Spring Time

Finally spring seems to be here!  All I want to do is spend time outside, we’re been decorating our sidewalk with chalk, cleaning up our yarn, going on walks, and raking leaves, lots and lots of leaves.  My husband is on vacation this week and we have a lot of cleaning and organizing projects on the to do list.  I have several crafty projects going as well.

I working on a project using my tote of crochet thread.  I have used up eight spools so far.  I’m really excited to share this one, (check back on Wednesday).

I have built my new giant cardboard wall organizer and I will start doing the paper mache sometime this week.  I can’t wait to finish it and get my command center under control. 

I also have a few new patterns to work on, one is going to be an Easter Dress for Little Miss.  She needs a whole new summer wardrobe she has filled out so much none of her summer cloths from last year fit.  Little Sir has grown up and not out, so a lot of his shorts will still work and, of course, all of his pants have holes in the knees and will be made into cut offs soon.  I will need some stuff for Little Man too, onesies (<-I have no idea how to spell that) and rompers, I’m thinking tie dye and appliqué.

I have been collecting some great projects to do with the kids this summer and the Children’s Zoo reopens on Friday.  We have tons of stuff going on this week.  I am also hoping to do some painting in Little Sir's room, I have promised him an orange wall.  Now that the weather is nice there is tons of fun stuff to do.

Granny Triangle Crochet Bunting

I am sooooooo addicted to Pinterest, I could spend hours and hours just looking at everything.  I happened across this granny triangle bunting and fell in love, how great would that be on my porch?!?  I found these instructions for making the granny triangle and started crocheting on Wednesday.  I didn’t do the final row of picot stitches.

I used acrylic yarn because it’s going to be outside in the elements and acrylic yarn is almost indestructible.  My triangles needed to be blocked, acrylic yarn is blocked with steam, um the steam doesn’t work on my iron.  I know I’ll just spray a press cloth and put it on top of the yarn and iron, sending steam through the triangles.  FYI, to get steam your iron is going to be hot enough to melt the yarn.Good news, they only melted a little and they look a lot better.  Really the only way to tell they’re melted is to look closely.  I chained all my triangles together and was kind of meh about the bunting.  I’ve been working on tassels this afternoon.  They really aren’t as time consuming as they sound, I was doing other things too, like entertaining a fussy baby. Sewing the tassels on really made a big difference for me.  I am really loving how this bunting came out, I might have to make some more.  It looks nice over the window, really dresses up the blinds and adds some fun color to a blah room (no, we still haven’t painted).  I want to make rainbow ones next.

Have a super crafty weekend!

Personal Swap Package Received!!!

I got a very special package in the mail yesterday from my friend Tiffany (mieljolie).  We have swapped before and honestly I will always swap with her for the awesome witches boots she makes.  I am hoping to have a whole collection someday.  We anyway, enough chit chat on to the package!
Here is my brand new witch’s boot, isn’t it stunning!  I had requested black cats or skeletons and she did both.  I can’t begin to describe how beautiful this is, the pictures aren’t doing the boot justice at all, I had to use the flash (ugh) and a lot of the little details are lost. I had also asked for a Teesha Moore styled binder cover.  There are so many rich and textured fabrics, it feels really nice and she embroidered my name on the back, isn’t that great?!?  It has a tab that buttons on to keep it closed, I really like that I can take it all the way off if I want to, now I just need to decide what to use it for.  I originally wanted it for a journal, but I want to display it and I know I couldn’t stand anyone casually flipping through my journal.  I’m sure I’ll figure something out. Here is a beautiful ornament that she calls a ladybird house.  Doesn’t it look like metal or maybe polymer clay?  She made it out of card stock, cereal boxes to be exact.  I think she needs to be selling tutorials for this technique in her etsy store.  It’s really funny that she made one of these for me, I had seen one she made for a different swap and was disappointed that I hadn’t seen it in time to ask for one.
And here are the final pieces.  An adorable jack-o-lantern wearing a witch’s hat polymer clay sculpture.  It looks old and very delicate in person, the leaves look real, I thought they were until I touched them.  The box that the Ladybird ornie came in that her daughter decorated for me, aren’t those birds sweet?  And finally a polymer clay embellished pen.  I love it so much I’m kind of scared to use it (afraid I’ll break it).
I love everything so much, it’s all just perfect, thank you Tiffany!!!
As you can see, this was a pretty big swap and you know I made some fun stuff for her too, but she hasn’t gotten her package yet, so no peeks.  I’m definitely getting anxious for her to receive, hopefully she’ll get it today (the tracking says it en-route to be delivered).  I’ll share what I sent her once she has a chance to open her package.

Organized: Ribbon Storage

I have noticed in the background of a few blogs recently an wonderful way to store ribbon that I have never seen before.   All you need is a swing arm skirt hanger.Swing those arms open and take the skirt clips off (I bet we can find something else to do with them) and slide your ribbon on. My husband just informed me that his Mother used to do this.  Um yeah, thanks for telling me, I could have been storing my ribbon this way for years!!!  His response was, “I’ve never seen you really work with ribbon.”  My reply was, “I have at least one of every craft supply known to man, you should have known I had ribbon.”  So if you have already heard this tip, sorry :)  Seriously, organized ribbon makes me happy.  Now I’m wondering if there is anything else I could store on another one of these!

Featuring Fabulous on Friday

I have a HUGE back log of projects that I really want to do and today I’m going to share some of my favorite tutorials from some of my favorite blogs.  Oh, and if you get to any of these projects before I do I’d love to see how they turned out.
Hula Hoop Dome Tent from Obsessively Stitching  FYI she did a whole week of tent tutorials.
Hand Sanitizer Holder from A Lemon Squeezy Home.  Make sure to check out all of the purse week posts.
Embellished Tee with Multi-layer Flowers from Make It and Love It.  I love her decorate my home series too.
The Warhol Dress from MADE.  I can not get enough of her all about the boy series, good boy DIYs are hard to find.
Every time I visit any of these blogs I leave inspired, what are your favorite inspirational blogs?
Have a super crafty weekend!