Owls are a Hoot!

Bad pun, I know, but I have been weirdly drawn to owls lately. Perhaps it's because my grandmother collected them most her life and now that she is gone, they remind me of her. The big eyes always get me, and they are surprisingly simple to try to design.

I decided one day I wanted to make some owls when I needed a project I could take with me. So searching online for cute little patterns, I came across a super cute one here from PregnancyBabyChild.com. They have  the pdf pattern available and instructions for making a mobile. I wasn't that interested in making a mobile, so I just made a few owls.

These were pretty easy and inexpensive - just felt, thread, buttons for eyes and stuffing. I could do them just about anywhere and came together quickly. Overall, very happy with them and actually want to make a few more...

Up-cycled Dog Toys

This week is going to the dogs. My dogs to be exact. I have three, blue heeler Molly, Norwegian Elkhound/Lab mix Liebe and dachshund Mini. They are all rescue dogs and couldn't be more spoiled in this house. They are all pretty near perfect for our family though. Molly is about four, Liebe is a little over a year and a half and Mini is under a year. The two older are pretty mellow and calm in the house but run like crazy outside. Mini still has a lot of puppy personality and curiosity, but loves to cuddle. And all three are sweet as can be to my granddaughters.

I do like to spoil my pups, but toys can get expensive, especially when the two younger dogs like to destroy them. Then I end up with fluff all over my house. Which is no bueno. As a result, I have taken to making them toys. Nothing extravagant, but something they can pull and tug on without making a big mess.

The first toys were made out of old clothes. The brown is an old shirt of mine. I cut four strips from across the bottom, knotted one end then braided and added a not at the other end. Simple and a great way to reuse old shirts that are stained or outgrown.

The second is obviously denim. I love cutting up old holey jeans for dog toys. This toy is just a section of the pant leg, knotted in the middle. I have also done braided toys, toys made from several strips knotted together, weaves - there really is a lot you can do with denim. What I like is that denim is very durable, it frays but doesn't always just fall apart.

The pups love these and I like that I didn't have to spend money on them! :)

Baby Gift, pt 1

So I took last week off to begin getting everything in my office organized. Something I've desperately needed  to do for quite some time, and still have not finished. This week I am back and hoping to post at least four days this week. I have been crafting like crazy and am really looking forward to sharing some of the things I've made.

First up is half of a baby shower gift I recently made for the friend of the family. She is having a little girl, due any time now, that they are naming Kaiya. The expectant mommy is not a huge fan of pink but both her and her hubby love the Japanese culture and Asian inspired decor. They chose to do the nursery in red, white and black.

All little girls have tons of hair bows and flowers and it can be very difficult to keep them all organized. So I made them this personalized bow board in their colors of choice. The monogram really stands on the damask black and white background. (Sorry about the horrible pictures, but I had to shoot them quickly before we delivered the gift!)

You can see that I even started them out with the first two bows for the board: a lovely red and white bow and a cute black and white with musical notes. Knowing the father is very musically oriented, I knew I couldn't pass up that ribbon when I saw it!

Another cute little item in the gift was the soft blocks in the nursery colors. They are good size blocks, but soft enough for baby hands to grip. Granted, baby Kaiya won't be playing with these for a couple of months. It is a cute little toy made from some scrap material that was a quick and easy addition to the gift.

Naturally, being a crafter, these were not the only gifts I gave. But, for the big gifts, you will have to come back tomorrow! I will add the last two items then and they are super cute and made the expectant mommy squeal!