until we meet again

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i shan't be around for awhile. all is well, please do not worry, i just find that my life needs more from me than i had been giving it. a teen & a toddler at the same time? what was i thinking? ;)

thank you for always being here for me, it has been a wonderful journey. i hope that we meet again in this space. until then...

~peace.

make-believe cape, the tutorial

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i am sorry that it has taken so long to get the promised cape tutorial to you. it is so simple a project that really you do not need a proper tutorial to accomplish the making of it. which is good! because this is not much of a tutorial when all is said & done. still, i shall do my best.

items to gather:

*2 receiving blankets

*measuring tape

*scissors (yes, spell-check, i do realize that it is not spelled "scisoors". go away.)

*pencil

*round object, approximately 5 inches across

*sewing machine

*1 square of velcro, both halves

the first thing you want to do is make a pattern. i had sheets of very large paper, but if you do not, you can use newspaper, or brown craft paper. how large a piece of paper you'll need will depend on how tall your child is. 

let me say here that elfling is a smallish 3.5yo, being just shy of 3 feet tall. rounding up, that makes him 14 inches taller than the height of the paper; my sheet of paper being the perfect size for him, at 22 x 16 (inches). you are on your own for the math adjustments - though i imagine you could just add however much taller your child to the height of my pattern. sorry if this is confusing, i am allergic to math.

once you've figured out the measurements, cut out the whatever-by-whatever rectangle from your pattern paper, & fold it in half lengthwise. you can see the crease from this in the above photograph.

now you draw your pattern, but only half of it. begin at the top edge of the fold, & curve downward, until you have come to the edge of your paper. on mine, this is 5 inches down from the top.

next, you'll take your round object (i used a lid), place it on the top edge of the fold (with the mid-point of the circle following the fold), & slide it down until the space at the top edge measures 2 inches. draw around the half-circle. later, this will be the neck opening. 

keep the paper folded, & cut away the excess at the top, as well as the half-circle. 

lay your receiving blankets down, one atop the other, smooth out wrinkles, & fold in half lengthwise. place the pattern over this (folded edges matching), pin the whole lot together, & cut it out. 

remove the pattern, & open your fabrics. these two pieces should like identical to the pictured pattern when opened. 

keeping the two pieces together, cut a slit in the top of the circle. this creates the opening for the neck.

re-pin the fabric, & stitch all the way around the edges with a zig-zag stitch. to reinforce, go back around with a straight stitch, at the inner edge of the zig, or, um, the zag. we aren't going for beauty here, merely for quick & sturdy.

see? nobody could accuse me of going for beauty with that stitchery.

it is time to add your closure. pin one half of your velcro square to the topside of one arm of the neck, & the other half to the underside of the other arm. make sure you do this, because you want your arm ends to overlap. stitch on all four sides of each, then stitch an x through each, to make them strong. if i'm not being clear, you can see what i mean in the above photo.

that is all there is to it! because i wanted to keep elfling's cape ambiguous, i did not embellish the fabric. most of the capes i see online have superhero emblems, which you would want to stitch onto the center of the outer fabric, before sewing the two halves together.

happy sewing!
~peace.

i have nothing to say

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perhaps i should not have set forth the royal proclamation that i would write more, & babble less. since doing so i have been struck mute. even now, in just telling you that i cannot write, the words do not come.

i do want to share this play-mat with you, so until i have become unmutificated (real word), i shall indulge in a bit of babble.

elfling was given a set of cars squinkies for christmas. watching him play with them, i remembered this wee map on pinterest. the original source can be found on spoonflower. in their words: a scale(ish) map of paris sized to use with toy cars. you can purchase the fabric by the yard, or a small test swatch.  i hope to by some later this year, to make elfling a blanket. i digress.

how i made this play-mat:

*print the spoonflower image onto card stock.
*cut away the excess paper.
*cover both sides of the map with clear contact paper.
*smooth away bubbles & round the corners. (leave an edge all the way around)
*add one toddler & a handful of squinkies.

elfling loves his new map, & has played with it many times since i made it. this play-mat would make an excellent toy for restaurants & other places you want to enjoy a bit of quiet toddler time. not for my toddler, however, as he tends to announce the end of squinky play by throwing them across the room. sigh.

said squinky-thrower is currently running amok, so i am bringing today's babble to a close. hopefully i shall have something to say soon. have a lovely day, do!

