Peg Princess

I've seen so many cute peg dolls on Etsy, that I thought I'd try my hand making one with a Guatemalan twist. So I painted "Silvia's" face, hair, and bottom but used huipil fabric for her dress and added some crystals to form a flower in her hair.  The other Guatemalan aspects of this piece are the little ceramic butterfly charm behind her, and the embroidered ribbon I placed around the box. I think she came out really cute :)  so I'm going to experiment with a few more.

Kitschy Souvenir

I just got back from a two-week visit with my family and found something fitting the theme of Latin American crafts. Here's one of the items from my dad's "tacky souvenir collection", and it's from Costa del Sol. The women's clothing on the postcard features embroidered blouses and fabric skirts embellished with lace. What's Spanish for "kitschy"?

Huipil Collar Mirrors

Believe it or not, mirrors like these are the very first idea I had for the huipil collars, but I'm only now starting on them. The wood circles and 7" mirrors were things I couldn't seem to find in Antigua.

I've made two mirrors so far, using collars that I've been hanging on to for more than a year. A lot of the thick collars like these are cut from huipiles made in the town of Almolonga. I like how they're turning out... The collars are so vivid, they're just screaming to be used in craft projects!

This post featured on Fiber Arts Friday!

Craft Room Progress Part 2

About two weeks ago, I posted some progress pics of my newly-created craft room. Since then, my husband has put up two shelves spanning the length of one wall and installed closet doors, and I rearranged the room. I've still got several things to do before I'll consider it done, but it's very functional now. I put things in baskets and storage containers (which I already had) that used to be in plastic bags.

Still to go:

• Fill the nail holes and paint the window trim (we replaced the window in that room and haven't done the finishing details yet).
  
• Find or make window treatments.
• Get closet shelving (so that I can get the boxes out of the corner and organize shipping materials in the closet). My parents are giving me the wire shelving they took out of one of their closets.
  
• Put up a cork board so I can neatly display inspiration pictures and info I need readily accessible.
  
• Buy folders for storing receipts, etc.