stitch markers, et cetera

You know, there is nothing that make some happier than something fun to get me through a chore.  Whether it's a fun fur handmade floor duster in funky colors, a pretty flower-shaped dish scrubby, or a dishtowel covered with sunflowers, if its fun, it makes getting the job done more fun too.  I need as much fun and pretty as I can get with 4 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 birds.  Trust me here, if it can be embellished, I have embellishments.

Anyone know where I can get a cool elephant peculator?  You see one, let me know.
Anyway, in an effort to spread the joy, I made up some pretty knitty stitch makers and put them in my shop.  I also managed to find some jumbo lobster claws so I can hook up my crochet peeps as well.  I went the small/standard/tiny lobster-claw route with my crochet markers, but after using them myself, I thought they were way too hard to use, not really ergonomic, and just kind of a pain in the poop shooter.   I went on a quest for bigger claws and managed to score some with a reasonable enough price tag to pull off some great marker-bling action.  Stay tuned crafty fans--I am working on it.

Until then, check out the knitter markers I have going on!

lastly, because I've been away from my blog so long, I want to thank you all for your patience and for still being here.  As a reward for staying awesome, I'll allow you a private viewing of my accidental porno bread that managed to evolve in my Pyrex bread tube the other day.  Behold!  Yep.  It's perfectly okay to laugh.  Go for it.  

Bottles

I had mentioned in a previous post that I had a special order for clear bottles for picture transfer. I wasn't at all happy with the bottles I had originally done, so I went shopping (at the recycle center) and brought home a few more clear bottles (plus a few pretty colored ones-who can resist?!), took extra care in cleaning them and took extra care in smoothing the kiln shelves. I ramped the heat slowly to slumping temperture, watched diligently as they slumped and crash cooled as soon as they were slumped to my specifications. I let them slowly cool the rest of the night and they are absolutely perfect. I'm so excited for my customer! I had to share my success story, since bottle slumping is such a trial and error craft, at least for me. There really is no solid directions for doing this and so many variables, I found that I am on my own. I'm pretty excited.

So, here they are, my perfect bottles. Hopefully a long line of similer ones to come :)

Uocycled bird feeder

This is a simple and quick gift for the earth concious bird lover in your life.

I found this copper bowl at the recycling center and took it home. I drilled 4 holes around the rim and strung jewelry wire through to hang it. I drilled a drain hole in the bottom and hung an old art deco necklace piece from a wire. I then strung pearls from a upcycled old necklace and voila! A really neat bird feeder! If you don't have jewelry wire, use chain from old necklaces. I recently stuymbled upon a big box filled with broken rosaries at a thrift store. The chains are already beaded for you, so you can just hook them on!

Edible Napkin Rings

I love, LOVE getting a brand new set of dishtowels, tea towels or napkins. Its the little things-and my little thing is clean, bright, starchy brand new towels or napkins. I have several family members that feel the same way, and a cozy kitchen basket with new towels and maybe a couple of cookie cutters and little sweet measuring spoons would be adorable. Here is how you can make it special:

First of all, find a nice big seasonal cookie tin leftover from a previous year, or a neat basket--anything that is shallow but roomy and would make a cute base for your project. I have several baskets I got from the thrift store. Sometimes they even give them away because they get a lot of these. Take advantage and be creative! Next, if you can sew, you can buy a yard of white cotton and sew some napkins/tea towels or you can buy them premade. The difference is a few dollars and if your trying to save money-do it yourself is always the better deal.

Now, you can give these plain, or you can decorate. Take an apple or a pear and cut it in half lengthwise. Dab dry with a cotton cloth or paper towel. Make sure to make it as dry as possible so it does not interfere with your paint-yeah! Paint! Acrylic paint is very affordable (a dollar a tube or less) and is permanent. Choose a color and paint the surface of the cut pear/apple. Choose a darker version of the base color and paint the lower edge of the pear/apple to give the illusion of shadow, and stamp straight down and firmly into the corner of the towel. Lift straight up so as not to smudge and you should have a really nice fruit print. You can go in after it is dry with black and pain small black seeds-then, when the paint is completely dry (give them a good 24 hours to be safe) lay an old dishcloth over your painting and iron to help set the paint. If you are doing napkins, you can also do this to plain white place mats to match.

Okay, so you have your napkins/towels and they are adorable. You have your cute basket or tin and its a matter of putting them together-here's where we can make this really special:

Make a simple yeast roll recipe and half it. One half stays plain while ground fennel seeds or poppy seeds are added and mixed with the other half. Roll all dough into long, narrow strips, like snakes. Take one plain and one flavored "snake" and twist together into strands, then make rings.

When they are baked, use your bread "rings" for napkin rings on your fancy new napkins, or you can wrap your bread rings in one of the tea towels and tuck the others around the package. CUTE!

Add a festive bow and a silk poinsettia blossom and you have a really sweet and yummy gift.