Orange Bento Box Quilt

This is a quilt I made a few years ago for a friend for Christmas. The orange-y fabrics are actually two different coloured satin-y type fabrics. To turn it magically into four different fabrics, I simply reversed the two oranges which turned into two other shades. The pattern was a "bento box" one I improvised after finding some similar patterns online.

I ended up tying the quilt with chocolate brown embroidery floss. It seemed like the best way to quilt it. The batting inside is a fluffy polyester one.

To determine the layout, I used my "patented" Excel technique.

For the edging and backing, I used a plain cotton/polyester broadcloth. The finished size is a nice, cozy, curled-up-for-tv-watching size.

A Bit of Sunshine

When I started this quilt, I went through about a million different possible designs. Chevrons, flying geese, squares, I wasn't quite sure what to do until I happened upon pinwheels. I thought, these are such happy, sunshine-y colours, that they should be a happy pattern.

The rainbow of fabrics I had bought at a local Fabricland in Ontario, based on the one multi-coloured fabric I found the green, red, orange, blue, and yellow fabrics to match. Later, I found a purple fabric too, and I regret not putting that in the mix. However, I still think it turned out quite lovely!

The white fabric is from a nice heavy cotton sheet that my old landlord gave me. The back of this quilt is plain white, with a multi-coloured border edge. I used a thin batting and machine quilted it in straight lines.

Here is the finished quilt in situ in the recipient's bedroom after Christmas. It's not a full-sized quilt but was made rather to be a nice, cozy, tv-watching size.

Turkey Veggie Chili Soup

I invented this lovely mild chili soup a couple of days ago and re-made it tonight. If you like chili-flavoured things, then you can add as much chili powder as you would like. My version is very light tasting.

400g ground turkey
1 can (796ml or 28oz) diced tomatoes (I use Unico brand "Italian Flavoured")
1 large carrot, chopped into half-coins
3/4 tsp chili powder
2 cups boiling water
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
1 cup frozen or fresh corn

- Brown ground turkey on medium heat, season with black ground pepper and a dash of salt, set aside.
- In soup pot, bring can of tomatoes to a boil. Add carrots, cooked turkey, chili powder, and water, stir well.
- Put lid on and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until carrots are almost cooked.
- Add peas and corn and cook until they are done (approximately 4 minutes).
- Eat. YUM!

This would also be good with other seasonal vegetables, such as green and yellow beans, potatoes, etc. Would be good with pasta or rice.

The Final Frontier

For a long time, I've wanted to learn how to crochet. Not necessarily because I like crochet (I like to live by the crafting motto "Just because you can make it doesn't mean you should," and a lot of crochet isn't what I'd call pretty, nor useful, nor aesthetically pleasing in any way), but because it's pretty much one of the only crafts I have never tried. However, there are some pretty cool crocheted things out there, and it does open up a whole new realm of possibilities of new things to make.

Saturday I picked up a crochet hook at Wal*Mart (the only place around here to pick up craft supplies of such type), and I knew I had all kinds of yarn in my knitting stash that I could use.

I checked out a whole bunch of "How to Crochet" videos online, and if you're looking to learn, this is the best first lesson that I found:


I don't tend to like crocheted dishcloths, so I didn't make what the video lady suggested... but I did like how she demonstrated each step leaps and bounds better than a lot of other videos I watched.

Here's the first thing I made, it's sort of hat shaped. I thought maybe I would be able to figure out how to make it into a closed ball... but that was a little too advanced for my first try so I ripped this out and re-wound the yarn. My second try was more of a straight line, but didn't turn out quite so straight. After a couple of attempts, I ended up free-handing a hair band. Now, I'm not someone who ever wears hairbands (unless you count grade 9 and grade 10), nor am I someone who really ever wears a rusty colour. However, this item is both of those things:



I don't imagine I will ever wear this in public, however, I have been wearing it around the house since I finished making it this afternoon. Now that I have mastered single crochet, I'll be looking for some videos on next steps and other stitches.

Mossy Mittens

I started these mittens in September or October, I'm really not sure when. He saw me knit the first one, but I'm hoping he forgot all about it so they're still a surprise for Christmas. I finally finished them in November one of the evenings he was working, and then finally have sewn in the loose ends tonight. I love moss stitch (knit 1, purl 1 to end of row for two rows, then purl 1, knit 1 for two rows)... this is my first moss stitch pattern.

Overall they turned out pretty much how I envisioned them, except the tops are super pointy. I'm planning on finishing another pair and trying to figure that out.


I'm 99% my husband does not read this blog. At least I hope he doesn't, because I'm posting one of his Christmas gifts before our Christmas gift-giving night this Thursday (before we fly away for Christmas, we're having our own mini-Christmas celebration at home).

