11.14.10
Painting
10.31.10
Halloween Festivities & Kid Crafts
We’re getting excited for trick-or-treating tonight! But the festivities have been going on for a couple of weeks. Highlights:
Halloween fun at friend Vivian’s second birthday.
Pumpkin-carving party last Saturday
A ghost craft Jax and I did last night:
I asked if he wanted to glue black “eyes” on, and he enthusiastically asked for several, attaching them to the bottom.
Jax made this cute spiderweb at preschool.
The two of us made this bat last night. Tracing around his hands is something Jax loves to do, and he practiced cutting to make the border.
09.20.10
Cock-a-doodle-TWO!
We had a wonderful time celebrating Jax’s second birthday at Muscoot Farm. Over a dozen other kids along with their parents joined in the fun. Since my talented sister, Monica, was in town, as well as my mom, the baker extraordinaire, we went a little crazy with the crafts and decor. Some people go to the gym or watch movies. Us? we stay up until midnight gluing felt to make a farm scene and devising ways of creating frosting of varying shades of brown “dirt.” Poor Jax.
Here are the craftastic highlights!
The invitation (created in minutes on kodakgallery.com using a July 4th template):
First, we had a craft table set up where the kids glued fuzzy balls of various colors to sheep silhouettes cut out of cereal boxes. We also had paper glasses to embellish with feathers.
Then it was time for the pre-lunch hayride!
We kept lunch simple by ordering party heros from the local Italian deli. Twelve feet of sandwich, three feet each of four kinds. Even 40 people couldn’t get through half of the sandwich slices. Now we know.
{Sources: animal plates, recycled plastic plates, wooden silverware, recycled napkins}
The cake:
Yes, there is a huge problem of scale here. Where you see the little tractor was supposed to be a wooden “2″ in place of a candle. I forgot the number and we had to improvise. Cake Wrecks here we come!
We tried to have many activity options for all the kids. In addition to the craft table, I made a farm scene out of felt, with removable animals the kids could rearrange.
Of course, we also had a mini farmer’s market. It turned out to be a hit with the kids to grab a market bag and “shop”:
I made the canvas market bags out of a drop-cloth I bought at the hardware store and some ribbon from the craft store. I made 16 in all, but with one drop cloth probably could have made another 16. They are really, really easy to make using these instructions. The most time-consuming part was attaching the handles, and I think that was because I went overboard reinforcing them. I would estimate they took about 8-10 minutes each.
Inside each favor bag was a little wooden tractor from Etsy seller TnTWoods, which is based in Wisconsin and wonderful to work with (we created a custom order of 16 toy tractors.)
Highlights from the festivities:
…and a very happy birthday boy!
08.13.10
Summer Projects
It’s been quite a summer for us and I finally have about a week of downtime before my postdoc position begins. I am determined to finish the projects I’ve daydreamed about while finishing my writing and letting the house and yard and sweet little Jax fend for themselves!
Some of these took more time than others. Some things we’ve been working on:
A little project for my little nephew. I’m not finished yet so I can’t reveal any more about it!
New fabric roller shades I made using this tutorial on Design*Sponge.
I made this craft table and chair set from found items and decoupaged scrapbook paper. The only issue we’ve had is that because I used non-toxic milk paint, the finish is not very durable. You can see from the multicolored stains that we’ve done a lot of various painting projects!
A 5-minute craft organizer for under $10: That’s an inexpensive towel rod from Home Depot, some industrial S hooks, and metal buckets found for a dollar. If you wanted to make it a 30 minute project, you could paint it to match the decor. We’re all about function for the moment!
We also had a momentous month, with my finishing my dissertation and Seth contributing to the cover story of the current issue of Fortune. Whee!
Seth’s cover is cooler than mine.
There he is! In print!
06.19.10
Flower Hair Clip Giveaway Winners
We have our winners!
Commenter #12, Mary, who thought “Carnival” would look cute on her granddaughter.
Commenter #10, Sara, who had many favorites, but particularly liked the country-looking flower prints that would match her wardrobe.
Commenter #3, Lucia, whose daughter has strawberry-themed outfits to match “Petite Fraise.”
I know I said there’d be three winners, but taking the above clips out of the pile still left me with more than I can use at the moment, so I doubled the fun and picked three more:
Commenter #4, Stacy, whose daughter will wear “La Vie en Rose Encore” for the 4th of July
Commenter #7, Emily, who picked one of my personal favorites, “Deauville” inspired by the beaches and umbrellas of that French city.
Commenter #5, Alyson, whose vintage style will soon be accessorized by “Vintage Floral” and “Belle Epoque.”
