apple cyder

This was a shower gift for a very special bride-to-be.  She was my neighbor growing up and the BFF of my sister, Alpine Auntie.  The little girl with the most perfect bowl-cut and adorable dresses from suburban Massachusetts grew up to be quite the sophisticated New Yorker who found the perfect guy.  The first time that this bride-to-be brought her man to our hometown to attend a farewell party for Architect Uncle and Teacher Auntie, Redhead Auntie and I treated him (and a crowd of say, 50 people) to a skit/reenactment of his future wife’s high school prom experience.  Any excuse to make a girl blush…and to embarrass yourself in front of a large group of people.  Our skit concluded with a dance routine set to a Rihanna tune.  Yes.  I know.  Very classy.

I enlisted a very helpful committee of bridesmaids to help me come up with nicknames to make napkin rings for everyone in the wedding party.  After a few email exchanges, we settled on:  the mr, the mrs, wino, hippie, rasta, fashionista, punk, artist, biker, raconteur, rock star, chatterbox, wanderer, chef, shopaholic, kerald, and frequent flyer.  I am grateful to have had the help of these creative women.  (THANKS GIRLS!)  My original choices were not nearly as interesting, and certainly did not capture the personalities of the members of this boisterous group of friends. 

The napkins are a linen fabric and the rings are made out of a heavier drapery fabric.  Slap bracelets give the napkin rings their shape.  Basically, I made little slap bracelet coverslips and stamped on the nicknames using fabric markers and rubber stamps.  I thought I was pretty clever when I came up with the slap bracelet idea.  The best part of the project was being in touch with the bridesmaids  and picturing the bride-to-be and her groom serving dinner in their home to all their closest friends.  Congrats you two.  We can’t wait for the wedding!

Have I mention recently how great my kid is? One and a half is a really good time. There are a few things about him that I’ve been wanting to record, so I thought I’d jot them down here.

When he wakes up in the morning, our little guy sings sweetly and plays in his crib until it’s really time to come out, and then he calls for his ma-ma and da-da until one of us rolls out of bed and goes to his room to say good morning. I think the biggest reward for being the one to take the “early shift” is the bounding enthusiasm with which you are greeted when you walk into the kiddo’s bedroom. When I say bounding, I mean it, as he jumps up and down with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. And then when you pick him up and out of the crib, you are in for the biggest and best full-body hug you have ever received—two little pairs of skinny arms and legs wrapped tightly around your neck and torso. It really is one of the best feelings.

Bedtime is pretty great these days too. In fact, the other night (I swear I am not lying) the little guy read me a story for the first time. Granted the book is very basic and only really consists of the words “night-night” and a roaring, improvised “whoa!” But still, he said “night night” and “whoa!” at all the right times, and absolutely amazed his mom. After we read a few stories, he slinks off the twin bed, walks over to his crib and tries to pull himself up. It’s his way of saying, “OK, Mom. I am tired. Can you put me in here?.” And then he rubs his little face in his blankie, lets me cover him up, and says “night night” with that little smile that gets me every time.

His favorite foods lately have been strawberries picked from our garden and eggs from out neighbors’ chickens. He won’t touch strawberries that have been chilled from the refrigerator; he likes them garden-temp. But really, who doesn’t? (Note the strawberry juice on his face in the photos.) And now he’s being a bit selective about eggs—he can distinguish fresh from store-bought. Smart little bugger.

He shoots hoops every morning with a basketball set that was given to him by a good friend, and plays wiffle ball pretty much every evening. We’ve been pool hopping at Papa’s house as well as at the homes of some other local friends, and his favorite part is jumping in. When he is swinging, he repeats the word “Mama” until I give him a big old underdog push. And while I run underneath that swing holding my gorgeous baby boy, I have to yell UNDERDOG! Nothing less will do.

Everyday lately has been so much fun. But slow down little man; it seems like it is going by so fast. You are starting to make me understand all those seasoned parents who say that having kids makes time pass really quickly.

This last photo was taken at a recent family party. My aunt and uncle have the most amazing swing set.

Normally there is not too much to look forward to when the mailman makes his rounds, but recently things have picked up. When I was participating in the functional felt swap, I made a comment on a swap item made by Ayama-Chan letting her know that I loved her fabric choice. About a week later, I found some of that fabric in a sweetly wrapped package at my doorstep. She also included the most adorable little applique creatures, which will be put to good use soon. And P.S.–I am in love with that stationary. How generous and thoughtful was that? Thanks Ayama-Chan. You’re the best! Interested in seeing what I received in the functional felt swap? My partner, Pixiewinkle, sent the cutest little zipper pouch with an amazing felt flower. So sweet.

Next up was the Toadstool Swap. My partner Lindsey was early sending me my toadstool, while I was a good three weeks late. Luckily, she is very nice and patient and even better, she is a super talented artist and seamstress. This is one of two toadstools I received. I still can’t get over all the details–windows upstairs and down, a door with its very own brass knocker, tiny beaded flowers, a little shrub. I won’t post a photo of the toadstool I sent her until it is in her hands, but I will tell you that it pales in comparison. She also included some of the most thoughtful little trinkets in her package: some adorable fabric adorned with cherries and a toadstool shrinky dink with my name. Thanks Lindsey. I hope my toadstool, however inferior, arrives soon!

Nope. Not a pineapple or a mango. Something even sweeter. I have new photos of my new baby niece, now one month old. Island Mom and Dad sound great. They are just soaking up every minute of their precious little girl. I won’t get into how much I want to hold this little one and giver her kisses all over, but boy is she making Hawaii feel even further away than it did before. But no need to dwell on that; I know I’ll meet her someday. The thought of Island Mom and Dad (so proud to be donning those new titles) and how happy they sound when we talk on the phone keeps me smiling. And of course, these photos. Well, they say the rest. Again, sweet little Island Baby–welcome to the family! We love you so much.

