Handmade Pretties in the Press: Design Sponge - July 13, 2009

I love seeing my work photographed in beautiful homes. This July 2009 feature of Shay Ometz' home shows my recycled sweater balls and my giant fleece ball.

My recycled sweater balls were initially designed as a toy, but so many of my customers tell me they are buying a set for their bed or their living room. As you can see from these photos, the results are stunning.


Recycled Sweater Balls as decorative throw pillow. Photo from Design Sponge


One of my giant fleece balls are peeking out of the bin under the table. I very much remember making this ball, so it is great to see it in it's home. Photo from Design Sponge.

Etsy Favorites: Paper Airplane Launcher

When my daughter turned 5, I looked desperately for handmade games and toys to buy for her. While inventive art stuffies are nice to look at, they are really not all that engaging for an intelligent five year old. I wanted to buy her some sort of board game or other toy that required something more than just her imagination (because trust me, she's got that one covered). After searching for days, the best I could come up with were a few stacking games and a fishing game. I bought a few things handmade, made a few things, and purchased most of the games from a locally run educational toy store.

I wish I had found Times 3 Toys! They make really great wooden boats powered by balloons and rubber bands and paper airplane launchers. I love the paper airplane launcher. It holds any kind of paper airplane, so I can imagine an airforce of differently shaped airplanes flying through the air.

I've got this shop bookmarked for next year!

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Recycled Sweater Skirt

Sweater skirt in action!

I have been making my recycled sweater skirts since Fall of 2007. Their one of a kind charm has made them popular on both my etsy site and at craft fairs.

They have been featured in numerous blogs and online magazines. Here are just a few.

The Long Thread - Sept 26, 2008

Etsy Finds - Child-Likes with Babble.com - Dec 16, 2008

Etsy Storque: Handmade Confessional - Dec 17, 2008

Babble.com - Holiday Gift Guide 2008

Baltimore Etsy - Jan 19, 2009

Ozowiezo Blog - April 2009

Kids Trend Weekly - Oct 4, 2009

Tryhandmade.com - Jan 11, 2010


Screen Shot from tryhandmade.com


A screen shot from Babble.com


Screen Shot from Kids Trend Weekly

Etsy Favorites: Heidi Legwarmers

Yikes! I do not like legwarmers, but I WANT THESE! The colors are spot on, and the embroidery detail down the front brings a tear of joy to my eye. I am dusting off my ledehosen and braiding my hair as you read this. At a mere $17, these beauties from Olga11223 are a steal!

Etsy Favorites: A Coincidence?

When I mark favorites, it is typically a random occurrence. I mark items I see on the front page, or items as they scroll through the recently listed items. Sometimes, if I am looking for something in particular, I will mark items I like so I can come back to them.

I love opening my favorites and finding mini accidentally curated collections of items. Here is what I found today.


Harold and Maude Paper Dolls by Little Grey Goose.



6 Tiny Portraits by Be Happy Now.


Love Bird Note Card by Fancy Me Flyin.


Fluffy Owl Yarn Wreath by Knock Knocking.


Brigid by Kelly Packer

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Do It Yourself Magazine - Winter 2009

Last year I worked with Jessica Thomas on the "Best of Show" article for Do It Yourself Magazine - winter 2009. My products were featured on the cover of the magazine (the ball in the background and the small pincushion on the desk), and in the article (a ball and pincushion). I also created the Best of Show title ribbon using my large stash of vintage fabrics.

While this magazine had gone under my radar, after reading the last three issues, this is fast becoming one of my favorites! Be sure to join the DIY facebook fan site. They make great posts about project ideas and other discussions.


On the cover: my ball is in the lower left under the lamp, and my pincushion is on top of the pile of books on the desk.


Hours well spent. This turned out so great! I was able to showcase some of my vintage fabrics AND my embroidery...


My ball and pincushion are side by side on the top of the shelf.

Around Our House: Home Photography Success!

