Tag: DIY

Book Bags and Goldilocks

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Can you smell the pencils being sharpened?  Yep, it’s that season again.  The start of school is around the corner.  This always brings feelings of excitement and nostalgia for me.  Have you done your back-to-school preparations yet?  We’re part-way there, but I got distracted when a custom request for a preschool book bag came my way.  Then I realized that Duncan could use a little newness to start his year off right!

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My quest for the perfect “preschool book bag” has been a bit like Goldilocks searching for the perfect chair:

too big… too small… just right…

Last year’s bags (Book Bag Fever) got the boys through the year, but improvements were needed.  As time wore on and washings were necessary, the bags required some maintenance and a few of the fabrics didn’t hold up as nicely as I would have liked.

Lessons learned…

  1. I’ve brushed up on my tote-making skills this year with a few amazing classes at make*do*mend, a wonderful sewing studio in Ballard, run by the lovely and talented Keli Faw.  First, Keli is wonderful – she is just someone you want to know.  I guarantee you will want to move in to the comfortable and hip crafting space Keli has created!  If you are in the Seattle area and curious about sewing – take an intro class!  Or, if you already sew, but want a little community – go to their open sewing times!
  2. My favorite bag from last year’s selection was the Kokka Elephants, so I learned that using a little heavier weight fabric works a bit better than quilting cottons for an unlined tote.  It happens that the fabric I am using this year is also a Kokka fabric that I purchased last year without a clear plan in mind, but look for any home decor weight fabric, or canvas.
  3. Handles were another source of frustration.  I didn’t love how my fabric handles became wrinkly over the course of the year.  A much better solution is cotton webbing for a durable and attractive handle.
  4. And lastly, thank goodness for Pinterest, where my friend, Adriane, happened to pin a fantastic simple tote tutorial by Purl Bee.  Purl Bee has a tutorial for The 20-minute Tote that just might be “preschool book bag” perfection (as well as many other uses)!  I love this tutorial.  Although it took me a little longer than 20-minutes, the instructions are clear and all worked according to plan!

I’m really excited to think we’ve got a winner to start Duncan’s preschool year off just right.  Duncan is excited because his new school bag is blue and has “race cars”.  Thankfully my preschool age audience isn’t too picky (about some things at least)!

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Giant Floor Pillows

Published on by poolepartyof55 Comments

So I was wandering the intoxicating halls of Pinterest the other day and came upon the neat project of sewing giant floor pillows.  Since my children adore all things associated with forts and pillows, this seemed right up our alley!  I am envisioning using these goodies for cozy movie nights, pig piles and all things requiring a bit of cushioning… The awesomely graphic fabrics make them even better!  The directions and inspiration are found on Mandy Made’s creative blog and I’m sure you will find all sorts of other things you want to make once you take a stroll through her pages!

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I loved the idea of how simple this project looked and couldn’t wait to begin.  I happened to have some home decor weight canvas hanging about, just waiting for the right project!  As I began this project, I felt like Mandy’s directions were very good and nicely simple.  I had a little trouble getting the corners just right, but I still think the pillows turned out well.  I made two giant cushions; one following Mandy’s plan of using scraps to fill the pillow (#1, grey with white sides) and one with a little more structure using a foam rectangle covered in batting (#2, yellow with grey sides).  If I make more (which I will, since I have three children and currently two coveted pillows), I will follow the second strategy.  I like that pillow #2 ended up a lighter in weight and more reliably full.  We’ll see if I end up remaking pillow #1, or leave it as is.

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I also worked on a different closing method on pillow #2, as I realized that it would be nice to to wash the exterior case.  In a house with three kids and a dog who has a penchant for all things soft (and a tendency to shed), these will need to be washed periodically!  I ended up using an iron-on velcro closure, which worked like a charm!

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The best part about these pillows is I had barely finished closing pillow #2 before the cushions were being put to use in a serious play session!  The kids could not keep off of them, as evidenced by these photos (below).  I could barely take a picture before the pig piles began!  A true sign of success!

