A New Hobby

What's the difference between a "craft" and  a "hobby?"  I guess maybe a hobby is not neccessarily a craft, huh?  Like bird watching or coin  collecting.  A person isn't always crafty in their hobby.  But, a craft is always a hobby, don't you think?  Something we want to spend time at.  Why else do we subject ourselves to unbreakable knots and goopy glue and glittered skin and inked fingers and needle pricks?  Anyway...

I've started to teach myself crochet.  And I LOVE it!  I remember spending time with my grandma, in the summertime probably, sitting beside her and learning the basic crochet stitch(es).  I honestly don't remember what I learned specifically.  But I do remember, now that I'm at it again, I liked how the yarn felt between my fingers.  And I like being able to twist the crochet hook in and out and make it grab the yarn in just the right way.  It's soothing.  Two of my three boyos, by the way, have asked to learn.  So I sat down with Bud and  JoJo, on separate occasions, and patiently taught them how to hold the yarn and the hook, and then to make a single crochet stitch.  They tried, and tried again - and succeeded and failed - and tried again.   And then they said, "OK, I'm done."  So much for that!  I'm so glad they asked to learn, though.  Maybe one of them will pick it up again.  Although I'm guessing not.


So here's what I'm working on currently.  This is probably my fourth attempt at this particular dishcloth.  Just can't quite understand all the lingo in the pattern directions yet...but I'm getting there!  I call my friend Amy and whine in frustration.  She laughs at me and talks me through it. 







And look at this yarn!  It's gorgeous, trust me.  The richness of the colors does not come through on the photo.  But I just love it.  I picked it out because it looks so beautiful with my new wool coat.  I was successful at making two scarves as Christmas gifts this year, so I decided to make one for myself, too. 

 

The incredibly simple pattern I'm using makes it knobby and bulky.  So warm and cozy, I just love it!

 

 

Any new crafts or hobbies you are picking up this year?  Or maybe just a promise to yourself to do more of one you already find enjoyment in?  Let's encourage one another to continue in our hobbies.  They bring us such enjoyment, contentment, peace and a sense of accomplishment.  Not to mention the joy and love they can bring to others when we share the finished products.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Wish Lists

 

Do your kids write out wish lists to give to Grandparents around this time of year?  Mine do.  I don't know that they've always made it to the G's homes, but at least I know what to tell them when they call asking that all important question, "What do they want for Christmas?"

This year I decided to make a cute Wish List "wallet" that could be tucked into a purse or pocket.  Here is what they look like:

 

 

I started by cutting an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock widthwise, into 3-inch stips.  Then I folded one end up towards the other end leaving 1/2inch at the top.  Made a sharp crease then folded the 1/2 inch top down, making another sharp crease.  I then pulled out scraps of Christmas paper and, after measuring the size of the front, I cut a piece to adhere to the front of the cardstock.  This fit under the 1/2 inch flap.  I measured and cut another coordinating piece for the back (no picture).  I took a wallet sized school pic of each boyo and glued it to the bottom corner.  Punched 3 scalloped circles and wrote "My Wish List" on each.  Used a little liquid glass to accent the dots over the I's and glued them down.  In the 1/2 inch flaps, I punched a little hole to thread my ribbon through and adhered it on the inside so it would stay put.  The cute little bows I learned to make on Pinterest, with a fork!  No kidding!  It's so cool.  I keep the fork in my craft room now. 

 



 

Anyway, on the inside I glued down a long strip of lined paper and folded it up accordian style so it would fit within the wallet.  The paper clip on the outside was a last minute "what am I gonna do" problem solver.  I wanted the little flap to stay shut so my first attempt was using sticky velcro, cut to size.  I just didn't like the way it looked.  Too bulky.  So I ripped them off. Carefully.  But some of the paper still tore.  Oh well.  Nothing a little adhesive couldn't hold back in place!  I really wished I had some tiny adhesive magnets...alas I did not. (Do they even make those?)  But I did have colored paper clips.  Clip to the rescue!  Now I figure if the G's have coupons, they can clip them right to the list.

