it’s been a while since my last installment of things on the internet that are awesome. So here you go, a few awesome things for spring.

–blocks as hooks. It is a super simple diy and super chic but still perfect for a kids room.

–cursive letters made into adorable animals. Just right for my little girl’s obsession with learning cursive.

-a perfect wooden mp3 player. Too bad it’s pricey as hell.

–wrapped, braided extension cords. This was a design sponge diy from a while back that I must have missed, but damn! isn’t it awesome? I love useful, sculptural, crazy art, but as my mother would say, “That’ll keep you busy.”

–estonian kringle.  Wouldn’t this be lovely on Easter morning?

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That last potholder grew out of a need for mindfulness in my life. This one, on the other hand, was sewn out of jealously. If you follow the lovely Kayanna on instagram (@junecraft) you already know about the amazing quilt she’s making. Every other day or so another quilt square sewn in bold colors and milky pastels would pop up on my feed and I would freak out. I mean look at this!

Quilting is not my strong suit, but the block was too pretty to pass up. Freshly Pieced has a fantastic tutorial on how to put this block together. She also has a template to print out that you sew directly onto so everything comes out perfectly. I did not print it out (as you probably can tell). The finished quilt square was much too big for a potholder, so I cut the pieces much smaller. Why I didn’t just shrink the template too is beyond me. The lazy man works twice as hard–and stays up sewing late into the night.

This kind of quilt square is incredibly fiddly, but also immensely satisfying when it comes together. In the future I might even have the urge–and possibly the patience–to make a whole quilt. My scrap pile would like that time to come sooner rather than later. Or maybe I could go into the potholder business, because–just so you know–it’s pretty much potholders from here on out.

The winner of Teach Yourself VISUALLY Crafting with Kids is #7 : Krista who said

April 19, 2011 at 5:35 pm

i really like your version with the stick! we would love to win

Congratulations Krista! I’ll be in touch with you soon.

The photo doesn’t have to do with anything except that I am an out of work baker who uses her bench scraper to pick up legos. Also, I am a genius.

After much thought (and after getting your permission!) I will be accepting sponsors starting January 2011. A new and improved elsie marley blog will launch at that time too! I’m very excited about the new design (made by my super talented husband). It is still clean and simple, but there will be some new features and it will be easier to navigate.

So if you would like to become a sponsor and get a peek of the new blog, please email me for more information: elsiemarleyblog@gmail.com