knock-knocking knock-knock-offs

An original wreath by Knockknocking. SO cute!

You all know what a big fan I am of the incredible wreaths that Agnes over at Knock Knocking makes. She is, as far as I'm concerned, a genius. I don't know where she get's her incredibly unique trinkets that she adds to her wreaths, but that along with her special way of making felt flowers (and pinwheels, and garland) make them completely covetable. 

I look at her shop all the time for inspiration. Just looking at her color palettes, can get my brain moving when I'm working on an embroidery or sewing project. This year I decided I was going to hand make all of my Christmas gifts. Well, not all, if I knew how to make an Optimus Prime Transformer, or a 3ft tall At-At that really pulls the storm troopers up, I would have...

I thought making wreaths for everyone would be a fun project that I could really personalize. Now I am obsessed, and embarrassed to say I have 4 (ok, 6) blank wreaths ready to be decorated whenever the whim strikes me next. Unexpected girlfriend birthday? No problem, I'll make a wreath! Someone had a baby? Wreath! Neighbors moving away and breaking all of our hearts? Wreath, wreath, wreath! 

So here is what I cooked up. 

For my dad and stepmom for their camper. They spend the January to April in the Florida Keys, and they are big mid century modern fans. I wish I'd taken a close-up of the vintage truck and trailer. I ordered them separately off ebay. The inside of the pink camper is teal green! So cute!

For my brother and his wife. She is from India, and while their house is done in pretty subdued colors, she always looks so pretty when she wears these bright jewel tones that no one else can get away with. The pink elephant has a little bobble head that is very silly. Oh, and I finally found a use for those adorable felt balls!

For my mom. She names all of her houses. Last year I made a wreath for their ranch house, which they call Point of View Ranch. My stepfather had just planted a little grape vineyard, so I ordered two glass red wine bottle ornaments for it. I can't find the pictures. My mom's house is called Paris, so I thought this would be fitting for her front door. These are also the colors of her kitchen. 

For our house I made this little owl wreath. It was my first attempt at making the felt flowers, and I had this pink peacock ribbon left over from I don't know what project. The ornament I got at Urban Outfitters last year. It's fun to dig through your stuff and re-use it for a project like this. 

Oh, did I mention the tea towels I made for everyone. No? Ok, tomorrow. 

you think YOU have a problem...

Last night my mother sent me a text message saying "DO NOT go into Michael's or Jo-Ann Fabrics or you will be Christmas crafting until Easter". Too late. But I had a COUPON!!!

24 pack of Glitter. I have peridot and anthracite glitter!!!

I had to get some felt for making flowers for one of the THREE wreaths I'm making (inspiration by Knock Knocking, tutorial courtesy of Felt So Cute), and promised Jack we'd make a gingerbread house. Oh and the coupon. It was for 50% off anything from Martha Stewart. A few weeks ago Sadie and I were in Michael's ogling the glitter. We were looking at these tiny little colored glass beads in glass bottles. We didn't know what we'd use them for, but we agreed they were beautiful. We spotted a $30 box of glitter. It had 24 pretty little vials and names like verdelite and feldspar. We laughed at what kind of fool would spend $30 on a box of glitter. We did NOT laugh at what kind of fool reasonable person would spend $15 on it though.

microbeads

Did I mention the flocking powder in every color? I was strong and was able to resist, but I don't know for how long. Thin of all the things I could flock! 

I could make baby chicks!

or baby blue bunnies!

Ok, last but not least the Gingerbread house. Once we had come to an agreement that Mommy would do all the icing and piping and Jack would do all the cookie placement we were good. Before reaching detente there was a 3 year old pogo stick next to me shouting "Let me do it! Let me do it!" and "I'm going to make the whole thing all by myself!" Never mind that the directions for putting together the walls require holding it carefully in place for 2-3 minutes after quickly piping icing that is roughly the consistency of toothpaste and has the hold of a vice, onto just the bottom and right sides. It then requires the whole thing to set for an hour. Matame! I think he did a great job. Maybe next year I'll get amnesia and do it again...

J is for Jack

I think you'd better sit down for this

I was sitting at home, minding my own business, letting my turkey rest, when I stumbled into this shop on etsy. It's called KnockKnocking. Ok, I didn't stumble on it. Etsy featured them on their front page. Have you ever seen anything cuter than these? No. No you haven't. I want one on every door in my house, but I know that would come off as sort of mental, so I'm going to have to narrow it down. One for the front door, and maybe one for somewhere else in the house, but where? The stinky bathroom? Maybe if I put something really pretty on that door, no one will notice that they are suffocating.

Here is this super talented girl's blog, and here is her flickr page. I'm smitten!

Now, I need to figure out why it is that Austin has so many mad crazy talented crafty girls. Is it something in the water?