It's a Bird!

Dusting this badboy off... Sorry for the neglect, friend. Life takes over and before you know it you have no energy left for blogging. I did get a little crafting in last week. The wifey and I got invited to two(!) white elephant parties. I saw this Flamingo on Pinterest and being a person who loves to glue things to things, I knew I had to try it. So simple. I ordered a 2-pack of flamingos on amazon.com. I'm going to do a charity craft sale this spring and I saw Walmart and Lowes have whole flocks of flamingos for pretty cheap so that may be the best way to go. Without further ado, I present my bird.

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Very Grinchy Christmas

 This was a crazy idea... it might work as a whole. I traced a picture of the Grinch on plain white paper then tore tiny pieces of paper, tissue paper, and cotton balls to cover it. I made a frame using an old cardboard box and covered it in green duct tape. I need a little work on my scissor skills. lol Must fix that straight edge, now!

Recycled Reindeer

I saw this Reindeer on BHG and fell in love...only I needed mine to be on drugs or something. I feel really bad when I buy new decorations because I have...so...much...stuff. But making them from items I already have is totally acceptable. The tutorial is on BHG.com so I won't reinvent the wheel. It's perfect. Cut, decorate, glue.

 

I cut too many of the U shaped pieces (only need one).

A little scrapbook paper and modge podge. 

The original:

Copper Garden Ball

Disclaimer: This isn't a tutorial, more like a what not to do entry.  I've wanted to make one of these for a long long time, and really how hard can gluing some pennies to a bowling ball be? I almost lost my mind! First of all, finding bowling balls isn't as easy as one would expect but I did hit the jackpot at Savers...for $9.99 each. This better be good! I got $5 worth of pennies at the bank and some gorilla glue...which doesn't dry clear. In fact, it goes on clear but then becomes 3x its size and turns white. I covered 1/5 of the ball with pennies glued in this before it dried and I realized what I had done. The other thing I should mention is, before the pennies dry they really want to slide off of this spherical surface. I don't have an answer to this. After the first pennies dried, I was able to start adding and the first pennies became a boundary so nothing could slide past them. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but if you make this ball, you'll quickly understand what I mean. Also, you will note from the photos below that at one point during this process I wore gloves. Am I the only person out there who can't use their hands at all when wearing gloves??! Needless to say, I might get cancer from carcinogenic adhesives. OH, the glue that I found and loved is 9001. I got it at Hobby Lobby and I can't tell you the price because my lazy (but kind) cashier just picked one out of her head when it didn't have a sticker on it. What did I do with the white glue catastrophe, you ask? I did what anyone else would do and I Sharpied it! I'm attaching a photo/link at the bottom of my inspiration ball. When the ball sits in the rain it will patina and look super cool. This ball is for my father in law's 70th birthday. What else to get a rich old Jewish man? Money!

 

* Inspiration ball from Beth Evans Ramos

DIY Lace Cuff Bracelet

 

 I can't remember where I first saw this idea. I love anything with lace so a simple lace cuff bracelet is a must have. I first started making these last fall for a craft swap that I hosted among Facebook friends. I needed a quick craft that cost under $5.00 to make for 16 people. I was able to make plenty of these in no time at all. I used a 2" lace and cut each strip to fit the diameter of my wrist. To make this bracelet, apply Fabric Stiffener like a paint on both sides and then wrap the lace around something round to dry. I ended up putting some on beer bottles and wrapping a rubber band around them for drying. 

Fall Fun Frame

Pardon the dorky alliteration... I just couldn't resist. My daughter and I had a great time making these acorn photo frames, inspired by the BHG acorn frame. We are fortunate (ha!) to live on a street lined with oak trees so there were many acorn caps to choose from.

You will need: Elmer's glue, acorn caps in various sizes, and a frame (We got ours at the Dollar Store)