WEDDING BASKETS

While Baby Cat was making her cute Bridesmaid hair clips  I made the wedding baskets that the Bride, Groom, and flower girl will carry.  The happy couple wanted something to put their wedding favors in so that they could pass them out to all their guests when they greeted them at the reception.  So, voila!  Momma Cat got out her spray paint and went to work.  First I got a couple of really nice baskets.

Bride's basket

Groom's basket

I took them outside where I set them on a table and sprayed them with a primer coat.
After they were tacky-dry, I sprayed them with a few coats of chrome paint, just like Baby Cat used on her ring box.


 

After several coats of chrome paint, drying in the sun

Then we decided to do the same thing for the flower girl.  I used an Easter basket that was painted yellow.  First I had to remove all the trim and glue that was around the edge.

Little Yellow Easter Basket

Little basket being primed

 I sprayed it with primer, then with chrome paint. 

 After several coats of chrome paint it was ready to be finished.  

When all the baskets were done, I lined the bottoms with royal blue lace, and decorated the handles with blue lace, silver mesh, and blue roses!  And here they are!!!!

 

 Here's the flower girl basket (those white things in the background are the paper lanterns I will talk about in my next post)!

I think they turned out really well.  The Bride and Groom's basket will be filled with the wedding favors that FutureMom Cat and I made.  The flower girl basket will be filled with white and blue rose petals.  

- Momma Cat

MOMMA CAT AND BABY CAT'S FAIR ENTRIES

I've been so busy working and trying to make things for Baby Cat's wedding, that I almost didn't get my fair entries ready in time.  To be truthful, I had forgotten about it completely until Baby Cat reminded me, a few days ago, that we had to turn in our entries on Friday!

So, I spent the last couple of days before the fair finishing up my dress, which originally was meant for Baby Cat's wedding.  But, it's just a few pounds tooooooooo tight, so I decided that it was going to a fair entry this year.  

First Premium and Best of Show Ribbons!

It looks better this way

I made it out of bright red satin embroidered with a rose pattern, which I got at (you guessed it) JoAnn's a few months ago.  It also has a lovely rhinestone rose pin at the front waistline, which I purchase at the Mill End Store.  It was supposed to be a belt buckle, but I couldn't find one as lovely as this, and it just went with the fabric so well!

Too bad it didn't fit, but it gives me incentive to lose about 10 more pounds!  Naturally I forgot to take a picture before I took it to the fair, so these are pictures of it afterward.

I entered Baby Cat's wedding stole in the fair too.  It turned out so well, and it's probably the hardest thing I've ever attempted to crochet, so I just had to do it.  Here you see it displayed in a beautiful storybook box just as it was at the fair.  Baby Cat is going to look so beautiful in it! I'm going to give it to her at her Bridal Shower.

Baby Cat's Wedding Stole got a First Premium ribbon!

Rapunzel won't let down her long hair, but she got a First Premium ribbon!

Now we have Rapunzel!  Rapunzel is my favorite houseplant.  I started her from cuttings off of another houseplant several years ago, and she just took off!  At first, she just got fuller and fuller.  Then she started growing really long!  Hence the name, Rapunzel! Right now she's probably over six feet long if you could get her to straighten out her vines.  She's a very healthy and beautiful plant, and that's why I love her so! I wanted to take her to the fair so other people could see her too.  I think she deserves to be transplanted to a bigger pot soon so she can continue to thrive!

-  Momma Cat

I'm rushing to finish my thesis project by next week so this post will be quick. I entered my wedding gloves and cake topper and they both won 1st premium ribbons! I am very happy! ( I joked that the blue ribbons match the ribbon on the cake topper, so any other color just wouldn't do.)

Click these links to see the original posts of the cake topper and gloves. Wish me luck at school!

-Baby Cat

Blue Rose Bridesmaid Barrettes

One of my amazing bridesmaids agreed to braid everyone else' hair for the wedding, but to do so she had a very special request. The bridesmaids needed some beautiful flower clips to hold their hair in place. I tried looking at shops like Icing, and even my local pharmacy to find what we needed, but alas, I didn't find anything that fit the look I wanted and also had the kind of clip we needed to hold the hairstyle in place!

Pretty Flower Clip from Icing

I first bought these pretty off-white flowers at Icing, and considered Frankensteining (my new word for taking pieces from a couple different things to make something new) the flower with a different clip that had the right kind of backing. This probably would have worked fine, but I wanted to see if I could get the right thing with less work and less money.

