New Year's Craft-olution

Happy 2012!

With the start of this new year, I am really looking forward to trying some new things.  I've always loved doing crafts, sewing, baking, and trying new and different types of projects.  This year, I've been inspired to try something new each month, in addition to the little projects I'm just doing for the house or for fun.

What inspired me?  Actually two things.  First, Pinterest.  Yes, it is a serious addiction.  My husband jokingly (I think) suggested starting a support group for the husbands of women who have fallen victim to this website.  I am one.  I love the ideas and inspiration I find there!  Recipes, craft projects, design ideas, kids activities.  Ahhh...  If you're on Pinterest, feel free to check out what I've been pinning lately.  I have so many things in my list of things I want to work on, I probably will never get them done!

The second thing that inspired me in a round-about way was my sister.  She has a blog that she just started, where she is committing herself to blog once a week.  She has a "January project" for each year, which she wrote about back in November, and it seems like a good idea.  So my New Year's Resolution, or January Project as she calls them, is to try a new craft project each month.  (You can check out her blog here.)

I've got a list of things I'd like to try.  Card making, amigurumi, quilling, faux stained glass, jewelry making, just to name a few.  I'm off to a good start.  I've made a bunch of thank you cards for Christmas presents.  I'll be posting about them in the next couple of days.

A friend of mine is thinking about starting a crafting co-op.  It was somewhat inspired by a cooking co-op we're involved in.  Basically a group of 12 women would commit to each hosting a gathering once during the year.  When it is your turn to host, you plan a craft, provide the supplies, and teach the other members how to do it.  Everyone then goes home with a new project.  Right now it's still in the planning stages, but if it gets off the ground, I'll be sure to post some about the projects we are doing there!

Happy New Year and Happy Crafting!!

Cub Scouts Bug Me (hehehe)

The scouts don't really bug me.  In fact, my den of Tiger Cubs are really pretty sweet.  I have 9 of them, and it has been so much fun working with them this year.

We have our monthly den meeting tonight, and are going to be working on completing an elective of making decorations.  Our Blue and Gold Banquet is next month, so I thought it would be fun for the boys to make decorations for the banquet.  I did some searching on the internet, and most of the ideas I found were just too difficult for 6 & 7 year old boys with short attention spans.  I found one that I modified a little bit to make it easier for the boys.  So tonight we will be making Cub Scout Yarn Bugs!

I cut long lengths of blue and gold yarn, which the boys will wrap around 5" strips of cardboard.  Then they will tie a short piece of yarn under one side, flip the cardboard over and cut through the loops to make a yarn pom pom.  I stuck a white pipe cleaner through an egg carton section so that the two ends come out in the bowl part of the carton.  These will eventually be the legs.  I took a blue pipe cleaner and stuck it through in the opposite direction for arms.  Then I spread tacky glue all over the outside of  the egg carton section and plopped the yarn pompom on top.  I glued on a set of googly eyes.  I took the white pipe cleaner and made loops on the end that I flattened out.  Onto the loops I taped (glue wouldn't hold) a piece of blue craft foam, cut into the shape of feet.  I used a short piece of white pipe cleaner for a flag pole and glued on a piece of gold cardstock cut into a flag, and the words "Pack 129" in blue cardstock that I cut on my Cricut.  The original design I saw had a cap, which was cute, but I think what I have done here is enough to keep my boys occupied without completely losing their interest.

New Year - New Curtains!

Happy New Year!!  

With the end of 2011 came the end of the ugly blue, cat-scratched, torn-up couch and chair in my living room.  They had gotten so bad I literally cringed every time someone came over and had to come in my house.  Cub scout den meetings or PTA book fair committee meetings were down-right embarrassing.  But, much to my joy, they are gone.  Several people stopped by as they were sitting on the curb (in the rain) to check them over, but alas, they met their end at the hands of the local garbage collectors.  In their place are some new, more stylish, and definitely better looking pieces of furniture!

However, with the loss of the blue couches, the blue and yellow striped curtains also needed to go.  I had seen an idea on Pinterest where someone took plain white curtains and “dressed them up” with some ribbon.  I thought, with the stripes on the new chair, that would be a great plan for our living room, and pretty inexpensive, too.  

I bought some plain white, linen, grommet-style curtains.  Then I chose three colors of ribbon in different widths.  I used a 2-inch wide chocolate brown, a 3/4-inch golden yellow, and a 1-inch deep red.  I lined the chocolate up with the hem line on both the top and bottom of the curtains and used fabric glue to attach it.  Then I measured 1/2 inch away, and attached the yellow, and another 1/2 inch from that to attach the red.  I used a ruler to keep my lines straight, and they did turn out pretty even.  They are pretty simple looking, but I love the way they turned out!

I made a matching lamp shade out of a square white lamp shade.  I used the same ribbon widths and fabric glue, and I used the same pattern that I used for the curtains.  I did have to miter the corners on the lampshade, and that turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.  It still looks pretty nice.  

So, we are starting 2012 in basically a new living room.  It’s warmer, cozier, and cheerier.  I hope your 2012 is all those things and more!