weekend!

I still have lots to blog about for the Xmas vacay, but I keep getting sidetracked--ooh look shiny object!

We had such a swimmingly busy weekend around these parts! 

Friday--G had a game against a really good school.

it moved so fast!

Met some pals for a late dinner.

Saturday I went to a pinned party!  Where we all chose something we'd pinned and made it! 

 I made a melted army man bowl...

and a cowboys and indians one, I'm thinking of making it bigger...

the most fun was making these cookies!  Soooo easy!

Wehad such a good time working on the pins and just playing with different ideas!

 Then my lovely ladies had their first visit to build-a-bear.  I haven't been there in ages, which means I had no idea that it is insanely a wee bit crowded on a Saturday afternoon.

Today was a laundry war while watching some guys in tight pants wage war over a ball...

Seriously, where do the socks go? Do you ever feel like just buying new ones instead of matching them?

Gift

I made this for a dear friend's birthday.  You've probably seen the melted crayon projects floating around pinterest. I made this with my lovely ladies.  I did all the glueing and they chose all the colors for the flowers...

Isn't it fun!?

Kid crafts: button art fun

Beware, beware, be a very wary bear--the evil pirate pink eye has invaded our house.  Uuugh!

 Both ladies stayed home from school and I'm a blinking moron mama-- paranoid that we'll all be trading it for the next week...

what to do what to do?  Why do a craft of course! It was super simple, though we had a minor glue mishap--that darn Bean can get the lid off of anything...

I pre-painted the canvases yesterday (sans kids)

don't forget to paint the sides

 I let the ladies pick anything they wanted for me to 'draw' with glue, granted I guided them towards 'bold shapes'

Emmy chose a crown

LB chose a heart

I had planned to use all one color buttons or two different colors, but alas the 'organization' of my buttons is a little lax, so we just used what there was

 The ladies went to town putting the buttons on the glue, such an easy peasy way to make art

We ran out of buttons to fill it all the way in, but I like it how it is

Lilly Bean insisted on drawing on hers...ah well 

up on the wall

here's a wide-ish shot, if you could see what's below...I'd probably curl up in a ball of embarrassment...makin' stuff is just so mucho better than picking up toys dontcha know!
I'm thinking of doing another, or maybe several more... what do you think?

Makin' stuff

Things to know about me...

• I love creating things, (though I try to stay away from the drahhh-mahhh creation, uh hello why I'm so happily s to the ingle!)
•  Spending time with my glue gun after a rough day always makes me warm and fuzzy (and not just from the burns!)
• I love Goodwill.  known around these parts as the G-Dub...
• I have a thing for cake plates, I have at least 5...(now 8)

You have probably seen DIY cake plates on the interwebz?  Where some skinny glass vase or cup type thing is glued to a glass serving dish or plate

Here's my version...

started like this... 

but flipping the base over meant I could put fun stuff inside!

put the glass plate upside down

apply my 'boi-toi'  aka hawt glue to the piece that will be the base

stick the two pieces together and allow to dry!

eat and be merry during dry time

 continue these steps to make more cake plates...

put fun and festive items in bases

this base is deckled and the red bell just makes it look fun and funky--love!

You could totally use them for any holiday--think eggs, flags, ghosts oh I can.not.wait!  Tomorrow i must make a cake...

Btw...

All three are made for less than $5!

Argyle Felt Wreath from a Neurotic Crafter

I fell in love with wreath I saw on pinterest.

 fell.hard.like.smitten!  And knew I had to have it.  It seemed the perfect project to get myself off the click-fest and have a craft-fest. (are ya with me, it is so easy to waste away pinning and skip to doing?!)

now there are 436758 tutorials out there for how to make one of these yarn wreaths!  Dontcha hate it when you think you have a creative idea and it turns out it's been-there-done-that on some blog from 2008! Yikes!  (Actually the creativity online never ceases to amaze me...)

It's super easy--get yourself some yarn, wrap it around a wreath form, slap on some felt diamonds, wrap some more yarn, add some felt flowers and an owl! Voila! end of post...boo...wait there's more!

Anywho, here are my random tips--since I'm a bit neurotic, I like it when there are some extra details...

as you're wrapping don't worry about it getting messy, bumpy or imperfect

if you've got a nice rhythm going and they yarn 'spreads' don't worry about it!

you just push it down as you go!

the easiest way to get the yarn on is to hold it close to the wreath and to use the piece of yarn that comes out of the center.
I still had some little stinker knots, is there some secret knitting language way of dealing with these knots that appear out of nowhere?  I need to know these things peeps!

finito product! this takes a looooonnnnggg time. there are not enough o's in there--we're talking a
 full-sleeve-of-oreos-long here peeps...
there are some spaces 'missing' yarn, but again--don't worry about it, the felt will fix that in a jiffy :)

 Felt time! Woohoo, felt is so fun

Fold a felt sheet into fourths 

cut the diamond out--can you tell by now, the neuroses of crafting it 'right' has gone away...
Attach the felt diamonds, yarn...

flowers and the owl..It's especially fun if you have little helpers to make owls with you

this one is Emmy's, Lilly's was great too but she must have eaten it or taken it to bed or something...

The thing to remember, that it's easy to craft!  It is way better late night endorphins than those silly oreos!
Even if you're neurotic about getting it 'right' like me...I really love the perfectly imperfect owls the girls made...

This is a loooonnnggg post, so we'll chat more about the felt flowers later (but if you're just that eager, there are 435786 tutorials for those too!)