Hipster Bag

I got pretty excited when I saw this idea! (Thank you rocknroar!!!!!!!) I'll tell you why - the phone ALWAYS rings when I'm in the basement doing laundry. I always tell myself to remember to bring a phone with me - and sometimes do - and then forget the dang thing down there - but usually my feet are going down the steps before my brain actually realizes what's going on. ha ha. Also, as much as I love my iPod I never know where to put it on my person as I move about the house. If it is in a pocket I'm accidentally changing settings with my movements. Not to mention that I'm terrified it'll end up in the washing machine - shudder!!!! Soooo, this seemed like a GREAT idea! Also the idea is to wear it slung low on your hips - not cinched around your waist. It is very comfortable!!! I think I'll make a variety of them to go with different outfits and to fit different needs. One that has a flap and an inside pocket for money for when I walk around town for instance. It might be a good idea to use some interfacing if anything heavy is going to be carried around in here too. In the summer I don't always have pockets - this is going to be terrific! I didn't follow the tutorial given for this project. Instead I basically followed the same directions as the draw string bag. There is a casing sewn on the back that the belt is drawn through. I couldn't decide if I should box the corners or not. While it might be more roomy - I didn't want any extra "bulk" hanging off my hip. At least my jean pockets won't be so full now. I hate how that looks when my shirt tents over the bulging pockets - ugh. This is going to be so handy while picking up the house too - all those bits and pieces. Ahhhh, I'm happy.

Papercutting problem

Here is a picture of the third papercutting. Something isn't right with it. Does it need a border? Should I cut the same thing but bigger? This is my own doodle. I gotta tell you it is hard! The very hardest part for me is to come up with an original idea. I see so many wonderful designs online - I just want to emulate them.

Random thought

I spent the day cleaning my carpet. Ugh! I HATE carpet. It is a personal pet peeve. I'd rather have wood or even vinyl. Can't seem to get my husband to agree with me though. I'm tired. I've been working like a dog. Why do we still say "working like a dog"? My dogs DO NOT work. My dogs actually make extra work for me. They don't even have the courtesy of picking up their own poop when an accident happens. They have a pretty nice existence. I'd kinda like to be one of my dogs. I think we should change the saying to "working like a mother". Doesn't that have a nicer ring?

PS: The picture is what my poor Chihuahua's life has been like since Edith came home. ha ha!!

Drawstring pouch

I've been making up a bunch of these drawstring pouches. They are just so handy!! It is a good way to keep all the darn cords everything needs corralled in one place. There is a tutorial here. I thought the directions were very easy to follow. phew!

Papercutting

I cut out a couple papercuttings over the past few days. I don't think I'd ever made them quite so large before. I like them! I'm looking around for a third design to add to the wall. I've even tried drawing my own. I found these designs from the site I'd blogged about before. I think.

Why do I love papercuts so much? I've been thinking about that. Maybe because it is something that I'm good at? Maybe it has something to do with my Scandinavian heritage? I think it has a lot to do with the fact that papercutting has no gray areas. It is crisp and clean. No blurry edges. Very defined. How many areas of our life can be classified that way . . . not many. Happy crafting!

Fire!!! Sprouts!!

What a morning. This is the scene we woke up to. It was scary. The fire is actually behind the house in the picture. A warehouse burned to the ground. Thankfully nobody lived there. When I opened my door I could hear the crackling and roar of the fire. I called my husband over to see (he's on the adjoining town's fire department) and called 911. I wasn't the first one to call - the fire department was already on it's way. I have never seen a structure fire up close like that before, I even wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me. It was about 6:30 AM, maybe a little before that we noticed it. Fire is so powerful - makes me think of all the people in Australia right now. You're in my prayers.

On a lighter note - I have sprouts. I couldn't find Geranium seeds anywhere. Next year I will plan ahead and order some but ran out of time this year. They take a LONG time. So, I planted spinach. We all like spinach and it is a quick crop. I planted these seeds on Monday I think and here we are! Now, how often should I open the plastic covering? Mom? Help!

