June's Fabric

This is my favorite place in Kalihi.  Ok, so Kalihi isn't on my top ten places to visit, but June's Fabrics is!  Cotton Poly blends start at 3.50 a yard.  100% cotton is 5.50 a yard.  I stocked up on fabric for muumuus, skirts, a shirt for Jesse, and lots of fun projects to be decided.

I was a pretty upset when I thought that they might have closed since they are no longer at their school street location.  (Yikes!  When I asked, they said they moved 5 years ago!)  I found them next to Kaiulani Elementary school on Austin Lane.  Jesse might freak, but I kind of want to go back and get even more!!  Or, we can just come back to Hawaii more often.  Hmm.  I like that one better.

If you are planning to go:

June's Fabric

938 Austin Lane

Honolulu, HI  96817

808-845-5400

Open 9-6 Mon-Sat

Fab Finds

We're off to swimming lessons in a bit, but just can't help telling you about a few finds this week.

The LL Bean Signature catalog came on Monday.  Oh how yummy.  I want these shoes.  And these ones for J. You know I love LL Bean because they're from Maine.  And they employ a lot of people there.  And they're using old patterns to make new fab fashions

And in kitchen fashion, these produce bags make me want to run to the grocery store right now!  I also love their napkins.  And best of all, Oh Little Rabbit is from Oregon, just like me!  I AdOregon!

It might be fun to make our own painted napkins.  Hmm.  A project, you say?  I do need to make a trip to the craft store anyway...

Toasty Legs

I've been working on these beauties the last two days.  The extreme freezingness of our house in addition to the latest heating bill was all the inspiration I needed.  Jesse thinks they are grandma-y.  I think I might crochet a matching headband and put on a Jane Fonda aerobics video.  Beta, preferably. 

Fun facts.  I used this pattern for a three year old and just made everything a lot bigger.  I used wool yarn that I got from the Goodwill Outlet in Indy.  It's like the bargain barn in Santa Cruz where they weigh your purchases and you pay by the pound.  Needless to say, I did not spend much for these lovelies.

Bygone Crafts?

Last Saturday afternoon, Jesse and I split up and took the girls on dates.  I had Miriam this month and she wanted to go to the antiques store.  Not a problem.  We wandered the stores' three stories and talked a little.  Mostly we just looked.  But upstairs, I found these gorgeous pillowcases.  They reminded me of my Great Aunt Edith's work.  She did amazing needlework and tatting.  I slept on gorgeous pillowcases my whole childhood thanks to her.

The older I get, and the craftier I get, the more I lament not learning from my grandmothers and great aunt.  They were masters with their needles and knew crafts like tatting, quilting, embroidery.  And here I am learning these same crafts, but on my own without the help of these artists because they've all passed on now.

And how about you?  How are your hand crafting skills?  Do you hand quilt? Embroider? Tat?  Knit?  Crochet?  Who taught you?  

Teacher Gifts

We've done assorted gifts for teachers in previous years.  Or maybe we haven't done anything!  Yikes!

The girls have such amazing teachers this year, I really wanted to do something for them.  So I made these little lunch bags that I'll fill with a jar of preserves.  Even if your lunch is just pb&j, wouldn't it taste so much better in one of these?

I found the vinyl covered cloth very easy to work with.  I used scraps I had, and made a rectangle.  I first sewed on the binding, then cut the rectangle in half.  After sewing the sides and bottom together, I pinched the corners and sewed so that the bottom lays flat.  I've seen several patterns that have velcro closures, but decided to forgo.  It took me less than 30 minutes each, so not too time consuming.

Are you making gifts for teachers this year?  What will you do?

Getting the Craft on Early

It's never too early to start!

Neck Warmer Fun

It's so coldy here.  In our house, outside, it's just cold.  Jesse asked me to make him a neck warmer for when he goes running (which I think is crazy, but whatever).  And I could use one on our walk to school in the morning.  I found this tutorial online.  My fleece was the perfect width to make one adult size and one kid size gator.  Gwyn wore both for dinner.

*Remember to enter the Giveaway for a chance to win a $35 gift certificate to any CSN store by Friday Dec 10, 12 noon!

Craft Crazy Week

I'm going craft crazy this week.  I have all sorts of ideas of projects that I'm seeing online.

*Perhaps this oil cloth messenger bag from Martha.
*Or an oil cloth tote from write mama.
*Oil cloth lunch tote from Skip to My Lou.
*An Oil cloth grocery tote from the purlbee.

