I don't want to push Christmas before it's time, but here is something you will want to start early so you have it ready for the first of December... a Photo Advent Calendar.
I love advent calendars and wanted one that was personalized. So I created this house design in illustrator and the template for placing the photos behind it.
You can download the pdf's to make your own Photo Advent Calendar on 1000 Words and more detailed instructions for making it.
You can open a window for each day in December and see one of your favorite photos!
I also made an Oscar and Stewie back panel so you could have a Pug and Cat Advent Calendar if you don't have time to fill one in with your own pictures. Or maybe you just want a cute Pug and Cat Advent Calendar. You can download this panel at 1000 Words too.
They should. They are projects I did for Christmas 2005 and 2006. And I
just provided them for the Christmas
Crafts magazine that is in stores now. I had to create
samples for the photography and write up the instructions for them. Not
hard... but it was time consuming.
It was pretty exciting to see the magazines in the grocery
store check out line... and so cool to see my stuff inside! I can say
that I am "published" now right?!
Somewhat like my Valentine's
Heart Tree, I made this Halloween
Bat Tree for on my dining room table. Super easy, all you
need a branch, some black craft foam and a few other supplies.
It is driving Stewie crazy... he wants those bats so badly.
Now it must be obvious that I am pretty busy most of the time.
And when you are busy all the time, things fall through the
cracks.
I was reading through the sessions that are going to be at
BlogHer and I noticed that Kathy
Cano Murillo was going to be there. Then it hit me. Over a
year ago Crafty Chica sent me a copy of her book Art de
la Soul so I could read it and blog about what I thought.
Ewwww yeah... never got around to that. Goodness knows what happened...
but how horrible that I forgot.
Anywhooo, I did read it and it is awesome. I even made my
friend Kenn from Mexico City read it and he oohed and ahhed over it. It
made me want to do some sort of crafts that reflect my half Korean
heritage. It's hard not to get excited over her vibrant and colorful
craft ideas.
Now that I am on a roll... here is a shout out to Threadbared. I
read Mary's blog for quite awhile and she sent me a copy of her book
when it came out too. It is hilarious and now I can't throw out any of
the old knitting and sewing magazines I have sitting around.
After several weeks of neglect the Frog
Amigurumi is back on track. We now have a lumpy little
body.
How do you like my spiffy knitting box? I had a problem with
my balls of yarn rolling off the table and across Starbucks when my
friend Debbie showed me hers. It is an empty jumbo dog treat container
from BJ's with a notch cut in the flip top lid for the yarn to feed
through. It will hold two balls of yarn, a project, a pattern, needles
and some markers. Very handy and portable.
I heard Martha
mention her Michael's
craft line a few weeks ago.
We have lots of Michael's in Rochester so I was pretty excited. When I
went and saw an entire aisle of Martha Crafts I was estatic.
The craft supplies are great and the packaging is amazing. I
had to get a few things, my favorite of which is a bone
folder. She
uses one all the time, but I was never able to find one. I am sure it
is going to make all the difference
for my crafts.
I am looking forward to going to Sit & Knit this week.
Between traveling and concerts I haven't been in awhile.
Since Aaron usually comes with me I like to encourage him to
do something crafty too. He did make a stupid
sock creature a bit ago.
I think he should try knitting too. And I saw just the book
for him. Men
Who Knit & the Dogs Who Love Them. Could that be
anymore perfect? I totally think he and Oscar need matchy matchy
knitted sweaters!
I colored Easter eggs today with Aaron and my sister. I had it in my head that I wanted eggs that looked like real bird eggs. So after I dyed my eggs, I put them in a box and splatter painted them with a toothbrush and paint. I think they look cute. My dad said he has never seen a bird lay an egg like these.
I was admiring the ripple blanket made over on Posie Gets Cozy and then was equally impressed when she jumped right into a granny square blanket when I remembered something...
When I was home for the holidays, my grandma gave me an unfinished granny square blanket she got from my great aunt. Jackpot! One third of the squares are finished, two thirds need the tan edging and then all the squares need stitched together.
The colors might not be exactly what I would have chosen, but having the project kick started for me is so worth it. A lot of work has already been done, yet there is enough work that when I finish it I can still claim that I made (part) of it! I just need to get a square to the store to buy matching tan yarn. Hmmm... maybe I am going to discover why my great aunt stopped in the middle.
I was feeling so good about knitting my mittens that I tried another non-square item... a hat. I used Lion Brand Landscapes wool and a pattern from this card deck.
I was excited to try out my pom pom maker to top off my hat. Stewie is obsessed with my hat's pom pom. Sometimes I let him wear the hat and that makes him feel better.
Here are a few things I made my friends for Valentine's Day. At the top is a chocolate bar cozy (in other words, good for hiding it away so others don't eat it). The hearts are just for hanging.
They are all made of felt because I dislike hemming things. Each heart has a button pinned to it.
Aaron got me a button maker for Christmas and I was itching to use it. I was a little disapointed though as they made sub-standard buttons. I didn't realize the button makers from Michael's or Joann's were so different from the professional quality ones. I am on the lookout for an affordable "real" button maker... any suggestions?
I got this plain red apron at our office store for a couple bucks and wanted to embellish it a bit. I stitched three felt hearts to the front and viola! Seemed like a good idea especially since I never did finish the hearts apron I started last year. *SHAME*
Valentine's Day is getting close and my house is plastered in hearts and cupids.
I put up the heart tree like last year. Only this year I have a kitty whose eyes glaze over with longing when he sees all those dangly hearts swaying to and fro. He has knocked it over once already.
After I saw the super cute fabric Lucky Olive found at Joann's I went to check it out too. Instead of the savory anthropomorphic food, I went with the sweets. I got some to trade for a Hello Dunny and some for me. What to make with it?
I also struck gold in the Joann's $1 bin with these spools of ribbon. This is the kind of ribbon I will hoard and never actually use.
Aaron got me this "Scrap, Paper, Scissors" Mini Organizer and I am enjoying it immensely. I filled it up and carry it with me throughout the house. It appeals to the super organizer side of me.
It came complete with 17 outside pockets, 9 inside pockets and one zippered compartment on bottom of tote. Heaven!
