Baby Games

I have the best muse EVER for nursery rhymes now.

Flopsy Baby
Flopsy baby, squish and squirm—
What a squiggle-wiggle worm!
Can I catch a grippy finger?
Can I catch some bunchy toes?
Can I catch a flopsy baby
On a scrunchy nose?

You might also enjoy:

"My Friends" and "The Present"
At Home the Wind Lives Up a Tree
Buttons

Little Things

Remember when I mentioned that space is getting scarce in my sister and her husband's bedroom? Well, they've got a new house guest who is very little, but who brought a lot of stuff.

I have a feeling a lot of my craft projects are going to get...

A little smaller.

Writing Happiness

I'm trying to write down happiness.
Sometimes it's like a bumblebee
Inside my throat and it can't get out
Unless I throw my head way back
And laugh.
Sometimes it's a flower in my chest
That pushes—hard—against my ribs to bloom
And crowds its petals up against my heart.
Sometimes it's a running in my legs
And all I can do is try to keep up,
Out of breath and shining.
And every time always
It's a feeling of up
And heat
And gasping
And grasping
For something I already have
But want to hold
So I can write down
Happiness.

You Might Also Enjoy

Subway Station: a true story
Variations on Cinderella
Dusk and Chill

Thrift Store Finds: Resizing a vintage dress

You might also enjoy
Craft Time: Gathered Ribbon Flowers
From XL to XS:  Resizing a Sweater
Dress Shoe Alteration Tutorial

Because all poets must write of spring

Today's poem is no masterpiece, but it says what I feel. And that's enough.

I've come back home to the springtime,
The forest all in bud.
The growing green, the swollen stream,
The glorious, glorious mud.

I've come back home to the country
From the rush to the hush and the hill
From urban sprawl to garden wall
And blooming daffodil.

So keep your city glitter—
Up here I'm better fed.
I've got dirt beneath my fingernails
And trees above my head!

You Might Also Enjoy:

In the Sunshine Land


At Home the Wind lives Up a Tree

Dusk and Chill

Earth Day and Wedding Decorations

There's an idea I've been mulling over for a while and Earth Day is as good a time as any to bring it up. I have a big problem with waste, and I'm always looking for ways to transform used material not into something interesting and pretty, but into something useful (okay, maybe useful AND pretty)—something that people would want or need even if it wasn't made with recycled materials.

Side rant: Nothing irritates me more than people gushing over the "greenness" of taking a very recyclable material like aluminum or cardboard and buying non-sustainable craft products to "recycle" it into something useless that will one day be thrown out. Also, when did "recycle" become the most important R? If we reduced in the first place, we wouldn't have so much waste to deal with.

End of rant.

So I'm always looking for ways to make things instead of buying them, and since several of my friends are engaged or recently married, I've had decorations on my mind. Of course plenty of people make their decorations, but their materials often come from the craft store. I'm imagining an Etsy shop full of decorations (wedding or otherwise) made entirely of waste materials, except for essentials like thread and glue. And when I say waste materials, I mean it—these are things that would be going in the garbage if they weren't going in my craft bin.

What do you think? Would you patronize/support/appreciate a business like that?

Here are some samples of paper goods I would sell, though of course I'd also work with fabric.

Garland sewn from an out-of-date almanac

Folded kusudama flower balls from a hymn book that fell apart

Happy Earth Day, everyone! Let's all celebrate by not buying something we don't need ;)

You Might Also Enjoy:

Upcycled vintage linen top

Upcycled Headband Sewing Tutorial


Over-the-Door Pocket Organizer Tutorial

  

Harry Potter-Hotel California Parody

Inspired by a CBC book-song mash-up contest from a year ago, rediscovered yesterday, finished today.

Harry Potter meets Hotel California

Dark night in September.
Scar under my hair.
Long howl of a werewolf
Rising up through the air.
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light.
My heartbeat quickened and my eyes grew wide—
I loved that castle on sight!

