Easter baskets

Our Easter tradition for many years now has been to visit Memphis during the Easter holidays and stay with Nichol's grandparents.  While there, we also get to see most of his extended family, as they get together on Easter Sunday.  The difficulty with traveling for Easter is that baskets just don't pack well.  I'm not about to pay the silly check-on bag fees just because I haven't found a basket with a collapsible weave.

I had been considering fabric baskets for some time, when Corynn told me she wanted one of the fabric Easter buckets from the Pottery Barn kids catalog.  They weren't particularly fancy, and cost about $27 (customized with names).  I debated just buying them, but decided it was time to test my sewing skills again.

I found this fabric basket tutorial: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2009/02/tutorial-toy-gathering-bucket/, hit Joann's for the materials, and got to work:

I used scraps from the assembly to make the matching flower pins.  I got a few compliments at a church Easter egg hunt...I love these baskets, and they'll fold flat in the luggage.  I call that success...

My Valentine's necklace

Those who know me are quite aware that I'm not a 'hearts' kind of girl.  I don't generally wear them, and I most certainly don't decorate with them (Valentine's being the exception).  However, I have had a gold-colored Venetian glass bead in my possession for more than a decade.  This bead was purchased for me by a friend when she visited Italy.  It is a gorgeous bead, and I decided it was high time it lived on display, rather than in storage.

Strangely enough, I find myself drawn to some of the steam punk-styled jewelry.  I like the vintage feel; the random layouts of it.  So, I gave it a whirl.  I'm not sure how steam punk some fans would consider this piece, but it certainly incorporates a variety of elements...

Fun with decoupage

For the longest time, I have owned a wooden box with a hinged lid with multiple compartments...and, for the longest time, I have used this box to hold tea bags.  The biggest downfall of this box is that the lid has roses on it, and the paint is looking a little worn.  Inspiration hit me at one point that I could use some of the lovely scrapbooking papers I have found to improve upon the outside of this box.  Here is what my first encounter doing decoupage turned into (you'll have to forgive me for not having a before picture):

 

The box now sits on my dresser, nicely organizing many of my earrings.

Poinsettia pillow

Mom and I were browsing through catalogs a few weeks ago, and I noticed this pillow from Pottery Barn:

I thought at the time that it would be a fairly easy pillow to make (and improve upon - I'm not a fan of the linen).  So, I picked up some felt at the store and threw one together yesterday.  It was fairly simple, and I'm happy with the results:

Next time I'll make the leaves a little less rounded and more poinsettia-like, but I still like my pillow...

The tree skirt

For many years, Nichol and I have searched for a tree skirt that would sufficiently work under the 6' span of the bottom of our Christmas tree.  Last year, I decided the only way it was going to happen was if I made it myself.  So...here is the fruit of my labor.  Keep in mind that I have only been sewing for a little over a year, so my ambition is almost at the point of ridiculousness.  In any case, I jumped in headfirst and made it anyway.  I made the template using kraft paper, a pencil and some string.  I then used the templates to cut the fabric. I'm starting to realize that my biggest sewing issues come from less-than-precise cutting... Interesting note:  the ivory fabric is the silk that was used to make my wedding dress...I still had quite a bit left over, so I figured it was time to use it in Something...(the center is red velvet and the outer ring is faux dupioni from a drape).

We wanted to add snowflakes to the skirt, so we looked into buying embroidered ones, and we even considered an embroidery machine (those are crazy expensive).  Finally, I decided to make them out of beads.  That is the one aspect of the skirt that I'm quite proud of.

Once the eight beaded snowflakes were completed, I had to start sewing.  I worked from the outside to the inside, and I'm thinking in hindsight that it probably should have been the other way around.  Oh well.

I started this in October, and finished the day before Thanksgiving.  The timing was good, seeing as how we put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving.  As it is, the skirt is finished, and it serves its purpose. I know it has flaws, but somehow that seems to make it more appropriate for this household...

Spiders

For several years now, I've wanted to create a beaded spider.  This year, I finally made the attempt.  I had an idea in my head about how I wanted them to look, but had to look online for the basic assembly.  I found several instruction videos, and ended up combining techniques from a couple of them.  As it were, I'm still working on a way to secure the legs more tightly...

Once I have it all figured out, I'll be making spider pendants for all my friends to wear on Halloween...

Ocean life cake pops

Corynn turned 5 just a couple of weeks ago, and I, as usual, became overly ambitious with party planning and decided to make cake pops in lieu of cupcakes. 

Since the party was an outdoor water/splash party, the theme was an ocean one (or in Corynn's view, a mermaid one).  So, I decided to make ocean cake pops.  As you can see, the three chosen creatures were turtles, fish and octopi.  I have since decided that cake pops will be made only when there is no other event preparation to be done (such as, and entire party for nearly 20 children).  They are quite time-consuming, and there is a Large learning curve.  (If you ever need to ask what NOT to do, you'll have to call me, as there's too much to say through typing). 

In any case, the cake pops were a huge hit with both kids and parents.  And, unlike cupcakes, the kids ate the whole thing (my experience with cupcakes is that kids lick the frosting off and toss the rest).  The down side is that Corynn now thinks we should be making cake pops all the time (she has requested various princesses, but that's not happening).  I have decided to take advantage of this situation, however, and am now using cake pops as my newest bribery technique...