As usual, JoAnn's provided the answer (I promise, they don't pay me to say this). I took a trip there with Momma Cat last week and found:

• An entire bag of the clips that I needed, with nothing attached to them, so no Frankensteining necessary!
• Some beautiful blue fabric roses that were much less expensive than the flower clips I got at Icing
• Some navy blue ribbon wide enough to cover the top of the clip and give the rose someplace to sit

Beautiful Blue Rose

I think the blue roses are even prettier than the first flowers that I liked. I glued a piece of ribbon to the top of each clip, cut the stems off the roses, and glued them on top of the ribbon. Voila! Now that's the last time I'll think it's easier to buy something in a store than make it myself!

-Baby Cat

BENNIE COTTONTAIL COMES HOME!

You've all seen my pink bunny, "Candy Cottontail".  Well, this is her little brother, Bennie Cottontail.  I just finished making him yesterday. He is pretty anxious to join his sister at the yarn shop, Yarntastic Fiber Arts.  So I'll probably take him over there tomorrow.  

I got him to sit for this photo last night.

Bennie sitting on my knee

 Bennie has the cutest little fluffy, bunny tail.  So I asked him to show it to all of you.

Bennie shows off his fluffy tail!

 So, what do you think?

I hope you like Bennie.  Candy will sure be glad to see him!

- Momma Cat

BABY CAT'S WEDDING GLOVES ARE DONE!

Wedding Gloves

I started making these gloves to go with my wedding dress way back in December! Like a lot of my other wedding stuff, they are made with cream colored Bamboo Pop yarn, which is a current favorite of Momma Cat's and mine. It's pretty, soft, and not too expensive, and you actually get a lot out of one skein.

Jane Austen Knits

I got the yarn and the pattern book Jane Austen Knits at our favorite yarn shop, Yarntastic Fiber Arts! I was already thinking of wanting some long gloves to go with my dress, and this book had so many pretty patterns, I just couldn't resist it. I will probably knit some other, non-wedding related things from this book in the future.

Close-up of flower pattern

The flower long-stemmed flower pattern worked is a nice detail that made the gloves a little more interesting to work on while I was knitting row after row. The gloves reach 3/4 of the way up my arm, no wonder they took so long! Luckily, they weren't quite as bad as my thigh-high socks since they didn't have as many stitches per row.

Me trying on the gloves with my wedding dress! Just kidding, this is just what I happened to be wearing yesterday :)

These gloves are going to be my entry in the Multnomah County Fair this year since I haven't had time to make any dolls in awhile. Wish me luck!

-Baby Cat

GEORGIO, SWEET LITTLE SOFT DOLL

Baby Cat and I were walking through the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood a while back and stopped in at The Bull And The Bee, a children's clothing shop.  I had been in there once before with my Neighbor Cat, and seen these cute little dolls.  So I showed them to Baby Cat and then we had to buy one!

You must know by now, that Baby Cat and I are both confirmed doll lovers, so any new kind of doll really gets to us.  Especially one like this one.  

Georgio

Baby Cat named him Georgio, because, well, he looks like a Georgio!  There's no other explanation for it!

Georgio is a very simple doll made using knit fabrics, thread, and a little stuffing.  He's so little and adorable!  Baby Cat and I were  thinking we could make our own little Georgio type dolls using fabrics and fibers that we enjoy using.  But don't worry, we aren't going to dismantle our little Georgio.  We are just going to use him for inspiration. 

 NO DOLLS HAVE OR EVER WILL BE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS BLOG!

 - Momma Cat

PINK BUNNY

I found this cute bunny pattern a while back on Ravelry.com, and it was free.  So, I decided to make and couple of bunnies for Easter.  Well, Easter has come and gone, and I was only able to completed one bunny so far, and here she is!

Candy Cottontail

Her name is Candy Cottontail, and she is currently residing at Yarntastic Fiber Arts, where she is for sale for a mere $25.  

Just wait until you see her brother.

-  Momma Cat

MORE MINIS AND SOME AMAZING DOLLS!

Let's take a break from wedding stuff for this week and enjoy some adorable minis instead! Here are the results of Baby Cat and Jennifer's final (at least for now) miniature trade! 

I adapted my own sweater pattern from one that Jennifer found. The original was cute but difficult to get on and off because it had no buttons or snaps. The new snaps in the back but looks like a pull on sweater from the front, or it can be worn in reverse as a cardigan!

Doesn't this bear look so cute in her little crochet dress? 

Green is adorable too!

The weather wasn't quite warm enough for dresses when we made this trade, so our little model decided to put her sweater back on.

And here's Strawberry shortcake modeling a sweater of her very own!

Another cute sweater and scarf set for Strawberry Shortcake. 

Unfortunately, the lighting isn't as good for photography in my house as it was in the library (where the previous pictures were taken.) I am going to have to figure out a better setup when I take pictures at home.

In other news, and mostly as a result of trading with Jennifer, my dollhouse is coming together bit by bit!

As part of the last trade, I received this comfy sofa and two chairs. The living room is looking cozy!

