My friend just shared this information with me, and I wanted to share it with all of you! These softies are absolutely adorable, and this book tells you how to make them!

What a fun project this would be to keep a child occupied on a rainy day - find all the broken bits of stuff in the house and turn them into unique toys! Heck, I think it will even keep this grown-up occupied on the next rainy day!

Steampunk Softies: 8 Scientifically Minded Dolls From a Past That Never Was by Sarah Skeate and Nicola Tedman

Our Steampunk Wedding: A Work in Progress

So you got a preview of the Groom's outfit with my post about his frock coat. I was so relieved when I found that--I thought, "Yes! This crazy idea is going to be OK." Honestly, once we decided on the Steampunk component of our wedding, I started to panic--could we really pull it off? Would our friends want to participate? Could we create the right atmosphere? Could I ever explain to my mother what Steampunk is?

But now things are really starting to come together. I called my sister today, and by her report, I am going to have four nieces and nephews walking straight in from the set of Lemony Snicket. I have started my dress, and actually feel like I might finish it before the wedding. And we have been stock piling "set dressing" for the past few weekends. Since I probably can't afford Robbii Wessen to design the venue, we'll just have to pull it together ourselves. I am so excited by our finds and as they slowly take over our living room, I can envision each table setting in my mind. We have the best thrift shop near us, and every time we go in we find something great. Just take a look at what $40 in the Bronx will get you!

Steampunk art? I may place this in the Men's Room.
I found four glass chimneys for candles...
A Thermal-ray Vitascope Projector.
	A couple more candle holders, a cool metal stand to hold toiletries in the Ladies' Room, a barometer we just had to have...

and, of course, lanterns!



I have to 'fess up--the pretty gilded birdcage I splurged from eBay ($10+s&h)



An objet on each table, with some fall foliage, and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Stow it!

We all have those moments: we are cleaning up the kitchen, and we hesitate in front of the trash can or recycling bin, wheels turning in our head...should I really chuck this? I'm sure I can use it...but how??? And the object returns to the counter, or the junk drawer, awaiting that moment of inspiration when you say, "I have just the thing!"

Here are a few ways to use the more common items that we hate to throw out:

Take out containers. Obviously, we keep these and reuse them instead of buying plastic containers. But have you ever noticed how you end up with a bunch of lids and no bottoms? I wanted something small but sturdy to pack some sandwiches for my guy to take on the plane with him. I opened the cabinet to find...no bottoms! So I grabbed two lids, and they snapped right together, creating the perfect sandwich holder.

There is no wiggle room, so the sandwich won't fall apart mid-flight. And I won't feel too bad if he
doesn't bring it home again.

Plastic egg trays. Why do my organic eggs come in plastic trays? I don't know. But until someone in the egg industry sees the irony I will continue to try to find uses for them.

I have found that they are great for holding all those odd little things that you know you will use one day, but then when you want it you can't find it. The clear egg tray keeps everything separated, so you don't have to empty the whole thing, and you can peer into it without even opening it!

They are also perfect for any sorting job you might have to do. Just dump all your odd buttons, hooks and eyes, beads, etc into the square tray, then as you find matching objects you can put them into their own shell.





This is a great way to keep kids entertained on a rainy day.

Once you have everything sorted, pop them into those little zip-lock bags that come with the spare button from a shirt.

You can also use your plastic/cardboard/Styrofoam egg containers to store small Christmas ornaments. Also use the plastic or Stryofoam ones as palettes to mix your watercolors.

Have you ever had rice crackers? Yummy! I really like the wasabi-flavored crackers. And once they are gone you can use the packaging to keep all your spools of thread neat. Even the really big ones. Put an end to all that rolling about, unwinding and tangling that drives us all insane. Just line a drawer or your sewing box with a few of these and you've got that problem licked.

Prefer sweet treats to savory? A lot of cookies come packed in the same type of tray!

I love to get presents, especially if they come in a nice box. The gold Godiva box is a favorite of mine--they are all sizes, useful to hold anything, but they all match so they look nice on your shelves. Plus every time you see them you think of the nice person that gave you the chocolates.

I really lucked out one day at work. We got all the Christmas cards for the different office to send out, and the boxes they came I were so nice I kept them. I bet if you go to your local stationer, they may have boxes that you can have.

These hold all the larger strange things that I hold on to until just the right costume comes along: holsters, shoe clips, belt buckles, broken compasses, whatever... Again, just by having all this "junk" in this nice neat stack of matching boxes, I instantly go from "Totally Insane Studio" to "Super Organized Studio!" I want to go the extra step one day and make some parchment paper labels for them...but that's another day.

How many tins of Altoids do you have lying about? I can't bear to throw them out! I keep hairclips, paper clips, binder clips...and you can see one used to hold a bunch of little gold confetti stars.

I use them for travel all the time: they hold just enough jewelry, foreign coins, safety pins for a short journey. You an turn a tin into a travel sewing kit--just don't take the scissors on the plane with you!

And what to do with those silly mesh garlic bags? Again, perfect for storage because you can see what's inside. Great for holding little toys. And perfect for washing little things, like grimy buttons from a flea market. Just soak, swish and hang dry.

So I hope I have inspired you to not throw away your trash--it might just make you more organized if you keep it. Let me know how you use your throwaways.

My Easter Basket

Well, look what the Easter Bunny left at my place...a basket full of colorful ribbons! Not just any basket, but one made by my very talented friend Maya. She makes these terrific burlap buckets, in many useful sizes, from coffee sacks.


And what about all the ribbons?, you may ask. Well, they are for a project of my own. I am going to make ribbon belts for some friends. I picked lots of fun Spring colors to get me started, and some white D-rings to use as buckles. I wanted to keep the look crisp and simple.



