holiday countdown: a quick(ish) gift that is (almost) too pretty to share and a giveaway!

My new motto is have sweaters will make something...I may have mentioned this before but I am not a knitter. I knit as well as I use chop sticks and let's just say you might not wanna sit with me when I am attempting to slurp up pho (i once threw a pair of chopsticks clear across an eatery, on purpose. I was frustrated). So, to assuage my lack of yarn art capabilities I have been looking to wool sweaters to see what I can come up with. Earlier this week I was in Anthropologie and saw these gorgeous crocheted headbands (I can't find them on the website, sorry) complete with flowers and I thought, hey...I can hack this and so I did.

What you need:
*wool sweaters that have been felted
*needle & thread (or machine)
*tape measure or ruler if you need specifics
*scissors

You can use one sweater or many depending on whether or not you want a monochromatic look or something a wee bit more colorful. Me? I went with color. Either way, you are gonna end up with four parts. Mix and match, you choose. Firstly, you will need a long strip at least 20" long and 4" wide. This will be your band. Sweaters stretch so make sure you cut it a wee bit smaller than you need. This is where the tape measure comes in handy.Now, you will need two smallish squarish pieces, these will be the bulk of your flower. Cut them into flower shapes, one smaller than the other. Set aside.
For the center of the flower you will need a thin strip of sweater at least six inches long and one inch wide. Pop it onto your machine and do a long running along the length of one long end. Hold one end of thread and tug a little to get your strip to curl up and ruffle a bit. It will look a little like a rosebud. Shape it to your liking and with a needle and thread tack it in shape and then stitch to the remaining to flower pieces that have been stacked with the smaller piece on top. You can wait to do this part and do it all at once as you stitch the flower to the band. Your choice.Fold your band in half, right (preferred) side facing in. Stitch the ends closed either by hand using a wip stitch or by machine using a zig-zag. Turn it right side out and decided where you want your flower to be in relation to the seam. I placed my flowers about 8" away. Depending on how you wear the band your flower may be worn up above one ear or down below the other. Versatile! Handstitch your flower to your band, put on some happy lipstick and dazzle your do with your headband and have a great day! Oh...or you can make up a bunch and give them as gifts this holiday season. I'm kinda having a hard time deciding. You probably wouldn't wear one if I gave it to you anyway, would you? Would you? Leave a comment telling me how you would wear your happy headband and I'll pick two delightful persons to receive one of their own. Thanks for stopping by!alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415994174663585490" />I'll pick the winners on Saturday and mail yer goodies out to ya on Monday...stay tuned!

wreath happy

i entered my wreaths in a contest at Dollar Store Crafts. Will you vote for me! I'm numbers 19 & 20...but vote for yer favorites, okay?

the week in review: dec 7-13

cleaning, crafting, and hiding from the rain...oh and new hair, happy december!

delightful dillydilly

did you know i made a book of happy pics available on lulu for you to enjoy? it's not very big but it's as full as i could make it of bright and happy colors. it's a dilly it is and if you hop on over now you could get twenty-five percent off! (code HOHOHO) here's a sneak of some of the happy:

holiday countdown: stitch a wee tree

my mother passed away ten years ago this month (this weekend marks the anniversary) and she loved christmas more than rolos and she really liked them rolos. cleaning out her home was heartbreaking and trying and simply difficult for many reasons. too many to write about now. somehow, during all that cleaning and the going through of her things, her holiday goodies; handmade, vintage and thrifted all vanished somewhat. the ornaments have flown the coop, and her santas probably fled to the local Goodwill. i do have the felt christmas tree skirt she stitched up in 1959 for her first christmas as a married woman and my brother has her wind up toy sleigh but here is and was much more that we no longer have and while it breaks my heart when i think about it i have decide to recreate and channel her crafty powers to capture christmas once again for me, myself & i (and mr. a-go-go).

family traditions tend to hold tight in our hearts, so even if i no longer have the handmade items from my childhood i can recreate them with a twist and tickle. here is my take on the crazy felt christmas tree adorned with sequined ornaments and tucked into its very own wooden frame (sis, do you have this?). this project will hopefully use what you may already have on hand and if you don't it gives you an excellent excuse to go thrifting.

