Tilly's Mobile

The mobile is complete! And, I managed to stay within the limits of my challenge to myself: don't buy any new materials to make it, and don't unpack any more boxes to find supplies.

Here is what I ended up using:

• 6 pipe cleaners
• 1 long piece of recycled ribbon from a Christmas present from my Mum
• fishing wire
• 7 felted balls
• 1 small square of white felt
• stuffing
• some of that string/ribbon you can buy that has pink pompoms attached

The hardest thing, really, was making the hoop. I started off with just basic wire, trying to wind it around bowls and jugs to make a circle, but it was much too flimsy and kept slipping off whatever I was winding it around. So, pipe-cleaners to the rescue! Much sturdier, and I was able to create a circle from three of them without wrapping them around anything. Then I used three more to wrap tightly around the first three, making the whole thing a lot stronger.

The pipe-cleaners looked okay on their own, but a bit too homemade... more like something Tilly herself will be making in a few years! So I tried wrapping them with wool, first, but it was taking forever! So, I thought, what is wider than wool? And luckily the ribbon basket was right there on the shelf! Almost all of the ribbon I have comes from being wrapped around presents from my Mum... this beauty was nice and long, and so I simply wrapped, and then glued the end down.

The fishing wire was pretty simple... it fitted through the eye of a larger needle, and then I sewed the felt goodies in place, taking care to have it all balance. And the heart was just a free-hand cut shape... I'm sure if you're looking for a pattern, there are plenty of good heart templates online. The pompoms were just cut off the string they came on, and sewn to the heart. Easy!

Isn't there just something about felt that makes a place feel like home?

Felicity Fauxwood

Another fox has appeared, magically, from my box of scraps.

This is Felicity Fauxwood, in a paisley dress that matches our bench cushion, and turquoise cowboy boots made from an old shirt of mine.

She is the last of the foxes for right now, but I've enjoyed making them so much, no doubt there'll be more coming in the future! For now, I'll be working on making Tilly a mobile... which will be completely from materials I already have (and already have unpacked, at that!), as I don't really feel up to a trek round the craft shop. I do like a challenge!

Remington Fauxwood

It's not easy to just sit down when you've got a garage full of boxes waiting to be unpacked. But, after getting into trouble with Justin for building an IKEA bookshelf while he was at work, I've found a way to keep myself away from the heavy lifting, and occupied on the couch. Its name is Remington Fauxwood:

Yes, the pattern comes from the new book I told you about, "Sew Me, Love Me". (Although, in the spirit of handmadeness, I didn't actually use the patterns she provides, but drew my own wonky versions!)

Remington is made from a lot of recycled old clothes, including a jacket Justin used to lend me on camping trips when we were first dating, and an extra extra extra large yellow shirt that Justin's Dad passed down, and I refuse to keep around for Justin to "grow into"!

I called him "Fauxwood" in honour of how Justin pronounced the type of blinds we have ("fox wood")... he really was very disappointed to find out what "faux" really means!

I'm ready to get started on Mrs. Foxy today... feet up, drinking plenty of water, enjoying the time to rest!

Thankful Thursday

Dear Red Lights on the Way Home,

Thank you for giving me time to pause yesterday and enjoy the feeling of being free from work. If you'd been green, I would have raced right by you, and might never have had to stop at you again. You've put a bit of extra red into my life this year. You've given me time, some mornings, to drink my tea and eat my breakfast. You've reminded me to slow down and look for the positives in life. Thank you.

Love, Astrid

My First Pie Success

I can do a pretty good Texan accent. I can strut around in my cowboy boots. I know the difference between "grilling" and "barbequeing". But, until yesterday, I could never pass as a real resident of Texas because I had never successfully baked a pie.

Yes, I'd tried. I tried using the easy, ready-made Graham-cracker pie shells... which promptly fell apart. I tried making a chocolate-pudding pie, thinking that if I avoided using the oven, perhaps it would work... but the pudding never set.

I was a real pie-making failure.

But, yesterday, I had to try again. I'd given Justin a little book of coupons for his birthday, back in January, and one of them promised him a freshly baked pumpkin pie. I don't really know what I was thinking. I guess I thought he'd lose the coupon, or forget about it, and I'd never actually have to do it! But, he stumbled across it while packing up his bookshelf, and so off I went to the supermarket to find pie crusts and cloves.

And, you know what, it actually turned out just fine! I used the Pillsbury pie crusts, which taste very good, and simply followed the directions on the back of a can of pumpkin! Justin was very happy, and scarfed down almost half the pie before I could get a photo of it!

Now, to be honest, I really can't stand pumpkin pie. (So, I'll never really be a Texan!) It's so mushy. It's so bland. But, I tried a tiny sliver of this one, and it was just about as mushy and bland as all the other pumpkin pies I've been forced to try, and Justin seems to like it, so I am officially calling it my first successful pie!

I Keep My Heart on the Shelf

Over the weekend, we also finally made it to a Pottery Barn to use the gift card we got two years ago for the wedding! After hours of deliberating, we both decided on this fun little numbered cubby:

With twenty-five little boxes, it'll be perfect for an advent calendar come winter, but will look lovely for the rest of the year, too, holding photos:

Or sewing materials:

Or, inspired by one of my Auntie Jenni's recent photos, lots of lots of hearts:

Hearts have it, originally uploaded by Saxongirl.

So many ideas! Luckily, we can switch things in and out whenever we want!