An Apple A Day

We went apple picking for the first time this weekend. What a lovely time and best of all, it was a success for Li'l C! Not only were the trees young and full of apples low enough for him to pick, we got to pick 5 different kinds of apples. Clem got to play on a shiny, red, old tractor. And take a wagon time.

We now have too many apples but i'm going to get my hands dirty in apple sauce, apple crumble, apple squash soup......

Happy Fall.

A Quilt for a Wee Friend

Friends of ours had their second baby recently. As a second child born to a family that was readily prepared with clothes, toys, love, and more, i thought a hand-made gift would be a good addition. It took a bit of thought to see what would be a good project.
I am wanting to challenge myself more with sewing these days and thought a small lap quilt would be a good idea. When i came across Purl Soho's April Quilt Challenge, i knew i found my project. Our friends, like us, love to garden, so a Vegetable Patch quilt was a good first real real quilting project for me. I've done simple quilt-like projects before (like my beloved blanket of vintage hankies) but this definitely was a bit more detailed.
Using the PS tutorial as a guide, i chose to make my quilt smaller - both for me and our new Wee Friend Ben. I am quite happy with how it turned out. I even personalized a bit with a little worm embroidered on with Ben's initials and some fun ribbons for him to grab at as he gets older. I love the red and white checkered backing, it reminds me of a picnic tablecloth too, which i thought was a fitting idea!

This project was such a good learning for me, as i know feel more confident to do the borders (a can fix the mistake i made with this, ahem, project. And i know just the quilt story i want to make for Li'l C!

A Kitchen of His Own

We had promised ourselves to make Li'l C his gifts for is birthday, which was in (ahem) June. Mine is still not done but at least J's is. C loved helping his Daddy every step of the way, and had a lot of input in this project too, as 2 year olds can.
So, as Li'l C loves to cook almost as much as J and i do, and he also loves to keep us company while we cook, J created the perfect kitchen. He used wood from an old record player table, and only had to buy a bit of supplies, like the magnet closures, the door handles, and a bit of wood. The rest is stuff we had already. A great fit for our tight budget.
Here' 'C' can stand for 'Clem' of course or 'cook' for the wee ones that come to join him in his kitchen!
We also incorporate the bowl and vase that i use to wash C's hands in it. He loves this part, and loves that he can do it all by himself now. The stove is a portable stove toy C got as a gift from his Pa and Nana and we built the kitchen to fit it in. I like how it can be removed as we can also use the counter to cut his food and he's learning how to actually roll out dough on it. I also have to admit i decorated the kitchen to fit in with ours - 50s inspired knick knacks and kitchen tools.

C's New Sweater for the Fall (and Spring)

I have been working on this sweater for Lil C for several months now. It's finally done! I got the pattern from Vintage Baby Knits and loved the diamond details in it.

I love the yarn i used (this taupe colour is my favourite colour these days) but i don't know what happened to my size. I swear i tested my gauge, but the sweater is clearly bigger than the 18 - 24 months size i chose. I guess that's a good thing as i just finished it and it's now Fall and C is 26 months!
The biggest part that i had to alter was the neckline. It was a boatneck but looked more like an 'off the shoulder look' on C that i knew it would annoy us both. I found a tutorial for 'elastic casting off' on-line and it really not only completed the look, it saved the sweater!

His Dress Up Outfit

P7303207, originally uploaded by a crafty vegan.

We went to our friends' wedding this past weekend and had a lovely time. It also gave me yet another excuse to make something lovely for Lil C. I bought the sweetest green linen fabric at The Workroom to complete my vision with this vintage pattern i scored. I think it mimics a boy's outfit from the 1940s with a modern look.

If only i learned how to get his straps to stay on!

He Turns Two

I've been busy these last few weeks balancing work, Summer weather, and preparing for Li'l C's birthday party. While he officially turns two tomorrow - egads - here's a look at his birthday party extravaganza. As he loves our local park, we held it there so it was a Picnic in the Park theme.
I made ice cream cone cupcakes (carrot cake) and lady bug (chocolate) cupcakes for the event. I found the simple ice cream recipe in a magazine (sorry no idea which one) but any recipe can be adapted for it. Just pour the batter into the cones. I then made chocolate, vanilla cream cheese, and strawberry icings as the 'cream' and each child (and adult!) helped themselves to making their own cones.

As a new tradition, i made his outfit again this year - Oliver and S's playsuit. I love the bird fabric especially!

As a child growing up with craft time at pretty much all my birthday parties, i wanted to pass on this tradition for C too. Being a toddler, in a park, and a boy, i wanted something that worked for him and his friends. So i brought cardboard, sand, craft glue, and sticks. The older children were totally into this, and C loved the bus i made him.
Here are some of the special candles i got for the party. Fitting i thought. Clem didn't eat his special cake until later.
C finishes the day off with another round of cupcakes. Can you guess what kind? Seconds later after this photo, he had some icing all over his arm too! Good thing he's in the midst of potty training because he was almost naked eating this mess!

Our Sunday Morning - Wee Ones Party

We celebrated Lil C's 2nd birthday with his (and mine) mom group friends. We have an annual party to celebrate them, and our journeys, as this group has been together since our prenatal prep days.

We had a picnic party in our favourite city park, and had cupcakes on hand for the wee ones to decorate themselves. I made vegan vanilla agave nectar cupcake from 'the' cupcake book (no need to name it, right?) and C decorated one with cream cheese icing and sprinkles. Here it is in action.

Simple Waldorf Toys

I made some simple toys for Li'l C to enjoy, both featured here are adapted from some Waldorf sources. They are fun to make, and very simple and earthy. I especially liked how quick they were to make. The leaves are hand sewn so they provided a further gentle meditation for me as i sewed them.
As we are vegetarian, i adapted a fishing game into "Felt Leaves and Rake." To make, use some green felt (i used left over felted sweater material), and cut into leaf shapes. Stitch 2 pieces together, and add detail vein down middle if you like. At the end, leave a long piece of thread and knot a washer there. I first tried inserting it inside the leaf, but that proved too thick for the magnet. Make as many as you like, between 3 -5 is best. I had a left over piece of magnetic washer available but they may be hard to find. Try to get one so that you can tie the magnet around some string. Then attach to a stick (bamboo is nice and sturdy). Now we just have to get used to being gentle with the stick as it can be dangerous to swing it around!
The other toy is a wind ring that we lovingly call "Shoo Fly" here as we have picked up singing that song while we play with it. C especially loves how the ribbons tickle him when we chase each other with it. I picked blue as 1) i have a lot of blue ribbons and 2) i thought it looked like either waves of the ocean or sky. It was an instant hit!