Happy Pillow Making!!

Patience, Not Perfection

Published on by poolepartyof52 Comments

In our house, the Valentine Season is more about the valentines kids bring to their friends at school than a declaration of romantic love.  Meaning, a few weeks ago we set out to make our school valentines and have yet to finish…

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The part of me that loves coming up with projects to do with my kids finds this situation completely satisfactory.  We get to work on a project together and have hours of entertainment!  The kids will have an end product that they get to share with their peers!  Fun!  The other part of me that is a bit of a perfectionist with said projects is having a harder time with the process.  In my mind’s eye, the valentines we made together were finished weeks ago and were exceptionally cute (read: professional).

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Then came the realization that I had a choice to make.  Would these by my valentines?  Or, (correct answer) would these be my kids’ valentines?  We all love to show the world what we can do (me included, obviously)…  And yes, I do love me a good craft project.  So, we compromised.  The project did involve Shrinky Dink hearts and it did involve some group stamping, but more importantly, it involved letting my kiddo practice writing names over and over again.  I must admit to feeling a teensy bit proud of myself that I did not take the pen away to write all the valentines myself (in my efficient, adult penmanship), but rather I am allowing my five-year-old the time and space to practice his budding handwriting skills night, after night, after night… This may not seem like a big deal.  In fact, it may sound quite insane.  But each of us has things we do well and areas where we are challenged.  Right?  (Insert head nod here.)  Small victories.

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In the end, these valentines will end up in the recycling bin after a day or two, but my son will feel more confident writing his and his brother’s names going forward.  As we encourage our little people to spread their wings and master new skills, it is a good reminder, that although a project may take longer (most likely), will be messier (guaranteed),  and may turn out differently than imagined (quite probably), there is more to be gained from the process than from doing it all ourselves.  I am hopeful that we will be done by Thursday morning… Fingers crossed.  Clearly, handwriting is not the only lesson being learned from this project!

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Book Bag Fever

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Apples on the trees, school in session – seems like the perfect time to start making some book bags!

I will admit that this project began out of necessity.  The boys’ new preschool does not like the kids to bring backpacks.  Curious.  Apparently, the cubbies are just too small.  They were being overwhelmed by backpacks.  I love the image of backpacks pouring in from all corners, filling the room!  Be that as it may, the kids are bringing stuff home every night – artwork and papers everywhere!  Hence, the need for a slimmer, more streamlined bag to keep the mama from losing her head.  Ideally, it would be appropriately sized for a preschooler to carry.  Where does one find such a thing?  “Hmmm…” I say, (with a closet full of awesome fabric…) “I’ve seen a book bag before, I bet I can figure this out.”  And so the bag-making frenzy begins at the Poole house…

Why do school supplies evoke such lovely memories?  Even though I don’t need to buy myself #2 pencils or lined paper anymore, these book bags make me feel like a kid all over again!  This little project was not based on a pattern, so if and when I refine my process, I will post a tutorial.  Also, I am feeling a bit obsessed with monograms, if you haven’t noticed.  You will be seeing more of them in items soon to be listed to the shop.  In the case of the book bag, there was a dual purpose for the monogram; easy preschool identification and style.  Here is Duncan modeling his new tote (I find his cross-body-carry especially hip).  My personal favorite, to date, is the elephants!

my grandmother, pickles, and a good secret

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My grandmother passed away two years ago this week and I feel like I am saying goodbye all over again.  She was a phenomenal, modern woman whom I loved dearly and had a great impact on my life.  She was smart and sassy and loved her independence.  She could be a bit prickly, and was not your typical grandma.  Despite this, she baked birthday cakes and pies for our family gatherings.  She made delicious airy waffles and something amazing that we call “cheese puffs” in my family, that only came out on holidays.  Since my grandmother’s death, I have been in possession of her cooking file, a bulging binder that is filled, past full, of recipes and personal notes.  It has felt too intimate for me to really look through this piece of her over the past two years – but it sits in my pantry and waits for me; waits for the right time.  Lately, I find myself thinking about her and wondering things that I now cannot ask, and it is probably a perfect place for me to go hunting to find some answers, culinarily speaking at least.

