Treasury Features

I'm trying to figure out how one keeps a crafting/homemaking blog interesting when an injured shoulder prevents any work from getting done! The good news is that I'm back at about 90% and should be crafting again by the end of the week.

For now...here are the first treasuries that I've been featured in:
The Natural Child by mariescottage and Seller's Favorites by AngelicaV

Coming soon are black and orange gnomes for October and more teething rings in lots of colors.

What do you think of the girl gnome with hair? I would have to charge more but I think she's kind of cute.

And what about a black and orange teething ring? Too weird? Maybe just orange....

GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so excited for my first giveaway! From now til September 1st you have the chance to win a beautiful wooden teething ring, with a beeswax finish and cotton crochet panel.

Here's how to enter:

-Check out my new Esty store
-Leave me a comment (with a link to your blog) and tell me what item you liked best in my store when you're done!

-For an extra entry blog about the giveaway, or if you don't have a blog, tweet or link to me in a facebook post and leave me the specific URL in your comment.

I will do a random drawing in the first week of September!

Homemade baby shower basket

I have been sooooo excited for the birth of our good friends' baby, that I've been making things for almost two months! We just had her baby shower this weekend, and it was a blast! Here are my baby basket tutorial trials:

Fabric Beach Ball:

This ball was based on 2 tutorials:
http://www.craftideas.info/html/ball_tutorial.html
http://www.purlbee.com/fabric-beach-balls/

They were both great tutorials, and I should have followed them more closely! I chose to use wool felt for the little circle because I didn't trust my tucking-in-a-circle skills and there is no need to hem felt. It has the added bonus of another texture for a curious baby. I added a container with noisy beads to the ball so it rattles when it rolls.

Giraffe Softie:

This adorable pattern is found over here (and can alternately be a dinosaur softie).

I embellished it by sewing ribbon loops along its neck and a braided satin tail. The other side of the giraffe is purple cotton and he has a squeaker in his bum! So cute! I ended up buying and sacrificing a cheap dog toy because I have no idea where one finds squeakers...

Teething Ring:

This is my take on a teething ring I saw in Chapters a long time ago. I love wooden teething rings and thought adding something soft was a great idea. I crocheted (with worsted weight cotton) a small rectangle, and then rather than tying off and sewing it in a loop, I slip stitched it across.

Crinkly Taggie Blanket:

Here is a link to one great tutorial, but there are many!

I also used a few leather scraps as loops for another texture. And from what I've heard (and it worked for me) cereal bags give the best crinkle. I did one side in cotton and the other in fleece. Another cute tutorial for a baby boy is here, at Prudent Baby.

First Waldorf Doll:

I love Waldorf style dolls! They make a perfect first doll because only natural materials are used and the simple style allows much imagination. There are a ton of great tutorials on all kinds of dolls. I made one earlier this year for Daniel, so this is based partly on that experience and partly on this tutorial.

I also took my first stab at embroidery and it came out ok! Woo Hoo!

Fabric Nursery Blocks:

I spent a ton of time at the fabric store, looking for co-coordinating fabrics and am so happy with how they all look together! I wanted them to be fun to play with, so I added a crinkly cereal bag to two side of the large block, bells to the medium one, and a crocheted panel to the little one. I should have been a little more careful with the seam allowance, but they still turned out ok. Tutorial here.

I am pretty happy with how everything turned out, and I learned a ton! The giraffe and Waldorf doll are my faves. I also added a few plastic links for clipping toys onto the carseat and a couple cloth diapers in a homemade drawstring bag. There is a good tutorial at Purl Bee.