Crafting Again

Hooray! I finally made something (besides a baby, that’s a pretty creative act)!

pocket/loop travel blanket for Abraham

I have several (like 50) projects bookmarked, many for baby, some for me or others, and I made this little blanket for Abraham. It turned out to be very cute, yet sophisticated (for a baby blanket…).

no, abraham is not reading Ibsen (his books are upstairs and i needed a stand in)

The tutorial is easy to follow if you want to make your own. It is basically a blanket with little pockets and loops around the edges. You can place books or whatever in the pockets and link toys to the loops. There are also velcro tabs that you can use to strangle Sophie the Giraffe.

We are traveling by plane to Pensacola in July to see the family, and I thought this would be handy to have to keep his things together. Practical, practical!

loopies!

PS – I used a baby blanket we had around the house for the back (it’s blue, I forgot to photograph it), 50% off fabric for the front of the blanket, and ribbon I had at home or bought with a coupon from the fabric store. So it was pretty thrifty too!

Internet Fame

So a few months ago I made a super simple and cute bias tape bag (I found the pattern online here). I sent a photo to the blog and now it’s on their site.

In other crafty news, I’ve become DESPERATE to nest. We painted the boys’ room (for Nathan and the Raspberry) but it needs curtains. Meanwhile, our entire house is in chaos from redoing the kitchen (which has turned into work in pretty much every room – “while you are here, can you guys…”), so I should probably focus on tidying up and arranging things so we can walk from room to room.

Fabric

I’m a little obsessed with Fabric. I’m blaming it on my desire to nest but inability to do so right now (thanks to the kitchen re-do).

Wouldn’t this whale make a nice fabric? I don’t mean the skin itself, just the colors and pattern of it. On cotton.

Bag

I made this tonight. (when David stays over in Philadelphia for work I tend to get crafty)

It is a reversible bag with a bias tape handle. I wanted to learn how to deal with bias tape and make a new bag, and it worked out perfectly.

I made this bag and postponed cleaning the bathrooms, writing an essay for yoga, writing a letter to a friend, and several work and volunteer related commitments. But I made a bag!

Caps for Good

In addition to being a straight ally, arts-education activist, thifty-lover, and concerned citizen for the health and education of those with fewer resources than I have, I have of late become interested in newborn health. It makes sense, this is a topic that is quite literally close to my heart (about 6 inches below and a little to the right, to be precise).

I also love crafting, which is not necessarily something to take a stand for, but certainly makes the world a better place: slowing us down, reusing materials, working together, supporting local crafters.

Here is a way to combine crafting and newborn health: Caps for Good. Basically, you knit or crochet tiny hats to donate. They will be sent to the developing world. Many local hospitals also collect tiny hats and blankets for their newborns.

I am here committing to make one hat to donate for every craft project I make for the Raspberry. Winter is coming and we all need to stay warm. Here is a way to keep even the tiniest among us warm too.

Etsy!

If you don’t know about Etsy, you should. I describe it to new-goers as an online flea market for people who craft and make art. It is fun and inspirational to look around and a great place to buy gifts for people you love!

My friend Brandy has an etsy store and I recommend you go there and buy things.

I have big plans to make and sell panty bags, but we’ll see if I ever have time to make them in a quantity.

The Panty Bag

Typos

I was about to write about our being in New York with David’s family and how nice it is to see the kids playing and the brothers lovingly argue with each other. But when I tried to type New York, I wrote New Work. Which is funny and a little bit of what I’ve been up to. Ok, a lot.

I’ve also been hanging around with family, doing yoga, reading blogs, reading books, singing with David, cleaning up after the PA Graffs, and feeling the baby move around.

But the work never ends. This is the risk of part time jobs from home and of working in non-profits. There is no “leave it at the office” because there is no office OR because I care to much about making the work good, that I will text my boss back at 10:41pm about a performance the next morning. And if I’m not DOing work, I’m THINKing work.

So New Work. I’m trying to transition from doing quite so much Work to doing the New Work of prepping our house for the baby. To me, this basically means oogling over craft ideas and hilarious onesies online and thinking about the time when our kitchen will be done (we are re-doing it, much needed) so I can put our house back together. And make some stuff.

Zoë can't wait to have a baby brother because of this!

Nurseries

When I started this blog, I wasn’t planning to write so much about pregnancy and babies, but that is apparently what is on my mind the most, though I read and think and do lots of yoga and theatre and things…

Ah well.

One of the blogs I read, Design*Sponge, is way out of my league, but I love looking at the photos of beautiful design ideas and then stealing and adapting them to suit our cozy house.

We are not planning to set up a nursery for the Raspberry (aka Larry, as Nathan likes to call it), but rather just keep it with us for a while. That said, there are certain baby/nursery things that will infiltrate our home, and I’m rather looking forward to it.

1. Hanging Mobiles
2. Children’s books
3. Tiny Clothes

If I’m as awesome as I hope to be, I want to MAKE some hanging mobiles and tiny clothes. I’m also thinking of making a quilt – a small one. I’ll probably just end up napping.