Felted sweaters, ready to be cut

If the neckline of the sweater is low, or I want a wider piece, I'll cut the sweater this way

Otherwise, I'll just cut off the arms and square up the body pieces later

Cut open the sleeves on the seam. They can be zig-zagged together to make one larger piece or just used as is (after squaring them up)

Front and back of deconstructed sweater (minus sleeves and neck)

I like to use scissors to do the bulky cutting and then square everything up using my rotary cutter. It makes pieceing the throw together easier if all the edges are perfectly straight

Pile of scraps...someday I'll figure out how to recycle these!

Finished squares/rectangles

Start laying out the pieces on the floor or a large table. Have fun with this; you can't go wrong as long as you picked colors that compliment each other. I like to do a rough size layout first and then re-arrange and tweak it. I think the last one I made was 60x80in. Also, on this one, I turned the pieces so that the sleeve cuffs and bottoms of the sweaters for the outer edges of the blanket

When I'm ready to sew it, I pin the whole thing together. Then I either pick up a section at a time and sew it or just pick up the whole thing and sew it all at once. There are advantages to both methods, I've only made three of these so I'm not sure which method seems faster or easier

I'm sewing it together with a conventional zig-zag stitch, the widest setting and a med/small length (3.5 on my machine). There is not seam allowance, it's just what I call a "butt-joint", joining the two raw edges together flat and zig-zagging across them

Here's the finished product, throw #3. I had wanted to use some reds in it, but they just didn't look right, so I put one tiny red square in the middle for whimsy. I also left some of the sweater details, such as buttons on a cuff, or embroidered flowers on the hem. Varying textures (cable-knit, rib-knit, etc.) and details like the buttons are what make the throws unique.

random picture challenge

I'm a little late jumping on this random picture challenge from 4LittleMenandGirlyTwins, but here's mine. I was trying to fix dinner and Ava was bored, so I gave her this big bowl of chopped cabbage and a fork. The cabbage was for a stir-fry, and I was chopping other stuff while she played with it.
I can't believe that was only May, and she already looks so much different and has long since been out of the highchair and graduated to the "big kid bench" at our table!
And, I haven't made that dish in a while, maybe it'll be on our menu this week. . .

Handmade pt. 4

So last night at our small group (home bible study with friends from church), I was telling someone that I had recently made throws and ornaments from felted wool. She said that she had read about making mittens out of felted wool sweaters and I couldn't stop thinking about it all night!
We got home late, but at midnight I was Googling "patterns for felted wool mittens". I came across several ideas and whipped these beauties up this morning. I used the bottom of the sweater for the cuff of the mitten and the felt flowers were cut from scraps of my last sweater blanket.
I surprised her at church tonight with the mittens. They ended up being a little big for her (and me!); next time I won't allow so much extra for the seam.

Dino Drool

Inspired by our new favorite movie, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Alec solicited Benji's help in whipping up a batch of "Dino Drool". There is a scene in the movie where the juvenile action hero gets spit on by an enormous carnivorous dinosour. It's nasty, but fascinating to Alec, who watches all the bonus features on every movie to find out how everything is made. At the end of this movie, there is actually a recipe for the dino drool.

Hair Gel~~~7UP~~~Peat Moss

We had to go to our local nursery and purchase at 40lb. bag of the moss (the smallest size they had) so Alec could use a couple of tablespoons of it to add the "partially-chewed-food particle" effect to the slime. It actually smelled good because of the hair gel, but I couldn't convince either of the boys to let me style their hair with it!

Wordless Wednesday

After School Special

I wanna be the cool mom. I wanna be the house that all my kids friends love to come to. The one with the yummy food, fun games, awesome hideout, and laid back parents who don't get in a tizzy when popcorn is dumped on the floor or water spilled on the bed.

I guess I kinda grew up that way. All my friends Luuuuved my mom, thought my dad was cool, and we had fabulous sleepovers. The kind where we "sneak" into the kitchen at night and make candy, or eat cold pizza, or prank call the cute boy at school. We lived in a tiny house, a three bedroom ranch, probably around 1600 or 1700 sq. feet. My parents knew every breath we took, but turned their heads and let us free unless it interrupted the straight and narrow path of our morals.

