October: A month of creativity

In the month of October,  I promised myself that every day I would do something creative, no matter how small a project it may be. I decided to take it easy on myself and set rather broad parameters to guarantee success. By my definition, “creative” means anything handmade or embellished, including everything from food (made from scratch, of course; Mac and cheese from a box doesn’t count), crafts, gardening, or writing.

Here is the month in photos.

For the month of October I’ve pledged to do something creative every day. Here’s day 1: homemade raspberry jam with berries from my garden.

Day 2: Craft Paper luminaries. I found this pre-punched packing paper in the bottom of our CSA box last week and knew I had to do something with it. This is likely one of many luminaries to come, because I’m a bit obsessed…especially as the days grow shorter.

Day 3: Pin-punched lampshade. I picked up this cute little yellow lamp at Junket and was inspired to dress up the plain Jane shade with a pin-punched design after reading Kerry Lemon’s book Fearless Drawing. The doily is from my Grandma Andruscavage.

Day 4: favorite t-shirt pillow. Will loved this grasshopper t-shirt and I promised to make it into a pillow a couple of years ago. Today I remembered these old polka dot pj pants I had and it all came together.

Day 5: Handknit and felted flower. I asked for Nicky Epstein’s book Knitted Flowers a couple of years ago for Christmas, and I’m finally getting around to knitting from it. Nice to knit a bloom that will last on this chilly weekend when garden flowers are fading fast.

Day 6: Beeswax Luminary with waxed leaves (before they all blow away). Happy Fall!

Day 7: Embroidered onsie for our new niece, in the works. Several years ago, I made a number of these for friends and family. Much faster than knitting and plenty cute!

Day 8: Tin Can Luminary. I’ve been thinking about making these for nearly a year, ever since I followed a trail of them through the woods at Hidden Falls for the Bare Bones show. Easy, and there’s never a shortage of materials around here.

Day 9: Homemade Limoncello and Tonic…cause it’s just one of those days. Made using lemons from family in California. Tasty!

Day 10: Origami Paper Lanterns. I saw these long ago in Martha Stewart Living and Brian and I spent a weekend folding enough boxes to cover a few strands of lights for a New Year’s Eve Party (yes, this was before we had kids!). I love them though, and had fun folding these tonight. They are kind of addicting once you get the hang of it.

Day 11: Original Artwork Onsies. Okay, so I guess I’m the art director on this one. I’m always looking for ways to display and pass along the kid’s artwork and these design-your-own iron-ons are just the ticket. Credits: Class of 33, Brian Cornell; Bird, Theo Cornell; Turtle, Will Cornell.

Day 12: Larger than Life Grapevine Ornaments. When Brian cut our wild grape way back a couple of weeks ago, I finally had enough raw material to try out this idea I’ve had for a long time. This is a work in progress…my plan is to wrap them in white lights, but I’m still working on the logistics of that piece. Stay tuned!

Day 13: Golden Potage Soup. This is my favorite time of year for food, and I’m crazy for soup. Used homemade chicken broth, carrots from our garden, sweet potato, parsnip, and potatoes. The recipe is from The Cafe Brenda Cookbook, published by Voyageur Press, only I garnished with roasted Brussels sprouts and bacon. Yum!

Day 14: Handknit Dish Cloth. This project is instant knitting gratification…or it should be. In this case I started knitting on a dock in Canada 2 years ago and finally dug it out of the bottom of my knitting bag tonight to finish it. Some projects are just like that.

Day 15: Autumn Flower Boxes. It felt a little silly to be buying flowers to plant when we’re so close to a first frost, but I couldn’t resist this combo of ornamental kale and lavender mums. This makes up for the lackluster summer boxes I planted this year!

Day 16: Emmylou’s Denim Strip “Quilt”. Tonight was our first dog training class, so it seemed fitting that I start piecing this covering I’m making for Emmy’s bed. This is my kind of sewing…not at all precise and very quick. Inspired by the Quilts of Gee’s Bend. I think she likes it!

Day 17: Chocolate Raspberry Trifle. My presentation isn’t the best, but this is one delicious mess. Used the last of the raspberries from our garden, just picked this morning. Yum!

Day 18: Autumn Bouquet. After my walk with Emmy this morning, I noticed that the leaves from the wild geranium looked a bit like maple leaves, so I gathered this arrangement from around the yard. Votive is from our honeymoon on Kauai 18 years ago.

Day 19: Striped Sock Scarf. As mom to two boys, my little wardrobe indulgence for them has always been striped socks from Boden (white sweat socks be damned!), so when the heals wear out I’m always a little sad. The other day when sorting socks I thought it might be fun to sew them together into a skinny scarf, and here it is. ( okay, you’re right…”by day 20, she had lost her marbles…”)

Day 20: Old Sweater Transformed. (Or in the process of being transformed, anyway.) I’ve had this blue crew neck for awhile now, but I never wear it. I’m more partial to cardigans. So I cut the sweater down the middle (this is called a steek in knitting circles), trimmed the placket from an old pj top I had sitting around and voila! Source of inspiration: Rebecca Yaker of Melvin’s Room, who included a similar project in a book that never came to be.

Day 21: Scrappy Napkins. Recognize the Swiss dot fabric from yesterday’s post? I decided to use the rest of the pajama top to make a few cloth napkins. We use these for every meal, so it’ll be great to have new ones in the mix.

Day 22: Simple Spanakopita. This is one of my favorite recipes from one of the best cookbooks on my shelf: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. A couple of weeks ago I made this for my neighbor using Swiss Chard from my garden, and I’ve been craving it ever since. Her sister, who is visiting from Greece said they use whatever they have on hand for this dish, including leeks, which is her fav. I’ll be trying that next!

Day 23: 100 Percent Wool Gum Balls. Not to chew of course, but to embellish! Sew them to your favorite scarf, string them together to make a necklace or bracelet, or hang as a garland to add a festive touch to a corner if the house. I’ve been seeing these everywhere lately and they are so easy to make. Beautiful bowl handmade by Kara ZumBahlen.

Day 24: Hand Printed Gingko Leaf Wrapping Paper. I’ve always loved the elegant fan shape of a Ginkgo leaf, so I thought it would fun to print them on this packing paper. I embellished a bit with a gold inked leaf stamp. For the gingko leaves I just used some old finger paint I had on hand. Next time I’ll iron the paper first.

Day 25: Handknit Lace. Knitting season is in full swing, and I need a project. I’m thinking I’ll wrap this around a glass jar and put a candle in it, but we’ll see how it turns out. I’m loving this yarn…Lopi Einband.

Day 26: Felted Black Purse with Bobbles. This isn’t even close to finished, but you get the idea. I accidentally shrunk a favorite sweater years ago, and finally figured out what to do with it. My plan is to line it, add a magnetic snap, sew multicolored bobbles all along the top, and add red running stitch along the seams. Stay tuned.

Day 27: Forcing Daffodils. This isn’t all that eye-catching now, but in February it will be a cheerful sight.

Day 28: Beeswax Candle with Multicolored Crayon Border. This is an experiment in the making! When the wax hardens, I’ll remove the mold, warm the candle, and then press crayons all around the sides for color. Special thanks to Kristen Cornell Gundry for her candle making tips! Completed candle. Instead of a border of crayons, I used this piece of birch bark that fit perfectly around the candle.

Day 29: Boo! Paper Bag Luminariies. I like to line our front walk with these on Halloween night. Easy, cheap, and festive!

Day 30: T-Shirt Refresh. I bought this shirt through a catalog a couple of years ago, and it’s never been quite right…it had a big, boxy cut and the back was longer than the front. So tonight I took my scissors to the hem, took in each of the sides by a couple inches, and used some if the excess material to make the tie…now I might actually get some use out if it!

Day 31: Haunted House. Here it is, all. The grand finale! It’s been so fun posting my creative endeavors this month. Thanks so much for following along. I’ll be starting a blog soon, so stay tuned! Happy Halloween!