I’ve been around the world, you bet, but never went to school
Hard knocks are all I seem to get, perhaps I’ve been a fool
But still, some educated folks, supposed to be so swell
Would fail if they were called upon a simple word to spell
Now if you’d like to put me to the test
There’s one dear name that I can spell the best

“M” is for the million things she gave me
“O” means only that she’s growing old
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me
“H” is for her heart of purest gold
“E” is for her eyes with love-light shining
“R” means right and right she’ll always be
Put them all together they spell MOTHER, a word that means the world to me

When I was but a baby, long before I learned to walk
While lying in my cradle, I would try my best to talk
It wasn’t long before I spoke and all the neighbors heard
My folks were very proud of me for “Mother” was the word
Although I’ll never lay a claim to fame
I’m satisfied that I can spell the name

“M” is for the mercy she possesses
“O” means that I owe her all I own
“T” is for her tender, sweet caresses
“H” is for her hands that made a home
“E” means ev’rything she’s done to help me
“R” means real and regular, you see
Put them all together they spell MOTHER, a word that means the world to me

In our last episode, we left our hero wondering how to make a pillow case without a big enough piece of Mickey Mouse fabric.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!

DUN DUN DUN! Coordinating red fabric to the rescue!

The blue is a standard pillow case.

In this picture, the blue fabric is a standard pillow case, which I’m using as a pattern. You can see the MM fabric is just a bit too small. The red fabric I used for the semi-fitted sheet is tall and wide enough, but only for one side. (Note to self, plan for a pillow case the next time you buy fabric for sheets!) So my brilliant solution to my not-so-brilliant dilemma was to use the extra height of the red to my advantage. In my tradition of tutorials-that-aren’t-tutorials, here’s what I did:

• Trimmed the long sides of the MM fabric straight, turned wrong sides together, and sewed the red and MM into a tube the same height (short sides) as the pattern pillow case.
• Sewed one of the short ends closed.
• Folded the other end down twice as I did for the top of the semi-fitted sheet, then hemmed.
• Turned it right-side out and added a grosgrain ribbon on the outside to finish it off like the semi-fitted sheet, and to hide the crazy hem I made (no more eggnog while sewing for me!).

Voila! A coordinating pillow, with the added benefit of two sides to choose from. I totally planned that.

Fitted bottom sheet, semi-fitted top sheet

Today, a different kind of sheet music: toddler sheets! There are tons of tutorials for toddler (crib-sized) sheets on the Web. So why add another one? Three differences here: 1) Let’s use a vintage sheet! 2) How about a semi-fitted top sheet, to make it easier for little ones to learn to make their own beds? 3) It’s not really a tutorial, just some tips.

This toddler sheet set is made up of  a fitted sheet and what I call a semi-fitted top sheet. The beauty of a semi-fitted top sheet is that the bottom two corners are fitted, so it provides the coverage of a flat sheet with the stay-tucked-in-ability of a fitted sheet. Just tug on the top hem and the bed is made! Do they make these for adults? I may have to experiment with modifying my own sheets.

The reverse mullet of sheets: party at the top, business at the bottom.

You can make this from new fabric, or from vintage (or just old, whatever) sheets – it just takes a little more cutting and measuring (not to mention courage) to make them from vintage sheets. The set above was made for a friend from her childhood Mickey Mouse twin fitted sheet and an extra piece of red cotton broadcloth for the semi-fitted sheet.

Cutting the Mickey sheets...gulp!

As I mentioned, there are a bunch of crib sheet tutorials around for you to start with – they do a much better job than I could at showing you how to sew elastic. Here are two:

• At Vanilla Joy
• At Everything Your Mama Made and More

Those are both great instructions to get you started; either start with your new fabric or old sheet, cut, and sew. The elastic is the only tricky part, and it’s not that bad. Then, for the semi-fitted sheet, use their tutorial instructions as a guide for the bottom two corners. For the top, just fold the fabric over a couple of times and hem, then finish hemming all the way around. I also stitched a piece of black grosgrain ribbon along the top hem to give it a more finished look and tie the red sheet in with the Mickey Mouse sheet. But I’m kinda schmancy like that.

You can also download a PDF of the Toddler Sheet Set diagram. Tune in Monday as I use the scraps to make a matching pillow case!

*UPDATE* See the finished matching pillow case here!

It’s a…you know…a hand turkey pie crust.

Inspired by my son’s day care art project a couple of years ago, I made this little fellow to adorn his Great-Grandpa’s gooseberry pie. No tutorial; just cut out and attach to your pie with a few dabs of water.  Voila: turkeyberry pie!

Thanksgiving loveliness

1. Split the bouquets into several equal bunches of flowers, distributing them among the Mason jars.  Last year I put canning rings on the jars, but this year I think I’ll leave them off as they competed a bit with the flowers.
2. Loosely arrange the flowers in each jar.
3. Fill in around the stems with fresh cranberries, right to the top. Remember the cranberries will float, so it looks best if the jar is filled.
4. Fill with water, and stand back and “ooh” and “ahh” like you’re watching fireworks.

Use different-sized jars for your various tables and to vary the look

Having a helper may speed up the process. Or bring it grinding to a halt.

Another lovely way to use cranberries and oranges is to make pomanders to scatter on tables here and there; they also add a lovely scent to the air.  Just poke the whole cloves into the oranges (or clementines, lemons, limes, or other citrus), and be careful – those suckers are sharp.  Set in a dish of cranberries and get dizzy off of the crazily seasonal smell.

Smells so lovely

So lovely, you may just want to put one here…

Freshenin' up the place.

Now that’s schmancy!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving traditions and guests; I hope your Thanksgiving is as filled with friends and family and good cheer as mine is shaping up to be!

A lovely selection of children’s books, but where are the bookends?

Make your own set of hidden bookends, no special crafty skills required. The tools: a set of unadorned metal bookends and two lovely books. It helps if the two books have loose spines, as that will help them hug the bookend without swinging open.

Slip the books over the bookends and…done! If your books keep swinging open, you can dab a bit of glue on the edge of the page between the cover and the flyleaf, creating a pocket to slip over the bookend. Here’s the full breakdown:

The best part is that the books are still readable; you aren’t losing any shelf space but you are gaining a unique decorative, set of bookends. Go forth and amaze your friends!

Looking for ideas on what to put between those bookends for your impressionable youth? Check out this week’s selections of children’s literature that change lives (for better or worse) on Literarious.com.

Woven denim handbag

Miranda Chance woven denim bag

Found via CRAFT blog, I was immediately drawn to this woven denim bag by Miranda Chance. I’ve seen lots of lovely recycled denim bags, but this really takes the ordinary material and turns it into something more elegant and special. I could do without the leather, but I’m definitely going to have to try this technique sometime. Anyone willing to cut up all the denim strips for me? I’ll provide the jeans!

Woven paper art

Woven paper art from CAN'T STOP MAKING THINGS

Every time something new pops up on the blog CAN’T STOP MAKING THINGS, I want to drop everything and try it. This woven art piece is no exception. With a minimum of fuss, a rejected picture or interesting piece of unused paper can become frame-worthy. It also gets high marks for great use of a paper shredder in crafting!

Woven paint chip wallet

Mark Montano woven paint chip wallet

This wallet by Mark Montano looks SO fun, and easy to make with things you probably already have around the house or could come by easily. The possibilities for color combos is dizzying. Gonna have to hit the local hardware for some more paint chips…