Use it or lose it . . .

In effort to use up some of my ridiculous stash yarn I have started yet another crochet project. Apparently I feel better if this stashed yarn in question is made into something half done rather than piled up somewhere making me feel guilty.

So here is Elly. She will get another large purple ear and four purple limbs. Since she is a stash project and I ran out of the white I used for her body that is the way it will be, and it will make her quirky and lovable. Oh and she is totally a Francophile so she is also getting a beret, a wee sweater and a basket of flowers all to be made with a random variegated purple yarn from the stash. All the yarn used so far (plus the aforementioned variegated one) were thriftier together in one bag. It was the inspiration for Elly. Last weekend I scored another bag of random good quality yarn that is begging to be a bear. This could be the beginning of a good art challenge!

The Infamous Glass Tile Pendants

Tile pendants are all over Pinterest these days. My sister made some a while back and was gracious enough to show me her source for supplies and give me quick instructions. Mandi has been making a lot of gorgeous jewelry lately. Check out her blog Handi Dandi and shop her creations at The Goodness Shop. Next I'll share the funky turquoise and gold beaded necklace she made me from new supplies and some fun vintage finds.

I knew I wanted to make some necklaces for Sarah's Heart to Heart Swap this year. I always want to join this swap but never seem to get it together in time to craft after Christmas. There are always some unique interpretations of the "Valentine" for this swap and I wanted to make sure to measure up and thought these pendants would be fun. To check out all of the swap Valentines click HERE to visit Shara for a roundup.



I used some paper from a Martha Stewart Valentine's Day paper pad I purchased last year because I couldn't resist the cuteness. The page I used had several 1 inch designs that looked like stamps. I think the Love pattern was my favorite but I used other images as well:



The bails I used were silver and shaped like hearts and I alternated between silver and hot pink ball chain depending on the design.



I packaged them up on some pretty Simply Shabby Chic tags I found in the two dollar section at Michaels and tucked them into plastic goody bags. I also had some Valentine stamp stickers from that same Martha line and I used those to seal up the back.

These pendants were fun to make and very affordable to make in bulk. All of the supplies (except for the paper and tools) are from Sun and Moon Craft Kits. Please check out my latest article on the Examiner for details on how to make your own pendants by clicking HERE.

New Year, New Project

Happy New Year. :) I've neglected my blog a lot lately and have made it one of my resolutions to post more, craft more and take more photos.

Speaking of resolutions, a few years ago I bought a doll house. It's been sitting in the basement since then ( yes for FIVE years) and I've finally decided it's time. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to build the doll house. I'm off to a great start:






Step one is to paint the outside and all of the trim.



I'm using Safari Green by Glidden for the main house. For the trim I'm using Ballet Slipper and Aegean Blue by Martha Stewart Living. I've ordered the stain for the roofing shingles and hardware for the door. I ordered them from this fabulous site. This will be a big project and I'm expecting a lot of cursing to go along with it but I'm looking forward to the challenge. The kit I'm using is Allison Jr. from Real Good Toys. It says it's an easy to assemble model. I can only imagine the more difficult ones. :)

Wish me luck!

What's been going on . . .

A lot of glittering in preparation for the upcoming annual Christmas Craft Party:





And my first try and paper sculpture:




What have you been up to?

Bewitching Beauties

I was happy to join Sarah's Halloween Ornament swap this year and blow the dust off of some of my crafting skills. Everytime I join a swap I start freaking out that I won't finish in time. Luckily my second idea turned out well (the first, not so much) and I was able to finish them up with time to spare.



My theme was Bewitching Beauties. I love using vintage images* in collage art and when I came upon some cute scrapbook borders of different poisons I knew I wanted to show a fancy lady with her preferred method of getting rid of her problems. ;)



I gave each beauty a witch hat, crepe paper collar and some bling and packaged her up in a sweet little toile bag. Toile made of skulls that is. Spooky.

I've received my return package and all I can say is WOW. These crafty ladies are good. I'll share links to Sarah's posts of all the creations soon!

Cheers ~

* - I find a lot of my images here.

Some Bunny to Love

Made from the same original pattern I created to make this one, a gift for my nephew.



Made with Bernat Cotton Tots yarn and some scraps of cotton I had laying around.



Made to be loved. Pattern coming soon. Vintage high chair courtesy of Mom's house. Hmm, I think it was mine. Does that make me vintage? ;)

I should have used a thimble.

Do you know that I don't have a thimble? I thought I did but no luck when I looked in the places where thimbles should be. hmm. Anyway, I don't do much hand sewing and don't need one when  embroidering so maybe it's not that much of a surprise. Let's just say the needle was really sharp.

