penny carnival

Coffee sack crafts and a reader's book sling

I'm supposed to be packing right now for a trip to my hometown, where I'll be taking part in an agri/culinary tour of local-foods restaurants, lavender gardens, bison ranches and shellfish farms this week. It's a work thing, but I'm certainly not complaining about eating in some of Bellingham's best eateries and staying in a beautiful hotel. 

My master plan was to lose five pounds before this tour started (in order to compensate for the expected weight gain and, you know, for the baby-weight gain from five years ago that I'm always asking to go away), but like that ever happens. Did I ever write on here about my wedding day? About how we couldn't get my dress to zip up? I seriously thought we were going to have to go buy something at Nordstrom at the last minute. I don't know if they just altered my dress too small or if I couldn't lay off the cream puffs in the weeks leading up to my wedding. I've never been good at pressure dieting. Dear Food, I love you.

We did manage to zip it up eventually. Never underestimate the power of my mother when she is in full-blown panic mode.

So just a quick note to direct you to this post on my Dwell Well blog, where I'm asking readers to give me some burlap craft ideas. I was given 15 coffee sacks from Doma, a top-notch organic coffee roaster in our area. My plan is to craft up those sacks and then write a tutorial or two so others can do the same, should used coffee sacks land in their hands one day, too.

Here are the sacks:

 

 

On my Dwell Well post you'll see links to what other folks are doing with coffee sacks around the Web. This, from Jayson Home & Garden, is my favorite:

  

Feel free to share any ideas you might have here or over on Dwell Well. Thanks!

On an unrelated note, look at this adorable book sling Sarah over at Trixie's Table made following my toot. (P.S. I realize other bloggers spell that word "tute," but deep down I am really, really, really immature.)

So cute with the circle, huh?

I'm always so humbled when readers follow my tutorials and love to receive photos of the projects. To do so, either leave a comment with a link or shoot me an e-mail at megan.cooley (at) comcast.net. 

Thanks for sharing, Sarah! I'll add it to the, ahem, t-u-t-e soon.

Lots more happening and that I want to say, not the least of which is THANK YOU for all the wonderful comments lately. Must pack, though. Note to self: include a wide range of clothing sizes.

A party hat tutorial and treasure hunting

First of all, thank you thank you thank you to Ohdeedoh for featuring my little blog this week. I got all sweaty and panicky when I saw the interview go up, hoping like the dickens I didn't say anything stupid. So far no one has pointed out any major blunders--and if you see any, keep it to yourself, will ya? I love the way Alex from the Ohdeedoh team put the photos together. Makes me feel like this is a real blog or something.

Anyhow, welcome, welcome to those of you who are visiting Penny Carnival for the first time. Make yourselves at home.

Now for a new, old tutorial.

I'd made fabric-covered party hats for Bo's rainbow birthday two years ago and written up a quick tutorial then, but my directions were kind of lame and not illustrated with photos.

So, here you go, a new and shiny tutorial for making party hats over on my Kids' Parties site to replace the old one.

Those hats are for my dad's 70th birthday, which we'll be celebrating next weekend. The fabric (purchased at Jo-Ann's) reminded me of the neckties he used to wear to work in the '80s.

I keep forgetting to mention that last weekend, the girls and I attended the Funky Junk Antique Show, one of several wonderful vintage-goods sales in the Spokane area. You can see a few shots of the event here. It felt like the kickoff to our treasure-hunting season, and what better way to get the scavenging rolling than with this beauty:

Do you like how, out of habit, I'm treating it like a laptop there?

I am old enough to remember typing up homework on a typewriter. I'm pretty sure ours was electric, though. I remember having to use the eraser tape a lot, to correct all my goofs. 

This baby is fully operational. And for this price, how could I have walked away?

 

This was the view out my living room window tonight as I tested out the typewriter:

Happy weekend. 
   

Update: I swear that within the last few days someone either e-mailed me or left a comment looking for something from the blog's archives but now I can't find that message. I can't for the life of me remember who it was or what they were looking for. If that was you, please either leave a comment or send another e-mail. I'm happy to help.

Tutorial: The Henny Penny Apron

Okey doke. Here is the tutorial for the apron I showed the other day.

I'm calling this the Henny Penny, because I think it'd be perfect attire for collecting eggs in the hen house (that my husband refuses to build) and because it’s a belated gift to this little blog, Penny Carnival, which I failed to say happy birthday to when it turned 2 years old last month. Sorry, Penny!

Here goes ... Let me know if you have any questions.

These directions assume you are using the same fabric for the entire apron and that the fabric doesn't have a particular direction to it. If you want to spice things up, read the ideas for "options" at the end.

