My Paper Crane

Let’s Make Cat Donuts

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:58 +0000

Please excuse yet another break in my ten year story (actually I checked and saw my part two never posted! I’ll have that up tomorrow) but I made these cat donuts for crafternoon and wanted to share! I’ve seen cat donuts like this that you can buy in Japan, and have wanted to make them for so long. I searched for instructions but couldn’t find anything…so I thought I’d experiment and hope for the best. After a few bumps, they worked out really well and were pretty easy to do.

Here are the basic supplies…
-peanut butter melts When I was thinking about what kind of frosting could work for these donuts I knew I wanted something that would coat the top in a nice thick layer. Then the chocolate melts came to mind and I thought they would work great. When I got to the store and saw they had a peanut butter flavor, it was the perfect color and flavor. You could also do chocolate, or pastel cats.
-whole almonds If you make these for some one with a nut allergy you will obviously need to sub the peanut butter melts with another flavor, and the almonds for something else like the melts cut into a triangle shape? I haven’t had a chance to experiment with this part but I’d love to hear if you have any other ideas that would work. ETA–Seanna Lea commented that candy corn might work for the ears and I think that’s a great idea! I’m going to give it a try next time I make them.
-plain cake donuts I went with plain cake donuts because they are nice and dense
1. First you want to melt your candy melts into a deep small dish. Follow the instructions on the melts. I found that two bags coated about 20 donuts.
2. Dip an almond into the candy melts and press into the donut, for the ears. Stick these into the freezer for a few seconds to harden the almond in place. At first I had tried just pushing the almond into the donut, but lost a couple of ears this way when I turned over and dipped the donuts. It’s worth the extra step to secure them in place.
3. Once the almonds are secure dip donuts down into the peanut butter melts, then turn back over and let sit on parchment paper until the coating is dry. This actually went pretty smoothly and easily. Just make sure you bowl is deep enough to easily dip the donuts with almonds sticking out of them.
4. Once they are completely dry you can use various icing to raw faces on your cats. You could use candy eyes, or just pipe little faces on. I used premixed/precolored frostings for these.

let’s talk about ten years…

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:58 +0000

I’ve been meaning to make a post about this for awhile now. I kept thinking my blog’s ten year anniversary was in May, then when I finally went back and checked it was actually April. So it is time that I talk about blogging for a decade…here goes! The photo above in my website and blog as it looks now, which is so very different from the way it looked ten years ago when I started it. Ten years ago I had a newborn baby, a great passion for making things, and a computer. I decided I would make a website and a blog so I could have a set place to share the stuff I was making. Before that I had been sharing it on message boards like the Nervousness.org community. People were giving me great feedback and I felt really excited about being able to make things and share them with people all over. I was making all sorts of silly purses. Hedgehogs, dead cat purses (cartoony I assure you) and then one day I had a long skinny scrap of brown fabric that reminded me of toast crust. I made a toast plush and thus my plush “food with faces” was born.
So here is the thing about looking back at the blog and website I made ten years ago. It’s embarrassing, seriously it is so embarrassing. Not only did my website have clip art, it had patterned back grounds. I luckily drew the line at a website that played music and had dancing gifs but that was probably only because I couldn’t figure out how to make them. I had no experience with web design, and it showed. I wrote embarrassing things. Friends I referred to myself as a “hip housewife”. I can only thank my stars that I did not have access to the internet when I was 16, because if I find the 25 year old me embarrassing, I am sure 16 year old would be mortifying. That being said people were incredibly lovely, encouraging, and no one told me my website looked terrible….well, not right away.
Here is how it looked about 3-4 weeks in. Oh and I had a yard sale section.
Any blog readers go way back to when I made tampon dolls? Here is a photo of the original doll. Which to me looks as though it was made by a five year old. Embarrassing, I tell you! These dolls actually were very popular and I am told that the image of my son’s arms holding a bunch of them can still be seen on some websites. I just got tired of being known as the “tampon lady”. I just thought they were funny, and well of course I was making dead cat purses too.
Here you can see the first toast dolls I made. First I’d like to point out they are not toasted at all, they should of been referred to as bread. I remember I had dolls like this the first year that I sold at Crafty Bastards and then a few years later I had perfected my design, upgraded to wool felts and my bread range looked like this. (and apparently I thought it was fine to post blurry photos) Well a girl came up to me and said she remembered my toasts from before, but then she saw that they cost more (I believe they were $15 instead of $10) and she was upset about the change. I think I should of brought along a photo of the old toast to show her she was getting something much better haha.
Then of course there were my original donuts, you can see the donut holes I made here too. Again these look really rough to me. You can see I have sewn hundreds of donuts over these last ten years.
At some point I got tired of trying to keep a blog on a website and switched to live journal.
Finally in 2005 the amazing Kristen Davenport (who now has a vegan food truck in Austin TX go taste her amazing baked goods!) sent me an email saying she wanted to build me a proper website, for free. I told her she could do it for trade and in the meantime she created the little webpage you see above to direct people to my zen cart powered webshop. I’m going to go ahead and leave you hanging here till tomorrow to give your eyes a rest before we go on. I’ve got an exciting giveaway at the end of my story, kidrobot goodies, handmade goodies, maybe some spoonflower fabric too–so stay tuned for that!