Also part of the trade was this nice big bed and end table. I love the detail of the turned spindles on the bed, they look just like they would on a full-sized bed! The little table on the end of the bed looks like it would be perfect for storing knicknacks.

And here is a lovely old-fashioned desk in what might soon become the office.

The final addition to Baby Cat's dollhouse (for now)  is this pretty dresser, made complete by these perfect tiny perfume bottles I found in the sale bin at Collage!

I also got this little wine and cheese plate in the sale bin at Collage! The stem of the wine glass was broken but it was nothing a little tacky glue couldn't fix.

Baby Cat also found this amazing art doll magazine at Collage. Isn't this doll beautiful in a sort of morbid way? 

She is designed to decompose and be used as food for the little sprouts growing on her dress. Although it seems sad to see such a work of art decay, it is wonderful that it will return to the earth and create new life, unlike so many things that end up in landfills when their useful life is ended. (Not that I would ever throw this doll away, I would want to keep it!) 

The magazine includes basic instructions for making similar dolls and I am considering trying to make something similar to it on my own if I ever have the time. Until then, check out the original artist at: http://burymebaubles.tumblr.com/ or https://www.etsy.com/shop/burymebaubles. I know I can't get enough of looking at her dolls!

-Baby Cat

MOMMA CAT FINISHES "VASES" FOR BABY CAT'S WEDDING RECEPTION

Momma Cat promised Baby Cat that she would paint a bunch of glass jars silver, so that they could be used for flower vases for Baby Cat's wedding reception.  Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

Well, finding the jars was easy.  I bought two dozen small Kerr canning jars at Fred Meyer and brought them home.  Then I went to JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts and bought some "chrome" spray paint, and some clear coat.  Then I had to wait for dry weather, (not so easy in Portland, in the early spring).  

I painted the jars in batches, first with about three coats of "chrome", then one coat of clear coat, then three more coats of "chrome".  I had to make sure the jars were completely dry and the paint was set before I went on to the next step.  

But here's what the jars looked like when they were being painted.

Painted "vases"

Painting them with so many layers was very important to make sure they looked good and smooth, and very shiny.

Once the jars were all dry, I tied silver and royal blue ribbons around the tops and wrapped them in tissue paper.  Then I gave them all to Elizabeth Cat, who is going to make all the bouquets for Baby Cat's wedding.  Alas, I was so happy to be done that I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. :{
But, I guess that's how it goes sometimes.

The "vases" turned out so well. They are going to be fabulous!

Happy Wedding Reception Baby Cat and Fiance' Cat!  

-  Momma Cat

EEYORE COMES TO MOMMA CAT

Months ago I found an adorable crochet pattern on Ravelry.com.  It was for a little Eeyore like softie, and I fell in love with it!

I've been working on Baby Cat's bride doll, but had run into a problem.  So I decided to take a break from it and make Eeyore instead.  

This pattern is very easy, and took less than a skein of yarn.  I used Cascade Yarns, Ultra Pima Cotton, instead of worsted weight yarn, and I used 9mm eyes instead of 12mm.  Those are the only changes I made.

Look how cute he is!

Eeyore

Eeyore, side view

I liked him so much I immediately made two more! One is for sale at Yarntastic Fiber Arts.  The other one went to the owner of Yarntastic!  Who would have thought he'd be so popular?

It was fun to try something new, and it was a real fast project!  If you haven't gone on Ravelry to look at patterns and stuff, you should try it.  There is so much available there.  I just love looking for new ideas.  

-  Momma Cat

WEDDING FAVORS ARE DONE!!!!!!

Momma Cat and FutureMom Cat, also known as Maureen Cat, put their considerable talents together and made 114 favors for Baby Cat's wedding reception this past week.

They started out with some beautiful silver mesh, and some equally beautiful royal blue lace.  They cut out eight inch squares, using a quilting template, rotary cutter, and cutting mat.  That made getting the size right real easy.  

Here's a photo of what the fabric looks like.  

Blue Lace and Silver Mesh with matching ribbons

Then they got some skinny silver ribbon, and some skinny royal blue ribbon and cut them in to twelve inch pieces.  Momma Cat made up some cute labels on her computer, with Baby Cat and Fiance' Cat's names on them, and their wedding date,  printed them out on some metallic silver paper, cut them apart, and punched a tiny hole in each one.  

Momma Cat and FutureMom Cat bought bags and bags of York Peppermint Patties, 
 

blue and silver, just like the wedding colors!

then spent several hours together putting these beautiful little favors together.  See how pretty they are?  

We hope Baby Cat and Fiance Cat know how much we love them and how much we enjoyed making these little gifts for all their wedding guests.  

Happy Wedding Baby Cat and Fiance Cat!

-  Momma Cat