Birthday!

Shhhh...

Don't tell my niece!

But I've made her a quilt for her birthday!

Isn't it AWESOME?

I've made approximately a meeeeellion

Gryffindor items for my Etsy store...

... but my niece informed me she was a Slytherin,

thankyouverymuch.

So despite the fact her aunty is very much a Hufflepuff...

... a green and silver, snake-y quilt was made!

I think even this guy would approve.

A Li'l Gift From Me To You

As I wrote before, 

I always try to include a little somethin'-somethin' in my sold Etsy packages.

BUT, sometimes customers buy more than one Harry Potter quilt,

or sometimes they buy something small,

like these super-cool Gryffindor pennants:

So what could I include in my packages besides a Gryffindor tissue holder?

Hmmmm....

What about some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean?

The problem is,

while I enjoy playing Bertie Bott's Roulette

 as much as the next Harry Potter fan,

(take a bean, eat it without looking, pass bag to next victim  player)

those store-bought things are not cheap.

So... why don't I make my own?

After noodling around Pinterest,

I decided to use upcycled paper lunch bags as my containers.

I CAREFULLY cut off the bottom of the bags...

... then cut what was left into two pieces.

I rotated those two pieces ninety degrees, and cut them in half again...

... so now I had four rectangles of paper.

See those two folds?  Not the middle one, the two on either side of it.

They're the perfect place to fold over...

... and glue.

Next I folded up and glued one open end...

... and "pinked" the last open end.

I decorated the outside, filled 'em with Trader Joe's Gourmet Beans...

...and folded over the tops and secured them with twine.

They're not as fancy as the store-bought kind, 

but I think their primitive look 

is closer to what the witch with the trolley was really selling.

YOU BETCHA, Trolley Witch!

Load me up!

'Puff Pride!

I've just added some awesome Hogwarts house banners to my Etsy shop!

Now, which one should you buy?

For those brave at heart, whose daring, nerve and chivalry set them apart, 

Gryffindor!

Roar, wild Gryffindor lions!

For those who value intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit,

Ravenclaw!

Fly high, fierce Ravenclaw eagles!

For those who believe Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness,

Slytherin!

Slither on, crafty Slytherin snakes!

For those who value hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty,

Hufflepuff!

Uh... dig ... stripey...Hufflepuff badgers?

Yes, I made a Hufflepuff banner, too,
even though Hufflepuff is the butt of just about every House joke on the the internets.

Oh, sure, you'll get an occasional Chin Up, Hufflepuff! message:

But they are vastly outnumbered by another take on the "Canada of Houses" posts:

Even pop culture joins in, as with this Halloween scene from Modern Family:

Et tu, Phil? 
 Et tu?

I mean, I'm not kidding myself.
I'm a Hufflepuff, and this rings painfully true:

But we 'Puffs can claim some pretty illustrious alumni!

This guy was in Hufflepuff, before he got all sparkly and stalker-y!

(Oh, Cedric Diggory, your death was in the top five of those that ruined me!*)

And THE QUEEN, J.K Rowling herself,
has some kind words for Hufflepuff:

So, yeah.  'Puff Pride!

And we should remember these wise words:

So hoist your Hufflepuff banner with pride!

**********************************


* For the record, the Harry Potter deaths, in order of tears shed are:

5. Nymphadora Tonks 
4. Cedric Diggory
3. Severus Snape
2. Fred Weasley
1. Dobby the House Elf **






** And also for the record,
it has been more than five years since I read about Dobby's burial 
( "Here Lies Dobby, A Free Elf"! Ron taking off his shoes and putting them on Dobby!), 
and I still can't talk about it without crying.

Sniff!!  RIP Dobby!

My Postal Worker Doubles As A Snowy White Owl

I finished up some more Harry Potter Gryffindor quilts!

This one is 34" x 44"...

.... this one is 28" x 35"... 

... and this one is also 34" x 44".

A lovely customer already bought one that is not pictured;

now, how did I get that wrapped up and sent?

Well, when I was first joined Etsy, I bought this funky little pin

from the seller foundthings.

When the pin came in the mail, the lovely Emmy T. had wrapped it in cool tissue paper,

and used a handmade envelope from a recycled map.

It wasn't just like getting an impersonal item in the mail,

it was like getting a present!

So when I started selling through Etsy, I also decided to make getting an item

from BadBabyQuilts feel like a special gift.

The bulk of the items I sell from my shop are fabric tissue holders...

... which are small enough to send in an envelope with a first class stamp.

Scott over at BucketOBolts tipped me off that Hallmark

has scads of colorful leftover envelopes that they sell dirt cheap.

Every few months I swing by and refill my stash.

For the envelopes, I commissioned a special sticker

from the delightful Russ at WaddlinOnion...

 ... because I wanted the recipients to open their mailboxes and be all, 

"Cool! My Etsy goody is here!"

Over the years, I've also received little nifty gifties with my Etsy items.

So I decided to slip a few stickers in with the tissue holders;

I also got these from WaddlinOnion 's shop.

When I first was selling my tissue holders, I would either wrap them in tissue paper

or put them in a little Ziploc bag.

I soon realized that Target, Joann Fabrics, and Michaels

often had inexpensive cello treat bags

that are just the right size for the tissue holders.

I stock up on them; sometimes they're even cheaper post-holidays.

But what about larger items, like my quilts and banners?

Well, I found something handy at Home Depot: masking paper!

This stuff is dirt cheap; at Lowe's, it's only $4.00 for 60 yards!

I just tie it with some pretty sale yarn or some vintage bias tape I bought off of Etsy.

But back to my Harry Potter quilts.

I wanted to wrap them especially nice,

so when my customer bought a baby quilt, I downloaded an "owl post" image...

... and made a cool sticker to put on the package.

I used the masking paper, some brown bias tape, and...

Accio, mail carrier!

As an extra little gift, I included a Gryffindor tissue holder,

which I placed in a super-cute owl cello bag I found on sale at Cost Plus.

How perfect is this?

I think even Dudley would approve.