For the Cat Under your Tree

My cat has taken to sitting under the Christmas tree.

This is her spot as she anxiously awaits the moment that I say she can ‘open’ her Christmas present. You would think that she was a child – her exuberance and Christmas cheer is beyond compare. (And just in case you have started thinking that I am a little odd, I have to say that I would never have believed it either, but this cat has always had a special spot in her heart for the holidays. strange, but true.)

So… needless to say that since the cat is sitting under the tree waiting anxiously for the time when she can ‘open’ her presents, there must be some presents under the tree for her. And there are. We have wrapped the treats and I think that there is a cute little stuffed squeeze toy under there, but apparently it wasn’t enough.

This cat, strange as it is, has an uncanny ability to know which presents are hers, and she has decided that there just aren’t enough there yet this year. (I hate to admit that I am being ruled by my cat, but if you have ever owned a cat, you know just how persistent they can be. That, and I like to spoil her a little.)

At the first hint of an on-coming cat nap, I stole the catnip from its hiding place (without even waking the cat!) and headed to the studio. Today was all about the cat. (Okay, I say it was all about the cat, but really, the 15 minutes that I spent on today’s creative project were all about the cat. The rest of the day wasn’t.) A couple of years ago I had bought her something called a crinkle bag. She loved it, but the bag didn’t last long. But she loved it. So, when deciding what her gift would be this year, I took inspiration from that toy. And I made funky little crinkle wraps ( or whatever you want to call them…).

To make a crinkle wrap toy: catnip is piled into a palmful of stuffing and then wrapped inside a square of kite paper and fabric (like in the picture) then tied it all with a ribbon, double and triple knotting it to make sure it is tied tightly. Note – I used kite paper because it comes in great colours and is particularly crinkly and food grade, but if you can’t find any, waxed paper should be good too.

They look really neat and they were done almost as fast as it took me to type out this sentence. (I can’t say if they are cat approved until after Christmas – I really don’t want to give up the surprise for my Christmas-y cat.) But… they will crinkle well, and I think my cat is going to love them! (And so is every other cat on my Christmas list, but I digress.) If you decide to give this creative little Christmas project (Creative Christmas Gift Idea #34) a try for your cats, let me know if they like playing with them!

If, knitting a cat toy is more your speed – try Knitty.com for a knitted feline dim sum toy (fun!) And, for more thoughts on creative cat toys, Cathy has posted some neat ideas on diy.

A Canadian Winter Essential

I don’t know about where you live, but this morning I woke up to find that winter was here. Sudden. Wet. Cold. I am really not complaining because snow is always a good thing for Christmas, but this whole winter thing has got me thinking about all things… warm.

So, as I poured myself a cup of tea and put on an extra thick pair of socks, I decided right then and there that Creative Christmas Gift Idea #32 was going to be a necessity. Definitely quick to make this close to the gift-giving season, this idea is also a definite necessity for the long, cold Canadian winter:

The reusable and insulated take-out coffee cup sleeve.

Something stylish, easy-to-grip and insulated to keep that coffee or tea hot just a little longer. And created by you in less than 15 minutes. Seriously. (That is faster than finding a parking spot at the mall this time of the year.)

The very first coffee sleeve I made is out of fun foam – a double layer to ensure the best insulation. It is really good for gripping with mitts, easy to wash and the fun foam comes in some really neat colours.

The second coffee sleeve I made today (this is such a fast project I had time to make 2) is festive – made from a scrap of Christmas fabric and some cotton quilt insulation for extra insulating properties this winter. The fabric sleeve has a velcro closure so it fits snug to your to-go cup.

As I was making these to-go-cup sleeves, I couldn’t help but imagine that when given with a Tim card (or a Starbucks card, or a coffee-shop-around-the-corner-from-where-you-live card…) a to-go cup sleeve would be a wonderful, thoughtful, and made-just-for-you kind of touch. There might just be a few of these wrapped for my friends and family this year (and maybe even one for myself!).

Wanna make one? I will have the pattern posted for you on the Daylilies site on or about December 10th 2009. If you want the pattern sooner, email me and I will get it out to you as soon as I can.

Old Favourites = Fast, Easy & Tasty Gift Giving

Words just cannot express how bad things have gone in the studio today. It was just bad. I don’t know why, but everything seemed to go wrong.

Everything.

It really seemed a little crazy there for a bit. Nothing worked. Nothing looked good. And even though it seemed too silly to be true, there was just nothing at all good happening in the studio today.

So… I decided it was time to get out of the studio.

After a deep breath and a cup of tea, I decided that if everything was going wrong, then maybe it was time to do something that always turned out well. (Seriously, things were going that badly.)

Without a second glance back, I went to my grandmother’s cake recipe. Just as much as I don’t know why the day was so bad in the studio today, I don’t know how my Grandmother’s cake recipe always turns out – I can’t explain it. But if I am looking for something easy, tasty and quick to make, I reach for this recipe. It just always works. So, I thought, why not try it today?

Normally this is a cake recipe, but today, with a quick flick of the measuring spoon, I turned my humble cake recipe into some deliriously phenomenal chocolate-cranberry-walnut cupcakes. And after eating one (you can’t expect me to make them and not eat them, can you?), I realized again just how wonderful this recipe is, and just how happy I would be to receive a plate of these cupcakes for Christmas. So, here is Creative Christmas Gift Idea #31:  Sharing Old Favourites.

You may have your own fabulous ‘old favourite’ that you haven’t made for a while, but if not, here is my Grandmother’s Cream Cake recipe -the topping is a creative take a topping from another one of my Grandmother’s cake recipes.  you can use my version, or go ahead and make it yours – add more chocolate or butterscotch chips, dried blueberries, or whatever tickles your fancy (you can even drizzle white chocolate over them just before you package them for giving).

Cream together 2 eggs and 1 cup of white sugar.

Add 1 cup of sweet or sour cream (note – I have used everything here in place of this when I just don’t have this in the house, and everything works. Try almond milk or add a little teaspoon of lemon juice to some milk.) Mix well.

Add 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder or cream of tartar and vanilla to taste.

The recipe says to bake in a moderate oven. (I set the oven at 350-375 degrees and check it after 25 minutes then watch it til done.) Just bake til moist, but done.

Topping:

Beat 1 egg white and 1/2 cup of brown sugar til frothy. Add 1/2 cup each of chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and walnuts (or anything else you want to add).

Spoon topping over cake or cupcakes and put back in oven for 5-8 minutes until the topping starts to melt and brown.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Bring on the Snow! 30-Minute Fleece Mittens

The snow is finally flying around these parts, and of course, with the snow comes thoughts of Christmas and … mittens! I can’t tell you how many times this past weekend I have reached for my mittens (only to find that I hadn’t gotten them out of the winter storage just yet, but I digress), and so, today, I bring you Creative Christmas Gift Idea # 30… the 30-minute fleece mitten.

I know that the fleece mitten isn’t a very creative idea in itself, but making them is. There are so many fleeces to choose from. And so many ribbons and trim. And then you can decide how thick or thin your mittens are: are they going to be all fleece, or are you going to line them with some funky flannelette? Do they need a mitten string? Are they going to be plain fabric, or are you going to appliqué shapes onto the back of the mittens?

And… if you want to get really creative, you can even venture out of the whole big world of fleece and make your mittens out of a really soft neon pink faux fur.

After all, the best part of giving handmade gifts is that they are fun to make! (That, and when finished,these mittens will never look like anyone else’s – you can definitely personalize them to the person you are giving them too.)

These are really basic mittens and are a great project for even the most beginner of sew-ers. They really do only take 30 minutes for the pair (and I can attest to this – it took me 30 minutes and that includes the time I took to re-sew  them when my sewing machine lost all of its tension). My mittens are single thickness fleece with a wide elastic band at the wrist. They are a one-size-fits-all sort of mitt, and they are going to be perfect for walks and cold trips into the grocery store this winter.

There are plenty of sites online to feature this fleece mitt pattern if you are looking for one (I traced the size of my hand into a mitt shape on a piece of blank paper to get my pattern). Check out Sewing.org, CanadianLiving.com and BarlowScientific.com for some more great fleece mitten pattern ideas!

Merry Sewing!



A Romantic Christmas Vision – Papryus & Glue?

I started the week out with toys, so…, I decided that it would be very fitting if I ended this week with games. Chess. Or maybe checkers.My biggest problem was that although I knew I wanted to put some sort of game on this blog for Creative Christmas Gift Idea # 29, I really didn’t know what, how, or anything in between.

But when I think of Christmas, I have romantic visions of a roaring fire in a grand fireplace with a beautiful chess board set up to play right in front of the fire. I really don’t know why I have this vision… the reality is that I have no such fireplace, and even if I did, I can’t play chess. But still, I have the vision, so…

I made a chess board (or I suppose it could be a checkers board if you use different pieces).

Now, if you have read Daylilies newsletter for December, you will know that in addition to offering a Creative Christmas Gift Idea every day from now until Christmas, I am also trying to make them 2 hour-or-less ideas from here on in (so you still have plenty of time to try a little creativity this holiday season). Which means, that this chess board had to be creative, quick, easy, and most of all… gorgeous.

The answer? Papyrus.

Not what you were expecting? I grabbed 2 sheets of 12×12″  scrapbooker’s cardboard (sorry – I don’t know what it is called), some glue, a ruler, pencil, pair of scissors and 2- 8×12″ sheets of papyrus (2 different kinds). I measured off my design on one of the cardboard sheets, and then cut out on all the lines. Using the resulting cardboard shapes as pattern pieces, I cut out the papyrus accordingly. Then, I glued the cut papyrus onto its matching pattern pieces, and then glued the pattern pieces back together (like a puzzle) onto the remaining 12×12″ sheet of cardboard. (Okay, I admit. This wasn’t a 2 hour project. It is more like a 4 hour project, but because most of it is cutting and gluing, a second pair of hands would have made this chess board a lot faster. So I am going to say that this is a spend-time-together project. 4 hands can do this project in 2 hours (plus the time it takes to let the glue dry.)

As far as finishing the chess board, I can’t decide between a matte or glossy varnish, or whether I should just put the whole board into one of those photo frames where the image is sandwiched between two panes of glass (do you know the ones I mean?) – I think that the frame would look great sitting on the coffee table, and it would protect the papyrus, but then again, the varnish would be good too. I think either way this board is finished, it will look amazing. (It already does!)

For more detailed information on how I did this, and for an update on how I finished this gameboard, the instructions will be posted on the Daylilies site by December 7th, 2009. If you want detailed instructions sooner, email me and I will be glad to get them to you.

Oooh-La-La – It’s Vintage Kitchen Chic!

Last week when I was up to my elbows in flour and chocolate chips making cookies for our annual cookie party, I realized all over again just how important a good apron can be. Now, you have to understand that I am not a big apron wearer. In fact, I am more likely to curse over stain removal than I am to reach out and grab an apron. I think that this is all about to change though – apparently vintage style aprons are making a HUGE comeback. And they are gorgeous.

So, for Creative Christmas Gift Idea #28, I want to offer the vintage inspired apron. (Especially if you slip one of your most favourite recipes, handwritten on a nice recipe card, into the apron pocket.)

My version of the vintage inspired apron is, however, heavy on the vintage.  When looking for the right piece of fabric to complete this apron, I realized that what would make a better, more absorbent or functional (and pretty) apron than a vintage linen tea towel? And I just happened to have 2 that matched (and coincidentally, this pattern takes 2 vintage linen tea towels).

Perfect.

Less than an hour later, the apron was done. And the best part was that the handstitching on the towels adds to the effect of the apron, and I didn’t have to do any of it! This type of handstitching would take hours to do, but with the stitching already completed on the vintage towels, the apron is beautiful and finished in 1 hour or less.

Again, I say – Perfect.

I also think that any dish towel will work to make this project – as long as you have two towels that look good together, it doesn’t matter whether they are vintage or bought from your local department store last week.

The pattern for the Vintage Towel Apron will be posted on the Daylilies site after December 4th, 2009. Check out My Spare Time and Montessori By Hand for some other great tea towel apron patterns and how to’s.

Journalling & Memories… an awesome gift!

I must admit that I don’t really understand the fascination with journalling. I know that a journal can be a wonderful place to express creative thoughts, or work through a rough day, but I just can’t seem to get the hang of the whole thing. Every once in a while I start a new journal with great hopes and aspirations – this will be the day, the time, that I can get a solid journalling routine in place – but time passes, and my journal always ends up sitting idle.

I also must admit, though, that even if I don’t understand the fascination with keeping a journal up to date, I do love to window shop for beautiful journals (I know, weird, right?). No matter how hard I try, I always find myself drawn to the journal section of whatever store I am in – and there are always such gorgeous journals there (wherever there is).

Needless to say, I couldn’t have been more excited to find that journal making is just as fun as shopping for one! (Now I know that I can keep beautiful journals around without feeling guilty for not using them!) I know that I first touched on journals here very early into the life of this blog when I attempted to use lattice smocking on a journal. Since that time, I have made another journal (well, more than one actually), and I still think that journal making is a very worthwhile thing to do. So, for Creative Christmas Gift Idea #27, I present to you the handmade journal. This a great gift to personalize for that special person on your list.

There are about as many different ways of making journals as there are of using them. If you are looking for something really simple – particularly for a young teen, you can try the free Fun Foam Journal Pattern posted on the Daylilies site (it was also posted on this blog a while ago). Samantha Hahn also makes some really great journals, and she has so kindly posted instructions for journal making – from the simple to the more complex; and from gorgeous to sublime. It is worth checking out her site if you are tackling a journal project this Christmas. And Curiously Crafty has also listed some comprehensive instructions (and photos for great ideas) to help you get your journal finished beautifully.

My favourite method for journal making has got to be the Japanese Stab Bookbinding method. It is fairly easy, really pretty, and I think that it makes a great looking journal (which is perfect for me because apparently I prefer to look at my journals more and use them less and I found it ALOT easier than the type of journal I posted on this blog months ago). If you want to give this a try, Vintage Indie has some great pictures and instructions for this kind of journal making.

I love this idea because you get to choose the colour, texture and even shape of the journal. It is a great gift for men and women of all ages, it is fun to do, and some would say that journals are a universally loved gift (which is true, I suppose, because even if you just end up only using the journal to write down shopping lists, it is still a very useful item).For example, the journal in the picture above was made for an anniversary gift and filled with pictures of friends and family before it was presented. The green and white ribbon was chosen specifically because green and white flowers are a fun memory for the couple.

What memory could you include in your made-by-you and given-by-you journal gift? What colours would suit your recipient best?

Have fun – whatever method or colour or size or shape you make, I am sure that your journal will be absolutely fabulous!

The Baby Blankie Bunny… ooh so soft!

I think that after the adorable knitted bunny I posted yesterday, that I just couldn’t get the whole bunny idea out of my head. So…. here it is, Creative Christmas Gift Idea #26 – the Baby Blankie Bunny. This one is super cute, super fast, super lightweight (if you have to mail it this holiday season) and is sure to be a loved blankie for many years to come.

This is one of those 1-meter, 1-hour projects that really does take 1-hour (or less… I put this whole adorable toy together in 45 minutes or less).  There is minimal sewing required. This is the perfect Christmas gift for the baby on your list.

Have I convinced you to give this project a try yet?

I hope so.

I don’t know what else to say about this darling little blankie doll… I used a soft pink velour and contrasting white fleece (for the ears) with a soft pink ribbon to finish, and the result is fantastic – but then again, I think that this would be great fully done out of a fleece or a terry cloth or any soft material that catches your fancy (and any colour too). This particular doll is also stuffed with an all natural wool stuffing so it is hypo-allergenic and great for around little ones.

The free pattern will be posted on the Daylilies site after December 2, 2009.

Tis the Season for Cute & Adorable

I don’t know why I can’t seem to get this blog started today… I have writtenthe first line and erased the first line more often than I can count. And it really shouldn’t be that difficult – I just want to talk about toys. And Christmas.

Toys and Christmas. How hard can it be?

Well, apparently, today it can be very hard (Maybe it is a Monday-after-a-long-weekend-thing). But I digress…

I was at the library some time ago when I came across this really nifty how-to book for knitting teddy bears. (I really can’t remember the name of the book, and it doesn’t really even matter now – but I mention the book because before I saw it, I never even thought of knitting my own teddy bear.) It was an a-ha moment for sure. Knitting a home-made teddy bear? Never had I given thought to such a thing before! But… wow! What a neat thought!!!

So… I grabbed my knitting needles to make one of my very own. The whole project was a bit of a challenge since I was just learning to knit at the time, but I stumbled through and ended up with a really cute little bear. I named him Samuel.

I suppose I could have stopped there, but I didn’t. It turns out that knitting teddy bears can be quite addictive. Now, at the date of this writing,  I have 6 adorable bears – and I am sure that this is only the beginning. (I also have 1 bunny because in one of my more creative moments, I decided that my white bear-to-be would be better off as a bunny. I named her Sabella. She has the cutest pink nose!)

And, because all of us here at Daylilies are encouraging you to give handmade and homemade for Christmas this year (from your hearts and hands), the knitted teddy bear is Creative Christmas Gift Idea #25. Like the other knitted projects I have included so far, this knitting project is good for beginners and advanced knitters alike. Taking approximately 50g of med weight yarn, and roughly 6-8 hours of knitting time (and remember – I am a very slow knitter), the knitted teddy bear is a great idea for your gift giving this year. This is giving from the ‘heart and hands’ at its very finest.

The pattern I designed for my bears is available for download from Daylilies. But, if that teddy bear (or bunny) doesn’t inspire you, check out some other really neat patterns available out on the web – I found this really cute knitted  ‘Mr. Bean style‘ bear or try the Brenda bear by Lincraft. And, if you would rather crochet, take a peek at the adorable better bear pattern offered at By Hook, By Hand.

Happy Knitting (oh… and don’t be surprised when you find yourself knitting little bear clothing too. Did I say knitting bears can be addictive?)

Cookies.

Creative Christmas Gift Idea # 24 is fairly simple.

Cookies.

There are lots and lots of different ways to give cookies – almost as many ways as there are cookies – and we have come to learn that everyone likes a homemade Christmas cookie (even better if they are fresh from the oven). Our choice is to gather our friends and family together for an afternoon or evening of togetherness and cookie eating when we host our annual Christmas Cookie Party. But we also like to share our cookies and a Christmas greeting again throughout the Christmas season. Whatever way you choose to give them, cookies make awesome gifts.

It doesn’t matter how you wrap them. It doesn’t even matter what kind of cookies you make. Cookies are creatively made from your hands for someone else. What could be better? (Especially because Christmas cookies always taste good.)

So – you want to make some cookies this year, but don’t know where to start? The old family favourites are the best, so if you can dig out your great grandmother’s old gumdrop cookie recipe (these are my absolute favourite) or your aunt’s rum ball recipes (these are good too) or whatever else your family loves to eat, then go for it. If, however, these family recipes are lost, or you just want a change this Christmas, I recommend the recipes found for Christmas cookies on the Taste of Home site. This is where I got alot of my recipes this holiday season, and I can say that the ones I have tried have worked well (taste test approved!).

Cookies also make great tree ornaments, so if your baking skills need some improvement, bake to decorate the tree instead! Gingerbread ornaments are awesome and make the house smell festive, but then again cookie shaped playdough ornaments are fun too (here is a recipe for gingerbread playdough too). And don’t forget about the applesauce cinnamon ornaments – these are also wonderful on a Christmas tree (or a wreath, or hanging off a mantel…).

So – whether for ornaments, or for eating, put your cookies in a gift tin, a gift bag, a gingerbread tray, or make yourself a gift box or bag… consider cookies for your Christmas gift list this year.

And… happy baking! I will be back here on Monday with more great gift ideas. But for now, I am going to back to my baking…