I think it's helpful to have an idea of what you're aiming for before you start, so here's the finished apron spread out on my kitchen floor:

You will need 8 feet, 6 inches of fabric (2 yards, 30 inches). That allows for a little shrinkage.

Note: The white- and tan-colored aprons you’ll see here are made from 100 percent cotton muslin, which is perfect for this pattern because it’s lightweight and billowy. You’ll also see that I made the Henny Penny out of quilting fabric, too. "Gingko" from Jessica Levitt’s Timber line for Windham Fabrics. An absolutely gorgeous print. I couldn’t resist. But the muslin does hang a wee bit better.

Wash and dry the fabric. Then lay it flat and make the following cuts: 


One skirt: 44 inches by 28 inches

One bodice: 24 inches by 18 inches

Two side ties: 40 inches by 18 inches

Four straps: 4 inches by 32 inches


Start by making the straps. Place two of the 16-by-32 inch pieces on top of each other, right sides facing. Stitch them together along the two long sides and one short side. 
 


Stitch the short side at an angle, if you like:
 


Trim away excess fabric to reduce the bulk. Now turn the strap right side out:
 


Use some sort of turning tool to poke the corners out as much as possible. Knitting needles work great. 

FYI: I used two different color fabrics for the "right" side (white) of the strap and the "wrong" side (tan) of the strap to illustrate how to assemble the apron toward the end of this tutorial. Your straps will probably be the same color on both sides.

Iron the strap so it lays flat. There's no need to finish the raw ends, but you can if you want.


Repeat with the other two strap pieces. Set your finished straps aside for now.

Moving on ... to the bodice and ties.

You could cut the bodice and ties out of one long piece of fabric that's 104 inches long by 18 inches wide. Dividing the bodice into three sections saves you money at the fabric store, though, and it doesn’t affect the look of the finished apron.

Set down the bodice piece on your table, right side up. Set one of the side ties on top of it, right side facing the right side of the bodice so that the two 18-inch sides line up. Pin that 18-inch side together and stitch.

Repeat with the other side tie and the other side of the bodice so you now have a piece that's 18 inches wide by about 103 inches long (a bit shorter because of the seams).

Hem around all four sides of the bodice/ties piece, folding the edges of the fabric over twice and pressing with a hot iron first so the hems don't fray.
 



Set aside the bodice/ties piece.

Now for the skirt.  

Hem the two short sides and one long side of the skirt, just as you hemmed the bodice/ties section (by folding the fabric edges over twice, pressing and then stitching).

Set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length. Now stitch along the length of the skirt's remaining long side (the one that isn't hemmed), about 1/2 inch from the edge. This will be the top of your skirt--the part that gets attached to the bodice.

Tug on the ends of that thread to gather the skirt top. Keep tugging and gathering until the top of the skirt is now 22 inches across instead of 44 inches. Tie the two ends of the thread with double knots so the gathering you just created stays put.

This is how your skirt should look now:


You’re almost done. Let’s assemble the apron now.

1. Place the skirt on the floor or table WRONG SIDE DOWN 2. Place the straps on top of the apron so that the right side of the straps (if it matters) is touching the right side of the skirt. The straps should have a gap of 11 inches between them. The raw edges of the straps should sit slightly past the raw/gathered egde of the skirt and the sewn ends of the straps should be stretched out near the bottom/finished edge of the skirt.

3. Now place that long bodice piece on top of the straps, right side facing the straps. Center it in the middle of the skirt.

4. Pin all three layers together. Sew across all three layers twice.

Voila! Your apron is done. Now it’s time to figure out how to wear it.

How to wear the apron.

Here I am in just my dress:

No wise cracks about needing a tan!

Now here's the apron:

1. Hold the bodice against your chest, and then grab the straps and tie them around your neck.

2. Arrange the bodice so it drapes across your chest the way you want it to. Pull the bodice ties behind you, criss cross them behind your back, then bring them tightly around front again. Tie the ties in a double knot in front. They should be partially covering the straps that go up around your neck.



3. Cook something. Anything. Flounce around in the garden. Eat fruit right off the tree. Let the juices drip down your chin. Make love in the grass.

OK. I’m getting carried away now.

Options:

1. For a different look, use more than one fabric. As you can see here, I made the neck straps brown when I used the Jessica Levitt Gingko fabric.

I also could have made the ties (not the center bodice piece) brown to give it sort of a lederhosen look.

2. Pockets are always nice. Add one or two to the skirt.

3. Add some sort of trim along the bottom of the skirt or up the straps. Rick rack, maybe? Ribbon? Bias tape?

4. Embroider or appliqué something onto the skirt. A chicken, perhaps?

5. Whatever you do, DON'T SMILE for camera's self-timer button. What's wrong with me?

This tutorial is for personal use only. Have fun with the Henny Penny. Make it for yourself, for a friend, for charity. But please don’t sell the Henny Pennys you sew. Thanks.