~peace.

ps. i also printed this radiator springs set, which is too cute for words.

notes of note :: i do not own the rights to the map image, so please, do not make play-mats from it to sell. i doubt you would do such a thing, but it had to be said. i know you understand. also, please buy the fabric, if you are able. spoonflower rocks!

in memoriam

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jar filled with bits & bobs from many huell-inspired road trips. pebbles, sea glass, shells, pottery, etc.

huell howser,  you truly were california's gold.

~peace.

change is on the wind

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like so many others this time of year, my thoughts turn inward. what do i want this new year to bring me? to be filled with? what ever shall i do with myself? no matter where my mind drifts, it always comes back to one word: change.

oldies will recall that change & i do not do well together; i am a creature of habit. in fact, there was talk of crowning me queen of habitton. or was that hobbiton? i can never recall which. at any rate, i know that as difficult as change is for me, it is something that i want. something that i need. it is the what that has me stumped.

i do know some of what i want to change. last year was one of health woes; both body & mind. i am determined that twenty-thirteen will see me well. no. not just well - i want to thrive. much easier to type than do, but as thirteen is my lucky number, this is the year for it.

the rest is fuzzy. i know that i want to move across town, but that requires more money than we currently have on hand. so how to earn that money?

i want to write. i want to re-open kats in the belfry. i want to finally open the hogwarts homeschool shop. i want to design & sew vintage-styled clothing. i want to learn photography. i want to get my farm back on track. i want, i want, i want, & there are only so many hours in a day that is already filled with a teen & a toddler, both of whom homeschool, & only one me.

ye olde blogge needs a change, most definitely. i want to write more in this space, to really write. the other day i was searching for something, & came across a post that i wrote shortly after my mother died. reading that post made me cry. not just for the loss of my mother, but because somewhere along the way i forgot that i was a writer. do not mistake me, i enjoy sharing photos, & babbling about my day, but it is not who i am. rather, not only who i am. for now i think i shall post less, & write more. or not. honestly, i do not know. sigh.

until i do better know what i most want to change, & how, i am concentrating on what is easily managed without much thought. like moving my vintage camera collection, i shall move me about & see what looks best. change is on the wind, my one & only reader. but to where will it blow?

~peace.

*

happy new year!

~peace.

you light up my life

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look what santa gave me! it is a solar lid light, for a mason jar. i am utterly in love with it.

the lid has a solar panel in the center, along with a tiny light sensor. you set it in the sun to charge, then when the room darkens, the light comes on. when the sun comes up, or a light goes on, the lid shuts off.

 i charged the lid once, & it took a few days before requiring another session in the sun.

one of the best things is that it will fit any mason jar, except wide-mouthed. i only had this boring new jar on hand, but i am now determined to find a gorgeous vintage one to replace it.

the lid gives off enough light to read by, but not enough to disturb the sleep of others. manlyman will tell you otherwise, but a streetlamp eleventy blocks away will wake my dainty one, so ignore him. 

i want this jar, you know, in case you were shopping for my birthday.

~peace.

a wee crown to make

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last week thehobbit complained repeatedly mentioned that once again we did not have a topper for our tree. we do own one; a gorgeous woven twig star; but it is meant for a full size tree, & we switched to little potted ones many years back.

the day before we had been at soap's house, where i found what looked like a wee crown on the floor of her kitchen. it turns out it was the remnants of a craft - the edge of a toilet paper tube, that had been cut by zig-zag scissors. i remembered how much i adored it, so decided a wee crown was just the thing for our tree.

i altered our crown by using half of a tube, & cutting a handful of deep points. a certain pesky elfling was not in the mood to allow me much crafting time, so i had to settle for quick embellishing. i dabbed dots of glittery nail polish all around; with the dots getting slightly further apart towards the bottom.

it isn't the most fancy of wee crowns, but i love it! so much so, that i am going to make a bunch of them for our new year's eve gathering. i have a package of elastic string that i can use for straps.

after oohing & ahhing over the cleverness of me, i searched for cardboard crowns on pinterest. many gorgeous creations were to be found - including toilet tube crowns just like mine! how ever did those people copy my idea before i had it? 

this one is sweet.

& you must see these wee creations of lace!

i would love to make a few of the lace ones, but i am trying to limit my crafting to things which use only what i have on hand. what about you? are there wee crowns that you adore?

