Paper Flower Valentine Wreath

It's the onset of "awkward wreath season" — that strange chunk of time where I don't know what sort of decoration to put on my front door. I'm completely sick of the evergreen/pineconey Christmas wreath but my full-on Spring floral one feels a little premature. In years past I've just left the door vacant but his year I decided to make an early-Spring option (in hopes of coaxing something green to poke through the soil). I also wanted it to feel a bit Valentine-ish too.

Last weekend I got busy with a few inexpensive craft supplies and about an hour later I had created this little cheery number. I'm tickled pink over how nicely it turned out.


Supplies:

~ Styrofoam wreath form
~ craft punch
~ fun scrapbooking paper
~ glue
~ ribbon for hanging

Simply select some coordinating papers, punch your shapes and start gluing. I started by gluing them to the interior portion of the wreath, overlapping the flowers slightly. Then I worked on the outside edge. Finally I began filling in the front, more visible portion of the wreath, making sure to vary the colors and randomly overlap the flowers.

With all the paper punches and beautiful papers available the possibilities are endless here folks. I can feel the creative juices flowing when I consider all the paper wreaths I could create.

Valentine Suncatchers

{or How We Added a Little Color to Our Graywhite January)

Create Crayon shreds with a pencil sharpener.
Sprinkle between two layers of wax paper.
Melt with a warm iron (slide a piece of paper betweeen the wax paper and iron so you don't get wax on your iron).
Trace and cut out your hearts (or any shape you'd like).
Hang with embroidery thread or tape to your windows.

Smile.

Easy paper ball ornaments

Paper Ball Ornaments (hang individually or string a whole garland)

You need:
- Pretty paper (ooooh, so fun)
- Paper circle punch or scissors and a circle template
- Double-sided tape (or glue)
- Twine

: Cut or punch out at least four circles for each ball (5 or 6 look fancier).

: Fold each circle in half

: Tape (or glue) each folded circle on top of one another, making a small stack. Place your twine, then seal the final edge to form ball.

Viola!

And a short pause

{or How I spent a few days gearing up for the coming of December}

skimming Poetry books and watching Larry David make a mess of things in old episodes of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

cooking up a batch of turkey noodle soup

hanging a few wintery/holiday things

trying to be Alicia Paulson (it's hard! dang, she's good)

 











 
doing dishes while Izzy lays at my feet (there's a heat vent under the sink kickboard)

enjoying my new oil lamp (purchase inspired by my pilgrim obsession of last week)

walking by this downtown apartment window (just as it asked to be photographed)

impulsively purchasing some deliciously retro fabric — vintage Santas and folks strolling festive city sidewalks — then grabbing some polymer clay because I suddenly felt like making tiny snowmen

~

I'm easing myself into the Christmas season. If I rush in too quickly I tend to grow weary by the time the actual day rolls around, so I'm taking it slow . . . humming along with the tunes in the stores, browsing the gifts, but not buying too much yet.

I'm also decompressing from watching the entire 2nd season of 'Downton Abbey' while my mom was visiting. I was in a British WWI-era fog for several days, dreaming of wearing exquisite gowns and attending dinners with Matthew Crawley. Oh dear. Thankfully, the effect has worn off and I'm back to my old self again.

~

See those poetry books? Remember my "Poetry Workshop" class? Well, let me just say this — analyzing poetry is kinda hard and boring. It seems the more I think about HOW to write it the WORSE I get at actually writing it! Aaack!

BUT - the Ken Burns documentary on the Dust Bowl was on last week and it was really fantastic. Thus concludes my class on the Dust Bowl. I gave myself an 'A' for participation, effort and knowledge retention. :)

What are you up to these last November days?

Tasha Tudor's Candlemaking Illustrations

 full illustration above, details below

In the book A Time to Keep Tasha Tudor highlights her family traditions and holiday celebrations for each month of the year. We owned this book when I was a child and I used to pore over the pages. Now I have my own copy and I still look through it often.  My girls love it as well. Tasha's tiny details and decorated borders are so fun.

