New Things

So just updating what we have been up too lately. Sarah has been super busy teaching classes on mosaics, soap making and other cool crafts. She has also been making these beautiful mosaic pieces (soon to be for sale on Etsy!) You will want to rush to get those, they really are beautiful. We will update in another post with all the information to her shop, and link to her classes if you in the Chicago area you can join in.

 I have been taking a pottery class and making just tons of stuff! I took classes in college but more for figure sculpting, this is just free and whatever I can come up with and I love it! I am sharing all of that work on my blog Not Too Pink Here is just a few images of what I have been working on;

Above and below, some "Lady Head" vases. 

These 2 (maybe sort of weird?) brooches went to my mom.

This raining cloud mobile

And a work in progress mobile, starring these guys!

I am also taking this amazing illustration class I will post about over there as well, much to share!

Walnut shell knitting basket ornament

We used the walnut shell many times in our small crafts, one of our favorites,
was the knitting basket from this post. 

This would make a really cool, unique ornament for the knitter in your life, so we made new

Christmas baskets, with red and green yarns.

Yet another easy small holiday ornament

I love the kitschy awesomeness of the Yule Log, and even more so as a cake. 

Also known as Buche de Noel.

Tiny cuckoo clock ornament

Here is just one more last minute ornament idea!

I absolutely love cuckoo clocks, and have been dying to get one for our house for years! 

I love all the hand-carved details in the house, the little woodland animals, the kitschy German landscapes

and of course, that fact that a birds comes out of a little door to say "cuckoo!".

So like many things I have yet to get, I will make a very tiny version for a dollhouse 

and wait patiently for the day, I get a real one in my own house!

It's not too late to make more gifts!

There are still a few days left to come up with some creative, quick handmade gifts this Christmas.
Here is just one example, one of our most popular Christmas gift ideas, tiny book charms!

With the holidays approaching I am once again struggling to come up with some inexpensive, original gifts for my family. How about you?
 First order of business for me: a present for my mom. She has a home filled with festive dishes, Matryoshka dolls, quilts, tea sets and books. I try to make her a gift every year. My mom is rather obsessed with the Bloomsbury Group. She collects their various first editions, gives a dramatic slide show detailing their capers and love affairs and for many years even had a big picture of Virginia Woolf hanging in her sewing room. (If you would like to see the Virginia Woolf quilt she made it is on Tumblr) So it did not take much imagination to determine that I should make her something featuring her favorite tortured author. I decided that at the same time I could make my daughter something for her dollhouse.

Matchbox Mayflower Diorama

Thanksgiving is around  the corner, thought we would share this old favorite from a few years ago!

I gave this to my mother who hosted our Thanksgiving dinner that year!

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It is November, and Thanksgiving is approaching! 

Here is a clever gift to share for the holidays: a matchbox diorama of the 

Mayflower voyage with a ship you can move around through the waves like it is sailing to the New World.

Superstar!

I am being featured this week on Cutoutandkeep.net as the "Crafty Superstar" !

So each day this week we will share one our tutorials! 

Go on over and check it out, today's post is Paper Mache Animals!