I’ll e-mail you for your mailing addresses. If you don’t hear from me before seeing this post, feel free to e-mail me at rachel (at) craftyrachel.com.
But wait! There’s more! Winners, let me know if you like any of the following new styles instead and I’m happy to send your new choice instead of the original one.
#11 + #12: Just Beachy, Big and Small
#13 + #14: Fête d’été, Big and Small
#15: Golden Girls
#16: Georgia
Thanks to all who commented. I appreciate the feedback! Happy weekend.
06.16.10
Old Chair, New
My latest before and after:
This is a classic chair update, nothing too fancy or unusual here, but it’s so quick and easy, I thought I’d photograph the process and encourage others to take on a similar project. You can do this in an afternoon (including drying time), and the actual active time is only about an hour or so. That means that instead of taking coffee/snack breaks, just take a quick painting break and it really takes no time at all.
Before: We picked up these two chairs at a now-closed antique shop in Cold Spring. I think we paid around $10 each and the seller believed them to be from the 1920s. They were cool and rustic-looking, but had some issues, one of which was smelling kind of stale. I knew those chair pads had to go.
The wooden parts are pretty beat up, especially in the cut-out backing and around the bottom where feet have weathered away the corners.
So let’s get going! First, I took off the seat, which was really easy. I turned the chair over and just had to unscrew four screws.
Next, I sanded it down so that the paint would adhere better.
I used white furniture paint and brushes, but would probably recommend a spray paint for an object with so many nooks and crannies.
The first coat will look terrible, but after 3 coats, it wasn’t looking too bad. I let it dry about an hour in between coats.
While the paint was drying, I dealt with the seat. See how there are 2 layers of fabric? That checkered layer is actually a napkin from Pier I. I figured it out as I took it apart: its still had its original tag with a $3.50 price. The orange layer is probably original, and below that was that old-school stuffing that just falls apart. I’m not sure what it’s made of. Animal hair of some sort? Anyway, I pulled out all of the staples and upholstery tacks and got down to the wooden base.
All clean and ready for new padding.
I just took the wooden seat to a sewing store that cuts foam to size and had a new foam pad (2 inches thick) in minutes. I discovered a place that does this only minutes from our house, so this was really an easy step in the process.
I measured the old fabric for size. I figured I needed a square about 22 inches wide.
So I measured my new fabric and laid the foam and seat on top to make sure I was giving myself enough clearance for the new pad height. I think most upholsterers use more than just the foam padding in this process: they would at least add a layer of batting to the top, but I was keeping it quick and simple.
By the way, the fabric is a Japanese print I found at Purl Soho a few months ago (no longer available there) and bought specifically for this project, since it has a heavier canvas-like Weight. It’s by Nani Iro for Kokka and called “Antique Label.”
I used these tacks to attach the new fabric to the seat with a hammer. One package contains 24, but I actually needed 28, so I used some of the really old upholstery tacks I recovered from the old padding and used them on some of the parts that wouldn’t show as much (not that any really show being underneath.)
I used the same technique to do this as you would to stretch a canvas: Start in the middle on one side, then the middle on the other. Then turn 90 degrees and tack the middle right and middle left. Work this way slowly extending to the corners, leaving the corners for last.
All attached.
Now all I had to do was reattach the seat to the chair with the four screws I had taken out at the beginning.
Done!
06.14.10
Heritage Crafts Day at Van Cortlandt Manor
The rain couldn’t keep us from having a picnic by the river and then checking out the Heritage Crafts day at Van Cortlandt Manor. The event showcased crafts like dying wool, making butter, working with tin, blacksmithing, and open air cooking. It seems all we do each weekend is visit some sort of historic farm or museum! When you’ve got a toddler who gets excited about a haystack, and you’ve got a membership to Historic Hudson Valley, it’s really a no-brainer.
Walking down the hill to the picnic grounds.
Throwing stones into the river.
The blacksmith demonstration.
Was the sausage in the foreground there as decor or was it their lunch?
Playing the triangle.
Abercrombie & Fitch pose.
Jax interrupted his run to the hay to point out the “airplane sky” he probably thought didn’t fit in with the 17th-century surroundings.
New favorite game: jumping or falling down objects or stairs to be caught. He’s very trusting!
06.11.10
Home-made Finger Paint
I’ve made my own playdough before and it is a really easy project. But finger paint seemed so much more difficult! I don’t know why. If you have the patience to stand over a stove for 15-20 minutes stirring, then you can make the stuff. It’s just about time and having corn starch in the cupboard. Sheesh.
Three recipes can be found here. I used the first one, which was basically: combine 1/2 cup cornstarch, 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp sugar in a pan and stir over medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes, until it becomes a thick, almost gelatinous substance. Let it cool completely, then divide into jars and add food coloring. We made three colors using 15 drops of yellow, 15 of red, and 10 of blue.
