Queenies for a Day

 I'm a big birthday fan.  I believe that it is important to celebrate, in a big way, the creation that is you.  I believe that it is not a vain occupation, oh no.  I believe that it is a God Honoring thing to celebrate that your creation was very important to God in the huge, grand scheme of things.
I believe that if we are drawing breath, there is a purpose, an intentional purpose by our awesome Creator for your place on this sod.  And that, my friend, is something to celebrate.

 

So if I think that each one has merit and value in God's eyes, just imagine how silly I can get over my own dear grandgirls.














The days that they were introduced into this world was a big, big deal. 
 My life was changed beyond all reason and how their lives will affect this world is something so exciting to me that I get goosebumps just thinking of the possibilities.




Birthday Days are wonderful to a crafting Grammy.  There are birthday banners to make, birthday outfits to think about and now, the ever popular birthday crown to prepare for the noggin of the little girlies new year.




The tradition started with Miss Viv sharing her birthday week with her Unca Joco.  Unca Joco was very clear that on each year, he would prepare a Birthday chapeau, singling out the two of them from the lessers, birthday wise.  When the first birthday approached, I could see that Unca Joco might need some assistance to accomplish the goal of proper hattage for The Day


I cannot tell you how much fun I have making these crowns.
I love the feel of pearl cotton.
I love the vibrant colors.
I love the gaiety of them.
I love that they make me smile.






So, I thinks, if I get so much entertainment from such a simply made item, wouldn't everyone?  (Or at least a few more outside my inner circle)






As I traveled recently from hither and yon, my felt and my pearl cotton were nearby.  Nothing makes grandchildren miles go faster than making sweet little flowers and vines circling a tiny ring of felt destined to a small tike's head.






Soon, very soon, the Yet To Be Personalized Crowns shall adorn my Etsy site for your enjoyment as well.  I can embroider your most special Birthday Child's name on the front for you to make it a truly one of a kind gift that could last far into their twenties and beyond.  (Notice I said grandchild, because even though I have no male grandchildren, I hear that they are out there.  I intentionally made some crowns with not flowery like embellishment but kingly jewels and suns...)

If you are of the opinion that each life is to be celebrated big and would like to eschew the papery kind of birthday hats, then this crown's for you...




Celebrate each day as a gift.
But celebrate your little ones special day with crown made just for them......

Craft Lady Strikes Again!

I'm at the grocery store last month when a little girl in a cart speaks to me as I pass by. 'I know you!  You're the Craft Lady in my class!'  I acknowledge her cheerfully and tell her that I am in the store, actually, to get supplies for the Thanksgiving Craft that we would be doing the next day.  She asks, so what will we be making?  I inform her that we will be making little Thanksgiving Baskets that will be filled with our thankfulnesses.  She seems pleased and I continue on to the discount meat section of the meat case.  The next morning, I enter the first grade class to a louder than normal voice than is allowed in first grade, 'There she is! The Craft Lady! And with a bit of an air of superiority, she says quite confidently, 'And I know what we will be making today!  Thanksgiving Baskets!  I know because I saw her at Jay C's last night!'  Thankfully, she did not mention that she saw me rummaging through the discounted meat section.

This month, the craft was Christmas Stockings that will be covertly filled with little treats from now till Christmas Break.  Lovely Wife and Pretend Granddaughter Sara helped Saturday with the cutting out of 40 little sockie shapes.  Hubby painstakingly cut three holes in each one.  And I volunteered more of my vintage sequins and goo gaws for the effort.

I am always well pleased with the artistic interpretation of each little creation.  This month was a hoot as this year's class warms up to this weekly visitor to the class.  Monthly, we do crafts, but once a week I go in to help their very apt teacher with the weighty paperwork of copy making.  Each weekly glimmer into the goings on in this very busy room adds to my admiration of the profession of teaching.  Magic is worked in the lives of these little people and if I can sneak in with my Craft Box chock full of sequins, buttons and yarn, then I am a happy crafter.  Nothing like installing the love of gluing and felt into impressionable pre artists and crafters.

