Spring is in the air…

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Betty

and you know what that means! It means a new vegetable garden at Casa Crafter!

Last year, this is what my “garden” looked like:

Those two metal tubs were my previous attempt at a veggie garden. It was a flaming, tailspinning, crashing failure. I didn’t have them drained correctly and after the first big rain my small crop of peppers, squash, cucumbers, and cantaloupe was drowned. I was super bummed.

This year I was determined to do better! I REALLY want to use our huge lot (for being in a city anyway, half an acre is pretty good!) for producing some of our own food. We have the chickens, fig trees, and persimmon tree already which are great fun. A successful garden along with the beehive I’m planning will round it out nicely! I bet you didn’t know I was such a hippie, huh? Anyway, since I really want to get serious about making my yard more edible, I decided to get some professionals involved. I worked with an amazing company whose tagline is “Grow Food. We’ll Help.” Perfect. And here is my garden now!

As you can see my ill-fated metal tubs have been put to use again! They have been set up to drain properly, had trellises added, and are now planted with cucumbers and snow peas. Since this area is on a slope we added all this terracing to keep the decomposed granite pathways in place. I’m super happy with the way it looks. The slope also makes it really hard to photograph!

All around the perimeter in those mini stone beds are blackberries. Little Betty will eat every one of them I’m sure.

Do you recognize my metal planter score from my recent shopping trip?

Although I think vegetable gardens are beautiful enough on their own, I didn’t want my garden to be ALL business. I wanted a focal point. And my favorite plants are definitely succulents! They are so beautiful and easy to propagate. I’ve always got new starts going in a few vintage planters somewhere in my house or yard!

There’s also herbs tucked into a few of the corners.

The wood raised beds are pretty awesome. They’re wicking beds, which means there is a reservoir underneath the soil that holds water and provides water to the plants from underneath. Great for our scorching summers! I stick a hose down this PVC pipe and fill it until water comes out of a hole on the other side:

Brilliant, right??

I’m super excited to see how my garden will change over the coming months, hopefully into a lush, Texas style cottage garden with densely packed fruit and vegetables!

Have any of you put in your spring gardens yet, or are planning them out?

A shopping trip with my best gal.

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Betty

Last week Little Betty and I headed a few hours out of town to hit a huge flea market I’ve had some luck at in the past. We made a few days of it so we could shop all the way there and back. Although it wasn’t that successful of a shopping trip, we sure did have fun! And by successful, I mean, I didn’t get as much as I was hoping for the shop. I found PLENTY for me. Oops.

I love driving through little country towns. Such great eye candy. We even saw a fossil!

When we got there we stayed in a super cute and friendly little bed and breakfast called Buffalo Girls Hotel. It was in a little Old West town full of ramshackle shops and restaurants. It was awesome.

The flea market, as always, was exciting and fun. So much to see!

Wouldn’t this candy display make the best toy storage in a kid’s room? I would have loved to get it for all Little Betty’s vintage Fisher Price toys.

I was confused and annoyed by this sign. So is the jewelry vintage or not?? Inappropriate use of quotation marks really gets under my skin. But Sherry was super nice to Little Betty and gave her some free jewelry just for being adorable so I decided to overlook it.

This amazing metal hot air balloon sculpture was only $5! I did not haggle. I just grabbed it gleefully and it now sits proudly beside my piano.

This trip marked the maiden voyage of our new, amazing wagon – the Radio Flyer Ultimate Comfort Wagon. It was awesome! It has 2 seats with tons of configurations – 1 seat with table w/ cup holders and crayon holders for drawing, 1 seat with huge storage area, 2 seats facing each other, 2 seats facing the same way. It’s amazing! Plus it has that huge storage bag on it, a canopy, pockets galore, and about 7 cup holders for everyone. Little Betty was totally comfy and I had lots of room for my goodies. That is, until the end when we had to take the canopy off and load poor Little Betty down with all my purchases. Anyhoo – totally recommend this wagon to other moms. And check out that amazing Indian Chief embroidery! How boss is that? The big metal thing is part of something I’m now using as a planter. More details on that in a day or so.

I mentioned I was a bit of a bad girl and spoiled myself. Here are some of my splurges. Me likey bracelets.

I also treated myself to the most amazing squirrel mugs EVER. I only kept two and sold the other two. They lasted about 7.3 seconds in the shop before they were snapped up.

Also lasting about 7.3 seconds in the shop was this super incredible wolf cowichan. I’ve never seen one with a wolf, and who doesn’t love a good cowichan anyway?

Here are a couple things I didn’t get, although I wanted to:

Oh how I coveted those McCoy rainbow canisters!! They are all perfection. But sadly they were $75. That is just not going to work for me.

