mermaid give-away!

I've been cleaning out my garage and it's obvious that I have far too many peg dolls.  Hard to believe, right? It's not much fun keeping them in boxes, so I thought I'd share some of them with you.

 

While I was working on my first book Making Peg Dolls, I couldn't decide on the exact mermaid variation I liked best, so I ended up creating four sets of mermaid dolls (totaling 20 mermaids in all, by the time I was done). Thus, I have mermaids in excess.

If you would like one of my mermaids (or two... or maybe even three) to swim into your mailbox, please leave a comment below; and just for fun, you can mention what sorts of peg dolls you think I should include in my next book.  The contents of the new book are already decided, so no promises re: including your ideas, but I'm always curious to know where your interests lie!

I will choose two names via random drawing and announce the winners at the end of next week.  Good luck!

Comments are now closed -- thank you to everyone for joining in the fun! Winners have been chosen; congratulations to lucky #9 and #28.

mermaid grotto :: tutorial re-post

Last August I posted this tutorial for creating a mermaid grotto, and it was so well-loved that I thought re-posting it today might be a nice way to welcome summer... and please come back later in the week for a special mermaid surprise.

SUPPLIES
-- A medium sized box  (such as a large shoe box)

-- Some paper in greens and blues. I had this
    scrapbook paper in my cupboard, but any
    sort of colorful paper will be great.

-- Seashells of assorted shapes & sizes

-- A small cardboard jewelry/gift box.  My box
    measures 2 1/4 in x 3 1/4 in (5 1/2 cm x 8 cm).

-- Scraps of fabric

-- A glue stick and glue gun

-- Scissors

(NOTE: instructions for making mermaids and octopus can be found here in my books.)

STEP 1 ::  Cut the front off your box and cut away 1/2 to 2/3 of the top.  (I also glued the top of my box so that it is tilted up, but this is completely optional.)

STEP 2 :: Cover the inside of your box with ocean-colored paper.  Using glue stick to affix your paper to box will ensure that your paper will lie flat and not buckle.  

STEP 3 :: I added waves, some seaweed, and a fish to decorate the walls of my grotto.  Other things to add might be an octopus, seashells, coral, starfish, etc...   You can find endless ideas and images by searching online for clip-art.  Have fun making up your own sea grotto design!

I didn't cover the outside of my box, however, feel free to paint the outside of your box or cover it with paper.

MAKING A MERMAID BED 

STEP 1 ::  Cut a strip of fabric to fit around the edges of your box and affix in place with hot glue.

STEP 2 :: Use hot glue to stick seashells around the sides of the box (note: I am not usually a fan of hot glue, however, it is the best type of glue for holding seashells in place).

STEP 3 :: Cut some small pieces of fabric to serve as a mattress and blanket.

STEP 4 :: Tuck your mermaid in and sing her a lullaby. 

It's a nice idea to set the table with your best dishes when you are expecting a friend for tea.

If you ask nicely, an octopus is always happy to help set the table.

Shhh... the baby is sleeping.

If you are looking for a beautiful bedtime story for your own mer-baby, I highly recommend The Mermaid and the Shoe by K. G. Campbell.

Note: instructions for creating mermaid peg dolls can be found in both of my books, and the pattern/instructions for making the octopus can be found in my second book Making Peg Dolls & More.

bar mitzvah celebration

 

Hello! Hello!  My older son's bar mitzvah was last weekend and so things have been very, very busy here.  We had countless family members visiting from out of town to share in our celebration, which meant lots of events and parties.  I wasn't able to take photos Friday night, Saturday morning or Saturday night, but did manage to snag a few shots on Sunday at a picnic we hosted under the redwood trees.  You might notice that I didn't catch any photos of my older son -- he was off splashing in the creek with his friends, as was right and proper after a year of rigorous preparation and study, plus a full weekend at the synagogue! 

I will be back soon, making up for lost time and lack of blog posts...

making peg dolls :: the trilogy

One morning a few weeks ago, I woke up and ambled downstairs (as usual).  I made tea (as usual).  I sat down to quickly scan email before everyone else rolled into the kitchen (as usual).  But lo and behold -- something unusual and rather happy-making had arrived overnight via email.  A contract! For peg doll book #3!

The contract was not entirely unexpected; I submitted a proposal to the elves at Hawthorn Press last year, and have already spent time emailing to and fro with the head-elf-in-chief and head-elf-craft-book-editor, discussing possible titles.  But in our house we often say, "It ain't a book contract until the fat lady signs on the dotted line" (our own personal version of this colloquialism).

