A song for your custom pizza party

Here's a song from The Muppets Movie, if you are looking for a sweet, optimistic movie go check it out.  I went to see it on Sunday night because Sal is a really big Muppets fan. I felt like I could really relate to this song the most.  I told Sal I sing like this everyday around lunchtime while Timmie and the other softies look on.  Ok, maybe no singing, just some twirling.

TJ's lavash flatbread

another Trader Joe's favorite. Custom pizza party, woot woot. This one has D.O.C. Roma tomatoes, fontina cheese, red onions, garlic powder, basil & a little bit of olive oil.

Plaid 3 toggle duffel coat

 

3 toggle duffel coat in plaid wool, available here.

Illustration Friday "round"

Timmie is feeling pretty round after last night's Thanksgiving dinner.

After Thanksgiving Sale!

C.W. is feeling the holiday stress

This is my latest softie, Crazy Whiskers a.k.a. C.W.. By request I made another rat, one that can fit into the Timmie clothing. So this little guy can go clothes shopping with Timmie and then they can do each others hair and then nails... OMG. :D

You will be able to tell from the description of this guy on Etsy that I'm starting to lose my mind due to premature holiday stressin'. aaaaahhh...

Hunting (for cute) Jacket

penguin jacket

Yay separating zipper action!

Available here

mini adventurer bag / pouch

Antiqued cotton and leather

teal and navy sweater

wax on

wax on, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

candle, thread, and shoe burnishing wax

The final sweater of the week!

Orange and gray with a mustard snap. Available here.

Next week I may work on straight up sewn jackets and give my wrist a rest. I bought small separating zippers a few months ago that I still haven't tested out.

Super cute wood buttons

saw these on Ebay, listing ending soon!

and the matching sisters on Etsy-

here

and these!

here

The vintage ones are sooo charming!

chunky cotton sweater jacket

I *think* this is the first collared sweater I've made. I might try to make a human sized version for myself one day but with the buttons going all the way up the neck. This olive cotton yarn that I bought is too bulky for miniatures. I want to figure out exactly how much yarn I will need to make human sized items, this chart estimates 1170-1690 yards for a crocheted adult sweater with chunky/bulky yarn...hmmm... maybe I should just aim for a vest :) Yeaaah...maybe a vest with a big collar, so it acts like a scarf as well, like the sweater dress I just made for Blythe. This might be a good idea because it will fit easier under my winter coat.

Timmie sweater jacket added to the shop today + yellow and gray love

available here

I'm loving this color combo. The last few years I've definitely become a fan of grays with saturated color mixes.

Like yellow and gray.

fabric here


fabric here


felt slippers seen on Etsy.

#occupy my belly

Homemade banana ice cream with just your blender! I got the recipe from this sweet fella on youtube. Great way to use up bananas that are starting to go bad! Yumzzers! After I give my waistline a chance to recover I want to try ginger!

jumbo jars

What I like as much as string and things is having a nice place to neatly store them in. My favorite type of storage is glass jars, the bigger the better. This simple 2.5 gallon Montana Jar by Anchor Hocking is readily available online and in stores. Also, it is made in the US, so that makes me feel good too. [insert U-S-A chant]

I found this type in person at Target and at Bed, Bath & Beyond (bet, bad, and behind as my Dad pronounces it) for $19.99. They also have one with a black cap that I see is available online here and here.

String addiction still going strong

(click image to enlarge)

String (thread, yarn...) is just so attractive and practical, I love it so much. Some new lace-weight silk, cotton, and linen in the studio to play with. Last night I waxed up the linen on the right and used it for some tags. ♥ These are made by Habu Textiles. They are based in New York, I wonder if they are open to the public? *Ding Dong*

purplicious

wild blueberries from Trader Joe's + bananas + milk = lovely (and yummy) shade of purple.

a complete handmade outfit

sadly the tights don't match, need to make more in other colors! A stretchy fabric shopping trip is in order.

If anyone is interested, I added this wool sweater dress for Blythe to the shop today. Miniatures really make my heart go pitter patter.

wormy apple hat

Adult-size apple cap available here.

wool striped hoodie

new sweater hoodie for Timmie T. in the shop! I am going to try to upload one new item a day in November.

Homemade marshmallows

(click image to enlarge)

Seeing snow on jack-o-lanterns yesterday had me reaching for some hot cocoa. I decided to try making homemade marshmallows for the first time from this recipe. Whenever I see them at fancy sweet shops and bakeries I adore the way they look piled up like captured clouds in big glass jars.

