mini cake bunting

These are terrible, terrible photos of something I made that I actually really liked.

I've always wanted to try making mini cake bunting, so I decided to host a swap for it, thinking it would force me to commit to actually doing it. My partner crafty cupcake likes a lot of feminine and vintage things, so I decided to make hers out of pretty printed fabric, vintage lace, beads, and vintage flowers.

The problem was that I've been so distracted lately that I left the project until pretty late in the game and didn't have the chance to take proper photos of it! Silly me. Oh well, I'm glad I have some photographic record of it...and I suppose I could actually make myself one sometime, too.

fairy tale scherenschnitte

As you may have noticed, I'm a devoted fan of the art of paper-cutting. I'm just a beginner myself, but I do enjoy trying out little projects here and there with my trusty knife.

For the fairy tale scherenschnitte swap I hosted recently, my partner mentioned her love of period films and dolls in her profile. This spoke of a certain sense of romance and whimsy to me, so I thought she might like the Cinderella image I came across.  I decided to do a simplified version of an Arthur Rackham silhouette from the early 1900s, cut out from textured white paper and mounted onto pink card stock. I had to add a couple little dabs of additional glue after I took this photo, but overall I think it turned out pretty well (though perhaps could use more added detail in the interior space?) and it's now on its way to my partner in Malaysia. It looks like Cinderella and her prince are having a grand old time at the ball, doesn't it?

I have to apologize for my absence lately, too. I've been a little distracted between lots of good books to read and a little project that I'm launching soon, but I do have photos saved up to share that will hopefully get posted without too much delay.

a poem for your pocket

April is National Poetry Month! And April 14 is Poem in Your Pocket Day, when you're encouraged to carry around a poem with you all day long.

I joined a swap recently in which you were to send a children's poem to your partner for this occasion, which is good timing since I recently found these amazing old Junior Classics books at a library sale for a dollar each. One of the books was a volume of Poetry for Young Readers, so I went through and chose "A Seal's Lullaby" by Rudyard Kipling and "The Moon's the North Wind's Cooky" by Vachard Lindsay, both of which I really liked. I also picked a funny Shel Silverstein poem called "How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes" since my partner loves his books.

I thought it'd be fun to make a mini accordian-style poetry book instead of sending just one poem, so I printed everything out onto nice stationery, glued extra end papers and pretty cardstock for covers, and sewed on a bit of ribbon to tie it together. I left a blank page in the middle so my partner can add her own poem if she likes, too! I like the idea of knowing someone will be carrying this with her all day long in a couple of weeks. It'll be fun to see the poem I receive in return, too.

little house votive: 5 minute craft

I thought it'd be fun to decoupage a votive candle holder, so I purchased a clear glass one awhile back. It's been hanging out in the craft closet until this cold and windy weekend, when I decided it was time to see what I could do with it.

I measured and cut out a Garth Williams illustration from a yellowing copy of Little House in the Big Woods along with some text. Using Mod Podge and a soft brush, I painted the whole glass with a thin layer of glue. I then carefully placed the cut paper onto the glass and brushed on several more layers of Mod Podge, allowing them to dry between coats. (I replaced the chapter header "The Long Rifle" with the book title as well.) The whole thing took around 5 minutes, not counting drying time, and it's probably one of the most satisfying crafts you could do for under a dollar in materials.

When the candle is lit inside, it all looks appropriately old-timey and warm with light glowing through the vintage paper. So simple, so pleasing.

free download: rose calling cards

I just sent off a dozen calling cards to my swap partner ftdlynn, based on the new-fangled name cards that swept the Little Town on the Prairie by storm back in the 1800s. I used a vintage rose image (since Laura Ingalls Wilder named her daughter Rose) and lots of pink (since she always wore pink hair ribbons), along with the following quote printed on textured card stock:

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

I also included a few blank cards that have the original Helen Sewell illustration, too, and both sets will make pretty swap cards or gift enclosures.

If you'd like a set for yourself, the template for the blank calling cards may be downloaded here. Just add your name, print them onto cardstock, and trim--you never know when you'll run into a handsome young gent with a pair of matched Morgans!

free download: cassandra clare + madeleine l'engle bookmarks

I hosted a handmade bookmark swap for my children's lit group recently, in which you were to send one bookmark tailored to one of your partner's favorite books and one bookmark featuring something you liked. As it happened, my partner DeidreArt likes several of the same authors I do, so this one was a particular pleasure.

