Holy cow, it's been a while! To be honest, (embarrassingly enough) I went on vacation for a week and FORGOT the name of my blog. I know...it's sad and pathetic. I have accepted this. Moving on.

Now that have successfully recovered my blog from the lybrinth that is the internet, it is time to catch up on a few things. I will be creating posts with pictures of what I have been up to in the past 7 months (ugh).

Harry Potter Wands

As any loyal Harry Potter fan knows, there are 13 days until the final film is released and those that grew up with the books much finally accept adulthood. In honor of the films that defined a generation, I will share with you a bit of a flashback/current project: my homemade wizard wands.

Back story: Freshman year of college I decided to give myself the gift of taking a class that had absolutely nothing to do with my major. My class of choice was titled FS 121: Rereading Harry Potter. That' s right, friends, I actually took a class on reading and discussing one of my favorite book series and got credit for it. There was more to it than just reading the books and talking about it. We discussed subtle themes and messages hidden in the story and what each character represents. It was much more academic than I had thought and ended up being the best class I have taken thus far. Of course, we did take a break from all the schoolish-ness of it all and we had....a Harry Potter party! We were even required to show up dresses as our favorite character. I hand made a costume two months in advance for the party, but I'll save that endeavor for another date. The 22 of us were split into different committees (food, games, fanart slide show, music, ect). I was on the food committee but decided that that was not enough. Given that I had copious amounts of free time freshman year, I decided to take on a secret mission: to make a unique Harry Potter wand for each of my 21 classmates plus the TA and my professor. This is how I decided to spend spring break of 2010. 

The final result

  

I ended up spending literally all week making these beauties, each one unique in color and design; no two were alike. I used the instructions I found here. I wasn't about to whittle a wand for each student so I opted to use paper. To make them even more magical, each wand it made with a piece of one of my essays for that class (I had to reprint them all anyway for a final project, so this was a wonderful way to recycle them). I also typed up a "letter" from Mr. Ollivander explaining that a concerned student contacted him personally and described our class's desperate need for wands and for the class to not be concerned with payment as it had been "taken care of". I know it seems a bit juvenile to write a letter for a fictional character, but bare with me. Each wand also came with an attached description of the wand wood, length, and core. The description bore the mark of Ollivander's shop on the opposite side. 

The kicker of this whole mission was that I told no one of my plans. My TA and professor didn't even know that I had taken it upon myself to create a secret committee we had not discusses: the party favor committee. The day of the party, I came to class really early so no one would see my basket full of wands. When the class before ours cleared out of our class room, I ran in and set out the basket, the letter, and a few wands on a table close to the entrance of the room so no one would miss them (see picture) and took my seat. As my class filed in one person at a time, they noticed the wands and the letter and were so ecstatic about the whole thing. They all chose there wands with great care and took there seats, excitedly exchanging wands and examining them. No one realized it was me who had set them there and when my professor showed up and saw what I had done, she chose a wand for herself and asked who had made all of these. I finally claimed them as mine and explained to her and the class that I really wanted to surprise everyone with something wonderful; my peers and the class itself meant a lot to me and I wanted us to have something to remember it by. 

This is my class, all in costume and holding their wands. Most of them are pointing their wands at the camera.

We have all stayed in touch since the class ended a year and half ago. We recently reunited for dinner and they all said they still have their wands, and even the tags that were attached to them, safely displayed in their homes or dorm rooms just in case some casual magic needs to be done. 

I recently picked up the habit of wand making again because my roommate does not have a wand and decided that she simply must have one to take with her to the midnight movie premiere (which she is attending in a different state than me).  This is the wand I made for her. I was surprised at how quick it was to just make one wand instead of 2 dozen.

 The description, style, and color of the wand were all picked with care to match her personality. I have not yet put it in the mail, but intend to in the next couple of days. 

 I also rewrote the letter from Ollivander and personalized it with her name. I also included the Ollivander 

symbol and (although it is a bit blurry) a footer with the information on Ollivander's shop, all printed on a parchment colored paper. The effect was quite professional looking. 

Ollivander's Wands
Maker of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
Diagon Ally, London, England

For some perspective on the length of the wand, I put it on the letter from Ollivander, below. 