Can you tell that I'm finally ready to do something with my Japanese oil cloth? 

image from The Purl Bee

Felted Wool Mittens

I just had to post these before the week is over.  I found a pattern here, and cut it down for a small child.  There's even a video that helps a bit.  Both are lined with fleece I had from crafts that never materialized.  My girls really want me to make them a pair.  I can't wait until the next 75 cent day at the thrift store.  I'm going to be the first one there!

Turkey Day Crafts, For Kids

You know how the Thanksgiving feast magically appears and the children have been quietly entertaining themselves for the past 4 hours, and everything is beautiful, perfect, and lovely? 

Oh.  Wait.  That's not what happens.  The meal always takes longer to prepare than you think it will, kids are starving and cranky because they're off their eating schedule, and there's the 5 last minute trips to the grocery.  

I can't help you with much, but I can help with the kids.  Last year before the Thanksgiving meal, by some miraculous fluke, Miriam asked Amy if she could have the package of pipe cleaners in the attic.  Suddenly, it was all work in the kitchen.  No kids screaming.  Just bracelets and crowns.  Necklaces and badges.  They were happy.  They were doing a novel, no parent needed craft.  Hallelujah!

I want this for you.  If you are hosting Thanksgiving, you deserve this hour or two of quiet.  All these crafts are great with an adult or older child to help.  Most of the items needed can be found at the dollar store or a craft store for sure.


The pipe cleaners, by themselves, are pretty fun.  Add some beads, and they're magical.  Letter beads, and you've even got educational.  Have the kids make napkin rings with everyone's name.  A necklace that's also a love note for mom or dad or favorite cousin. 

Use this site to make cornhusk dolls.  If you have fresh corn this week, save the husks.  If not, just get tamale wrappers.  They work great.  Twine or raffia works well to tie.

And don't forget the turkey.  Two circles on a cardboard background and feathers from the dollar store.  Placemats, perhaps?

Monday, felted Monday

I have no complaints about my Monday, especially reading about my poor twin wife's.  Boos and Hisses to all stealers out there!  Da is definitely on my list to receive something made of these. 

Saturday was 75 cents day at the thrift store.  Just in time to do some felting crafts for Christmas!  I'm imagining some fleece lined mittens for my niece and a few bags for my cool sisters-in-law. 

Have you seen any great felted crafts lately?

Sewing Machine Questions for YOU

More questions for you!

I'm getting a sewing machine for my birthday, anniversary, and mother's day (Thanks Jesse!). What kind of machine do you have? Do you love it? Do you hate it? What do you wish it did that it doesn't? What settings do you use a lot?

I'm looking at Singer's because they are on sale at Jo-Ann's. I'd love to hear your input!

New Crafty

Last trip to NY, Amy gave the girls these sweet penny round tile samples that they were thinking of using for their bathrooms. We thought about putting them in the dollhouse, but that would have been ridiculous. (We're already making a stone fireplace and foundation. We're crazy. We know.)

So while Jesse was mortaring the fireplace, I decided to affix the tiles to one of the our 4 kitchen carts (the one that spent a month outside de-smoking itself). So there weren't exactly enough tiles to cover the whole surface, so I tried to make it a touch artsy. I call it Order into Chaos or Vice
Versa (w/ border). I still need to seal it, but since its main function is to hold my kitchenaid, I think it'll be ok.

If anyone else has assorted penny round samples they're trying to unload, I have two other wooden kitchen carts and 3/4 box of mortar.

Recent Crafting

I've been finishing some projects this past month. Some of them began over 5 years ago, so it was time for them to come to an end.

This sweater is the second I've crocheted. Gwyn loves it and tells everyone that I made it. She's pretty cute.

This quilt has been in the works since G was in utero. I finished it in time for Miriam's baptism.
I also made a new primary bag for myself and a little tote for Mim. Gwyn's going to get the next one.

Miriam wants a neck warmer and I'd like to make another sweater since they make me feel super crafty. Since the baby sweaters are so much faster to make than the big kid ones, I think I'll make more for the babies.

Countdown to Christmas

We're getting ready for Christmas with a couple of advent calendars. The first one I picked up at Goodwill for 2.99 a month or so ago. It had a creepy snowman climbing up the side of the house, so I had to do a little renovation and repainting. The house has the bones of the old houses around here, so I tried to be true to those. I need to repaint the drawers, but that will have to come next year as I have no stencil I like for the numbers.