Then we took it outside along with a bunch of brushes and a big piece of cardboard (white on one side!) and tried it out. It was a huge hit! Bonus: it washes right off and seems to clean easily from clothing, too.
Flower Hair Clip Giveaway
I’ve never done a blog giveaway before (I’ve never had a reason to), but I’ve been making so many of these clips in between dissertation edits and starting a new professional blog (more on that later – it’s not ready for public scrutiny yet!), that these things are starting to pile up. They really don’t take very long at all to make, but if you’re not into figuring it out, here’s your chance to have one anyway!
I’m going to give a bunch of these away, one larger clip or 2 smaller clips each to three different commenters. Just comment on this post by midnight Eastern Time, Friday, June 18 and tell me which one(s) you like best, and to what fun summer activity it/they will be worn. If the flowery frufru isn’t your thing, think about a young girl you know who might have fun with one of these. The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere (that means international commenters, too!), so why not? If more than one winner chooses the same clip design, I’ll just make a duplicate. I have piles of these fabrics and a jar full of buttons. Also, feel free to let me know if there are different color/fabric/button combinations that you’d rather see.
I don’t think I’ll have the time to open up an etsy shop anytime soon, but I am curious to know which ones people like, for hand-made holiday gifts and the like. The ones with two fabrics measure about 8cm wide, and the smaller, single-fabric ones are around 5cm. I may add a bunch more after this weekend, so I’ll verify with the winners which one(s) they prefer, in case they change their minds if the options expand. In the mean time, feel free to comment away!
#1: A Little Bit Country
#2: La Vie en Rose
#3: Deauville
#4: La Vie en Rose Encore
#5: Carnival
#6: Pinks and Purples
#7: Vintage Floral
#8: Belle Époque
#9: Petite Fraise
#10: Prairie
06.07.10
DIY Yo-yo Flower Hair Clips
Sometimes I dream of making a whole blanket out of fabric yo-yos. The technique is so quick and easy and it can make even old scraps of cothing look cute and cheerful. The reality is that it would take hundreds of yo-yos to make such a thing, and knowing myself, I’d lose steam after barely finishing a quarter of them.
These flower clips are a great way to use yo-yos with almost instant gratification. You can make them out of any fabric you can hand-sew a needle through, and it’s a great way to use up scraps and random buttons you have laying around.
The variations are endless: you can layer several yo-yos of varying sizes, or just keep it simple and use only one. Instead of a clip, they could be made into pins or attached to headbands or off-center on the neckline of a boring blouse. I think they would be great gifts for a young girl, especially in the summer.
I’ve photographed the process and tried to create an easy explanation of how to make these. Let me know if you need any further clarification, and do share if you’ve tried it yourself!
DIY Yo-yo Flower Hair Clips
Step 1: Cut out your circles. You’ll need two different sizes for this version. I used a CD and the lid of a food container. I cut out a bunch of each size and play around with the fabric combinations once I have several.
Step 2: Make your yo-yos. Heather Bailey has an excellent tutorial for this.
Psst: you don’t even need to iron the fabric first!
Pull….
Tie a knot to secure shut.
Step 3: Repeat to create a smaller yo-yo. When you pull the smaller one tight, make a knot but do not cut the thread. Using the thread, attach a button to the center of the yo-yo. I used this little strawberry one, which makes it look more sweet and child-like. A much larger button has a more funky effect. After attaching the button, make a knot in the back of the yo-yo, but still do not cut the thread.
Step 4: Attach the smaller yo-yo to the larger one by sewing into the middle of the larger yo-yo.
You now have two needles and to threads coming out of the back of the larger yo-yo.
Step 5: Tie the two threads together several times to secure. Cut one of the threads now (I did this a little out of order in the photos, which is why the second thread still appears in the 2 following photos.)
Step 6: Take a clip and lay it on top of the back of the yo-yo.
Step 6: Attach the clip to the yo-yo in three places on the clip, beginning in the middle. Cut the thread after securing each spot and re-knot it to begin the next. Technique:
First stick the needle into the yo-yo, under the bottom of the clip. Stick it back out just below the top part of the clip (photo above). Pull tight.
Now stick the needle into the top of the top part of the clip and stick it out on the top border of the bottom part of the clip (photo above).
Repeat until you’ve secured both the top and the bottom about three times.
Voila! Wear in a variety of ways, to accent a messy bun (like the photo at the beginning of this post), or just clip to one side to keep whispy hair out of your eyes. You can’t go wrong and you’ll feel instantly accessorized.
