Thinking of a 365

Been thinking a lot lately about a 365 project. Basically doing something every day for a whole year. As the new year draws closer I am craving meaning and direction and I think perhaps this kind of project could help me with that. I think of myself as a creative person but I know that I lack direction and discipline. One week it is jewelry the next it is dolls the next quilting. I am all over the place and I always have been in most areas of my life. I changed my major about 4 times before I just wrote my own. I have extremely eclectic taste in music, movies, food, fashion, and often get on 'kicks' that are intense but short lived and inevitably fizzle out until the next thing comes along.

I thought my life direction would present itself to me in a nice little package in college. Didn't happen. For the past few years since I have been floundering in a world of low wage jobs as my friends start careers, get married, and settle down. Of course I do have a pretty good idea of things I do not want to do but that isn't the most helpful. I know that I do want to do something creative. I want to work with my hands and make.

I do not know what it will be yet but I think a 365 project will help me out of my rut. From reading about/following several others it seems like a really great exersise to do. It might not fix all my problems or answer all my questions but perhaps it will give me the structure I need to get to the next step. Maybe it will be a 365 days, maybe 52 weeks, maybe it will be a year of different monthly themed projects. Whatever it is I am going to figure it out soon because what better time to start than the new year.

Have any of you attempted a 365? What were your projects? How are they going/ how did they go? I would love to hear about more!

Team Friendship

My friends are such nerds. Recently the joke has been 'Team Friendship' and it is our slogan, motto, and battle cry. Two friends in particular were really into the idea. They decided who was in (almost everyone :) and they also wrote a little jingle that they sing together. We joked about getting t-shirts or sweatshirts made. So when Christmas rolled around and I was having trouble thinking of gifts for people I decided a couple of sweatshirts where just the thing. Of course I waited too long to get them screen printed so I headed to my trusty craft store and bought some flocked iron-on letters.

The results were pretty good!

They loved their gifts. Now I will probably make more for the other members!

Happy Holidays!

The last few days have been a whirlwind of holiday celebrations. Thanks to all my friends and family who made it such a special season! I will have to do a post about the generous gifts I received (my friends know me so well!) but today I am going to share with you a little post on what to do with some of that Christmas candy you got in your stocking.

Candy Christmas Trains!

This is a project my mom used to make when I was little. I made a few up this year to give with gifts but they would also make great party favors, gift card holders, ornaments, or place cards.

Basics:

 Candy. At the very least you need a pack of stick gum and some lifesavers. Around Christmas I buy the lifesavers in the 'holiday storybook' packs of six. I had to hunt around for the gum but the basic candy aisle in the store is your best bet. For the wheels peppermints work nicely. The 'cab' is a flatter piece of chocolate and the smoke stack is an upside down chocolate bell but a chocolate kiss works nicely as well. These are simply guidelines you can tailor it to your tastes and needs.

Now all you need is your trusty glue gun.

 The order really doesn't matter as long as it works for you but for me I always start with the gum and lifesavers, then the chocolates on top and the wheels last. Since it is hot glue it dries super quick and when you are ready to eat it you just pop off the candy.

 I made up a whole bunch for this family I babysit for...unfortunately the mom let them dig in right away and 5 minutes later the trains where decimated and I was left with 4 very sugared up kiddos! My mom used to make lots of these and I would take them to school as a treat. Since they are not strictly Christmas-y they work really  nicely for that. We just always had them at Christmas so that is what I think of when I see them.

Have fun with it and Happy Crafting!

Holiday Decorating on a Budget

And when I say 'on a budget' I mean zero money. Well actually I think I spent 3 bucks on computer paper.

I took some old Christmas garland from my mom's house and spent a night watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and cut out some paper snowflakes. I didn't use any fancy schmancy patterns but I hear that there are some really good ones out there.

 Strung some up with yarn to add some dimension above our table- also borrowed the table cloth from my mom!

 My empty frames are back! I just love them so much. I strung them with some vintage white garland and hung a single snowflake from each one.

 We decided to leave our 'Three Broomsticks' decoration up from the Harry Potter Party so I decorated them too. (Roomie changed the sign to read 'It's a Wonderful Life'!)

All the extra snowflakes got stuck up on a blank spot. Easy, festive, cheap. That is the only way I decorate! We have been just getting warmer temperatures and rain for the last couple of days here in MN so our perfect dusting of snow has left us! Hopefully we will get some more before Christmas...until then the inside of our house will have to function as our Winter Wonderland.

Happy Holidays!

Keep crafting...only ten days left before Christmas!

All I want for Christmas....Tickets to the SOLD OUT Doomtree BLOWOUT tonight.

Not gonna happen but a girl can dream right? As long as I am dreaming I might as well add that I want Michael Fassbender to take me to the concert. Sheesh.

What unattainable things are you wishing for this holiday season?

Happy December!

This post celebrates finally have internet at my new place. Plugged in and ready to go! December is here and now is the time to buckle down and get stuff done. I already have a white elephant party under my belt and the month will hopefully be filled with other fun with friends and loved ones.

Until then I will be waiting under the mistletoe, just like Joan Crawford....

 

I am in love with this picture. 

Happy Holidays!

Candy&Snowflakes Earring GIVEAWAY

Sorry Thanksgiving, but I just don't care that much about you. Sure I will hopefully be with people I love and eat tons of food but I can't get excited for you like I can for Halloween or CHRISTMAS!

Yep I am sort of skipping right over Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas. One thing I have already done is make myself some festive holiday earrings. I could have gone to the mall and probably found some but where is the fun in that? Instead I hit up the craft store and got crackin'. I am so in love with these post earrings that I made.

Perfect for me to wear at work! Snowflakes are always gold in my book and these candy earrings will be more than perfect when I help out with the Gingerbread House class.

I love them so much I made a few more pairs and put them in the shop. And I decided that you can win a set of these cuties for yourself!

Just leave a comment between now and Thanksgiving about what you are most excited about for this holiday season and you will be entered into the 'drawing' for a set of candy and snowflake earrings in GREEN.

Everyone else will be shopping on Black Friday but you can win a treat for yourself or a gift for someone on your list! Sounds like a win to me...

Winner announced Friday, November 25th.

Good luck!

T Shirt Quilt

I made one for myself a couple of years ago but it was more of a 'blanket' since I didn't put any batting in it.

This one is the real deal. Not perfect but pretty cool. My friend was going through his clothes and he was making a pile of t-shirts that he either no longer wore or didn't like the way they fit anymore and I mentioned that I could make him a quilt. He was immediately like "YES! I have always wanted one of those!" He was so enthusiastic in fact that I had to ask if he was being serious. After assuring me that he was in fact excited I took the bag of t-shirts away with me. Got some batting on sale and bought a clearance priced jersey sheet set to use for the back.

Happy 11.11.11 ! I hope this day is filled with good things for you all.

Something different

My love for Boardwalk Empire grows every episode. Not many shows can make me almost throw up (see last episode) and swoon (see last episode) at the same time. Ah mob violence and forbidden love affairs! Anyway I am pretty much obsessed with anything Margaret Schroeder wears. The costumes on this show are amazing! Also the hair is great. I was inspired enough to try my hand at Margaret's hairstyle.

I couldn't find a good picture of the back but it is all twisty and lovely.

Here is what I came up with:

For more hair inspiration a couple of my favorite blogs are Bobby Pin Blog (and her books!) and Casey's Elegant Musings (not strictly hair but she has had some of my favorite tutorials for hair and her blog is just lovely in general).

Harry Potter Crafts

Trying to do a bit of cleanup today around the house...no I haven't moved yet and it looks as though the snow is going to beat me. Oh well, it will get figured out! I wanted to share a few 'before' shots for you today with the Harry Potter crafts I did for the party the other day.

Also this is all evidence that you can do some really cool things with little to no money. Work with what you have, be creative and have fun with it!

 First up: Wands! The party was supposed to be BYOW (Bring your own wand) but being the nerd that I am I decided to make some after finding a super cool tutorial online. Sticks from the yard plus hot glue and paint that I already had= the most awesome Harry Potter wands ever! They seriously rivaled the one 'real wand' from Harry Potter World.  Cost: $0

While google-ing  'Harry Potter Parties' I found lots of kids parties. Go figure. But an idea I did really like was the platform 9 3/4 bit. So I went to a fabric store and found this in the remnant bin.

Tip- don't try to paint straight lines on grass! Dumb idea...I moved to some concrete to get the job done. I had to bust out one of those little knee saver pads to work on this project but it was worth it.

 I used a board in my garage to make the horizontal lines. I poured out a TON of paint...you actually don't need very much at all. To make the 'bricks' I found a smaller board about the right size and just staggered the bricks.

At the party it was taped right to the door so when guests entered the party they had to 'go through it'. Project cost: $3

 Of course I needed a sign for platform 9 3/4 ! Some people would say I am a hoarder..but I say I am useful. I rummaged around the garage again and found these old cabinet doors from when our kitchen was redone years ago. These have come in handy in many a craft project! I busted out a drill and put two small holes in the 'upper' corners to hang it from.

Then I busted out some red spray paint I already had and gave it a coat front and back. I traced a plate to get the circle and free handed the lettering and numbers (sketched it out a bit in pencil first). All the paint I already had and then We just used some cord I had to string it up. It looked pretty cool lit by the outdoor light as guests arrived. Project cost: $0

 For my Bellatrix costume I had this black costume-y 'basic' shift in my costume closet. I first cut the sleeves off and then 'sewed' them back on with a thick black cord. It was a bit skinny towards the  bottom so I slit up the sides to the hips, layered it over a black poofy prom dress and then used my mock black corset I made for the cemetery walk and layered that on top. I also added some gold paint swirls to the shift around the neckline and on the sleeves.  I don't have a good 'after' shot but for no money it was a pretty sweet costume. Costume cost: $0

 The day of we were still crafting, decorating, and cooking like mad. The birthday girl was going as Hermione and wanted a time turner. She is holding it in this picture. The hourglass is two mini bottles filled with a bit of salt and hot glued shut. Then we found two craft frames (the little plastic kind for needlework) so I hot glued those back to back and then built up some hot glue to put the hourglass. Once it set up I painted the glue with a bit of gold paint so it gave it a little shimmer and didn't look so much like glue! Found an old vintage chain in my jewelry making box and done! Might be my favorite craft of the day because it came together really randomly just grabbing things from around my craft room. Cost: $0!

A Very Haunted Harry Potter Birthday Party

It was a lot of work and we were scrambling at the end a bit but the party came together rather nicely and was a SUPER GOOD TIME. Probably the best 'Halloween Saturday' (as I like to call it) in quite a long time. I just can't help imagining what I could do with more time and money!

 Cauldron cakes, licorice wands, Bertie Bott's every flavored beans, and dips, chips, and other goodies.

 The Three Broomsticks

 Butterbeer!

 Group shot (thanks to Muggle camera woman Miranda)

 Fluffy

 Doby the house elf

 Time turner!

 Ron

 Hermione

 Dolores Umbridge

 Trelawney

 Harry Potter

 Professor McGonagall

 Trelawney (less unhinged)

The birthday kids. Hahahahahaa. I love this picture! I will write another post and go into some of the crafty details in a different post. But for now I wish you a good nights rest before All Hallows Eve.

Happy Haunting!