~peace.

in which i am sleep deprived

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if i ever manage to catch up on sleep, i shall write a proper post. until then, please enjoy this poorly-lit photo from christmas morning.

~peace.

pestilence & random photos

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like many of you, i am knee deep in holiday madness. to make things more interesting, the entire belfry has been hit with a pestilence of moderate proportions. i am not even going to tell you how i had initially spelled proportions; thank you spell-check!

fortunately we have enough food to last a few days longer, & plenty of holiday crafts & movies to entertain us. 

now that i have bored you with talk of pestilence, i shall bore you further with random photos. think of it as my gift to you.

the above is a letter of the week card that i made for elfling. i cropped an image i found by googling free vintage christmas, then added the text.

this is elfling's transferring/sorting bowl for the week (see here for an explanation) of christmas. i have been buying different colors & sizes of pom poms when i find them. these were all purchased at the japanese $2 store.

elfling made his first winter solstice luminary!

to make sure you know you have come to the correct blog, i have included a poorly lit photo, of a non-ironed sewing project. see? you know for certain whose blog this is now. this is elfling's cape, which i made for xmas. i used two beloved receiving blankets (the other side is clouds), & a velcro closure. basically it is a giant bib that is to be worn backwards. i did photograph the process, so perhaps i shall post a tutorial. stop laughing.

& finally my mother's yule cake. for some reason everyone proclaimed this my best attempt yet. i have no idea what i did differently, but it was insanely delicious.

now that i have bored you completely, i shall be off.

have a happy christmas (happy tuesday, to those of you not of a christmasy persuasion), do!

~peace.

ps :: yes, i did notice that this was a mostly elfling-centered post. i do still have thehobbit, it is just that he's dreadfully dull these days ;)

a drive-in with mater

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the other day elfling could not decide between watching a movie & playing with a box - so i found a way he could do both!

i flipped the box onto its side, put fifi at the back of the box, & told elfling that he & mater were going to the drive-in. (he saw a clip of mater at a drive-in, so understood the concept. sort of.)

he had a wonderful time, elfling i mean. mater did not say if he'd enjoyed himself.

happy solstice - blessed be!

~peace.

please ignore the filthy rug.

platform 9 3/4

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do you remember my pinter-test? well, i finally got around to decorating the first of the mugs on my list. this one is for manlyman's mother. she nearly as huge a harry potter fan as i, so i knew her mug needed to reflect that.

the numbers did not turn out as crisp as i'd like, but for a first attempt it is not bad. in case you don't recall the how-to:

* on a clean mug draw with a black permanent marker.

* stick mug in a pre-heated 350f oven, for 30 minutes.

* turn off oven, & allow mug to cool within.

* forget you left it in there, & find it in the oven the next morning when you go to make breakkie.

notes of note ::  i have only tested this with the sharpie brand, so cannot vouch for others. colored pens did not do well when i scrubbed them. most likely you won't have to forget you left your mug in the oven.

if you try this project, i'd love to see the results! 

~peace.

in which i am slightly not brilliant

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i had the most brilliant idea that ever there was! i set elfling in his high chair, filled a small casserole with insta-snow, tossed in a few medicine cups, & alien guy, then sat back to watch my brilliance unfold.

it took less than five minutes for me to realize that this was, in fact, not one of my more brilliant ideas. eleventy billion minuscule bits of sodium polyacrylate, & a toddler who enjoys flinging? what was i thinking?

note of note :: if your wee one is not of the flinging sort, i highly recommend this activity. most especially if, like us, you live where it does not snow.

i could be mistaken, but it looks to me that alien guy is enjoying the faux snow a bit more than is seemly. 

~peace.

walking in a winter wonderbelfry

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life got in the way of holidayificating (real word) thebelfry at the beginning of the month, but i finally managed to put everything out. the santa collection was the last to get set up. odd, but the moment i began unwrapping the santas, the stress of the previous weeks seemed to melt from me. that santa, he's a magical one, he is.

i recently re-hung thehobbit's wee coat rack, so elfling could hand his jacket & hats. of course, a few pegs had to be reserved for the little decapitated santa heads. my mother made these for me many, many years ago - i love them so.

speaking of my mother: these tiny bottle-brush trees came home with me this past summer; i found them in her studio. we are now on our way to a yule tree collection!

thehobbit is now in charge of decorating our actual tree. i have no photo to share with you. rather, i have a photo, i just have no intention of showing it to you. let us just say that thehobbit, whilst he has many talents, shall not have a career in tree-decorating. but isn't this a lovely photo of a tiny gingerbread ornament?

i hope you enjoyed this riveting tour of thebelfry's winter holiday decor. i would love to see what's in your home. post a link in the comments if you'd like to share.

