Overwhelmed? Start small.

I have been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of projects I want to get done. This is all brought upon myself- I have ambitious ideas but get easily distracted by new projects and leave things half finished. I also get fixated on one thing and leave other ideas to gather dust. 

Today I want to be 'productive' whatever that means these days and I knew I had to start small to get myself going. 

So I present to you the tiniest de-cluttering project: the pincushion revamp. 

I've had my classic tomato pincushion since I was little and I am fairly certain my pins are also the first ones I ever had. 

I have been so frustrated with my hodge podge of bent pins that I finally bought some new ones! I went a bit longer and splurged on the pretty pearl ones. 

The top row consists of still usable pins. 

Check out that sad, janky bottom row! Every time I went to grab a pin I felt like I grabbed one of the wonky ones. 

Ahhh... So much better! I kept the good pins, moved all the needles to one section, and added a bunch of these new beauties. 

Was this a five minute project? Yes. Does it make me feel wayyyyy better? YES. Sometimes it's the little things. Now I've already crossed something off my to do list AND written a post about it. Now I feel motivated to get other stuff done so I can do some sewing! 

Happy crafting! 

2016 Stuff and Things and an announcment

I've neglected my little corner of the internet lately. What a crazy year so far. Between work, moving, roller derby, and oh yeah WEDDING PLANNING I've been a bit on the swamped side. And who hasn't? It's 2016, I'm pretty sure that's just how life is these days. But whatever you are doing with your 2016 I hope it is filled with good friends, good food, and just good feelings in general. The world feels like a dark place right now but there are so many bright spots fighting back the dark. Many of us have our own little bright spots here on the internet. That is what this blog is to me. Am I reaching millions of people? No. But I don't need to. This is my spot where I share fun, cool, crafty things and try to keep it on a positive note.

But enough of sappy blog philosophy. Lets talk about stuff! Wedding stuff! Since I started reading crafty blogs I have loved seeing wedding posts and the thrifty crafty things people have done to make their special day even more special. I have been overly ambitious when it comes to wedding projects but I think it is coming together. Oct. 1st is the big day so we are really in the home stretch here. The big project lately has been invitations so that we can get them sent out. More to come on those, but they have been a DIY labor of love so far. 

One of my long term projects though have been making paper flowers. My friend Ellen had beautiful paper flower bouquets at her wedding and I knew I wanted that as well. I ordered fancy Italian Crepe paper from Carte Fini. Totally worth it. I could not find any crepe paper in my town that wasn't in streamer form. They have lovely colors and there are a plethora of tutorials online for making different flowers and plants. Do not be fooled. This is a TIME consuming endeavor. I try working on it a bit everyday, but my favorite days are when I have a nice chunk of time, I fire up the netflix and really get in the groove. I should actually take pictures of my little living room paper flower craft area I have set up but today I have a picture of some of my progress. 

A couple of quick shot from my phone. I'm in love with the colors. And the succulents! Be still my heart. I think they are turning out rather well so far. 

Other than all that stuff going on I also have a new love: Balloon Twisting. Left field right? I know. I took a community education class a little over a year ago and bought a starter pack online. Right after Christmas this year I became a little obsessed with it. I have ordered hundreds of balloons and have been learning and practicing from video tutorials. I want to start twisting as a part time gig. I have decided to set up a separate blog to track my balloon adventures. Since it is not quite as crafty. I still love that it is creative and working with my hands. And the talent out there! I have a lot to learn but so far it is super fun. So if you are interested in following the ramblings of a new Balloon Twister please join me at my new blog Lauralloons! (like brand new baby new, posts and attractions coming soon). 

As for this blog I hope to continue some crafty wedding exploits in the near future and there may even be a bit of crossover with the new balloon adventure (fingers crossed!)

Cheers! And Happy Crafting!