Quiet Crafts

I have used a few of my quiet moments to make a few things.  Nothing huge, and more like puttering in the craft room with something to show for it.

I dug out some of the large, flat backed marbles and scrapbooking papers to make some Victorian inspired magnets.  I figured our refrigerator could use some new accessories:

My favourite is this one with the little chateau:  it reminds me of France and how much I want to go again.

I sorted through some of my fabrics and played with a new rubber stamp to come up with a heart decoration:

I used some of my vintage lace and even managed to stick an old, cancelled stamp onto it.  It was a fun afternoon, but it took hours just to get this one thing done!

 Yesterday I cancelled all my commitments to have a "well" day at home.  Libby and I snuggled under the rainbow blanket and watched season one of 'Downton Abbey'.  I also worked a few more rows on my ripple blanket.  It was a great afternoon and I felt much better afterwards.

Wishing you some quiet well days,
J.

Don't Make Plans

'Don't make plans' really should be a mantra for Mr. Crafty World and I.  Every time we do, they end up going bust.  Like this weekend: for the first time since November 1 I had the whole weekend off.  Saturday and Sunday.  That's rare around these parts.  We had plans to drive out to Port Perry and do some shopping and eat at a cute little bakery.  We have been looking forward to this for weeks. Thursday morning saw me taking My Favourite Boy to the clinic to get an official Strep Throat diagnosis.  OK, he won't be contagious by Saturday, so we can go if he feels up to it.  By Friday he was feeling much better, and all looked good.  Then after supper on Friday night My Favourite Girl started throwing up and didn't stop until 5:30 a.m.  I ended up sleeping on her floor and holding a bucket for her every half hour or so.  Fun.  Saturday was a write off, and Sunday I couldn't get out of bed myself.  Today I'm home again because My Favourite Girl called me from school to come home, so I had to close the shop and get her.  OY!

Despite all this, I did manage to complete a project on Saturday I have been wanting to do.  It was nice, boring, repetitive work - perfect for an exhausted mama.
Months ago I bought some magnetic spice racks and mounted them inside my pantry door.  They have been a blessing because now I can find my spices.  Problem is, the containers themselves are not marked.  I put a label behind the container, but when you are using more than one at a time it can get a little dicey when you're not sure if you put your chili powder where the cayenne pepper is supposed to go.  And yes, it does make a difference!  So I prettied them up with a little scrapbook paper and rubber stamps and now there is no more confusion.

See, I didn't plan to make these this weekend, it just happened due to a series of (unfortunate) events.  Lesson learned - hopefully.

January Molasses

I used to have a piano teacher that liked to use the expression: "slow like molasses in January".  Sitting here at the end of January, I am thinking that that is how I felt all month: slow like molasses.  I don't feel like I have done anything but go where I needed to or just ooze around the house on the days I didn't need to be anywhere.  Times like this I'm so glad I take pictures of all the mundane things: cookbooks I have tried recipes from; the fabric I have been playing around with; snowflakes outside. These pictures are proof to me that I did complete some things and I wasn't so slow in January.  I did, after all, finish that blanket.
I also introduced the kids to late night garbage retrieval when I had them help me bring home this chair:

I am hoping to play around with it this summer and give it a makeover.  If it doesn't work out it can go out the curb (again) for the next person to find.

I bought these cute (giant) ceramic buttons on sale at the fabric store and plan on tweaking their looks as well:

They will look nice on the wall of my sewing space.

I made a project from a kit I bought for my birthday last year:

I stitched a snowman:

I finished the one on the left last year as a stitch-a-long with another blogger.  Next year I am hoping to stitch the last snowman in the series.  Then I'll decide if I am going to frame them or finish them another way.

I have obviously had hearts on my mind because I have been hooking and stitching up lots of things with hearts on them.  This doesn't even include the two cross stitch projects I am now working on.

I finished this today.  I wanted something very Valentine-ish: to me that means pinks, flowers and hearts.  I crocheted the flowers and hearts and had tons of fun picking the buttons and beads to finish it off.

I crocheted lots of petite pink hearts for my 'tree'.

These are the same branches I spray painted last spring and have since hung Easter decorations and glittery snowflakes.

I attempted some free motion sewing machine stitching on this Valentine pot holder.  I learned that free motion quilting does not work on my machine very well!

I found a cute little crochet pattern that I just had to make, and make it right now darn it!  An evening flurry of crochet and I had this:

No, it's not a wash cloth; it's a soap cozy!

Mr Crafty World is very excited because he likes scrubbie things to use in the shower.  Now that I have taken pictures he can have it .  I discovered while making it that the yarn is scented.  Kind of neat, but kind of weird too.  How do they get the scent into it?  How much of it does my skin absorb while working with it?  How many washes 'till the scent is gone?

I have also had two job interviews; seen both my babies perform in public and had a retro baking day that made everyone happy.