Deidre's a big fan of Madeleine L'Engle, so I chose two quotes and book covers for the bookmark, including my favorite L'Engle book, A Ring of Endless Light. I've always loved the Austins, and in this book Vicky meets Adam Eddington, a marine biology student who teaches her to swim--and communicate--with dolphins. Whenever I see a dolphin now, I think of how L'Engle described their skin as "resilient pewter."

Deidre also enjoys Cassandra Clare's books. It was the easiest thing in the world to find a number of great Jace quotes from The Mortal Instruments, but I particularly love this swoony one. Who could resist a boy who hunts demons and says stuff like that? I also made a bookmark for Clockwork Angel, too. This was my absolute favorite YA book from 2010, and it tells the story of Tessa, who crosses an ocean to to seek her brother in Victorian London...and who finds that she has a mysterious past and unbelievable powers she'd never dreamed of. I love how Tessa learns to use her gifts to overcome her enemies, and I love all the characters that populate this dark, enthralling world. I'm dying for the sequel to come out, but it's a long way until December 2011. *sigh*

I backed the Cassandra Clare bookmarks with fantastic thin metallic cardboard from an Entertainment Weekly ad that I'd been saving. Do you collect bits and pieces of interesting material for your crafting, too? My supplies closet is bursting to the gills with all kinds of things that I just know will come in handy someday.

Anyway, if you'd like to print out these bookmarks for yourself, feel free to download a copy here. Just remember that they're for personal use only, not commercial, so no funny business, please! Consider it my version of a fan tribute. ;) Hope you enjoy.

velveteen rabbit adoption

Well, there was more drama on Swap-Bot over people not sending swaps they were supposed to. Fortunately this was caught in time for me to re-route the Adopt a Book Pet swap I was to send to my flaky partner, however, so I was able to scramble and make something different for Moineau in France with a few days' notice.

Her profile talks about how much she likes books featuring animals as heroes (!), so I wanted to make her something featuring one of my favorite books, Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit. My favorite version of this book features illustrations by David Jorgensen, so I did a little embroidered wall hanging based on one of the drawings.  I used thin corduroy and wool blend felt for the body and sewed it onto grey cotton cloth (which used to be one of my husband's nice dress shirts). I used masking tape to tape down the embroidery to cardboard backing and slid everything into a thrifted frame, and it's on its way to France now along with official adoption papers.  This isn't the first time I've made rabbits into wall hangings, but I think it's my favorite.

If you've never seen the beautiful film version of this book, by the way, you really should check it out. It uses the Jorgensen illustrations, is perfectly narrated by Meryl Streep, and also includes gorgeous music by George Winston. You can watch the first part of the movie here...but the film is so wonderful, it's really worth adding to your collection or perhaps even tucking into an Easter basket. I just love that it was done by Rabbit Ears Productions! At the 5 minute, 30 second mark in the clip, there is a brief flash of the drawing upon which this embroidery was based.

one tiny kitty

Departing in today's mail: an itty bitty kitty made for the "I really like..." One Tiny Thing swap. This was a sender's choice swap, but I try to please my partner where I can, so it was nice to see that she is a cat lover as well.

I needle-felted a fuzzy little wool kitten for my partner and fastened a satin collar around its neck with a tinkly bell. The kitty measures around 2.5 inches and fits perfectly into a little wooden crate from Michaels that I painted blue. (When I opened the crate, I actually found the vest-wearing mouse hiding in it that I'd made a few years ago, so now he's been liberated from his pen!) I haven't done too much needle-felting other than a few Christmas ornaments here and there, but I really do enjoy it...the prolonged poking action with the needle is very therapeutic. Except when you accidentally and vigorously stab your own finger with the barbed needle, of course.

Side note: do you edit what you present publicly as well? Along with my love for Hello Kitty, dolphins, and few other choice things, I don't actually have my love for cats on my Swap-Bot profile, since there are so many weird and bad products that you might potentially receive. I figure I've listed enough other things on my likes and dislikes list to make up for them.

romantic poems

I made another poetry booklet recently. I found a selection of poems I liked and paired them with vintage Valentine images and put them all together in a booklet bound together with spray adhesive. After using "The Owl and the Pussycat" for a swap awhile back, I've been wanting to use the other meaningful poem read at our wedding, too, so Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 was the very last poem included in the booklet.

