Jennifer's Mentionables

A yarn wrapped tree

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Jennifer's Mentionables

I made a yarn wrapped tree for my little girl . . .

My inspiration was this sad little plant . . .

You see, my daughter loves playing with her little creatures in the “trees” . . . or my house plants. The plant above used to have leaves believe it or not, but they were handpicked to reveal the branches of the tree for better creature climbing. So I decided I could try to duplicate this kind of branchy tree wonderland

I started with a dry branch from a backyard tree. I used floral tape to strengthen any thinner branches. I applied glue bit by bit and wrapped with yarn bit by bit. . .

Then I hand cut little green leaves from felt and hot glued them in places that didn’t look so tidy, like the tips of branches . . .

For the little nest I used that same drop cloth that I’ve used for a few other projects. I cut a circle, sewed a swirl-like top stitch around the middle. Then I just stuffed around the stitching and sewed it closed. . .

I used the lid from a small papier-mache box for the little swing. I painted it with fabric glue and adhered the fabric. . .

For the cherries I used red mini pom poms and green pipe cleaners.

To “plant” the tree I used a $3 thrift store planter and trimmed a piece of styrofoam to fit snuggly inside. I used hot glue to adhere it inside the planter. I also carved a little hole for the tree trunk. I used felt for the grass but made sure to shimmy it up the tree trunk before I glued the tree into the hole. I hot glued the felt grass into place . . .

And that was all. I worked on it here and there throughout the week. The wrapping of the yard was the most time-consuming. But it’s pretty mindless work. You could definitely space out while you do it, or watch your favorite Bravo show at the same time.

The absolute best part about these projects is surprising my daughter with them . . .

I hope this yarn wrapped tree gives some relief for a while to the poor ol’ house plant. However I have a feeling that it will be making its way back into the rotation again.

Until Next Monday!

Jennifer

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Posted in Make, Uncategorized and tagged brown yarn, DIY, fabric glue, fairy tree, felt tree, green pipe cleaner, mini tree, plants, pom pom cherries, pom poms, styrofoam, toddler tree, yarn, yarn tree. Bookmark the permalink.

Sewing project: A simple bag made from a drop cloth

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jennifer's Mentionables

I was leafing thru a new Pottery Barn catalog recently and saw these cute little bags . . .

I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if I could make something like that?” So I gave it a shot. Instead I used a drop cloth that I had on hand instead of the burlap. It’s actually the same drop cloth I used to make my sewing machine cover. Here was my attempt…

I had a cute little bag on hand from valentines that I used as a model for how I could tackle this project. I waned to keep it as simple as possible, so for the seams I just used a zig zag stitch. And according to the heart bag I only needed 3 pieces of fabric.

I did a test run on some scrap fabric . . .

I used one piece of fabric for two sides and the bottom. The other two squares made up the other two sides… I pinned the two squares, sewed with the zig zag stitch, flattened the bag to trim the top of the bag to make it a little more even.

I had some trim on hand and I sewed it to the bag too. This kind of took care of the rough top seam…

I covered a piece of cardboard with the same material. Kind of like a little pillow case with the end sewed up with a zig zag stitch…

Now for the handles. The bag was a little more floppy than I had hoped. So to give the bag just a little more structure, I inserted some floral wire into the seam of the handles. For the handles I actually used pieces of the existing seam of the drop cloth. Boy, that was a nice shortcut! However I did have to hand sew the handles to the bag. I’m not a strong hand sewer.

I sewed the handle to the inside of the bag just behind the lace of the trim. So you couldn’t really see my “handy” stitch work…

Not quite like the Pottery Barn version, but PB was inspirational none the less.

Look, it’s a sewing project to hold my other sewing projects…

Gosh, do I have a sewing bug?

Until next Monday!

Jennifer

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Posted in Make, Uncategorized and tagged burlap bag, DIY, drop cloth bag, easy sewing, floral wire, new to sewing, pottery barn catalog, sewing project. Bookmark the permalink.

My first sewing projects

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Jennifer's Mentionables

I mentioned in my first post of the new year that Santa brought me my very first sewing machine. I’ve always thought that owning a sewing machine and knowing how to sew was at the highest level of the homemaking and crafting realm. Untouchable by me . . . especially since there seemed to be a lot of math going on with it like measuring and fractions and precision. I’m not a strong swimmer in those areas. At all. I don’t think I would have ever gotten the courage to go out and buy one. So I’m very glad that Santa brought it to me.

