love mobile

Yup, it's another bird mobile, but with a little twist- a love mobile! The little heart is just two pieces of fabric, sewed together, stuffed with filling and sewed up (like the birds, but without the blanket stitch). It is hanging from invisible thread like it is floating over the birdies' heads.

*love*

 

The eye is a french knot.

I've been experimenting with different ways to hang the mobiles. So far, this is my favorite:

I use an old ring (in this case an old jelly ring-remember those?) and invisible thread. Each branch is different, so it takes experimentation to devise the perfect balance. Basically, I take very long piece of invisible thread  and knot it around the bottom branch and work my way up winding it around strategically at certain points, balancing as I go. Then at the top of the mobile, I take the ring wind the thread around it, tie a knot, and work my way down the other side as described above and tie it off. Make sense?

If you make your own, make sure to send a photo or link!

scalloped welcome banner

Check out this cute little welcome banner. I made it for upcoming craft shows to welcome people into our craft booth. It could also be used to welcome a new baby, or just welcome people into your home or for a party...I guess just about any time you want to welcome people...a picnic, a BBQ, a baby/bridal shower...you get the idea. :)

I just love the little pom-poms! Makes it so endearing.

I made this banner very quickly for our 15 year high school reunion we had last month.

oldie car shirts

I made these freezer stencil shirts for an upcoming car/craft show. I've never even heard of such a combo, but when you think about it, it's a great idea: husbands get to look at old cars and wives get to look at new crafts! win-win!

Our son loves this shirt so I think we'll be keeping it and I'll be making another for the craft show!

(yes, our little sweetie baby has a cast on his arm-covered by a sock with the toes cut out to keep it clean...sad).

Gettin' a little doggy huggy-love!

I think I'll be making a few more of these before the week is up!

photo hook board

I LOVE hooks! I would hang everything on a hook if I could. I love easy access to my stuff and I like to see it so I don't forget I have it. So when I saw Sweet Daisy Designs'  Photo Key Holder, I knew I would be making one soon. I actually made this one over a month ago, just haven't found time to post.

I had Lowe's cut my wood down to size after I bought these cute little 5"x5"canvases at Michael's to make sure I knew the canvases would all fit since I wasn't sure I would be able to find the right size canvases. I painted right over the darling little anchor (Michael's had the most adorable nautical themed canvases...hhmmm..I keep writing "canvases"!) Then I watered down acrylic black paint and painted the wood. Before it dried, I wiped off most of the paint so the grain would show through. This must be done in stages so the paint does not dry too fast, especially if you are outside, like I was.

 Next came "aging" the edges of the painted canvases with an ink pad (I had never done this before...I'm still deciding if I like it, although it doesn't matter now, it's done and it's staying up!) Then I Mod Podged the  photos on the canvases.

I wish I had a Cricut or Silhouette cutter, but sadly, I do not, so I decided not to risk free handing or stenciling letter. Plus I convinced myself I prefer it plain.

I bought the hooks already on a black backboard at TJ Maxx for only $7.99 which was cheaper than buying each hook individually at the home improvement store. I just hammered some nails in the board to hang the hooks--easy-peasy! I also nailed some little nails to hang the canvases. Sweet Daisy's idea of gluing them may be better, but I am impatient and I did not read her directions all that closely and also gluing takes time to dry and a nail does not!

These photos remind me that i realllllllyyyy want to paint our walls! blaaaaahhh!

owl mobile

A few weeks ago our son pulled down his bird mobile in his room when I was holding him up to "see" the birds more closely. I decided it was time for a change anyway and relocated the birdies (you'll see in a future post where they went!). I had a good idea what I wanted to do, but just needed the time to do it. Last night was the night! While I watched Temple Grandin  (LOVED IT! Here is a video of the real Dr. Grandin), I cut, stitched and hot glued this little owl mobile. If you have not seen the movie yet, get it on your DVR or in your Netflix queue ASAP! It has nothing to do with owls...

Do you recognize the wing fabric?

Over the 4th of July weekend when we went to visit some friends in Tahoe, my son and I walked around and collected some sticks and moss. I LOVE the beautiful color of moss! When we lived in near Tahoe I collected some moss covered sticks and displayed them proudly on my mantle--much to my husband's dismay! When we were packing to move, I had a hard time parting my with mossy sticks (am I loony or just passionate?)

Well now I have an excuse to display moss!

When I found this particular stick I just knew it needed to have an owl perched upon it! The bowl shape of it just called for an owl. There are an abundance of owls in the stores and on the web of late. My little man loves owls (or pretty much anything that flys) and says "owl!" and "whhhhhooo whhhhhooo!" when he sees them, so it is a perfect fit for him!

I have a few more sticks that we collected that are calling out for some felt wildlife so stay tuned!

packing idea

Not exactly a craft--but packing can be craft for some.

This is how I packed for our recent weekend trip to Tahoe. In a canvas box-bag. Easy access! If you are traveling by car, this is great. Not so great for plane travel, I would guess!

little reminders

Knock Knock! Hello!

 I am one of those germaphobe people that ask guests to take their shoes off when they come into our home. I am sure I am not the only one and I am sure there are other people who think I am nuts.

My desire for cleanliness amped up once our baby was born, as I could not get past all those icky things that we all walk on every day (spit, dog poop, roadkill-you may think roadkill, come on!? But think about all the animals that are run over each day, the tires that squish over them and then as when we cross the street, it gets on our shoes. I know gross, right?!!!).

Also, when we moved into our new house in a developing town almost 2 years ago, from our old house in a small town, I could not believe the numbers of solicitors that came to our door, ringing the doorbell, making the dog bark and waking up my napping baby. Alas, I made a sign. It was not a pretty sign.