dinner

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:56 +0000

Sometimes I love preparing dinner, and some nights all I think is “seriously? I have to do this again?” Since my husband works evenings-dinner falls on my shoulders.
Starting two weeks ago I’ve have been taking time out each Sunday to make a weekly menu. Then I go through what we have have, and make my shopping list according to the menu.
One of my boys is super picky, so the menu idea has helped give him a heads up on what to expect. For me knowing that I have everything I need to make the meal that is already planned makes it much less of a chore on the days that I don’t feel like cooking. It’s easy to switch around days in the case that instead of craving that casserole you have your heart set on the salad planned for a few days later.
I’ve been trying to remember to post our dinners over on instagram. I actually look back through when I am in a dinner rut to help plan out some ideas.
The first dinner above on the left was something my friend Molly makes, shredded BBQ on baked potatoes. This BBQ was a prepackaged meat substitute which made it super easy. I did make the baked mac n cheeses, and homemade biscuits this night, so it wasn’t work free. But this was a Thursday which means Tom has off and those dinners are always extra special.
I also made ahead a stone fruit slaw which no body liked, and I just thought was “ok”.
The second dinner pictured is just a big chopped salad shaken with dressing and some shredded cheese, and then topped with fake chicken. Super fast!

Mother’s Day

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:41:39 +0000

Mother’s Day was great, and not just because of the adorable little coconut cake. My husband had the day off & the annual used book sale had its “fill a bag for $5″ day. For breakfast we made Leige Waffles (hot sugar waffles) which I’ve been craving since I tried one on my last trip to NY. They take a little while to make because you need to let the yeast rise, but it worked out well since the book sale didn’t open until noon.
Then the rest of the day was spent planting new flowers and two blueberry bushes. Oh and of course there was the coconut cake too.
I got some lovely records I have been coveting and BioShock Infinite. I have discovered though that I cannot play FPS type games. It makes me dizzy, and I am rubbish when it comes to the fighting. But the game is really beautiful so I’ve been making Tom play it every night so I can watch. I’ve been wanting to start a new game since finishing Ni No Kuni, but to be honest—I just want the new game to be just like Ni No Kuni!

Happy Mother’s Day

Heidi Kenney — Sun, 12 May 2013 11:00:57 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day friends! Here are two photos of my mama, one when she was pregnant with my older sister Heather, and one of her currently.
My Mom is the reason I love to sew, she let me experiment on all her sewing machines, even when I’d mess up the tension half the time. Always letting me dig through her fabric scraps even if I just wanted them to sew ANOTHER hair scrunchie!

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

perfect quilted totes

Heidi Kenney — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:37:18 +0000

This year I’ve been thinking about stash-busting and trying to use up some of my fabrics. I have a lot of really great fabrics, sitting on shelves and they need to be turned into cute things!! Recently I came across Elizabeth Hartman’s perfect quilted tote and decided I was going to buy the pattern and make myself a bag or two. I’ve made tote bags before, but they are just simple bags with out pockets, or magnetic snaps and I decided a pattern would be the best thing to force me to make something a little nicer.
I loved the pattern, it has lots of photos, and is very easy to understand. It comes with two sizes and the absolutely only thing I didn’t love about the pattern is that some of the instructions are geared for the taller tote-and then some photos will say “do this for the wider tote but using these measurements” and it was fine, and I was able to do it. I would just prefer it had separate instructions for each one because occasionally I would read the wrong fabric size and get mixed up.
The first bag I made was patchwork, and still has a bit of mistakes. Your supposed to sew down the top band with stitching along the inside and as you can see I messed that part up royally! So when I gave away this top purse and decided to make myself a second bag, I hand stitched down the top band to avoid screwing up the stitching line, and it looks so much better. I’ll try and get a photo of the inside soon to explain what I mean.
For the second bag I also decided just to use up this adorable snow white fabric (which I got here) Which I’ve been hoarding for awhile. It makes me so happy to use it. Next up I’d like to sew myself a wallet, but I am looking around for the perfect pattern.

the very best tags

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:00:41 +0000

No thrift shop date with my sister this week, because I just have so many work related deadlines & projects going on. So here is a really cute cat tag from a previous thrifting trip. I am such a sucker for a cute garment tag, luckily it’s easy to just take a photo and leave the not-very-cute sweater behind ;)

Play!

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:07 +0000

Play!
Curated by Julie West
Opening reception Saturday May 11th 6-9pm
Dragatomi Sacramento CA

cups & mugs

Heidi Kenney — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:00:30 +0000

I certainly love a good mug or cup!

