Sometimes I actually MAKE the things I PIN....

More bloggy catch up today!

Back in 2014 I decided to make my kids some gifts.  Mostly as an excuse to execute a few of the cute things I've pinned on Pinterest.  As per usual, those pictures don't begin to tell the effort it will actually take, to make what you see.  Everything all staged and lovely with perfect lighting and coordinating, colored, extraneous and unrelated items....and NOWHERE do you see how hard it is to actually make your own felted wool balls.  Or that it takes 30 days to preserve the lemons it calls for in that recipe!  But I digress.

The first item is one I've had pinned for a couple of years.  I finally decided this was the right time to try it.  THEN I discovered how scarce those old plastic alphabet stencils are!  Thank you eBay.  I got the pillow covers from Ikea, and scoured (where else) Pinterest for some suitable poems/quotes and got to work.  Found out along the way, that thick tipped Sharpies, while faster, bleed through the fabric and over the outlines.  Like, a lot.  And that looks bad.  But the fine tipped Sharpies don't.  They just take a 1000 hours per pillow.  Is all.

Using one of those disappearing ink, fabric pens, makes it easy to write out your poem and adjust the words to fit as you go along.  

I actually traced the words of the first two pillows with pencil.  Here is your free life hack for today.  Don't believe the original poster when they say that you can erase the pencil afterwards.  Trust me.  The disappearing ink pen is the. way. to. go.

It's a good thing I love to do a lot of contemplative, navel-gazing-type activities, such as coloring in letters with a teeny tiny pen tip.  It made for a great activity sitting in airports and on planes, etc.

This photo shows how much of the disappearing ink has faded in 24 hours.  By 48 hours, it's virtually gone.

Thanks to Shel Silverstein for his poem "How Many Slams".  I also used the very well known "You are the Cheese to my Macaroni" with some editing to make it all fit.  Also Marianna Paige's "I Don't Think I Love Very Many Things".  And finally, 

One of my kids liked this well enough to request a custom made apron with a message on it.  Off to find a blank apron now!

Tomorrow:  Felted Wool Ball Garlands, inspired by Pinterest and saved by Etsy!