Green Necklace

A little green for me to wear on St. Patrick's Day...

and hopefully a lot more days too!

Quilled Shamrock

I quilled a little shamrock for St. Pats Day...

St. Patrick's Day Wreath

I have a couple friends that I have been talking with for months about making a wreath. We talked about it so much, that we bought the supplies back in the beginning of December!! I never did get that Christmas wreath made...but still wanted to work on one. So I tried to make one festive for St. Patrick's Day! I got out all the green fabrics in my stash, and while my hubby watched a seriously lame movie about California splitting in two, I made flowers. This morning, I thread each button for the centers on a piece of floral wire and threaded it through the flower. This way, I have a wreath I can easily change! I think if I take out a couple green ones, and add in a few pastels, I have all the flowers I need for an Easter wreath! I had this grapevine wreath hanging around from fall (I think) and just wired them on where I thought they looked nice.

A few more lame movie nights, where I can concentrate on my flower making, and I could have a wreath for every season! :)

String Heart

I have seen these string art projects popping up, and wanted to try one. A Valentine heart seemed perfect. I had my hubby cut a board to size and traced around a foam heart we had sitting around. Then I gave it one coat of white paint. Because I couldn't find a hammer or nails, I improvised with some thumbtacks I had sitting around...which worked out just fine. Actually, they made the project much quicker. I pushed them in part way and then gave each of my girls (8 & 4 years old) a color of embroidery floss - red & pink. They wound them around which was a great way to make this look random! :) After they finished, I pushed the pins all the way down in, so they were tight and put it on a shelf. Two hour project - and that's just to let the paint dry in between!

Love Wall Hanging

I have been wanting to make one of these for over a year now! Ever since I spotted one at a friend's house that said "NOEL" last Christmas. I said I would make one of those before Christmas this past year, but never got around to it. Then when my hubby was out of town last week, I decided I would spend an evening or two on it...but couldn't make one to say NOEL and not use it for 11 more months!! So I made "LOVE (always)". I really like the little heart added to the bottom with "always" stamped on it....to remind us all that it's not about a silly holiday. It's LOVE. And love is for always.

Since I've got sizes and everything worked out, I hope I can change up the colors/papers and quickly make a few more. I have the perfect narrow wall strip where I could hang one year round....Now to come up with a 4-6 letter word that sums up St. Patricks Day...and is not LUCK. Since I don't believe in luck. ;)

Crochet Cowls

I found this wonderful, soft, slightly-bulky yarn and have been inspired to work on a few projects.

This first one is a circular scarf. I started with a chain of 65 and worked in circles of sc, dc, and hdc until I had the right size. I wanted it to be cozy, but not hugely bulky. I think that it turned out just right!

For this second one, I wanted a buttoned cowl. I have been looking at these online and they look so nice. Because I was already in the hang of the pattern above, I worked this one in a series of 2 lines of dc, 1 line of hdc, to give it a little more interest than just repeating dc all the way down. I started with a chain of 22, and worked until I finished my skein, which ended up being just the right length. I popped on a button, and really like the result.

 

Both of these are gifts, but I did get myself a skein of grey to match my new grey cowgirl boots and can't wait to get mine finished too!

Jack-O-Door

 

I am so excited about this easy, recycled decoration! We took old milk jugs, and cut triangles, a circle and some trapezoidal shapes. Then I tried attaching them by magnet to the door...until I realized that just because this door is metal does not mean it is magnetic! :) So we went the easy route of masking tape. I am not sure how long the tape will keep them on there, but it was easy enough to tape them back up anytime! Such a fun and easy (and FREE!) Halloween welcome!

Scrabble Pillows

I saw a picture of these in a magazine years ago and ripped it out and put it in my 'file' of future projects. I can't believe it took me so long, or how easy they were. I cut the numbers and letters out of freezer paper with my Cricut, the letters were set to 7" and the numbers 2 1/4". Then I ironed the freezer paper to my fabric squares for a stencil. I got some black fabric paint and put one coat of paint on by dabbing a tough brush in and 'dotting' the fabric in the stencil. Then when all was dry, I measured carefully around one of them and cut a 16" square. I used that one to lay on top of the others and cut them the same size. Then I sewed, serged (because the fabric seemed like it would unravel!) and stuffed.