When I was working on my second book, I couldn't say much about it until shortly before the release, and the situation is the same again.  However, I can tell you this: my third book will be entirely different again from the first two.  As for the title?  Some suggestions for the second book were Valley of the (Peg Dolls), Night of the Living Peg Dolls, Peg Dolls vs. Godzilla, and Return of the Peg Dolls.  Contending titles for the third book?  Peg Dolls with a Vengeance! The Peg Doll Ultimatum!

It will be a while before the book is released (right now, it's looking like late 2017 or early 2018) but I thought you'd enjoy knowing that, even when things are quiet here on my blog, the elves and I are humming away behind the scenes...

catastrophic happiness & fear of flying

On Sunday morning, I opened up the SF Chronicle Books section (yes, we still read a "paper" paper in my house) and was awfully pleased to see a photo of Catherine Newman along with this review of her recently published collection of essays. ("Good morning, Catherine. Would you like some coffee?")

Catherine's work is regularly published in Real Simple Magazine, Oprah, Brain Child, the NYT parenting blog Motherlode, and you can read a recent essay over at Motherwell Magazine.  Her essays are fierce, wise, poignant & funny all at once; this quote, included by Malena Watrous in the SF Chronicle review, is vivid and evocative in a way that seems particular and specific to Catherine's writing.

“Cut me open and I’m a tree trunk, rings of nostalgia radiating inward. All the years are nested inside me like I’m my own personal one-woman matryoshka doll. I guess that’s true for everybody, but then I drive everybody crazy with my nostalgia and happiness. I am bittersweet personified.”

Warning :: I loved this book so very much, and also mailed a copy of it to my mother for her birthday (which is tomorrow). However, if you have a Fear of Flying (and I'm not referring to the Erica Jong novel), do not read this book while cruising at 35,000 feet with a warm, soft child curled up on either side of you.  This book makes one so very aware of the preciousness and fragility of those very children; and hurtling through the heavens while reading Catherine's book, with nothing but clouds between my babies and the earth was nearly too much to bear.

a landmark day

 Yesterday was a landmark day...

  My kindergartner learned to ride his bicycle without training wheels!

And just because he's adorable, here's a photo of my big son up a tree. (Did you know that boys grow on trees? Mine do.)  I don't get many photos of him these days; he's busy tromping around with his group of lanky friends who, in the fashion of Hansel and Gretel, rummage around my kitchen and then leave trails of crumbs behind them, as though they might need guidance finding their way back to the food cupboards for more snacks (and in sisyphean fashion, I follow after them, thrusting brooms and dustpans into their enormous, grubby hands, while enduring their bewildered looks with good humor).

And don't forget -- tomorrow is the final day to add your name to the give-away for this charming book.  Details can be found HERE.

blog tour :: pipsqueaks

FTC Compliant Disclosure:  I was given a free digital copy of this book by C&T Publishing to facilitate participation in the blog tour.

Today I am participating in a blog tour for Sally Dixon's book Pipsqueaks: itsy-bitsy felt creations to stitch & love.  The full blog-tour schedule is posted at the end of this post, and there is also a *give-away* (details of which also appear at the end of this post). In fact, there is a *give-away* at every stop of the blog tour, so if you are interested in winning a free copy of this darling book, I urge you to follow along and visit each blog on the tour over the next 5 days!

When I was a child, my favorite toys were all tiny: I stitched tiny dresses for tiny dolls and had a small collection of ceramic figures made by Hagen-Renaker. I would have enjoyed creating items from Pipsqueaks: itsy-bitsy felt creations to stitch & love as a child, and clearly some things never change. As you can see, just last week I had a great time creating tiny elephants from this book.

And if you are an enthusiast of the book If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, it will make perfect sense to you that, "If you sew a tiny elephant, he's going to ask for a tiny clown. And when you make him a tiny clown, he will probably ask for a silly hat.  And when the hat is finished, he will certainly ask for a tiny tassel to go on the very top of the silly hat."

No sooner did I blink, then I realized that I had the start of a tiny circus parade marching across the kitchen table.  As you can see, Sally's pipsqueaks and my peg dolls get along very well together, indeed.

Besides, tiny elephants, there are clear and detailed instructions for creating winsome mice, a budgerigar puppet, tiny dogs, bunnies & kittens, plus designs for two different koalas and a platypus in a peekaboo bed.  Yes, Sally Dixon (the author of Pipsqueaks) is Australian, and several of the designs in this book reflect her country of origin.  I especially love the embroidery and applique instructions for creating eucalyptus blossoms (there are two perfectly detailed eucalyptus designs; one on page 30 and the other on page 56).  To me, the inclusion of koalas, a platypus and eucalyptus adds an exotic variation from the usual flora and fauna (exotic for an American reader, anyhow).

