Sunny Side Up

For Reya's third birthday, I created a couple of crocheted, cotton eggs stuffed with wool. Eggs are a source of big fascination these days, due to our recent family addition of a flock of three hens who reliably lay us a pretty, green egg each day.
What I learned about making them look like eggs:
1)The white must be white, not creamy white, like natural lambswool.
2)The yolk should not stand too tall, or it gets out of proportion.
3)The white needs to be wavy, not perfectly round.
4)Use smallish yarn- not bulky, and a small hook.
5)Third time is the charm.

Valentines Day Gifts

Two of my four children got home made Valentine's day gifts from me this year(the oldest wanted pre-paid minutes for his cell phone, and the toddler wanted a heart shaped mylar balloon).  The hoodie was altered for my little Galen.  A beloved and well meaning Auntie sent it as a newborn gift, bearing an embroidered, blue, football.  I just simply don't do sports motifs on my baby boy clothes, so for V day, he re-got the gift, magically changed by Mama to sport some magic mushrooms!
Tenar received this wool felt (up-cycled from sweaters of course) lunch box, completely hand stitched and naturally dyed by moi.  The little internal divider separates hot food from cold, and I gave him little pyrex bowls to fit inside, so he could carry his dinner leftovers for lunch, in plastic-free containers.  This project took me foreeeever.

Secret stash?

I took these pictures a few weeks ago now, but haven't found time to post them.  I am excited that I created for my 12 year old son, a unique Yule gift, that was a lot more work than I originally imagined: a book with a secret compartment.  I imagine that it could be used for a cash stash, secret notes or little treasures.  His step-Grandma helpfully pointed out that the hole is just the right size for a pack of cigarettes (such a wonderful influence, right?).  He noticed that his digital camera fits inside.  What fun.  I hope to make more of these in the future.

I bought a thrift store book to use, without actually reading it first.  After slicing some of the page centers out, I began to notice that the plot was a bit scary, and deeply disturbing.  It is fiction about a man who does terrible things to young women after murdering them.  I was extremely creeped out when I discovered the content of my book project, and that is when I decided to glue the pages together VERY well, inset some screws through the bulk of the pages, and cover the hole with pretty, flowery paper.  I really hope the scary insides never get uncovered.  I told the same step-Grandma about this, and she revealed that she has read several other horror novels by this particular author, and that it is one of her favorite series of books.  You gotta wonder...

A toy for Galen

In the spirit of teaching a possessive toddler to give, I used the excuse of Yule to get my daughter to make a gift for her baby brother.  I of course made most of it, but she helped pull the needle full of rainbow thread in and out of the wool felt, helped stuff the wool inside, and helped pick out the nicest sounding bell and her favorite shades of silk ribbon.  Galen loves his jingly ring!