Wall Pocket

This one didn't turn out so well. BUMMER! I love the colors and the functionality of this wall pocket. . . but. . . I should know better than to craft at 10:30 at night. That is when mistakes happen to me every time. I forgot to clip the corners before I turned it and I measured the top green piece wrong. Ugh! Because it was so late I thought "the heck with it" and sewed it on anyways. Had all these problems happened in the middle of the day I may have taken the time to fix them. But that late in the evening my brain goes into "just get it DONE already" mode! Oh-well. This pocket is for my toothbrush and toothpaste. It's hanging on the side of a kitchen cabinet and you can only see it if you're standing at the sink. I brush my teeth in the kitchen mostly because there is a bit of a log-jam in the bathroom in the mornings. I got sick of seeing my toothbrush sitting on the counter all day and didn't want it to get all dirty in the junk drawer. This works great! Happy crafting!

PS: if you want the link to the instructions for wall pockets go to my previous wall pocket post.

Papercutting

Here is a papercutting that I made. Yup, it came out of my brain. I like the fanciful flowers that could never exist in real life - mostly because I don't think I could ever get an accurate replica of the real thing. This way you just can't do it "wrong". I haven't made many of my own designs. Mostly because I'm always so busy doing projects that others have shared tutorials for. Sigh. There are just so MANY ways to spend the hours in the day!! I could stay busy forever.

Did you have a good Valentine's Day? We did. We were all together as a family. Got some pizza, pop, and treats. It was a good day. I just love my little family to pieces.

Links

Have you noticed the links I have posted in the upper left hand corner? Check them out! There are wonderful links to follow and patterns that have been generously shared by others!! As I get to them I'll keep posting new ones - so keep watching.

Also, I wanted to share a picture of my puppy. Her name is Edith and she's a mutt. She's 5 months old and is very small and ADORABLE!!

I also wanted to share a picture of our Chihuahua, Coco. She's about 3 years old and very, VERY small (about 3 pounds). Um, I'll have to admit she isn't very adorable. . . but she makes me laugh EVERY day.

Greenhouse experiment

Wouldn't a greenhouse be awesome!! Well, I sadly don't have one. I really wanted to start some seeds in the house this year. I don't know why that urge comes over me every year - but it does. And usually ends in frustration. Other years my cats have "mown" the seedlings - or I've lost interest because they did so poorly. Huh - and here we go again. But I have new enthusiasm because I'm trying a new method! Yup - my brain never stops thinking of new ways to challenge me!

OK to start with I made some pots out of newspaper. My friend had a really cool little tool to do this but she isn't home and I wanted to make pots now. So I improvised with a glass and a cream cheese container. First fold one half of a full page of newspaper lengthwise. Then wrap it around the glass with the folded edge at the top, pull the glass out of the tube. I stapled it at this point at the folded edge and folded the edge down giving it a "cuff" and a little more stability. Then put the glass back into the tube and turn it upside down. Smoosh the extra paper around the bottom of the glass to make a little pot. Then put the bottom of the glass, with the paper pot still on it, into the cream cheese container and press the bottom firmly and rotate. Remove the glass and cream cheese container and you have a little pot! I will admit to using a bit of masking tape to hold the bottom secure. When I plant the pots I'll just remove the staple and tape. Not a big deal. My friends little tool worked much better but this will do just fine. Then fill all the pots with your favorite soil. Put them into a tray. Put the tray into a clear plastic bag that a comforter came in. (This will be your greenhouse!!!!) Put the whole shebang over a heat vent near a window and wallah! I put the whole shebang on an old wooden window with screen and set that on four paint cans to prop it up over the vent and added water so everything gets a good soaking.



We'll see how this works. It's an experiment. The kids and I will go buy some geranium seeds and plant soon!!! Oh yeah, right now this isn't important - but when the seedlings grow I'll put sticks into the pots to hold the bag up so it doesn't crush them. Good luck!!

Little Black Book

I don't like boxes of bulk food. Like oatmeal, rice, dry milk. . . you get the idea. I like to put the food in jars. I usually use pickle jars - washed really well. Surprisingly nothing has had a "pickle" taste to it, even though the jars retain their pickle smell for a long time. The problem with putting the food in jars is that I forget how to prepare it. I can make oatmeal for the kids every weekday (and usually do) and on the weekend we'll have cereal then Monday - I can't remember how to make the oatmeal! Crazy I know. So, I had the wrappers the rice or oatmeal or whatever taped to the insides of my cabinets. This worked pretty well - but that is valuable real estate in there. There's lots of other things I'd rather tape in there - like schedules, favorite recipes - you get the idea. So I came up with the idea of a little black book. To start with I scanned all the wrappers and sized them down on the computer. But you don't have to do that. In the picture you'll see one that is scanned and one that is simply cut from the box. I used packing tape to tape card stock on the side so I could punch the holes. (Cardboard was really thick) I've even added the little booklet I got with wild rice using the same tape method. Then I can still unfold it and use the recipes. This little black book sits very nicely in my spice cabinet, always handy. It isn't very pretty - but it's behind a cabinet door so I don't care. Happy crafting!!