you will need:
*large embroidery hoop
*fat quarter of a happy print
*felted sweater
*small piece of felt
*needle & thread
*sewing machine
*scissors
*buttons and/or beads

i seem to be a magnet for embroidery hoops of all sizes and luckily enough i had an excellent vintage hoop about the size of a 77 LP just itching to be all holidazed-up. so the first thing you need to do is get yerself a fat quarter of yer favorite print. a small print works best. iron it out as best as you can and lay it out on your workspace.

cut out a rectangle of felted sweater, you will want it to fit in your hoop space but not fill it. fold it in half and pin in place.draw a half tree shape (or a triangle if you wanna make it super simple) outward from the fold and cut along your drawn line.remove pins an open. ta-da! you have your tree! trim it a bit for your desired shape.
place hoop over your fabric and center your tree on top of fabric within the hoop.pin into place (use a lot of pins, the felty goodness moves a lot when you stitch it) and stitch onto your fabric with your machine. you can do this by hand if you're already too comfy on yer sofa.fit your happy tree/fabric combo into your hoop. pull taught and admire. gather your buttons and play around until you find a color combo you like. get comfy and stitch them on. you can stitch them on with one long thread that zig-zags all over the back. no one should be looking at the back and i won't tell. trim excess fabric around hoop or glue it in place out of sight. you can also glue the fabric to the hoop if you like.cut out a stem from a piece of felt and tack that on as well. finish your tea and find a happy place to hang, that's it! yer done! now go pick up some more hoops and make yourself an entire forest! oh and you can always paint the hoop as well. happy crafting and happy december!

holiday countdown: upcycled christmas tree on Craftzine.com

i have always wanted to make a Christmas tree from an umbrella and now I finally have. twirl on over to Craftzine.com to see how I did it and to make your own! happy december!

Holiday Countdown: loverly wrapped bottles

Dance on over to the 'do to see how! Happy Holidays!

christmas countdown: phonebook wreath redux

Last year I wrote up a recycled wreath tutorial on scrumdilly-do using a cereal box, paint and a couple of pages from an old phone book. Here's a "grown-up" version that'll dazzle you to smiles...I hope!


You will need:
*white paint
*white/frosty glitter
*scissors
*1-3 pages from an old phonebook
*white glue
*cardboard (cereal box)
*large bowl & smaller bowl (these will be your templates)
*pen or pencil
*paperclip, picture hanger or pop tab from a beverage can
*exacto knife (optional)

The first thing you will need to do is paint up a couple of pages of your phone book. I'm using white but it goes without saying that you can use any color you wish. Sprinkle a happy dose of glitter onto your wet pages and set aside to dry.Grab a semi-large piece of cardboard, poster board or a large cereal box and flatten it out if it hasn't been flattened yet. This will be the base of your wreath. Get your bowl and trace around the outside edge to create your template. Next, center your smaller bowl and trace.Cut out large circle and cut out the smaller circle inside. Ta-da! You have a wreath...or a very large and skinny donut, you decide.Paint your wreath template white and set aside to dry. This is just in case you poop out on filling in your wreath and little bits peek through. You can skip this is you feel a glue frenzy coming on.Cut your now dry painted phonebook pages into smallish squares about 2" (5cm) square.Cover your template in glue and get ready to channel your inner arty child. Take a square and crumple it just a bit around the eraser end of a pencil and plop it onto your frame. Continue until your wreath is as full as you imagined.Add any other embellishments you would like such as a bow, pinecone or what have you, hang and admire. Get the wreath making bug and make a rainbow of them spreading even more glitter throughout your home. I would love to see your take on this project. Will you keep me posted?

the week in review: nov 30-dec 6

i cannot lie. i spent way too much time, mug o tea in hand, gazing out the window watching all the birdies in the garden. you put in one little birdbath and you becomes the hottest garden on the block. i am enchanted by their antics and feel that if it were not for mr. a-go-go and me only owning one cat i would be a finger snap away from being an old cat lady. maybe if i keep myself in stripey goodness and such i won't be so bad. besides, who woulda thunk there could be so many nifty birds in Hollywood? anyway, i watched a lot of birds this week. i baked a little, drank enormous amounts of tea and managed to write up to tutorials. there was a leetle bit of cleaning and a couple of visits to the doctor, two flu shots, one camera up the nose (NOT FUN) and a zillion pills later i'm still here kicking around. we even plotted out a tamale walk but ended up slurping up giant bowls of pho instead. a pretty good week, if i do say so myself. check out the pic on my flickr page for a wee bit more info if ya like. happy december!

i'm off to walk the neighborhood in search of something to stand on. it's pouring out, no driving for me!