In addition to clear patterns and instructions, I found some excellent crafting advice in this book.  For example, Sally suggests using small, sharp embroidery scissors for cutting out tiny, detailed pattern pieces; when I read this, I smacked my hand to my forehead and thought to myself, "Why didn't I think of this years ago?"  Sally also advises enlarging the patterns on a copier machine for readers who find tiny patterns too fussy; this advice is likewise given for children who are first being introduced to needle-skills.

Now for the *give-away*: please leave a comment on this post (and make sure I can contact you via email) for an opportunity to win a copy of Pipsqueaks: itsy-bitsy felt creations to stitch & love by Sally Dixon.  A winner will be randomly chosen from the list of comments below on Monday, May 23rd, 9:00 p.m. PST.  If the winner is in the USA, they will receive a hard copy of the book, and if the winner is outside the USA, they will receive a digital copy.   You can find the full blog tour schedule below, and don't forget: there will be a give-away at every stop on the blog tour. Thank you to C&T Publishing for generously sponsoring the give-aways!

Comments for this give-away are now closed.  Thank you to everyone for participating, and congratulations to #34 -- Lisa Marie.  I hope you enjoy making lovely, tiny things from Pipsqueaks!

11^th May 2016

C&T Publishing

11^th May 2016

Margaret Bloom

We Bloom Here

12^th May 2016

Karen Wasson

My Handmade Adventure

13^th May 2016

Joanna Riley

60 Degrees of Inspiration

14^th May 2016

Anna Day

Buttonsy

15^th May 2016

Louise

Madeit

16^th May 2016

Sally Dixon

Sally Dixon Creations

making peg dolls :: new paperback edition!

There is some exciting news in the world of peg dolls!  My first book, Making Peg Dolls, has been reprinted yet again, and this time Hawthorn Press has issued it in paperback.  The layout inside the new edition is the same as the hard cover, however the paperback version feels fresh & modern, and the cover has a new tag-line, "Over 60 fun, creative projects for children and adults." 

Inside, there is a fancy jacket-flap with photos and text...

And, of course, all the excitement over the new edition has inevitably led to a session of peg doll painting.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy of one (or both) of my books; your support is deeply appreciated!  And now a request: if you haven't already done so, it would be amazing if you could possibly write a review on Amazon, A Child's Dream, Bella Luna Toys or any other online store which stocks my books.  Fair and honest reviews help immensely with book sales; this keeps publishers in business, which, in turn, enables authors to write more books (hint, hint)!  My gratitude always... xo

something soft

Tomorrow my little one is having surgery to correct his herniated belly button.  I fussed at the pediatrician, "His belly button has been fine, just as it is, for nearly 6 years -- why should we fix it now!?" However both he and the consulting surgeon agreed that there was risk of a small section of intestine becoming trapped in the opening. 

For the hospital visit, I decided that my son should have something new & soft to snuggle, so I used this fabric (which I purchased for this project) to sew a "sleepy heart" inspired by drawings he's created.  I wanted to make the mouth smiling, but my son insisted on a round, snoring mouth; he even demonstrated, with his own face, exactly how the stuffed heart should look.

Actually, what I really wanted to do was surprise him on the morning of the surgery with these new soft toys, but I've had a horrible cold, so by the time my little son is in bed (and I am free to work in secret), I've also needed to go to bed.  In a way it was fortuitous because my son truly enjoyed helping with this project: arranging the pins in my pin cushion, lowering and lifting the foot on the sewing machine and stuffing the toys.

I will miss my little one's funny, bulgy belly button, but at least we have some new friends who will join us at the hospital and cheer us along.

P.S. The new kitty is named Charlie because it looks just like our real kitty (also named Charlie) who follows us around the house purring & demanding we nuzzle his ears.

P.P.S.  I would refer you to the book where I found the pattern for this kitty, but the pattern design was so horrible, that I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book or pattern to anyone.  In fact, I'm thinking of donating the book to the local library bookshop, but then someone else might buy it, suffer though the terrible pattern & instructions, and, despite meticulous effort, end up with an oddly shaped stuffed toy.  I might have to shred the book.

garden stepping stones :: tutorial re-post

 

After allowing our vegetable garden to lie fallow the past two years due to drought in California, we decided to plant a modest garden: 3 tomato plants and 6 blue-lake green bean vines.  With careful, targeted irrigation through a drip system, we hope our little plot won't require too much water.

I was so excited to once again fill this dedicated vegetable garden space with green things that I decided to do some sprucing up and make our little plot a festive place. I planted a passel of climbing nasturtiums to fill in & ramble over the spaces we would not be planting...

