Starting

I guess my whining last week paid off. After venting a bit on Friday I kicked myself back into gear. First gear. But Saturday I went to Joann's and bought myself some fabric, and this is what I've accomplished so far: All the squares cut out for the buddies quilt. I'm anxious to see the final results! But I dare say venting is therapeutic!

We colored a set of Birthday Masks for fun the other day as well . . . they work great . . . maybe not great enough to hide my lack of make up though, eh?

Freebie Friday: Super Mask Birthday Card

I guess January is always kind of an unproductive month for me. December is so crazy I think I just kind of ooze into a blissful indifference to getting much done in January. The first week or so I'm still running off the steam of Christmas and the hope of New Year's resolutions. But after that it just kind of peters out. And that is where I am. I have lots of great ideas floating around in my head. Like starting a quilt like this but expanding it to a twin size, and using this technique to make it faster. I want to start drawing again since painting seems to be too time consuming for this time of my life, and then I've got a paper mache lamp/ light fixture with Christmas lights as the "bulb" floating around in my head . . . and then a gazillion design projects including some Valentine's ones that may or may not get done before that holiday hits. But, instead I sat around reading Parenting and Time Magazine this afternoon for a good hour or so while the buddy watched TV and the sweetie played dolls and tried to figure out how lego's work (don't worry she's past the eating them phase).

Anywhoo. . . I did make a boy version of the printable Birthday cards as a Freebie Friday for you today though: (Actually I made them over a week ago because I had a nephew's birthday come up, but that's beside the point, right).

Click here to download the Super Mask Birthday Card. 

Each page makes two birthday cards with instructions for the birthday boy to cut out and color the mask themselves. I recommend printing on white cardstock so they can color it however they choose!

Enjoy!

Brown Bag Wreath

This awesome wreath I was first introduced to on Make Happy. I saw it and knew I needed to make it. But that was over a year ago. I even bought an 1.25 inch scalloped hole punch specifically for this (it's come in handy for lots of other things). But when I took down my Christmas wreath our poor little door looked so bare. I knew the brown paper bag wreath had finally moved up on the priority list. It was time to make it.

I started with a pretty thick brown bag and then moved to what else I had on hand-lunch bags. After starting to put them on the wreath I realized that they weren't quite the same color of brown. So I tried to vary them both through the whole thing to add a little depth. Anyway, a little picture tutorial below. Or you can go to the original in depth tutorial by MaryJanes and Galoshes.

Have a great Wednesday!!

Freebie Friday: Birthday Crown Card

When I was a girl I had one uncle who sent me birthday cards. Not every year, but often enough that I felt that he cared. I felt special and important to someone I didn't see very often and it meant a lot.

So as an aunt (and sister and in law), I've tried to do the same thing: remember family birthdays with cards. It's a big job. The hunny and I both come from large families. We're rounding out to about 60 cards a year. This year I've decided to make it a little bit more fun for the nieces and nephews and a little faster for me too.

The birthday crown card is going to all my nieces this year. In the past I've always made them a personalized card, but I think this will be more fun for them, still it's a card with a personalized note from us inside, but they can cut it up and turn it into a birthday crown to decorate and wear!

I thought it would be fun to share: click here for the Birthday Crown Card. 

 A letter size sheet makes 2 cards. I recommend printing on colored cardstock, and then cutting in half longwise. (along the dotted line).

When they cut out the crown they will use the bottom strip to go around the back of their head, and tape it to fit. Instructions are included on the card!



ENJOY!


** I'm also sorry about the poor pictures. My camera batteries died during the photo shoot, and  I'd forgotten to charge the back up set. So these are mostly thanks to my phone. Alas.

A Merry Busy Christmas!

Went a little MIA this christmas season working on this entertainment center turned kitchen. The idea started brewing 3 weeks before Christmas after seeing several in blog land, mostly notably this one from sutton grace.

 So 2.5 weeks before Christmas I went and bought this entertainment center at the thrift store for $10 (talked the guy down from $20 cause I'm cheap like that) and then spent every night (when I usually blog) working on it for several hours.

I added the long side door aka "fridge" and the "oven" door. Found an awesome real faucet with sprayer at the thrift store for $5, modge podged the numbers around the oven knobs (also found at thrift store .25 each). The stove hot plates are black paint (simple, easy and fast), the "rack" stripes in the oven shelf I ended up just drawing on with a wide sharpie marker and a ruler. The phone was also found at the thrift store and hangs on a screw (so it can come off pretty easy), the sink comes out of it's hole and is just a weird bowl I also found at the thrift store and then the curtain at the top is held in place with a small tension rod.

All in all the most time consuming part was the painting, and the waiting for paint to dry, and shopping for all the pieces (because I refused to buy more than I had to at home depot-I bought as much as I could from the thrift store and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore).

 It took the full two weeks finishing up Christmas Eve. It was a fun project to do, albeit a little bit stressful under the time restraints. I love how it turned out, especially the yellow, of course, and the sweetie LOVES it. It was given to both her and the buddy, but it the buddy has been too busy with Captain America, spiderman and remote control cars to have time for the kitchen. Give it a couple weeks . . .

The little sweetie has spent most of yesterday and today playing with it which makes my heart so happy. It definitely makes it all worth it to see her so excited about it!

Hope you had a very merry Christmas too!

weekend sewing

This dress has been percolating in my mind for several weeks. I just have been so busy with Christmas stuff that I haven't had time to do it. This weekend turned out to have a little lull. So I figured I'd have a little time to get started on it. The little sweetie ended up having two longer naps and I just about finished! The rest was handwork I did after she went to bed. I was pretty stoked with how it turned out! I learned a lot from her Easter dress.

Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas Season!

preschooler made presents: tie tacks & pendants

 

The buddy is in a co-op preschool and I was lucky enough to teach the last lessons in December before they took a Christmas break. We made some fun presents for the parents. Tie tacks for Dad and a necklace pendant for Mom.

Each child got a little bit of sparkly grey sculpey clay to mash down (on a piece of aluminum foil) until it was thin.

They took turns cutting out a star shape with a small fondant cutter (probably about 1/2 inch across that's my hand not the kids)

Then they helped me stamp the first initial of their parents names in the star (I debated doing the child's name but decided against it).

I baked them according to the package instructions and then glued a tie tack backing, or a small circular ring to the back of them with E600 glue.

The thing I love the most about them is the little fingerprints left from the kids as they smashed the clay.

enjoy!