craftiness

Funny thing about being broke but wanting to be crafty…I actually use things I already have. I had some styrofoam balls and leftover yarn so I whipped up this little decoration. I added these little yarn balls to my front room. Now it’s back to my craft supply closet to see what else I can make.

I’m not very good at this painting thing but I sure enjoy it. I was quite happy with this tree page though. I saw the quote online and knew I wanted to paint it. I created a new set on Flickr with my art journal pages so far. I’ve also done a couple canvases for some friends. I started with a journal page and then transferred it to a canvas. I made Jasper some color flashcards too. It has been fun to do art in the evenings. I hope I can keep coming up with things to paint and learn more about how to execute them.

A couple of years ago, my best friend Jess made me an awesome blanket. It folds up into its own little pouch to become a pillow. When I started sewing last year Josh asked if I would make him one. I agreed so we bought the material. Knight Light got so busy this past fall that I didn’t have time to even think about sewing something. Finally on New Year’s day I started (and finished) his blanket/pillow.

I’ve really been putting my new sewing machine (Ginger) to work! Josh also asked if I could make a laptop sleeve out of an old t-shirt. I pretty much had to wing this one but I made the sleeve, added batting and put in some lining. I thought for sure the laptop wouldn’t fit when I was done. But it does!

I’m still working through my Bend-the-Rules Sewing book but now I have received Amy Butler’s In Stitches and Last Minute Fabric Gifts. I can’t wait to try my hand at other projects!

We got quite a bit of winter weather this weekend. When I’m stuck indoors I love to be crafting. I had the idea to make a couple little felt mitten ornaments. I drew a little mitten on cardstock and cut out the felt. Once I made one, I decided I should do a few more because I had other ideas.

I ended up making fifteen of them. No idea what I’m going to do with them. I am thinking about looking for a little tree on clearance after Christmas and hang them all together. I thought I could crochet a long skinny “scarf” to use as a garland.

I think they turned out pretty cute. Quite honestly I could have kept going! Just an easy way to burn off a little bit of creative energy…

I started crocheting again this past weekend. I haven’t crocheted in months, maybe almost a year. Last Christmas a friend of mine paid me to make a bunch of scarves for her to give as gifts. I think I burnt myself out because after that I couldn’t pick up a crochet hook.

One of my goals for the weekend was to crochet again. I made a scarf this weekend and already finished another last night. I’m on a roll. Now my goal is to use up as much of my yarn stash as I can so I don’t feel bad buying more.

I made some baby bibs last week. Three actually, for three different babies… I picked out the fabric (polka dots on front and green flannel on the back) and could hardly wait to get started. I tried out snaps for the first time which was exciting. Oh good grief, did I just say that snaps were exciting? I am such a dork. Actually my future sister-in-law, Emily, called me a “cornball” when she found out I bought fabric for the shower to just sew my own tablecloths and runners. I laughed out loud when she said that.

That’s alright. I like being a crafty cornball.

My mom and I hosted a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law, Emily, on Sunday. We had such a good time planning it. We decided to go with a brown and pink theme and all of the food was chocolate related (expect for fruit and dip). Emily loves chocolate! I bought material from Hobby Lobby to make the tablecloths and table runner. It was much cheaper than buying something and all I did was hem up the ends. My mom made the killer food (check out those linzer cookies!).

I guess my mom and I teaming up was a crazy combination. Not only do we think alike, get excited about stuff like this but we love to plan parties. I have been reading blogs like Hostess with the Mostess so I was all revved up for this. It was simple and classy but not too formal or stuffy. I mean, can the party really be stuffy with tissue paper pom poms hanging from the ceiling? I think the shower was definitely a success.

About a month ago I got the book Bend-the-Rules Sewing. I consider myself a fairly crafty person; however, my sewing isn’t very good. I have sewed a hem on a tablecloth I made. I didn’t wash the fabric first and must have not sewed it very well because it got shredded the first time I washed. I did sew most of the curtains in my house, but really how hard is that?

I took the one sewing class offered when I was in high school. Actually technically I think it was a general Home Ec class that spent a couple weeks sewing. I made an awesome nightgown. Anyway, since “borrowing” my mom’s sewing machine over a year ago I have really wanted to sew. When I saw that book by the lady who writes a blog I read, I knew I had to get it. Last night I made this:

It’s called “Simple Tote” although I didn’t think it was all that simple. I ripped out a seam twice. It turned out alright though. I used leftover fabric from my little camera case.

Since Josh was reading Harry Potter all evening I sat out in the kitchen and worked on this bag. I finally finished it and proudly took it in to show Josh. He looked it over and decided that it looked very cool except then he said, “What will you use it for?”.

Hmmm…. Does that matter? I made it myself!!

I have been increasingly frustrated with my tangled mess of necklaces. It’s not like I have a ton of jewelry… It just was really hard to keep my fun things untangled and organized. Because they were such a mess I usually forgot what I had or just wouldn’t take the time to wear one.

Well I had this idea a while ago (or maybe I saw it on a blog somewhere…who can remember), to buy an open back picture frame and use it for my necklaces. Josh and I hunted down some chicken wire-like backing at Menard’s last weekend. All I needed was some little “S” hooks and I was ready to go. (Of course that’s after Josh attached the wire to the back of the frame and cut his hand.)

I’m not sure where I’m going to hang it yet (for now it’s stuck randomly on my wall) but I love being able to see a bunch of my necklaces at one time.

Tuesday night when I was at my sister-in-law’s playing with Kate, we were talking about baby toys. The first thing Kate does is put the tags in her mouth. Missy mentioned that she should get some of those taggies. I had never heard of them before but would you believe the very next day there was a tutorial on one of the craft blogs I read! How weird is that. So Wednesday night I headed to Hobby Lobby for some fabric and ribbon. I whipped one up that night.

I pretty much followed the tutorial except that mine is slightly smaller and I put some batting in the middle so it was squishy. I found those two fabrics in the clearance bin and I thought they were perfect together. I can’t wait to give it to Kate!