When my daughter opened her big gift for her fifth birthday, my heart nearly burst as she unwrapped her first sewing machine. She has been asking for one for awhile so I did a lot of research to find a quality machine that will grow with her.
Janome makes an adorable 3/4-sized Hello Kitty machine that came with rave reviews. I was sold and my daughter was over the moon. And it wouldn't be complete without a sewing kit filled with thread & needles.
Looking for a craft for the kids on a sniffly, cold, wet, rainy day? Customized hankies, of course! Crayola makes fabric crayons which are so easy to use. Simply have the kids draw a picture on a blank white sheet of paper (don't forget that the image will reverse, so help them write any words backwards!). Put the paper face-down on the hankie and iron on a hot setting. Be sure to find hankies that are made of synthetic fibers rather than cotton, as the ink will not hold up in the wash! To frame their little masterpieces I added an embroidered trim.
Making valentine cards with my kids is beginning to rival the joy I feel making their Halloween costumes. I like the collaborative effort along with the handmade creations. My 2-yr-old's class is studying music this year, so we decided to make these framed art cards with a wooden bird whistle attached.
I found the wooden bird whistles at Oriental Trading Company and the foam frames at Joann Fabrics. The art is straight from Cooper's heart.
For my 5-yr-old's cards, we changes our original plan of making lollipop flowers with heart petals (via Martha Stewart's website). I realized that candy is frowned upon in her classroom, so we used the cut heart petals to make flower cards. The stems are metallic ribbon strips and we finished the centers with various white buttons. They came out adorable, even sugar-free.
Couldn't resist making this adorable crocheted heart brooch for myself today. I used a gold metallic leather to make the arrow with a grey felt backing.
Every year I troll the internet for fun, crafty, kid-friendly valentines to mass-produce for my kid's classmates. This year I was inspired by Martha Stewart's lollipop valentine project. It's a clever use of paper-cut hearts as petals around a lollipop. Will post pics once we make some more progress.
This weekend I had the opportunity to craft with local ladies Rachel Carlson & Kate Matlock at SewPo. It was a night of crafting with a cause, sewing these adorable plush dolls for Operation Comfort Doll. The finished dolls are distributed to women who reside in domestic abuse shelters around the U.S. Not only was it heartwarming to make a charitable craft, but inspiring meeting more local crafty ladies!
Kids under the age of 3 are the best candidates for Halloween costumes because they really don't have an opinion yet - nor do they mind if you dress them as up as someone they have never heard of before. Sooooo, I chose to transform my 2-yr-old as Angus Young. Since my husband is a rock history nerd, we had to do the costume justice by adding the felt Gibson SG.
The hat, blazer and shorts were mostly taken from vintage patterns for reference, then I added a reconstructed thrift store tie which was the perfect color. Hell's Bells he looked amazing!
At age 4, most girls want a costume that is pink and has some glitter or shine component. I added a retro twist by turning her on to this baton majorette idea. She even came with me to the fabric store to pick out the pink glitter lining and silver sequin trim.
The hat was constructed out of poster board paper and was the trickiest part. Ironically, finding a baton was the biggest challenge! We ended up having to order one online. I LOVE making costumes for Halloween - as one blogger posted today, "Halloween is my Fashion Week." So true...
When your last name is "DeHart" you tend to acquire quite a few heart-related pendants and other jewelry. I decided to cluster a few of my favorite heart lockets to create a vintage-inspired necklace.
Unfortunately it's that time of year to start thinking about back-to-school basics for my kids (although it's currently 90 degrees in Portland! Hoodies are a staple item in this wet-weather town but I was struggling trying to find something "simple" that my 4-yr-old-fashionista would agree to wear that wasn't an explosion of bad graphics and brand logos. I found some solid-colored hoodies at H&M kids, then my daughter helped choose and cut out some floral designs from my scrap bins. My favorite part is the flower that she insisted I add to the hood. This was my first real venture in machine appliqué, but found it quite easy and addicting. I recommend using the iron-on adhesive backing which adds stability to the fabric to the appliquéd as well as keeping the fabric in place without pins.
I had such a blast last night volunteering for the I Heart Art Portland Etsy Craft Party at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. It was an amazing night benefitting the Japan Earthquake relief. I was assigned to work the Artist Trading Cards table where I was so inspired by the amount of creative talent crafting cards from various found papers, prints, markers, rub-on letters and other craft supplies.
Not only were folks creating mini works of art, they were actually swapping their new trading cards with others and making new connections. Group hug, anyone?
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