Here’s my very first knitted item! I am taking an online course taught by Stefanie Japel at Craftsy.com, and so far, it has been really great. I really like being able to watch it at my own pace, and go back to review segments if needed. I think the only drawback compared to a real, in-person […]

My best friend recently took her 5-year-old daughter to Babyland General to adopt a Cabbage Patch Kid for her birthday, so I wanted to make some new clothes for the new baby doll. I borrowed my own Cabbage Patch preemie doll back from my niece and bought a 1980s-era Butterick pattern for Cabbage Patch preemie doll clothes, but […]

I’m so focused on looking ahead to summer and making stuff for the camp that Easter has snuck up on me and I didn’t even take out my old decorations, let alone make anything new this year. I’m in the middle of making another quilt (this one is for our bed at the camp), and cushions […]

We had such crazy warm weather last week (in the 80’s, which is about 40 degrees above normal for this time of year!) that we have been dreaming a lot about returning to the summer cabin we bought last year. We bought it at the end of August so didn’t really get to enjoy it last […]

I admit I am not much of a sports fan, but having graduated from the University of North Carolina, it is hard not to get caught up in the NCAA tournament “March Madness.”  This year, both my school and the school my twin sister attended  (Ohio University)  have made it to the Sweet 16 and are […]

I have at least five friends who are expecting babies in the next six months or so, so I definitely am going to get my money’s worth out of this adorable swaddled baby doll pattern from Adirondack Patterns. I didn’t follow the directions exactly (I bought some organic cotton fabric for the “skin” instead of using […]

I’m starting to think that by the time I finish slipcovering my living room furniture I will either be sick of the “new” look or my cats will have destroyed the new covers. I finally finished the second slipcover a few weeks ago, and now just have to make one for the large, very beat-up “chair […]

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to start writing cards and letters to my far-flung friends instead of relying on e-mail and Facebook. I had a vague plan to write a letter to a different friend each month, and maybe include some handmade notecards to encourage them to write back (or write to someone else!) I’ve […]

Are you sick of so-called Subway Art yet? I admit, I am starting to tire of seeing it on so many craft blogs. But, I did try a slightly different take on it for one of my Associated Press craft stories. Instead of a list of places, house rules or inspirational words like I’ve seen […]

I just realized I never shared these catnip mice I made before Christmas! My son is crazy about cats and wanted to make Christmas presents for the cats at our local animal shelter. So he helped me make these little guys.
I was surprised to see just how many tutorials there are online on making catnip mice, […]