Anywho, I’ve been tinkering around with my new machine trying out different stitches, trying to sew straight lines, squares, circles etc. Figuring out the machine has been fun for me. It really is kind of like having a new toy. I have a Brother XR1300. I sewed a cover for it to keep it nice and warm.

Below you’ll also see some other little sewing projects…

The cover was a complete experiment. I used a drop cloth for the fabric. Yeah, the hardware store sells cute drop cloths. Little did they know that crafters would go crazy over them. Anyway, it was a drop cloth that I actually used as a tablecloth for my dining room table that had wine stains on it. I wanted to see if I could complete a cover with just one seam (well, 2 seams counting the top piece) mainly because I wanted to used the existing hem of the drop cloth for the base of the sewing machine cover. Wasn’t pretty but I made it happen. I also made that brown velvet piping. I followed this great tutorial for sewing piping. Anyway, I don’t know what came over me that night. I even created a little “poof” for the top. I was surprisingly shocked with how not messed up it looked.

These pillows below were actually my first sewing project. I got the brown velvet fabric the same day I got the french script fabric for these chairs. It was dirt cheap because of wrinkles in the fabric. I tried to steam them out but they stayed put. A relaxed pillow. I followed this great tutorial on how to create an envelope pillow. (PS I used the scraps from the pillow project to make the piping for the sewing machine cover)

The fun fabric fishes . . .

Then there is the doll. One of those nights when the house was quiet and I had a hankering to just sew…

I wanted to try my hand at “top stitching.” This means (in my terms) where the stitches show, and you can get cute with it. I used some fabric scraps and big buttons that I had on hand to make this little owl…

My machine has a nice selection of fancy stitches. I made a little cheat sheet for myself. I just stitched a few of them on a piece of fabric and numbered them accordingly (as they are on the machine). Comes in super handy for a beginner like me…

Which brings me to my latest sewing project. To fix a no-sew project that I blogged about a while back. At the time I thought iron-on tape would do the trick to patch up the holes in my favorite old denim shirt…

After just a couple of washes the fabric patches came loose. So I googled around for some “yes sew” inspiration on sewing patches. My first stop was Martha Stewart. Wow, very precise work there. JCrew had a cute idea with heart patches (hand sewn). I found a bunch of good tips on Pickup some creativity blog.

Anyway after practicing on scraps and scraps and with a little lesson from a friend Mindy who sews beautiful things, I felt that I was finally ready to give it a go on the shirt… (PS “interfacing” makes the fabric patch a bit more sturdy)

Eh. I guess that one is okay.

Then I decided to try my version of a heart patch . . . (I borrowed my daughter’s chalk to outline a heart)

I guess that one is a little cuter. I chose what I will call the “bird footprint” stitch for the heart…

I have a few more patches to sew … hoping my imperfections can be interpreted as creative choices. And that was my first yes-sew adventure into clothing. A bit more intimidating than dolls and pillows. But fun none the less.

Sewing and sewing machines aren’t just for the Super Homemaker and Super Crafter … but perhaps a tool to help you get there? Hmmmmmmmmm???

Until next Monday!

Jennifer

linking with lilluna

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Posted in Make, Uncategorized and tagged denim, heart patch, new to sewing, sew a doll, sew an envelope pillow, sew an owl, sew patches, sew piping, sewing for beginners, sewing machine, sewing machine cover, sewing novice, top stitching. Bookmark the permalink.

Fun with flowers for the littles

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Jennifer's Mentionables

Lately I’ve been using wet floral foam when having fun with flowers. After the first few times working with the foam I thought, “hmm, this could be a fun opportunity for my 2-ish daughter to have fun with flowers too . . . “just like mama.” The foam is so easy to work with because the flower will stay right where you put it. Also, the flowers are really easy to push into the foam. Added bonus, this is a low mess activity. Perfect for a little tot.

