THE NOT SO GOOD...

Here are two crafts that did NOT turn out...luckily they were almost free in the supplies department, just time into these hideous gems...and I have a few ideas for attempting them again at another time.

The carafe...made from an old juice container. Worked fairly well since the container was squarish & the mod-podge held well. To make it a little water proof I also put clear contact paper over the scrapbook paper. The top is mod-podged also, but did not hold up as well & the bottle is IMPOSSIBLE to get shiny, even with a bottle-brush scrubbing. It is an "ok" turn out.

As my husband said, "it looks like trash dressed up." - I, unfortunately agree."


The next one is an idea I got from Pinterest. Basically you make an ornament hook, they used string, & then let a giant melty blob of hot-glue melt all over with the hook in it, then add a pipe-cleaner nose & bead eyes & a bead mouth. I did an orange ribbon nose & a pip-cleaner nose, both were cute & easy...however, the beads did NOT stay in the glue & looked terrible if they were pushed in too far, which made them stay, same for the bead or wiggly eyes that I tried. Also, the directions to do the blobs on tinfoil...I could NOT get the foil off of the cooled ornaments!!! Making them on my work mat helped & they pealed right off, but bending the mat to loosen the beads pop-off even faster! Too bad this didn't work out so well, they looked adorable! ...maybe I can get them right by next year...

Toy Bin Labels!!

FINALLY! Our toy bins are labelled & the boy no longer has an excuse to not put stuff away or dump stuff out in a search & rescue mission for the right toy...sad, when he asked for them!! (Like Maya & Liam have is how he phrased it to be exact!!...thanks for the inspiration & logos Miss Wendy!! )

WREATHS!!

My sister & I have recently gone a little wreath crazy (thank you Pinterest!!). She made the fall wreath & I embellished it....then, I made the winter/Christmas ones & cannot seem to stop making them for every door, room or person I know....they take 1-2 hours, are inexpensive & SO CUTE!!!

"L" is for Laurie!

I am helping my sister redo her bedroom....we gave the red "L" a little update!

Here is the finished product!!

before

MORE FLOWERS!!!

Here are the 2 arrangements I made today for the front of the church next weekend!!

With or without pedestal? hmmmmm

Let it Snow!

I am SO NOT READY for snow....but I saw this adorable re-purposed milk jug on Pinterest and I HAD TO put my own twist on it.

My twist:
I laminated all of the face pieces & earmuffs, so I could put ol' Frosty out on our front steps

Also I knitted a little scarf out of left over Sugar 'n' cream yarn. (size 8 needles US, c0 6 stitches, knitted until approx. 40" long). I secured the scarf & ear muffs into the jug
with a cute brad on either side going through the scarf or muffs,
into the jug.

One more pillow...

In 2007 J went to help with the Katrina clean-up in New Orleans & bought me a t-shirt in the French Quarter....unfortunately, it never fit quite right....so, it now fits perfectly in our bedroom (or living room - still working on that decision).

**Also, my inexpensive trick to a few of these pillows (this big one especially) is to use throw pillows purchased at a thrift store, $2.99 for this big one, and then cover them, much better cost wise than stuffing them as fluffy as I would like them with bags of stuffing!!

Wall Completed - finally!!

The canvases have been done for some time now & the letters have been laying around for about a month....so, today is the day they all make it on the wall together! And the pictures are on their way (shipped yesterday) from Shutterfly......whew,it feels good to get this project off of my table!!

Becky's Bouquet

My sister-in-law to be employed me to make her bridal bouquet & a few of the centerpieces...here is the bouquet!

"L" is for Laurie

My sister Laurie is redoing her bedroom (to make room for a craft area!!)...so, here is the first of many crafts for her new boudoir.

C R E A T E

OK, so....I decided to not turn this one into a bulletin board & made it into art for my craft room. :)

"C" is still for Calvin

Here is the finished product, the paint definitely made it better.

PILLOWS!!