Here is a link to the project page for this on Ravelry.

Adventageous

Christmas is just around the corner... are you ready for Advent? When I was a kid I always liked how they lit the Advent Candles every Sunday at church. And once or twice I think I might have even got to be the one who lit a candle. Advent of course is the season that we prepare our hearts for Christ's birth and for the celebration of it on December 25th.

For many, a significant part of the season of Advent is the daily act of participating with an Advent Calendar. A couple of years ago I got the idea to make an Advent Calendar out of watchmaker's cases I knew I could get at Lee Valley. However, I knew it would take a lot of work and also a special person to make me want to make one for them!

Images from Lee Valley

So last year, in the midst of dating, I trouped on down to a Lee Valley store and picked up the set of 56 watchmaker's cases in four sizes. The camp I was working at had received a generous donation from an advertising firm of leftover magnet posters (vinyl posters adhered to sheet magnet) and remnants... so much so that I am not sure even in 25 years a camp could use all of them for various crafts. I only needed enough to cover the backs of each of the 25 cases I would be using for the calendar.

I ended up making templates for each of the different sizes of circles by tracing the four sizes onto scrap paper and cutting them out. Ensuring they fit on the backsides of the cases, I then traced them onto the magnet sheet and cut them out. I used hot glue to secure the magnet circles to the backs of the watchmaker's cases.

I purchased several different patterned sheets of scrapbooking paper from Michael's in reds, whites, and greens. I also picked up co-ordinating plain cardstock in red, green, and yellow; I already had white on hand. I again made templates out of scrap paper, this time tracing the front glass lids. I tested the templates to ensure that they fit inside the glass fronts. I made them just snug enough that they didn't require glue to fasten them inside, the pressure of the edges on the sides of the aluminum cases was enough to secure them.

Next, I figured out the placement that I wanted the cases to be in. I figured a Christmas Tree figuration would be cute and appropriate.

2010 Advent Calendar

Once I had the configuration settled on, I set to tracing and cutting the patterned circles. I tried to make sure the same pattern wasn't bordered by another case with the same pattern. Once I completed that step, I set to cutting out the numbers with my Slice Elite machine. A Slice is similar to a Cricut, but handheld and cordless. I switched colours and design cards to give each watchmaker's case it's own look. For Christmas Day, I cut out a special star by hand. I used a glue pen to glue the numbers down to the cut out scrapbook paper circles, and then placed the completed circles on the underside of the glass.

Overall, it was a very time consuming project. Cutting out the circle magnet pieces and paper pieces took time. It took a bit of practice to get the numbers the size I wanted and needed them to be, and more than once I had to re-do them.

To fill the cases, I knit little stockings and caps and made other little tree ornaments, and purchased a few from dollar stores as well. In the end I ran out of time and ended up purchasing a mixed box of Jelly Belly jellybeans and used the red, green, white, and yellow ones in some of the cases. I think I may have included some tea in a couple of the cases as well.

Of course, I didn't end up using all 56 cases that I had, and there was still a lot of the paper left as well. I didn't have time to make a second calendar last year, but this fall/winter I worked on one to give away this year to my sister's family.

2011 Advent Calendar

Without looking at last year's for reference, I set out and whipped up another one. This time I didn't have the sheet magnet, so I used strong circular magnets... some I had on hand from a previous dollar store purchase, and I picked up more at Wal*Mart (Elmer's Magnets "Adhesive Foam Buttons, size .75", 8 to a pack for around $4). Although, on a later trip to that craft aisle, I found you can actually get a pack of 50 for around $7! You can also buy sheet magnets from Elmer's as well if you like the idea of covering the whole backs of the containers; this style enables the containers to be flush with the surface you magnet them to (i.e. the fridge). I had saved my previously made paper templates when I stored the remaining cases the year before, which was great, it made the whole process of finishing this year's set quicker.

I didn't handmake any decorations for this calendar, but instead filled it purely with candies and those rubber band shapes that kids like. I bought a variety of candies including Skittles, Mike & Ikes, Lifesavers, etc., and used the green, red, white, and yellow ones. The cases are a variety of depths (see photo above), so you can fit a variety of candies in the different sizes.

A few tips if you decide to make your own calendar like this:

• Ensure your magnets are strong enough to hold not only the watchmaker's cases to a metal surface, but also whatever you choose to fill the cases with. I found the strong fatter magnets I used the same time around worked better. And they came with peel-off backs! They were definitely pricier (hey, the other ones were free), but well worth it. (If you choose to go the route of the fatty magnets, I'd recommend getting a bigger more economical pack, you can always make magnet projects in the future with any leftovers).
  