Now I see for sure that January wasn't slow at all.  It was another month of me doing all the things I love to do.  (Well, with the exception of the job interview part!) It felt slow, but after the rush of December I see that it was a nice break.  Oh my how I love the way the universe works: always with my best interests at the heart of it.

Here's hoping for a 'slow' February :)

J'ai Fini

Although a few days ago I could have easily said, "Je suis fini", which still means "I am finished", only it means the ultimate finish!  Yes, I am done preparing for Christmas.  By the skin of my teeth, but I am done shopping, and making.  On Wednesday I had to admit I committed Christmas hubris, where once again I did too much; made too much; bought too much, etc.  Anyway, here is what we have been up to:

 Dipping dried fruit in chocolate for My Favourite Boy's "something to eat" gift.

Dipping licorice sticks in chocolate and sprinkles for gifts, as well as making countless candies!

The kids dipped many, many pretzels in white chocolate and sprinkled them with coloured sugar for teacher gifts.

I found these cute bags at the dollar store and they worked just perfectly for the pretzels.

I stitched up a bag for a Secret Santa gift at a networking group I belong to:

I also made chocolate sugar cookie snowflake cookies for each member and a little tea envelope:

Of course I got the china cabinet varnished and everything put inside it :)

And I foolishly decided that every child in each of the two classes needed to have a felt and candy cane mouse so I made 48.  Yes, that was very, very foolish.

Today I have to deliver some Avon orders and clean the house.  I can't believe in a few days it's all over. I seriously think we need to celebrate Christmas over the 12 days so we can enjoy ourselves a little longer; unwind a little longer.  However, I have a suspicion that I would think of sewing and craft projects that just had to be made as gifts somewhere in those 12 days!

I hope you all have a great Christmas and a wonderful 2012.  As you no doubt noticed by now the one thing I did not do was write up my Christmas cards!  I didn't even get them out of the box this year.  In fact I don't even know if I have any.  Maybe you will get a Valentine card, but then again, who knows?!

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas-y

We have been decorating.  Once Advent started My Favourite Girl asked everyday if we could put the decorations out; including the tree.  Last week I succumbed and put everything out while the frightful weather outside carried on.  I'll spare you all the details, but here are my favourites this year:

The tree, of course:

As we were decorating I remarked that it was really my tree in a way.  I know where all the ornaments came from because I either made them, bought them, or selected from the kids makes.  That's probably why I love decorating it so much.  We have a Christmas story I just love, called 'Christmas in the Country'.  In the book a little girl describes Christmas in the little house she lives in with her grandparents.  As they pull the decorations out of the closet and she looks at the glittered balls and other things she has made, she says she love the ornaments because each one reminds her of her whole life.  That's exactly how I feel about our ornaments.  There's the ceramic wreath I made in grade 1: one of my first experiences with "real" art. The glass balls filled with rose petals from the three dozen roses A. gave me when he got his Commission;  the blown glass baby shoes commemorating My Favourite Girl's first Christmas; and all of the foam, popsicle stick and tissue paper creations made by my two little elves.  Oh my, I'm getting teary eyed just writing about it!

Next: the kid's tree.  This little tree was Mr. Crafty World's and my tree before we bought the big one in our first house.  It came with us through many moves and now we use it in the basement for the kids to decorate.  They have a lot of fun decorating it each year and adding new things to it.  My favourites this year are the paper chains and button wreaths:

I love the new little hand made decorations like this sweet elf:

...and these snowman pots:

Another project the kids made are these snowball votive holders.  I was amazed at how well these turned out and created our mantle display around them.

I bought round glass votive holders from the dollar store and we coated the outside with white glue and rolled them in epsom salts.  I put a few coats of clear acrylic spray on the outside after they dried to keep the salts from falling off.  They look so sweet when they're lit.  I'm using the battery operated tea lights in them; that's why the light is so yellow.  

It finally started to look festive outside as well this week.  We had our first "real" snowfall and it was so beautiful.  

The kids had a blast at the bus stop making a fort and growing big plans to make it enormous when more snow fell.  Alas, most of it has gone now, but it will come again I'm sure.

Have a blissful day :)

Seasonal Makes

The weather has taken a turn for the better here the last few days.  Yesterday was so nice we could be outside without our jackets on. I bought a bunch of mixed greens and figured I had better change our garage window planters while the soil was still soft.  Last year I was too late and had to pour boiling water over the dirt to get my greens in!

I used one bunch of mixed greenery from the store and supplemented with a bit of my own cedar and some of the neighbour's - shh! don't tell!  I made two like this:

I bought a tree shaped ice cube tray for a dollar with the idea of making more crayons or bath fizzers or something.  Last night My Favourite Boy and I made bath fizzers to test it out.  We used balsam fir, sweet orange and a little bit of pine essential oil to scent them.  They smell like Christmas to me!  

  

The recipe we used was 1 part citric acid; 1 part epsom salts; 2 parts baking soda; witch hazel to mist them and about 1 tsp of our essential oil blend.  We colored the epsom salts to get the speckled look.  The outer trees are green by the way; it's not showing up so much in this picture.