I had big plans to go to the movies, do some shopping, get some laundry done, yada yada yada but after a stressful day at work on Friday (including an ugly incident) I needed a mental break. I started cleaning the craft room and eventually came upon some hand sewing pattern cards I bought from Hillary at Wee Wonderfuls ages ago. This is one of the first blogs I ever read and is what really started me here at Thrifty Goodness. Back then, she also had Thrift Craft and while I was, at the time, writing a knitting blog called NYCe Girl Knits I realized I had more to talk about and voila! A new blog is born.

Anyway, I decided to make the turtle:



He is really hard to photograph! I didn't have wool felt and I've really been on a use what you have kick lately so I used regular craft felt (made from recycled water bottles) and a piece of vintage fabric.



I think he's pretty cute! He came together easily and the standard felt worked okay though the wool would have been nice.



I have 3 other of her hand sewing patterns, a butterfly, a snail and a bird. I think Kingsley Turtle (of course I had to name him, it just comes naturally to me) may need a few friends. The process of creating him in an afternoon was just the mental break I needed.

Turtle pattern can be found here. Visit the Wee Wonderfuls shop for other patterns here.

In the works . . .

Now you know I couldn't resist taking that nicely organized floss for a spin, right?



The start of a holiday gift perhaps? We'll see . . .

Pin Bottles

Do you have those projects that you think about sometimes and you basically have everything you need to make them but you just don't do it? And then one day, OUCH! The creative bug bites you and you're off to 110 degree craft castle to make . . . .



Pin bottles. :) Inspired by a perfume, believe it or not, these are easily made with small scraps of fabric, a bit of stiffing, some thread, needle, hot glue, ribbon and salt shakers.



These were fussy and I burned myself once (or three times) but I think they came out cute.



I filled the shakers with the buttons I found at the thrift last weekend. I think these would make for cute mending kits if gifted with a nice spool of thread.

These were fast to make and I'm glad I finally did something creative. More to come, I can promise you that.

Cheers ~ RR

Still Kicking

I know. I'm a terrible blogger lately. Honestly I'm busy and I have nothing to share. No thirfts, no crafts, no general mayhem. Well maybe a little but nothing of interest. I WILL be back. Soon. I hope. :)

In the meantime . . .

My darling nephew sort of enjoying the elephant I made for him. Honestly, he looks a bit ambivalent.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Cheers ~ Rebecca

Bunny Love

I mentioned before that I have been working on a project for my friend Jini to give to her new nephew. She requested a bunny holding a blanket with a pocket for her to include a letter. we talked about the type of blanket and colors and then I started looking for patterns. Nothing really grabbed me and since it was to be crocheted I figured I'd just make up my own.



I am tickled with the way he came out!



He's big, about 14 inches sitting up and much longer if you include his legs.



I like to use fabric in my toy creations so he has a fleece nose and cotton lining in his ears and pocket and on his hands and feet.



The blanket looks like blocks but it's actually strips put together with single crochet to form a ridge. The blanket is made from Caron Simply Soft and the bunny from Bernat Cotton Tots which is one of my favorite toy making yarns.

I'm very smitten with him and happy I actually wrote down his pattern so I can make another one. This one will be off in the mail soon and I'll be sad to see him go but know he's heading to a loving home. Bye bye Bunny Love.

You know I made something else . . .

I haven't been feeling very crafty lately. I'm still plugging away at a project for a friend and it's almost done but that is about all the creative energy I can muster lately. I haven't been blogging or writing Examiner articles, I've just been . . . well . . . being. My new position at work has kept me busy and I'm enjoying the challenge. We are also trying to do some work around the house but the weather and life have gotten in the way of that lately so no newes there either. So what shall we talk about?

How about another cute baby picture in another hand made by Auntie sweater? This one is crocheted and made some time ago so I can't remember what yarn I used. It's a new born size but as you can see, Gabriel is very long so it looks short on him. But he's a fabulous model and he makes it work. I have started another sweater in a size large enough to be worn in the fall but so far I've got about 6 rows done. Again, not much to report there.

I'm hoping to maybe sneak in a trip to the thrift store this weekend but the beach is calling my name as well so we'll have to see.

Cheers!

You know I made something . . .

Welcome my most adorable nephew, Gabriel Owen . . .



I know I have better pictures but I can't seem to find them now. :) How about one of him and his proud (and maybe crying) Auntie?



I just love him. :) And you know I made something . . .



Sweater, booties and bear all from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. The hat is from an online pattern and it was way too small so I'll be making him a new one. :)



The sweater set is made from a cashmere blend yarn and the bear . . .



