On Arts and Crafts

Another week, another video. I filmed a bunch of footage telling you about Heloise’s Housekeeping Hints but unless you needed a sleep aid, you would not have enjoyed it. Reworking that idea now, but in the meantime, some more silliness from me and Sam. Really watch his face throughout the video. He’s the cutest.

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How to Get Your Kids to Make Your Last-Minute Halloween Costume

We’re not all crafty people. We don’t all own glue guns or sewing machines and we don’t all know what decoupage is. Then again, some of us are/have/know all these things and just get busy or tired or lazy. Plus, we don’t want to drop forty bucks (or more!) on a store-bought Halloween costume. What do we do?

If we have kids, we call it an art project.

Half-Assed Halloween Craft: Scarecrow

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How to Make a Drinking Straw Fairy Wand

What does your little one want to be for Halloween?

I just listed this adorable fairy costume on Etsy, inspired by some prints my daughter has in her room of various flower fairies. I just thought that the shape of daisy petals lent itself to making wings, and it really does. See?

So I took some wire and some plastic and tulle and fabric and yarn and ribbon and made some wings.

But that’s a lot of materials and you might not want to go through the trouble considering how easily you can buy a pair of wings. But you know what I’ve noticed is missing from a lot of fairy costumes?

A wand.

The Wednesday Word

I had another word in mind but I guess I’ll try again next week.

Polka Dots, Checks, and Stripes

You might remember (because it wasn’t that long ago) that I recently decided to start dressing for myself, meaning I’d wear what I wanted to wear and not was was expected/practical and a mommy. This decision sort of led me on a journey–a journey to my sewing machine, which led to the fabric store (quite a few times), and to the boxes of old clothes in my garage, and then to a realization:

I love clothing.

It seems like something I’d know about myself, right? But, never having had a model’s body, I’ve mostly considered beautiful clothes to be something for beautiful people, but not for me.

But my kids are beautiful. So I thought I’d make them a few things.

The boy loved it. I mean LOVED it. He’s been so excited to see what Mommy can put together, and he’s wanted to wear it all (even the stuff meant for his sister). His sister, on the other hand, has been less than enthusiastic. I can’t even get her to wear a skirt I made out of Paw Patrol fabric, and Paw Patrol is her number one favorite thing in the world except maybe shoes or the color pink. I’m trying not to take it personally and chalking it up to her recent hatred of skirts.

Anyway, I learned that I love to sew, too. It’s like baking, but without the calories. And I took to it pretty quickly. So I went into production.

I started adding little pieces of clothing to my Etsy store, The Sensitive, Bookish Type, even though they seemed out of place with my books and drawings.

And then I went to the estate sale of a man who owned more clothing than a Men’s Wearhouse. Beautiful things. Well-kept things. Kitschy things. I was so tickled at the prospect of buying these clothes, either to sell them, wear them, or make something out o them, that I realized: I had to start a second Etsy shop. I wanted to start selling clothes.

So I’ve started an Etsy shop, and named it after my favorite song from the eighties/early nineties–my style icon since I was in elementary school. I’ve sewn a few things, purchased a few things, and painted a few things. I’m really enjoying it.

So here it is! I’d love to know what you think.

Baking, Sewing, and the Constant Need to Create

For a while now, I’ve been baking like a maniac. It started because I was auditioning to be a contestant on a competitive baking show. I’m still not supposed to tell you which one or any details (reality TV is über secretive) but I will tell you that while I made it through several levels of casting, I was not selected.