Easy Ornament Craft for Kids (or Adults!)

I really wanted to have a little craft time with the grandlittles when they came. But what project would be easy enough for a four and five year-old with a minimum of mess and easy to complete before they moved on? I opted for easy matchbox ornaments and they were a hit.

Felties are Taking Over My World!

Things are nice in my little corner of the world, now that I'm feeling a little better.

Fairy fungi is probably the only mold that isn't in my basement, so I need to make my own!

But the cat is happy...

...and so is the pup.

The bird, meanwhile, is relieved that felted critters can't be after him! The red, red robin goes bob-bob-bobbin along!

And the wise old owls go "Who?"

At the Feltie Farmyard, the sheep are full and happy!

The bunnies are dancing with joy that it's spring...and it has finally stopped raining, at least for a day or two!

...and some even dress for the occasion!

So whether you are puttering in your cozy house...

...looking out at a barren forest...

...or a lovely day on the lake...

...of just window gazing...

...I hope you have a good time of it. And again, thanks for all your kind comments. I'm on the upswing now and all that good energy from you helped, I know.

Sharing with:  Let's Keep In Touch       /    Tuesday Turn About    

Quick, Easy Easter Project!

A few weeks ago, I was out on my rounds and saw this very cute and highly overpriced basket in a shop.

And I thought "I can do that."

Supplies:

• Small basket or handled box
• Faux carrots -- number based on size of  basket
• Glue Gun and glue sticks

It's insulting to even write this down because we're all over five, so forgive me.

Instructions: Attach carrots to basket with glue gun. (See, I told you.)

And you're done.

A couple of things here -- first, unless you have oodles of carrots, your basket will be need to be quite small. I thought I had small baskets but even the smallest I tried called for more carrots than I had bought (15) and I didn't feel like going back. (And I confess, I liked all of the rejects better because they had a taller handle like the one in the shop and that made a difference for my second point below.

But I did have this little wooden box with a handle I'd bought with greens at Christmas a year or two ago and it was perfect. If you use a rounder or more contoured basket you will probably want to line up your carrots like the original sample and not straight up and down, but this was a flat-sided box.

Second, I do like the fluffy carrot tops on the store's version but I decided not to do that. Yet. Here's why. I wanted to put the bunny inside and it was a low handle. Anything too tall would run into the handle. If I fluffed the carrot tops, you couldn't see the bunny at all unless I trimmed them quite low. And I wasn't sure I wanted to do that. It's not like you can put back what you cut off. (I learned that at the ripe old age of six when I cut my doll's hair playing beauty parlor.)

I thought about trimming the carrot greens and I still might, but I kind of liked him peeking through.

If you want fluffier greens, you can trim and shred the carrot greens and fluff them up. I may try that, but so far, this is what I've got!

Total cost on this project: $8.50 for the carrots (five bundles of three at $2.99, minus 40 percent off). I had the glue, box and bunny. Cost of store basket: $35. Does not include bunny.

(A quick note to reader Carolyn who wanted to know where to get the carrots used in the basket project in the last post. I found a bunch of 3 for $2.99 (and then 40% off) at Hobby Lobby, but if that's not convenient, Michael's or JoAnn's probably have them. I saw them today at Pier One for $4.99 -- same thing -- minus 20%)

Sharing this week with:  Let's Add Sprinkles   

Valentine Crafternoon and Watercolor Play

It's February! Month of love, fun, and eventually Lent. (Did anyone else pick up that Lent begins on Valentine's Day? I didn't, till yesterday.)

The February image from my friend Kate McNenly's "Birdiferous" calendar

 Sometimes you get so into what you are doing, you forget to take pictures of people actually doing it!

She says company is coming. Me, I'm a cat. I don't want company. I don't want them to pick me up. I just want food, birds and a nap.

Such was the case when Lizzie and I hosted a Valentine crafternoon for a couple of friends. My contribution to the party was cookies...

....raspberry bars (Ina Garten's -- HERE. Super easy). Chill them a bit and cut nicely into shapes with a cookie cutter...

...and everything from cards to paper stock, ribbon to glue and boatloads of embellishments so we could make candy boxes (see tutorial here) and valentines.

When all was said and done, we had quite the collective collection!

Here are the candy boxes -- Mine reflects Rick's music love; Jan recalls tango lessons and Kate used some beautiful marbled paper she bought in Florence.

Here are our valentines. Check out the one with the Bingo card that Jan made. We looked up Bingo Lingo on Google. Do you know that in Britain numbers have expressions that are called out? If you have a 14 on your card and someone calls out "Valentine's Day!" you'd better mark it!

