My cousin and I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters the night before it was officially released. I didn’t release this was an option, but, I guess, gone are the midnight showings of my youth. I truly enjoyed every minute of the movie, and it was magical to watch it spoiler-free. I’ve always said that Spiderman was my favorite superhero, but this latest movie has sealed the deal.

This Christmas, I knew I wanted to make a felt gifts for the kids of several of my friends. Back in 2018, I made a handful of felt animal masks for my niece and nephews, so the thought struck me: felt superhero masks. Of course, Spiderman was my first instinct, and I love how they turned out. The red felt and back thread were materials I already had, and I was amazed at how cutting out the eyes made the mask instantly recognizable.

My friends Lyndsay and Eric recently welcomed their first child, and in the months leading up to the due date, my group of friends hosted the sweetest baby shower. I wasn’t a part of the party planning, so I decided to use the time to create a baby quilt. And luckily, when this idea came to me, 1canoe2 announced a sale on its fabric.

I am a big fan of 1canoe2. For several months, I participated in its greeting card subscription, and I’m pretty much obsessed with its new collection of fabric bags. But with this quilt, it was the first time I purchased 1canoe2 fabric.

Because its simple and easy, I decided to make the quilt using half triangles. I love this pattern because there are so many ways that you can arrange the different fabrics.

It’s funny. Now that I am looking back through the pictures, I actually prefer the option above—with the light blue in the center. But I must have known deep down that they were going to have a girl. (The gender was surprise.) The final version has the link pink fabric in the center.

I love it when you find the perfect fabric for the back of the quilt, and I feel like I hit the jackpot with this teal moth pattern.

It’s a known fact about me: I loving giving gifts. And each Christmas, it brings me a lot of joy to make presents for my family and friends. My mom calls it my “Christmas ambition.” Starting around October, I make a list of the things I want to make during the Christmas season. I have yet to complete this list, but I strive each year to cross off as many items as I can. This year, the list had a bit of a theme, embracing dried fruit and cinnamon sticks.

I’ll confess, the idea to make a small wreath using dried orange slices, apple slices, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks is not an original idea. I saw it in an Advent devotional book someone gave me in November. But the craft is so simple that you really don’t need step-by-step instructions. It can be done in a number of ways.

But first, you have to dry the fruit. I do not have a dehydrator, so what I did was place the orange and apple slices on cookie sheets and left them in a 200 degree oven for 5-6 hours, flipping them every 2-3 hours. I made my best batch at night, turning the oven off before I went to bed and leaving the fruit in the oven while I slept.

With the fruit dried, it simply becomes an assembly process. I used floral wire as my “base,” stringing the fruit, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks in an alternating pattern.

For the cinnamon sticks, you could drill a hole in the stick and string it like normal, but I was a little lazy. Instead, I tied red and white baking string around the stick and then tied it to the wire. I liked the look of the extra string hanging down.

Once I strung enough fruit, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks, I use pliers to twist the two ends of wire together. In my first few wreaths, I left a small hole in the center (to look like a traditional wreath), but in the final ones that I made, I pulled the wire tight, making the wreath appear more like a ball. I thought this version looks so much better!

The final element was adding a touch of ribbon. I played with wide and narrow ribbon options, and in my opinion, I liked the narrow ribbon the best. But both options were fun to wrap up and give away. The beautiful smell of the wreath will hit the recipient’s nose as soon as he or she removes the lid from the box. Enjoy!

While graduate school has consumed much of the spare time that I used to spend on my Etsy store, the fact is, there is still a lot of felt fabric left in my house. And several times a year, I have the great desire to pull it all out and make something new.

This time, it was to make felt crowns.

The idea was inspired by a birthday party. I live in an affluent neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, and over the past year, I’ve been blowed away by the elaborate birthday parties my neighbors and friends host for their young children.

After looking at a Facebook post from a friend, the idea came to me: What if you made felt decorations that could be used at children’s birthday parties (replacing its paper equivalent). I thought about decorations, like banners, but I quickly fell in love with idea of felt crowns and hats.

So I pulled out all of the felt and started to play. The first crown I made used pink felt and purple pompoms, and while I continued to make other crowns using other themes (like a pirate crown, butterfly crown, birthday crown, etc.), this first version remained my favorite.

   

With one more year to go on my graduate program, I don’t think I’ll be reopening my Etsy shop anytime soon. But I will always appreciate a free Saturday afternoon when you can just let you mind wander.