Easiest Candy houses to make with kids!

Nothing like telling a four year old you're going to make candy houses to insure that it happens. I carved some between playgroup car repair and work deadline to squeeze a sugar rush into our afternoon. Elliot had his good friend Gabe over who was very willing to participate in the eating and building.  Yesterday I'd purchased a good selection of candy and cookies at good ole fashioned Reny's department store in Bath. The only other preparation was sifting through the recycling bin to turn up cardboard bases and an assortment of food boxes and cartons for the building structures. You can easily cut boxes in half to get the right size. It's a good idea to cover the cardboard base with wax paper so that the frosting and candies don't permeate the base. I'd like to say we make royal frosting but we don't, simply crack open tubs of white frosting and pass out the knives. These are not masterpieces but they're incredibly simple and provide instant gratification. Celia can spread the frosting on the side of a carton and stick the cookie wall in place by herself. I read her Jan Brett's 'Gingerbread Boy' before bed and she noticed that our houses were not of the same caliber as the elaborate illustrations. One day I'll roll out the gingerbread and make a real house again but for now this project is a winner.

Girls Night Out Winter Craft Workshops

Please join me for an evening of jewelry making (Jan 19th) and/or needle felting (Feb 9th) at the beautiful Art Mind and Soul studio in Fort Andross. Enjoy a relaxing couple of hours of creativity, all supplies dessert and coffee are included!

Santas in the workshop.

During the kids snowday Wednesday Elliot took Celia outside to play, giving me some time to escape into the garage. I'd been itching to spruce up the wooden Santas Jon and I have been working on. Like our popular Lobsters they're made from old fence pickets. Jon cuts out the wood pieces and I get the easy job of playing graffiti artist. I apply multiple layers of old house, spray and dimesional craft paint onto the cut boards. Santas' eyes are washers and upholstery tacks, and his glasses are formed with rebar wire. Something was missing and I had an ah hah moment when I delved into the scrap bin and found small wood pieces for eyebrows. They perfectly frame the top of his face. A few hits of silver spray paint helped give his beard and moustache some more dimension.

When I came back in the house I tripped over a mound of abandoned wet coats, mittens and boots. The clothes didn't dampen my good mood though, I was happy to have had an undisturbed half hour to give our Santas finishing touches before the holidays.

Penelope or Henrietta the Hedgehog?

I unveiled this new softie design at North Yarmouth Fair over the weekend. I was thrilled by how well she was received. I was completely surprised that each woman who purchased one had already named her. The names were absolutely hysterical, and perfectly fit each hedgies' personality.

The body is simply three pieces of felted wool sweaters. The spines are sewn in place as a complete strip and then later cut apart. I had pitched the design to Stitch magazine for their upcoming Spring issue. On Sunday morning I awoke to an e-mail from them asking me to make the hedgehog along with five other projects. I'll make her with easy to find fleece for their baby story.
 
I'm hoping to whip up a few more for this Friday and Saturday fairs. My sweater supply is drying up. Sewing with felted sweaters has definitely become popular this year. I found a yard of white wool suiting for the face and underside at JoAnn's. Fortunately I still have a supply of the wonderful Feltworks tm flowers sent to me from Dimensions. She wouldn't be the same without them. This time I'll make some child friendly versions without the wooden bead eyes. It'll be tricky to keep the same expression with sewn wool scraps but I'm up for the challenge.