Also in the category of McCoy and too expensive, yet awesome, was this:

Is it not glorious? If it had been half the price I might have been tempted. But this was at the end of the trip and after my splurges on bakelite and turquoise. I resisted.

Although the trip was not as fruitful as I had hoped, I am not too bummed, for guess what awaits me in a mere week and a half?? WARRENTON!! I shiver with anticipation at the thought of her endless tents of vintage perfection.

Planting Fairy Gardens = A Perfect Sunday

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Betty

Little Betty and I went to a fabulous garden center on Sunday to get some plants for the big garden project we have coming up this week. We were diverted, however, when we discovered this place had an entire area devoted to fairy gardens! Well at that point it was over for us. We were obsessed and decided we both needed one. We gleefully planned our respective fairy gardens and got right down to business as soon as we got home.

I already had the start of one in my bullet planter – meaning I had some mushrooms and gnomes in there. Please don’t mind my naughty gnome – he is harmless. Mr. Crafter brought him back from Scotland for me when we were just dating.

So I just added some sweet little ornamental plants, a footbridge, and a gazing ball.

I heart it bigtime.

This one is Little Betty’s. Isn’t it darling? She picked out everything for it all by herself – all the plants and accessories. I think she did a lovely job.

Now we have plans to make tons more little accessories out of polymer clay. I see a new obsession coming on…

A Closed Mouth Gathers No Feet

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Betty

Ok fellow crewel lovers. Be prepared as I am about to break the internet with the awesomeness of the following photo:

GAH!!! My friend Bobby found this at an estate sale several years ago and thought I’d appreciate seeing it. Is it not the most incredible piece of crewel work ever?? He also has God Bless Our Pad but we both agree this one wins hands down. I love it so much.

If you have a piece you think beats this one send it to me!

Happiness is Homemade kits are ready!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Betty

Introducing the first in a planned line of vintage inspired crewel kits, Don’t Be Crewel by Betty Crafter!

If you would like to make your own Happiness is Homemade crewel wall hanging, head to my brand new shop and get yourself one!

Each kit will come with fabric stamped with the pattern, wool, a crewel needle, and instructions. All you’ll need are stretcher bars if you choose to use them and a frame! It’s quick to make and easy enough for a beginner. Give it a try!

The Tricky Art of Kid Birthday Parties

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Betty

This week my sweet Little Betty turned 4. Such a bittersweet day it was – so proud of my girl yet finding myself on the verge of tears over the realization that my baby was gone and in her place was a graceful, smart, and funny girl. But enough about that – let’s talk about parties! Kid birthday parties can be tricky stuff, and I’m finding that it gets trickier the older she gets. One must have the right balance of activities, refreshments, and guests. I’m sure it will not surprise you at all to know that your friend Betty tends to go off the deep end when planning Little Betty’s birthday parties. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we? Maybe you can gain something from my mistakes and successes.

Little Betty’s first birthday party was a vaudeville theme. Yes, random, I know. I am not sure what came over me. it seemed like a great idea at the time, and I must admit that it came off pretty well. The important thing is that it spawned an enduring theme for me – the photo station!

Luckily a girlfriend of mine is a set painter and she helped me create this totally baller mural. Our party favors were vintage polaroids of our guests taken in the mural. It worked out great – a smashing success.

How about Mr. Crafter’s awesome mutton chops?? I sure miss those. We also had candy mustaches, cameo barrettes and pins for the kids, and a vintage circus elephant cake topper. Unfortunately Little Betty was too young to truly appreciate how awesome her 1st birthday party was.

Her 2nd birthday party might have been the best. It was a woodland theme and it was incredible. It was also the only party I had a professional photographer for – I highly recommend this if you can swing it!

For this party I made cupcakes instead of a cake and also set up a terrarium making station. I spent weeks searching out vintage fawns, owls, squirrels, and gnomes to adorn both. I also made little cottages and mushrooms out of polymer clay. Yes, I may be insane. I am definitely an overachiever.

But by far the best part of this party was the photo station. I ~~forced~~ convinced Mr. Crafter to construct a fake wall with a frame that I decorated:

I set out all kinds of costumes/disguises and it was a huge success! Although I think Mr. Crafter still holds a bit of a grudge. I had vintage polaroid film again but it turned out to be a dud so we used our regular cameras, which worked out fine.

For Little Betty’s 3d birthday Mr. Crafter made me promise to take the easy way out. So I planned a Coney Island theme that we planned to have at a vintage kiddie amusement park. But sadly it was FREEZING that day and we had to abort in favor of the jumpy house. Little Betty was thrilled – me, not so much.

So this year, I was determined to make up for last year’s disappointment! Little Betty wanted a ballerina birthday party so we settled on a Nutcracker Ballet theme (so as to not horrify the male guests.) I had so many elaborate plans!