I meant to offer the booklet as a download, but unfortunately the two files were too big for Google docs! So if you'd like a copy to print out for your own Valentine, feel free to message me at thehappyhoneybee(dot)gmail(com) or leave your email address in the comment box and I'll be happy to send you one electronically. The Christina Rossetti booklet I made awhile back would be a pretty accompaniment to any flowers and chocolate you might be sending, too...

3 handmade postcards

A quick break from all the hearts and flowers today.

Here is the postcard I made for a swap using vintage book paper and some of that lovely washi tape from West Elm. My partner loves children's books and Pooh in particular, so it was an especial pleasure to do. Since the card will have to travel through the postal system, I sealed the top with some clear acrylic spray as well...hopefully that will do the trick.

I sent my partner a couple of extra postcards made from Where the Wild Things Are and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny as well. I'm always on the lookout for inexpensive/damaged books at thrift stores to use in crafting, and I especially like the ones that have yellowing, brittle pages--it speaks to both their age and how much they were loved.

Postcards are such an easy and cheery thing to make, too. One day I'd like to do a really, really big postcard to send through the mail, but I'll have to look up the dimensions and such first. Hallmark used to sell those really giant (2 foot?) cards and envelopes, so I would think that postcards would probably go by the same standards of measurement.

bookish valentines

When you were little, did you decorate shoeboxes and paper bags for Valentine's Day? I fondly remember how much fun it was to make them with construction paper and glue and to watch the pile of thin white envelopes and little candies accumulate.

That was the idea behind the Sweets to the Sweet: a box of bookish valentines swap that I hosted. I thought it'd be fun to decorate and fill a box with cards signed by children's book characters, so everyone was asked to pick cards and write short messages that might've been chosen by characters they liked.

I wrapped and glued a cracker box in pretty red and white wrapping paper and then put on a few graphics so it looked sort of candy box-ish. I then printed out vintage cards or images that I found online, and embellished some of them with bits of glitter and ribbon.

I found a penny valentine with a worm on it that was perfect for Ramona Quimby to send to Henry Huggins, since of course she proposed to him with a worm wrapped around her finger; I printed out a Nancy Drew silhouette and pasted it to a doily for a card from Ned; and more penny valentines from Joe Willard to Betsy Ray, from Sheila Tubman to Peter Hatcher, and from Jules to Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family. The only two that weren't real "cards" were the one from Harriet the Spy to Sport and the card to Emily Byrd Starr from Teddy Kent, because he would of course send her something he'd painted himself. I always loved that Teddy had "the trick of putting [Emily] into every portrait that he painted," so I took the liberty of attributing A Meadow Flower to him. (Apologies, Mr. John White Alexander!)

I also used a few cards I scanned and printed from the box of 100-year-old valentines my mother-in-law sent me, including ones from Gilbert Blythe to Anne Shirley, from Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet, and from Peter Pan to Wendy Darling. It actually made me really sad to re-read the end of Peter Pan again; it'd been years since I read it, so it brought tears to my eyes when Wendy tells him she doesn't remember how to fly. Such a bittersweet ending.

Anyway...I put everything in the box with some candy, and I hope my partner will enjoy opening it. I'm looking forward to getting some bookish valentines of my own to read, too!

valentine cupcake toppers + download

I make way more cupcake toppers than I do cupcakes. That's probably a good thing, though sometimes it's hard to remember the need for moderation when you have so many cute toppers lying around.

I hosted a Sweetly Vintage Valentine Toppers swap on Swap-Bot recently, and here are the ones I sent to my partner. I love this assortment of sized-down old penny valentines, which includes a mermaid and a veggie since my partner is a fan of both.

I'm also including a link where you can download a copy of these cupcake toppers and print onto cardstock if you'd like to make your own.  They are easy to embellish with glitter, ribbons, lace, or whatever you'd like!

birdhouse valentine

It's kind of fun to join swaps with restrictions. I recently signed up for one in which you were to send a cheap Valentine package that cost no more than $2 to send and had to consist of at least one thing that was pink. Other than those guidelines, the package could be absolutely anything.

This struck my fancy since I liked the challenge of finding something interesting that was both inexpensive and lightweight to send. I was pleased to see that my partner would be hollycm6, since she's sent to me a few times but I haven't really sent to her in official swap before.

I decided to purchase a $1 miniature wooden bird house from Michaels, which I painted in two shades of pink. It was then embellished with a few small pom poms, shiny heart stickers, a pink grosgrain ribbon, and just a touch of white glitter. I also made a tiny needle-felted bird to set onto the perch, where he's holding a small woolly heart dangling from some striped twine. He looks like he might take off at any moment bearing his little love message.