And also decided that some new stepping stones were in order... hence a repeat of this tutorial from last May.

MATERIALS REQUIRED
An assortment of glass tiles & flattened glass marbles

Clear vinyl pot saucers (we used these)

A bag of cement. Try to get the kind of cement that is smooth -- i.e. no little rocks.  By accident, I bought cement which is full of little rocks and it's annoying -- not as easy to work with.

A bucket for mixing cement

A plastic bag for lining the bucket (optional)

Rubber gloves and some cleaning rags

STEP 1 :: Line your bucket with a plastic garbage bag for easier clean up (this is optional). Scoop several cups of cement into your bucket. Add water and stir. For best results, put on rubber gloves and mix by hand.  Keep adding small amounts of water or cement as needed until the cement is the approximate consistency of thick cake batter.

STEP 2 ::  Scoop cement into your clear vinyl pot saucers until 1 cm below the brim.

STEP 3 ::  Have children add tiles & marbles, etc... to decorate.  Be sure the items are pressed in firmly with the edges slightly submerged or the items might fall out once the cement is dry.

STEP 4 ::  Once the design is completed, use a damp rag to gently wipe any cement smudges off the tops of the tiles and marbles.

STEP 5 ::  Allow to dry several days, remove from the molds and find homes for your beautiful stepping stones in the garden.

re-post :: monarch butterfly peg doll tutorial

All the caterpillars inching around my garden have me thinking about butterflies; so last Friday I re-posted my butterfly brooch tutorial and today I'm re-posting this tutorial for monarch butterfly peg dolls.  I developed the tutorial last summer for a camp where my older son was a counselor and my younger son was participating as a camper.  As you can see from the photos, the butterflies created by the children created were truly delightful.

 

The local monarch butterfly population has recently flown off to areas where they will lay their eggs, and they will return here (to California) in late summer.  Meanwhile, we can enjoy these monarch butterfly peg dolls...

SUPPLIES
-- A blank peg doll base, any size

-- A black Sharpie-marker (I usually paint my
    dolls however, for the purposes of this camp
    project, we decided that a black marker would
    be easier for the younger children to control.
    Feel free to use marker or paint -- whichever
    you prefer.)

-- Thick white acrylic paint

-- Colored pencils - black and red

-- A tiny amount of black felt

-- A millinery flower stamen
    (colored black with a Sharpie)

-- A clip-art image of monarch butterfly wings

 -- PVA or other white craft glue

-- Scissors

STEP 1 :: Whenever I'm doing a project based on specific animal from nature, the first thing I do (or should do, at any rate) is look at photographs.  Going into this project, I knew that monarch butterflies had black bodies, but it somehow escaped my notice that their bodies had white polka dots, too.  It's a good thing I looked at some photos, right? Right.

STEP 2 ::  Using a Sharpie or other black marker, draw a large oval or circle around the "face" of your peg doll.

STEP 3 :: Use your black Sharpie/marker to fill in all the areas on your doll except the face (note: you can use paint on your doll, but for the purposes of this camp project, we used Sharpies).  

Now might also be a good time to paint the white polka dots on the body of your doll. I forgot to do this and so added them later.

STEP 4 ::  Add a face to your doll.  Pencils are easier to control than paint or even markers, and so children will usually have more success drawing a face on their doll when using pencils. You can see in the photo above that I like using pencils to draw faces sometimes, too.

(Oops.  Still forgot to add those white polka dots.  If you haven't already painted the dots, go ahead. Grab that thick white acrylic paint and add them to your doll. Or wait until later.)

STEP 5 ::  If you haven't yet colored your flower stamen with a black Sharpie, go ahead and do this. Then cut a circle of felt, small enough to fit on the back of the head of your peg doll.

Fold your millinery flower stamen in half and place a dab of glue on the felt circle. Put the bend of the stamen into the glue, and then glue the felt circle & stamen to the back of your peg doll's head.

STEP 6 :: Use glue to attach clip-art monarch butterfly wings to the back of your doll.  There are good clip-art wings here and here, or you can use Google to find many others. There are also some good choices for wings at craft shops; I used these die-cut, cardstock butterfly wings which were stashed in my craft cupboard.  Something like this, this or this might work, too.

Another idea would be to draw your own wings and add color with crayon, pencil, markers or paint.

STEP 7 ::  Look!  I finally remembered to paint white polka dots on the body of my butterfly!

This project would make a wonderful addition to lessons about butterfly life cycles, the amazing migration patterns of monarchs and the importance of preserving the habitats of these gorgeous pollinators. You can find lots of information at this website here, and for additional lesson planning, I think this book is particularly lovely. This video on YouTube is also quite wonderful.