Flea Marketing

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:00:11 +0000

I know I mentioned before that my friend Molly and I were going to finally go for it, and get a space at a antique shop. Our first month was March, but they gave us the last two weeks of February for free, which was great! Originally we really wanted a space (not shelving) but the only places with available spaces were quite pricey, and so we decided to start small. We’ve been selling at Remember When Antiques in Hagerstown MD.
It’s been an adventuresome learning process for sure. Some things I’ve learned…..
-sales can be really slow
-you’ll have grand plans to decorate up shelving, but next time you come in stuff will be thrown ALL over, and you will find random stuff in your booth that does not belong to you, all the time.
-it’s hard to share a booth space when you some times want to buy something the other person just brought in. Molly and I have both bought stuff from each other!
-Its super exciting to go through your sales list, but unless you keep great records you wont be able to remember what half of the items listed are (im so guilty of this one)
All in all its been a fun experience, and I am so glad Molly is selling there too. It makes it so much more fun to have someone to go with. I do wish the space was closer, I don’t venture to Hagerstown MD all that often so I think I might re-stock and clean the space more often if it was closer. I haven’t decided if I will continue after this month. We may even try out our own shelving space, for just a bit more room. So far I’ve spent $60 on the space and have made $74 haha, so a $14 profit. It’s not a big money maker for me but there is something really fun about it. We decided to hold a 40% off sale this week to hopefully move a bunch of stuff so we can add more. It has been great for cleaning out my attic, and getting rid of some things I love-but don’t really have space for. I’d love to hear from anyone else who has experience selling in this type of venue.

locals…

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:00:23 +0000

Two exciting places are open locally, and are pretty new to me! My friend Molly discovered French Macarons sold locally! Before I knew about this place, the nearest spot for macarons was just outside of DC.
Also our Borders bookshop closed down and we figured the building would remain empty and sad for a long time, but were excited to discover a new bookshop has opened in it’s place. Beside’s books they sell records, cds, movies, and its all a mix of new & used (so you can sell your stuff to them as well) They also carry some Kidrobot toys (my keychains too) and other little designer toys. As much as I love Amazon and Wonderbook (which is our big local used bookstore) I’m really happy to see another bookshop pop up in the area.

coffee break

Heidi Kenney — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:00:09 +0000

I may of had these books for years, but they absolutely never get old.

Painting

Heidi Kenney — Sat, 04 May 2013 11:00:35 +0000

My sister and I go thrift shopping once a week, we always grab a coffee and spend some time searching for treasure, I love being able to spend this time with her every week! Lately I have been keeping my eye out for a little cabinet to hold all my cookbooks. I spotted this little cabinet at the Salvation Army for $8 and knew it would be perfect. It had a cute shape but was made of particle board, so I knew I wanted to paint it. My sister suggested pink and I love how it turned out!
Here is a peek at the cabinet before and after primer.

The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary Fabric Fair

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:00:49 +0000

Every year I look forward to finding out the dates for the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary Fabric Fair. This is an event put on by the women’s auxiliary to raise money each year selling donated craft & sewing items. They set up in a big old grocery store building and are usually only open for four days. Day one is always a crazy frenzy, but also the best time to find treasure. My mom, sister and I arrived a little over an hour early to stand in line (I’d say there was already about 20-30 people ahead of us) Then once they open the doors everyone rushes in to fill up bags (everything is priced, its not fill a bag) or carts (there are only a few carts and I wish there wasn’t any, because of space) and its great fun rooting through everything.
I didn’t go to the fabric area first this time, it was just so crowded. I really only ended up with a few small pieces of fabric this year, and nothing that would make your jaw drop. However I found some neat things in the quilting room and tucked in on the projects table.
The worst part about the fabric fair is the check out lines, they take so long. I am sure we waited over an hour to check out. While they have several lanes to check out, all your items have to be gone through and added up. I’m pretty sure a better system could be devised but this is how its always been, so I just expect the long check out lines.
The empty photos are from later in the afternoon and the next morning. I went back to pick up supplies for the next crafternoon project, and while it is nice and empty-its also very picked over after day one. I did hear talk about the prices being raised, and I will say I noticed some of the fabrics & yarn had been raised since the previous years, but it is still a good bargain!
The last photo I found on the newspaper’s website and gives you a peek at the checkout lines when they were actually starting to die down. I’d say this was about noon and the doors had opened at 9. I know because of where I see my sister and mom in line. You can spot the back of me too in the upper left hand side with a teal blue sweater on and my big mushroom bag slung over my shoulder. This was after I had already checked out once, and wanted to make a second look through everything now that it wasn’t as crowded.

Thrifted Quilt

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:00:22 +0000

I’ve had some quilt luck at the thrift shops lately, but I actually almost didn’t buy this beauty when I saw it at the thrift shop for $5 (I know, not sure what was wrong with me!) It was wrapped up and taped, so I couldn’t open it up, and so I stood there debating it until my sister told me that I needed to buy it, and I am so glad I did. It has beautiful hand stitching, and is so big and cozy. It has easily become one of my most favorite quilts to snuggle on the couch with. Life Lesson–when you see a handmade quilt for $5-you always buy it. always.

Donut

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:05:46 +0000

Trying to blog everyday in May to get myself back into the habit. Even if it’s just something like a bunch of tiny homemade donuts. Got to love mini donut pans :)

The Vintage Heidi

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:06:29 +0000

Since I’ve been on a vintage book kick I thought I would share two books I’ve been on the look out for. I prefer to look in used book shops, thrift shops, and yard sales for my kid’s books…so I am sure I could find this on ebay or Etsy quite easily, but part of the fun is in the hunt. These two little books have been on my radar for a bit now, its the anthropomorphic characters that steal my heart! They are both Whitman Tell-A-Tale books, perfect little sized pocket books. I can’t seem to find any author info online for the runaway pancake, but it seems to have the same story line as the gingerbread man, which has me wondering if it includes death-by-fox.

I’ll be coming to Florida!

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:47 +0000

I was really excited to be asked by Bear and Bird Gallery in Lauderhill, FL to curate this show. I’ll be there for opening night on Friday June 28th 7-10pm and then for a Yummy Meet & Greet on Saturday June 29th 3-4pm. Please come out and see all the amazing new work inspired by cherished classic Golden Book stories! I can’t wait to share some sneak peeks of the stuff I have been working on for this show soon!

April Crafternoon

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:37:37 +0000

This month’s crafternoon was a laid back project that did not involve sharp blades, or complicated materials…..just Perler Beads (also called hama beads) and the little plastic racks you arrange the beads on before ironing. I asked everyone to bring a pattern or idea (cross stitch patterns work great, but you can find tons of perler beads patterns for free online too) Though some of the patterns take some time, they really are super simple to make! And smart phones make it real easy to look up even more patterns on the fly!
This crafternoon was a potluck, so there was lots of goodies to eat, and a white elephant gift swap as usual. Unfortunately I didn’t take as many photos as I usually try to do, but I think you get a good idea of the fun things everyone made.

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:57:22 +0000

Opening tonight!
On April 19 myplasticheart will celebrate the opening of Hanna-Barbarians, a group show featuring the work of over 20 artists from the U.S. and abroad. The show’s name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to its theme, with all artists creating pieces using elements from their favorite cartoons. This is a chance for these artists to showcase those cartoons that have influenced them throughout their careers, sometimes being critical elements in their development and interest in the arts. The show is curated by the Studio Miners, Evoker & Team Sweet, who find joy in documenting the wonderfully exciting world of artists, collectors and creatives of all kinds. This theme particularly appealed to the Studio Miners because in their travels and studio visits, they were always fascinated to see what imagery other artists surrounded themselves with to stimulate creativity.
I went slightly off topic making my piece called “another saturday morning” With my idea of Franken Berry sitting in his underwear watching Saturday morning cartoons. I am still fascinated with the old cereal cartoons that would come on Saturday mornings in between all my favorite cartoons. Here is a sneak peek below..If you make it to the show, I’d love to see photos of everything! I bet it’s going to be amazing!

Yummy Trading Party

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:26:22 +0000

On Friday morning Katie and I headed on a road trip to Rye NY with our two boys. We had decided to leave Friday morning since the drive was a little over five hours and make a fun road trip out of it.
When we finally arrived at our hotel Friday evening we were greeted with a goodie bag from Candy Rox filled with treats. The Yummy Trading Party was on Saturday so we got up and decided to park on Purchase st which is where the shop is located, such a cute little area! We had breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien which was really good and then walked up and down the street a bit before heading to Candy Rox. Everyone at the store was so sweet and nice, they had gone all out with yummy treats for everyone who attended. They bought treats to match the yummy keychains, and even set out the greek paper coffee cups for hot chocolate & coffee. There were balloons, coloring pages, a bunch of items to be raffled off, and even costumes!
I wasn’t able to take photos once the event started but thankfully Katie nabbed some photos for me with me camera & phone. The elementary & middle school kids in Rye are mega yummy keychain collectors. There are rumors flying about what is rare, rumors about what the next series might be, and questions galore. These kids were so awesome! I loved being able to talk to them, sign their keychains & shirts, and hear all their great suggestions for what they think should be made into keychains. The place was packed, and it was amazing and I am so grateful to everyone who came out. Candy Rox said they had over 110 rsvp’s!!
There was one boy who was very serious and asked “Is there a turkey or purple burrito keychain? Because my friend says he has both and I don’t believe him!” Of course I had to break the news that there was no turkey or magical purple burrito in the yummy collections.
There was also a ten year old girl with her mother, who was surprised as her daughter pulled a long strand of yummies from a small bag and said “You told me you only had 20 of them!” to which the daughter said “I have 56″ We loved that she knew the exact number, and goodness…56!!! Really the kids here are super collectors, and most had their yummies clipped onto stretchy hair bands that they then wear around their wrists. The parents told us that it’s a big thing in all the local schools, and has just sort of exploded over the last couple of months.
It was a really fun day and I am so glad that Candy Rox asked me to come and visit. In the evening we went ahead and started heading toward PA, we just wanted to knock a few hours off the trip, and stayed in New Jersey. Then Sunday took our time heading back and drove through Lancaster for Shoo-fly pie, the Christmas Museum and a few antique shops. We did make an attempt to stop and shop at The Golden Nugget fleamarket in NJ which came highly recommended. But when we tried to stop there on Sunday morning the parking situation was a total nightmare. Instead of a parking lot, it was more of a “park-wherever, if you can” arrangement and after weaving our way through cars with many stops and backing the car up, we decided to give up. Maybe if you arrive really early parking isn’t as much of an issue, but it was too anxiety inducing for my tastes haha.

Peter Alexander

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:35:47 +0000

The new collaboration with Peter Alexander is all up on his website now and available in Peter Alexander stores. Peter sent me these photos of one of the store’s windows, that toast in the toaster moves up and down!
Big thanks to everyone who has snapped some photos for me, I would love to travel to Australia to see it myself haha.
Oh and the stuff that looks like they are plush are actually the bag that some of the pajamas come in! :)
Today I am off on a roadtrip to head to New York for the Yummy trading party!

Sublime Stitching

Heidi Kenney — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:00:22 +0000

I am excited to announce a collaboration with Sublime Stitching! It’s been a dream come true to work with the amazing Jenny Hart on this embroidery pattern, you can find them for sale at Sublime Stitching now.

Candy Rox

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:00:15 +0000

Saturday April 6 12-4pm at Candy Rox in Rye NY (about 30-40 mins north of NYC)
Please come out and join me for a Yummy Party, bring your extra keychains to trade, there will be Yummy treats, and I will be signing & handing out the button packs until they are gone. Candy Rox is asking that people please rsvp to info@candyrox.net so they have an idea how many people to expect.

Easter

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:18:11 +0000

I felt like Easter really snuck up on me this year. I had loads of grand plans, but in the end whenever Easter is in March-most of my plans are not going to happen. There were Easter baskets and we even managed to make clues in hidden eggs leading to B’s hidden basket (per his request) Of course we did this at 11:30pm the night before Easter, but we didn’t forget and he seemed to really love running all over the house finding clues. Just look at the face he made when he posed with his basket!
I felt like I didn’t look very festive on Easter (I was wearing black and pink) so I made some silly hair barrettes and a brooch to wear while everyone else was finishing with their showers/getting dressed for the day.
We headed to Tom’s parents house in the afternoon for an Easter lunch and I wanted to bring french macarons. I had the idea that I would make them the day before (you might remember that Jessee gave us all a macaron lesson at her house) but its not as easy as you might think and after 6 failed attempts I decided the last purple batch was good enough. Baking macarons are definitely a talent!!
I’ll have lots of posts for you this week, as I have a bunch of exciting things to share…and that is surprisingly not an April Fool’s joke ;) Oh and a note about the baskets—I made those back in 2009 with the info found here. They work great for re-using year after year, and since they are fabric they fold up and take up less room then saving a traditional basket.

buttons

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:14:10 +0000

Working on a bunch of buttons as a giveaway for an event coming up in April. I’ll have a bunch more info about it for you later this week. Meanwhile I will be assembling buttons over and over ;)

Peter Alexander

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 05:17:37 +0000

I have been eager to share my collaboration with Australian Pajama designer Peter Alexander for so long now, and since a few items are starting to show up on the website I wanted to share! There is a bunch more to come, and a really cool window display that they made that I can’t wait to show you, but for now just wanted to let you know it is coming. Aussie friends if you see the designs in shops or buy anything I would love to see photos. The samples arrived here a few weeks ago and everything looks really cute. The full collection launches after Easter and I am excited to share. While the storefronts are only in Australia they do offer international shipping on the website.

Cry Baby Bunting

Heidi Kenney — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 16:18:00 +0000

I have been playing around with some new fabric designs featuring my little sad bear. I ordered the proofs from Spoonflower so I’ll post some photos once they arrive.
You might recognize the title of this post, if you have been playing Ni No Kuni, the video game developed by Level 5 & Studio Ghibli. Tom surprised me with it one night, when I didn’t even know it had come out yet. I am not a huge video game player (I do love and have played both of the Lego Harry Potter games) but I love this one. I’ve been having fun sneaking in video game time when I can, and the other day got another fun surprise in the mail. I’m already wondering what the heck I am going to play when I finish this game.

Stitching

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:28:10 +0000

Making some dolls with super sad song lyrics. I am a complete sucker for depressing songs, I can’t explain why–they are just always my favorites.

sandwiches..

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:41:29 +0000

My floor is still littered with balloons from the party on Saturday, but they are such fun marbled balloons, and are hanging on…it seems a shame to just pop them and throw them away.
I’ve got a few projects in the works that I can’t share yet (that is really the hardest part!!) But I am working on a giant sandwich for a upcoming show. Its going to be fully interactive, so all the sandwich toppings can be removed, or moved around on the giant toothpick. I am hoping to finish & ship it off this weekend as I have another show deadline approaching and that idea is still just in sketches.
It’s been really cold the past few days and yesterday we had sleet & snow! Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and I can’t wait to get back out in the garden and flower beds. I’m pretty disappointed in Punxsutawney Phil, not only did he get the early Spring part wrong, but now I am not so sure we will have Spring-by Spring…..but I am hopeful that it is on it’s way!

