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I love cookie cutters. I have at least 20 different shapes that I would love to use more often. The problem? They are made from the usual aluminium, and they get rust spots on them. I suppose that’s ok. I mean, many people use aluminum cookie cutters and no one complains. But I just don’t like the idea of rust rubbing up against something that I’m eventually going to eat, and no matter how much scrubbing I do, the rust never completely comes off. And then it just comes back again anyway.
So imagine my delight at seeing cookie cutters, in the cutest shapes, made from plastic. Yay for my local Daiso Japanese import store!! Love the animals.
The sets of hearts and stars are great too. Those are perfect for making medovniky – honey cookies, and gingerbread cookies.
Of course we had to try them out immediately after I bought them a few weeks ago. We used the chocolate spice cookie recipe.
Yay! They work! Time to get rid of my collection of aluminum cookie cutters.
Here’s something else I finished about a month ago and never posted. A hand bag made from those vinyl sheet protectors used for holding coins or stamps.
Can you see the little squares? I thought this was such a cute idea after seeing it in the book “The Crafty Chica”. I wanted to put in my own little papers to decorate my bag. So I made it. It was a bit weird sewing pieces of plastic together, but it all came together.
It’n not really useful for anything. It just looks cute. I don’t know what to put in it.
Since V was born we’ve been using cloth diapers almost every single day. We’re no longer catching drool or wiping up spit up, but use them as cloth napkins for at the dinner table. Cloth napkins get used quite a lot, at every meal, and I like using them. We never switched to paper napkins and hopefully wont when we are at home. I haven’t minded that these cloth diapers get more and more stained over time. They’re used a lot and will go through a huge pile before going into the laundry.
I had the idea of using some of my sewing materials to make some cloth napkins that would look a little bit prettier on the table. Plus, V isn’t a baby anymore and I think we can start to move away from using the cloth diapers.
So I made four cloth napkins using eight different materials that matched in pairs.
I used fat-quarters and cut them down to a square of 18in x 18in. Then I sewed them together. I like them. They look kind of fancy. Well, after a couple of weeks of use they should look a little more broken in.
A very good friend of ours passed along a great kids table and chairs that her kids had grown out of. Here’s what it looked like originally.
It’s a great table. Very solid — heavy — and sturdy.
I had the idea that I wanted to paint it a solid color, and possibly decorate it some how. Decoupage? Paint it in a folk-style with some decorative flowers? Or stencil some train tracks on the surface? It took me forever to decide what I wanted to do. And then I had to get the help of the husband and my father-in-law.
I bought a primer, paint and top coat, all in white, and the guys did the hard work of sanding down everything. It took several hours. I did all the painting and that took several more hours, over a week of time. And then it needed another week to fully dry. This was a HUGE undertaking and having done it, I don’t think I will ever voluntarily paint anything this big again.
By the time the paint had dried, honestly, I had almost lost all interest in finishing the table. But V really needed it. She totally loves this table and we needed to get it back in her space.
So I settled on a small decorative decal that I put in the middle of the table. And two more for the seats. They’re nothing fancy; just enough to add some kind of design element to the starkness of the white paint.
We finished everything last month.
This table and chairs get used a lot. V is on it almost every day, coloring or doing crafts. Since I’m sitting there a lot as well, I thought I’d make some cushions for the chairs to make them a bit more comfortable. They are pretty hard and uncomfortable after sitting for longer periods of time.
I found some foam cushion at the craft store and already had some material at home (no surprise). I made these covers and slipped the cushion in, but after I tested them out, I realized the foam is too thin and provides almost no cushion at all! Darn!
Well, at least they look good.
Here’s something else I made and finished today. Another small purse for V.
Somehow her first little purse I made her got lost and she’s been asking me for it all time. So that means I had to make a new one.
I had a little piece of ladybug material that I loved and wanted to use it for something, and thought it would be perfect for a little purse.
What will she put in it? She has her own set of keys (though they don’t really open anything). They’re just fun to keep in your possession.
Some months ago I made a small organizer that I keep on the back seat of the car. Well, I’d been planning on making this new, bigger organizer for some time, and just got to it this past week. The pattern comes from McCalls.
It hangs on the back of the driver’s side seat or front passenger seat so that while sitting in the back you can store odds and ends. I wanted to make this because V has gotten quite big in her car seat and can kick the back of the seat in front of her and make it dirty with her shoes. This organizer also serves as a protector and she can kick this all she wants.
Still, I hope it will be cute enough that she won’t want to kick it.
Pretty bright, hmm? I raided my scraps pile to find colorful pieces that would basically go well together. It’ll work I suppose.
Today in Target I found the cutest thing in the dollar bins: Sesame Street-themed dominoes.
I was a bit skeptical that these really would be of any kind of quality, since they’re only a dollar, but I figured I’d take the gamble and see. They’re totally cute! Made from a hard, smooth, heavy, plastic, they seem pretty durable. There a little on the small side, but maybe good as a travel size.
The characters are great. Since V knows the name of all these guys, it will be fun for her to play with.
And they fit perfectly in an Altoids tin.
Which I promptly decorated with a scrap of material.
I’m still here. Sort of.
I haven’t been feeling all that great lately and so have taken a break from posting. However, I do have projects I’ve been working on, and other things to share when I felt ready to get back on the horse, so to speak.
It’s really a good thing I made a list. Otherwise I never would have remembered everything.
Here we go.
