crafts

The other night, my nephew Tucker asked me "Aunt Dee?" (that's what they call me) "How come you never make us stuff?"

Ouch. Talk about a knife in the heart! I asked him what he meant and he referred to this and this and wanted to know why I didn't make them anything that they could take to their house.

I should probably have reminded him of the tunnels we made just last week, but I think he meant something he could take home..so I asked him what he wanted me to make.

His response....a garage for his hot wheels cars. So, I promised him a garage and that we would build something today when they came over (which turned out to be a spaceship).

Here's the garage...made from my favorite cardboard box source...a box of LUVS diapers.

I would have liked to paint it, but we didn't have any spray paint on hand, so it's graffitied up with LUVS graphics. But I did give the flooring a layer of cardstock and even made them a handicap parking space. Hope it provides hours of entertainment! Until it falls apart. :)

And here's today's spaceship creation:

I tell you what...there's nothing better than a dedicated playroom where stuff can be moved and destroyed and rebuilt over and over again. This same landing spot has also been home to a campout, tornadoes, rodeos, outer space, and more down-to-earth pretend games like "house" and "baby".

I have a favorite pair of khaki shorts. But they have bleach stains on them. I wore them anyway. Then, the bleach stains started turning into holes. I wore them anyway. But then the holes got bigger and I had to figure out some sort of rescue mission for them.

Here's my solution. Unfortunately, I failed to take before pictures....

I used Fancy Pants chipboard paisley shapes to trace a design on the shorts, cut out the design, pinned a piece of fabric to the inside, did a quick baste stitch around the design to keep it in place and then went back and hand stitched a brown border with a backstitch (I think that's the right term). It took a while to hand stitch them all, but I like the end result.

Now I gotta figure out what I'll do when the bleach stains on the other leg turn into holes...there in a less "normal" spot to put a design. Hmm...

ps...Ayla was my helper for the top photo.  She pressed the shutter button to start the self timer, so the camera would focus correctly.  She's a tiny pro.   

Today's project: A Paper Lily

I wish it was for a happy occasion, but it's for a paper flower bouquet for a friend and former Scrapjazz Blue Crew member, Shelley.  Her step-daughter (17) was killed in a car accident earlier this week and we're all hurting with their family. 

 Scrap Etc. (the local scrapbook store where she's also a designer) is sending our love and support with a paper flower bouquet.  

Instructions for creating this style of origami flower can be found here. 

Blogging has been light this week for a few reasons:

We've been going to the Hoover Rec Center for almost a year now...nearly every day! The child care is wonderful, and I'd like to give the two ladies who work there some kind of gift on our 1-year membership anniversary. They're so good to Ayla and she loves them. And I love them because they give me an hour and half of me-time every day. Can't ask for anything better than that!

I'd love to make them each something in addition to getting them a gift certificate, but I'm stumped on ideas. Any suggestions of great crafty (not cheesy) child-caregiver gifts?

We had Ayla's "friends" birthday party today...a few weeks early, but that's because we wanted her friends to be able to make it before they start traveling.  These were her invitations.  We had a garden/daisy theme... 

 And late last week, I finished this painted wood sign project up for my good friend Betsy's birthday.  She and her husband are coffee enthusiasts, so it was a perfect match: