Weekend Project: Knit Valentine Heart Necklace

Next Thursday is Valentine's Day, and our daughter's school is having a little party... this means I have to send in 35 valentines, including a very special one for our daughter.  (Excited to share the final product with you!) Although I don't personally obsess over this holiday, I have fond childhood memories and traditions that I want to pass on to our daughter. So I thought I would get started by knitting her a little necklace she could wear on the 14th! I followed this knit heart pattern for the pink heart...

And for the necklace I made a purple icord with my awesome new Embellish knit tool I got for Christmas! (knitting dork alert!)

Here's a little 6 second video I put up on Vine today of my knitting process...

In all I think this project took me 1-1.5 hours...? I thought about adding two other hearts to the necklace in different pinks and purples, and maybe a white...? But I think that many hearts might be too massive and bulky for her to wear comfortably. 

And this weekend I might sew up a few of these little fabric hearts, via Design Sponge. I'm playing with the idea of filling them with beans to turn them into hand warmers for little coat pockets... Have any projects you are tackling this weekend?

Have a great one!

Weekend Project: Knit Easter Eggs and More

This weekend I might start knitting up some little trinkets for the babe's easter basket. These Easter Eggs are darling and a great use for bits of leftover yarn. 

And since she already has so many bunnies, maybe I'll knit her this little lamb!?

I'm also thinking about knitting a few little birds or insects from this great book. I hope you have a great weekend! Let me know if you make anything?

Weekend Project: Garden Prep!

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Hey all, have any fun plans for the weekend? The husband and my sister-in-law are going to a Beekeeping seminar on Saturday in preparation for keeping bees at my brother and sister-in-law's house. Should be awesome! This weekend I HAVE to plan out our garden! It's been on my to do list for a long time and now is the time. I want to do it right this year. That means building new raised beds, taking down the wacky one we made 6-ish years ago and replacing it with three beds. Our prep also includes carefully selecting and ordering seeds and drafting out their placement and rotation. So I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the garden inspiration I will be looking at to hopefully get my butt in gear! You can see more of my garden and outdoor inspiration on my board "Living without Walls". Have a great weekend!

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Weekend Project: Make a Peter Pan Collar

aaahhh can you feel it!? Spring seems to be just around the corner, and I'm stoked! And as I look ahead and think about storing away my wool accessories, I thought it would be fun to investigate the Peter Pan Collar trend for this Weekend's Project! So here's a quick little round up for you.

Above: By the blog HonestlyWTF, their tutorial is VERY cute and includes a pattern you can download!

If you want a little feminine glitz, check out this pearl collar tutorial.

And this quick little video really sums up the process nicely (similar to how I made bibs for our daughter! lol)

But if you aren't feeling crafty enough, and your sewing skills aren't up to snuff, etsy always has the answers! like this collar by hellostrumpet.

And qtpiworkshop is full of darling peter pan collars, like this floral one!

And I love the crisp denim Butterfly Collar by xMotherx.

Let me know if you make one!!

Weekend Project, knitting this little guy

Hey All! have any fun plans for your long weekend? My sister is coming home from the big apple and we haven't seen her since Christmas (?) so that will be lots of fun. In addition to working on new goodies for my studio shop, I'm also planning on knitting this adorable little fox stole for our daughter. My mom said she wants one too! Our little one loves wearing the other scarves I knit her, so this one is bound to be a favorite. I'll be sure to keep you posted! And if you need any project inspiration, check out my DIY board on Pinterest. Have a good one!

Sneak Peek at my big ETSY Shop Launch

I am launching my studio shop on MONDAY!!! And I thought I would give you a little sneak peek into what I've been working on. My shop will have a variety of silkscreen canvas bags, original artwork as well as reproductions with my fancy new printer (hidden beneath the bags in this picture), PLUS so much more! This isn't some little shop I'm only going to work on now and again, OH NO! this is going to hit the big time! (all pictures were taken with my computer, so forgive the poor quality!)

I spend on average of 5 hours in my studio each day, which is a lot of time for me to find/put aside while taking care of a baby FULL time. Note the baby monitor.

A sneak peek at paper garlands for my shop.

A pattern for one of my bags

More of my desk... I need to organize the crap out of this place, let me know if you want to help me! ; ) And stay tuned to the blog and twitter on Monday for the big launch! Have a great weekend, you can see where I'll be spending my time!

xo

abs

A Round Up: Playing with a toddler, here's how to do it...

I mentioned last week how we recently moved her little table (seen here in the corner) into the center of her room which broke up the space and allowed for an increase in play and exploration... Which got me thinking and mostly checking out MORE toddler play ideas on pinterest. Naturally I have a Baby/toddler advice and activities board, and here are some of the best ideas I am going to put into action this weekend in prep for next week! I think I'll even print some of them out as a cheat sheet when the crap has hit the fan and my brain shuts down and no ideas are coming to mind.. I think this is the inspiration behind these "busy bags" moms want a fast go to thing to allow for everyone to hang out so the mom can get something done, anything done! ; ) 

Above: the little miss is playing with a smaller version of this magnetic board, perfect for when they can stand but not walk yet, they love it!

Homemade busy board, I'm working on ours this weekend!