I had stockings completely covered.  I picked the well glued sequins from many a little fingers.  I loved the courage of the minimalist.  I enjoyed the little girl in love with my vintage buttons.  One little toothless wonder asked me no fewer than ten times if we could use glitter.  She assured me that she NEVER made a mess with glitter.  I told her that glitter had a life of it's own and was known to remain in a room long after children had graduated.  She would pause a bit then approach with a new tactic.  Admittedly, I almost caved only to be relieved when the same little persistent girl's little red stocking was the only one dripping in glue and falling embellishments. One could only wonder what she could have done with three vials of glitter that she caressed in her hands.

I presewed most of the stocking but left about six inches on the perforated side open so that the kids could 'stitch' it closed with a bell laden piece of yarn.  I let them know that this was the first step in sewing; putting two pieces of felt together without benefit of staples, glue or tape.  They were impressed with themselves.....

And I was too.
Get messy with your favorite child today....

The Son Shines Bright.....

Finally!
After two days of persevering, the photos uploaded!
The morning after I made the first Sunny Shiny, this is how I found it in my sewing room the next morning....
..... Completely back lit from the glorious early morning sun of a beautiful spring day! The little felt sun just glowed and I smiled to myself, thinking of it as an affirmation from the Main Creator.

It's been a hoot to cut out the thirty main pieces/60 side pieces along with the 180 little rays..(thank you 2G's mama, for your generous assistance with the Ray Cutout!) I so love yellow and I so love felt that the effort seems most effortless....Take that into consideration, with the open windows in the sewing room, the chirping birds entertaining me, the light, inspiring...Well, I could do this for a long time.....

It just started with an 18x8 inch oval..

Side pieces of nearly the same dimensions...(a little wider to allow for the curve)

And six little trapezoidal shapes that formed the perky little points that will be gently stuffed for a more dimensional affect..(template made by Hubby remember; if it was up to me, I would have free-handed all of it, having 30 completely unique and probably wonky suns at an otherwise lovely banquet...

Love it when it comes together.....

Heavenly Sunshine

(Editor's Note: Due to Blogger's annoying new layout, interesting photos that were to accompany this blog would not upload even though I tried a multitude of times......grrrrrrrr. Hopefully, The Blogging gods shall permit such a thing tomorrow.  Sorry for your non visual post.  grrrrrrr again....)

How would you make a shining sun?
Has to be cheap, abundant and sizable.
Doesn't felt always fit the bill?

I am in the middle (beginning?) of making table decorations for the annual Youth for Christ Banquet next Friday.
I shoot for decorations because I really am not comfortable making calls or soliciting donation requests. Just give me my felt, some poster board and foam core board and I will work away.  Just keep me away from the phones.  Bound to be a problem with that.
This year, there will be a Silent Auction prior to the dinner.  This Year, mama's collection shall donate a bag to be auctioned off.  First time I've done this.  I have this concern that if the starting bid is 3.00, the end bid could be 3.25...Scary, huh?  Just hope it helps the ministry....

Anyway.
Hubby, the engineer and I put our very complimentary heads together and walked around Hobby Lobby, weighing our options.  Thirty tables is no small feat.  We wanted to be frugal, creative, large (10 foot banquet tables) and get our message across as well.  And we were shopping after the aforementioned 'procedure' so I was a bit fuzzy as well from anesthesia.  I must say that we got a bit silly in the pursuit.  We soon came to realize that all our grand plans were for naught when the totals were coming close to 300.00+.  Not very non profit friendly.

Then we landed in the fabric department.
Of course.
Why did I not go there first, O Fabric Lady that I am?  Anesthesia after affects?  Let's blame that.

I started the plan:  An oval base. Extended Cone Rays. A table runner of sorts to set it off and the words: Who Will Connect Them to the Son? Photos of  some of the 100+ plus teen age attendees attached to the base of the sun at each table....

First prototype failed miserably and Hubby had to intervene.  He and my well used friend, Mr. Seam Ripper.
Hubby drafted a template and specific directions regarding how he would build it.
I heard but I did not listen.
 A very good show on PBS on how a group of Arabs aided the Jews in Northern Africa during WWII, was vying for my attention.
So the next morning, I was on my flibbertigibbet own again, trying to pull his instructions from the base of my brain, desperately seeking his well thought out plans.

Despite my own best attempts, I could not remember but set off on my own, waiting to hear from the Engineer just how wrong they turned out.

But it did not happen!  Hubby approved of how it turned out so now I have only 29 more suns, including 180 rays, plus a large foam core sun for the front of the stage, to complete.  In a week.