Of November Tasha says "On Thanksgiving we roasted the turkey before the fire. So many relatives came to visit that the children had to sleep in the barn. We did plays and charades and had a literary contest with a handsome book for first prize. That's the month we made Christmas presents and a year's supply of candles."

Aren't her candlemaking illustrations dear? (and of course there's a corgi under the table - there's always at least one corgi, often more like four, milling around in her drawings.)

Colonial Times

Image by Jerry Patterson

All that Thanksgiving/Pilgrim talk yesterday started me on an online quest for everything colonial. I spent a couple hours last night reading all about candle making (I want to do this SOON) and watching videos produced by the people in Colonial Williamsburg. By bedtime I had decided that someday I want to go live and work in Williamsburg — even if it's just serving food at the tavern for a short time.

This was one of my favorite videos (click here - it's just 6 minutes long). I'm amazed at how easy these folks tackle the tasks of shearing sheep and spinning yarn. 

Today I am wishing I lived in the 1700s. *sigh* Here is the link to the Colonial Williamburg site — lots of fun stuff to read and drool over.

Question: Have any of you made your own candles before? Did you use soy or bees wax? I'd love to hear any thoughts of candle making tales. Do you think I can get my family to support a 'candle light only' approach to interior lighting?

Bunting Bonanza/Garlands Galore

I've gone a little crazy with my needle and thread the last few days. Anything lying around that looks like it could be strung up is fair game. Felt scraps, festive paper bits, $1 craft leaves, fake fruits. Just try an' stop me. 

Life's Canvas

I'm all over the place these days. Crocheting a row on Emma's blanket, then jotting down a line for a poem, or noting (on a torn corner of paper that I will never be able to find) a book I need to read, then filing just two of 50 papers that need filed, before I run upstairs to vacuum the living room, getting distracted by the Country Living magazine on the coffee table. I feel like a scattered mess. A happy scattered mess. Life is filled with so much inspiration and so many tasks that call to me at every hour of the day. How am I to chose? There are so MANY ways to throw paint on the canvas of your life — your one, precious life.

For starters I've decided to start making a daily schedule each morning to try to calm by brain. And I've made a boring but necessary new rule that I'm not allowed to start a large project without finishing another. For example I began painting all of the cabinets in our kitchen last November. There are still a few cupboard doors left to paint, but now I'm itching to look at color schemes for the basement walls and my office. Under my new rule, I must finish the kitchen before moving on to the basement. Isn't it high time we quit tripping over those cupboard doors propped in the hallway awaiting their paint job? Another example — I am not allowed to look up crochet patterns for granny square quilts (oh, that sounds sooo fun) until Emma's all snuggled in her finished blanket. It's gonna be hard, but I've gotta give it a try.

In good news the cooler weather has got me hooking away on Emma's blanket. It had been a few months since I'd crocheted and it feels darn good. I snuggle up in bed at night with my skeins of yarn and spread the blanket over my lap. Izzy likes to curl up next to me, pressing her body against my legs. I work by the yellow light of my little bedside lamp and keep a cup of hot tea beside me. It's like a little snippet of heaven. Just me, and the needle, and the yarn twisting and pulling. Creating. My mind is so present in the moment that worries and stress fall away.

Oh, I love this time of year. 

The good news for us all is that today is Friday and that means we get to relax a little and enjoy larger expanses of creative time. I can't wait! Happy weekend to you, whatever your projects may be or your travels may take you. Go throw a little paint on that life of yours!

Crocheted Round Pillow ~ Ta Da!

 

Well, it's about time I showed off a creation. It's been quite a while since I stitched up my throw pillow covers and I needed one last pillow to round out the look in the living room, so I pondered and stewed, then settled on a basic round crocheted pillow. I would have loved to tried my hand at this one but I don't feel ready for that yet. Just looking at the instructions makes my palms sweat. I'm putting it on my "someday" list though. 

