very pot-like.  Annabelle did a great job, the whole idea was hers and I think the execution is great.

Millie made a Mama fish, fashioned from her favorite pink sweater, and some babies from my sisters sweater.  How sweetly sentimental is that?  Millie made her own pattern for the fish and they are part machine an d part hand-sewn.   Millie is a sweetheart and she worked hard on those fishy eyes!

The thing I like about this best is the pride the girls have in making something unique, that’s from the heart.  They love their Auntie and now they love that baby!!!

What did I make?  A baby quilt of course!  How cool is that orange and blue lobster fabric?  I did a really easy strip quilt, though to be honest it took me forever!  And I can’t figure out why since really, shouldn’t this have been super easy?  I mean, it’s all straight lines!

And because I wanted my sister to have something sort of  ”girly” for her, I made her a matching necklace from the quilt fabric.  She loves it and it can double as a teether.  I’ll post a tutorial on how to make the necklace soon, it was easy and I got to use my fabric scraps.

Congratulations to my beautiful sister and brother inlaw on their beautiful baby boy!

PS) I KNOW.  That owl is OUT of control cool. I covet that owl.

Egg dying with silk ties, it's EASY.

Reblogged from Liz Noonan:

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Okay, pictures as promised! To do this all you do is

1) cut up a silk tie
2)wrap the egg w/the silk print "good side" touching the shell, close off w/elastic band or tie off w/twine - I did the elastic bc I'm a little lazy.

3) wrap the silk covered egg in some kind of cotton, I used old scraps of anything I had lying around and then tie that off or wrap w/elastic, again, I did the lazy route.

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Egg dying with silk!

Naturally dying eggs

Reblogged from Liz Noonan:

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We wanted to try dying eggs naturally over here after reading about it here.  We opted to go with the cold method of dying since it would take many turns at the stove and I wanted the girls to be able to do it themselves.

For the beets, blueberries, tomato, tumeric and blackberries we boiled them first.  I used about a handful of each to a 2 quart saucepan.  

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Naturally dying eggs!

How I made those bunnies

Reblogged from Liz Noonan:

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Some of you asked how I made those cute little finger puppets.  I used this tutorial from PurlBee with a few adjustments.  I sewed on little arms to hold things and made more, shall we say, fancy, bunny bums.

The little carrots were hand felted and finished off with wool crewel thread.  Those bouquets were vintage millinery items from my collection, finished off with some washi tape.

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Easter bunny finger puppets! A great tutorial from the purl bee!

Cashmere Bunny Remake tutorial, just in time for Easter crafting!

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Well, perhaps you've been looking at my Facebook page, and you see I've been crafting my husbands old sweaters into little bunnies for my nieces and daughters.  I've promised you I'd make a tutorial, so here you go!  I will warn you - I am a very ad hoc person - I don't measure, I live for the moment of making and also I love the freedom to alter things as I go.  

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My Cashmere Bunny Remake Tutorial, for you DIYers looking for a little sweater remake for Easter!

Cute and Quick! Valentines Day Tutorial over on Whip Up

Reblogged from Liz Noonan:

Come check out a very easy and cute Valentine Tutorial I wrote for Whip Up today!  You can see it here http://whipup.net/2012/02/02/guest-post-stuck-on-you-valentine/

Valentines Day is on the way, thought I'd share this great tute I did for WhipUp last year. It's a great way to combine Vday with a class donation. Enjoy!

2013

We are settling in over here slowly…slowly.  We have moved room to room deciding what to keep, what to change, what to paint, who sleeps where, etc.  There is so much to love about our new home.  It is so quiet here.  My driveway is bigger than any yard I’ve ever had, ever, growing up.  I look out my window and I see trees.  I can see a neighbor or two but not close enough to see IN my home or theirs.  I was unsure of how I would feel about that.  There is a certain coziness in urban life, buzzing that hums and makes you feel safe.  Being in an area with room used to make me feel like I needed to find some pavement, fast!  But now I am enjoying the peace and feel relaxed.  And I am seeing the gift of having neighbors with space in between and even though we are not close in proximity, we can feel close all the same.  One of my neighbors rode her bicycle to deliver homemade bread for Christmas.  That made me feel warm, welcome and a part of something.  I feel like I can begin now and maybe not move from this spot for some time.  That’s new for me.  I’ve never settled in one spot but I think I can do it and feel good about it.  Growing roots, that’s what I’m doing.

In fact, right now, I am writing this from. my. studio.  Okay, maybe not STUDIO maybe it’s part guest room, part studio.  I unpacked and put away a lot of things, my husband built shelves for me and I can finally see what I have and sit and make a thing or two.  This space is shared, but there is a door here and it can be quiet and maybe I can write more and MAKE more.

Fingers crossed.  Thank you for still coming by even with all the quiet.  New good things are coming this year friends, for you as well I hope.

Peace,

Liz