To make it extra Valentine-y, I think I'll fill the bird house with candy. It's a little silly, but I do like heart-shaped chocolates and things like that around this time of year, and something like that would be perfect.  It's going to be interesting to see if I can find something wrapped that will still be small enough to fit into the opening, though. And hopefully it won't push the weight over the max, ack! Anyway, this was a really enjoyable project...it's so satisfying to make a present that's both cheap and fun.

Incidentally, I know I've been quiet lately, so yes, yes, I admit it. I still haven't found how to remove my Kindle from my hand for more than a couple of hours at a time yet.

happy pooh day!

Today is A.A. Milne's birthday, so it's also Winnie the Pooh Day. Pooh Bear is a long-time favorite of mine, and I've been lucky enough to see both the dear animals that belonged to Christopher Milne last year and the original book manuscripts at Trinity College at Cambridge University. Someday I'd love to go to Ashdown Forest and play Pooh Sticks, too.

In honor of Edward Bear, I hosted a little Pooh candygram swap using this idea from Inchmark. I just lined the bottom of a stationery box with E.H. Shepard illustrations and filled it with candy, gift tags made from vintage book paper backed with card stock, and wee Pooh picks that should be perfect for tea sandwiches.  All wrapped up in blue ribbons and good cheer.

There are more photos of the original Pooh animals on the honeybee Facebook page if you've a hankering to see them. And if you need some Pooh urgently, don't forget you can also download the Pooh bookmark I made last year, too! Happy Pooh Day--and may your day be filled with lots of honey...

worried bunny

Here is the last holiday photo for the year, I promise. My friend Holly and I decided to do a Christmas swap together, but the normally trustworthy postal service has been very slow since mid-December. My package to the UK took 3.5 weeks to get there, and after nearly six weeks I still don't have mine from her yet! But I know it will be worth waiting for.

Anyway, I sent Holly a bunch of things, including various books, peanut butter chocolates, bunny slippers, and a holly brooch sewn from felt and needle-felted berries.

I also made her a tiny felt bunny wearing a hat and coat made from a recycled cashmere sweater. (The same sweater I used for those arm warmers awhile back...it's the gift that keeps on giving!) Holly is just crazy over rabbits so hopefully she'll enjoy having one for her tree. I like that she looks a little worried, since I've always thought that most buns usually are. Lots of Mr. McGregors around, you know.

cozy yarn wreaths

Unveiling a few more of the presents I made this year...

My friend Linda and I have a newish tradition in which we exchange mostly handmade things for Christmas. I'd been wanting to try making those yarn wreaths that have been making the rounds in the crafting blogosphere, so this seemed like a good time to do it!

I used a small flat styrofoam wreath that I wrapped in cotton batting and white baby alpaca yarn, then adorned it with little flowers I made from felt and from a recycled sweater. I painted a bit of glitter to the bird and hot glued everything down and tied a fat yellow bow with vintage velveteen ribbon at the top. It turned out very sweet and it was pretty easy to figure out and assemble. (It was so fun to do that I also made a second one for our old neighbor!) I quite like the way the alpaca looks in this project, since the fuzzy softness adds to the cozy appeal.

I also made Linda, who is a newlywed, a slightly imperfect house ornament featuring their last name and the year. It's all hand-stitched and embellished with sequins and a gingham ribbon.

I think next year I'm going to have to try to get presents out a little earlier so that I can post them a little earlier. Are people sick of looking at Christmas things yet? I'm rather glad the hustle and bustle is over, but I'm still enjoying going over photographs and memories. But just a couple more post-holiday-themed entries, promise!

Photo #1 courtesy of Linda S.

comfort and joy

We are under the weather (again!) so things are a little quiet around the honeybee household...but I did want to share a few photos from the holiday weekend.

Pictured here is a lovely tag written by my clever husband (attached to a Puffin Classics copy of The Secret Garden), some festive holiday décor (including the two middle stockings received from The Little House Christmas swap), a Hello Kitty gumball machine I received as a present (and its true and rightful owner), and a little felt owl I made for the Strumpets Crumpets ornament swap. And now that their recipients have opened them, I'll be back tomorrow with photos of a few more presents I made as well.

It's raining and dreary and cold here again, so it's nice to look over these photos and remember all the merry-making and holiday goodness. Hope your own Christmas was warm and lovely and bright!