Shroom Decor

  Look what I grew in my studio:

A couple of plush mushrooms. They're currently transplanted downtown at Happy Delusions but I can grow more. I'm going to try a few more color combos and offer some custom plush shrooms on Etsy soon. Try saying some custom plush shrooms 10 times fast. It's hard!

Crazy Cat Lady Craft - A Fish Tank Litter Box

When we remodeled our bathroom last summer we got our cat Bella a new litter box to match the decor. Unfortunately, she refused to go in it because the rigid plastic door slammed behind her and freaked her out. So for the last 10 months we've had it doorless. I was getting tired of looking at her smelly clumps so I decided to turn it into a fish tank.

 

 Well, not a real fish tank. That's actually part of a vinyl shower curtain we had in our bathroom years ago. I loved the print so I kept in my fabric stash for years.

 

I simply cut out a small piece the size of the cat door and duct taped it to the inside top of her litter box. It's thin enough for her to easily push through and it doesn't slam behind her, plus it gives her some privacy and gives us something nicer to look at than clumpy cat poop.

 I was a bit worried she might not like it...

 But after a little investigating,

she gave me her approval by stepping inside and scratching around. Fish don't intimidate this kitty!

Recycled Robot Children

The kids raided the recycling bin and made these robots over winter break last week.

Now, if only they could program them to clean up crafty messes.

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue...

(Shout out to Carole King in the title up there.)

That tapestry I posted last Thursday? Soon after I posted it I went in my studio and turned it into a skirt:

 

It inspired me to seek out my collection of tapestries that I had stashed away. To my surprise I found another Dogs Playing Poker tapestry, same theme, but a totally different rendition. Years ago I had tried to turn it into a skirt but didn't like how it was turning out so I stashed it away. Looking at it again, I realized my mistakes, took it apart, and reworked it in the same style I made that first one.

After that skirt I was on a tapestry kick, so I made this one:

and then this one:

and then I made a dress:

Sage likes that one. He said, "You should wear that to church!" Ha. It would turn heads, that's for sure.

I also made a bag:

and a pillow:

And now, sadly, my tapestry stash is depleted.

And I also just realized that these technically aren't tapestries by the Wikipedia definition, just printed cloth. Oh well, they're in the tapestry tradition so I'm going to keep calling them tapestries.Real woven tapestries wouldn't nearly be as soft and wearable as these.

Thrift Thursday - For the Dogs

I got this flannel tapestry at Goodwill today for $1.99:

It's pretty big - 4.5 feet wide by 3 feet tall. What do you think I should make with it? A wrap skirt? Tote bags? Pillows? A big dog bed?

Made with Love

I know Valentine's Day is a consumer-driven hyped up holiday that ends up making some people feel lousy, but I have to admit I always end up getting swept up in the love. A few years ago Sage started a tradition of making all his Valentines for school friends (see my previous post) and now McKenna is following in his footsteps.

She drew 6 different Valentine-themed pictures and I printed them out on card stock and she embellished them with hearts and suckers. One the back of each one was this printed this message:

I tried to get her to write Happy Valentine's Day but she insisted on "I LOVE YOU," which seems like a rather bold statement to hand out to people willy-nilly, but she didn't care.

While we perused the Valentine aisle at the grocery store she oohed and ahhed over all the stuffed bears and monkeys and whatnot decked in red and white and holding hearts. I couldn't bring myself to buy her one though.While she saw a goofy, fluffy, Valentine stuffed animal, I saw a cheap, Made in China sweatshop symbol of ridiculous American consumption. And besides, her bedroom is beginning to become one big symbol of ridiculous American consumption and I don't want another stuffed animal to have to pick up off the floor, so I made her a pillow instead:

It's soft and furry and has an even furrier M stitched on the front. I love the feel of that fabric but holey moley my studio now looks like I murdered a Muppet.

For Sage, I took this too-big Super Mario shirt I found at a thrift store,

and turned it into this:

It's not a pillow, but a "pipe":

It's super cozy like a big long muff. He was a tad perplexed at first but I showed him how he could put his Super Mario Bros. figurines through it and send them to different levels just like in the video game, or he could use it as a muff to keep his hands warm, or as a single leg warmer, or an elephant trunk warmer... the possibilities are endless!

I didn't make anything for Erik this year, but I did get him an IUD, well I got me an IUD, so we don't make any more babies. I have enough things to make and people to love in my life right now, I don't need any more.

A little handmade paper puppet love...

Sage and I spent the weekend making 45 of these:

 They're origami hand puppets, called "Gabbies". He decided to make one for each kid in his class and give them as Valentines.

 We put a chocolate conversation heart in the mouth of each one.

Isn't that sweeet!? They're lots of fun...

We learned to make these years ago but I forgot how to do it so he re-taught me the steps. He was such a good teacher that we decided to make a video so he could teach you how to make one too. Here's his YouTube debut:



And here are the steps in order:

 

Happy Valentines Day!

Custom kokoleo bed sheet sundresses

I compiled some photos of custom sundresses that I currently have the fabric to create.

