he is risen frame

 We needed a little Easter in our house. Spring has sprung here. It was over 80- degrees today! From 40 degrees to 80 degrees in a week! No thank you! I need to ease into  our sweltering summers (or so without them completely!).

 Anyhow, I changed up the insides of this frame from fall to spring. So easy! I found some old rub on letter that I've had for over 20 years (probably even more, actually). They were my dad's from when he did drafting back in the day. I decided the white, almost transparent, letters kind of gave a veiled feeling...like Jesus coming out of the tomb and revealing himself to his followers.

It was difficult to get a good photo of it as there are windows across from the frame and mirrors on the left side which reflected off the lens and made light spots, so I only have one photo that is half way decent.

I used scrapbook paper for the background and cross and a little piece of ribbon I received on a gift as a divider. It can't get any easier than this! Do you have an empty frame you can turn into an Easter decoration?

HAPPY EASTER!

imagine childhood giveaway

Imagine Childhood is giving away a $75 gift

certificate to their store!

Head over for the deets. The giveaway ends right before midnight on March 21st

felting continued

 I've still been felting with the remaining wool I bought last year for my son's sheep birthday party. It goes a long way! I still have some left so I'll continue to make little wool felted animals for a while. I thought I'd share some of my latest creations.

 white fox

 buzzing bee

The bee is hanging from my son's bedroom ceiling so he can give it a little push now and then to set it a-buzzing....the antennae are from a little scrap of wire I had hanging around my desk.
It was super hard to get a good photo of this little bee. He is so light, the slightest movement sends him buzzing. What you can't see in the photo is the bee's little stinger is a broken toothpick.

little dog with whiskers

I had to take the dog and bear photos fast--the wind and rain is blowing like crazy! The wind blew the little dog right off the chair!

 bear

You may have seen a version of this photo on my ten on ten post... it's where they all start... on the foam.

Thank you for visiting! Give felting a try and let me know how you like it!

initial "wreath"

I made this wreath the first year we were married (7 years ago) to celebrate our new shared initial. I still pull it out every year during Spring so thought I'd share it.

I cut green Styrofoam into the shape of a "W" with a steak knife.  Some of the pieces fell off so I used wire and hot glue to stick it back together. Then I covered the entire thing with ivy leaves from a strand of ivy (probably from the Dollar Store) by poking a hole with the ivy's stem, pulling it out, filling the hole with hot glue and replacing the piece of ivy. I made sure all the leaves were pointing the same direction (up). Then I glued on some green berries. Pretty simple, but it's stood the test of time.

ten on ten

I've never participated in anything like this before, but when I read on Ashley Ann's blog about A bit of Sunshine's ten on ten, it sounded like fun. After all, I did take today off from work in honor of my birthday (tomorrow) so I could spend time with my little boy! So here we go!

letting the dog out this morning--apparently he likes sniffing flowers

my view outside my kitchen desk window

more sniffing around

coloring at the library

mother goose at the library



naptime felting



started to rain :) love it!



naptime photo uploading



church fundraiser at chick fil-a. my son reading my friend's daughter a book, upside down.

note on my car at chick fil-a saying I had a nail in my tire. trip to costco to get it fixed--an hour and a half later, it was!

And that was my absolutely fabulous day--even with the nail in the tire. Wish every day could be like this!

Thank you Rebekah for hosting a fun link up party!

new and improved craft corner

Remember this?

It's now this:

I bought a $20 set of table and 2 chairs at Ikea and painted and applied several coats of polyurethane them before assembly.

This is what it would have looked like if I had not painted it.

Then I used the same wrapping paper covered board to lay on top of it. The table has a little lip on the edge--presumably to keep crayon from escaping. It looks like it would be uncomfortable to write on and the board provides a few more inches of surface area, so I kept it.

My son asked me to draw our family. He had so much fun with them after I cut them out. He moved his little family all over the magnet board (really a metal door which has access to the attic). Who knew a little boy would have so much fun with essentially paper dolls!?

 He helped by drawing on them...then later scribbling out all the faces! :)

 He is getting lots of use out of his craft corner. He mostly draws, but also plays with his felts (that jar on his desk has all the bits of felts that get left over from projects) and other projects.

I got a big ol' roll of paper from Ikea so he has a large surface on which to color. I also picked up the wooden base from which you can pull the paper from, but it takes up too much room on his desk, so I just keep it on the closet. I needed a way to keep the paper from unrolling, so I used my handy dandy tights, turned hair bands, turned paper-unroller.

I learned this trick many years ago: Cut up an old pair of tights or nylons to use as hair bands. You can get a ton of them out of one leg-they are free if you have an old pair with a run in it laying around (and who doesn't?) and they are gentler on your hair. I keep one on my wrist at all times in case I need to break out the pony tail! Try it!

