knick knacks & ric rac

i wanted to make these cute mushroom ornaments. i printed out the tutorial last year but never got around to it. so a few weeks ago i was in joann’s in the styrofoam aisle and i thought ‘oh i can make those cute little mushroom ornaments i’ve been meaning to make forever!’ and i picked up the 6-pack of little styrofoam balls. then i looked over and saw the balls that were a little bigger and i thought ‘oh! i’ll get this 4-pack and make them a little bigger!’. then i looked over and saw the GIANT styrofoam ball. i was envisioning myself surrounded by giant sequinned mushrooms. it was a lovely sight! then i thought that might be overdoing it so i put it back. then i picked it back up again, handed the cashier my 50% off coupon and checked out.

 i glittered the styrofoam red first so i wouldn’t have to pin thousands of sequins on it to cover it. i found the milky white glass vase at the thrift store for 99 cents which i thought would be perfect for the stem. somehow it just didn’t look complete without a pixie so i bought these cuties on etsy to live on top.

the mushroom ended up being 10″ tall and the cap is 8″ wide. maybe next year i will try the actual project.

i also whipped up a log pillow based on erika’s awesome ‘buche de noel’ tutorial on craftstylish.

i used some brown velveteen scraps for the base and felt for the bark details. to make the rings on the end i decided to stitch on some thick yarn. then i made a couple of log rounds too. these are fun to make! i’m trying not to go crazy and have a couch full of logs with no place to sit, i already have a pair of the log pillows erika makes too.

have you been reading the shop local series on etsy? it’s fun to see the pictures of the people who make the things! today’s features california, and i’m included! take a peek at it here, and check out the sampling of creative californians on etsy. my friend jenny took my ’portrait’ at the Arroyo Seco mini golf course (and totally kicked my butt in mini golf while doing it!), which is really close to my house. i love mini golf, and this is such a cute course! it was built in 1955. here are a few more pictures from that day…

the windmill, the last hole

by the spooky old church

by the old red barn. that’s the castle in the background.

i wanted to show you this beautiful embroidered table runner from hungary that my great-aunt deda sent to me recently.

the stitching is so perfect it’s hard to tell which side is the front and which is the back!

here is a cute picture of some hungarian ladies in the 60’s.

the thing i especially love about this picture is their fantastic colorful socks with little bumps knitted into them! where can i get myself a pair of these?!

they remind me of those candy dots on paper strips.

i put together this page of three different knick knack gift cards for you to download and use for all of your gift-giving needs (or any other occasion where you need a little card!)

all you have to do is print them out–i recommend a heavyweight paper or cardstock, and if you have a ‘photo’ setting in your printer preferences then select that too–then cut and fold!

use the solid crop marks as a cutting guide. i also put dotted lines as a folding guide but they’re really unnecessary, just fold them in half. the finished cards measure about 3″x3″. i hope you like them!

download the knick knack gift cards PDF here!

i just added these new goodies to my website…

the snow white winter woods skirt, which features a tawny owl brooch…

and the snow maiden matryoshka skirt i promised earlier…

and i also made the blue polish pottery print into an apron and trimmed it with giant red ric rac!

how do you feel about winter white? i think i’m really starting to like it! i just finished up this winter white version of my matryoshka skirt. i used sparkly metallic bronze and pewter ink, along with icy aqua and lavender regular ink.

i’m going to call it the ’snow maiden matryoshka skirt’. it makes me think of russian princesses frolicking in the snow. maybe they’re wearing these boots…

(boots are by frye, from a couple of years ago)

it’s printed on unbleached cotton duck and has a beige velveteen hem. i should have it up on my website sometime next week. i’m thinking of making a winter white version of the winter woods skirt as well, with tan branches.

i just discovered this on etsy…did i just die and go to heaven!?!

(by sweet hayseed)

i especially love the pinecones tied on at the bottom of the braids. nice touch! i might try that on myself!

this past summer was a great one for scoring some awesome thrift store art. i can’t remember when i’ve found such good stuff in such a short span of time. here’s a look at some of the goodies i picked up in the last few months…

i think this one is my favorite. cross-stitched fox stealing a rooster! it’s pretty big, 11½”x18½”. jenny spotted it, thanks eagle eye!

just can’t get enough of those mushrooms…this one is about 8″x10″

cast metal deer on a burlap background, from continental art-craft 1966. 11″x16″. there was a buck that went along with it but i didn’t get it. the buck’s antlers had been broken and sloppily glued back on and i liked the composition of the deer better, but i did feel a little guilty breaking up the set!

two yarn embroidered birdies with fluffy yarn flowers…these little cuties are only 5″x6″.

and an old salzburg souvenir shadowbox with real edelweiss inside. cute!

i was just looking around on etsy and came across this great pattern for polish pottery mittens!

(photo is from SpillyJane Knits)

i guess i don’t need to mention how cute a pair of these would look with my polish pottery skirt! it might just be the thing that makes me take up knitting, although i think they’re a little (a lot!) too ambitious for a first try.

last night i finally updated my shopping cart to calculate international shipping up to orders totalling $350, so international customers can now check out through my website shopping cart instead of waiting for a paypal invoice. yay! all international orders are sent priority mail, you can take a peek at the rates here. and of course if you prefer a paypal invoice, i can still do that too!