Cat Party

Heidi Kenney — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 11:00:38 +0000

Yesterday was B’s Cat themed party, and it was a pretty silly event. The cake was a litter box cake (i’m sure you’ve seen these before, but always entertaining!) B isn’t a big cake fan so he wanted a brownie cake. I bought a new tub type dish and cat scoop (which was just for show) and ran them through the dishwasher. Then I made a big pan of brownies. When cool the brownies were turned over into the tub, and frosted with chocolate frosting. Then the litter is made from running some of the vanilla sandwich cookies in the food processor with just a little green food coloring. It really ends up looking like litter! To top if off you heat a few tootsie rolls in the microwave for about ten seconds and shape. Turns out very realistically, and people might be reluctant to eat it. Though once you cut it up and start putting the brownies on plates, it’s a lot easier to stomach.

We made cat shaped pizzas, and had funny names for all the foods like “hair balls” for cheese balls, “catnip dip” for spinach dip etc.

We only played one game because the kids mostly wanted to play out back with a bunch of nerf guns & silly string, which was fine by me. Tom made a bunch of balloon animal cats, and it was mostly lots of us adults sitting around chatting it up.

Instead of regular goodie bags I had the idea to use up some canvas totes I had leftover from a previous crafternoon. I scanned a kit-cat clock box for the image and then printed them out two per page onto printable iron on paper. I always pick the one designed for dark fabrics even when ironing onto a light color, because it just seems to be a nicer thicker iron on. Then I ironed one onto each bag, and made a bunch of silly cat pins using vintage images of cats. I figured if the kids got bored at the party they could make a bunch of their own pins, but we never even had to do that. Instead the tote bags worked out well for collecting pinata loot, and storing their prizes from the game.
Even once the actual party was done there was a sleepover with a viewing of The Cat Returns so the cat theme carried on without even meaning to!

The Vintage Heidi : Mother Goose

Heidi Kenney — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:00:33 +0000

mother goose 1973
illustrated by bonnie and bill rutherford
golden press

ten years old

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:56:07 +0000

Yesterday my little guy turned ten years old. Double digits and there is no denying that this last decade has flown by in the blink of an eye.
I can’t believe how grown up he is, yet I am not quite ready to share him with the world. You’ll have to take my word for it when I tell you he is one handsome fella. For now I will keep him for just us alone, because we will blink again and he will be an adult out in the world and all over the internet like we all are now a days.

We celebrated by going out to dinner and then to see Oz at the VIP theater with the big cushy reclining seats. His cat party is tomorrow so we’ve got a little more celebrating to do.

Spring Forward Show

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:35:13 +0000

If you are in the LA area be sure and stop by BLU DOT for the opening reception of Spring Forward. I have a Munny in the show and would love to see photos, looks like it going to be a fun time! You can see a sneak peek at my Munny here.
Opening Reception

Thursday March 21 6-9pm

(On Display March 21 – April 30, 2013)

Music by: JMV | Bryan Ray Turcotte

Drinks provided by: SINGHA BEER

BLU DOT / 8000 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046
Kidrobot LA & BLU DOT team up for a custom MUNNY show featuring over 30 artists & designers. Wanting to go beyond the “norm”, Kidrobot LA reached out to over 30 individuals ranging from illustrators, fashion designers, musicians, architects, graphic designers, among others; to bring their “Spring Forward” group show to life. From fully conceptual, to classically illustrated, each MUNNY is a reflection of the artist’s own take on the forward thinking ideals of “Spring”. BLU DOT is a great partner due to their keen eye for design and beautifully crafted furniture; not to mention their awe-inspiring showroom, is the perfect setting for the opening reception and to showcase the diverse stylings of these unique designs.

Easter

Heidi Kenney — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:00:27 +0000

The easter decorations are starting to come out!

March Crafternoon

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:45:19 +0000

Yesterday was my March Crafternoon, and since Easter is approaching I went the easy route, and we dyed eggs instead of making anything. I covered the tables in brown craft paper, so any drips or spills wouldn’t matter. Easter is one of my most favorite holidays because I love Spring, the colors, and the really vintage Easter decorations you can some times find.

We always do a white elephant swap, but this month I thought it would be a lot of fun to have every one make an Easter basket for the swap instead. I kind of went overboard filling up a basket I found at a thrift shop, but it was so much fun! All the baskets looked so cute on the table together. This photo actually wasn’t even all the baskets, a few arrived a little later.

Katie wore a really cute Easter dress & dainty vintage gloves, so cute. Jessee brought a bunch of beautiful macarons, including some marbleized ones that I wish I got a better photos of. I always have so much fun with these ladies, and it was a great way to kick off Spring (slightly early) in my mind. We had really lovely 60 degree weather yesterday and it’s supposed to get just as warm today. This week I’ve got lots going on again. My guy’s birthday is this week, and then his party is on Saturday, so lots to do. Of course I also got it in my head that I might like to switch around two of the rooms in our house, so we shall see what happens with that.

