Borrowers: The Beginning

Hello all and Happy New Year! 

We made it to Germany about 2 1/2 weeks ago and have been slowly coming out of our travel haze.  Yesterday was our (the kids and I) first real get out and adventure day.  We were on a mission to find fireworks.  (turns out Germans really like to blow stuff up on New Years Eve.  Really.  Craziest thing I've ever seen as far as booms go.)  Anyway, we found them, had fun blowing them up and staying up late.  Today has been rainy and cold so we decided a movie day was in the cards.  (cause we haven't had any of those lately - she says sarcastically.)  Since I've seen all these movies I decided to craft...

Okay, you need a little back story first.  We are starting The Borrowers by Mary Norton as a homeschool book project.  It's a fantastic book if you haven't read it and I was more than a little obsessed with it when I was a kid.  I like little things.  Fairies, gnomes, pixies, borrowers, etc.  Anyway, when we moved here (we're not here forever FYI) we left all our stuff and 90% of the kids toys at home in Colorado.  So part of our Borrower project is to make a Borrower world to play with.  (Kill two birds with one stone?  Yes please.)  This will be ongoing and probably my favorite project ever so expect more Borrower posts. 

I feel like my last few posts should come with a cuteness warning and this one is no exception. Cuteness alert!   Here we go.

Oh yeah.  It's a Borrower bed in a blueberry box.  That just happened. 

About a year ago I made Piper this tiny little Rapunzel for her birthday.  (I made Eugene too and I imagine we'll see him when we make up the boy room.)  I used Sally Mavor's book Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects which is super awesome.  Tiny Rapunzel is one of the 2.5 inch dolls.  The perfect Borrower size.  Peg people would work for this project also.

 

 

I've been knitting a lot lately and decided to make up a blanket for her little bed.  It's nothing complex or counted or measured.  I basically made a gauge sample.  

 

We brought a small bag of scrap fabric and sewing notions for just such an occasion.  I hand stitched  a tiny mattress and pillow to fit in the blueberry box.  I used fluffed up cotton balls for the stuffing.

The crayon props up the lid.  You could use anything.  Corn dog stick.  Sucker stick.  Stick from the yard.  Crayon.  I thought the pink was a nice accent.

It all folds up nicely too.  If you don't want to commit to an entire world you can just have a tiny plaything for your purse or backpack. 

This may be my favorite thing ever.

This is going to be such a fun project...for me.  The kids will enjoy playing with everything even if they aren't super into making the stuff.  I may not want to share that part of the project anyway.  :)

Hoping you have a fabulous (and crafty) 2013!!

Kristin

For the babies...

Two, count them TWO, dear people in my life have recently had beautiful baby girls.  I was so excited to knit and sew for a baby girl again that I got all giddy and light headed and, for just a second, considered having another baby.  That didn't last long though.  I realized other people will always be having babies I can sew and knit for.  Phew...(right babe?)

Anyway, I broke out some trusted patterns, Made by Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants and Joelle Hoverson's Pointy Elf Hat from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  Seriously I LOVE these patterns!  They are both fairly quick and easy.  The hardest part is picking out the right yarn and fabric for the job.

Are you ready to see the cutest pants in the history of forever? 

Front view

 

Back view.

Don't even try to tell me these aren't the cutest...cause you'd be lying.

And now for the super sweet pixie hat.



I think I need to knit myself a pixie hat...

Together?

Shut the front door!

I especially love that the hat is as long as the pants.  Although you can roll the hat brim to make it a little shorter.

Tiny clothes make my ovaries hurt.

Knitting Needle Roll

I thought I'd show you all my needle storage roll.  I was going crazy with needles everywhere and trying to keep little people from breaking them or loosing them.  I decided to make up a needle roll. 

Never mind the wrinkles...it's well loved.

It turned out really great.  I think the only thing I would do next time is make it slightly shorter or sew the flap farther down.  I end up folding past the sewn flap line.  No big deal but it's what I'd do differently.

Right now it holds all my needles with plenty of space for new ones I make.  It holds circulars, double points, and regular ol' straight ones.  I will add that my homemade needles are a good bit longer than the ones I had purchased at the store so I had to make it taller to work with those.

Sewing this up really didn't take that long.  Just a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon.  All the materials were from my stash so that made it free too.  I'm thinking of making a tutorial... what do you think?

Anyone else craving cinnamon rolls?

Repost: The Tooth

** This one was originally posted on The Fipper Show July 6, 2011.**



Oh. My. Goodness. Would you look at that face! Can you see what's different? He has graduated to the official "big kid" ranks. That tooth was so wiggly for SO long. But today... it came out.

I realized YESTERDAY that we had to be getting close. I mean, that thing was barely hanging on. So, in somewhat of a panic, I started looking around for what kind of tooth fairy pillow to make him. He's a gigantic fan of the game Angry Birds (who isn't really?) so I decided to see what I could find online. I found this link yesterday afternoon and saved it to my favorites. About 10:00 last night I started gathering up all the ingredients. I didn't have some colors in the fleece but substituted wool felt. I was finished by 11:45. Just in time.

The only change I made was to add a little pocket on the back for money. It's pretty cool and a very simple tutorial. I see lots of Angry Bird making in my future.

After I finished it up last night I wrapped it up in one of our play silks. I was thinking a present waiting in the wings would help motivate him to pull it. But no, he kept telling me he wasn't going to do it. I think he was just afraid it would hurt. Enter Clif Bar's Z bar. I gave him one of these delicious little treats on the way home from the store and with the LAST BITE...the tooth came out. You know what that means?? Present time.

He figured out it was an Angry Bird right about here. 

And was SUPER excited.

Of all the things I have EVER made him, this one was the most successfully received. He was beyond thrilled. (It was very satisfying for me as I had just stayed up super late to make it.) They played with it for quite a while and he has declared he's sleeping with it forever. (which may look weird in college??)

(this is my favorite picture of the boy and his bird - taken with my ipod.)

Our boy is growing up!

Love,

JKFP and Fisher's tooth.

A Big Announcement!

Things are starting to look a little different around here.  I have big news...I'm finally doing it!  After so many of you suggested I open an Etsy shop, I'm jumping in.  My shop will officially be open and taking orders Monday, April 16th.  What kind of things will you be able to purchase from the shop you ask?

Gnome perpetual calendars

My Memory Games

Knit/Crochet project bags.
They are reversible!

An Organized Knitting Bag.
Also reversible!

Hooker pouches.
I'll also offer knitting/crochet sets.  An Organized Knitting Bag with
a project bag AND a hooker pouch.

Various sizes of my fabric baskets.
I'll also offer nested sets.

Diaper pouches

Birthday Banners!
These will be custom orders only and will require 6-8 weeks for delivery.

This is what I'm planning to start with.  These first items will be added to the shop over the next week.  I plan to eventually add flannel backed baby quilts, zippered pouches, knitting needles, knitting needle rolls, iPad/iPhone sleeves,  nook covers, an alphabet matching game,  reusable snack sacks, etc.  Also, if you have something specific in mind just message me and we can set up a custom order. 

After the shop is up and running I think we'll do a couple giveaways to celebrate so stay tuned...


Kristin


p.s.  I'd like to thank my sister Carly for giving the extra push I needed.