12 Days of Craftmas #4: The Treasure Map

I can't take credit for this one. My niece Leila is obsessed with maps right now so my sister let me in that it would be a great present. So i really just got some canvas fabric i already had and some magic markers. I put all the houses she would know and a few other landmarks. 

Then of course add some pink fabric and some ribbon and you have a cherished
Treasure Map!
Time: 1 hour
Cost: $0.00

12 Days of Craftmas #3:The Personalized Undershirt

So what do you get Dad?

My dad always asks for the same practical gift: Undershirts.

What can i do with that? I just got a stencil and some fabric paint and tried to think of things that would make him smile. My dad is notorious for silly sayings usually accompanied by silly voices and also accompanied with lyrics. There were too many to choose from...

When we were kids we had routines like eating waffles on every Sunday morning. My dad would feed them to me and my sister on his knees always announcing which ones were 'Butter Bites'.

One game we played as kids was where we would go in the living room and get run over by my dad rolling around on the floor making machine noises and saying 
'Steam Roller'.  

My dad pernounces Birthday, Birfday. silly. especially when he says it during a prayer and we all crack up.  

My dad also made every 3 syllable phrase a song. Apple Juice was the song i remember the most. 

These made my dad really really happy.  
Time: 1 hour
Cost: about $10.00 

12 Days of Craft-mas #2: Starbucks Reusable Sleeve

I thought i would begin with a simple one...this is s simple 30 minuet gift anyone can make. My sister is Lesley- (hints the L) is addicted to Starbucks so this was perfect for her. I honestly just made it, but if your interested here is a blog tutorial that looks similar. http://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2010/02/reusable-coffee-sleeve-tutorial.html  

   

 

Time:30 Minuets
Cost: $0.00

12 Days of Craft-mas:1-The Jekyll/Hyde Jacket

 There are aspects of Christmas that I truly hate. I hate it's creepy nature, how it sneaks into stores before thanksgiving, basically I hate the part of Christmas that focuses on stuff. After getting debt free and listening to many people who are in debt, it's crazy how much stuff consumes our lives. Then we have to buy more stuff to hold how much stuff we have. Plus, I SUCK at Christmas shopping. It makes me nervous. I'm a panicky mess. walk around stores willing to sell my soul if I could divine if my sister will like that shirt.

So this year I decided to make all my gifts.

The funny thing is that while I wanted to make my gifts last year when we were getting out of debt for monetary reasons, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Too embarrassed. Somehow the fact that I HAD money this year emboldened me. So I did it. I decided to make everything from as much 'already owned' materials as possible. I get to donate the money I saved to Jesus!

I would not suggest you make this decision within the month of December. Bad Idea.

So I wanted to blog my 12 days of Craftmas. I have 12 major gifts to make. So far I have absolutely LOVED IT. I love thinking and experiencing my gifts to my family. Problem is I cannot post most of them till after Christmas because my family is sweet and reads my blog, possibly the only people who read my blog. Don't want to ruin the Christmas surprise!

Day 1. Soren- Jekyll/Hyde Jacket

I decided to make Soren a coat. I got it from a book called 'Sewing for Boys'. A really cute book I got from the Library. It has some great stuff in it.I decided to change up the design to make it one of a kind. First of all I wanted to make it reversible and add a hood!

Then I decided to make one side look nice and put together with a wool plaid pattern and welt pockets.

I wanted to make the other side casual and silly. 
Animal ears are always a must at my house.

The brown wool was leftover scraps and the fleece was an old blanket with a hole in it. 

Cost: $4.50 (buttons)

Time: 1 1/2 Hours

          

Fall Fresh Veggies and Collards Greens

The Garden is winding down. Three weeks ago we had our first frost, it was my Garden's very first frost and I watched all my Basil, Pepper, and Tomatoes plants turned brown overnight. I was impressed that cold could damage a plant THAT quickly.There is plenty of fall crops that survive cold snaps: Cabbage, Lettuce, Kale, Perennial Herbs, Radishes, Carrots, Broccoli, and Cauliflower.

Carrots & Radishes. There are still things to pick and eat. I have Carrots and Radishes, planted from seed and forgotten and now are magically ready to add nourishment to out family.. Radishes tops and bottoms are edible, I used some potatoes I stored since spring and I made some creamy potato soup topped with fresh cilantro.