Now who wants to come over and play??

Most Wearable Earrings

My mom sent me a package. Inside was a pack of these marbles that she had baked so they had a cracked look, and the silver 'toppers'. I was so excited, as any crafter would be, to get surprise crafting materials in the mail. I immediately glued the marbles to the 'toppers' (forgive me, I have no idea the word for those things!). But I had a hard time figuring out what to do next. Then it finally hit me to put a chain on it and make a simple drop earring.  Little did I know that I would create the most wearable earrings ever!

I find I am reaching for these earrings almost daily! They match everything, and are a little showy against my dark hair with all the crackles, which I like. Thanks Mom!!!

New Diaper Tote

When the diaper bag from the hospital ripped on me yesterday, I  knew I had a little project to do. I whipped this up with some fabic from my stash that my sister had handed down. It took less than one hour from start to finish, with some telephone talking in the middle to a friend. Fast, easy and so functional to keep these two necessities neatly tucked away...and can easily be left with him in the nursery!

Garden Spoons

I saw this project a while back, asked for some metal stamps for my birthday last year, and finally got them done for my garden this year. I really like the rustic look. They were so easy! I struggled with how to get them flat, until my Mom advised me to use a vice. So I went out to my husband's shop, put the spoon right into the vice and tightened it until flat. Then 'stamped' them with the names of some of my herbs and put them out. They are not too visible, so they don't make my garden look junky, but just visible enough for guests/kids to see what we have.

My New Favorite Earrings

Somewhere in my stash of earrings I have from all my years of wearing them (and I'm talking some pretty tacky 80's & 90's styles!) I found these two fuschia colored leaves. I removed them from their original earrings and put them in my bead box. When I had the urge to create some new earring yesterday, I paired them with this turquoise colored bead and knew I had a good combo.

But it needed something else, so I got out my wire and made a little curly-q, pounded it with a hammer onto my steel block and attached it to the front of the leaf. And my new favorite earrings were born!

I really like the little wire addition and think I'll be doing some more wire-work soon.

New Jar Labels

 I have these jars that line my kitchen counter, which I love! Some are old, some are new. I've tried to mix up the lids a little, so the one with the red lid is actually plastic (though I don't think anyone can tell) because the lid won't fit a glass jar. I love the convenience of them, and that it creates more cabinet space for me to have these things on the counter. And I love the look...well almost. I didn't love the labels.

So for Christmas, I added some of that chalkboard contact paper and a chalk pen to my wish list and hoped someone would help me get started on this project. My sister-in-law did! Today I got them out (a cold, rainy day with a stomach bug working it's way around the children) and changed the labels to this:

I love them even more now!

Valentine Cameo Earrings

For this pair of shrink plastic earrings, I decided to try the cameo effect that was shown in the book I got from the library (Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk! by Kathy Sheldon) this week. She had some cute cameos, but I wanted something I could wear for V-day, since it's coming up. So I punched the first two shapes and free-hand cut the heart. I colored them white, pink and white, and shrunk them up.

I glued them all together with some E6000, added a jump ring, and some earring wires. Here they are all completed:

I didn't realize how small they would be, and originally thought I might could make these into necklaces, but you can see they shrunk right. The heart is barely a half-inch across!

Shrink Plastic Earrings

I found a really fun book from the library last week about shrink plastic jewelry! I had seen many a kids crafts from this plastic, but this book was full of cool, trendy, grown-up jewelry. I was inspired. I followed their instructions (almost) and made this pair of rectangles:

I drew the circle design with the permanent marker, then colored it in with a redish pencil taht came with my daughter's Shrinky Dink kit. Then I made them into these:

I must say, I was not impressed with the lack of straightness to the sides, but like the organic look of them. What do you think?