Etsy Terrarium Workshop

My lovely Etsy terrarium, in a fishbowl I found in the giveaway bin at work

Making a terrarium is one of those things that's been on my to-do list for a while, but for various reasons (money, laziness) I never got around to it. A few weeks ago, Etsy Labs hosted Hands-On: Dirt, where Etsians like my friend Lynn and I could talk to CSA representatives, check out a vertical garden system, create seed bombs, and make terrariums.

I have a traumatic history with plants (see last summer's blog post dedicated to dead plants), so I'm excited to have a low-maintenance terrarium hanging out in my apartment.

As soon as I got home from the Etsy workshop, I signed up for the CSA (community-supported agriculture) in my neighborhood. This summer's gonna be all about fresh fruits and veggies, plus plants that will not die!



Lynn, showing her terrarium who's boss

 

The workstation, full of moss and other fun greenery. Is it weird that I wanted to roll around in it?



Lynn's terrarium in a cup

The photo booth is a must at every Etsy event!

Do you have any planting planned for summer?

Colette Patterns Spring/Summer Palette Challenge

I'm a huge fan of Colette Patterns. I own several of their patterns (one being the Peony pattern I made my owl dress from) and love browsing their blog for sewing ideas. So when the gals at Colette proposed a palette challenge, I said ooookay!

I created a Pinterest palette board to collect all my ideas. The palette that sparked my inspiration was a beach-themed fashion spread in Marie Claire, which is ironic because the beach is a very scary place for me during summer. It features a redheaded model in colors that I never really considered before, like melon and white. And they didn't eve airbrush her freckles out of the photos!

I'd like to make some skirts and shorts in these colors that I can pair with simple tops. I also like the idea of adding a taupe accessory, like the photo above with the mint green skirt, white top, and taupe belt. I don't have the confidence to wear colors like melon and taupe in clothing, but I could definitely try to pull it in with things like belts.

What colors are you going to wear this season? And do you think pale-skinned people like me can pull off colors like white and melon? I'm nervous!

Peony Owl Dress

At the beginning of the year I joined Sew Weekly's contributors to encourage myself to complete a few sewing projects this year. It took me 3 months to do it, but I finally posted a project. It's up on Sew Weekly now.

You might remember the owl dress from when I finally figured out how to properly install an invisible zipper. I did a lot more than install a zipper on this little baby. Gathers? Check. Facings? Yep.

I've worn this dress a few times since sewing it and always get a lot of compliments on it. It's not without its flaws, of course. (The back waist seams don't exactly meet...) But I'm really proud of it and definitely plan on using the Colette Peony pattern again several times.

I'm such a flake when it comes to finishing my sewing. What pushes you to complete projects?

Kid's Candy Land-Themed Birthday Party

Earlier this month, I showed you the fabric collages I made for my niece's 1st birthday.

Those weren't the only crafty things happening at that birthday!

My mom and sister-in-law put together an incredible Candy Land-themed birthday party for my niece -- nearly everything handmade by the two of them. It was so crazy awesome that I wrote about it for the Martha Stewart Family blog. You can see all the crafty candy insanity there!

Organizing Circular Knitting Needles

As part of my New Year's resolutions, I wanted to organize my craft supplies. One of the problems was my circular knitting needles. Something had to be done about this mess, so I consulted my favorite knitters in the Stitch n Bitch book. Jenanne Hassler's circular knitting needle holder to the rescue!

It doesn't exactly look neat and tidy, but it's a much easier way to store and find needles I need. I took me organizing all of these to realize my needle collection is seriously lacking in the smaller needles!



Before
I shamefully present to you my circular knitting needles and other random knitting supplies, before the needle case.

What I liked about this project: I could use scrap fabric and it didn't take long to complete.

What I didn't like about this project: Iron-on transfers are crazy expensive!

What I listened to while I made this project: Weezer's Blue Album

Inspiration: Crewel Embroidery

The Martha Stewart employee tag sale is always a dangerous day for me. Forget for one moment that one of my resolutions this year was to stop buying craft supplies, and take a look at this beauty that I got at the sale for 25 cents.

The tag says "Hand-embroidered crewel." I own crewel kits and The New Crewel book, a gift from my cousin and his wife this past Christmas, but I haven't had the patience to sit down and try it. Seeing this embroidery in person is really inspiring.

Have you tried crewel? Reassure me. Tell me it's awesome.

Owl and Elephant Fabric Collage

My niece just turned 1 year old, so I wanted to make a special gift that she could enjoy every day.

I really like these Petit Collages on Martha Stewart, but I wanted to use fabric instead of paper.

I bought the wood boards at Michaels, and I used my huge bag of scraps (inherited from my friend Jessica) to choose fabrics for the collages. Someday I will be able to create a fabric pit that I can just roll around in all day.

I was feeling inspired by the color palettes in Better Homes & Gardens. (The palettes I looked at were in the March issue, but they have palettes online, as well.)

What I love about scraps is preserving awesome fabrics that may otherwise go unused, like this cute doggy fabric.

What I liked about this project: Great, inexpensive project for using fabric scraps.

What I didn't like about this project: I had to spread the glue very thinly to make sure it didn't bleed through the fabric and make dark spots.

What I listened to while I made this project: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips