Sweet Fabric:
original

I fashioned this laptop stand out of bits & pieces I had lying around at home. The only things I had to buy for this project were two small hinges.

It's craft born out of necessity.

When we moved I cut an old table in half lengthways to make a slimline desk. Unfortunately my laptop & keyboard didn't fit properly on the desk so I was typing & reading at a really awkward (& uncomfortable) angle.

My brother has one of those store bought laptop stands so I rang him to find out where to buy one & went to the shop. I was horrified that this little piece of plastic was going to set me back around $80! In addition the sales person was extremely unhelpful so I huffed out of the shop determined to make one for myself.

I think practical things might as well also be beautiful. I've done a bit of embroidery to pretty things up & because I was unsure if my HAC would stand up to holding the laptop I didn't want my efforts to be in vain...

it's also a cookbook stand. Featuring the fabulous Minus the Boombah cookbook as recommended by Aunty Cookie.

Copyright December 09...Kirsty Macafee

If you only know me on the blog you'd be forgiven for thinking that I'm not much for the words. My posts here are short & sharp, but in real life there's a lot of chat, both out loud & internal. I think about words a lot. They are important. I try to choose my own words carefully (& consider the impact they have on others).

I really truly think that The Gambler is one of life's true ACES. "Every hand's a winner & every hand's a loser".

So after my fold post last week I set about making the series. I really enjoyed the relationship between the house of cards & the lyrics & the whole life's a balancing act thing. Now there's "an ace that I could keep".

I'm pretty confident that these'll be a hit over here & here too.

They now hang as posters over the kitchen.

Copyright December 09...Kirsty Macafee

just the right size for a small bottom.

We've got a bit of a love of stools at our place. Often the three kids & I are found sitting perched on little stools in front of the gas fire.

This little toad stool is constructed from a tin can, a round placement & the foam from the other day as well as a little extra stuffing. The can has been weighted to keep it stable.

For the price of a few screws & a couple of hours of your time you could make one of these yourself.

A lovely gift idea I think.

Another USB pincushion. This one is a collaboration with The Big Girl.

We've decided that we're going to give these as Christmas gifts to our family kid friends & currently have a bit of a zoo in production.

I think it would be pretty hard to lose a USBee & certainly it would be easily identified if it ever got pinched.

OK, so I didn't anticipate such a favourable reaction to yesterday's shelves...thank you so much.

Now I'm going to look like a big fat show off & for that I apologise.

On Saturday the HAC girls & I were chatting about making stuff & cool crafty tools & Justine & Cindy were talking about a lazy susan cutting mat that a friend (edit: ack...apparently it was Kate's - clearly my mind had already wandered) had. I think there may have been a casual "challenge" thrown in for good measure...red rag to a bull.

So on Sunday morning I made the lazy susan using bits & pieces we had lying around the house... old placemat, laminex top (I think from an elfa storage system), old container lids, my trusty baby bosch, a couple of screws, bearings & this divine fabric from the lovely Clutterpunk to give the whole thing a lovely crafty feel.

It measures 450mm x 300mm so it's big enough to hold the next size cutting mat as well & best of all you can use your multi tasker on the table top & then you have a lazy susan ironing board.

No more deep squat & turns for me...I prefer not to mix my craft & exercise.

OR fitting a square peg in a round hole.

I had originally purchased only 1 tube to make a toy box for the smallest...it kicked around the floor of the craft room for a while & I'd done nothing with it.

All the while I'd been enjoying posts from this tumblr.

http://bookshelves.tumblr.com/

...then I got to thinking how they'd be wonderful as a bookshelf & that's what I've done. I've left the tubes natural & just given them a bit of a sand to remove the rough edges but I think it would look lovely covered in vintage wallpaper.

The tubes are held together using the webbing I picked up at Reverse Art Truck. I've just cut to size to make straps with velcro fastenings.

The real beauty of this "shelf" is it's versatility. You could put them together in any configuration you like & possibly incorporate other pieces of furniture to make interesting shapes.

Once we are in the new place I plan to hang a couple of them on the wall.

Don't you think they would look fabulous painted white & jam packed full of brightly coloured yarn?

You must have a look at this amazing set also constructed from sono tubes (with how to).

Edit 27 September :: I just visited Style Spion (one of the sites that links to this post) & followed links to much flasher & more designery type shelves similar to these. You can see them here & here. Just goes to show...nothing is original & girls who just like to make stuff can have designer type ideas too.

I hope it was worth the wait.

Spool holder made by me using bits and pieces I had on hand.

Pretty shadows too.

I guess it qualifies as an Ikea hack.

I have a free standing spool holder which is excellent but what I like about this is the fact that it hangs (leaving valuable shelf/table space free for more clutter).

You can see the evolution of the idea if you like...

spool rack + surplus pencils + bargain threads = something I'm proud of

I'm thinking about making these in smaller sizes & maybe hosting another HAC workshop.

I'm working on a little music box shop update but I want to make sure that the pictures tell the story.

Do you see the speaker below the "floor" of the music box?

Why I think these are good...

Music and/or stories have been excellent sleep cues for my smalls.

I like the idea of using a "superseded" piece of technology in a new way.

I'm proud of the fact that the speaker & the MP3 player can be used outside the music box.

Happy weekend.

A selection of my finest produce.

The hexagon faker fabric is my weekend favourite.

Hope your weekend has been relaxed and lovely.

& no brown in sight.

I've been a bit out of the loop this week. Parenting, working, socialising & celebrating. All really important & good stuff! I'm planning a bit of a clicketty trip tomorrow. I'll see you all then.

Update: There's now a little how to here.

sleep tight.

Tin can music box made for PANDAs good night - Night Out Night Off. It plays Brahms Lullaby.

Posted (late) to Ms Cookie.

All my babes went to sleep with plinky plunky music playing in their rooms & Lullaby is my favourite.

I've sat on this one far too long. It was begun so long ago it's embarassing.

I finally had a reason to finish it off & it's been gifted.

I intended for it to be a "colouring in" bag so have included a set of acrylic paints & some fabric fixative.

But I think she likes it just as it is.

Made from thrifted curtain fabric, button & belt. The lining is a thrifted sheet.

I'm so pleased with my MP3 music box. I do love the wind up, plinky plunky version but this is something quite special, I think.

The Story
Someone contacted me via the website to ask if it would be possible to have a music box which played The Cure. I did a bit of research & found nothing. Then another person asked if they could have an original piece of music added to a music box.

I got to thinking & originally purchsed one of those "record your own" greeting cards. It wasn't at all satisfactory. The quality was terrible and you could only record about 20 seconds.

Then I wondered about making a little pocket for an iPod or MP3 player. There is also a speaker below the "false floor" of the music box. The wiring is all hidden in the lining and both the speaker and iPod/MP3 can be used outside the music box. The only element that is fixed is the wiring.

I did manage to break one speaker trying to force it into my standard size music box. The final version is 800g tinned tomato size.

So...a couple of casualties, much swearing & back to the drawing board moments, but I'm thrilled with the end result.

I'm also grateful to people who ask questions & push a bit.

Last month I posted the beginnings of this bag.

It's taken me ages, but I'm finally finished.

I love this bag every bit as much as the boomerang bag. Best of all I don't have to fight anyone for it.

I've had a love affair with redwork for a very long time because of this friendship quilt.

The redwork was given to me by Jess.
Op Shopped: French silk ribbon, zip, belts & red & white valance used for lining.

Freehand embroidery with mouse wire.

I had such a lot of fun with this.

Quite a few friends have given birth lately (all have had girls).

Gifted this week.

Spearmint & pink music box which plays "dance of the sugar plum fairy".

in the tragic situation our state finds itself is...

For this.

This bag made from thrifted "reverse ripple" fabric. Slouchy & casual when you're not carrying much around but able to hold everything a busy girl needs.

The size of the bag was determined by the only thrifted green zip I owned.

I think it works for this fabric. Something smaller really wouldn't have done the pattern justice.

The idea has been kicking around for sometime & then I had a conversation with Lara about just how much stuff you need to carry around when you've got small kids & a crochet habit. It's made of Thornberry green fabric & the belt keepers at the top are crochet string.

Made from thrifted everything so totally green.

More bags by me.

One of my neighbours from childhood had a little boy recently.

I set about making a music box for him just like this one. I stained & printed the fabric. I lovingly stitched & assembled all the elements. Once complete, I imagined how this little gift might be treasured in years to come by a sweet little boy named Harry.

Then, just as I was about to wrap...something made me hesitate. I came downstairs & trawled back through the inbox only to discover the baby's name is HENRY!

So might I suggest that if you're expecting, that Harry is an excellent name for a boy ...

but now it's because I'm doing a little dance about this!

Thank you Design For Mankind for the eye candy which led to me to this.