What We Made and Did: Part 1

Phew! Talk about a Make and Do tornado. As I mentioned, my parents were in town visiting for the last five days and boy or boy did we tear up the town. And the craft room. Something I love about my parents is that they’re up for anything. (Trust me, I’ve tested them on this over the years.)

I feel really lucky to have grown up around two seriously creative people. I’m pretty sure they could figure out how to make a mattress out of twisty ties if they needed to.

This is how it usually goes down when they visit.

ME: Mom, have you seen those cute little ____ on ____? Well, I think we could make them.

MOM: Oh, totally, and we could add ____ and combine them with ____.

ME: Oh my god. I love it. Let’s go to Michael’s this second.

MOM: Mentally, I’m already there. Grab your 40% off coupon.

And with my dad:

ME: Hey Dad, do you think I could re-upholster/re-paint/re-finish/re-store this ____ ?

DAD: Well, Jess, I think you probably could figure it out.

ME: Well, how would you do it?

DAD: Aw, well, I don’t know… (What follows is step-by-step instructions that prove he really does know. The details inevitably include the use of lacquer thinner at least twice, regardless of the project.)

ME: Okay dokay! So can you help me move ____ over ____ ? It’s really heavy.

From felted flowers to crispy Brussels sprouts, there isn’t much we didn’t eat, do or glue this weekend. I’m breaking our charades up into several posts because you I might need a breather in between.

1. Felt flowers: you never know when inspiration might strike, and for my mom and me it was in the middle of the quilt store. (I guess that’s not that unlikely of a place for inspiration to strike, come to think of it.) We found some awesome wool felt and knew it needed to be in our hair somehow, someway. Turns out these felt dahlias not only look awesome as hair flair, they’re also great for pinning to a sweater or just laying on the coffee table like little lily pad flowers. I’ll post more details about the making-of later this week.

2. Fall has fallen: We took a great walk around the James River which runs right through the middle of Richmond. The leaves were falling like Confederate soldiers which made my moccasins and me pretty happy.

3. Wooly toes: being the Master of Make and Do, my mom often “whips up” things that would take me or any normal person months to complete. These slippers, for example, didn’t exist when she landed in Richmond on Wednesday. By Saturday, they were knit, felted and ready for wearing. She knits a lot of things, but these slippers are sort of her specialty. Since she found this pattern about ten years ago, I think she has single-handedly warmed the toes of every person that has vaguely crossed her path ever since.

So there’s the appetizer course of Make and Do madness. I’ll be back in a bit to post more details.

(I also posted the details of this weekend over at New Nostalgia, Finding Fabulous Blog, Hope Studios, Sew Stylish Boutique, the DIY Showoff and The Weigands.)