fun with felt food

before i get started, let me answer leslie's question about the bread recipe i use - i like this one for "amish white bread." it's a little sweet, so you can adjust the amount of sugar, but we like it just the way it is.

although i suppose that could account for the higher reading when i step on that damn scale lately. huh. and yet my clothes still fit just fine. plus, it's been asking for a new battery. so i'm going to just assume it's all freaky and haywire due to lack of power. yeah. i'll go with that.

and so...the crafting madness continues!

having made stuff for the teen and myself, i decided it was the bean's turn. i'd picked up a shitload of felt in different colors with the intent of making some fun new toys for her, and after perusing a zillion different sites, i settled on this felt brown bag lunch tutorial.

it's actually really easy to make this stuff. in fact, i could see myself winging it to create all sorts of fun fake edibles. hell, i might have more fun making it than the bean will playing with all of it. using my trusty rotary cutter, i measured and sliced all the different shapes and colors to make a brown lunch bag, two slices of bread, a slice of tomato, a piece of lettuce, a cheese slice, lunch meat (or bologna, but that shit is gross, so i'm calling it ham), and a bag of chips.

i sat down at my machine and had the first few pieces completed in no time.

i ran out of time to finish the chips and the lettuce, and i want to throw in some cookies or an ice cream cone. after all, a meal just ain't complete without dessert, right? maybe that's just in the wan house. either way, something sweet will be the, uh, icing on the cake. ha, i made a funny. or a lame-y. whatever.

the bean was funny - "tomato! i bite it." and she did just that. but as her tongue touched the fuzzy felt, she made a face, pulled it out, and said "tastes yucky!" she did get a kick out of putting the sandwich together and putting it in the (too-small) lunch bag, though. fun!

back in my wedding planning days, i spent a lot of time on the knot's message boards. it was fun to chat with fellow brides (and make fun of a bunch of them, too - i'm such a cyber bully) and look at their planning bios to see what cool ideas they had and the dresses (good and hideous) they'd chosen for their big day. but i would always smirk at the ones who would preface their bios with "okay, fiancé, stop looking." and then there would be a bunch of blank space, sometimes with "i'm serious! close the window now!" followed with even more blank space and perhaps even a "come on! don't look!" before the top-secret photo of the dress would finally appear.

why do i bring this up? well, it's because i finished that laptop sleeve for my friend 10yearstogether, and i want to show it off. but i'm not going to see her till late next week, and i want to wrap it up like a present and present it to her in front of a bunch of our friends. i already know she's gonna get all emo and if i'm lucky, eke out a tear or two. hee! so, 10years, if you're reading this post and it's not next week yet, stop reading.

i mean it! stop. reading. now!

you're going to regret it if you don't close the effing window, woman.

i warned you! last chance!

after all that hype, you're totally going to expect some fancy case that'll charge the laptop, vacuum the floors, wash all the dirty dishes, and make dinner. sorry to disappoint - it's a simple laptop sleeve that only took me about an hour total to complete, but is my best finished product to date.

it's cute, right? i was pretty proud of it myself. i tested it out with the teen's laptop and it fits and everything! i tried to be all crafty and use a red thread for the top and black in the bobbin, but it backfired a bit - the black thread came up with every other stitch or so and it's visible in the red velcro that keeps the flap closed, but it's a'ight. still looks pretty good. i got to try out the zigzag stitch in my machine and worked with fusible fleece interfacing, and now i can make one for the teen in her choice of fabric(s) without having to stop to read the directions every two seconds.

what to do next? i'm debating a skirt for me, a top for the bean, or maybe even a simple dress pattern i've had waiting in the wings. either way, with no plans all weekend and a pretty nice stash of fabric i've got built up, i'm sensing a lot of bonding time with my machine in the next few days.

yay for national crafts month!