OUT Chapter 4: Ruffles & Stuff

Disney of Ruffles and Stuff is here today, hooray!  We all love Disney.  She's inspiring with her creativity and projects, she's kind with a huge heart (appropriate that she chose this book!), and she's down to earth.  We all feel like we can relate to her, right?  I thoroughly enjoyed going through her blog to look for an intro photo and found myself sucked into reading instead of working!  I'm so pleased to have her here today with her cute little sidekick, Paige!  Welcome, Disney!

Yay!! I am so happy to be included in chapter 4 of Once Upon a Thread! This series is so. much. fun. And as big-time book enthusiasts, Paige and I are so excited to participate. 

I knew almost right away which book I would choose. While Paige has many favorite children's book authors, she and I share one favorite that we could absolutely rave about. And that would be the darling Oliver Jeffers!

Seriously. 

This man makes the most precious and unique books with the cutest and quirkiest artwork! The only way his books could be any better is if he sat and read them to us in his adorable accent. (No joke, go watch this video. I could listen to that accent for hours!)

My very favorite of his books? 

The Heart and the Bottle.

It's a tearjerker of a story about a curious and imaginative little girl who veraciously explores the world with her loving father. (Grandfather?) Until one day he passes away. So she tucks her heart safely in a bottle to protect it for years and then forgets how to get it out. One day, after she's grown, she meets another curious and imaginative little girl who ends up being the only one who can get the heart out of the bottle. SOB!! I'm literally tearing up as I write this synopsis. (Disney, you are pathetic.)

Read it. You'll love it! But have a kleenex handy. And maybe an explanation for your toddler as to why mommy is crying like a nutcase. ;o)

Sigh. Precious!

So.  Our project. :o)

Rather than recreate a specific outfit from the book, I decided to make some pieces that were inspired by the artwork and story.

The first thing we made was this little striped shirt. There are tons of stripes in the book, (always a good thing!) And several cute little whales make an appearance as well, so we used acrylic paint to freehand some stripes, and transfer paper to iron on a whale graphic we found online.

Then I sewed an ocean-inspired skirt to go with it. My thought was that the wavy, uneven layers would mimic the waves and sand. I'm not sure that really came out in the execution, but it was fun!

 Then I created a plastic bottle necklace with leather cording. We used E6000 glue around the edges so that it can double as a bud vase when she's picking clovers in the backyard. 

I have to tell you...(watch out, sappy story) another reason why I chose this book was that it reminds me a little of myself and Paige. I confess that earlier in my life I wasn't really a "kid person". I thought they were noisy and whiney and, well...best in small doses. You could say my heart was in a bottle as far as children were concerned. But after I had Paige, and the more she grew and I got to know her, she plucked my heart right out of that bottle! Now children are one of my absolute favorite things in the world and I spend almost every day surrounded by them just because I want to. I can't imagine ever not cherishing them the way I do now!

So thanks to Oliver Jeffers for putting that feeling on paper. :o)

And thank you so much Katy for inviting me to the awesome OUT party!!

Have a great day, everyone!

Love,

Disney

So, wonderful, Disney!  I especially love the ocean skirt and the (working!) bottle.  Thank you so much for being here!