Picnic

Picnic Blanket To-Go

I know I may be a little off-season with this post but the bay area has been experiencing some global warming this November with many warm & sunny days, so I thought this picnic blanket craft was appropriate.  

To make:

Cut 10- 30" x 12" pieces of different lightweight cotton fabric prints.

Cut 1- 60" x 60" piece of heavy cotton fabric.

Cut 4- 60" long pieces of double-fold bias tape.

Cut 2- 35" long pieces of double fold bias tape.

Sew the top patchwork pieces together with 1/4" seam allowance by making 2 rows of 5 and then sewing the two rows together.

Lay the bottom heavy weight fabric face down. Lay the top patchwork piece on top, face up. Pin around the edges and top stitch 1/4" from the edge around all 4 sides.

Pin each of the 60" pieces of bias tape to each side and top stitch into place.

8" from any side attach the ties by top stitching them one on top of the other to attach them to the bias tape edge of the blanket.

Roll the blanket up and tie.

   

Welcoming Winter

After a six-and-a-half-hour car ride that usually only takes three, we truly deserved waking up on Saturday morning to this...

 

By 7:30 am we had Bijou and Alistair dressed in their snow gear and out on the deck playing in the fluffy stuff.

 

It was a good thing we had no place to go all weekend with these icy roads.  

Cedar Flat, Lake Tahoe, California

 

That lavender bump in the middle of the photo is Bijou's head, inspecting the snow behind the hot tub, I assume.

A few of our weekend craft projects had to be postponed till spring because of the snow (fairy houses and glitter pine cones) but we still were able to pull a few other projects together.  To be revealed this week on Picnic...

Turkey Place Cards by Krista von Blohn

I love it when one of my crafty friends comes to me with  a project they are willing to share with my Picnic readers!  Today's project comes from my wonderfully talented friend Krista.  Not only does she sew, paint and make her own screen prints but she also offers interior design services to her neighbors and throws a mean party!  She really set the bar high when she handmade mermaid and pirate costumes for all of the guests at her daughter Sage's birthday party last year.  Even with all of my "free time" I don't think I can top that.

This turkey place card craft would be a wonderful weekend project to involve your children with, all the while adding some beautiful color to your Thanksgiving table. Enjoy!  

 

  

 

Thank you Krista! x + o Lisa

A Note From B

 

My Mom was always a stickler for thank you notes, as she should be.  I remember her having us sit down and write our thank you notes during our holiday break every year, threatening us that if we didn't do it, people would stop sending us gifts.  Like most children, we were totally greedy and materialistic and the thought of no gifts at the holidays always whipped us into shape to write those thank-yous.

I plan to teach Bijou good manners and habits by having her do the same.  I think this year it will be easy since she loves any opportunity to practice writing her letters but next year I may need to brush the dust off the old "no gifts next year" threat which I have absolutely no qualms about.

Note card inspiration can be found here.

Awaiting a visit from the Tooth Fairy

A little someone in our household is obsessed with the idea of loosing a tooth and the opportunity to have a visit from the tooth fairy.  The obsession started when she found a little tooth pillow in her big sister's room with a couple of her old baby teeth still tucked inside.  Apparently, the "tooth fairy" forgot to wake up in the middle of the night a few times. Oops.

 

To Make:

1. Cut a 4" x 8" rectangle from a piece of felt.
2. On both short sides hand stitch a half inch seam.
3. Fold the felt in half and hand stitch up both sides leaving the top seam open for the string.
4. Guide a piece of string (I like to attach a safety pin to the string to make it easy) through one side and then the other.  Trim the string to an appropriate length and knot off the ends.
5. Guide a second string starting from the opposite side and then back along the second side.  Trim and knot.
6. Iron fusible interfacing onto a piece of white felt.
7. Draw a tooth onto the paper backing. Cut out the tooth and then peel away the paper.
8. Place the tooth onto the bag, interfacing side down and iron.

 

The Artist's Corner

I'm always one to encourage art around our household.  Partly because it is much more fun for me to sit down and work on a drawing or painting then it is to play Candy Land or pretend I'm a baby who is going to the doctor's office or having a time out or something.  Yes, many of our make-believe games have some sick twist which involves me crying.  A shot, a time-out, etc.

I decided to put a little art set-up in Bijou's bedroom including a clip board so she can sit on her bed and draw since her room is too small for a proper drawing table.

 

I cleaned out a couple of cans I found in our recycling bin and decorated them with Happy Tape!

 

This is such a simple craft project and could be used for many things.  I think this would also make a cute vase.  I promise you that you will find many uses for the Happy Tape if you buy a few rolls.  You'd think they were paying me to say that, they're not.

New Skirts!

My little one refused to wear dresses for the first three years of her life.  She is now in a full fledged skirt/dress phase and I am in full support.  To show my appreciation for her more girlie style, I made her a couple of new skirts to add to her wardrobe.

I'm really into Zakka-style fabrics right now from Japan and since my local fabric shop only carries a small selection, I hit up Etsy.  Etsy never lets me down.  All four fabrics used to make these skirts were bought at Cottonblue's shop.

 

Knowing that she would not be too happy about my brown-tone fabric choice on top, I told her that these houses were where the bunnies lived.  She seemed to approve of the skirt after hearing the story behind it.  I swear, she is my toughest critic.

This one she told me she didn't like so I told her that I would give her a treat if she wore it, knowing that after she wore it once, she'd wear it again without bribery.  For some reason, that's the way it always is.

 

Snack Sack

The sandwiches wraps I made a while ago have been a big hit in our household.  Doug has been using one for his turkey sandwich everyday, reducing the number of plastic sandwich bags in the landfill by 365 per year. (Yes, the man eats a turkey sandwich for lunch every single day.) When I pulled out our picnic lunch at the park last weekend, my sister asked that I give her a couple as part of her Christmas gift.

 

I've decided to take it up a notch and make a few of these reusable snack sacks for everyone to use.  They have a velcro closure, making it easy to open for the little ones and are easily washable.

 

 

 

Instructions for how to make these little pouches can be found here.

Gift Decor

I've been trying to come up with craft projects from my existing materials that are cluttering my craft room.  I had a pile of scrap booking paper that had already been half-hacked up and a daughter who is in love with using my circle punch so I put her to work one afternoon after school.  

She punched, I sewed, and here are our results...

 

Circle garlands to adorn our gifts this holiday season!

Botanical Note Cards

Cards can be expensive to buy but are so easy to make so I try to keep a handful of homemade cards on hand for various occasions.  I had these flat black note cards left over from that pirate party kit I made a while back.  When I ran across my silver gel pen the other day, I knew I could put it to good use on the black note cards.  I'm horrible at drawing but not so bad at looking at another person's drawing and coping their design.  These little botanical prints came from this book.