a little bit about me

marie mayhew designs

You may have noticed that my avatar is a felted snowman. I really don't look like that. But some days I can feel a bit woolly behind the ears. Knitting and felting can do that to a person after awhile, but I'm having fun playing in the meantime!

The Woolie Ewe, a knitting shop in Plano, Texas, just published their interview with me on their blog, A Woolie Tale. They are starting a series on featured designers, like me. Click on the link below to find out what my favorite food is. If you follow me on Pinterest, you already might know. Enjoy!

A Woollie Tale Interview

Happy knitting,

Bird gets new beak. Tweet on!

woolly birds - robin

Same bird, but a new look! A new beak molded from polymer clay and then baked in my kitchen oven for about 30 minutes.

The idea originally came to me from a knitting store in Sitka, Alaska, Knitting With Class. Laura Ramp has been creating clay carrot noses for her Woolly Snowmen. How fun is that! My adaptation is the clay beak for any of the Woolly Birds. What I love is that you can control the beak's size so much easier than a knitted beak. Plus the clay beak doesn't lose its shape from year-to-year.

Want to make your own clay beak? Below is my first-ever YouTube video showing you how to do just that. Tweet on!

Yummy! Home-made Butterfingers.

woolly candy corn

The Butterfingers is about my most favorite candy bar, EVER! So when I came across this recipe on Pinterest I had to get the recipe. FYI, I haven't made it yet. I am having a hard time finding traditional candy corn. I may have to go to a specialty candy store.

So for all you Butterfingers lovers out there, here it is! Let me know where you found the candy corn, would you?

Home-made Butterfingers

1 pound candy corn pieces

16 ounce jar peanut butter

16 ounce package chocolate candy coating

Melt candy corn in a microwave on high for one minute. Stir and continue cooking in 15-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval. Stir in the peanut butter. Spread the mixture in an 8x8-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Cool completely. Cut into 1-inch squares. Melt the chocolate candy and dip the 1-inch pieces in the chocolate to coat. Lay on a sheet of waxed paper to set.

Makes about 32 pieces.

Who would of ever thought those leftover candy corn to go to such a good use?

No Dyes. No Mess.

grade A woolly eggs

Woolly Eggs! They can come in all sizes: Grade A small, medium or jumbo, depending on the yarn weight you use, that is. The above eggs are smallish in size, measuring about 2-1/2 inches long after felting. They were knit using Cascade 220 sport weight yarns with size 8 double point needles. I am loving this yarn for how it felts and the wonderful color choices!

While these eggs were still wet, I stuffed them with my own Woolly Stuffing. Wool stuffing, like wool yarns, has a memory to it, thus holding it's shape better and longer than traditional polyester fiberfill. 

Create a dozen eggs in various colors, stripes and embellishments. Then place them in this cute egg carton I found on Etsy. The egg carton holds 12 eggs beautifully!

easily holds a dozen woolly eggs

You can also purchase these cartons with a blank front, not shown. How fun to print your own creative label for the front, a whimsical greeting card!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Something 'woolly sweet' for you, valentine!

valentine party mix

1 cup chocolate covered almonds or peanuts

1 cup dried cranberries or cherries

1 cup cupid's candy corn

1 cup roasted cashews

1 cup Corn Chex cereal

1 cup pretzel sticks or circles

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with your hands. Store any leftovers in a plastic container with a lid. The mix will keep up to 3 weeks.

Makes 6 cups.

I usually triple this recipe because it goes that fast!