~peace.

distraction dough

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thehobbit needed my help with a project, but a certain elfling thought my time would be better spent stopping him from repeatedly flinging books. i knew that none of the busy activities currently in rotation would tempt him away from his flinging, let alone distract him long enough, so i could focus on thehobbit's needs. that's when i remembered that i had made a batch of blue play-dough the week before, & stashed it in the fridge.

not just a distraction, but a themed one at that! 

i sat his flinging tush into the high chair, gave him the blue dough, the cutting tools, his wooden dreidel, & told him it was time to play hanukkah. he had no idea what i meant (nor did i), but he set right to playing hanukkah with a seriousness that would have made his jewish ancestors proud.

eventually he decided to fling bits of dough, but not before i had finished helping his older brother with his homeschool project. woo & hoo, baby.

~peace.

in which you ooh & aah

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i noticed that i take a lot of photos from the car. from the passenger seat, of course. taking photographs whilst driving would be dangerous. also, how would i drive, drink coffee, & snap pictures at the same time? a girl only has two hands. 

none of the about-town-photos would win any awards, but i like them. i'm thinking of doing a series of these; of things & places i see on my regular routes; then having them made into a book. i would love the keepsake of this time in our lives; plus, elfling would enjoy poking through it, & pointing out the familiar sights. 

because, you know, i have ever so much free time on my hands.

the building pictured above is the corner of the los angeles county museum of art, known locally simply as lacma. we drive past it weekly, after dropping thehobbit at his american lit. class.

if you do not mind, i would like to share some of the photos with you, as i take them. that way, i can get your feedback. in which feedback means you ooh & aah at my brilliance with a camera.

have a great one, do!

~peace.

happy chanukah!

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~peace.

b is for...

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this week it is all about the letter b around thebelfry. elfling thinks it is by far the most fabulous of letters as his name begins with b. you did not really think i had named my children thehobbit & elfling, did you? that would have been fabulous, but alas, no.

in addition to displaying recent art & other bits of fabulousity (real word), we have taken to hanging our letter-of-the-week images on our art wall. i have been poking about pinterest, in search of images that do not make me cringe, & printing them. (i do not own these images, so please, if you do, or know who does, let me know. i want to give proper credit.)

in case you were wondering, b is for (in order): the burrow, broomsticks, barbers/baby/bubbles/bee, & booksellers.

oh! i missed one.

& bow ties. bow ties are cool. 

~peace.

of broken rules & red-clad wizards

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my rule has long been, no holiday goings-on until the first of december. yes, i am one of those people who constantly occasionally rants voices displeasure at the barrage of christmas items & decor appearing long before the season has even begun. but come on! ornaments on sale alongside hallowe'en costumes?

well, it would seem that all it takes to break me is a tiny elfling sweetly asking if we could go see santa today please. & so we did.

being a great old man of 14, thehobbit did not wish to be seen on film. i did attempt a few photographs, but he managed to ruin them all by scowling at me. except for the above. don't his shoes look happy? (yes, i did cut elfling's beautiful long hair off. i am still in mourning, so do not wish to discuss it.)

the grove is my favorite place to go each year. it is such a beautiful center, & they decorate it stunningly. if you are in los angeles, go earlier in the season, & never on a weekend, or it will be too crowded to enjoy.

faced with the man himself, elfling could not even brave going inside the cottage. instead, we stared at him through the front door, then later through the windows.

he did wonder how it was that santa was up in the sleigh at the same time he was in his cottage. manlyman replied with ooh look at the tree!

i could not get the entire tree in my shot. it. is. huge.

trolley was dressed fancy for the season. elfling refused to ride, even though he loves trolley.

this is how he prefers to visit trolley. with bars keeping them safely apart. toddlers are so odd.

the fountain is a favorite of the entire belfry clan. it dances to music, & there are koi in there!

on our way home we had to pop into a mall for something, & you'll never believe who we ran into. santa! how ever did he manage to get there so quickly? santa is clearly the greatest of wizards.

~peace.