• The cases are made of aluminum, and come from overseas. They kind of smelled funny. I washed out the bottoms in soap and water, and used a wet paper towel to clean the tops.
  
• I tested all of my full cases on the fridge before mailing. Some of them the tops came off easily. However, it is easy to remedy this by pinching the bottom pieces a little bit to make them less of a circle... this makes the lids fit more securely.
  
• If you're all cool and don't have a lame regular old fridge and your fridge is stainless steel, you can use a metal tray or cookie sheet to keep your Calendar on. I'd suggest rigging it up to hang on the wall. And you can even get a cheap cookie sheet from a dollar store and spray paint it the colour of your choice! Or, you could have them on the front of your washer or dryer too, really any metal surface that magnets stick to will work.
• If you're including chocolates in your Advent Calendar, make sure they are wrapped in case they melt.
  
• Another fun and easy idea is to include clippings of either Bible verses or the Christmas story in your cases. These can be instead of or in addition to the other goodies you include. If you use a sturdy paper they can even have little magnet squares secured to the back and be made to magnet to the fridge as well in succession. By Christmas day you'll have the whole story or 25 verses or sayings.
• If you are rich, you can buy those bigger spice containers that are similar to the watchmaker's cases... you know the ones that already have magnets on them.
  
• This calendar can be used again and again. Last Advent I told my then boyfriend that he'd have to fill the cases for me this year! My husband told me earlier this week that he's been working on it. :)
  

Does your family have a traditional Advent Calendar that you use? What homemade items are part of your Christmas traditions?

New Business Cards!

I am already on my second set of business cards in less than a month! When I sold items at a craft fair earlier in November, I was selling both cards and jewelry. For my business card design for the show, I went with a simple owl design and the two fonts that I had used on all of my product packaging. A lot of the cards I was selling had a nature-y theme, so it seemed like a great match.

Realizing that I have a lot more jewelry in stock right now, and having only jewelry currently in my online shop, I wanted to develop a business card that matched the look and feel of the shop. The accent colour in my product packaging was a pale blue, so I decided to go with that. With limited options of graphics programs to use, and Pinterest, I found a great blue lace background. I "recycled" my previous text layout and fonts, but added my Facebook page and made the fonts larger.

What do you think? I like that this new design goes a bit better with my jewelry line, I think the look and feel match the photos and product photography.

P.S. 10% off everything in the shop for the next 72 hours! Use the coupon code "sweetnovember" at checkout! Just in time for some early Christmas shopping!

Contest Winner!

Last week I announced a contest for everyone who clicked "like" on the Mikao page on Facebook, with an extra entry for everyone who shared the contest on their wall. The grand prize is a Pearl and Pink Bracelet. Today, after a lot of stirring and mixing of ballots I announced the winner... ta da!

Congratulations Karen!

The lacy paper ballots are a peek at a project that I will reveal tomorrow! I love the way it turned out, even the scraps are pretty!

Earrings

Just a few pairs of earrings currently up in my shop, just in time for Christmas gift giving!

Blue Milk Glass Earrings

Jade Dream Earrings

Seaside Stroll Earrings

Bronwyn Faceted Green Glass Earrings

Forget-Me-Not Earrings

Head on over to Mikao to check out more items just in time for Christmas!

How to Make A Quilt

I was going through some old craft files on my computer tonight when I found a few funny old things that I had forgotten about from years ago. Since yesterday I shared some of my baby quilt making escapades, I thought I'd include this easy step-by-step manual that I created in summer 2005 for a friend who wanted to learn how to quilt. I created a killer quilting soundtrack to go along with it (unfortunately I don't have a copy of the playlist, although I am quite positive it was AWESOME). The instructions were a booklet that conveniently fit inside a CD jewel case (Remember those? When was the last time you burnt a CD?).

So, if you've always wanted to quilt but never knew how, this handy and informative step-by-step guide hopefully shall inspire you! Really it's a good guide on how to tie a quilt, which is a great beginner quilt. Note that you can click on any of these scans to BIGGIE SIZE them and get a closer look!

Clever patchwork letters, hey?

I quite like that lovely little tomato pincushion I've drawn there! Although, I've never actually owned one of those tomatoes, I do have a neato Chinese pincushion... but usually I keep my pins in a magnetized bowl. And #8 on that list, very essential to have snacks!


That note at the end of Step 2 cracked me up!




Have you ever made a quilt? If not, have you ever wanted to? What's stopping you? What items do you consider essentials when crafting?

Oh... and SPECIAL BONUS! Here is a stellar photo of me showing my friend Amanda how to yarn-tie a quilt. She had this rad Strawberry Shortcake flannel that she wanted to make into a blanket. I think this was that same summer... so 2005.