Anyhow, I used 2 of them to secure the paper on the roll. It will not crease like a rubber band and it keeps it nice and rolled up!

fox duvet

My sweet Mom (Grammy) made this duvet cover for our son for Christmas and I am just getting around to sharing it. I gave her the fox design and she enlarged it (by hand) and appliqued it on the flannel. She used one of our old T-shirt knit sheets as the backing so it would be extra cozy.

Isn't it awesome?! She made it to fit a down throw that we had. It is so warm and cuddly.

Yes, those are bite marks on the crib. When he was in his biting-mode we covered the railings with a dark brown fleece. This seemed to stop it, but not before the damage occurred. The rubbing marks are just from him laying against the rails I guess. This is a convertible crib, so I think the mattress will cover those marks once it turns into a full sized bed.

Our son just loves his fox duvet!

And he still sleeps with his sheepie pillows every night (now that he is allowed to have pillows). He wants to make sure he has "big sheepie" and "little sheepie" before he lays down most night.

one year & reflection

It almost snuck by me. I have been craft blogging for a year! I began a family blog in 2005. I finally got a little place of my own to create-my craft nest- last year and I began to create on a more regular basis. I did not have to clean up my project every evening and that has been totally awesome! I'm not worried about starting a new project because of the time it takes to set up and take down.

This is where it all started:

Now a little introspection.   I subscribe to A LOT of blogs: craft blogs. sewing blogs. mommy blogs. I should really count how many some day. I read them every day. As Erin wrote on the Manic Mommies blog the other day, I have "my regular diet of home decor porn." I love that...and at the same time it makes me sad. Do I really have an addiction to reading blogs or it is a healthy activity? I don't know. By the way, if you are a working mom, you will love Manic Mommies' hilarious podcast.

I definitely compare my blog and crafts to other blogs, although I know I will NEVER be as awesomely creative as Dana from MADE, or as inspiring as Kathleen from  Grosgrain, or take fabulous photos like Ashley. I admire all these women - and many more- they work so hard to create beautiful clothes, decorations, and homes and share them with us.

Not only do I not have their talent, I don't have the time, sadly. I am a working mom and I have to face it. As much as I would like to blog full time and even make it into a job, it's not going to happen. As I write this, it makes me really realize that. I did not even know that it was possible to do that a year ago!  I will not have a blog with a million new freaking awesome projects, nor will I have a million followers. In fact, no one really knows I am here. If you are reading this, I hope you'll continue on this journey with me.

But you know what? I still get so much satisfaction out of creating and sharing my creations. Learning a new skill from someone else and trying it out on my own is the way I want to spend my down time. I cannot sit down and watch TV without a project in my hands. I can not sit idly and watch my son play if I also am not "playing" with something (unless of course he lets me play with him!). I must create. It is my coffee. It is my joy. It is my passion. I get to create things for people I love. I get to say "I love you" with every handmade gift I give. That is a blessing.

And you know what else? I will continue to pretend that I am a stay at home mom and crafter on the weekends.  Because it makes me happy.

My son's little craft corner makes me terribly happy too!  It will soon be changing-stay tuned!

UPDATE: you can see my son's new and improved craft corner here.

bunny swing

 

If you have not tried needle felting, you simply must! It is so gratifying and fun. Plus you hardly need anything to start. You only need wool batting , a felting needle , a piece of foam and some random bits of felt in whatever color you want as accents.

Licorice Tree, where I bought my wool, sent me a free felting needle, and the foam I use came from my son's couch his Grammy made him. And of course, I have tons of felt bits.

I love crafts that do not take a lot of expensive materials and supplies. What if you don't like it after you try it? But don't worry, your small investment for wool felting won't go to waste. I think you'll like it.

I made another owl mobile for a baby shower this weekend and I got the itch to felt some more. I did not know what I was going to make when I started, but it turned into a bunny. Below is the bunny in progress.

For some reason the bunny seemed to need a diaper and needed to be swinging away on a swing. As you may recall, I love hanging things...buntings, garlands, mobiles, hooks for bags, scarves, jackets...it really gets my motor running!

I used a colored craft stick aka tongue depressor. I cut it to the size I wanted (to fit the bunny's bum) with a razor blade and then poked a hole on each side with a thick needle. It did split the wood a little, but it since the bunny is so light weight, it does not matter.

 Run a piece of embroidery floss with a needle through each hole.

 And knot it on the bottom of the swing on each side.

 Since there are so many felting videos and tutorials I won't reinvent the wheel. Basically you just start sticking a needle in wool and create whatever shape you want.

This little bunny got a felt diaper. I free handed a diaper and cut it out and fit it on the bunny. Then I sewed little "x's" on each corner to secure the diaper.

 There!

 A little boy wanted to play with the bunny.

 Stick a little dot of hot glue on the seat of the swing and set the bunny on top.

 Hang it from a tack or hook in the ceiling.

 Here is that same cute little boy checking out the swinging bunny over his craft corner. I love how sunny this room is in the morning and how the blue walls and the yellow diaper are so cheery together.

So fun!

A few more felted animals will show up here on the blog soon.

 I'd love to see your creations if you decide to start needle felting.