Apple garland

I was up for a bit of crafting so I made a garland for fall.



Just the thing I needed for my apple themed mantelscape.

Handmade Christmas Gifts - Kitchen Chalkboards

For my handmade gifts this year, I made my peeps kitchen chalkboards from upcycled cutting boards. I made myself a prototype earlier this fall. I also burned myself making it but I was extra careful making these.

I visited 11 thrift stores to find enough cutting boards. I can tell you where every Goodwill, Salvation Army and Savers is in the Rochester Area.

Tina's chalkboard (lower right) is actually a pizza peel which works out because she loves pizza.

Each board has the shape outlined with the wood burning tool and then the chalkboard paint inside the lines. I included a stick of chalk rolled up in craft paper with each chalkboard. This one was photographed in my friend, Paulette's, kitchen. I hope all my friends enjoy them!

Test Tube Advent Calendar

We are doing an advent countdown again this holiday and using the test tube advent calendar that Aaron made last year. I refreshed it with new Christmas paper. Plaid paper this year. I like to shake things up.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Pug Bears

The pug bears would like to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day. There are polar bears, panda bears, grizzly bears and koala bears. These are pug bears.

Eat your heart out, Sugar.

Soak it in, Sweetie.

The temperature was dropping even in more in Rochester so I decided to make the pugs neck warmers. I used roving instead of yarn and crocheted a simple tube to slide over their noggins. Because it's funny to put ears on something that already has ears I watched this YouTube video on how to crochet bear ears and added those too. These were quick and easy to make.

I think it's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Ridiculous.

Valentine's leather cable holders

My Christmas crafting has me on a bit of a leatherworking kick. For Valentine's Day I decided to make my peeps leather cable holders. They are perfect for wrangling iPhone power cords and earbuds. I don't know about you but I throw all my cables into my bag and they become a tangled mess. These tidy them up and are cute to boot.

I used some upcycled leather my mom thrifted for me to make the cable holders. Besides that, all I needed were snaps and the rivet setter tools. I cut each piece of leather to 2 inches by 4 and a quarter inches. I used a paper slicer for nice straight edges. The corners are rounded with a pair of scissors. Then I added the snaps with the rivet tool. To add personalization and the little heart for Valentine's Day, I branded the leather with my wood burning tool. One of my easiest gift projects and I think everyone like them. Cute AND useful!

Sewing afternoon

I have discovered that there are practically no short sleeved, button up shirts for women. So I got a long sleeved one at Target and made it short sleeved myself. While I had the sewing machine out I worked on some other projects...

... like this room divider curtain.

It was so big I had to sew on the floor. This brought the critics around. Look at his face... "This is crooked. Move over and let me do it. Shameful."

This project didn't require any sewing. I made one of Aaron's shirt into a beach cover-up.

I found an excellent use for the sleeves I trimmed off. Nailed it.

Quickie craft - cable holder

This is my first and favorite Starbucks card. I kept it because I like the scooter in it. Today I found an alternative use for it as an iPhone charger cable holder.

Indigo Blue Easter Eggs

This year I dyed my Easter eggs with an indigo dye. Each egg had a sticker on it I cut with my cricut when I dyed it leaving behind a stenciled initial.

My fingers are blue like a smurf but it was worth it.

I love the deep rich blue color!

Easter Photo Projects

My friend Patricia made everyone at the office these grassy hair photo gifts. I thought it was so cool! She would have had to start them awhile ago to have the grass long enough.

It's one of the Easter/Spring projects from the Kodak Tips and Projects Center.

I made a few of the projects for Easter too, like the photo egg masks...

and oh hey who is the guy in this photo egg holder project?!

Manicure Jars

I wanted to make something special for my peeps for Valentine's Day. First I glass etched everyone's intitials onto glass jars. Then I filled each one with nail pollish and other manicure items. Manicure jars! Cute and handy!

Jar snuggies

I've come to the realization that I am a faster crocheter than a knitter. I've been making jar cozies for my coffee+jar+cuppow set up.

They are so fast and easy to make, I've been crocheting them for jars with different shapes and sizes.

Jar snuggies make morning coffee a little extra... cozy.

2013 Christmas Theme: Wood

When I spotted this wood grain wrapping paper at Marshalls, I knew I had my Christmas theme for 2013. I love a good theme. This year it is wood!

I found wood tags and wood deer cutouts at Michaels that I could burn people's names into for gift tags.

I think this is one of my favorite Christmas themes so far. Then again I say that every year.

Christmas gifts: Etched glass jars

A few months ago, Aaron got me a Martha Stewart glass etching kit. I finally got it out and etched a few jars. It's so easy and works so well! I decided to make my peeps glass jars with their names on them for Christmas gifts.

Even better than using the stencils was creating my own using my Cricut and vinyl adhesive.

Each jar got peppermint candy sticks and a cute lid with handle. Now I want to etch everything!!!

Winter Dioramas

Last year I made little winter dioramas in jars. This year my mom thrifted two wee cloches so I used those to make holiday scenes. I especially love the tiny VW Beetle hauling home a Christmas tree.

My mom also thrifted a big box full of glass chimneys. She thought I could fill them with ornaments and lights but I had another idea.

They are perfect for making winter dioramas! I create the scene inside then use my Cricut to add a holiday carol line to the chimney. I was going to etch them as I mentioned before, but couldn't etch the tempered glass.

Aaron made me the stands to hold the chimneys.

These will be for sale at the South Wedge Holiday Bazaar on Saturday.

Etched Christmas Jars

Aaron got me a glass etching kit ages ago. It makes total sense seeing how much I love glass jars. I don't know why it took me so long to break it out. I experimented with these small mason jars and it is so easy and doesn't take as long as I thought it would.

I love the results. I have so many ideas now! I want more stencils for more designs and to work faster. The alphabet I have only has one of each letter, so it takes two rounds of etching to create the word "CHEER" to get both "E's".

I am also going to experiment with creating stencils with my Cricut and vinyl adhesive. So many ideas!

Funny thing - I tried to etch a glass chimney and it didn't even leave the tiniest mark. Thought I did something wrong and tried it again. Then my dad pointed out that the glass was probably tempered for heat (candles) and would be impervious to the etching compound. Ahhhh!

These jars and more will be for sale at the South Wedge Holiday Bazaar on Saturday.

Making Gourdon the Snowman

At last year's South Wedge Holiday Craft Bazaar the Gourdon the Snowman ornaments were really popular so I'm making a big gang of them for this year.

They look so funny laying on my tray waiting for the next addtion to their outfit.

Gourdons ready to take over the world.

I got some funny shaped Gourdons this year that made good snowman heads.

I took a few of the Gourdons out to my grandmother's holly bush for some beauty shots.

I love this squatty Gourdon!

Three wise snowmen.

These entire flock of Gourdons will be for sale at the South Wedge Holiday Bazaar on Saturday.

More handmade Shiny Brite ornament Christmas wreaths

I'm still making vintage Christmas ornament wreaths for the South Wedge Holiday Craft Bazaar. This is a favorite, love the colors.

This one includes a chalkboard ornament that you can customize with your own message. I have this wreath-making down to a process now. The hardest part is picking out the ornaments for a color scheme.

I made two more baublesicles too. Red and gold this time.