LOVE this blog: PlayAtHomeMom, these activities are more out of the box

Free Range Parenting

Fine motor skills: Glue dots and buttons

toddler busy bag ideas

Toddler activities for long car trips

Advice for airplane and general travel with a baby/toddler

more busy bag activities 

Activities for 12months - 4yrs

window painting and other activities

Creating treasure baskets

101 things to do with your kids before they leave home

And the best thing to have a toddler do (at least at this stage at 15 months) when you are working on something, have them help you. They learn so much by helping you, a sense of accomplishment, the importance of being part of the group... plus it's more natural and getting back to the early days of man, before crazy toys, pipe cleaners and glue... but when helping out runs cold and boring it is nice to have a back up plan, and that's what these are! Plus check out my Enchanting Kid's Room board for other fun ideas, like a chalkboard table and cardboard houses!

Have a great Weekend!

Weekend Project: Knit Christmas Gifts... ahhhhh

Hey All! Have any fun Christmas-y plans for the weekend? 

This weekend I'm knitting this pig as a last minute gift for our 1 yr old daughter! I knew I wanted to knit her a toy and I have all of this pink yarn in my stash that needed a purpose and so a pig felt like the natural recipient, plus I Looooooved piglets when I was little, so it seems only right to pass along this tradition! And some day in the future when I have the money for the needles and yarn, I will knit her this big soft owl! Now off to knit. Have a great Weekend!

update: Go HERE to check out the final result!

Weekend Project: DIY Handmade Christmas Decorations

Poof it's December and as we were driving around last night it felt like everyone looked at their calendar and immediately plugged in their Christmas lights! We are a little behind in that dept, but my mom has decorated her house and it looks awesome and epic as always- blog post to come!

In the meantime I thought it would be fun to focus a weekend project on handmade christmas decorations! Here are a few I would love to try. Let me know if you give any a whirl!? Above: mistletoe- complete with template.

Ornament Wreath

Vintage Book Flowers, cute for the tree or strung as a garland!

Felt balls- Garland

Twisted felt Garland

Paper Evergreens 

Felt Ornament 

How to Cut the perfect snowflake

Loads of paper chain templates

Terrarium Ornaments

Weekend Project: Drilled Pumpkins for Fall!

Hey all, have any fun weekend crafting projects?  I still want to share with you some things I've been up to around here. I decorated the front steps at my parent's house with an array of funky pumpkins and mums, I've been knitting little things (and actually finishing some!), I've also been painting furniture for our daughter's room... Posts to come, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, how awesome are these drilled pumpkins !? So fun and festive, they would make lovely votives if you are having a cozy fall dinner outside! I like how clean and crisp they are, beats my always wonky jack-o-lanters ; )  !   Have a great weekend! and for more pumpkin ideas, check out this week's Love Letter to Fall!

PS: here are some TIPS for keeping your carved pumpkins nice and fresh!

Weekend Project: knit these "Anything Animals"

How cute are they!? These little hand knit friends would be great little stow-aways in your purse to help entertain your little ones while out and about. Plus they are a great use for using up all of your scrap yarn (hooray!). I think they would also be sweet tucked in a stocking this Christmas, or tide atop a present- as a decorative little gift. I found the pattern on Ravelry while on the hunt for the perfect Teddy Bear knitting pattern for our daughter (like I need MORE knitting projects!). Here's the link to these Anything Animals! I'll be sure to report back with some pictures of our new little knit friends once completed.  Have a great creative weekend!!!

Weekend Project: Our daughter's bedroom

Any fun weekend plans?  I'm making-over our daughter's bedroom/playroom this weekend! It feels like a never ending process, one that has been evolving over the last month. We stopped co-sleeping and moved her to a crib in our spare room... but then we soon realized it can't be both her room and our "study" so some major furniture is going to be rearranged, some painted, and more artwork hung to make this little space all her very own baby-proofed room! There is a lot to be done, but I thought I would share a little sliver of what's to come in a future Before and After post!

Above is a framed vintage illustration from a book of my mother's when she was a girl. I love how imaginative it is, plus the colors are really rich. And best of all it was very cheap! The illustration was something we had and the frame was about $9 at michael's (maybe less)! On either side we hung these darling little bird plates from Anthropologie. They were my birthday gift from my mom back in January. It feels like they were destined to all be together!

You can check out some of my inspiration for this project on my board "Enchanting Kid's Room" on pinterest!

Well, have a great weekend! And I'll report back sometime in the near future with a complete post of her bedroom!

Weekend Project: Get out your hooks and needles!

It's probably the last thing you might be thinking about this weekend... the thought of dealing with wool or any fiber besides your spandex bathing suit is probably the furthest thing from your mind.  But I'm thinking about it, because fall will be here before you know it... and I always end up kicking myself for not having a hat or cowl made to mark the new season!!!!   My cousin and I actually went to the local yarn store yesterday. I'm going to help her knit a cowl neck and I have yarn for a special secret knitting project I will share once it's completed. In the mean time I thought it would be fun and perhaps inspiring to share some other knitting and crochet projects I have "pinned" to my to-make-list!

If you crochet, what about making a darling colorful rattle?

For the guy in your life, this gray hat is simple and classic.

super easy baby blanket from purl bee

buff up on your skills with this seamless crochet technique

or try your hand at hand quilting!

or try this fun badminton heart project!

have a great weekend and let me know what you make, recipes included!