Update: There was a request on Facebook to see the back side of the apron. It pains me to do this, but here it is, folks. Presenting: my rear end.

 

My kind of apron

With all that cooking, a girl needs a new apron, don't you think? 

This is actually something I sewed up a while ago and put on the shelf. But I've been drawn to it lately for it's billowy, unrefined goodness.

And, no, I'm not pregnant. I'm just a sucker for a baby doll dress. Don't tell the fashion police.

Worth a tutorial? Or am I the only one who thinks it's 1930 and delusionally believes she lives on a farm?  

Tutorial: Tissue Paper Flowers

One of my early posts on this blog was about how to make tissue paper flowers. That tutorial still gets a healthy share of hits, but I wanted to make the instructions more clear and illustrate it with better pictures so I've written a new tutorial over on my kids' parties site. I also converted it into garland instead of just stand-alone flowers.

Here you go:

How to make tissue paper flower/pompom garland

 

Play dough, kids parties stuff and thoughts on blogging

First, some housekeeping.

(Not actual housekeeping, although I did plenty of that today. I think Magpie is ready to stop napping. I thought I'd be mourning this day, but I can actually get a lot done when I'm not always trying to be so dang quiet.)

Housekeeping, as in, allow me to wrap up some bloggy loose ends.

If you haven't visited my book sling tutorial lately, please check it out. I've cleaned up some of the wording in the instructions and added photos I've found of book slings made by readers. Nothing warms my heart more than seeing someone follow one of my projects and proudly post it on their blog. The latest popped up just today on Ohdeedoh. Take a look at those beauties. 

Second, did anyone else see this article about mommy blogs in the New York Times yesterday? It was great--in a really embarrassing, cringe-inducing way. The graphic that ran with it in the actual newspaper was hilarious and horrifying (drawings of moms pushing strollers, playing with their kids, etc., while obsessively checking their phones and computers for blog stats and new comments). The headline also nicely summarized the story: "Honey, Don't Bother Mommy. I'm Too Busy Building My Brand."

Ouch. 

The hook for the article was a blog boot camp attended by a bunch of women back east (some traveled from as far as Canada and California) to learn how to improve their blogs, draw more comments, make money, etc.

And while most of the article made me feel a little embarrassed about investing as much time into my blog as I do (and, relatively speaking, I don't invest much. Sorry. I would love to and if I had more time, I would. But I don't), the last paragraph makes a good point in defense of bloggers:

"(Blogging is) a way for mothers to flex their dormant professional muscles, make some money and, says Amy Lupold Bair, who runs resourcefulmommy.com and was a speaker at the Boot Camp, still 'take their kids to the bus stop in the morning and be there when they get off in the afternoon.'"

First and foremost, I don't make money off Penny Carnival. Of course it would be nice if I did and of course I have googled the phrase "how many hits on blog before you can sell ads?" But for now, I don't and I don't have ants in my pants to start. I enjoy writing and crafting and writing about crafting, and that's how this blog got started almost two years ago.

So what does that mean for Penny Carnival? Am I being left in the dust by other blogs? (Um, yes.) Should I care? There are so many beautiful blogs out there, that sometimes I wonder why I continue. Mine is so simple compared to others, and I could spend the rest of my life following other people's projects instead of coming up with my own.

But I would miss it. I would miss those stocking feet dancing around the wooden cupcakes up there. I would miss my little record of our family's creative explorations, even if no one was reading.

If I could shiny up Penny Carnival in one way, it would be by somehow inspiring people to leave more comments. I adore comments. I am like the women in the New York Times graphic who get all giddy and distracted when there's a new comment in the inbox. Thank you, thank you, to those of you who write. 

I don't know where I'm going with this. Just thought it was an interesting article and a chance to reflect a bit.

Speaking of keeping things simple, we've been on a homemade play dough kick lately.

Raw ...

Baked ... and painted ...

 

 

(That's an elephant.)

Raw play dough is especially helpful at restaurants. While dinner cooks, the girls have been cooking up their own foodie creations (ice cream cones, hamburgers, pancakes, etc.)

I always use the recipe linked to here.

Let's see ... what else? It's almost time for the annual Farm Chicks show (OK, still a couple months away, but we get excited early). I think I'm going to try to snag some quilts this year so I can create this scene in my backyard all summer:

That's from a wedding featured on Ruffled, a lovely wedding blog that I would have been addicted to had it been in existence eight years ago.  
Also from the same wedding:

Mmm ... mismatched vintage dinnerware. The shabby chic in me surfaces yet again. J and I planned to ask people to give us mismatched china as wedding gifts. I loved the thought of spending the rest of our lives eating off of plates with all that history, but it never panned out. We do have a few pieces from folks we told early on. Maybe it's time to revisit that idea.

