Posted on

thanksgiving thumbkin pumpkins

It never fails. Whenever I make pumpkin pie, I always have a little bit of squash and pie crust dough left over. I save the squash for muffins, but there’s not much I can do with the dough.

This year my daughter suggested we make thumbkin pumpkins with the leftover ingredients. She made them in school earlier this week and thinks they’re the perfect excuse for eating lots of whipped cream.

We rolled up the leftover dough and divided it into several 1-inch-sized balls. Then she took her thumb and made a little well in the middle.

thumpkin pumpkin recipe

Since I start with plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, I had to add some sugar and spice to my squash:

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
2 1/2 T brown sugar
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
small pinch of ground cloves

thumpkin pumpkin recipe

We spooned a small amount of squash into the thumb imprints. Then we baked these on a foil-lined cookie sheet along with the pie.

thumpkin pumpkin recipe

They turned out great. Personally, I’d add more pumpkin, but I’ve got a whole pie. These are really for my daughter, so as long as she’s happy, I’m happy. She ate them with a very generous dollop of whipped cream.

Posted on

creative gift idea: make your own pop-up book

make your own pop up book

Last month I posted about my daughter’s suncatcher. Today, I’ve got another kid-approved creative gift idea: Create Your Own Pop-Up Books. The day after my daughter received this she was tearing into the box before I was even awake. She actually had a lot finished before she woke me up for help.

make your own pop up book

I was thinking we would actually plan a story before working on this, but her enthusiasm could not be contained. Each page is it’s own story decorated with markers, pop-ups and stickers. “The clams are happy. Mr. Owl is mad.”

make your own pop up book

There’s lots of potential here for kids of all ages. It literally kept her occupied all day long, with breaks only for meals. I’ve you have children in your life who like books and art, I’m guessing they’ll love it.

creative birthday gifts: You can find my first post about the suncatcher here.

p.s. I’m writing about these books because I think they are cool and my daughter loved them. I have no affiliation with pop-up anything. I’m just spreading some creative love.

Posted on

my creative space

I found my daughter’s scarf. It was on the lost and found table at school. She’s no longer wearing it, though, because she likes the fleece scarf better. You saw that coming, didn’t you?

noro stockinette cowl

Of course, I had just started working on a cowl to match her hat and mittens. Will she wear it when it’s finished? Maybe if I line it with fleece.

What are you working on today? More creative spaces here.

Posted on

five minute fleece scarf

no sew scarf

They are the words that all knitters, crocheters and sewists don’t want to hear:

Mom, I lost my scarf.

I’m not too worried. I’ve stitched her name and my phone number in all of her handmade woolens. I’m also in the process of replacing the lost scarf with something to match her kitty cat hat and mittens. I’m not too invested in this little brown scarf. Now, if it was one I made out of Noro Kureyon…

It will probably turn up tomorrow, but it’s going to be cold in the morning. Usually, I’d just give her one of mine to wear. However, the thought of one of my scarves spending the night out on the playground makes me kind of queasy.

So, I made a little stand-in scarf. It took more time to take a photo and write this post than it did to make the scarf. I used a fleece scrap from my stash, folded it from selvedge to selvedge, cut a 5 1/2 inch wide strip and trimmed off the selvedges. The fringe is 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.

It actually turned out really nice. So nice, that when her brown scarf finally makes it’s way home, I might have to keep this for myself.

Posted on

handmade gift: skinny pink scarf

one skein scarf

I’ve been wanting to make this scarf since I learned how crochet. It worked up fast and I highly recommend it for your gift making/giving this season. This version is a little shorter than the pattern specs because it’s a gift for a little girl. I think she’s going to love it.

one skein scarf

details: Yarn was gifted to me by a friend. It’s Katia Mexico (Ravelry link) and leftover from a sweater she made. The pattern is One Skein Scarf from Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet and is a free download from joann.com (pdf link).

modification: I made my chain with a hook size larger and I still feel like it’s a little too tight. It gives the scarf a slight bend or curl. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but next time I might chain with a hook two sizes up to see if it lays more flat.

Posted on

how to make a cat costume in 3 easy steps

black cat costume

I tried to be proactive this year and started the Halloween costume conversation at the beginning of October. My daughter insisted she wanted to be Abby Cadabby again. I encouraged her to try a different costume and brought it up several times. Nope. She was sure. Abby Cadabby.

So I bought her a bigger pair wings because what I threw together for her last year was just too small. A few weeks later she casually mentioned that she wanted to be a cat. And then she couldn’t decide between the two. After a week of indecision, I finally made a tail and some ears and said, “Great news! You’re going to be a cat for Halloween!”

A cat is a great last minute costume, especially if you have all the materials in your stash. And it’s not just great for kids. The tail is long enough for a mama cat, too!

Step 1
Look through your child’s wardrobe for a monochromatic outfit. My daughter could have been a brown or black cat. I chose black.

Step 2
Make some ears. I cleaned up my rough pattern for you. When printed, the larger piece should be 2 1/2 inches tall. Sew pink to black, then black to black. Stuff with a little bit of fiber fil if you like, then stitch onto a headband. (I used a Goody Slide Proof Headwrap.)

black cat costume

Step 3
Make a tail. I used black flannel from my stash and cut a three inch wide strip from selvedge to selvedge. Sew up the sides, turn right side out and stuff. Sew a loop of elastic the size of your child’s waist to the selvedge ends.