 I realized I can probably never play bingo in England.

They left with the easiest takeaways I've ever pulled together -- cute little ice cream cups with a potholder, starlight mints and a bag of valentine cookies.

I've been busy painting these days, too.

I did this little girl first in markers (markers that were getting dry, by the way. Time for some new brush markers!) Then I re-did her in watercolor. (On the right) They have their own character and details. The watercolor is definitely softer.

                     

I had fun with this scene too.  The big tree needs work but I was really pleased with the background trees!

In a recent post, Lynne shared some things her art friends had done and this one provided great inspiration for the snowflake below. The gray bits are actually some silver metallic watercolor. Loads of wet-on-wet here!

And of course, you've gotta have heart! It's February!

And don't forget, everyone needs a hug or two!

Stay cozy!

Sharing with Let's Keep in Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles   /   Share Your Cup  /    Best of the Weekend    

Getting Back to Normal

I can't believe January is nearly over. This is from my friend Kate's annual bird calendar and I just love the January image. I'll hate to swap it out next month (but February is really cute! You'll see.)

Before I forget, I need to clear up something that I might have shared with you when replying to comments in an earlier post. That wonderful drawing of the two cats in this post was not by me and is not Lizzie. It was from the Beatrix Potter book I'd been talking about. I should have put a caption under it. (And I did go back to the original post to do so!) I apologize for the confusion and on behalf of the late Ms. Potter, thank you for the compliments! I wish I could pass them on in person! (On behalf of me, I thank you for thinking I was that good!)

From "The Art of Beatrix Potter," not the art of me!

I also want to thank you for your comments on my last post about the happenings here in Lansing related to the gymnastics abuse case. It's a powerful world of support out there for these young women.

Our little city is returning back to normal, which means pretty quiet and huddled in during the winter, though I have to say that right now it's relatively benign. Snow has melted for a bit, ice is going out on the ditch and the temperatures aren't terrible for a January. It's Michigan. It will change. But it's a nice break in the action.

Rick is a away for work for quite a few days and I've been taking the time to pull together a few Valentine things. I'll have a fun tutorial for creating pretty altered candy boxes for you next time -- I've been making a model for a potential crafternoon project next week. But meanwhile, I had fun putting together a simple bunting with hearts and embellishments from Michael's and buttons from my stash.

The "Love" sign above it is one of last year's projects.

I don't decorate all that much for Valentine's day. This heart wreath stays up all year.

But I do like to have a few reminders that love is in the air!

I was making a progress list to share on my family genealogy blog, The Leatherman Tree, looking at what I'd done last year and my goals for 2018. The list made me tired! And I realized, I'd better get back on it! Now!

Meanwhile, I will leave you with a few sitting ducks to ponder.  Stay cozy!

Sharing this week with: Let's Keep in Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles /  Share Your Cup / Pink Saturday 

Fast DIY Party Favors

I scored a major victory -- I got Rick to do arts and crafts! The task? Making the easiest DIY party favor/chip clip/ornament ever!

I got the idea at Southern Exposure. They used these cute decorated clothes pins to attach our name tags to the tree in the lobby.

But they also work as an ornament...

...can be used to attach photos to a memory tree...

...or as a chip clip!

I couldn't find the big clips quickly but managed to score cute, pre-decorated clothespins on clearance for $1.99/12 at Michael's (full price: $3.99/12). (I may go back and get more to have in stock for next year!)

We did 16 of these in a little over a half hour, not counting drying time. I had everything in my holiday stash but supplies would have minimal cost if you were starting from scratch.

Instructions and Supplies

• Clothespins or clothespin-style clips
• Paint (if your clips aren't pre-decorated like mine were)
• Glue (I used heavy gel medium; a glue gun would be fine; Elizabeth also mentioned E-6000)
• Holiday bling (If you were doing this at another season, any old bling would do -- flowers, etc.
• Wine corks, cut in half (if you don't drink wine much, you can usually buy packaged corks at the craft store.
• Knife, scissors, wire cutters and glue applicator stick as needed.

1) If clips aren't painted, spray paint in desired color

2) Using gel medium or glue gun, attach half-cork, leaving a bit of room at the top of the pin.

3) Attach Holiday bling (I used snowflakes) at the top of the clothespin.

4) Add any additional bling or trim (I used greens and berries) on the cork. (Gel medium and most white glues dry clear; glue gun might be more visible to blob on appropriately!)

Just let it dry and you are good to go! Fun for takeaways at a party or to close up a bag of holiday treats!

Your guests might like them so much they add them to their holiday wardrobe!