paper ornaments.

Recently a good neighbor endowed me with her collection of champagne tops. I hesitated to take them at first as I thought these would only find their way to my batch of dust collectors. Then a couple of days ago, I stumbled upon some pretty paper ornaments whilst browsing online for holiday decor. I've made all my tree ornaments but they're from a few years ago and I wanted a more modern theme this year.

When I found several online instructions, the bottle caps immediately came to mind. The tops would make splendid finials for the ornaments! Very soon, the process became even more exciting as not only would I be upcycling bottle tops but old greeting cards too! I followed this tutorial and prepared both champagne and soda caps by driving a small nail through the center of each with a hammer. I used 22 gauge wire, looped at each end, instead of a hat pin; and for stability, I threaded the wire through a plastic straw. I've been preoccupied with this project in the last few days, and needless to say, I've accomplished a few good deeds indeed. If you don't have any crowns saved, I'm sure the local bar/restaurant will gladly part with theirs. -_^ Happy hunting and since you're already there, yes, you should treat yourself to a fine cold bottle of beer!

Gwen and Glen - pumpkin spool dolls.

Happy Halloween!!

can't help it...

Perhaps you may be over bobbins but I'm certainly not. I've now found the perfect (no, this time they really are perfect) animals to hold my assortment of twine.

I saw this brilliant idea from Zakka Life way back and have never given up looking for just the right creatures. These doe and deer came from Jupiter's Child, another wonderful Etsian. Check out the shop and perhaps you too would like to adopt a few of their lovely pets. You'll find it hard to say no. I, of course, would still love a giraffe....

Forgot to mention that this obsession did have its reward. My very own bobbin gals made it in the July/August issue of the hip Australian frankie magazine! It was so cooool (still is) and tremendously gratifying. Thank you all who have supported and continue to support me.

My bobbin gals in frankie magazine!

a new kind of sweetness.

I am very fortunate to have friends in the right places. These fabrics come from a friend's mom in Japan and the pattern is from a book from a pal in Hong Kong. The Lego props, of course, are mine.

Devyn - needle keeper.

jolly jars.

Coming soon!


And more goodness....

happy.

I go through staring contests with wooden pieces a lot. Sometimes I win. The mushroom caps were a wrong purchase almost doomed to the reject pile. Now I wish I had more of them. These turned out so cuuute!

yummy!

Irresistibly sweet!

Go ahead, you deserve a treat!

animal bobbins.

You know, you gotta love Daiso! Since I've been on this bobbin kick lately, I've been keeping a keen eye out for other cool notions I can use instead. (I'm not really sure why there's such a shortage of cooler bobbins.) I found these cute animal cutouts at the local Daiso, which are originally intended as "planter accessory" to "decorate the planter fashionably." Soon as I saw them, I knew they would make perfect bobbins! I found only the sheep yesterday and I really wanted the dogs.... So today, I went back and got on all fours to scour the floor. They're packed in such small bags, I was certain a few had fallen and gotten tucked in the shadows. Sure enough, I found one bag, a bag of dogs! Needless to say, this little girlie had a very good day!

Girls just wanna have fun!!

I love, love the way Marleen has done up these gals! No doubt they're having a blast in Netherlands!

wishlist.

I want very very much this little cutie for my birthday. Alas, she's currently only available in Europe! Blast!

peg dolls.

Bobbin gals.

After seeing a few clever and cute embroidery floss bobbins, I definitely wanted some of my own. Really, I just wanted to make them, but as most of these are laser cut wood, I thought initially I was doomed. Looked into laser cutting, and boy, it's expensive so I figured I'd cut out my shapes from a flat sheet of clay instead. I toyed with this for a bit, then pictured myself covered with a crumbly mess in desperation. I had to give it a rest.

Would you believe it? The sages are right again. Good things come to those who wait. (A pocket full of change, I mean large bills, of course would be nice.) After some time, the more usual dowel version of the bobbin came to mind, you know, the wooden stick with caps on both ends. Well, I proceeded to make these with 1" wooden balls at one end so I can paint them as doll heads. They took almost a day to finish but they're well worth the time! I just loOoOve them! They're perfect in my Japanese ribbon collection. Finally, I've made my very own bobbins!

Owlie love.

coming soon....