Though I'm happy with it, there's not very much room for more than the slips of paper with scriptures on them. So, I made this. I saw something in Good Housekeeping magazine when I was at the dentist last week. Inside are treats and toys to add to the theology the children were so unimpressed by. I simply sewed bags from fabric I had and some more holiday fabric from Mardens. The tags are from a free pdf online. The clothespins are from off the line outside, and the ribbon from the dollar store. I'll probably make some changes in the years to come, but it's ok for this year.

Getting Crafty for Christmas

My friend had a baby shower on Friday, so I decided to make this little sweater. But I didn't finish it until today, so she got diapers instead. This is my first sweater. It was super beginner, and obviously doesn't lay very straight. Jesse was giving me a hard time because the pieces are square and rectangular. He has no imagination. I got a whole bunch of yarn at Goodwill for $12. I'm excited to try to make some sweaters for the kids since we actually wear them here. This one will end up as a Christmas present for one of the quads, I guess.

In other news, Jesse got his dissertation in last week. We find out tomorrow what the committee decides. And we got church callings. Who wants to take a guess?

You Crafty Kittens

I got the idea from one of my cool Japanese craft books, Oyako de Hand-Made by Kimidori Inoue. Make a template of your hand in the shape of a mitten with a little seam allowance. You take an old sweater, and from the hem, cut out two mittens. From the sleeves, cut out kid's size mittens. Hem them on the machine, 1/2 inch or so. The velvet flowers are from Valhalla, I mean Walmart. I used a fab cashmere cowl neck sweater that was too short and too cowly. I got it at Salvation Army or Goodwill. From the picture, I can tell Kimidori also used an old sweatshirt and fleece to make mittens. What if I made fleece lined sweatshirt mittens? Fun. I'm pretty sure that we can't have too many pairs floating around here this winter.

Recovering Dining Room Chairs

So it's not the hardest thing ever, but not the easiest either. We drove these down from the Santa Cruz flea market where I got them for $15. J was not excited but was an incredibly good sport about not complaining. Does he know how much I appreciate him letting me get my own way? They were covered in a pukey green that of course Mermaid loved and couldn't believe I wanted to cover. I had this great fabric that I got from a garage sale. This woman decorated yachts and had all these remnants that were of no use to her. I bought yards and yards of various fabrics for about $20. I had just enough of this blue stripey stuff for two chairs. Perfect.

I also finally recovered some pillows that my kids got from a couch that someone put by the dumpster. The pillows were so comfy, but a wacky cheetah print. I used some incredibly expensive and soft fabric from this same garage sale and have been stroking these pillows every chance I get. I could only cover one, but made a new pillow with what was left and refilled it with the second pillows stuffing.

So total cost for this little makeover- less than $20.

Next project: Paint the stools and legs of the table to match.

Sandwich bags

I finally made some sandwich bags. We took them to the park filled with cheezits, so the bags are already greasy. Oh well. They're meant to be used. I'll make some snack size ones soon. I'm excited to have another reusable bag for school, park days, and random snacking. Less plastic= good. And it's fun to see my kawaii fabric in use, not just in a drawer.
I lined it with yellow quilting fabric and used velcro to fasten it. Which turtle is your favorite?

Getting Crafty

If you haven't noticed, I'm a little bit befuddled by blogging post Japan. I'm just not sure where to go with it. Our schedule is annoyingly monotonous and I've been pretty swamped with school (mine, not just Mermaid's and Monkey's).

But I think I turned a corner today. I dragged the Monkey on an excursion to Jo-Ann's because I've made PLANS! I'm getting crafty! Oh Yeah!

Both families have drawn names. I drew my niece Kjr and my super cool sisinlaw Amy. I've decided to blatantly copy things I've seen online. Namely Etsy.com. And the beauty of it is that neither my neice (she's only 4) nor my sisinlaw (nonblogger) ever look at my blog. Not much chance of spoiling surprises here. So here's the first creation. One slipper. I haven't finished the other one yet, but it's on my to do list for tonight. And a big thank you to Mrs. Fuji who taught me to crochet, supplied me with hooks, and gave me the confidence to try this even though I've only made flowers.

More projects in the works:
*reusable cloth sandwich bags using my kawaii fabric supply.
*more slippers for my kids since they seem to like them.
*a new Christmas dress for Mermaid since she's grown about a foot since last year.
*new stockings. Our old ones are either in the Christmas decorations box here or gracing someone's fireplace in Japan (sorry mom).
*I'm also thinking of something for Jesse, love of my life. But he definitely reads my blog, so not even one little clue.