I have recently perfected my photo area. It turns out that out white curtains and a king sized white sheet over our bench make a perfect backdrop when slightly overexposed. The lighting in our front room is good almost all day, especially right now with so much reflected light off of the snow. I like the ephemeral quality of the image.

This set up also seems to work great for photographing my products.


Sylvia is wearing a new pair of pants from my spring and summer line. They are made from recycled jersey and fit like high waters. Check my etsy shop for current clothing listings.


Beatrice is wearing a cute Hannah Anderson pants and dress outfit. I found this one at a yard sale for a dollar. It had a small hole on the knee which I patched with a small piece of coordinating pink jersey, and it turned out great!

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Better Homes and Gardens - Nov 2009

In addition to product features, I have been doing some contract work for Meredith (the mothership of Better Homes and Gardens, Readymade, and DIY to name a few). I created these fun pockets to showcase new pocket sized digital video recorders. Each pocket is made from felt and hand embroidered. This feature ran in the November 2009 issue of BHG.


Here is the feature that ran in the magazine.


Here are all of the pockets I made for the shoot.

Etsy Favorites: Rainbow Sweater

Ok so all you really have to do is SAY rainbow sweater and I am on board. When I saw this amazing sweater last night, my heart skipped a beat. I realized that not only do I love rainbow sweaters, I love diagonal knits. I've seen A LOT of sweaters, and this one by Canann is one of my favorites.


This sweater has a nostalgic 80s feel that I very much enjoy. It reminds me of the video for "My Girls" by the Animal Collective

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Better Homes and Gardens - April 2009

Last year in the April 2009 issue, Better Homes and Gardens featured my iPod cases. Check my shop for the latest iPod and gadget cases that I make.

Handmade Pretties in the Press: Pregnancy & Newborn - Nov 09

Handmade Pretties has been getting some press lately. Here is a rainbow sweater ball nicely featured in Pregnancy and Newborn.

Here is the feature from the November 2009 issue of Pregnancy and Newborn.

New Products: St. Patricks Day Brooches

Here in the snowcone that is Iowa, I am definitely ready for some warm spring action. My St Patrick's Day brooches offer a quick peek of the lovely spring to come. Look for a simplified version made by me in the March issue of Better Homes and Gardens!


Vintage buttons beautify the center of this one.


Vintage photography makes everything look like an heirloom!

Etsy Favorites: Red Bloom Muff of Fabulousness

Fabulous indeed! The photo is ALSO fabulous, the pale aqua walls against the brilliant red makes me want to start painting again. I absolutely LOVE the texture and color of this piece. Birdism obviously spent some serious love putting this muff together. Wouldn't this be amazing in a winter wedding?

Etsy Favorites: 4 Season Cone Gnomes from CutesyPoo

I don't know about you, but here in the land of the perpetual snow, I would like the spring gnome to start pulling his weight. These cute little guys arrive in the form of a .pdf file that you can print from home and assemble. At $1.99 I almost don't even have to think about it! Cutesypoo Toys also makes similar gnomes in fabric, pre-assembled.

I picture these up on a shelf in the girls' room or peek out from behind a plant. What about you?

Favorite Shops: Home Ec. Workshop, Iowa City

The fabric cutting table at Home Ec. Photo from Dreaming Bear

This past weekend, my husband and I were FINALLY able to take a road trip out of town without the children. We went to Iowa City to see our old friend William Elliot Whitmore play a rock show at the Blue Moose Taphouse in Iowa City. We got into town a little early and had time to visit some of the shops that have opened up since we moved away in 2001.

I visited Home Ec Workshop on the recommendation of Arin and Karen from Ephemera in Des Moines. The shop is on Linn Street just North of Market, on the west side of the road. Back in our I.C.days, the building used to house a guitar store and a used book store that is still on the corner. The Hamburg Inn will probably always slop it out across the street, and I have to admit a twinge of jealousy when I realized that the "Chill and Grill" has now become a falafel restaurant.

