There’s a pretty awesome roundup of handmade gift ideas on Design*Sponge. My favourites are the doodled mugs and vintage book/electronic cord organizer. I think I could actually make both of those, and that’s saying something!
Another great event happening in the ‘hood next week – Crafternoon Tea! Go check it out next Saturday, November 26, from 11am – 5pm.
It’s a “curated crafty/fashion market & charity tea-party” hosted by Nathalie-Roze (of Nathalie-Roze & Co). But it’s not at her shop – it’s at the church down the street,Queen Street East Presbyterian Church (947 Queen St. East at Carlaw).
Some confirmed vendors include Knotted Nest, Clay Girl, and The Happy Seamstress (whose Beard Knitting Kit, above, is genius!)
See the Crafternoon Tea Facebook page, or follow Nathalie-Roze on Twitter for the latest information.
I was hanging with Hilary yesterday, telling her about my new sewing machine that just arrived, and she reminded me about the blog Prudent Baby, which features all kinds of cool DIY crafts and things for babies.
I checked it out, and found this awesome post about cheater quilts. How cool is this? You can make a quilt (or at least, a blanket that looks like a quilt) without actually having to do all the piecework. LOVE IT. Just added this to my list of projects that I may or may not ever complete.
[cheater quilt fabric image via Spoonflower]
Remember a couple weeks ago when I wrote about my recent itch to “get my sew on”? Well, I went and did it – I ordered a new sewing machine. I got a good value model off the Costco website.
While I wait for my new toy to arrive, I’ve been looking up patterns. I found this great roundup of 15 Free PDF Sewing Patterns for Baby Stuff over at Babble.com. Don’t you love the one for the baby apron? Now that Little C is eating solids, she definitely needs one of these!
[image via Babble.com]
I follow the Cup of Jo blog pretty regularly, and have been very impressed with the products featured from Pinhole Press. Photo calendars, photo books, stationery, party invitations, cards, labels… all very clean and attractive.
I’ve been wanting to order from them for a while, but they didn’t ship to Canada. Until now! I just spoke with a customer service rep at Pinhole Press, and they said they are indeed accepting orders from Canada. There’s just a little blip in the checkout process – for now, they don’t have it programmed to accept Canadian addresses and postal codes. So here’s what you do:
1. Enter your entire address in the 2 address lines (ie – your street info on line 1, and then your town, province, and postal code on line 2).
2. In the Zip Code field, just enter 00000
3. Pick any US State you want for the State field – they’ll know it’s bogus
Then do the credit card stuff, and they’ll ship to you, at the same rates as they ship to American addresses. That’s a deal!
I’m going over to Pinhole Press right now to start making things!
Lately I’ve really been wanting to sew… must be the post-partum nesting hormones. I took 4 years of costuming courses in university (I knew that theatre school training would come in handy some day), so I think I’m a pretty competent stitcher. I’m just a bit rusty… it’s been a while since those collegiate days.
Last year my sister picked up a basic Singer sewing machine at Walmart, and took a few classes at The Sewing Studio in Toronto. I think I might follow her lead, buy a machine, and get my sew on. I can’t wait to head over to MacFab (a fantastic fabric store in my neighbourhood) and pick up some funky fabrics. They have textiles by Amy Butler and Dwell Studio. Now the only question is… what project to start with?
[image above: old-timey Singer ad via Millie Motts]
For the last two Saturdays, we’ve gone to the Brooklyn Flea (in its Fort Greene location, which is right around the corner from our apartment rental). I just love it – it’s the perfect mix of random antiques, junk, second-hand clothes, jewelry, and amazing food.
Ian bought a rad Brooklyn T-shirt from Live Poultry, Clara got two adorable diaper shirt/onesies from Winter Water Factory, and I got a new pair of earrings from Birdhouse Jewelry.
If you’re going to be in NYC, I think a visit to the Brooklyn Flea is a must. It’s in Fort Greene on Saturdays, and Williamsburg on Sundays. And Smorgasborg, the Flea’s food-only market, is in Williamsburg on Saturdays. You can find all the info on the website here.
[images above taken by me]
I love knitting, but I tend to stick to making blankets and hats, since they don’t require too much small detail work. This post on Covet Garden’s blog may have convinced me to try something tiny though… I could knit my own pets! I love the little corgi dog (pictured above). And here’s the pattern for knitting your own Jack Russell (also pictured above).
I think these would make great gifts for my nephews. Perhaps a visit to my local yarn shop is in order…
Are you doing some last-minute Christmas wrapping this week? If so, you might want to download and print these free gift tags, designed and illustrated by Julia Rothman. And if you have sticker paper or labels, print them on that, fill them out, and you’re done! Too cute.
Kinnon and I hit up the One of a Kind show on Sunday. I was very very good – I didn’t buy anything! But I did collect a handful of business cards for online shopping later.
Here were my five favourite artisans from the show:
Ceramik B: gorgeous handmade ceramics by Basma Osama. When we walked by, both Kinnon and I went “ooooooh”. We just had to pick up some of the bowls and mugs… the organic shapes were calling to us. The interlocking shaker set (pictured above) was amazing.
Flakes Paperie had a tiny booth set up, and were mostly selling Holiday cards and 2011 calendars. I’m okay in those departments, but I always love me some pretty paper. Flakes has an Etsy shop, but there’s only one product there… I hope they add more soon!
Mizzonk has a few different products, but their paper art is amazing. Wouldn’t you love to have this art print (above) hanging on your wall? Watch the video on the product page of their website and see the piece in its 3D glory.
And of course, I fell for some of the baby clothing and accessories at the show. My favourites were the 100% natural, soft, simple sleep sacks by Poids Plume, and the baby kimono onesies from Redfish Kids Clothing.
If you’re heading to the One of a Kind show, check these out, and let me know what your favourites are!
Update: Many of my faves from the show were also favoured by House and Home magazine. Check out their blog post on the show here.