These wands are so easy and inexpensive to make, I would recommend this project to any die hard fan of the books who feels that they need a wand. I thoroughly enjoy making them and working with the hot glue to make the different designs, which I admit is a bit tricky to get the hang of in the beginning. I like the challenge of creating something that is meant to reflect the personality of the person receiving it, especially when I feel that I have hit the nail on head in that regard. I am so excited to hear her reaction once she get's it; after all, it is much more fun to surprise people with homemade stuff, especially if it is magical. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

Ah, baking! I do love it so; it's a craft and an art. Unfortunately, it is 112 degrees outside today, so turning on the oven is not an option. This is a problem because I wanted to make cookies for a friend's birthday but don't have the courage to bake them in my boiling house. Fortunately, I happened to find some nice screw top jars lying around and the idea hit me: cookies in a jar!

There are so many variations of this online in different flavors where the recipe is perfectly measured out to fit snugly in the jar, but I to just dove head first into it, as per usual, without really searching too hard. I ended up using the recipe on the bag on chocolate chips and just cut all of the measurements in half so it would fit into the jar I had. This is the recipe already divided in half.

1 1/8 c. flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/8 c. brown sugar

3/8 c. granulated sugar

1/2 bag of chocolate chips (I wrapped these in plastic wrap tied with a ribbon and put into the top of the mix so it would be separate)

My logic was that mixing all the ingredients including the chocolate chips is very hard on the hands or a mixer. With the chips separate, all of the ingredients can be mixed and the chips added later so the whole recipe is easier to mix together without hurting anything.

I put the rest of the ingredients on an instruction card inside the jar, since they need to be added a the time of baking:

Add 1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove chocolate chip package from jar; set aside.

Mix contents of jar with above ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

The final touch was the label that says "Chocolate Chip Cookies" in a pretty font, which I whipped up on Word. In hindsight, I probably should have made the label thinner so you can see the layers of ingredients in the jar. Overall, I am happy with the result and m glad that my first trial with this was a success. Thank goodness all of the mix fit perfectly into the jar! I am super excited to give  this to my friend for her birthday and look forward to her reaction to the yummyness of the cookies. 

Hollowed Out Books

Although it is a bit late, I would like to share this year's DIY Father's Day gift to my dad. He has always wanted a hollowed out book to put secret stuff in like money of his keys, but he never found one in a store that he really liked. They were always too small, not deep enough, or too "obvious". So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make one myself.

First I read the instructions on how to hollow out a book in 80 easy steps. It is a wonderful tutorial that is not only instructive but also entertaining as. According to the instructions, my first objective wss to find a book I was willing to gut out. With my dad's specifications in mind, I went to the local library and searched the "for sale" section, where cast off books are sold for a couple bucks. I found a lovely copy of Stephen King's "Needful Things". My dad had never read this book, I knew, but it was very thick, which offered a lot of space once it was hollow, was a book written by one of his all time favorite authors and was on sale for $1. Objective 1: complete.

Sorry, Mr. Book. I am about to destroy you.

See how thick this is? Yeah, this is what I was up against. 

I discovered quickly that  this particular project would be no small feat. I went through 450 pages of paper, which I could only remove about 6 at a time with each round of cuts with an X-ACTO knife. I went through 6 blades because they became dull pretty quickly with so many pages to cut through. There were bits and pages of paper everywhere: on my clothes, the floor, in wedges of the book, my counter, my dog. Seriously. Not to mention the mental stress this put me though; I was literally tearing apart a beautiful bit of literature (a hardcover, no less). It felt sick, wrong, dirty......and yet, a bit fun. Like I was doing something naughty and no one could stop me. Anyway, let's move on. Not like you wanted to know about the kicks I get from ruining a harmless book.

The most difficult part about the whole operation was keeping the pages perfectly aligned as I sliced the pages out. one wrong cut can cause the next 30 pages to be crocked and then you have to go back and hope you can fix it. Most of the time I couldn't. It's not like the project was ruined by this, it just made the book look it is had definitely not been made in a factory. When I started the project, I had every intention on lining the inside of the book with some kind of fabric instead of leaving it bare like the tutorial said so.