All you need are:

a small wide-mouthed container (I have a few like these from IKEA)
wet floral foam (only $1/$2 depending on where you shop. I have a stash in the garage)
1 or 2 bunches of a sturdy stemmed flower, like mums (These mums were $5/bunch)

I got everything ready beforehand for my budding florist. I trimmed all the flowers to a couple of different sizes (for variety) that fit the height of the container. Then soaked the floral foam and trimmed it to fit the container nice and snug . . .

I brought my budding florist to the table and showed her the set up and before I could even explain to her what to do she had already dove in (yes I made the proud mom face). Good thing I was at the ready with my camera . . .

Another good thing about the wet floral foam is that it adds a nice bit of weight to the container which makes it less likely to tip over. Also, if it does tip over it’s no biggie because water won’t spill and the flowers will stay put. . .

The final arrangement . . .

Of course I had to take a beauty shot. Not that it needed one. . .

Oh, then the pesky handmade doll reared her little (big) head. ”Lady, you go in flowers now.” The bee and fairy joined the flower party too . . .

Not only did my budding florist seem to really enjoy arranging the flowers, but she really, really, really, really, REALLY enjoyed losing her little fairies and bugs in the “flower tree” too again and again.

And I really, really, really enjoyed all of it. Especially looking at all the pics afterwards.

Until next Monday!

Jennifer

linking with: Little Luna

White florals with a subtle valentine wish

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Jennifer's Mentionables

I seem to be more and more inspired by the holidays these days . . . I think my little one has something to do with it (and this little blog.)

Hearts, hearts, everywhere hearts. Initially my inspiration for this blog post was a brown bag from the grocery store. The sides of the bag were covered with cute little red and white hearts of different shapes and sizes. The crafter (slash hoarder) in me thought, “hmm, I could craft something out of this. Possibly incorporate it into a flower arrangement?” Well as it turns out, after buying a couple of white flower bouquets from the grocery store I ended up being most inspired by the huge banana palms in our backyard. . . I’ll let the photos do most of the talking . . .

(The beautiful flowers were inspiring too of course . . .

I started with a short, round glass container from my stash in the garage. I cut the banana leaf to line the inside of the container. Then cut the wet floral foam (half dome) to fit. . .

Now for the arranging. I start with the fullest flowers and cut the stems short and at an angle to push into the wet floral foam. . .

PS our neighborhood trees are blooming with this white flower (Manchurian Pear tree) so I thought I could incorporate that too . . .

I also couldn’t help but notice the abundance of this cute little weed with heart-shaped leaves growing everywhere. So I incorporated it into the arrangement. It’s called Shepherd’s purse . . .

After all of the flowers were arranged, I simply hand cut a few heart shapes from the banana leaf and kept them soaked until I was ready to use them. They seem to get brittle pretty quickly. Then I used floral tape to attach the heart to a bit of floral wire . . .

After I tucked the hearts into the arrangement it seemed that the hearts looked a little dull. So I just rubbed a tiny bit of olive oil on the surface and edges. . .

So it’s not your standard red and white Valentine color scheme. But I think it still kinda says “pssst, Happy Valentines Day.”

I’m glad I have this little blog. What a great excuse to take the time to do little things like this that make me happy. I get a kick out of taking affordable grocery store flowers and doing something special with them (exhibit A, B, and C to name a few). My 2 year old daughter saw it and said, “it’s art mama.” My best critic!

Maybe next week I’ll do something special with that brown bag.

Until next Monday !

Jennifer

linking with Skip to my Lou

2 Comments

Posted in Make, Uncategorized and tagged easy, floral arranging, floral tape, floral wire, glass vase lining, green flowers, grocery store flowers, Happy Valentine's Day, heart shaped, heart shaped leaf, leaves, manchurian pear tree, nature, plants, shepherd's purse, style, Trader Joe's, valentines, wet floral foam, white flowers. Bookmark the permalink.

Jennifer's Mentionables

A yarn wrapped tree

Sewing project: A simple bag made from a drop cloth

My first sewing projects

Fun with flowers for the littles

White florals with a subtle valentine wish

Hi, I’m Jennifer

How I lost the baby weight

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A yarn wrapped tree

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Sewing project: A simple bag made from a drop cloth

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My first sewing projects

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Fun with flowers for the littles

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White florals with a subtle valentine wish

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Hi, I’m Jennifer

How I lost the baby weight

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