{Saw it on Pinterest} My Little Mid Century Christmas House

Why does knitting a lace shawl seem so much more manageable than gluing little cardboard walls together?

Pattern: DIY Putz House #1 from Retro Renovation

I have a couple of singed fingertips and a new understanding of how the glue gun once found itself adhered  to the carpet, and a whole new level of appreciation for the rickety tower...and a partially complete little mid century modern putz house. It still needs a base and some decorations, if I get motivated enough for that.  

{I've Been Cooking} Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

Forgive the picture. I'm obviously not a food blogger and haven't figured out how to get a good shot without steaming up my camera lens. 

I do cook most nights. It's the only way to get the hungry family fed. But lately I've been trying some of those yummy things I've saved on Pinterest. 

Like Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken: 

This was actually as easy to make as the website promised, and it turned out, and it tasted good. I'll be making it again and seeing what variations I can find.

I sort of kind of almost made Salted Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies...by crushing the pretzels I'd bought and mixing them in with a package of Betty Crocker salted caramel cookie mix. It worked! And it was tasty enough that I plan on trying the real thing sometime soon.

The Bubble Up Enchilada Bake wasn't a hit at my house. It was quick and easy and I thought it tasted just fine, but the men folk disagreed. Have I mentioned that they're picky?

How about you? Have you made anything new lately? Got any suggestions for a pack of hungry boys?

Vintage Dish Towels -- I Cheated With a Sharpie

When I was deep in my obsession with dish towels that won't fall off of the stove rail, I saw that Target had flour sack towels for much less than the craft stores were charging. It's not often that I agree you get what you pay for, but these are a very low thread count that doesn't seem well suited for embroidery. (I'm sure they're fine for their intended purpose of drying actual dishes.)

I'd seen on Pinterest where bloggers were using Sharpies to decorate their dish towels, so I decided that I had nothing to lose. If the colors fade in the wash, I'll still be able to use them in the kitchen.

So I printed a couple of simple vintage designs from Flickr and got out my light box and sharpies. The qualities that make this fabric awful for stitching on also make it hard to draw on with markers. Maybe if I stabilized it on freezer paper first...but I wasn't feeling that patient.

I'll let you know how these hold up, and if I decide to try it again with the freezer paper.

Skeleton Clothes Pin Fingers

This project, inspired by a tutorial over on I Gotta Create! was on my to-do list for last Halloween, but I ran out of October too quickly.  This year I'm determined to tackle my Pinterest board and do some of the things that are actually possible (as opposed to the ones that are just drool-worthy)

If you've seen my kitchen pictures, you'll know that I'm not a fan of crackle paint effects, especially when it's red and inside of my cabinets and drawers, but I can appreciate it on this project.

Flexagons and Puzzle Balls

The boys and I made Flextangles. They're kind of a little bit like those cootie catchers we all made in grade school, but a lot more impressive. After I found them on Pinterest I made one as a trial run, then Leif made one. When Quinn made his, he decided to use the four sets of diamonds to illustrate a story. Have I mentioned that I'm amazed by my sons?

These little things are absolutely fascinating. It's a folded paper tube that thinks its a kaleidoscope! Which, of course, makes me wonder if I could translate it into fabric. I can imagine how the diamonds would fit together, but I'm not sure if interfacing would make it too stiff or not stiff enough...or what if I used fusible web and left the paper inside?

I clicked over to Pinterest and did a search for puzzle balls to see if someone else had already figured it out. I found tutorials for the traditional Amish puzzle ball...and then I found this...



The book is Amamani Puzzle Balls by Dedri Uys and I don't have a copy of my own yet, but I've got it in my shopping cart to add to my next Amazon order. I still don't know how to crochet, but this is the sort of thing that's going to motivate me to learn.

There is AN OCTOPUS! (And the pattern is free on Ravelry.)  And there's AN OCTOPUS MADE FROM FABRIC!!!  I might be getting a bit giddy at this point, but these are so cute I can barely stand it.

I'm linking up to WFMW. 

A Tiny Bit of Halloween Sewing & Some Paper Plate Bones

I found this wonky felt bat tutorial on Pinterest a while back. More than anything, it's those eyes that I love.

Choosing the best possible buttons to stack for his eyes took me longer than cutting out the felt or sewing it together. I've got two jars full that came from Grandma's house (not to mention the jar from the antique mall.) I wanted ones that were the right size and color, but weren't too old or too neat. Now I'm wondering where the worn bone buttons with the chipped edges came from. I'm guessing they're from the antique mall and not a family member's clothing.

Whatever their provenance is, I like those buttons a lot. They'll need a special project to be part of.

The paper plate skeleton is another project I found and wanted to do last year, but didn't get around to. I'm not going to admit how many times I bought paper plates and then used them for food before I finally made this!

My original plan was to make this one with the boys, but I'm glad I didn't. Cutting paper plates into bones is a lot harder than it sounds. I don't love how my skeleton looks, but the way the bones are loosely strung and bounce and sway whenever someone moves quickly past (that's the only way the kids in my house move) makes me smile.

I'm linking up to Crazy  Mom Quilts. You can find the rest of my Halloween to do list here.