Thanks, Emily, for sharing that link.  

Lastly, here are a few of my newest articles on the About.com Kids' Parties site, for your party pleasure:

-What to put in an Easter basket besides candy (my ideas here and a roundup of ideas from other About.com guides here).

-I don't know how many of you have high school age kids, but here's an idea for a graduation party theme. I applied my love of vintage schoolhouse style to a party and threw out some ideas, which you could very much use for a younger kid's party or a spouse. I'll be adding photos to it later.

-And did I say yet that I have a Facebook site now for the Kids' Parties site? A few times a day, I post links to pretty parties I spot on the Web. Become a fan and follow along. 

Nighty night.

Story starters

The WWW feels smaller than ever these days. I keep "bumping into" people I know online, or people are bumping into me.

My cousin lives in Rhode Island and couldn't sleep one night so she was dinking around looking at craft blogs. She somehow landed on Buttercuppity, which is written by a Ari, a gal here in town that I've gotten to know over the last few months through crafting and blogging. My cousin didn't realize Ari lived in Spokane, so imagine her surprise when she scrolled down and saw a picture of me and my girls at Ari's fabric store opening party. 

And then today I was on Sew Mama Sew checking out a post they'd kindly written Sunday about my Julie & Julia heart badges. Well, it was my turn to be surprised to see a post there today about the duffel bag patterns by Spokane sewing guru Cherie Killilea, who I wrote about just last week on Dwell Well--and whose duffel bag pattern I bought a few days ago. 

I can't wait to sew this baby up:

So either the Internet is getting smaller or Spokane is the center of the crafting universe. Hmm ...

On a separate note, here's an activity for your kiddles and bits. 

This might be especially helpful to the snowbound among you on the East Coast. 2008 and 2009 were rough winters here, so I know all about being stuck at home with little kids and nothing to do.

Like any parent/child, we're pretty much constantly coming up with goofy things to do. Ninety percent of it never makes the blog because I either think it will bore everyone to tears or because my idea for the day fails miserably and we end up watching Sesame Street.

This one--STORY STARTERS--is a keeper, though. The girls can't get enough of this new little game we've been playing.

The concept is old and simple. Tell the kids the start of a story and then have them make up the rest. Of course, since my kids aren't old enough to write their own stories, they have to act them out.

I have to admit, playing pretend is not one of my favorite things to do as a parent. There are only so many times I can be the bad witch or the evil queen. 

These story starters have somehow freed me from my pretend responsibilities. The girls still want me to watch their show, but they don't need me to be a part of it anymore. The two or so sentences I provide are enough to get the game going.

The instructions here are simple:

1. Download the story starters and print--or create your own. 

2. Cut them out. 

3. Place each story starter inside an envelope (I used tiny coin envelopes from Office Depot). 

4. Stamp a number on the front of each envelope. 

(Those last two steps are optional, but I think they make it more fun for the kids.) 

5. Place all the envelopes in a bowl. Have the kids draw one, read it aloud and tell them to start pretending. 

6. Let them carry on for as long as they like or set an egg timer for five minutes and have them draw a new story starter after the buzzer rings.

 

Here are the girls pretending they're ballerinas about to go on stage and perform in The Nutcracker. What you don't see is me getting a load of dishes washed during the "ballet."

Halfway through they retrieved their Nutcracker book so Bo could imitate the Sugar Plum Fairy's exact pose with the help of Magpie, the director.

Happy pretending ... and happy dishwashing.  

More Valentine's Day crafts for you and the kidlets

Just a quick note to say I've been cooking up more Valentine's crafts for my kids' parties Web site. Here are the latest:

Heart badges ...

 

Did anyone else notice the heart badges Julia Child (er, Meryl Streep) and her friends wore in Julie and Julia during the Valentine's dinner? I loved that scene. I loved all the scenes that showed the romance between the Childs. Anyhow, that's what inspired these felt-covered badges ...

 

A photo tutorial awaits you here. 

And here is a quick idea for Valentines cupcake toppers.

 

Can you believe my job entails me whipping up a batch of cupcakes while the girls are in preschool and then hiding all the evidence 10 minutes before I go pick them up so they don't suspect that being home with Mommy might be more fun than school? The cupcakes are waiting in the freezer for when they least suspect it ...

I'm updating to add one more tutorial:

Cupcake wrappers ...

And here you can find my other articles on the kids' parties site about different Valentines party themes, printable cards, recipes, etc.