 Since the fabric and bed sheets I use are vintage and hard to find, I have a limited supply of each print. Often, I've found, when customers peruse my sundresses they find a pattern they love but it's in the wrong size. By custom-making them, I can save my fabric for those who really want it and can make a dress in size six months to six years. This way, customers can choose their favorite trim and buttons and get a true one-of-a-kind that they helped design. Check them out in my Etsy shop or email me if you're interested.

Recent personalized pillows and a banner

I haven't done a kokoleo personalized item update in a while. Here are some recent ones:

She's an angel straight from heaven!

Here's a little assemblage McKenna made from the scraps on my studio floor.

It's an angel. At the time, I was making her angel costume for our church's Christmas pageant.

And here's another angel she made 2 weeks ago in the snow.

6 down, 4 to go...

Ack! It's 11:07 on the last night of January and I didn't fulfill my 10 posts a month promise. There's still time though. I can do this.

Thrift Thursday - Another Mt. Rainier

I found this painting of Mt. Rainier today: 

It's a little different than the one I found 3 months ago but I like it just as much. Erik looked at it quizzically and said, "Didn't you already get a painting of Mt. Rainier?" to which I responded, "Yes! And now I have another one." Then he looked at it closely and said "Eh, I think you could paint a better one." Critic! I still like it. In fact, I think I've found a new thing to collect - original oil paintings of Mt. Rainier that end up at thrift stores. The hunt is on...

Save the Owls

I made this pincushion the other day:

I found the ceramic owl and trunk vase at Value Village and though I try to avoid acquiring knick-knacks at thrift stores, this guy spoke to me. It was something to the effect of , "Whoo whooo... hey yooou... take me home and make me into something newww!" So I did.

It originally held a tiny bouquet of ugly fake flowers which I immediately tossed. I filled the empty trunk with beans and hot glue to give it weight and attached a plush patchwork sphere on the top.

I also made this guy...

 

Who who whooo needs a place to put their pins? They'll be flying into my Etsy shop soon.

Mosaic Inspiration

Tonight I got elected to our neighborhood's Homeowners Association Board. I also gave an impromptu presentation about a grant I am applying for to build a community-based art installation/mural in our neighborhood park.

"The Children's Park," as it's called, is a small clearing in the wooded area of our neighborhood with a playground, benches, and a picnic table. It's nothing fancy, but we love it. The kids have spent a lot of time on the swings and monkey bars and merry-go-round and I have spent a lot of time on this bench talking to the other moms and dads. It's where we first met the people we now call friends.

In the Renton Reporter last year I saw an article about how our city was offering grants for neighborhood projects. Inspired by a trip we took to Vashon Island where I saw a library playground decorated with brightly colored mosaics, I started talking up an idea to do a similar project in our park in the form of a mural underneath the park bench. The idea has evolved to possibly include marbles, small tiles or pottery pieces, stones, hand prints, and small toys, rocks, or broken dishware from as many people in our neighborhood as we can convince to get involved. The other night I Googled phrases like "park mural," "marble mosaic," "handprints," and "toys in cement" to create a sort of vision board to share with people and send in with my grant proposal. Here it is:

I presented it to our homeowners association meeting tonight, feeling a bit presumptuous being a newbie to the neighborhood and proposing a big colorful change to a place where others in the room have lived for 35+ years. But they seemed to like it! Also, unbeknownst to me, one of the people in charge of determining the grant awards happened to be in the room, and she seemed to LOVE it. I'm starting to think we might actually DO THIS. Every day I walk past that grassy spot and and try to envision a mosaic in it's place. I can't wait to see it for real.

Jack & Jill - Your Favorite Band!

McKenna told me she wants to be a rock star when she grows up (in addition to pilot, ballet teacher, and hair stylist.) Last month when we were visiting the Experience Music Project at the Seattle Center she saw a recorded performance of Gwen Stefani singing with No Doubt on the the huge screen in the lounge. Her eyes were wide and she looked at me and said, "I want to do that." Yesterday she asked me a profound question, "How do I get people to give me money to sing and dance on a stage?" I told her that's the thing grown ups always try to figure out - how to get people to give you money to do the things you love. That didn't answer her question though, so I told her if she just keeps doing what she loves and never stops, she will find herself in places with stages and she'll sing and dance and people will notice.

She and Erik started a band. It's called Jack & Jill. He's Jack, she's Jill. He plays guitar and she sings and bangs on one of the many instruments we have in our music chest - drums, triangle, kazoo, various shakey things. They perform covers of Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, Day-O by Harry Belafonte, punk versions of Mother Goose rhymes and originals like Flowers Everywhere, a song McKenna made up. Their first album, coming someday, is called Jack & Jill -- Your Favorite Band!

Truth be told, they really just make a bunch of noise that gives me a headache so I usually hightail it outta there and let them have their daddy/daughter time. Every now and then Sage and I are summoned to the rec room for concerts, which often culminates in Erik going off on some screaming guitar riff and McKenna shouting, "JACK! STOP THE MUSIC! STOP THE MUSIC JACK!!"

This summer, I found this circa 1970s sweatshirt for a dollar at a garage sale and had to get it for her. 

 It was a bit boring though, so this past week I turned it into something more her style.

 

They're my favorite band.