 . . . is a cotton bamboo blend. I think he's my favorite. :) When I was making him I was worried he wouldn't look like a bear at all but I think he came out A-ok. More cute babies projects to come!

Cheers ~ Auntie Rebecca

Passing the time . . .

I was feeling rather punk yesterday and did a lot of sleeping/laying around/wishing I were on a beach, etc. I also did a bit of work on my current project:



This baby afghan is for my dear friend Jini's adorable new nephew. I'm using Caron Simply Soft and making double crocheted strips and then making a single crochet ridge to bind them together. At first I wasn't sure that I would like the ridge but I think it gives it some texture. Once I steam it I think the ridges will fall into place better. I also plan to add a blue border and am considering lining the other side with cotton or fleece.

Hope all of you are feeling well and if not, passing the time with something you enjoy. Cheers . . .

No really, I HAVE been doing stuff . . .

First off, thank you all for the well wishes on 5 years of blogging. I could go on and on about all the lovely people I've meet through good old Thrifty Goodness. :)

So, what have I been doing? Working mostly. And being lazy. You have to work at being lazy, too, sometimes. I have made a few things:



That's another modified ring toy on the left there. They are fun to make and are a good stash buster. My stash of the defunct Yarn Gang yarn is slowly running out. I may have to start hunting it down on eBay soon. On the right? That's going to be a bunny. He's my own design and I'm happy with him so far. He's for a friend's new nephew and will have long arms to wrap around a crocheted blanket when he's done.

So there you have it. I've been doings stuff. Just the most minimal amount possible.

Cheers!

EGG-cellent

Again this year I joined Shara's Eggcellent swap. You make a dozen eggs, send them to Shara and she sends you a dozen back. I love the challenge of coming up with something I can make in bulk that goes with the theme and doesn't make me want to poke my eyes out after the third one.

Last year I made these. Cute and sort of egg shaped. Again this year I decided to think outside the egg carton and come up with a project that didn't include a plastic egg.



Voila! Egg shaped needle books. (Why yes, they are cute, thank you.)



I used supplies I had on hand which was nice though it didn't make much of a dent in the apocalypse sized fabric stash I own.



I'm happy with how they came out and am now sad I didn't make one for myself.



I packaged them up in little lolly pop bags (thrifted, score!) and stapled a little vellum to the top.

You should see the eggs I received! Head here to see each egg and the creator. I was going to take photos but Shara's are better. Plus I already have dispersed the eggs among the craft room and my desk at work. Egg-cellent.

New Baby = New Toys

My nephew is set to make his entrance next month so of course I've been working hard on making him some stuffy companions.



I think that giraffe is my favorite toy I've ever made. He really just came out super cute!



I always have a hard time with faces (you should see the pile of misfits in the craft room with no eyes) but his came out perfect. I love his sleepy look!



The elephant is from a pamplet I've used before (check out the first one I made here) but this time I doubled the yarn so he'd be bigger and a better sized companion for the giraffe.



The stacking toy is based on this pattern but I wanted it to fit the jungle theme so I changed it a bit. It really came out cute! These are also fun to make I think.

I'm sure there will be more toys and many hats in his future from Auntie B. ;)

Whoo . . .

I've been busy. Mostly with lame things like cleaning and work. But also with fun and creative things like this little guy:



Made for my friend's son, the pattern is from an old issue of Knit Simple. It's a Susan B. Anderson pattern though  changed it a bit. (do I say that a lot?) Her owl had knit eyes and a beak and I used wool felt and really like the result! He's a great stash buster project and there will certainly be more to come.

I've also made some progress on the sampler:



It's coming along and I'm enjoying finding elements to add. Stop by the Examiner for an article on making adorable egg cups from a paper egg carton. Check it out here.

cheers!

Taking the Plunge

For years now I've been fascinated by all the fabulous projects in Japanese craft books. Particularly the sewing projects. As Japan has been on my mind a lot lately I decided to stop into Kinokuniya.

The flagship store on Avenue of the Americas is huge so you can just imagine the selection of craft books. I could have spent hours flipping through then all. I started with sewing projects but as I'm not very good at sewing in English, ahem, I moved on to knit and crochet, many of which use universal charts. Still not what I was looking for. Finally I landed in the embroidery section.



Let's call it . . . Idees Vol. 12. :) Some of my favorite projects:





Love these! 



Perfect for summer, no?







I want this set for myself.



And this might just be my favorite. But it's hard to decide.

So what did I start with? Inspired by this:



I started my own red work sampler:



It's come a long way since I took this photo and I'm enjoying finding elements to add from this book and other cross stitch pattern books. It's something I can grab to work on while watching TV or if I only have a few moments. I can't wait to see the finished product.

cheers!