After school today, I entertained these three handsome fellows. While they watched a movie in 3-D, I popped popcorn and baked them chocolate chip cookies as big as their faces. I let them eat it all on the couches and then smiled when they stampeded up the stairs to play flashlight tag in Alec's darkened bedroom.

Sound nice?

Well, at the same time, I was potty-training Ava, conducting diplomatic negotiations between Benji and his friend, cleaning up from the cookie baking, thinking about dinner, and trying to de-clutter my kitchen closet to make room for craft supplies.
Hm mm. . .I just want to be the cool mom, not super-mom! Gotta find that balance somewhere. . .

Anyone have that house that everyone comes to? What's your secret?

Back to the future

We took our tree down today and packed away all our decorations until next year.
I was feeling a bit nostalgic as I closed the boxes, thinking about last year and wondering what adventures we'd have in 2009 (my new personal motto is :"Lookin' fine in 2009!" tee-hee!)

Anyways, I decided to leave myself some notes in the boxes so I'd find them this Christmas. I wrote things like, "this year we found out that Benji can eat almonds now" and "this year I had a bad car accident resulting in cancelled insurance and a new van". I also wrote stuff like, "this year I wept about the great probability that I would never again feel a baby kicking in my belly".

In the boxes of outside decorations, I wrote, "it's in the mid 40's today as I'm packing this", and "Ava's napping and the boys are playing a video game".

I don't know exactly why I did it, I sort of felt the need to send myself a message, to somehow connect today with tomorrow. Like writing memories in a baby book or journal. Like re-reading old blog posts. Maybe I should have left myself some good advice for later! As if I'm wiser now than I will be in 12 months!
I always think about if I could go back and do something over again, knowing what I know now...would it be better? Or would my lack of innocence spoil the experience?

If you could give yourself one piece of advice for the future, what would it be?
If you could go back and do something over again what would it be?

NOT new year's resolutions

:: I do NOT resolve to keep my house tidier, my laundry caught up, and my bathroom floors spotless

:: I do NOT resolve to stop eating baked goods and bananas dipped in peanut butter and melted chocolate

:: I do NOT resolve to quit yelling at my kids when I'm too frustrated to see straight

:: I do NOT resolve to pick up my husband's shoes when they're 2 inches from the shoe bin instead of kicking them or stomping on them

:: I do NOT resolve to stop feeling inadequate as a mom when I see another mom smoothly orchestrating a craft session with ages 2-8 all at the same table

:: I do NOT resolve to exercise every day so I can lose weight and finally look "hot" again for my husband

INSTEAD. . .

:: I will keep the house tidy, laundry caught up and bathroom floors spotless only when it doesn't distract me from the bigger goal of raising my children

:: I will make a conscious effort to not only continue caring for the health of my children, but also to start caring for my own health, making small positive changes, one at a time (and I will still savor some chocolate!)

:: I will accept the fact that I do not have an infinite reservoir of patience, nobody's perfect, and it's Jesus running the show not me so I need to let go and let Him show me what to do next

:: I will repent for my rebellious nature, and when I can pick up after myself only, with a cheerful attitude, then and only then will I attempt to pick up after my husband without grumbling

:: I will realize that it's ok if my craft sessions fail, at least I tried and things always get easier as the kids get older. I will never stop trying to teach my kids to be creative, no matter how much paint spills, how many markers dry out, or how much play-doh gets eaten.

:: I will accept the fact that my husband loves me intensely for who I am on the inside, and even though he may have married me for my looks {wink}, superficial love is meaningless and what we have now is infinitely better and more fulfilling. I will stop being so self conscious and self critical and will live in the knowledge that I'm beautiful in the Lord's eyes because He sees my heart.

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Everyone who reads this is tagged to come up with a NOT resolution...leave a comment so I can visit and read yours!

Here's to an honest, joyous, creative, new New Year!