So off I go to cut more sun bases, more D-shaped side pieces to stuff with tissue and fiberfill and felt scraps (cannot throw anything away!) and search for a suitable table runner and to primp the prototype for the Banquet Committee meeting tomorrow.....!

Let us hope the Son/sun shines next Friday night!

The Valentine Tree

Off I go on another Crafting House Call!
This time I go to our local elementary school to help spread the cause of promoting the love on Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day.
A favorite of mine. Had my first kiss on Valentine's Eve and first date with The Hubby at a Valentine's Day dance in high school. Baby Girl was born 57 minutes before the Big V Day.
Holds a dear spot in my heart so I promote it at every turn.
I asked Teacher Friend if I could enter her domain and present her class a Valentine Loving Tree. This one is an enlargement of one that I made for my kids decades ago. Back then, I painted the branches of a bush white, placed the embellished twigs in a small bucket of sand and had the kids make small heart valentines that would promise a gift of doing to someone in the house. Signs like: 'I will do the dishes for my sister.' 'I will not complain about schoolwork', ' I will be kind' sort of messages accumulated on the little tree.
Lovely.
So here I start on a bigger scale for four times as many children.
I raided my garden for a large pot and then sacrificed to the Valentine gods, several Rose of Sharon bushes from the sleeping garden area.
Rose of Sharon branches are pretty light colored so I could skip the painting part of the project.
Pea Gravel, (thanks to Youngest Son who carried the quite cumbersome bag from parking lot wayyyyyyyyy to Teacher Friend's room for me, a weak old lady....:D)
took the place of messier sand. Our local school is a beautiful, well kept school so I did not want to be a messy crafter.

Back in the Sewing Room, I fashioned 14 little stuffed felt hearts with a simple design and blanket stitched all around, with a piece of ribbon to hang from, for a gift for each of the children. One suggested that he could hang his on his Christmas Tree, to which I heartily agreed...

Some card stock, doilies and an abundance of shiny thingys to make their creations spec-TAC-u-lar, and off they go to create their 'gifts'..

I might like to mention that some of Pauline Hill's auction goodies got put to use again! A plethora of goo gahs in a myriad of colors for just that shiny fascinating effect that children (and many adults apparently) love so much.
Several of Pauline's goo-gahs had prices on them: 3 for .67...Maybe 1965?

Several the little girls had pink shirts on that day. I pointed out to Friend Audrey that her shirt matched her valentine!
One little boy avoided the pink paper like the plague! I reminded him that maybe the recipient of his valentine, might like pink. He stated emphatically, 'NO ONE in my family likes pink!' Got it.

I would like to point out that Hubby found the gilded gold doilies and thought that I needed them for the children. Big hit.

And here we are, be-ribboned,be-lighted, be-ginghamed, be-adorned and a big hit in Teacher Friend's classroom!!

Might we see a Lucky Shamrock Tree and a Spring Fling Tree.....
Maybe....!

From the sewing room....

Not much explanation, just teases...
(It's the Christmas Season after all...Secrets abound!)

Hmm...yarn, felt, soft peach cotton....

What looks like a humble stack of fabrics; what could they transmogrify into??

More felt....trims...free downloaded pattern from Heather Bailey...

And last but certainly not least...
One of my favorites things to do:
A Repurposing of the Best Kind...Memories turned into useable items with NEW memories....

Guess away!!!!!

New Discoveries

And the auction ferreting continues...
Wisely, I told my husband to leave the auction goodies in the truck so that I could sort through before it took root inside my home..
I could see Pauline's things finding a host amongst all my long cherished things and the purging that I'm trying to do here, would be for naught....
So.
I am going through box after box, slowly, methodically and critically.
Today, in the bottom of, what appeared to be a bottomless box of old felt, nylon net, quilting scraps and various other crafty items, I found a treasure trove of salt and pepper shakers.
The kind that you would get for a vacation memory, or a convention etc....Nothing valuable, just all kitschy and mid century. There was one small red plastic set with a convention date of 1953....
and then there was the 'Handy Hamper'! Listed, are all the marvels of organization you can create with this simple hanger and the 'do it yourself' instruction! I should have these all over my home!The hidden trove of S & P's!!!

And this demonesque duo disguised as Salt and Pepper shaker holders...It could scare small children out of ever going into the kitchen....!

Oh the fun continues.......

Stayed tune for future episodes of 'What Did Pauline Intend With This?'.........