Thursday, December 20, 2018

Creative Pursuits

 The girls and I really enjoy making things and being creative. Since the cold weather has come (at least for the most part - today was not cold it was in the high 40's!!) we have been using our creative juices inside a little more. I thought it would be fun to share some of the things we have made in the last 2 months.
A new rug for my kitchen! This is done in my favorite rag rug style - many strand braids that you tuck in as you go. It goes together so nicely and I use all old clothes or small fabric scraps to make it.
 Megan made a dollhouse for the paper dolls that she has also been making. She had so much fun working on this and it turned out very cute.
 Some more views of the dollhouse.
 I always love seeing Megan at work on projects as she is so very creative and talented a making things.
 I had one wedding in November to do flowers for (mostly I work on that job in the Spring, Summer and early Fall) and this was the Bridal Bouquet. I love the creative work of floral arranging.
The Sunday before Thanksgiving all of my family on my side was able to be here (over 30 for lunch!) and Megan wanted to make a cookie/candy house for dessert. She spent many hours working on it and also got Mara and cousins Margaret and Lars to help as well.


I crocheted a new sweater for my sweat little nephew.



This picture turned out fuzzy but this shows a little outfit I had fun sewing up for my little niece. It went with a sweater that I had made some years ago for someone else.


We had fun filling some shoe-boxes for Operation Christmas Child and this, a few of the handmade things we put into them. A cloth zippered bag, beaded jewelry and notebooks.


Megan made a bunch of paper dolls to go in one of the boxes. This was a very fun project for me to watch her work on as she decided to make girls from many different countries. She had fun researching what they might look like and what both their modern dress and traditional outfits might look like.


I also figured out how to crochet Hacky Sacks to put in the shoe box. I was excited about his as I was able to use thread that we had a whole lot of and they turned out rather cute, I thought.

  After making the hacky sack I decided to use that same type of thread (which was had been given oodles of) and crochet a dishrag to see if that would work. I think it works pretty decently.
For our SEEDS co-op I made this to decorate a place for Sweden.

These are some of the fun crafts Megan made while at co-op.
She really loved making the origami boxes and wanted to show me how when we got home. Shortly afterward I was fixing up a gift for my niece and I thought it would be fun to use a box for the wrapping. I need a rectangle not a square and figured it could be done - Megan was the one who got it done for me - I was her helped.

A new rug for our downstairs bathroom. I had fun making it to match the pictures Mara had embroidered.

Megan made a set of paper dolls for herself as well.

Mara has been trying out dyeing yarn with some natural dyes.

I finally finished this skirt for me. It is fun to get some sewing done.

  These were mostly November projects. We have been working on some others lately but they are kind of secret until next week.

  Do you do a lot of creating at this time of year?






3 comments:

  1. I LOVE her paper dolls! How beautiful! My oldest has just gotten into paper dolls and is enjoying my Little House and Little Women dolls from my childhood. I will have to show her these to give her the idea of making her own!

    Also, your rag rugs are on my winter to do list! I remember you made a tutorial and I plan to find it and do it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You girls have been so busy. I love Megan's projects; they brought back memorizes, when I was a little girl I loved making paper dolls and clothes for them. I would tape a doll to a window and then layer a piece of paper on top and draw the clothes so that they would fit perfectly. Her dollhouse is incredible, so much detail.
    I wonder if you would think about doing a tutorial on your rag rugs. I have tried crocheting them, but mine always get wonky. Braiding must be the answer, but I have no idea how to go about it.
    Merry Christmas!
    Connie :)
    P.S. your Swedish chandelier is beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amy, Megan has enjoyed playing with paper dolls from my childhood as well. It is so fun to pass things like that down. I hope you are able to get a rag rug made, it is a lot of fun.

    Connie, Here is the tutorial that I followed for doing the multi strand braided rag rugs :http://www.homesteadweaver.com/braidedrug.htm I hope that helps.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I really enjoy it when you join in the conversation.

If you have a question please feel free to ask and I will attempt to answer it (if I can!) as I have time.

Abbi