For a simple ribbon belt, I consider the following: finished length: this belt is for a young girl whose hip measurement ('cause that's where the young people wear their pants now) is 30". But I also want some length to wrap back through the buckle, so I add about 5 or 6 inches. So I want the finished belt to be 36". I also need to add 1.5" to make a loop for the D-rings. I need 37.5" total.

BUT I also want the belt to have a little weight to it, so I will buy double that and stitch the ribbon together. I bought 75" of the lavender ribbon, and 2 D-rings.

First I run the ribbon through the rings, and then stitch the ends of the ribbon, leaving a 1.5" tail. If you are using a ribbon with a right and a wrong side, be sure to have the right sides together at this point.
Once you have sewn the seam, press the seam so that both ends of the ribbon lie to one side.


Turn the ribbon right-side out. Slide the 2 D-rings over both ends of the "tail." You should have 3 layers of ribbon running through the rings.
I do this for extra support.Now stitch the rings in place, stitching over the first seam (or "stitch in the ditch").



Now it's easy! just sew the rest of the length of ribbon together. you can use Stitch Witch to fuse them together. That way you can go along with your iron slowly and make sure the sides match up. If you are just going to pin it, pin alternating horizontal and vertical pins. This keeps the ribbon from shifting in either direction.Also, stitch down each side in the same direction (i.e. from the buckle down, or up towards the buckle) Again, this helps you to avoid any shifting of the ribbon as you sew.

And you are DONE!

****
Here are some techniques to jazz things up a bit:

You can add a thinner ribbon onto a wide ribbon for contrast. In this case you already have 2 ribbons together, so you don't have to double the whole length. Just be sure to double back at the end--when you fasten the belt around your waist the opposite side of the ribbon will show!

Sew a satin ribbon onto webbing for more strength. Again, remember to double back!

Try different buckles for different looks.

Happy Hearts

(This just in: use "LOVE" code at the checkout to receive Free Shipping!)

Just in case you've been wondering what ever happened to all the Valentine's that were sent to Fred Flare...they are now on sale!

They are being sold in surprise lots, so you can't pick out one in particular, but they are all so creative that I think you would be happy with any one. And the money goes to Elder Craftsmen. They have just lost their city funding, so you can really help them out by with your purchase.

But Valentine's Day is just around the corner--order yours now so it gets to you in time!

Puppet Master

I was invited to a birthday part this weekend. The birthday girl was turning one, and her father mentioned that it would be a puppet party, and then went on to say that they actually only had one puppet, so he would be making a run to Toys-R-Us... I decided I would add to the inventory! I knew that the Old MacDonald puppet was on his list, and I decided to go with the farm animal theme as well. As I have not made a puppet for many years, and remembering that I always made them too small to get one's hand into, I thought it was a good idea to do some research.(I never turn down an opportunity to do research!) I saw a great puppet family on Wilma Flanagan It's Storytime site: http://www.geocities.com/mystorytime/index.htm. I copied the shape for the puppets, but then I made some slight modifications: I made the hen blue so that the chicks really stood out against her.


I also zigzagged in bright red just for fun. I used flannel for the coxcomb and chin-waggle. Being a city girl, I was confused at first by the picture--I thought that only roosters had that! But after more research I saw that I was wrong, so now I don't know how I can tell them apart!

I thought that I could glue on some eyes, but for some reason the glue did not work on this felt. I had a temporary insanity moment where all the eyes started dropping off and sticking to the table, the floor, me...I did not want my friend's daughter to pull the eyes off and eat them, so I opted for the laundry-marker method. I did find that if I used the marker on the spot where I had tried to glue before, that the ink did not bleed at all, and was much darker than if I had used it on dry felt. So that worked out well.

Now all the little chicks and the mother hen are in baby's hands, so to speak...

Finished!

Well, I got busy and didn't have as much time to make my Valentines for fredflare.com as I had planned (isn't that how it always works?) I had started two, and was going to finish them up yesterday morning and then mail them off by the Jan. 15th deadline. But of course after ages of having no work I got a call to go in for a few hours to train for a long assignment...so I got home in the afternoon and made a mad dash to complete the envelopes for the Valentines, and rush them to the Post Office before 5:00 pm.



This is done with water color and decoupage on a heavy watercolor stock. The envelope I made from brown craft paper.




And for once our notoriously crowded p.o. was empty except for one man in line...but where are all the employees? Not one at a window! Finally someone showed up to take the next person...and then she disappeared again! It's always something at that location. I have to say,though, the employees are all very nice.

Anyway, back to the Valentines: off they went and will hopefully be sold off to raise some money for the Elder Care organization. And I have a whole month to make some more for my family and my own Valentine. So do you!!!


I covered a wooden heart (from any craft store) with small pieces of red tissue and watered down glue. I used paper from Crate and Barrel: it had lettering on it which added a nice touch of texture.

Then I added a flower...

and a bit of glitz...

and put it in a little brown paper envelope. I used a button and some red ribbon to create a closure.

Have a Heart

The Brooklyn-based shop Fred Flare is having a fun[d]raiser to help Elder Craftsmen, an organization based in NYC that brings craft workshops to local senior citizens.

The idea is simple: make a Valentine, send it to Fred Flare (with an envelope that the Valentine will fit into) and if they sell it the proceeds will go to Elder Craftsmen. Pretty cool, right?

While you are at it, make some for your friends and family, too. I have made Valentines in the past--and I guess this is just the kick in the pants I need to get going again--and it's always been a fun project. After all, if you can't give something that is truly from your heart on Valentines Day, when can you give it?

So, go to Fred Flare for more info, and for some fun shopping ops, too!


Valentines here are made with red poster board (often you can find precut hearts at dollar stores and crafts stores), onion paper, lace, thread and buttons.