soft trees

i made these using glittery felt, and old unwanted shirt for the bottoms, and little bird's pattern.

i didn't do a very good job adjusting the pattern to make the taller, skinnier one, but you can't really tell when it's on the mantle.

yay for christmas trees!

technorati tags: crafty sewing christmas tree

shopping bag set

i'm ready for christmas!



i finished the shopping bag set! i'm pretty happy with the way it came out. the first picture shows all the components of the set and the second picture is the bags tucked inside their stuff sack. note the little pocket with a pad for a shopping list.

this only cost a few dollars to make. the fabric is from three old sheets i got at the thrift store. other than that i only spent a couple of dollars total on thread, the pad of paper, and the black elastic cord and plastic dohickey for the drawstring.

after i wrap this last gift i'm 100% ready for christmas! woo hoo! i may even make those stuffed trees after all. i found really cool felt at the fabric store to make them with. it's green felt with glitter.

or maybe not. maybe i'll just go enjoy our new xbox and relax until christmas. i hope everyone has a merry christmas, happy hanukah and a very wonderful and creative new year!

technorati tags: crafty recycled shopping bag gift

christmas crafts

here are some of the catnip cat treats i made. i'm giving them to all the cats i know.

i'm feeling less stressed. travis and i put up the christmas decorations last week. all my christmas cards are written, all my shopping is done, and most of my presents are wrapped. i made a great mix cd of my favorite christmas songs and made several copies with jewel case inserts to give out. all i have left to do is finish the reusable grocery bags for travis' sister and wrap the set.

i decided that the stuffed trees can wait until next year. it looks plenty christmasy in here in the meantime.

here's the playlist for "jen's super duper christmas mix" in case you want to put it together yourself. it's really good, if i do say so myself. (make sure you keep the songs in this order.)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year / Andy Williams
(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays / Perry Como
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus / Jackson 5
Jingle Bell Rock / Neil Diamond
I'll Be Home for Christmas / Carpenters
Winter Wonderland / Aimee Mann
We Three Kings / Dolly Parton
Christmas Canon / Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas / Sarah McLachlan
Sleigh Ride / Ella Fitzgerald
Baby, It's Cold Outside / Dean Martin & Martina McBride
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing / Amy Grant
Auld Lang Syne/ The Pipes And Drums Of The Queen's Own High


technorati tags: christmas crafty catnip

local knitting celebrity

i was mentioned in a front page article in the gazette, a weekly local paper! this is the part about me:

And as part of a practice Anderson calls "so Takoma Park," even those worried about shearing sheep or reeling fibers from silkworms have outlets at their disposal. Jen M., a Takoma Park resident and longtime vegan, said the hats and scarves she’s made from less expensive acrylics still make her friends and family "ooh and ah."

"I like that you end up finding these environmentally sound, less wasteful solutions to things," said [me], whose favorite fibers are lion jiffy acrylics and recycled vegan silk yarn, of which she recently knit a bag for a Compassion Over Killing-sponsored auction.

stress!

all of a sudden i want to make a million things for christmas and now i'm totally stressed out about when i'm going to do all of this.

i started the grocery bag set i'm making trav's older sister for christmas. it will be three tote bags and a drawstring stuff sack to keep them in (so you can toss the whole set in the car when you go to the store). it's mostly all cut. then i had to clean and oil the machine. now i've finally started sewing. i keep making more work for myself though - now i've decided to add a pocket to the outer stuff sack for holding a grocery list. i might have to figure out how to sew a button hole - i've never done that. i don't even know if my sewing machine does that. (advice anyone?) and to make matters worse, i'm figuring out all this sewing stuff as i go along. after cutting everything out, i just realized that i should have made a pattern to trace rather than measure everything out. duh. i hope the tote bags don't come out looking like a three year old made them.

so let's see, i also decided to make catnip cat toys for all the cats i know. i was going to make plain "stick" shaped toys, which would have been really quick and easy to make, but now i'm thinking about making them candy cane-shaped. again, more work for myself. and now i want to make some stuffed trees like vania's because i don't think we have enough christmas decorations. except i want to put tiny pom poms on mine as decorations, but i have to go buy them first. speaking of which, that's another thing i have to do -- put up the christmas decorations. travis put up the lights on the porch, but i still have to put up our little fake tree. oh yeah, but first i have to make a tree skirt. ugh! i was just at the fabric store yesterday, but i forgot about the tree skirt, so i need to go back unless i can scrounge up something in the house. but i have to get those tiny pom poms anyway.

i also have to get a gift for my hairdresser, wrap presents, and help travis write the christmas cards. i delegated making the cards and getting a present for the letter carrier to travis.

next year i have to actually plan for christmas early so that i don't get so stressed like this again. i'm always in denial that i'm going to do stuff for christmas so then i end up all discombobulated when christmas is approaching and i'm scrambling around to get things done when i realize all the stuff i actually want to do. but it would have been so much easier to plan it all out ahead of time and actually go to the fabric store with a list of ALL the fabric i need rather than make two trips, come up with actual patterns for things i want to make rather than measure out twelve of the same thing, and so on.

technorati tags: christmas

finished bag

i finished the bag for the auction, as you can see. i found an emerald green placemat at the thrift store (2 for 95 cents) to use for the lining. everything used in the bag is recycled or reclaimed, except the bamboo handles.

the auction is next saturday, we'll see how much it goes for...

technorati tags: knitting recycled handbag