Crayon you be my valentine?

I've been obsessed with making my own crayons for a year or so, and Valentine's Day 2012 motivated me to buy the molds and jump in. We bought 3 kinds of silicone molds (they're chocolate molds) on Amazon--hearts, dinos, and the Alphabet.

Essentially all you have to do is peel the labels off all of your gross, stubbly crayons (you know you have buckets of 'em), and put them in the molds. We like to group like colors together. That way, you get a pretty harmonious marbled effect, instead of a crayon that looks like mixed up playdoh (you know what I'm talking about. Blech.). About 10 minutes in a 250 degree oven, then let the wax cool and pop them out. Super easy, but wow! I am in love with the outcome! (Note: It can be longer than 10 minutes (and in the case of the dinos and letters we needed longer and had to keep adding crayons so there would be enough wax), but you start to lose your marbled effect after that point.)

So I saw some crayon hearts floating around pinterest, and decided to make valentine crayons for Blaine's Kindergarten class. The fun thing is that he was totally into it, so it really became a family project, not just Mom doing something cute (you know what I'm talking about). In the meantime, I had recruited design help from Emily Yates, Design Goddess (I just named you that, Emily, how do you like it?). She created the darling labels. So, in the end, we gave hearts to the girls, dinos to the boys, and letters for the teacher and her aide--Mrs. B. and Mrs. Q.

Aren't they so fun?! We were thrilled with them and can't wait to use them in later years with the other boys. And I have all sorts of ideas swirling in my head now that I can make my own crayons...

As for me, I made my valentine a few little heart notes, and stuck them to the wall with red polka-dotted washi tape. They were mostly sentimental, with a little steamy mixed in.

Re-cap of V-day Party 2012 soon!

xo,

anne

Double Proud

So about a month ago I was standing in Craft Warehouse, looking through their Christmas fabrics and trying to determine how much I needed to make pajama pants for three little boys. {I had to borrow the pattern from a friend, and I didn't have it yet.} As I unrolled the bolts of Dr. Seuss fabric for Rog's pants and found the perfect print from Moda to go on my honey jars, I looked up on the shelf and saw this book:

I had a major moment of happy pride. My friend, Danielle, is published in this book. I had seen it on her blog before but had never actually thumbed through the book before. It was so fun to see her handiwork published! I felt like shouting at the old lady browsing the embroidery thread, "Hey! This is my friend! Look at this! My friend is published!"

About five minutes later, while I was having my fabric cut, a woman came up to me and asked, "Did you make your bag? It's gorgeous!" My heart swelled with pride again as I replied, "Yes, I did!" And here's why: I am not a seamstress. I love fabric. I love the feel, the color, and the endless possibilities. But I am a total novice. My lines are skeewampus, I don't know the proper terminology for most anything, and the projects I normally take on are insanely easy. This bag (which I tackled right before Carter was born) is my pride and joy. It was the first project I've done with a pattern almost by myself (I had help from my friend, Lisa, and my mom and m-i-l!). So, it's kind of like the first time I made real frosting for cupcakes (on Blaine's first birthday). A huge accomplishment and a new world. So after I directed the complimentary woman to the patterns in the store (Amy Butler's birdie sling), I felt like shouting to the old lady looking at embroidery thread once again: "I made this! Did you hear that?! Me! Little ol' me! I did it!"

So now I get to be triple proud. (Don't worry. I messed up on these really badly so it's totally not going to my head.) Here are the pjs I made for the boys. They got to open them up on Christmas Eve. It was so darling watching them race down the stairs, sleepy-eyed on Christmas morning, in their white T's and homemade pants.
Rog got the Grinch because no one loves the Grinch more than Rog.
Blaine and Carts (the twins that they are) got matching sock monkeys.
The best part was how they squealed and jumped and hugged me as they ripped the packages open. To be honest, after all that work, I would have been crushed if they hadn't reacted excitedly (and I may or may not have communicated that to them as I handed them their gifts that night!).

So now I'm ready to shout again, "Hey, embroidery lady, look at me! I made these pants! All by myself!"

From Sara's wedding...

A few of my favorite things from the wedding...