The ladies in my family love a good secret.  They relish knowing a recipe (waffles, chocolate chip cookies, pickles) and keeping it special by not sharing that recipe with friends, and barely with family.  On occasion, a trade has been made for someone else’s treasured recipe, but that has happened too frequently.  Growing up, I remember a family legend was to talk about how the secret ingredient of our prized waffles was marshmallow cream, thinking that anyone who was listening might try to duplicate this hallowed recipe and ruin their waffle maker by including this sweet and sticky ingredient.  I’m not sure anyone was ever really listening, but it made us all laugh.

That brings me to pickles.  For a woman who didn’t mind hard work and had perfected pie dough, I am perplexed by her approach to pickles.  She had a recipe for refrigerator pickles, that I have made, that is a bit of a scam.  (reader: surprised gasp!) I am not sure how much more I can say, for fear that I will be kicked out of my family for outing her.  But, suffice it to say, there is no canning involved and the cucumbers were already a bit pickled when she got to them.  This one recipe makes me so curious…  (I think it actually is another thing that has inspired me to learn how to preserve food properly.)  For a lady that was not outwardly daunted by anything, I sit here feeling that the reason she went to the trouble for this “semi-homemade” recipe is because it was a just a damn good secret.  That’s the kind of lady she was.

It is probably no coincidence that this is the week I have chosen to make pickles for the first time.  I have tried pickling other veggies (carrots, beans, and okra), but so far had felt daunted by traditional cucumber pickles.  If you look into pickles there are a few different processes you can try: brining, refrigerator, fermenting, canning, pasteurizing and all turn out a little differently.  Hearing that I was interested in adding cukes to the list this season, my husband tentatively asked if this could be a “test year” of small batches to try a few different recipes with the hope of landing on one that we love and might repeat in a bigger way next year.  (I assume that this is opposed to jar upon jar of pickles sitting in our pantry that we do not love.)  So that’s what I did.  I made three plus batches of cucumber pickles yesterday using different ingredients and taking copious notes on what I actually did since I cannot rely on my memory at this point.  In a few weeks, when we start cracking these babies open, I plan to report back to you which ones we love, and guess what… I’ll even share the recipe.

This goes against everything holy in my family and makes me chuckle about what my grandmother would think of this blogging generation and the ease of sharing information (and recipes).  On the other hand, it pleases me to share what I am learning and I know my grandmother would approve of that.

Author’s Note (added 01/07/13): Click here to see how the pickles turned out!

Product Testing

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So did I mention that my baby spits up?  There are many words for this: burp, spit, spit up, puke… you get the idea.  Whichever name you like, it is a total mess.  As a mother of three, with two kids who didn’t spit, I didn’t understand this element of parenting.  It is part preparedness and part spontaneity at all times.  You learn the signs and you learn the best way to hold the baby, as well as where every type of towel resides all over the house.

In addition, you learn the value of a burp cloth.  I had been given burp cloths with the other children and found other uses for them… rag for wiping down counter, lovey, face wiper after spaghetti, but never spit up.  Now I get it.  Now I am a pro.  Now I know burp cloths and understand the merits of what makes one good and what makes one great.  There are many burp cloths out there.  From plain old dish rags to embellished treasures, I believe the magic lies somewhere in between.  Having a background in clothing production, I am a self-proclaimed stickler for details.  I notice the small things and there is a part of me that is always ready to give my feedback:

  1. Absorbency is paramount: I believe that cloth diapers reign supreme in this category.  Most other cloths allow the spit to just slide right off.
  2. Style details: The importance of this has to do with the fact that it will be your primary accessory for quite a long time (the doctor tells me 12 months is totally possible – yikes).  This is your chance to add that splash of color that you might not feel bold enough to wear on your own!  Go for it.
  3. Attractive from both sides: Sometimes its important to be able to flip the thing over or find another corner.  You get my drift.  Life moves fast, you’ve gotta be ready for anything.

