NYC Trip Day 1: Train ride and the Met

Kana here.  Last weekend, Shep, the human, and I all went down to NYC because the human had some musical she wanted to go watch.  And she dragged the two of us down with her.  We actually each packed our own bags.  I spent the trip on my laptop, and Shep was working through the Harry Potter books (again).

It being a train trip, we packed obento and drinks and chips.  Because that's just what you do.  It's a leftover habit from the time the humans went to Japan.  I packed a pretty western-style bento with sandwiches, but Shep went all traditional with two types of onigiri.

The bento boxes are made from cardstock, and we're sharing the patterns here.  Just in time to make lunch boxes for school, no?

Download bento box printables here!

First stop of the trip:  The Met.  It's just me and the human at this point because from past experience, the human has learned that we're pests when we travel in pairs.  So we don't do that any more.

First stop:  Ancient Egypt

More fun was the Hall of Arms and Armor.

At the Tiffany's Fountain

Like a Ren Faire.  Sort of.

Back at the hotel.

Summer Denim Mix-and-Match

This was a sewing project from the last month or so.  I rarely sew modern-ish clothing, and a while back I bought a giant bag of children's clothes for $3 for eventually turning into doll clothes.  The blue knit in these three outfits is all from the same blue t-shirt from that pile.  The pintucks and buttons for the tshirt were originally part of the kid's tshirt.  I used the LJ steam top pattern for it.

Actually, this was the first time I used only LJ patterns in an outfit set.  I have to say, I really dislike the LJ jeans/shorts/cutoffs pattern.  Something about the way the yoke is made just bugs me. 

The full set includes:  2 tshirts, a sundress, a pair of leggings, a denim skirt, a pair of denim shorts, and a jacket.  The leggings are cut down from a pair of kid's leggings.  I kept the lace trim at the edge.

Shabby Chic Bookshelves

The best thing about having a human who loves to craft is the number of books we get to have.  The worst thing?  Running out of bookshelves.  Which we have done.  Frequently.

But this time we have finally found a solution!  My new bookshelves are made from the little wooden crates from Michaels, the ones that are a dollar each, but you can get for cheaper with coupons.  It's 12 crates in all, glued into a stack of 5, a stack of 4 and a stack of 3, and then painted white.

They fit perfectly next to the fireplace, and the shelves are just big enough for doll-sized fiction books that the human makes.  We're starting to collect Newbery award winning books this time.  Once we get more, we'll start doing book reviews.

And after much complaining, we finally have Harry Potter books.

Lily's Magical Marketplace

Lily here.  So we're all packing for the annual Great Summer Adventure (tm) in which the humans drive up to Maine for a weekend and pretend they're living in the Middle Ages.  And this time, the four of us are getting drafted to be the booth models.

But first, we set up a little fair of our own, to show off all the things that will be on display this weekend.

First there's the food.  It's not a fair without food.

We've got bread and cheese and sausage and pickles and eggs and gingerbread and pasties.  The pasties even come in two flavors, and they definitely look good enough to eat.  All the food was made with polymer clay, except the display tower in the back.  Those are erasers on the Wellie Wisher snack stand that the human repainted.

Then there's my magical emporium booth stocked with potions and wands and potions ingredients.  And journals and pens to take notes on potion brewing.  I have a little workstation set up so I can brew things on demand.  

Polymer clay wands

44 bottles of various potions ingredients, made from little glass vials and scraps of floral arrangments

The open book is actually a miniature version of the Voynich manuscript.  No one really knows what it says, but there's a theory that it's a New World herbal written in an extinct language.  So I'm using it as one.

Obligatory photobomb