P.S. I love that little number you are wearing in the last photo. Something tells me that either your Mom or Dad made that for you with lots of love.

Like most of the projects that I fall in love with and then later give away, I tend to need to write a good chunk about them in this space so that the letting-go part isn’t so difficult. This is one of those projects. I fell hard for this one, but then had to (happily) give it away. So get ready for lots of blather on my inspiration, the process, the recipient, and in this case, the organizers.

This blanket, made of three felted sweaters, was for the Functional Felt Swap organized by Painted Fish Studios and Three Sneaky Bugs. I had never worked with felt before and was nervous to join a swap for the first time. The only reason why I felt confident enough to sign up was because I saw this fantastic felted wool blanket made by Molly at Purlbee, and thought, “I can do that.” The binding, especially the patchwork part, was inspired by Erin at House on Hill Road who was, in turn, inspired by this blanket, also made by Molly at Purlbee. A tidy little circle of inspiration.

I had two gray sweaters that had small holes in them and bought one more at a thrift shop for two bucks. I felted the sweaters by washing them with hot water and detergent three times. I also dried them in the dryer three times. I cut them into five inch squares and then used a thin cotton embroidery thread to sew them together. I used the instructions that Molly at Purlbee provides in her project journal for the stitching. This particular stitch is great because it makes it seem like the squares are on hinges. Once the blanket was finished, I added the binding. That finishing touch really made the project for me. The best thing about this project was the amount of hand stitching required. I just carried those little blocks of felt around with me and stitched away whenever I had the chance. It didn’t feel like a big project because I started it early on and worked on it little by little. I only sat at my machine to do the binding. I should have more projects like this one hanging around.

This blanket was made for Sarah, who is an expat living in Paris with her husband and two-year-old boy. I read quickly through parts of her blog and learned that she puts a lot of effort into living an eco-friendly, sustainable life. Recycled sweaters seemed like a good material. I also read that Felix, her boy, loves trains. So when I created the binding, I made a patchwork section that has trains and some other kid things, like hedgehogs and rabbits.

My first swap experience was excellent, thanks to Jen and Anna. They did lots of cheer-leading and organized fun felted giveaways along the way. Check out the flickr group to see all the amazing crafts that were created for the swap.

As I was making the blanket, I secretly hoped that the Cydermaker wouldn’t ask me for whom I was making it because I didn’t want to explain the whole “crafty swap” concept. (I was fairly confident that he’d make fun of it.) Alas, the day before I shipped this blanket off to France, the inevitable question was put forth: “Who did you make that for, anyway?” So I explained the swap to him and he responded with a comment about how it seemed like crafty/bloggy on-line dating of sorts. Except that his EXACT WORDS were a heck of a lot funnier than that. I’d share but I try to keep this space PG in case any of my nieces all the sudden become geniuses. Having said that, if you are over the age of three months and are interested, just ask. He can be a pretty funny guy.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and hope that all the dads were treated like kings. They deserve it.

Dear Dad,

Happy Father’s Day! I could go on and on about the many reasons why I love you, but Mom says you would probably prefer that I keep the mush off the internet, so we will write you a nice card to tell you all of that. But I would like to tell you that you are the BEST DAD EVER and I really hope that I grow up to be just like you. (That’s why I keep practicing driving your truck.)

I LOVE YOU DADDY!

Love,

The Little Guy

P.S. I need to lobby Mom for a new blog nickname, as I am not looking so little these days. OK–must go hit some more wiffle balls and shoot a few hoops before the day’s end.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!  You are as handsome, witty, charming and smaht as ever! And you don’t look a day older than you did in these photos that were taken last year on your birthday.  We can’t wait to celebrate poolside with you and the girls tomorrow. 

P.S.  “Smaht” spelled with an ‘h’ is not a typo in this case.  It’s just how you say it if you are from Boston. 

As was the case in many parts of the country, it was hot as heck in our area this weekend.    On Saturday, after a morning trip to the beach, the little guy was having trouble napping in the heat.  So instead of fighting that battle, I put an old blanket on the living room floor, added a few pillows, and just sat there with my munchkin.  The Cydermaker turned on the baseball game and joined us on the blanket too.  And there we were, just being a family.  And you know what.  It was really nice. 

Both my husband and I can be real busy bodies when we are around the house.  Usually one of us is off tending to something else (the yard, garden, dishes, laundry etc.) while the other is playing with the kiddo.  Having all three of us sitting on that floor, with nothing else to do but “be” was truly great.  Sounds so basic, I know, but honestly, it just doesn’t happen that often.  There’s nothing like a heatwave to bring a family together! 

The photo was not taken this weekend.  It was too hot to drag around the camera.  It was taken on Memorial Day.  Grammy was sporting a spiffy patriotic ‘do-rag, and the little guy thought it was pretty funny. 

I am feeling lazy so this time I just used Photo Booth to take a few quick shots of my latest bag. The photos are junk, but you get the idea. The material is called fish cakes and I purchased it online from Fabric Tales. It may seem a little odd–those are cakes in the shape of fish–but I like it and this bag is for me, so that’s all that matters. It’s the same exact design as the hippo bag except the straps are a little shorter.

I love that the selvege has little fish shapes instead of dots to demonstrate the colorway, so I incorporated them into the handles. Here’s my attempt at showing you what that looks like. So Japanese cute, of course. P. S. As the title of this post indicates, I am suffering from a small case of handbag burnout, so I probably won’t be making these again for a while.

It was just silly how much this kiddo enjoyed playing in the sprinkler for the first time.

Even getting pelted off the head was fun. It’s starting to feel like summertime!