Cat themed party invitations

Heidi Kenney — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 21:13:30 +0000

My youngest son has a birthday coming up and he is one cat crazy fella, he decided he wanted a cat-themed birthday party so we have been having fun coming up with ideas for it. It’s sneaking up on us quickly so I made up some invitations the other day so we could quickly get them into the mail.

You simply print them on cardstock, cut them out, punch little holes for the brad fasteners and put them together! I found the tiny brads that look like buttons at Michael’s craft store.
Once made you can fold them up and fit them into card sized envelopes.

I made a plain invitation for you if you’d like to use it for a cat party of your own. Download it here These invitations are free for personal use only.

Personal use means non-commercial use of the invitations including copies and print outs for yourself, and to give to friends. The invitations may not be used in any way whatsoever in which you charge money, collect fees, or receive any form of remuneration. The invitations may not be used in advertising, and they may not be resold.

Swans

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:58:32 +0000

I have a collection of small tin doll sized dishes that hang on my wall, and I am always on the look out for more to add to it. Imagine a plate wall, but doll sized dishes instead ;) I saw this particular swan set online somewhere. Someone was selling one of the tea cups, and I fell in love! I set up a little search on ebay and finally found this set priced very reasonably and with no bids…because the photos were super dark, blurry, and made the whole thing very hard to see.

Now besides plates, I’ve been slowly collecting the little tin tea cups and have a plan to add hooks to a doll hutch (which I’d hang on the wall) and then hang all my cups from.

Blythe Tea

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:21:59 +0000

This morning I had a really lovely get together with my local Blythe pals. I invited everyone to bring their dolls over for some tea, sweets, Blythe talk, and company. There was some hair removal for re-roots, some faces were sanded, sharing of clothes, etc. It was so much fun–can’t wait for the next meet up!

I made some birthday cake bars (but made some revisions of my own with dandies and sweetened condensed soy milk etc.) and some gluten free double chocolate chip cookies. There was lots of tea, and lots of Blythe dolls! Dolls on the bench belong to me, Jessee, Molly, and Heather. Our friend Lindsey who is interested in getting a Blythe came too, so I gave her a Littlest Pet Shop Blythe to get her started :)

Birthday Roadtrip 2013

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:00:34 +0000

First I just want to apologize that you might have seen a few of these photos already on instagram. I try to keep my blog filled with my camera photos, and my instagram filled with Iphone photos. On this trip however I didn’t bring my camera because I was bringing along two old beauties loaded with film, and didn’t want to carry around 3 cameras and a phone. So please forgive any “re-runs”.
This weekend was my sister Heather and I’s annual birthday road trip. We try to take a little weekend trip every February to celebrate her turning another year older. We’ve gone to Lancaster PA most years, and this year did the same.
This weekend we…
-shopped for treasure in thrift shops & antique places
-brought our Blythe dolls Francis & Piper (getting ready for Blythcon!)
-Heather ran across a busy road to get her photo with the hay-man
-went on a hunt for birthday cupcakes & they were amazing
-slept in a steamboat
-visited a windmill
-roadside diner breakfasts with blueberry pancakes
-visited Columbia, Lancaster, Hanover, and Ephrata PA
and I can’t wait to do it all again next year…

The Vintage Heidi: Das verzauberte Dorf (the enchanted village)

Heidi Kenney — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:00:34 +0000

Always a favorite!

Valentines

Heidi Kenney — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:56:12 +0000

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Valentine’s Day. We don’t go all crazy, but I love an excuse to celebrate (and Tom has off on Thursdays) so it was extra fun this year. We made the kids some little treat buckets. That bottle in the bucket on the left was a funny vintage-looking aftershave I got for Kurtis. But I think it looks a little like I gave him a bottle of alcohol in that photo, haha.

Thomas knows me so well and surprised me with this cutie, AND he ordered me Blythe clothes (isn’t that the sweetest?) He took the time to look through and pick out Blythe clothes for my gals, just so thoughtful!! I’ll do a photo shoot with them soon.

We had a nice lunch out together and then just spent the evening with B since Kurt had a movie date. Now that Valentine’s is over though I am super excited to get out the Easter decorations…one of my favorite holidays for pastel colors and bunnies!!
***the little cutie valentine gals in the photo above I got from here

fabrics

Heidi Kenney — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:13:57 +0000

I love it when the proofs for fabric arrive from Spoonflower, its exciting! I have plans to make something special from this Goldilocks fabric, I’ll return with photos soon!

The Language Of Love : Morse Code

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:38:13 +0000

Personally I find Morse Code incredibly romantic. What could be sweeter then a love note fashioned out of code? I was excited when I stumbled upon this video by the amazing Robert Mahar showing you how to make a morse code necklace out of little beads, just fantastic! Be sure and check out all his video tutorials. I needed to come up with a craft project for the Valentine’s day party at my son’s school on Friday and this one kept sticking out in my mind, but I worried about the logistics of a room of 23 nine and ten year olds trying to string tiny beads.

