Now that winter has finally passed, there are two things competing for my attention: the house is begging for a deep Spring cleaning... but the sun is shining and I just want to be outside listening to the birds chirping and the bees buzzing!  While this may not officially qualify as "spring cleaning", the project I'm sharing with you today is a pretty neat way to use up some fabric scraps (and I say that anything that shrinks the overflowing scrap bin should be considered cleaning!)  And though it doesn't really have anything to do with enjoying the seasonal outdoors, I say it still counts as being in touch with the nature of Spring because for this project you need 100% natural beeswax!  

Here at Pollywoggles we are counting down 'till Christmas and as of today there are only three more weeks to go!  If your fabric stash looks anything like mine, this time of year is when you start to realize how much scrap Christmas fabric you have... and start wondering what to do with it.  Here is a simple project to use up a whole bunch of small pieces and make a unique handmade gift or decoration at the same time. 

I love these as a unique bunting hung from around our living and dining room with twine and using those little tiny clothespins that you can pick up at craft or dollar stores (look in the scrapbooking section).  They are also cute hung on your tree, or used as gift toppers in place of tags. 

Earlier this summer I started a new adventure...  I became a bee-keeper!
In mid-July I drove home from a local apiary (that's a bee yard, or place where someone keeps bees) with a box containing somewhere around 10,000 bees.  I will say that I had quite a lot of appreciation for the tape holding that box together as my vivid imagination had no trouble imagining the 45minute journey home if that box should suddenly pop open!
Since then, I have been thoroughly enjoying seeing firsthand many of the fascinating things that I have been reading about in books about bees and beekeeping.  I have SO MUCH to learn!  This year is all about educating myself, learning to observe the bees doing what they were created to do, and trying as hard as I can to help them get through our long cold Canadian winter.

You are probably wondering by now why on earth I am posting about this on my sewing blog.  Well, when you are a creative individual you can turn most anything into an excuse for stretching your craft-making muscles... and beekeeping is no exception!  As a brand new beekeeper, and being the somewhat nerdy individual that I am, I've made it a priority to take notes each and every time I open up the hive.  I record things like how often and how much sugar syrup I give the bees to help boost their winter honey storage production, when they have a new frame of wax drawn out or filled with nectar or honey or baby bees, and how my queen seems to be doing.  All these notes are written down in a notebook... an ugly notebook. 

And I don't see why someone who enjoys sewing would put up with an ugly notebook when there is so much pretty fabric around!  Especially if that fabric happens to have bees on it.

I love fleece.  The first thing I ever designed (this was way back before having two-legged kids) was a fleece-lined dog coat for our Great Dane.  Fleece has been my favorite fabric every since!

Currently, I have two fleece patterns available.  The Drew & Jesse fleece lounge/pj set, and the Muskoka (formerly called Autumn Grace) Dress (that's the one pictured above, including the "So Cozy Cowl" from the Expansion Pack ).  Both of these patterns are staples in my own kids' wardrobes, and because of that I have quite a collection of fleece scraps built up!  So today I'm going to show you five quick ways to make use of those of the scraps of fleece you might have lying around... flowers.

Each of these flowers only takes about 5 minutes to make, and you can play around with embellishments like buttons or leaf shapes too.
So... let's get started!