Because she's my crocheting hero, I used Lucy's (Attic24) directions for crocheting a flat circle. She changes yarn color throughout but I just stuck with the single yarn. Surprisingly things went quite smoothly and quickly. I completed the multi-colored front side in just two evenings and the back side in just one evening. I used Sugar-n-Cream Twist yarn in Cottage Twist for the front and a cream Sugar-n-Cream variety for the back side, then attached the two sides with some of the colored yarn and a large needle. Sugar-n-Cream yarns come in the yummiest colors. I just love that brand!

Here's the finished product sitting nestled among her pillow friends on the couch. I think the cream side is cool and calming for these hot Summer days but I know I'll love flipping it to the colored side when Fall blows in and the holidays arrive. It feels warm and festive, don't you think? I must say, I'm very pleased with myself. I know it is a bit wobbly and I probably should've stuffed it a little fuller, but hey - it was my first round pillow so I'm cutting myself a little slack.

So hot here in Montana (95 degrees). The dogs are all laying on their side in the shade. Even the bunnies are panting. (Did you even know that bunnies panted? I didn't until we got these)

Is it hot where you are?

DIY Magnet Board

Isn't my new magnet board cute? I made it in exactly 3 minutes. Honest! And you can too. Here's what you do:

1. Next time you're at Lowe's or Home Depot swing by the roofing section where they sell 8" x 14" aluminum "shingles" for less than $1 (they have larger and smaller sizes too)

2. Grab that old 8"x10" picture frame out of the closet (you know, the one you don't have a photo for and it doesn't really match the other frames on your wall? That one.)

3. Lay the frame's glass on the shingle and mark the dimensions with a pencil.

4. Use tin snips to cut the aluminum shingle to the correct size.

5. Put the shingle in the frame, secure the back and 'voila,' you have a cute magnetic board. Hang it on the wall or set it on a table top. Stick stuff on it! Brag about it!

Pillow Disease?

Seems my initial pillowy successes have sparked some sort of insane pillow-making obsession. I would write more but it's hard to type while I'm feeding cloth into the sewing machine.

More later . . .

Paper Fettish: A Confession

I've often wondered if I should be Catholic. Why? Because I LOVE to confess. It makes me feel so much better. Something about laying all my dirty laundry out there in front of someone does wonders for my sanity. I bet a priest would either proclaim me his best pupil or he'd start complaining to the other priests about the looney woman who comes in twice daily to confess every neurotic thought or odd thing she's done. He'd probably sit down at his weekly 'Meeting of the Priests' and say "Okay guys, I'm at a loss. This woman is making me doubt my priesthood. I just don't have the patience for people like her."

Alas - I am not Catholic, so I'll just have to confess to you guys when I do something I'm not proud of. Today I am confessing that I think I am addicted to paper. Actually, I KNOW I'm addicted. It's been years since I gave in to that notion. But now I'm trying to rein in the paper monster. I've been knee-deep in the stacks, cleaning up my office/craft space and the more I sort through piles the more I realize the depth of my problem. Let's just say that I have a LOT of paper – scrapbook paper, wallpaper, notebook paper, empty notebooks full of paper, notepads, printer paper sample books, pretty stationery, more scrapbook paper, origami paper. And each piece is so beautiful! So pretty, in fact, that I'm a little hesitant to use it. Oftentimes I'll decide to make something but refuse to use the prettiest of my papers because I can't stand to mar their crisp perfection.

Ugh.

So, my confession here is two-fold. Not only am I telling you that I have a paper hoarding problem but there's a second part. This weekend, in the midst of trying to sort and get rid of some paper in my office, I . . . um,
I . . . bought some paper?

I know! I know! It's terrible! But it was rainy and I was alone in the craft store (if my daughters are with me they will stop me, they're aware of my issue) and they had two entire aisles of the most fantastic new papers. I just couldn't stop myself.

