Crafty: Billy Balls

Hurricane crafts part two: Billy balls.

Exhibit A:

I took this craft idea from Design Sponge, so I won’t recount the steps. If you’re interested, just go here.

However, I will share a few things that I wish I’d known before I started.

First, when you form your balls (uh huh), spread the yarn out a bit and make a bubble, rather than a roll. I tried rolling a few of mine and when they were done you could really see the ‘seams’ where the different edges met.

Second, make your water really hot and really cold. I had ice in the cold water and had a pot of boiling water nearby to add to my hot water as I went.

Third, if you have any yarn that looks like this:

You’ll really want to pull it apart before attempting a ball or else you’ll end up with something that looks like this:

That’s the bobo billy ball.

And no, I have no idea why they are called billy balls.

Quiltin’ it up

A long time ago I told Jessie that when she had kids I’d make them quilts. And wouldn’t you know it, Jessie (who never does anything half-heartedly) is about to have twins. So I got to make two quilts.

It was lucky I was unemployed or the boys may have gotten them as high school graduation gifts.

Well, and I had a lot of help from some furry, four-legged creatures.

Making the quilts was a good way for me to a) adjust to the idea of Jessie and Brent having two children, and b) think lots of good thoughts about the babies and make up some dreams of my own for them. I know they aren’t my kids, but I’m excited to see them grow.

The quilts are basically the same, but with different color borders and four mostly solid squares to match.

Every time I pulled the quilts out Oscar was all over them. He just wanted to show that he loves the babies too. Or he thought he needed a new blanket.

Congrats Jessie and Brent! I can’t wait to meet Vin and Whit! (I hope you know this means I will basically invite myself over at any time for as long as I feel like it. But I promise to bring food with me.)

I love this picture–we both look so happy.

Crafty: Upgraded Bamboo Trays

This post is one of two craft-related posts that are long overdue…back when Hurricane Irene came through I took advantage of the rainy day to sit inside and start a bunch of crafts. Most of them I’ve even finished — a huge accomplishment since most of my projects generally end up in craft-purgatory for years quite a while.

The first of the hurricane crafts: upgraded bamboo trays.

I’d been wanting some trays to cart stuff around on. I like to sit on the porch or the couch with some crackers and hummus, a book, and a glass of wine, but I’m lazy and get annoyed carrying things around.

I found these useful, but ugly, trays at Goodwill:

So, I painted them white:

Then traced out the inside onto a piece of scrap paper:

Then I traced the scrap paper shape onto some oil cloth and cut that out to line the tray with. I must not have done a very good job though because I had to trim quite a bit off. As I said, I’m lazy, so this step was sort of tedious.

Anyway, add some hot glue glue and (ta-da!) much improved trays:

Very handy.

Fa La La Felt

I tried to come up with a more creative title for this post, but unfortunately everything with the word ‘felt’ in it ends up sounding dirty to me. So instead, you get the title of this fun book:

It’s apropos because this is a crafty post about felt creatures.

I found this book on Amazon and asked Charles to get it for me at the bookstore where he works. This led to a (apparently) slightly embarrassing episode when a male co-worker caught him looking it up and he felt a little emasculated. Oops. What’s not manly about a book called “Fa La La Felt”?

Yeah, pretty much everything.

Anyway, they didn’t have it, so I borrowed it from the library. And it’s because of this book I’ve discovered a love of making felt things. They are great because….

• It doesn’t fray so you don’t have to worry about raw edges.
• It’s chunky and awkward as it is, so you don’t have to worry about stitching perfectly.
• It comes in fun colors.
• It’s stiff, so it’s easy to work with.

Fa La La Felt has some very cute Christmas ornaments and stockings in it, along with some ugly odd projects that I would never make.

I’ve started making some ornaments as little gifts. Like this guy:

What’s great about these is that you can pretty much just cut out a pattern and sew. No seam allowances, no folding or ironing. Just add a button eye, a loop of ribbon, stuffing, and you are done.

Step one:

Step two:

It’s also very easy to make up patterns. Turn this:

Into this:

That’s a felt Charles…Not emasculating at all, right?

Taggies!

A few years ago my friend Pam got pregnant and at her baby shower another friend, Mary Stuart, gave her a taggie blanket. Also at this baby shower we had a pinata. I think all baby showers should have pinatas.

But, back to the taggie – it was about the cutest thing I’d ever seen. So, I had her explain to me how to make them and I started making them for all of our non-mutual friends. In the cases of mutual friends I defer to MS, since they really were her thing first.

Anyway, this is a taggie:

Taggies are a pretty foolproof baby gift because babies love them and even if the family already has one, they could always use another. Plus they are handmade, and who doesn’t appreciate a handmade gift?

This week I made one for a friend who is having a baby soon and though I was smart enough to take pictures of most of the important points, I didn’t take one of that particular finished one. Oops. Oh well, you’ll get the idea.

See below the fold for the how to.

So delicious…

One:

Two:

Three:

No, this isn’t crafty, but it is something you make, and they really are a work of art…

Strawberry Jam

Thanks to Jessie, I now know how easy it is to make jam. This winter we made apple butter…It was quite an event. What we thought would be a few hours of watching apples turn to mush turned into a day of cutting, mashing, pouring, stirring, mashing, and waiting for the darn stuff to finish.

Anyway.

Strawberry jam is not that.

First, wash the jars in warm soapy water, put the lids in a bowl and pour some boiling water over them.

Food process or blenderize your strawberries. These were frozen because it was January and fresh strawberries cost about ten dollars a pound.

Get your sugar, strawberries, and Sure Jell ready. Not sure what the proportions are, it’s on the back of the Sure Jell box.

Combine the sugar and strawberries and bring to a boil, then add Sure Jell. I think…the directions are on the box, just read them.

You let it cook for a few minutes then pour it into your freshly cleaned jars. The whole process takes about 30 minutes. Then comes the hard part…canning.

You put the lids on, tighten them down, and dump them into a big vat of boiling water for about ten minutes. There are some special tools for this part – the big pot, the stand, and the specially formed tongs.

That’s it. Very, very easy.

Crafty: Flower Pins

This is going to be the first in a (theoretical hypothetical) new section of the blog about making crafty or delicious things. Mostly it’s an excuse to take pictures — but maybe you’ll learn something.

I’ve recently realized that my office is very drab. I had nothing whatsoever to personalize it, so I decided to make some flower pins.

To start, you’ll want two colors pieces of fabric of contrasting colors.

Cut a strip 1.5 by 12 inches long.

Sew a line through it using a general in and out stitch.

Pull the two ends together, and tighten it to make a flower-type thing. Tie the ends together and sew along the two edges. (This picture is no good, sorry.)

Do the same thing with your other fabric, except cut this one about 2 inches by 12 inches.

Then, stack the two flowers and sew the centers together.

Stick a bit of hot glue and a push pin on the back and there you go: brand new office. Or, at least, cuter office.