Home Ec, which is in a small store front in the middle of the block, has a small front room with fabric, a middle room with yarns, and a back classroom/workshop area. They have also incorporated a small coffee and snack shop.

I ordered a chai (and imagined eating one of the red velvet cupcakes) and browsed around. Their fabric room is small, but well stocked. They did not have quite as much space as someplace like Crafty Planet in Minneapolis, but the prints they do stock were well coordinated, made me drool, and the prices are comparable. I do not knit or crochet, but I found it impossible to avoid petting the stock of yarns, particularly some of the finer spun japanese yarns.

The chai was fabulous, perfectly sweetened with honey (not sticky sweet like the crap they serve at Starbucks) and made with milk from cows who eat real grass (GASP)! Aside from the great stuff (they even had a little vintage and a little handmade mixed in), I would come back just to visit with the ladies. Codi and her partner Alisa could not have been any nicer.

If you live near Iowa City or find yourself in town, take a few minutes to stop in the shop to admire the colors, drink some chai, and stock up on something lovely for your next project.

Home Ec. Workshop
207 N. Linn Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52245

We hope our next stop can include a visit to White Rabbit.


The yarn room. Photo from Dreaming Bear

Etsy Favorites: Last Five Etsy Purchases

Ever wonder what etsy sellers are buying on etsy? Here are five items I purchased for the holidays.


Ham Earrings. I bought these for my best friend, because who doesn't need a pair of ham earrings? Found at Sweet Meats


Seriously? Why Wait. Be Rad now. Three awesome screened posters from Mixed Species


Every year I purchase or make new ornaments for the tree. These came from Old World Primitives


These cuties came from Katie Anna. The girls love them!


And who doesn't like getting clean with booger soap? Made by Annie Poo

Do It Yourself: Valentine's Day Crackers

The finished goods, ready for delivery.

Oh sure Valentine's Day is a corporate creation to get us to buy each other satin underwear and boxes of chocolate, but it is also a great time to whip up something delightfully pink, fill it with chocolate, and give it to the people you love (or even like a little).

This Valentine's Day, my girls and I made Valentine's Day crackers filled with chocolate kisses for their class. This project is relatively simple. Children over 8 should be able to finish this project with little assistance, while younger kids will need help, but will still enjoy filling the tubes with goodies.


Our work station

Materials
Scotch Tape
Cardstock cut into 3" x 4.25" pieces
Tissue paper cut into 10" x 8" pieces (the thin gift wrapping type is best)
Scissors
thin ribbon or yarn cut into 10" pieces
Medium to large stickers
Kisses or other small candies or treats


Our supplies ready to go. I use my paper cutter to cut down the tissue and cardstock to size.

Roll the cardstock into 3" tubes. Overlap the edges of the cardstock about 1/2" and tape.

With the tube on the 8" side of the tissue paper, roll the tissue around the tube. Twist one end closed, and stick the sticker on the seam of the tissue (little ones are great at sticking the stickers). Tie a ribbon on the twisted end.


Rolling the tube in tissue.


Before we have twisted the end.

Check that the tissue paper opening is clear into the tube, and insert two kisses (or other small goodies). Twist the other end closed and tie with a ribbon.




One end twisted and tied and ready to be filled.


Beatrice (2) filling the tubes with kisses for her friends.

A few years back when making stamps for my business, I had stamps made of my girls' names. The kids' schools want each valentine to only be signed, not individually addressed, so we use the stamps to sign the valentines.

For our close friends and family, we will be making larger versions of this project filled with more treats and a few pics of the girls. If you have a stash of cardboard tubes from toilet paper or paper towels, you can use those, otherwise create larger cardstock tubes.

Happy Crafting!

Handmade Pretties Special Offers: Themed Giant Fleece Ball Special

I am currently looking to make more giant fleece balls using themes that I have not previously produced. If you order a new themed ball, I am offering $5 off the regular price. A few ideas I have are outer space, flowers, princess, animals, underwater, cupcakes/teaparty, etc.