I promise I'm going to try to be better and not buy any more paper for the rest of June. 

For now, please enjoy viewing my new papers. See, I told you they were beautiful.

The Blustery Day

Looks like our usual Spring weather is back after a long stretch of 75-85 degree days. A light rain is falling and the temps have dropped. Our local weather folks are saying this will be how it should go all week, which is probably a good thing. Our yard was already getting a bit crispy and things all over Missoula looked a little parched. When we don't get enough moisture this time of year it can mean a nasty "fire season" come July and August.

Emma and Kate enjoyed a leisurely weekend of playing with friends until the sun set on Sunday night. Emma and the clan of 13-year-olds watched movies, roamed the neighborhood, jumped on the trampoline, ate frozen yogurt, and had a great big water fight. Kate and her 11-year-old posse swam in the hot tub, had a picnic on the trampoline, painted nails, and videotaped two of their own short films – one about kids in the lunch room and one about girls camping in the wilderness. Gotta love all that creative energy. Remember when you were young, hanging with your peeps all day long? Barefoot, ponytails, nothing you had to do, just your best girlies and you? Ahhh. Life.

Over the weekend I made this quick, fun piece of window art that you or your kids might enjoy making as well.

 

Round up a thick piece of scrap paper - card stock works, although a bit heavier is nice. Cut into a fun shape – a star, a sun, a cloud (on blue paper would be cool) or whatever shape you can dream up. Using a thumbtack, poke holes in your paper to form lines, curlicues or shapes. (Use a piece of cardboard underneath your paper while you poke to keep from stabbing yourself.)

Ta da!  Hang your art with a piece of string or tape it to a sunny window.

Creative Inspiration - Part Deux

Here's another piece of art I typeset earlier this year and have on the door to my office. I LOVE this. And it's so true. It's just hard to remember when you're in the midst of middle age and all those pesky "should've" thoughts keep slipping between the cracks in your brain.

Did you know that Norman Maclean started writing "A River Runs Through It" when he was 71 years old!? The book, his first work of fiction, was published in 1976, when he was 74 years old, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. It even went on to become a sweet movie, starring Brad Pitt, who really is quite a fine specimen . . . (whoops, I'm starting to go astray . . . now I'm thinking about how he was Tristan in "Legends of the Fall," and there's that one scene . . . oh my, sorry) My point is . . .

See? It's really NEVER too late.

So GO!

Hurry!

Start right now . . .

~ Feel free to print this for your wall too - it looks especially lovely printed on a piece of colored paper (and framed to match your decor!) ~

DIY Dog Bed / Repurposed Doll Crib

For years this little doll crib was a busy place – there was always at least one plastic baby taking a nap in it, sometimes a whole hoard of them. Sometimes they were all happy, like they are in this photo, and sometimes I could hear them all screaming as Emma and Kate busily tried to change their diapers, get them fed, and burp them (there was ALWAYS a lot of loud burping). As the years passed the babies didn't get as much attention. I'd walk by and find them all in a big pile, face-down, limbs everywhere. I found myself shuffling this crib of babies around in the basement, trying to free up space for the Wii dance mat or a gymnastics show. Then recently the girls have been sticking it in my office to get it out of the way when their friends come for sleepovers. Sadly, it was time to find a new home for the little crib.

Originally I planned to have Gary shove it up in the attic, but then I had an idea. I discovered that Izzy's fleece dog bed was the perfect size to fit in the bottom of the crib. I bought a half yard of remnant fleece from the fabric store and made a little pillowcase for the bed using the easy no-sew tie method (Google no-sew fleece for lots of YouTube how-to videos).

I kept once side open so the case could easily slip off to go in the wash.

I added Izzy's favorite blanket and found another addition in the linen closet . . . a heart-shaped pillow and . . .  Viola! Here's the finished dog bed. It now sits under a southern exposure window so it gets lots of nice morning sunshine.

This morning I found this . . .

Adorbs!