Results: They came out o-k, they taste exactly like marshmallow fluff to me. Also, the batter became so dense that my stand mixer looked like it was about to explode. Poor sweetie mixer... Next time I will use PURE vanilla extract and more confectioners sugar for the dusting instead of the cornstarch mix.

Now, who wants a marshmallow?

debranding promo items

removed Dr. info and most of logo with a 1-2 punch of 91% by vol. isopropyl alcohol and orange essential oil with some aggressive q-tip swiping.

Warning: I don't know how safe this is, but I do know that both of these liquids are flammable, so use in a ventilated area away from open flames, smokers, flame throwers and circus clowns (they are creepy).

Other things that I've been up to:

Not reading product descriptions carefully online. I thought this was a pocket saw. I guess, technically, it could be a pocket saw if I had really giant pockets. I know you may be asking yourself, "Why would a woman in NYC need a a pocket SAW?" Hey, you never know when you need to cut some limbs...um, tree limbs that is. < -- seeeeeeee I am getting into the Halloween spirit even though I mucho dislike (er, hate) Halloween.

Why I hate Halloween:

1. Opening the door to strangers begging for things that are bad for them. Would you give crack to a crackhead just because they said, "Trick or treat"?

2. I don't find the need to make believe I am someone/ something else for a day. I can be someone else every day. This is a medical condition that people need to take drugs for.

3. Also, I don't find the need to pay money to be scared or buy scary things to scare other people, this is NYC, walk the streets late at night and you can be scared for free. Just looking at the amount of litter on the streets scares me enough, I don't need to buy a skull for my window, thank you.

bar stool makeover

Another trash to treasure! My dad saved this bar stool for me that he had gotten out of the neighbor's trash. The varnish was worn off on the top but it looked perfectly fine otherwise. Everything is free on this project except the wheels! The cream colored paint was left over paint that I borrowed from my parents after they painted their garage and the yellow is artist acrylic that someone gave me years ago after they had given up on painting and decided to focus solely on drawing. Two cheers for free paint. Hip, hip, hooray! I've been obsessed with adding casters to every new home furniture project lately, so I had these wood wheels in my stock pile that I purchased last year (or was it 2 years ago?). I'm very excited about my new kitchen seating! Salvaging and stool shortening credits go to my papa, Mr. P! The vintage table btw was um, "borrowed" from my grandma's house when I moved into my apartment about 8 years ago.

p.s. If you use artist paint, make sure to seal the surface with a clear varnish after it completely dries for durability.

So Softies Facebook page

Become a fan of So Softies on Facebook for news on updates, sales and coupon codes! I posted a new coupon code today, weeewooo....

Coming soon to the shop

Coming soon, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

wool sweater dress for Blythe.

My not-so-mysterious medical mysteries

Well, mysterious until I looked it up online.

Last year I had this itchy chin rash that would not go away. After some research I pinpointed the problem, homemade laundry detergent that I purchased online ahem, Etsy, ahem. It was coming in contact with my chin via my sheets and comforter. After a double rinse on the bedding and a few days later, no more chin rash! I might have been using too much powder or the ingredients inside were just too harsh for my skin OR it could also have been a reaction to the essential oils in the product. So if you have an itchy chin rash that won't go away, this might be a cause for you as well.

This other one is a new affliction, the inside of my mouth peeling off. It all started with a new toothpaste - Crest Pro-Health, not only did it make my teeth achy, after prolonged use it started to make the inside of my mouth peel. Gross. So then I switched to Sensodyne, because I thought it is for sensitive-toothed-people like myself, but no, still peeling. Then I started using the Indian tooth powder that I purchased a while back and guess what, no more mouth peel! So the culprit may be the harsh whiteners or in general all the chemicals inside the products that toothpaste companies are slowly trying to kill us with. The tooth powder is kinda hard to stick with because it is messy and you don't receive any whitening benefits, but at least it doesn't burn my face off. The online peeps recommend Tom's of Maine.

This week's color obsession:

Mustard ~ Bubble envelope yellow :D

How it happened-

I saw this knit scarf project on marthastewart.com and instantly wanted knit mustard things in my wardrobe.

(L) Madewell (R) @ Nordstrom

I think I could put my mind at ease with a mustard cardigan with some pocket action and maybe a little scarflette like the one in the pic?