Honey jars for the favors (my brother keeps bees, so it's his local honey--love that!) Sara and I covered the lids with Amy Butler fabric and twine.
They were displayed on bee boxes--loved that touch.
My husband, Taylor, made the wedding cake. I loved the 'scraped' look of the butter cream frosting and the local raspberries--such a nice organic look.
To supplement the cake (and we still totally ran out!) I did cupcakes--mini lemons, coconut, these chocolate chocolates,
and my new and improved mint chocolate chip cupcakes (they totally got a makeover--goodbye green food coloring, hello mint leaves! plus the mini chips are a better texture we decided).


Sara and Shane are the most darling newlyweds. We were sad to send them home to Utah!

xoxo
anne

Simple Superhero capes

This spring I made some quick and easy capes for Blaine and Rog. I wanted something non-specific, partly because I don't love all the character commercialization in the world but mostly because a more neutral cape= more diverse imaginative play. I settled on a soft brown fabric with chocolate grosgrain ribbon for ties and a first initial appliqued on the back.

This was a really satisfying project for an amateur seamstress like me. They were simple and quick, and turned out just how I'd envisioned.

You can make one, too. Here's how:

***Unfamiliar with applique? Try this
(she taught me everything I know on the subject).
***Not into sewing but like this idea? You could make the whole thing out of felt and a hot glue gun and never touch a needle and thread!

Happy Monday!
xoxo
anne

Simple Silhouettes

When I was in elementary school, my mom used to have us sit very still for twenty minutes while she would trace our profile, which was being projected on the wall by a lamp. It was tricky and time-consuming, to say the least, but all the children loved the silhouettes that hung upstairs.

Silhouettes are everywhere right now, and I never grow tired of them. There is something so classic and timeless about a silhouette. I wanted to make some of my family, but knew the old 'hold still for twenty minutes' trick wasn't going to work for the 2-4 age group. Guided by some instructions from Stephanie Nielson and my cousin, Christina, I used the simplest method imaginable to make our silhouettes.

Here's what you do:

1. Photograph each family member's profile. Be careful to make the dimensions the same for each person.

2. Upload the photos to your computer and select the size of photo you want. (Mine are 8x10.) Print the photos on card stock.

3. Carefully cut out the profiles. Pay attention to the tiny details--cowlicks, etc.--they make all the difference. (I may or may not have fudged and made my eyelashes extra long.)

4. Spray paint the silhouettes black (I used a matte finish.)

5. Mount the silhouettes on a white background and frame them.

Any questions?
xo,
anne

Pennant Banner How-to

Last year I shifted gears a bit and challenged myself to make more of my Christmas gifts by hand (i.e. prior to last year I always purchased every single Christmas gift). It took some planning ahead, and it required a lot more of my time, but it was gloriously rewarding! Everyone loved their gifts! I felt proud! And, most importantly, each gift was made more beautiful by the fact that it was handmade. In other words, the recipients knew they had been given more than an apron or reusable grocery sack. They had been given some of my time, my energy, my creativity--just for them. That is what I love most about handmade gifts.

We hope to give you lots of great handmade gift ideas here at Bloom. Today's is one of my favorites, and if you don't consider yourself a seamstress, this one's for you!

Here's what I love love love. Pennant banners. For everyday decor. For holiday. Inside. Outside. Whatever. I love them!

(my 4th of July banner)

I am a completely amateur sewer, but even for me, these are simple. Here's what you do:

Cut out a triangle-shaped template out of paper or cardstock. Whatever size you please.

Use your template to cut out your triangles. You can use pinking shears if you want. I prefer raw, straight edges.
To make a (double-sided) pennant, sew 2 triangles together with a zig-zag stitch. Start here at the upper right-hand corner and sew down.
When you get to the bottom point of the triangle you will leave the needle down, lift the foot, and turn the pennant so you can sew down the other side.
Sew down the second side.

Now your pennant is ready. (You don't need to sew up the top, as it will be sewn later.) You can use ribbon to string your pennants together, but I prefer double-fold bias tape (about $1.50 in the notions area of a fabric store). It makes it so simple! Open up the bias tape and place the pennants in between the 2 sides. I line the pennants up so their corners are just touching.

Pin the pennants in place.

Once it's all pinned up, run the whole thing (including the ends of the bias tape) through the sewing machine, using a zig-zap stitch again. That's it!

Some notes: I love to really mix my fabrics, and I don't usually follow an exact pattern. Also, you can make your banner as long as you like--you choose how many pennants to make.

Let me know if you have any questions!

-Anne