This and That

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on a lot of different projects lately. I have been knitting and crocheting, of course, but I've also been enjoying sewing again. After much consideration I had decided to take my sewing machine in for a tune-up instead of purchasing a new one, and it was $70 very well spent! Now my thread isn't breaking every two inches, and my sewing machine and I are friends once again. It's not a fancy machine by any means, but it gets the job done, and it was my grandmother's so I like having it around for sentimental reasons as well.

First, I have a couple of birthday crowns I made for a first birthday (star crown) and second birthday (flower crown) birthday party we attended last weekend. Working with wool felt is so nice because fraying is not an issue and the fabric is nice and thick. I had purchased this felt many months ago from A Child's Dream Come True and have been very happy with it. I also enjoyed working on my embroidery and hand-sewing skills with these crowns. I see many more in my future!


I have several sketch books and journals I've been using lately and decided that they needed a special place of their own. I wanted a pencil holder/caddy that could house at least 24 colored pencils as well as my journals. I also wanted to use some of my Japanese fabric I purchased last year to add a little character. I am happy with the trifold design of this pencil/journal holder, but if I were to do it again I would make it a little bit smaller and add a top flap to ensure that none of the pencils fall out.


I've made it a goal of mine to focus on organizing our kitchen for the month of February. When we moved in last summer everything was put away very quickly, and now that we've been in this house for a good six months I'm starting to discover what works best for me in terms of organization. We have a little table for Matt next to the kitchen, but his art supplies have been constantly piling up on the kitchen counter. Thus, some wall pockets were in order to hold his supplies. He even picked out the fabric!

Finally, I wanted to draw attention to a great natural multi-purpose cleaner recipe found in the comments of the previous post. I'm excited to try it out! Thanks, BKD!