Through months of daily product testing and market research, I’ve found that there might be some room for improvement in the category of burp cloth.  I’ve come up with a solution that incorporates my love of style and cool fabrics with the function of a truly absorbent (read: boring) diaper.  I have been having fun experimenting with this and have been so inspired by the incredibly fun fabrics from a local business, Drygoods Design in Ballard, WA.  (Check out this site if you have a hankering for some great fabric: http://www.drygoodsdesignonline.com/.)  I’ve come up with some winners and we are getting plenty of use out of each and every one I crank out.  If you come over for dinner sometime,  feel free to hold the baby ~ we’ll arm you appropriately…

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Inspiration

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Inspiration comes in all forms… in this post you will see what actually inspired moving the sewing machine out of its box.  Today we celebrated one of my dearest friends and the upcoming arrival of her first baby.  K has applauded all of her friends’ babies in the last few years and today we got to return the favor by honoring her.  K is a planner and appreciates both parties and details, so it was clear we needed to raise the bar.  Teaching myself to sew in a month seemed like a good idea at the time…  Debatable, but fun!  Keep in mind I am 5 months postpartum and possibly a little cuckoo.

I was in charge of decorations and focused my energy on creating custom onesies and burp cloths for the new babe.  We displayed these with hand-decorated clothespins and lots and lots of polka dots… my favorite!  As the party neared, I thought about sewing place mats and a runner for the table and quickly became overwhelmed, so came up with a pretty creative solution (if I do say so myself) and used wrapping paper to create our table top decorations.  It worked beautifully in a pinch – lots of pop, plus I can use the paper again.  It was a lovely day and I believe K felt celebrated and special – total success!

So the moral of the story is that K and baby have been my inspiration (muses?) and I thank them for all the fun that I have been having over the last weeks!  And now, anyone for some place mats?

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Singer Brilliance

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My fingers feel itchy.  As a mother of three children under five, this is a bit unexpected.  It is not as though my hands stay idle for long – there is always something to attend to.  But this is different.  This is the desire to work on a project that allows for completion.  I have noticed as a mom, it can be wonderfully satisfying to dive into something, other than dishes or diapers, that has a beginning, a middle and, thankfully, an end.

Over the last year, this quest to find something to quell the itch in my fingers has covered a number of areas, from learning to preserve foods through pickling and canning to my newest endeavor, sewing.  It is not that I am trying to win the star of Molly Homemaker, but rather, I see that these types of projects have a timelessness.  They have been around for ages and are activities that our mothers’ mothers had available to them as well.  Moments in time that are both productive as well as soul satisfying.

About a month ago I broke open the box of my new Singer sewing machine.  It had stood in the corner of our house for about a year and a half silently mocking me, or possibly just waiting for the right time to be discovered.  This was something I bought myself at Costco, on a whim, for Christmas; on some level knowing that there would be a time when I would find space (in house and head) for this new craft.  My intention was that I would teach myself to sew and that I would love it.  During my pregnancy, in addition to getting the nursery ready, the area of house that we chose to “nest” was the creation of a laundry / project room.  I consider this new space my office and am so excited to have it.  My tendency to leave projects rolling (read: messy) is something that can drive my husband crazy, so I believe that the evolution of this room was for his well being  as well as mine.

It is amazing to me how sometimes things just come together and work.  My little Singer and I are getting to know one another in my new room and are developing a beautiful relationship.  I do love it.  Sometimes I can only turn it on for a moment or two before there is a wailing cry from another room, but even that is enough to feed my soul… for now.

Now, onto a new project to help these itchy fingers!