Cheese!

Today DH and I took a trip down to Tillamook, home of the world-famous Tillamook Cheese Factory.  I love the cheese factory - I've been going there since I was a kid.  There's something so endlessly fun about watching those be-hairnetted cheese mongers cutting, weighing, and packaging loaves of cheese.  It kind of makes you feel like you're in an episode of Sesame Street.

Needless to say, we bought a lot of cheese.  Yum.  Here's hoping this doesn't make us both lactose-intolerant. 

More after the jump (yay, I learned how to use jumps!)

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Thanks to some wonderful friends, DH and I are spending a long weekend at Cannon Beach, Oregon.  It has been an amazing vacation so far.

From My Inspiration Bookmarks

It's really bugging me that I haven't been posting much lately. The truth is that I've gotten into quilting, and those projects take much longer than my usual ones! Right now, I have two in progress, so hopefully I'll be getting some finished photos of those up soon.

In the meantime, I cleaned out my inspiration bookmarks, and came across some forgotten treasures. They aren't necessarily of crafts, but my hope is that they will lead to making beautiful things with my hands. Maybe these will get my rear in gear!

A Fabulous Saturday

Just a little sneak peek into my day so far. A quiet sewing room, some trash tv on the laptop, and my quilt top coming together faster than I could believe.

How's your Saturday so far?

More Felt Food!

Last weekend I was in Spokane for a teacher's conference, and although the conference was riveting and required most of my attention (ahem), I brought along some felt and thread to sew while I sat.



I made this banana while listening to the governor speak about Race to the Top.



I made this corn while listening to Bill Gates, Sr. talk about income-tax reform.

And I made this very healthful donut while listening to delegates debate a boycott on Arizona.

P.S. Did you know that you can carry scissors onto an airplane? The blades can be up to four inches!! Who knew?

Tutorial: Spoon Garden Stakes

My little antique spoon garden stakes turned out so cute, I thought I'd give more info about how to make your own! Here's what you need:

-Antique spoons. See if you can find the real silver ones - you may have to do some digging at Value Village.

-Mod Podge

-Paper

-Colored Pencils

-A very fine point, archival-quality pen

-Paintbrush

Start by using the pen and pencils to create your art. I like the simple look of the herbs. I "repurposed" some junk mail for this project.

Tear out your pictures.

I used some antiquing medium and acrylic paint to give the pictures a very subtle aging. Then I used Mod Podge to glue the pictures to the bowls of the spoons and the bottom of the fork.

Give each piece 1-2 coats of Mod Podge to seal.

Use Outdoor Mod Podge for a waterproof garden stake!

I Love Sushi

Some felt sushi. I'm passing this along to Chelsea's niece, Mya, who is 3 and apparently very cute. :)

I'm all about indoctrinating the younguns with a love of sushi.

Does anyone out there remember the "I love sushi!" sketch from Upright Citizen's Brigade? I wish I could find you the video on YouTube, but it looks like you're just going to have to Netflix it.

What I'm Working On...

Here's a sneak peek at what I'm working on this weekend! The fabric all comes from Amy Butler's Love collection, and the quilt pattern is the same one Chelsea used back in March.

I'm not quite happy with the layout yet, but I'm very excited that all the cutting is done!!

Here in Seattle, we'll take any sun we can get. These little jars will allow me to capture the sun and save it up for the night time!

To make them, I just followed Not Martha's tutorial.

I got my jars from various Goodwills and Value Villages, and used spray glass frost to turn them translucent.

I found solar yard stakes at Walgreen's for $3.50. The ones I found had a detachable head, so all I had to do was pop the head off the stake and glue it to the underside of the jar lid!

I kind of wish my lights were more of a golden yellow like Not Martha's, but the white has it's own eerie beauty too. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more jars, and keep making these all summer.

Another Mother's Day Idea

Here's another cute idea for mom... a little herb garden with handmade antique silverware garden signs.

Full disclosure: the garden signs are not my idea! I must have seen them somewhere, somehow online, but I don't have a link for you. I'll show you how I made mine, but if you know who should get credit for this great idea, let me know so I can provide a link!

These are so simple. All you need is white paper, antique spoons (check your thrift store), colored pencils, a black pen, and Mod Podge. Create a simple little sketch on the white paper, using the black pen. Color it in with the colored pencils. Tear the sketch all the way around. Use Mod Podge to glue it to the spoon, then add two more coats of Mod Podge to seal. If you use the outdoor Mod Podge, it will even be waterproof in your garden!

I used the same technique on an antique fork, then bent the tines to create a card holder. This could also be used for photos.

Happy Mother's Day!

From My Classroom: Mother's Day Gifts

Last week my class made our Mother's Day gifts - little personalized paperclips. I thought I'd share with you, because they were easy, inexpensive, and they turned out darn cute!



All you need is polymer clay (Fimo) and large paperclips. Start by rolling out two small balls of clay, then squish them flat to make two little fat coins. Sandwich the top of your paperclip between these coins. This makes your base.

Then, decorate and personalize to your heart's content! Here are a few ideas my students came up with:



For the mom who loves frying eggs.



Can you guess what this mom does for a living?

If you guessed works for a pharmaceutical company, you were right! ...Yes, that is a little blue pill.

This mom is a dentist. Look at all those bleeding cavities! (Yes, they are supposed to be bleeding cavities, I was assured by the artist)

For the mom who loves to travel the world.

This family has pet rabbits.

Apparently this child's mom is Donnie Darko.

I asked this boy what the little fellow on the right was supposed to be. He just giggled and said, "I have no clue!" Fair enough.

To package our creations, we used cardstock with slits cut in it to create little cards to slip our clips into.

Quick, easy and absolutely adorable. This is a project I highly recommend!!