Fall is here & I am feeling crafty...also, I did a fall cleaning at our house and I am now in the process of re-purposing all of our outgrown or worn out shirts. To date, I have made pillows, next up a rug & a quilt.
The NY one got a little extra attention, glad I bought that taxi-checkered ribbon!!

Best crafting tool - EVER!

I was recently in the market for a new craft knife....and Fiskars did not disappoint! For under $5, I bought the best knife, ever! The way the handle is designed, you get extra control over where the knife is cutting & over the amount of pressure you can put into your cuts...it rocks!

MORE MELTING!!

For my latest crayon project, I did a rainbow of melted crayons on a full canvas.

For this one I used Roseart crayons, they seemed to melt a little faster than the Crayola brand, but also needed a few extra layers to cover & "submerge" the canvas in the wax without some of the canvas showing through.

All-inall, I think both types of crayons work well for this project....but be sure to use NEW CRAYONS!! Ones that have been previously colored with & worn down do not melt as well or as evenly as the "fresh" ones.

*I will be adding a title to this canvas & pinning small pieces of Calvin's art on it, sort of a most recent masterpieces board for his many projects.

"C" is for Calvin ...again!

I finally got around to the melted crayon project, my gateway project into the fab world of Pinterest!

I did the project outside - a MUST & was prepared for a mess, MUST #2!!

For the letter "C" project. I used Crayola brand crayons, the yellow seemed to melt a little slower than the other colors, but did a great job & stayed thick enough to cover the canvas thoroughly. I also used the calendar maker cartridge in my Cricut to make the big "C". I did it on fit to page & used the shadow script button...I LOVE this font!!

When finished, I put painters tape on the back of the frame to keep some of the stray drips from getting all over the wall where it is hanging.

One tip I have now that I did one, do 3-5 layers of tape when taping off your monogram & painting the canvas first....these will both help the crayon from bleeding into the monogram. This week, I will be painting the "C" to cover up the bleeding that occurred on my project.

HAPPY MELTING!!!!

C is for Calvin

I am a scrapbooker & crafter & mom...so, I have a TON of photos, paper & stickers with no purpose...I also have a kindergartner, thus the "Calvin's ABC book" was born!

I made each letter a 2-page spread & kept the layout uniform. I used all my old stickers, pictures & letter sticker to my advantage, showing Cal that letters sometimes look different, but make the same words & sounds. It is now his favorite I Spy / photo album of family & friends!! :) And it was virtually free to make!!

Shower Favors

For favors to our guests at Dan & Becky's bridal shower, mom & I knitted about 25 washcloths (the EASIEST thing to knit - EVER!). We then attached a cute little thank you tag to each one....they were a BIG hit!!

WASHCLOTH PATTERN
Use size 6 to 8 US needles (we used 8)
100% cotton yarn (we used Sugar 'n' Cream) - variegated colors look the best!

cast on 4 stitches
knit 2, yarn over, knit to end of row
repeat until you have 40-50 stitches (we did 50)
Once you reach 50 stitches:
knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together
repeat until you have 4 remaining stitches, bind off
& weave beginning & ending yarn into sides of dishcloth.

And enjoy them for YEARS! They are incredibly durable, just wash & dry with any load of laundry you are doing! The cost is about 2 washcloths/$2.50, so I just toss them & make new ones when they become too tattered or holey.

MATCHY MATCHY - COMPLETED!!

With great success (& guidance from Pinterest) my sister Laurie & I completed a set of super-cute matching accessories for my brother & his wife to be. I am assuming they loved them, as soon after the shower I received a few pictures on Facebook of them hanging in his apartment!!

*Laurie made the wreath & a set of matching coasters.

Matchy-Matchy

Here is another piece of the shower gift puzzle! A giant clothespin, mod podged to match the "U", recipe card holder, coasters set & wreath...hope they like the print & colors...we went with a scheme to match their kitchen.

Halloween Treats

I made this bucket in 2009 at Scrap, Scribble & Stick, the best store ever! It was also the inspiration for the Christmas ones I made for Calvin's teachers.