McKenna's House of Liquor

   At the risk of looking like a big old lush, I'm going to admit that one of my favorite Christmas presents to receive is a fancy gift set containing a bottle of liquor and glassware. This year, Erik got me a bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch Whiskey, aged 12 years, that came in a box with 2 funky-shaped rocks glasses. Even the box was deluxe - it had 3 windows and a swing door with a magnetic latch. We couldn't just throw it out.

 McKenna said she wanted to keep it so it could be a house for her dolls but I didn't think it would look right for her to have an empty liquor box laying around her room, so we decided to paint it. First, I covered the windows in sticker paper and spray painted it yellow.

 

Then, she painted it.

She added trees and flowers on the sides and windows and a door on the back and her signature smiley sunshine on the front.

And the Polly Pockets quickly moved in.

It makes a nice hamster house too. (You can follow the adventures of our hamster Mr.Goomba Roo on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourDailyGoomba.)

I'm teaching a new series of craft classes for kids this semester. Liquor box dollhouses probably won't be one of them. Some crafts are best kept within the family.

Now I know how Santa's elves feel

It's been a busy month in my studio. In past years I've stopped taking commissions in December so I can focus on making things for my family and preparing for the holidays. This year though I took on every project that came along, and they kept coming. Consequently, there are kids all over the country that will be getting personalized kokoleos for Christmas and Hanukkah and my kids will be having a fabulous Christmas as well thanks to the cash I earned in the process. Here's my latest batch of personalized pillows...

 

Those last two were a last minute project I accepted this weekend. A return customer who lives in Seattle emailed me to ask if there was a possibility I could make a pillow for her by Monday evening. She was going to be in my neighborhood visiting a friend's new baby and wanted to be able to take her a kokoleo pillow, and if I could squeeze it in she wanted the Jonah pillow for another friend's kid too. We exchanged a few emails to determine the best fabrics and I sewed like a banshee and literally snipped my final thread as she arrived at my door to pick them up. It was nice to meet her in person and see her reaction when I handed them to her (she loved them). Usually I just package my work up and send it out into the world and pray they arrive safely and the recipient is happy. 

Another return customer contacted me to make Hanukkah gifts for 4 little boys. She wanted personalized capes like the one I made for a friend years ago. Here's what I came up with...

Modeled by McKenna...

 Then an old friend from Peterkin, our church camp, called me to ask if I would make banners for each of her family members with the Peterkin "Halleuiah Kids" symbol on them. After a few days of exchanging emails with fabric combination options, here are the 4 we came up with:

And now I'm done with my commissions for the year. Last night I made these chocolate pretzel trees for the staff at my kids' school...

 

After teaching two preschool Mother Goose classes plus improv acting classes at 2 different elementary schools the past few months, I remember what it's like to be a teacher. And after what happened in Connecticut, I remember why it's important to tell people you appreciate what they do for your kids. 

For my kids' teachers I made these tiger print totes - one for Sage's teacher, one for McKenna's, and one for the teacher who found this super soft luxe tiger print fabric (their mascot is a tiger) at a yard sale this summer and bought it for me.

 

She knows I collect fabric because she's seen the PTO displays I've created in the front hall of the school. Here's the one I did a few weeks ago:

 Whew! That's a lot of kokoleo for one month. I wonder what I'll make next year..

EtsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Recap

The day after Thanksgiving I lugged all my kokoleo wares into the heart of downtown Seattle and spent my Black Friday and Small Business Saturday here:

photo from the EtsyRAIN facebook page

at the EtsyRain Handmade Holiday Show located at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet. The show was in their magnificent lobby. Here's my booth:

and my tower-o-accessories and coffee mug pin cushions:

The view from where I sat:

and the view from  the second floor...

 Friday was super rainy, but we still had a line outside at the beginning and it ended up breaking previous Etsy RAIN event attendance records. I didn't take many pictures during the event because I was too busy using my phone to process credit cards for kokoleo purchases. This was my first time using my Intuit GoPayment App and I love it. Who wouldn't love money instantly deposited into your bank account? I made all my money back and then some on the first day and made even more today. The only thing I like better  is knowing a whole bunch of kokoleos are going to be wrapped and given as gifts this Christmas.

Speaking of gifts, I got a few for my family too. Sage is going to love this piece of wall art from pixelparty:

And from Kate Endle, I bought McKenna this calendar and Casper Babypants CD.

I also did some great trades, like a coffee mug pin cushion for this ceramic snowflake ornament (though I can't remember her business' name).

And I traded a necktie headband for a fabulous assortment of  treats from Sweet Coconut Bakery. I tried to save them for my family, but ended up eating most of them at the show.

  

I trade some stuffed ducks I made (for a Renton River Days window display) for this necklace by Cyncity and some magnets I'm going to put in my husband's stocking:

And from Scary White Girl Designs, I traded a Mickey Mouse sundress for this flower barrette and some arm warmers.

It's nice to be home with a lighter kokoleo load, money in my pocket, and a bunch of new handmade things. My best sellers of the show were my Seattle baby tees I whipped together just last week.

Driving home tonight after a fun show, I appreciate this skyline even more.

A kokoleo kind of Regular Show

This year, my kids decided they wanted to be these guys for Halloween:

It's Rigby and Mordecai, from Regular Show on Cartoon Network, and most people have never heard of them. Just like Adventure Time (their costumes last year), it's one cartoon they enjoy watching together. It was quite the challenge though, and I only had 3 days to do it.  Fast forward forty dollars of fleece and fourteen hours of cutting and sewing and here's what I came up with.

Here are a few pics of the process:

I would have written up a tutorial but I was manically making it up as I went along and not taking many pictures. I did discover what is destined to be my new favorite textile - FOAM! It makes everything all Muppety, I love it. The kids both remarked how soft and warm and comfy the costumes were and plan to wear the pants as pajamas after Halloween is over.

On Sunday, after a morning spent skipping church to sew the finishing touches on their costumes, we took them trick-or-treating at The Landing in Renton. Most people didn't know who they were but a few kids yelled out "Mordecai and Rigby!" and some of the hipper parents were impressed. A few asked "Where did you find those?" to which I replied that I made them and they looked at me in disbelief.

Still, most people had no clue who they were. One mom said, "Wile E. Coyote and an Angry Bird! How cute!" One little girl in a princess dress looked at McKenna in horror and started crying. That was funny.

The best was the several different groups of teenagers who told them they were awesome. It's not every day a teenager tells a 5 and 10 year old that they're awesome.

This may be the last year they want to do a bro/sis costume combo so I had to do it.

As Rigby and Mordecai would say, I did them a "solid." They totally owe me...

...lots of candy.