monogram place cards

I love my Slice cordless cutter.  I am constantly finding ways to use this handy little tool. This weekend we hosted a Mad Men premiere party and I quickly crafted monogram place cards for each of our guests. Betty Draper would be proud.

easter eggs

March is quickly coming to an end and spring is in full gear. With Easter only a couple weeks away, it is the perfect time to bring a little spring color to your tabletop. These are photos from last year's Easter eggs. I plan to try this again this year using Kool-Aid instead of food coloring. After a lot of experimentation dying coffee filters, (see here) I determined that Kool-Aid produces brighter more vibrant colors than food coloring.

I allowed the hard-boiled eggs to cool and then applied sticky-back letters and numbers to the eggs. We were having a dinner party the following night, so I decorated an egg for each guest and used them as place holders.

Mix 2 teaspoon white vinegar with 1 cup boiling water and about 20-30 drops of food coloring. I used mason jars for each color. I experimented with the length of time the eggs remained in the dye and double dyed some eggs to achieve a brown color with orange and blue undertones.

 Allow the eggs to dry before carefully removing the sticky-back.

 I found this lovely egg plate at Crate & Barrel.

After a couple days, the eggs were re-purposed into deviled eggs. These are a twist on my husband's grandmother's recipe. We piped the filling into the eggs for a modern presentation and topped with paprika for added color.

cat and mouse

Using the body of a felted sweater -- see post below -- I created this adorable mouse for my favorite furry friend.

Start with the body of a felted sweater. This one has been through the washer and dryer twice and has a thick, stiff texture that doesn't unravel when cut.

Each mouse has two sides, a bottom and a tail. The tail was cut from the seam of the sweater which was thicker than the body of the sweater.  I waited to cut the bottom until after I sewed the two sides together.

I used a matching gray yarn to sew the sides together, but you could also do this with a contrasting yarn. After the sides were together, I traced out the bottom piece. The tail was inserted 1/2" into the seam and reinforced with extra stitches.

 

Before closing up the bottom, stuff your mouse with wool scraps and catnip.

 The finished mouse is ready for playtime.

re-purposed sweater

One of my wool sweaters accidentally found itself in the dirty clothes basket and took a trip through the washer and dryer. It came out of the dryer beautifully felted and child-sized. I used this as an opportunity to re-purpose the material into a couple felted projects. You could very easily re-purpose an old, unworn sweater the same way. I made a pair of cute fingerless gloves using the arms of the sweater and saved the body of the sweater for my second project -- a toy for my furry friend.

To make these gloves, first felt your old sweater by washing it in warm water and drying it completely. Carefully cut the arms off the felted sweater, making sure that both gloves are equal in the length. Cut a 1" long slit in the upper portion of the glove for the thumb. I used a contrasting pink yarn to reinforce the thumb hole. Re-wash and dry the gloves. This will re-felt the material and ensure that the gloves do not unravel along the edge.