Craft Project

The project started out what I thought to be quick and easy, was not. Well, it was easy but not quick. I bought the chalkboard paint a long time ago with no project in mind. I thought the price looked good. According to the paint directions, the surface had to be primed, borrowed that from Mick. One coat of chalkboard paint, let it dry eight hours, a second coat and let that dry for 24 hours. Finally, cover the entire surface with chalk and wipe off

I was only going to make one candle holder until I read the directions. I need to buy more candles now.

I never like burning candles unless they are in a container. Safety issue.

Christmas Tree Craft

A Styrofoam cone.

Sprayed with adhesive and then wrapped with yarn.

The Scotch super 77 is amazing. I used it on a couple other projects around the house and it worked better than any other spray glue I've used in the past, bought at Michael's using a 40% off coupon.

I now have a forest on the sofa table.

I'm not quite sure about the old barn board running down the middle of the sofa table. Mick bought it for $5.00. It was cut to fit the kitchen table but I didn't like how it looked.

Bleached Bottle Brush Trees

At the end of the Christmas season last year I bought a package of 21 bottle brush trees.

Over the weekend I bleached the trees using a mixture of one gallon of hot water and a 1/4 cup of bleach. I then soaked the trees for about 20 minutes. One tree took a bit longer.

 I've seen bleached trees that are then decorated with glass balls and glitter snow. I preferred to leave mine plain.

 I wasn't sure if I would try the bleaching the trees. In fact ,Amie had to talk me into the bleaching.

I really like how they look. Although, I would not bleach any of the old bottle brush trees that I have.

Poppins

Poppins Pawprints is a mix of Jack Russell and Carin Terrier. Poppins belongs to Amie and was rescued off the downtown streets of LA by a women who works there. She watched him for several weeks getting thinner and thinner. She had to hire a vet to nurse him back to health, at a cost of $1,500. As a owner of four other dogs she put him up for adoption, listing him on Craig's List. Poppins was the first dog Amie saw online and decided right away that he was "the one."
Poppins, just under one year old, pictured on a sidewalk in Philly.

Can you figure out who is pictured on the below canvas?

 I made the below out of colored paper. Colored paper that I ran through a copy machine printing old book pages onto the paper. 

Once it was pieced together I sealed it with varnish. The canvas now sits on the mantel in Amie's apartment.

Button Shops

I went into two button shops during our stay in Toronto.

I really liked the orange/peach colored buttons.

Both shops had buttons from floor to ceiling.

Drawers filled with buttons.

In both shops a shopper asked for a particular button and neither store had what they wanted. Can you imagine having so many buttons & NOT have what a customer wants?

There was a button that cost $25. I wish I would have taken a photograph of that button.

Moleskine Book Covers

 I've put the fabric scraps from Amie to use covering moleskine books.  

The instructions came from Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. If you look to the last page of "Look Inside" you can see what a finished book looks like.

I still have to stitch around each fabric square. I'll be sewing this weekend!

Laundry Room

Laundry room addition, a sweet curtain to cover the storage area below the sink. I had a helper during installation.

Doesn't that look better?

The room adjoining has a cabin/rustic theme. I was so excited when I found the fabric that had leaves with just a touch of the orange that is on the walls. I don't like to matchy matchy.

Only problem is, it's not my laundry room. Told Bonnie if she is not happy with my fabric choice, find a yard of fabric and another curtain she will get.

PS - This post is for you Kay, Bonnie's sister, "Good morning Kay."

Feather a Nest

A got this idea from a craft show, they were selling filled for $18.00. I spent $3.00 for the suet feeder, bought at our grocery store.

Inside are pieces of yarn and stripes cut from a holey wool sock. I was thinking I could have also cut up an old sweater. You could even buy a cheap skein of yarn.

Per the craft show, the birds like to pick through for the pieces that are appealing to them.

I'm going to hang near our bird feeders come spring time. Come quick spring.

Start collecting your scraps over the winter and you can also feather a few nests for the birds in your neighborhood. I think I'm going to continue to collect and make a second one.

Thanksgiving Place Cards

I've never used a table saw but Amie did back in middle school.

Yes, she had on safety glasses.

 We cut a birch limb into six 2" pieces.

Then we cut by hand a notch in the top. 

I guess we'll be having a rustic Thanksgiving table this year.

45 Days

Did you know, there are 45 days until Christmas? I've been scrapbooking on and off for the last couple months for pages to use as a Christmas gift. 

 Amie started knitting over the weekend for Christmas gifts.

There's nothing better than receiving homemade gifts!!

I had on my "to-do list" for NYC the West Elm furniture store. I loved their furniture & accessories. West Elm & Pottery Barn are owned by the same company.

I wanted to see the paper flower show. I love paper!!

The flowers were my favorite. I didn't get a photo but, they had the prettiest paper daffodils in clay pots.

This would be a very doable project.

The Paper Couture, a paper store we just happened to come upon. Must be I'm not the only person with a paper obsession.

Loved their window display.

OK, I'm ready to go back to NYC for another visit.

Homemade Dish Cloths

Who wouldn't want to wash dishes or wipe down your counter top if you could open a draw like this?

A sample of dish cloths I received in the mail one day last week. They are handmade with cotton yarn, the cotton makes each cloth very absorbent, they work so well. They also match the colors in the kitchen perfectly. In fact they look so good at first I didn't want to use any.

Had dinner out on Saturday night at friends. I was told not to bring anything for the dinner so I made chocolate treats for each family invited. I filled jars, pickle jars to be exact, with the treats & decorated each jar with a tag. The "B" was for the host.

I used Martha Stewart glitter on the "m." If you ever buy glitter make sure it is Martha's glitter, it's wonderful!
I tried to have each tag representative of each family.
The chocolate treats were made with Puffed Kamut, cranberries, toasted pecans & sea salt. Not sure if I would make again.

Mickey wasn't the only one killing during the volleyball tournament. Mau killed time between matches.

She practiced her crocheting skills
Without a pattern, she made a cover for my water bottle. We called it a cosie.

I love the purple with the green.
She never did give it to me so I'm not sure if I will ever see it again. I think she is mad about her green cat for Valentine's Day. I'm not sure if it was the thrift-gifting or the cat.

Snowflake Garland

New Year's Day, while everyone was napping, laying around, reading, watching television or movies, I cut out circles.

I used felt, tulle, netting, paper dollies & coffee filters to make the garland. I used my circle punch for all the papers & cut by hand the felt. Once I had all the circles on the fishing line I hot glued the circles to the line so that it would stay spread out. I sent my version of snowflakes back to California with Amie. She tells me it is hanging on her computer screen at work. I can just look out my windows to see the real thing.

Book Club

Our selection was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was the first time I think I actually read the Charles Dickens version. I believe prior readings had been story book versions to the kids. I was the host, I love hosting. I made galette. It was my own concoction with cranberry jam, apples & dried cranberries on the top. Very fallish. Keeping up with my tradition. I gave everyone a book mark. They are quite lame compared to last year.

Next year I'll be hosting two times. We have seven members and we meet nine times. It's way past my two time turn.

Fall Leaves

Amie was missing the beautiful fall leaves of the north country. So, I sent her a felt leaf garland. She will hang the leaves on her bedroom window. Any excuse for me to get my felt fix.
I actually have another idea. I'm going to be sending her some snow next month.