That’s it! It took less time to make the costume than it did for my daughter to decide what she wanted to wear. The only thing I had to buy was the liquid eyeliner for her nose and whiskers. I think I’ll use it for some cat eyes on myself tonight.

I’d love to see what you are making for Halloween this year. Share a link in the comments!

Posted on

birthday superhero cape

My daughter’s friend Mason loves Batman. We got him some superhero books for his birthday, but they didn’t seem fun enough. I thought maybe a special cape would make his gift more exciting.

reversible superhero cape

I found some black and red canvas-like fabric in my stash that I thought would be great for this project — wrinkle resistant and durable. Apparently, it’s Ultra Heat’n Bond proof, too. I wound up stitching on the appliques and gunked up my needle in the process. Bah!

The cape is reversible and I toyed with the idea of adding a Husker N or Mason M on the other side. His mom suggested Spiderman. Of course, it wasn’t until after I finished that we both realized Spidey doesn’t wear a cape. Oops! I spent a lot of Saturday mornings watching Super Friends. I should have known that!

reversible superhero cape

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to make a cape and now I have. And of course, after all of that, he was more interested in the books. Kids. Gotta love them!

cape tutorial: I used Georgia Leigh’s free cape tutorial and freehand sketched the pattern onto my fabric. She also has applique stencils available. I traced my own because I wanted the Batman logo to match the new Dark Knight logo that was on one of the books.

Posted on

creative gift idea: make your own suncatcher

I can’t believe it’s the middle of October and I haven’t told you about all of the cool arts and crafts gifts my daughter received for her birthday. I haven’t even blogged about her art party. I’m a slacker.

First up is this awesome blast-from-the past suncatcher. Do you remember making these when you were a kid? It’s a metal frame that you fill with plastic bits and melt in the oven.

suncatcher

I was a little worried about this project because it says 6+ years, but my daughter did pretty good. We made it together: she dumped the bits into the frame and I used tweezers to corral any stragglers into their proper space. She did get a little frustrated toward the end and we had to take a little break, but all in all, it was a fun project.

She’s really proud of it and it’s hanging in her window.

inspiration: I did a search on pinterest and came up with some really fun ideas for suncatchers. I’m thinking we need to make a wax paper one with some autumn leaves and crayon shavings.

p.s. I’m writing about this because I think it’s cool and my daughter loved it. I have no affiliation with any catchers of sun. I’m just spreading some creative love.

Posted on

which came first: dumb t-shirts or dumb attitudes?

Every Fall for the past few years I have gone to Neat Repeatz, one of Lincoln’s largest consignment sales, looking for some cute and affordable clothes for my daughter. This is where I first learned that cute for toddler girls is anything pink or lavender covered in princess decals. I had to shop the boys section if I wanted to find anything with primary colors, trains, cars or dinosaurs.

Last week I learned that cute for little girls isn’t so cute. As I looked through the hundreds of t-shirts, I found the princess theme for this age group is now “Treat Me Like the Princess I Am” and “Her Royal Highness.”

dumb t-shirts

Even less cute are JC Penney’s and Forever 21’s back-to-school t-shirts: “I’m too Pretty for Homework, so My Brother Has to Do it for Me” and “My Best Subjects: Boys, Shopping, Music, Dancing” and “Allergic to Algebra.” They have been pulled from inventory after enormous public criticism, but how they even made it to sale is troubling to me.

dumb t-shirts

It doesn’t stop there. I recently read Lisa Bloom’s Think and discovered some scary statistics.

  • A quarter of young women would rather win “America’s Next Top Model” than the Nobel Peace Prize, according to Oxygen Media.
  • Half would rather get hit by a bus than get fat, according to USA Today.
  • Fifty-one percent say that becoming famous is their number one or number two goal in life, according to the Pew Research Center.
  • Most American women can name at least one Kardashian sister, but the majority can’t name a single branch of the federal government.

Seriously, ladies?

It’s becoming clear to me this is no longer about finding appropriate clothing for my daughter. I have to ask, does a market filled with “Too Pretty for Homework” type t-shirts cause this problem or do the t-shirts exist because of the problem?

I also have to ask how the parents of boys feel about all of this. Are you noticing similar trends? I’ll admit that I’m probably more exposed to the girl side of things because I have a daughter. Share your thoughts!

related links:
– julie-k tutorial: ruffling up some boys t-shirts
-in the news: JCPenney’s Too Pretty for Homework t-shirt
-in the news: Forever 21’s Allergic to Algebra t-shirt
-statistics: published on CBS’s website, along with a link to an excerpt of Think

Posted on

finished: wagon wheel baby blanket

this moment

I am so excited this is finished because I’m really ready for a new project. It turned out just as beautiful as I had imagined the day I found the sweater.

this moment

I couldn’t wait for it to dry, so I took pictures while it was blocking. I don’t normally block blankets, but because this is a gift, I wanted all of the squares to look perfect.

this moment

Some friends have asked me about my seaming technique on this blanket. I took pics along the way so I can post a tutorial. My next blanket will be joined as I go. Maybe it won’t take so long to finish.

original post: You can see parts of the original sweater in my first post about this project.