Paper mache and ice-fishing

We had a fun weekend. We participated in an ice-fishing contest on our local lake and had a LOT of fun! My husband and his friends decided to also have their own contest while fishing. . . they wanted to see who could last the longest in SHORTS! Brrrrrr. I thought they were nuts. A couple of the guys did make it in shorts for the full THREE HOURS! This is a picture of what I looked like. . . quite a difference!

I had layers and layers on. It was cold, windy, and there was a damp haze over the area.

When not at the lake, I was experimenting with paper mache. This is a really fun craft!! I love that I can sit at the kitchen table and talk with the family while doing this craft. I wanted some sort of "sculpture" (I am using that term very loosely) to go into the reading/craft area upstairs. I've always loved funny little birds with long skinny legs, so I started gluing paper and this is how it turned out. After I got it in place - well, it doesn't quite fill up the space. Soooooo, I'm starting another. Haven't gotten to the paint stage yet. As always, it isn't as much fun to do a project the second time. But, I'm hoping that this will fill the space better.

Valentine Mobile

As I've said before, we love (well, I love) things hanging from the ceiling. It is a constant battle to get stuff off the horizontal surfaces - up is always good in my book. This is a Valentine mobile I made. Nothing too fancy - but it was fun to get out my stamps and embossing powders. To make the top I've found that tying two sticks together with elastic works really well. The elastic grips the sticks, yet you can move them back and forth to achieve balance. Before I've used the stretchy cord you buy to make bracelets. This time I used some red elastic that came wrapped around a box at Christmas. I just cut out some hearts and got busy with my stamps. Easy peasy!

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of what I'm working on now. Aren't they pretty! I've had an idea in my head for a couple days and started on these last night. More about the process closer to Easter - the eggs will become a part of my Easter mobile!

Chandelier

So. . . I got this chandelier out of a garbage can. I asked my sister if she wanted it. I thought it would be ADORABLE in her daughter's room. She politely declined the offer. I didn't know what to do with it but while brainstorming, my friend Julie said it would look pretty in my upstairs stairwell. Boy was she right. My tall friend came over and hung it up for me yesterday. It is awesome. sigh. I spent about four hours cleaning it - and it just sparkles. The pictures don't do it justice. I have to buy some bulbs for it - I'm leaning towards some dimmable CFL's. (I haven't been to "town" lately to buy anything).

I am so glad I spoke up when my friends were renovating their house. It just proves that one person's trash is another person's treasure. While I couldn't imagine throwing this chandelier away - they couldn't imagine having it hang in their house! ha ha! Don't throw stuff away that someone else can use!! Ask me - I'll probably take it! hee hee. And, speak up if you like something. Just because you think it's wonderful - the owner might just think of it as trash.

PS: I know I have to repaint the ceiling . . . again!

Kudusama Ball

We've been very busy around here lately. Spring cleaning has come early!! After going through all the stuff upstairs I've decided to tackle the basement. Ugh. Seems as if I've cleaned and sorted that basement a million times. Every time I think, phew, good thing I won't have to do that again. . . And a season goes by and there is just as much stuff to go through. I packed up three huge bags of clothes that my kids won't wear or don't fit. I will be donating them to my favorite thrift store as soon as I can get there.



This is a picture of another gift I gave my mom for Christmas. It is a paper Kudusama ball. There was a tutorial at Folding Trees and I couldn't resist giving it a try. My first attempt took a LONG time (about 5 hours) but my second attempt, this one, was pretty quick. Only a few hours. I think it was worth the effort. Most of my crafts don't take nearly as much time as the ones I make for Christmas. The fused plastic bag took an hour and a half. I started it at
8:30 PM (from scratch) and was done, with the mess cleaned up, by 10:00 PM. That seems to be a good time for me to do crafts. Over the weekend I made more wall pockets. I made three total and will try to get some pictures tomorrow. I finished my last one at 10:30 PM - that might have been a little late because I start making too many mistakes after about 10:00. Besides cleaning I'm working on a mobile for Valentine's Day. We love things hanging from the ceiling around here!