Lynn Carson Harris

Doll Cradle

B made a doll cradle for P for Christmas.  It was actually made after Christmas so P was able to watch the process.  B uses mostly hand tools.

I think the only  power tool step was cutting the board in half (the skinny way) on a band saw.  She liked that the cherry wood was pink when it was first cut.  The cradle was designed to fit this doll.


View from the foot.

P likes it a lot. Her baby spends a lot of time in it.

Here, Baby and the Esthers are napping. Don't you just love their hair? I made those dolls and could not get the hair right. That is why we bought the other baby.

Sometimes she adds other dolls and snuggles them all in.

This is where I found the matryoshka dolls when I needed to wrap them to mail them for my swap.
They are now on their way to Israel! What did we do for entertainment before the internet?

Icicles

I know that icicles hanging from the roof are not a great thing for the house, but they are beautiful and interesting. We have enjoyed watching these grow for the last few days.


They changed with the light at different times of day.

Sometimes they sparkled in the sun.

M took this picture last evening with the pink sky.

The boys were hoping they would grow to reach the porch. This morning we woke to fog and warmer temperatures.

The icicles grew to about 20 inches from the porch. They melted today and the last chunks fell this afternoon.

Whipped Butter

When I was newly married, twenty years ago, one of the tricks I learned from B's mother was how to make whipped butter. The recipe called for butter, margarine, and vegetable oil. You let it get soft and then whip it in the mixer until it gets white and fluffy. It is then easier to spread on bread. There is also the theory that with all the air whipped in you use less. I am not so sure on that one.

I still like the whipped butter. Last year we eliminated shortening and margarine from our diet so I have adjusted the recipe. I now use one pound of butter and a half cup of olive oil.

I like the way the butter looks in these vintage jelly jars. I found a whole box of these at a garage sale a couple of years ago.

New Socks

I am still cleaning house. Really.
I found the leftover ball of yarn from these socks. I thought there might be enough there to make P a pair of socks. That would be cleaning up wouldn't it?
I made one sock. It was a perfect fit. Then, on to the other. I knit it through the heel and gusset and GASP I was at the end of the ball. I had to undo the toe of the first sock and knit from that sock to the second until they were the same length.

I found a tiny ball of lavender yarn and used that to knit the toes. I used it ALL. So, let's count. That project cleaned up TWO balls of yarn AND P got new warm socks!

I call that success.

Hearts

Years ago I found this great little baby blanket at a thrift shop. It is made from two feed sacks. I love the feel of it and the soft pink color. I had it stored away with other fun finds until P was born. This blankie is one of her favorites.

The back shows where it was tied in a heart shape and also has initials. It makes me wonder about who originally owned this blanket and how it ended up in a pile of discarded items in a thrift shop. I am pleased to give it a second life.

I will also share this little cotton washcloth I made for Valentine's day.

The pattern is here.

Spice Cake

Happy Birthday Kim!

Today is Calamity Kim's birthday. You can see all of her cakes here! She also started the flickr groups Doll Quilt Crazy and Doll Quilt Challenge.
I have never met Kim in person but have enjoyed getting to know her through her blog. She seems like she has a great sense of humor and a kind heart. When thinking about Kim I thought that Spice Cake would be the perfect thing!

Painful Process

It is a painful process.

My family calls it "cleaning up the slow way."  No, really, I AM cleaning the house.  I have tackled the Lone Ranger pile! These Matryoshka dolls are finished and ready to be mailed for a swap.
I am eager to see the Matryoshka dolls that others have made.
I made one from a tiny sock for P.

P likes her. "Isn't she cute?"

Millionaire

Saturday night I got a call from my teenage niece. I was her lifeline in a birthday party game of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." I could feel the excitement over the line as she had me on speaker phone. The pressure was on as she had called me long distance rather than calling her mother, my sister. I waited to hear the question.

In the Curious George books what color car did the man with the yellow hat drive?

The image popped into my head immediately. The man with the yellow hat and George driving away in the BLUE convertible with a bunch of balloons blowing in the wind.

I recently made a greeting card out of that picture. My niece picked her lifeline well and won the  million dollar question. I am sure she will be sharing the million dollars GIGANTIC chocolate bar with me.

I have been making more greeting cards lately. I am restocking my supply and will be putting some in the shop.

A Taste of Summer

This morning it was so cold that our upstairs windows were frosted over and we couldn't see out. It was 4 degrees when I got up.   

We had a taste of summer last night, blueberries that we picked last July.

When D was in second grade he loved the Boxcar Children books. I think he read all of them in the library collection. We even got the Boxcar Children Cookbook. Our favorite recipe in the book is the one for Miner's Blueberry Pie.

I love the way the  Boxcar children are independent problem solvers. They are very thrifty too.

Handkerchief Doll Tutorial

As I mentioned here, my grandmother could entertain children all day with a button, a handkerchief, and a piece of string. When I was little she taught me how to make a doll from a handkerchief.

The boys eagerly volunteered were given baked goods as payment for being hand models for a tutorial on how to make the doll.

First, stand or sit opposite your friend. Each person take two corners of the hankie and roll them towards each other to meet in the middle as shown below.

When the two sides meet, rotate the hankie 90 degrees so that each person now holds two corners that are touching.

One person then folds his or her corners down about one third of the length of the hankie. These corners will be the feet of the doll.

The other person then folds his corners up leaving a little of the hankie showing above the corners. These corners become the hands.

The last corners that were folded up (the hands) then get crossed through the loop formed when the first corners were folded down. Each person then tugs a little on the corners in their hands to stretch the arms and legs.

Last, slip a ring or tie a string just above the arms to shape the head.

Now you have a finished doll.

If you want to use the hankie or make another doll just remove the ring or string and shake it loose.