I ended up buying felt from Michael's and spending an hour meticulously measuring out the felt to fit snugly into the book. When I was totally satisfied with the way it fit in, I hot glued it into place, successfully covering my mistakes and giving the book a more official look.

The hot glue doesn't look that shiny in real life; the flash caught it and makes it more obvious than it really is. 

Dad loved the book. It now sits on a shelf in his office, hiding all of his secret stuff. I must say that I am a bit obsessed with this project now. Every used book I see "would make a really good hollowed book". I now have a stack of books I wish to hollow as gifts, but have not started another just yet. I am a bit preoccupied with other projects right now.

Book= $1
X-ACTO knife+blades pack=$9
Decoupage glue, plastic wrap, and heavy things to help set the glue= free (I already had them)
Total Father's Day gift cost= $10

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Secret Stars

When I in the 4^th grade and at a birthday sleepover for a friend, one of the girls gave the birthday girl a pretty glass filled with what seemed like hundreds of mini wishing stars. I was enthralled with these little marvels; they looked so bright and friendly, they could have been candy. In fact, that’s what we all thought they were when she opened it. It turns out that these little beauties were made of paper. I had to know how to make them.

As it turns out, the girl who made them was a bit of a snob about it and it took me an hour to badger her into teach me how to make them. I had not yet discovered the internet back then and youtube was not around, so I had no choice but to have her teach me. She made me pinky swear and swear on the life of my first born child not to tell anyone how this was done (not literally, but you get the idea). This was apparently serious business.

When I went home the next day and showed my family a completed star, they flipped out. My brothers wanted to know the secret to these awesome little treasures. However, I was a girl of my word and kept the secret to myself. They begged me for YEARS to teach them how to make these cool little stars. I was a steel trap; they got nothing out of me.

Why am I revealing this now, you may ask? Because, apparently, youtube is full of videos and tutorials on how to make these stars and I don’t feel like I am breaking my promise because the "secret" is out all over the internet. Also, I never really like that girl and she was super rude to me throughout school, so I don’t think this secret deserves to be kept.

Here is the perfect tutorial for learning how to make these little gems, complete with video and picture directions.

My collection of stars

I have found, after making hundreds of these over time I have discovered that having nails is a huge benefit when making the creases to form the points, using a strip of paper that is too long causes it to be shapeless while too short a strip causes them to collapse, and that your hands will hurt badly after making a lot of these. Keeping these in mind, I made a little jar full of them to add a splash of color to my room.

 I feel that it adds a dash of color and whimsy to my space.

I would love to do more with this craft for gifts and that sort of thing. There are some great ideas out there.

I have not done any of these yet but will certainly be making some of them as gifts one day.

Flashback Project: My Mini Library

I am a book lover and reader extraordinaire (you know, on top of that crafting thing). I have always dreamed of having a reading room or library in my first home. The kind of room with chintz chairs and floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall mahogany book shelves filled with literature and a secret wall panel that opens up and reveals a room full of knitting supplies and-- 

Okay, my imagination ran away with me for a bit there, but you get the idea: I love books. So, narturally, when I stumbled upon the instructions on how to make these adorable tiny books I was hooked. 

Here is my first mini book: The Lord of the Rings. I decided to make LotR my first book because it was what I happened to be reading at the time. I opted to use paper instead of fabric as the instructions said because I had easier access to paper then to fabric, although I seriously considered ripping up an old t-shirt and using the scraps from that (I'm in college, what do you think, I'm made of money?). Alas, I couldn't bare to destroy a good shirt, so paper it was.

The final result ended up being 1 1/4" x 1". Formatting the front cover picture was a bit tricky, but after a few failed attempts I eventually got it down to a science. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to finish one book and most of that was allotting time for the glue to dry. 

The best part of this project: using a nail file to sand the edges of the pages before binding the cover on so the pages were even. The was a lot of satisfaction in seeing the smoothness in the pages and blowing off all of the resulting paper dust. My poor roommate, I think I almost gave her an asthma attack from all the dust. 

Anyone who knows me will tell you I obsess easily, especially when it comes to crafts. The second I have successfully completed a new project I immediately want to make 27 more. This was no exception.