Nutcracker themed party favors on clearance from Oriental Trading!

A Nutcracker themed snow globe making station! A tiara and sword decorating station! A jumpy castle! A humongous princess pinata! A fake stage and dress up clothes for the photo station! YES! This party was going to be awesome!

Ahhh…the best laid plans…

Sadly it rained that day. But Betty is not about to let an extremely rare rainy day in Texas come in between her and a good party!

So I set up the jumpy castle in the dining room, to Little Betty’s sheer delight.

I allowed the kids to beat the pinata to a pulp indoors, to their glee, and their parents’ astonishment.

The photo station was sadly not my best. The backdrop was a disappointment and kept falling down, and not very many people seemed into it.

That’s ok though because the cake was amazing!

It was the first time I didn’t make it, and it was totally worth it. Pink, sparkly, tiered, and vegan to boot!

In all, even though it didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped, it might have been the most fun party yet. We had about 50 guests, and by all accounts everyone had fun. We had lingerers until 9 pm! I think the lesson I learned here is that if you have plenty of activities and keep the beer and the juice boxes flowing, a good time will be had by all, whether you have fancy decorations, pinterest worthy ideas, and good weather or not.

What lessons have you learned in the art of throwing kid birthday parties?

Happiness Is Homemade

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Betty

Sorry for the long absence, but I’ve been busy stitching away on my first original crewel design! I’m super happy with it and anxious to share it with you!

I wanted to design something that would fit right in with all my 1960s and 70s crewel pieces and I think I’ve done it! I also finally got motivated to rehang them all so they looked a little more purposeful.

I framed it with a simple gallery frame for stretched canvas I got at the art supply store.

This project was so fun to do! And I designed it in a way that should make it easy enough for a beginner to do. I am busily working on designing packaging and should be able to accept orders for kits in the next couple of weeks!

Crewel Stitch-A-Long Complete

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Betty

Melinda and I have finished our Try A Little Kindness crewels!

Looking at our finished pieces together like this, my color “mistakes” are pretty obvious, but I think they both look great! I’m not upset that I messed up the colors, but I like the colors as called for in Melinda’s as well.

I just need to nail my frame on there and it’s all done!

Here’s Melinda’s added to her perfectly balanced and staged collection:

And here’s mine slapped up on my wall with the others, not staged or spaced or anything, with no thought to balance or design.

I need to work on making this wall look better, but I’ve got something in the works that needs to be added first. I’m currently working on my first, original crewel design! I can’t wait to show it to you – I’m super excited about it! I actually have several in the works and I’m thinking about making kits available for sale if people like them. Maybe you can help me with a little market research. How much would you pay for a crewel kit for a wall hanging the size of the Try A Little Kindness or God Bless Our Pad one? How much would you pay for a pillow kit? The style will be similar to the things you see in this last picture here. Thanks friends!

Who are you?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Betty

Eartha Kitsch is my total girl crush (shh!! Don’t tell her!) I love her blog and eagerly wait for her posts which are always hilarious and often poignant. Anyhoo…recently she posted about wanting to know who her readers were and I thought – yes! I want to know about my readers too! So I’m totally stealing her thunder here, but I would love if you’d leave a comment telling me about yourself and linking to your blog if you have one. I’m tired of being the taker in our relationship, friends. I’m ready to give back and hear about YOUR lives too!

And as a token of how much I care about y’all, here’s some eye candy I scored at the flea market today. I dedicate this photo of my new squirrel buttons to my sister in squirrel love, Eartha.

Crewel Stitch-A-Long Progress Update

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Betty

Melinda and I have been hard at work on our Try A Little Kindness crewel kits and making a surprising amount of progress!

Here’s Melinda’s:

And here’s mine:

I managed to find an frame off a piece of crewel in my inventory that was falling off anyway and I think it’s perfect! Not everything is perfect though. Do you notice any difference between mine and Melinda’s? Color differences? That’s because Melinda is very smart and I am not. When she opened her kit, she laid out all the wool and matched it up to the color chart. I just dove right in and started stitching, not realizing that I was dealing with red, red orange, burnt orange, bright orange, rust, pale orange, and gold all in one pattern! The letters called for bright orange and pale orange, so I grabbed the colors that to me, were clearly bright orange and light orange. Later on when I was frantically searching for red orange, I realizsed I had used red orange and bright orange for my letters. Oh well – I will just have to do some creative color re-arranging because I am not about to rip it all out! Really the only major thing that will be affected is the huge flower on the right. Mine will be a one of a kind, that’s for sure!

Are you working on a crewel piece? Send me a photo of your progress and I’ll share it!

In other news, I’m FINALLY getting my etsy store back up and running! Keep your eyes peeled for such gems as this 1950s black velvet one shouldered party dress:

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