Then I got to idea to recreate the necklaces using bigger beads for the dots, and cut up paper straws for the dashes. I have a big jar of the paper straws on hand, and they are perfect pastel colors. I also couldn’t find a print out morse code chart on the video so I created a PDF that I am going to print and bring in so each kid has a copy to write out their code on the bottom, and then take home in case they want to make more later.
You can print/save a copy here The cute little guy is from a vintage record that teaches you morse code. For the beads I found a one pound container of at Hobby Lobby for $13.99 and then used my 40% off coupon. For string I chose a red nylon, since nylon is strong yet still thin enough to make threading the beads a breeze.

And in the case that this wasn’t enough More Code love for you, how about..
-A Morse Code Necklace made from clay
-Coatt’s gorgeous line of Morse Code necklaces made from gold and silk
-crochet a Morse Code scarf
***Oh and just a note that the Moo winners have been emailed and I updated the Moo post to include a screen shot of the winners list. I am using a plug-in called “and the winner is” it makes it very easy to randomly select winners from comments on a particular blog entry :)

DIY Paint by number valentine printable

Heidi Kenney — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:21:04 +0000

Today I wanted to share with you some paint-by-number Valentine printables. My older son Kurt asked me to design a valentine that was not so cute for his friends, so I decided on paint by numbers in heart shapes. Printed on card stock and cut out with pinking shears, I think they are pretty fun…and if strung together could make a cute Valentine garland (and there is still time!) I wanted to share them with you for your own personal use.
just a little reminder (and I hate to have to do this but……)
**Personal use means non-commercial use of the valentines including copies and print outs for yourself, your personal crafts/scrapbooking and to give to friends. The valentines may not be used in any way whatsoever in which you charge money, collect fees, or receive any form of remuneration. The valentines may not be used in advertising, and they may not be resold.*** I want to always be able to share free designs with you guys, but please respect the personal use clause.
Okay, all that said you can find the PDF here. They print our 8 per sheet, and you can then write your personal note of affection on the back.

cutting paper….

Heidi Kenney — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:00:48 +0000

Lots of paper cuts going on around here….more soon..

Moo

Heidi Kenney — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:59:51 +0000

******Updated to add the winners, which have been notified through email. I also passed on your email addresses to Moo who will contact you!
The kind folks at Moo asked if I would like to review some of their products and offer a giveaway to you guys. I love Moo’s printing and have been meaning to get some mini-cards printed any way, so of course I said yes!
One of my goals for January was to write more letters and send more mail, some thing I am proud to say I have been doing really well at. If you want to write me at my po office box address above, i’d love to write you back..I’ve been having lots of fun going through my stickers and stationary.
So I decided to get mini-moo cards and try out the stickers and labels. I love them so much!

If you’d like to get some free Moo for yourself just leave a comment on this blog entry by Monday the 11th. There will be three winners…50 Classic Business Cards for 2 winners, and the third winner will get 50 Classic Business Cards and Sticker book with 90 stickers (let me tell you the stickers are super cute!!) Everything comes packaged so beautiful in these little boxes and booklets that are a treat to open. Also don’t worry if you are not a “designer” they have a bunch of really cool ready made templates to choose from too. I love the mixed tape & fabulous florals!!

the vintage heidi: children’s records

Heidi Kenney — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:00:08 +0000

Vintage children’s records always have the cutest details!

DIY: valentines for friends

Heidi Kenney — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:00:35 +0000

I thought it would be fun this year to give some of my lady friends some special little boxes of chocolate for Valentines day. Of course I had to dress them up a bit, and I thought I’d share the real easy DIY with you in case you’d like to make some for co-workers, friends, or anyone you’d like to give a little something more then a card to on Valentine’s Day.
Supplies:
-Russell Stover 2oz I purchased a bunch of these little 2oz boxes of chocolate, these are the kind with just 4 pieces inside. Mine arrived in red boxes for Valentines. If you are really ambitious you could make your own chocolates and find little boxes to put them in.
-cardboard circles for the bases: I free hand cut mine from cereal boxes. These do not need to be perfect because your going to cover them up, you just want them to be about the size of your boxes.
-glue: I used a hot glue gun
-decorations: flattened cupcake wrappers, crepe paper streamer (I ruffled some of mine using a ruffler foot on my sewing machine, but you can also gather and glue down by hand) garland (I found red, and red and white garland after xmas on clearance and in thrift shops)
-vintage valentine cut out: I’ve made two pages page one and page two I had mine printed on card stock.
All you need to do for assembly is build up layers on your cardboard circle with glue. I changed each one around a bit sometimes using the garland first, some times a cupcake wrapper. Then I added a few little items to some like buttons, or little heart cupcake picks. Then just write a little note on the bottom of the box of chocolate and you are ready to give them out!

**Personal use means non-commercial use of the valentines including copies and print outs for yourself, your personal crafts/scrapbooking and to give to friends. The valentines may not be used in any way whatsoever in which you charge money, collect fees, or receive any form of remuneration. The valentines may not be used in advertising, and they may not be resold.***