Since Advent begins tomorrow I decided I had better finish off a cross stitch project I started last year during Advent.  I finished my cross stitch as a flat fold as best I could.  I messed it up a bit, but I think I'm the only one who can tell :)

This is what a flat-fold finish is like:

Sort of like a little easel is the best way of explaining it.  I bought this fabric this year and I love it.  I think it's the perfect fabric for this so I'm glad I waited.

Here it is next to the Advent centerpiece My Favourite Girl made in Sunday school last year.  Each week you pull a tissue paper 'flame' out of the candles.  As far as kids crafts go I think this one is spectacular, and plan on keeping it for as long as I can!  Isn't it just the cutest?

I heard back from the church about the wedding coordinator job:  they can't decide between myself and another applicant so we have to respond to some scenarios they are creating for us next week.  All this will take place via email - thank heavens.  It makes me feel good that I'm the top two; of course I don't know how many applicants there were.  Maybe only two!

I also just applied for a job with a company that makes school lunches.  Not cafeteria style: parents order the lunches and they are made in a commercial kitchen and delivered to the schools.  This would be a great one because it's from 9-1:30 during the week and whenever school is out you don't work.  Fingers crossed I get called for an interview next week.  Prayers please!  One of our cars needs a replacement transmission so the sooner I can get working the better! 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Nesting

There's nothing like a little crafting to start your day!  I woke up early this morning and took advantage of the quiet time to make some pendants I have had on my 'to do' list for a while.  I just love the looks of these:  I'm sure you can tell because I made so many!

I used silver plated wire and glass, stone or fresh water pearl beads.  I'm having a tough time deciding which one I want to keep!  Probably the pearls, which are in the middle, but the frosted blue glass (top left) are a close second.

Another kind of nesting has been going on here lately:  cleaning!  I cleaned and organized the storage room in the basement and now I can find my wrapping paper and extra foodstuffs.  This weekend I cleaned out my craft area.  It was atrocious I can tell you.  I moved my fabric and sewing stuff up to the spare room, because the light for sewing in the basement is not very good.  That freed up a cupboard to put kiddie crafting supplies in - the kind they need permission to use - and get them out of the storage room.  I put all my Avon stuff in a rolling cart and put it in the storage room.  Part of me thinks that the Avon stuff distracts me from crafting so I wanted it out of my creative space.  I can just roll it out when I need to do orders and process the catalogues and then put it away. I also moved my table because I didn't like sitting with my back to the rest of the basement.  This is what it looked like before:

After:

 Doesn't it look better now?  I can actually tuck my chair under the table! The messy table in the foreground belongs to the kids!
 I want to replace the light with a pendant one, and hang it right over the table for better lighting.  My ageing eyeballs are really noticing poor lighting these days.

A. also cleaned out the garage so it's almost ready to put both cars in.  I say almost ready because I am still sanding down a bookshelf in there.  Fingers crossed that will get done this week. My Favourite Boy had to explain to his piano teacher why there are books all around the perimeter of the living and dining room.  I wonder if he was embarrassed?

Autumn Makes

I have seen photos of mason jar soap dispensers all over blogland for a while now.  Back in the spring I purchased a Kerr canning jar from the thrift store and a bottle of Dial soap.

 Yesterday I finally got the gumption to put one together and here's how I did it:

Step one was to use a hack saw to cut the top off the dial soap container.  Yes, I did remember to empty the container first!  I then trimmed the cut off piece so it would fit underneath the jar lid.

I wanted to cut a hole in the top of the jar lid big enough for the threaded part of the dial soap container to fit into.  I used my 3/4 inch spade bit, but as you can see it didn't really work out!

The lid was too soft and the jar kept spinning around as the bit was turning.  Placing the jar between my feet while I drilled didn't really work to keep it still.  These lids are so soft that really all you need is an awl to poke a couple of holes and then cute the circle out with some small tin snips.  I was able to save my mistake by cutting a bigger hole with my tin snips.

A good rummage around the garage and I found some clear silicone.  I put a goodly amount on the area around the threaded spout of the plastic Dial container; then I put some around the top to make it water tight and to cover the sharp edges!

The hardest part was waiting for the silicone to dry!  After about four hours it was dry enough I could put it all together and add the soap I took out the Dial container in the first place.  Obviously using clear soap in a clear jar and photographing it against a white wall isn't the best choice, but I was too impatient to wait until I had better props!

It will be interesting to see how the lid holds up: how long will the silicone seal last and will there be any rust.  It was a fun project, and easy to do if you have the right tools.  It would be fun to find one of the thick, old glass Mason jars with the zinc lids and make a soap dispenser out of that.  I used to have one of those but it got broken somewhere along my way.  Maybe I'll get lucky at the Sally Ann next time:)

Here are a few snapshots of other things I have done lately:

Fall window boxes for my house:

Pumpkin Spice Whoopee Pies:

Cupcakes for a birthday party with a New York theme:

Halloween cookies made by my two monkeys!