This may look like chaos, but it's actually creativity at work. Being stuck inside on these long winter days means we have a lot of time to make something out of nothing - or more accurately, something out of the variety of odds and ends in our craft cupboard. Tonight the item of inspiration was an egg carton. I haven't had a lot of time to work on my own projects lately, so most of my creating is relegated to these mid-winter's night craft times with my kids. Frequent craft times are super easy at our house due to my recent reorganization of the kids' craft supplies. We used to have all our supplies stuffed into various hard-to-reach draws, but a few months ago I decided that in order to inspire their creativity, I needed to make their craft supplies more accessible to them. This conviction consequently came at the same time I decided to stop using plastic containers for food storage. A mountain of unorganized craft supplies plus two dozen empty plastic food containers equals a newly organized craft supply cupboard at kids' eye level. Yippee! Organization and repurposed containers that don't end up in a landfill - you can't get much more exciting than that. (Well, you probably could, but I live a pretty dull life - so that's about as exciting as it gets around here!) 
I think that an organized supply closet fosters creativity in adults as well as kids, so whether you have kids or you are a crafter/sewer yourself, I highly recommend finding a way to organize your own supply area. Perhaps you have a plethora of plastic food containers that need to repurposed and given new life. 
Now back to our egg-carton creations...both girls spent about an hour cutting, coloring and gluing, and they came up with the most unique creations I've seen in a long time. I think you'll agree. Check out (from left to right) the three balloons with a caterpillar on the ground, a baby snowgirl, a big sister snowgirl and various foam sticker creations. Craft on!
After talking with a friend of mine (Thanks Carrie!), I realized that making two dolls is good, but a group of people working together could make even more. A week ago my goal was to gather a handful of people to cut, sew, turn, stuff and paint, so I sent out a few e-mails to invite a handful of friends to bring any supplies they have and come sew with me. In my initial invite I welcomed people to bring a friend . . . the more the merrier. Imagine my elation when sixteen people showed up with mountains of supplies - fabric scraps, sewing machines, felt, needles and thread, stuffing, paint and painting supplies, scissors and so much more. Carrie, Lori K., Ruth, Lana, Maggie, Terri, Gladys, Gretch, Star, Kathy, Jackie, Madison, Amy, Lori W., Patricia and I began cutting around 6:45, and a little over two hours later we had replaced the mountain of supplies with a mountain of dolls. (Well, actually we still had mountains of supplies because people were so generous with what they brought to donate.)
So this Saturday I'm shining the spotlight on these great gals who used their Friday night, their supplies and their talent to put together dolls for children in an orphanage in Haiti. 
If you are inspired by them (and who wouldn't be), you can go to my previous post about Dolly Donations and follow the links to Sarah's blog, pattern and shipping info. Also, we had such a good time together that we will be doing this again. if you are in the area and interested in joining us, please let me know. You can post a comment that you're interested or e-mail me. 
Although I don't have much time to surf crafting blogs and sites, every once in a while I do stumble across one that I'm really inspired by. One Pretty Thing compiles so many amazing craft links and blogs into one place. Just one minute spent on this site and your brain can be racing with twenty or more crafty ideas. It is because of One Pretty Thing that I became acquainted with Obsessively Stitching and her flair for creating fun projects. (Picture to the right is from her blog.) This week at Obsessively Stitching is "tent week". Check out her project ideas and . . .
So, I've started a flickr group. If you look through a craft flickr group, you'll be amazed at the creative things people make. There are some super talented people out there! But . . . the thing about these flickr groups is that people always post their successes - their best and brightest projects. No one every posts pictures of their flubs, their flops . . . their (gasp) "failures". 
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I'm still working on Molly Monkey. I'm confused. I'm frustrated. I'm addicted. Yep, it's a lot like watching Lost. I'm not sure if I'll tune in next week, but I'm pretty sure I'll still be working on Molly Monkey next week. Here's picture of her cute little addicting face. 
RST why are you taunting me? This pretty much sums up my night. You probably can't see what I'm talking about from this picture, but I ended up sewing the sleeve/arm combo pieces of Molly Monkey WST . . . uhm, that's wrong (very wrong) sides together. Not only did I sew the sleeve/arm combo pieces WST, but first I sewed the sleeve and arm pieces for each side of the sleeve/arm combo pieces WST as well. It was a bloomin' mess, and I wasn't the wiser until I started turning the freshly sewn pieces. So . . . after ripping out every little stitch on both sleeve/arm combo pieces and then the stitches on each individual sleeve and arm piece, I decided to pack it in for the night. I didn't even begin to sew these pieces back together RST . . . I think I will be banning that three letter combo from my vocabulary after I finish Molly Monkey. It seemed like I should give up while I was very, very behind.
Today, I'm inspired by Sarah Hanson at Dolly Donations who has come up with an amazingly simple way to make a difference in the lives of orphans. Check out her blog - Dolly Donations. (Picture from her blog.) Sarah is asking volunteers to craft very simple dolls from a super simple (and free) pattern she provides (that can basically be made entirely from scrap fabric) so that these dolls may be sent to Haitian orphans impacted by the earthquake. 
Well, I did it. After a week . . . yes, that's right seven full days of reading and rereading the Molly Monkey pattern for my eleventh craft till Christmas, I finally made my first cut into the fabric. Kristin, my partner in this venture, suggested that I not read ahead. Oops too late! She received advice from a more serious sewer that you should only read the step you are working on so that you don't get overwhelmed. And although I had already kicked that horse, this advice gave me the jumpstart I needed to just start and stop being so cutless . . . I mean gutless. So last night I cut out the majority of the pieces - minus the wool felt pieces, and tonight . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . I STARTED ACTUALLY SEWING THE PIECES TOGETHER! (I hope you didn't feel like I was shouting at you, but I had to express my complete amazement somehow. I was beginning to think I would be reading this pattern seven months from now but not have even started the project.)
So . . . it turns out RST means Right Sides Together. That would have been helpful to keep in mind before I cut the first few pieces out. Having said that . . . can you guess what is wrong with this picture? Yes, that's right, I did not cut these out right sides together. So, one of those Molly Monkey back pieces will find its way into the scrap pile to live another day. 
I can get too focused on craft/sewing gifts for girls. However, here's a shout out to all of you with little boys in your life . . . check out this sweet little tie pattern/project from Molly at purlbee.com. (Picture from purlbee.com.) She says that you don't even need a sewing machine to make this tie. Woo hoo! You could include this in his Easter basket instead of the skirt. Of course, if you wanted to include the skirt, I'm not going to stop you. :) This is just another option. 
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