Collards. Very nutritious a little hard to cook, but I decided to go with a quiche. I had never made a pie crust before.

Gnome-ing It Up.

I kept my offspring alive for a whole year!!! 

To celebrate, i threw a party.

Soren's birthday party was woodland themed. I know i wanted it outside, and since I'm obsessed with woodland forest friends, we already had all of the decorations! A bonus was I helped throw a baby shower the night before, and had some leftover food. Score! My Sister made his owl cake and all these pictures are compliments to Meagan O Photography. I have such talented friends!

Can i just say, i have the coolest kid in the world. He always wakes up happy, loves all my jokes, and runs and hugs me whenever i ask. What more could a mommy want?

His favorite things to do include eating, setting the thermostat, and dancing to Taylor Swift.

His favorite word is YES! he says it 100 times a day. 

                                                           He prefers African Americans.

I don't deserve him.

GNOME HATS

I made Gnome hats for Soren's Party favors. The kids were adorable, if you want to learn...  

 

So, making each hat took about 14 ½ minutes. However it took like 2 hours to get the original shape right and the sizing right for babies, kids, and adults. These hats are reversible. Get two pieces of fabric.Fabric often has a 'good' side and a 'bad' side. The fabric i used here was interchangeable- that makes it easier. 1/3 a yard will make 2 pieces (of the same) fabric. so you may as well get 2 different fabrics (1/3yard) pieces and make one for a friend.

1. Cut a shape that looks like the first picture. I did it this way rather then cutting 2 separate panels because it keeps you from having to put a seem up the front of the hat (note, you can fold the fabric and do the gnome hat shape from the profile perspective- picture 2)
2. Fold in half ( inside out-good sides together) seem down the side only ( side the maker is pointing to)
3. Repeat for both fabrics.
   At this point you should have 2 different color hats. Turn both inside out (should already be)
4. Now that they are inside out turn one upside down and set on table, then take the other one, place on top of it, so that the fabric shapes match up, You should be looking at the ugly side of both. (the good sides are touching and inside) Seem around the the entire shape (leaving about 4 inches whole open)
5. flip everything through the whole you left. Now you are looking at the good sides. Tuck one of the hats inside the other, seem up the whole and WALLAH.

             

Steampunk - Costuming

  

My household is infected with a viral plague. The upside of being quarantined from the outside world is having time I didn't expect in the craft room. So today I realized that Halloween is in like 3 days and I have no idea what my adorably kid will be, much less me.

I have a pilot jacket I got on consignment a while back, so I thought I would just make Soren a WWII pilot, with the goggles and the leather hat.

So as I am making him his hat, I think, "why don't I just match him" then I remember Steampunk.

                  What is Steampunk? 

"Steampunk- a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980's. Usually occurring the the Victorian era of Britain where Steam power is used. Usually featuring anachronistic technology of futuristic innovations based on Victorian perspective art, culture, style and fashion."

If you have time, Google Steampunk fashion...marvelous.

I love costume design. I love art through clothing. I love the freedom of over dramatic colors, assessorsies and shapes. Take the freedom of fantasy costume design and add Victorian fashion and thats my heaven. Seriously, I could design steampunk for the rest of my life and be a happy girl.

Back to reality. Soren is a pilot, so I decide to match him in being a pilot, but add a steam punk flare. My goal is to not spend any money (except the $2.50 is spent on faux leather I got for soren's hat) So I got out all the buttons, and metal pieces, and brooches I could find, and added it to leather.

My first challenge was my steampunk pilot goggles. I got the rims from my canning jars, make the leather piece, and sew it on with gold thread, use some clear plastic from some Tupperware containers, then add lots of buckles, ect.

Then I wanted some leather arm bands, again, sewed some leather, added buckles and Wallah.

For my actual 'outfit' I toyed around with huge Victorian skirts and velvet jackets, but in the end, I wanted to stay true to my pilot vision. So I wanted it to look like a WWI pilot, so I went with a simple standard issue green dress, with leggings, and boots. Layer some studded leather belts, and add some Steampunk jewelry.