There she stood in the doorway.
"First years!" I heard her yell,
And I was thinking to myself,
Is this Hogwarts or is it Hell?
Then she lit up a candle
And she showed us the way.
There were statues in the corridor;
I thought I heard them say,

"Welcome to seven years at Hogwarts.
Such a magic place.
Such a tragic face.
Plenty to do in your seven years at Hogwarts:
See a dragon born.
Find a unicorn."

His mind is Slytherin-twisted.
When he speaks he offends.
He's got a couple brawny bodyguards
That he calls friends.
When they strut through the courtyard,
See Neville sweat.
They'll steal his remembrall
Just to make him forget!

So I'm called by the captain,
"Please bring me the snitch!
We haven't had a quidditch victory since 1996."
And still that voice is a-calling inside my head:
"What to do, oh what to do with you?
Griffindor!" he said.

Welcome to seven years at Hogwarts.
Such a magic place.
Such a tragic face.
Never give up in your seven years at Hogwarts.
Learn an airborne sport.
Battle Voldemort.

Candles on the ceiling,
The pumpkin juice on ice,
And I said, "We are all just sitting ducks here.
I've got to set things to rights."
In the underground chambers
I finally faced him alone.
He can find the Mirror of Erised,
But he just can't get the stone!

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door.
I had to find the passage back
To Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Relax," said the matron.
"Your friends will all be relieved."
They can send me back to Privet Drive
But I'll never really leave!

You Might Also Enjoy:

One Life: Parody of The Barenaked Ladies' "To Weeks"

I had Six Cupcakes for Dinner


Amos Obadiah: Tale of a Cranky, Old Dragon and a Hero

The Vintage Linen Top: Finished

My top is finally ready, though the weather isn't. It just got cold again in these past few days. I'll have to save it for later in the season, I think.

Here is the final list of materials used in this top:

• One vintage tablecloth
• One vintage lace... curtain?
• One vintage crocheted doily
• Fabric from the sleeves of an XL white T-shirt I once used in a T-shirt quilt
• Buttons from a worn-out shirt
• White thread (new)

The bust is made with the T-shirt material and the crocheted doily, so it stretches. The other fabrics are sewn in overlapping panels, which allowed me to cut out sections of the tablecloth that were stained.

For once in my life I took the time to finish my seams with ribbon and make everything as professional as I can. This project took some time and I'm pretty pleased with it, so I can't resist posting a lot of pictures...

This top is part of the April Link Party at Tea Rose Home!

 It's also entered in Made by Rae's Spring Top Sewalong!

You Might Also Enjoy:

Tutorial: Cleaning vintage linens

Upcyled Pinstriped Skirt


From Sloppy to Sleek: Sweater reconstruction

Harley and the Vacuum Monster

Little dog Harley hates housecleaning days,
Even though I've never asked him to help.
When I get the broom he
Begins to look gloomy.
When I start the dishes he's downright suspicious.
When I wash the mirror
He's shaking with fear.
When I get the vacuum he flees with a yelp!

The vacuum's a monster! The Harley dog knows it.
It rumbles and grumbles wherever it goes.
It lashes its tail
With a flip and a flail.
It rages and roars
As it claws at the floors.
Things snuff up its snout
And they never come out!
But Harley-dog's safe in the basket of clothes.

Until...

Craft Time: Gathered Ribbon Flowers

My very artistic friend Helen came over a few days ago to relieve her end-of-term stress with some crafty relaxation. We made flowers out of ribbons and lace. I was the slapdash creator, whipping up a bouquet of simple gathered blossoms. Helen was the careful one, labouring over a single ornate bloom complete with beads and lace. We were both following a tutorial from the blog "Make it Do."

Following... loosely.

 And now I have the same problem I faced nearly a year ago when I my gathered lace flowers: what on earth am I going to use them for?

You Might Also Enjoy:

Lace Flower Headband

Ophelia Lace Crochet Pattern

How to Make a Raggedy Anne Wig