If you would like to place an order, please visit my etsy site.



Farm Themed Ball


Owl Themed Ball


Rock N Roll Themed Ball

Around Our House: Keeping the Kids Busy One Block of Styrofoam at a Time

In an effort to get more time to work in my studio, I have been devising projects for the kids to do while I work. Our latest project came when we ordered our new iMac.

Both girls got a piece of styrofoam. Sylvia (at 5) is old enough to handle a very small hammer, so I give her a handful of nails and a small handcrank drill with a drill bit. She pounds nails and drills holes and sometimes violently beats the tar out of her block of foam. Beatrice (at 2) is a little small for the hammer, so I give her a pincushion full of pins, a handful of buttons, cut off labels, ribbons, and pieces of felt and paper. She happily stabs pins with buttons and ribbons into the foam. Now before you call DHS or try this with your own children, please remember that my kids have grown up around my sewing supplies and have proven to me that they understand which end of the pin is the stabbing side. And of course they are current on their tetanus shots.

This activity helps them with their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Plus it keeps them busy for about twenty minutes.



Beatrice concentrating on threading buttons onto the pins.



Sylvia wielding her junior sized hammer. She's even got her tongue in on the action.



It's Hammer Time!

Do It Yourself: Decoupage Light Switch Plates

A squirrel toting ham in a shopping basket! Even the Anchorman approves (and yes he is an original Janet Stewart...)

Remembering the Ephemera of Your Life

Before we moved back to Iowa from Los Angeles, I purchased a set of Pop Ink cocktail napkins featuring adorable little animals with knives and meat. This package of napkins has remained safely preserved in an unexplored kitchen drawer since our move in 2007. Imagine my horror when I realized that my children had discovered my booty and had been using them to wipe their faces - GASP!

This left me with the dilemma of whether to continue hoarding this little package of divinity or figure out a way to preserve it's glory for future generations of animal and meat loving folk.

The obvious answer was decoupage. For my napkins, I used a water proof decoupage medium that I got on sale at Joanns. You definitely want something waterproof so you can give it a wipe down when cleaning. I first removed and cleaned the switchplates. I like to rough them up a bit with some fine sandpaper to give the medium something to grab onto. Cut your image to fit the switchplate. In the case of the napkins, I made sure that I cut them big enough to wrap around the edges slightly. Brush a thin layer of medium onto the switchplate. Carefully place your image and brush on a thin layer of medium. If your image extends to the edge, wrap the image around the edges. Gently tamp down on the image with the brush to ensure good contact and to lessen wrinkles. Allow to dry completely. At this point, using an exacto knife, cut a diagonal slit from one corner of the switch opening (or outlet opening) and repeat for the other corners. Brush on another thin coat and wrap the switch edges to the inside of the cover. Allow to dry completely.

Once your plate is dry, use an awl or a pen to open the screw holes and replace the cover on the wall. Be very careful as the screwhead comes in contact with the cover so that you do not twist and tear the image.



Had to cut off the meat cleaver, but it's sweet just the same.

Another method I have used that has been surprisingly durable is to affix a postcard to the face of the switch plate using double sided tape.

I first selected a card that allowed about 1/4 of an inch to wrap around the edge of the plate. I coated the back with tape being sure to go all the way to the edges. I like the tape that is all stick and no plastic backer (be sure to use PERMANENT tape!) Center the plate and press down carefully wrap the edges around and stick to the inside back of the plate. Use and exacto knife to cut diagonally corner to corner for the switch opening. Wrap these edges around to the back. Use an awl or pen to open the holes and replace on the wall! This method does not have a waterproof coating so it may not be the best for high traffic switchplates, however, I did this almost three years ago (on a high traffic switch) and have had no problems at all! Most cards have a glossly coating which helps to repel dirt and grime.



Happy crafting!