This is the 2nd one that has been up there. I changed it once the first one got ratty and baby started crawling.

Alas, the computer paper, blue painter's tape sign is not cute in the least. Which led me to finally make something a little more attractive and a little more permanent.

I got a stack of these wooden plaques at Michael's a few weeks ago for about $5.00 and I got a sample jar of wall paint at Home Depot for 50 cents when I was debating about painting my half bath ceiling (makeover photos to come). I painted the plaques, used letter stickers that I've had for literally years, and Mod Podged over them to ensure weather resistance.

Then came the fun part!

I have a basket in my craft nest with all sorts of doodads and miscellany. Let's start from the top.

No Solicitors sign:

The fish came from a broken anklet I used to wear in high school. I have used the fish in a few of my paintings before as a tag on a cat's collar, so I've got a lot of use out of this anklet.

Friends Welcome sign:

The silver "Friends" doodad came from a Dollar Store photo album that I took off and replaced with a home made title of "my baby" for a little brag book I carried with me when my baby was first born and I had to go back to work (everyone wants to see your baby's photos when you come back to work and if you don't have photos-watch out!). The key is just some random key to a little lock I must have had at one point (since there were two on the ring, I must have had the lock right?)

Shoes Off Please sign:

The little round "Thank You" medallion is from a wedding favor.

I put it all together with a little silver bead cord and glue gun and hooked it to the window with an adhesive hook from the Dollar Store (9 for $1). I went there looking for suction cup hooks (since hubby found my collection of all-things-hooks, even my expensive Command hooks, and threw them away when we moved and he was de-cluttering) but they did not have any.

Cute huh? I save everything (and it drives my husband crazy!) but look at all the great things you can create with all the saved stuff! It's free and it's recycling-one of my favorite words! This whole thing cost only a few bucks and it gets the point across in a much cuter way then type on a page and painter's tape, right?

never have a wet bum again!

Did that catch your attention? Well, that's the goal of this project! No more wet bums!

With the warm weather comes picnics! I have had this idea bouncing around in my head for a long time and even had bought the stuff to make it, but didn't have time to put it together. Finally, though, I was able to!

I wanted a picnic blanket that would prevent a damp bum if the sprinklers happen to have been on the night before. I am sure I am not the only one who this has happened to, right?

I decided to use a flannel backed table cloth ($4 at WalMart) as the "wet bum protector" and a thrift store sheet ($1.50) as the side to sit upon. I did not take any photos of the process, since it is pretty self explanatory. I laid the table cloth down on top of the sheet and pinned around it (right sides together). Then I cut off the excess, and sewed around the edges leaving an opening to turn it. After turning it right side out, I machine stitched the opening shut and then ran around the edges again with the machine to keep the edges from rolling in. I think it turned out satisfactorily and used it this weekend at our church picnic! Again, I did not take photos...having too much fun to remember!

Picnic in the backyard with a bowl full of cherries! Aaaahhh summertime (although I loathe the heat, summer does have its bonuses).

When you're done, roll it up and use a shoestring or ribbon to make a carrying handle.

p.s. If anyone out there in blogland wants to make this, I've seen some WAY cute oilcloth/flannel backed table clothes at Ross and TJ Maxx lately for around $5! Wish I had gone there first!!! If you do make one, please send me a photo!  

gold fish freezer paper shirt

My generous friend, Kathy, has given all of her son's clothes to us as our kids grow and man, does that boy have a lot of clothes. Thank you, Kathy! Add to that what our son already has and you have a wardrobe that rivals mama's! In one of the recent donation bags, was a little fishy shirt. It had a slight stain on it and was from Puerto Vallarta. Since we did not go to PV (or at least have not been there with our son) it would be weird for him to wear a shirt proclaiming that location. So, I used this as an opportunity to freezer paper stencil some more.

I free handed some little fishies on the freezer paper and used an x-acto knife to cut them out. The fishes were modeled after the fish on the shirt, but they turned out a little more like goldfish crackers!) . I positioned them strategically over the stains and the PV decal.

As you can see, it took many many coats of paint to cover the "Puerto Vallarta, Mexico" letters, so it took a few days to finish with all the drying time.

It turned out pretty good , I think. Can't go wrong with a free shirt, right? It's a little big now, but pretty soon, it will be just right!

I think he likes his fishy shirt!

box = playhouse

Today I took on the long-awaited task of clearing out the under-the-stairs-closet which has sat plumb-full and untouched since we moved in over a year and a half ago (go ahead, gasp, I did as I typed this!). I was able to empty three large boxes. Since any hint of a craft project can derail any cleaning plans I have, I got right down to the business of making a playhouse for my son.

One of the other boxes from the closet was a receptacle for stuff for the thrift store. I had a bunch of contact plastic in there that had seen better days, but was still very usable. I yanked it out and used it to cover the door, cut out the letters for "H-O-M-E" and made a "frame" for inside the house.

I also got to use up some of my not-so-loved scrapbooking paper for details like the flowers, tree and birds.

I used the Home Depot design as my guide for the window shutters. I decided to not cover them in contact plastic for the sake of time. I just edged them with dotted tape.

I took two of my son's star shaped blocks and a shoestring and made door knobs for the inside and outside of the door. However, as you can see, my son decided he preferred the peep hole as a handle.

Pup tried to get in too, but he is too big. I think he was sad because he kept trying to get in there - and he misses his crate which we never set back up when we moved into this house.

All in all, a quick project--less than an hour--taking photos included. AND it was made from all junk I already had that was headed to the trash (except for the star blocks which I will take off when it is time for the garbage can).