4/22 #37

earth day!!
i am trying to pitch 1/3 of the stuff in each room (not really earth-day-friendly, and donate, not throw out) before we are ready to move up into our addition, and while cleaning i came across the dilema of this wooden 'lazy susan' from IKEA. it needed a sanding to remove the jelly fingerprints and stray marker doodles.
keep...donate...keep...donate...
KEEP!
i painted a Tree of Life theme on it. i just put the clear coat on today. it is really fun to spin.
SOUP OF THE WEEK: an awesome potato leek soup. i think it might be the best one i've made so far.

4/15 #36

this is a project for gabi, she knows what it is, but i haven't finished yet. i started it and then haven't worked on it this week...coming soon!
SOUP OF THE WEEK: chicken coconut

4/8 #35

this is a needle felted monkey for isadora. i couldn't stand to crochet another goofy animal...sydney is a ballerina monkey who cares so very much for other people. that is just how isadora is, and some of us (all of us?) should appreciate it instead of saying "don't let things upset you so much!"

SOUP OF THE WEEK: kielbasa bean

4/1 #34

a daisy for a lilly...

AKA, the worst of 34 things so far. we were on a family trip at IKEA sat., and lillian found the cutest guinea pig stuffed animal. we should've just let her buy it, but instead i told her i'd make one. there are many ways to make a cute stuffed animal...but between the colors, wrong texture and working under the stressful conditions of a 6 yr old slave driver, it looks like a joke.

however, she cannot put Daisy down. i wish i had time and roving to felt her one, it would be awesome...but now i have orders to fill the envious arms of her sisters, more dreaded ugly animals to come.

the best things about daisy are that she has lavender and rose petals inside, so she smells nice on her neck, and that lillian claims to have found her out in the country, "looking for an owner".

she said "at the next show-and-tell, EVERYONE will know that you made this, mom."

great.

SOUP OF THE WEEK: MUSHROOM BUTTERNUT in the amazing, borrowed, Vita-Mix.

3/25 #33

these are the special eggs for this year. yep, i only made the moth and half the butterfly, but Easter is a production with 5 kids! thanks to tom for his help!!

check out the other eggs from past years!

SOUP OF THE WEEK: what? no soup?? no soup. but we did make an amazing homemade rice pudding, egg casserole, chocolate chai coffee cake, fruit salad, hashbrowns, and my first ever Babka. i snuck a piece off the bottom to give tom a taste, and he said it was just like his grandma! (every wife aspires to be just like her husband's grandmother)

3/18 #32

crocheted purse with hand felted star.
i just plain love it. i purchased a zipper to go inside, attached to a liner, but i'm not sure i want to do that.
i am thrilled that hobby lobby now carries felting needles. i don't think i could ever buy their roving, but i had enough scraps from last year's batch of felted eggs to make the star. i adore felting! i love using the hot and cool water, and the anise soap i bought at womanspirit.
picture coming when i get a chance...
SOUP OF THE WEEK: a broth that no one ate, so i froze it.

3/11 #31

i had this old pair of jeans that i loved, but were too big for me. after re-visiting them for a short time after des was born, i decided to morph them into something else i loved that didn't remind me of fatness...tom suggested a bag.

i really love it, except for the long awkward strap. (will revise eventually) the sewing machine and i got to know each other a bit better, and so i decided to make a couple other sewn bags. i love the crocheted bags because they can stretch and go over the shoulder and have made about 10 of them to use, but also need ones with no give that can be held by hand. (and take less time to make)

a good tip for finding great fabric is to buy IKEAs discounted curtains. i've done this many times in the past, getting enormous pieces of thick material for under $3. (middle pic) the bottom pic is of a bag made from a twill-like IKEA fabric, too coarse for a garment. I love that there's a turkey on it.

the best thing was, tom saw the "turkey bag" and asked where i got it. (yes!) when i proudly told him i made it, he then asked where i got the straps. (YES!!)

SOUP OF THE WEEK: Tracey's Tomato Dill