All of the colors and title fonts were chosen with great care. You should have seen me, it took about 3 hours just to choose select everything based on the book title and even then I still changed my mind when it came time to commit. I wanted the font and color to reflect the personality of the book and I really liked the result.  One book that is not included in the picture is a tiny red copy of Gone with the Wind, which I gave to my aunt as a gift. 

Like any true reader, book collecting never stops and the collection is constantly growing. You can bet I will be making more in the future or whenever the mood strikes. I have every intention of making a full mini set of the Harry Potter series, I just haven't found the perfect colored paper for it yet and I refuse to do anything but the best by those books. 

Future titles will include: Harry Potter 1-7, Peter Pan, Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, The Once and Future King,  The Odyssey, A Great and Terrible Beauty, Blood and Chocolate, and The Other Boleyn Girl.  

Lover's Knot Blanket: My Current Masterpiece

This blanket may be the most intricate pattern I have challenged myself with to date. I'm saying a quick prayer to the knitting goddess that I can finish this on time and without error.

Image from Lion Brand website

This is the Lover's Knot pattern found free on the Lion Brand website. I initially came across it when I was searching for a quick and pretty pattern for a blanket as a gift to my cousin for her wedding in July 2010. I began the blanket in April thinking that I could surely finish it in 4 months. 

This pattern was the devil.

I was pretty new to cabling when I chose this pattern but figured that my ambition, drive, and help from youtube videos would get me through this pattern with no problems. I was a bit intimidated when I cast on 180 stitches (probably the biggest cast on I have ever done) and realized that the yarn I had chosen was pretty light weight. Completely dismissing those issues, I continued on and began the pattern. 

And so I knitted.....and knitted....and knitted.

July came and went and my cousin never got the blanket. I think it was the cabling that killed it.  Fortunately I had not told her I was making a blanket for her wedding so she didn't know the difference. There was so much cabling involved that it slowed me down considerably, and I consider myself a pretty fast knitter. After 7 months slaving over the stupid thing I (regretfully) gave up on the idea of a full sized blanket and cast off early, making a very beautiful and intricate baby blanket. It is still sitting in my drawer, waiting to be used or given as a gift. Honestly, after working on it for so long and forming a love/hate relationship with the beautiful and time consuming pattern, I may keep it for my future children. I'm going to have a hard time giving away a piece that I have a "relationship" with.

Fast forward to March 2011. A good friend of mine just got engaged and I  entertained the idea of making her a wedding blanket. Since my sort of failed attempt at making a wedding blanket for my cousin, I was a bit hesitant to start another one. Given that I would have a year to finish the blanket (the wedding is May 2012), I decided to take on another big project. Thus the great pattern search began.

I LOVE searching for new patterns. To me it is a "thrill of the hunt" senario; once I find a pattern I am in love with, I get really excited about it and can't wait to conquer it. I looked through plenty of patterns that were new or that I had saved from past projects but I was haunted by "the one that got away": that damn Lover's Knot blanket. After debating on it for a while, I decided to just go for it. Hey, I have a year this time. Failure it not an option.

I decided to use Bernat baby sport yarn in ecru for the blanket. I have used this type before and like the lightness and warmth it has when knitted. I began the project in late April; in fact, I think the beginning this project was a way to keep me sane while studying for my first round of nursing finals. 

Close up of my work on the pattern

Clustered Braid portion of the pattern.

XOXO portion of pattern

I like the Celtic influence and subtle Romanticism of this pattern. The clustered braid reminds me of Celtic knots, which I think are lovely, and that XOXO pattern is adorable (hugs and kisses in knitting form). I currently have 1 1/2 feet of work done. My intention is to complete 1 foot each month until it is 5 feet long. This is a bit more challenging than the first time I tried this, since I learned from the first time that the blanket needs to be wider; the cabled portions shorten it a lot. So this blanket will be considerably bigger overall than the first attempt. I don't care how long it takes or if my fingers bleed in the process: I will finish this blanket on time and it will be the most gorgeous piece I have done. I will be recording if I hit my 1 foot a month deadline on this site. I will keep you posted. Wish me luck.