  

 



 

 

Honestly, they didn't turn out to match the idea I started with in my head.  But I like them.  And there is always next year, right?  Always room for new ideas, improvement and change.  Love that about crafting.  Have you started any holiday crafts yet?

 

 

 



A Few Crafts

 

Here is our Family Fall Tree that we made since last posting.  We had such a nice time together.  I found some good music on Pandora we all could enjoy and we scratched pretty designs in our leaves all evening.  Great memories were made and possibly a new tradition was started!

Today's project was inspired by this:

The bookshelf in JoJo and Mouse's room was in need of a little, um, straightening.  Seems no matter how we try to organize it, it always looks like this in a matter of days.  I thought about the beauty of baskets and wondered if that would help.  Then I thought about how much moolah I've already spent this month and decided I needed to get creative.  I searched through my own cardboard boxes and decided on a granola bar box.




                                     


I taped the ends back together, cut off the top and the cut out a piece from the front.  Then I searched through my papers so I could cover it.  I pulled out my pack of superhero paper, knowing it would be loved by the boyos!

 

Here's the finished product.  Now to get it into their room.

 



                                                                      
 I think it's cute!  And the boys will think it's cool.  Here are the shelves after I resorted everything.  More boxes/baskets are needed and more sorting needs to be done (do we still need "Goodnight Little Rabbit?")  but this is a start.  They can pull out a box/basket and when they are done the whole thing goes back on the shelf.  I just hope they remember to put the books in it...




What have you been crafting?

First day of Autumn

I love fall.  The cooling off from a hot summer, the smells of harvest and of the earth being tilled, the tastes of delicious soups, breads and other oven baked goodness...it's all so wonderful!

We spent our first day of Autumn out of doors, doing yard work.  The boys didn't even seem to mind helping out.  I think we were all ready for some manual labor in the cool autumn air.

A little trimming followed by a lot of clean up.

 

 

Even our good ol' girl enjoyed the nice day.  At 13 years old, she was almost puppy-like!


I picked up this craft at Hobby Lobby the other day.  You scratch the black off to reveal pretty fall colors...

AND I've got gingersnap cookie dough in the fridge!  So later this evening we'll have an autumn party with leaf shaped cookies and apple cider.  We'll work on our craft and hang the finished products from a small trimmed branch I rescued from the yard.  I'll stick it in a pitcher or vase and we can enjoy it as fall decoration in our home.

I'll say it again.  I love fall!  Don't you?

Craft room update

Hi!  Got your coffee?  I've got mine.  Let's chat about my room, hmm? 

I'm making progress!  I love being able to say that.  "Progress is being made."  "Things are progressing nicely."  They all sound good.  I can see my tables again.  Woo hoo!  The floor now, that's another story...

Here's what I did.  I grabbed 3 laundry baskets from the basement and, in my queenly fashion, dubbed them:

1. "You don't belong here" = item belongs in another room of the house
2. "You do belong here" = item stays in my room
3. "You are leaving my house, one way or another."  = it's being donated to Goodwill or given to a friend or thrown out!

Then I started pulling everything off the tables and shelves.  EVERYTHING went into one of those 3 baskets.  I really enjoyed tossing things into the baskets.  I really did!  Especially the two on the ends (you don't belong here and you are leaving my house).  I didn't have to think about where the item did belong or what it's fate would be, I just tossed it.  Decisions to be made later.  Love that!  The basket that was the fullest was the You Do Belong Here basket.  In fact, it was spilling out onto the floor. And most of it is still there!  Yep, I've got my work cut out for me.

 Once my tables were cleaned, I started moving things back in.  I thought a lot about how I like to work, what I want the room to look like.  I don't spend that much time thinking about myself and how I like to do things.  So I pushed myself to do that and was able to make some decisions about how to store and display my supplies.   As I went along I realized some more storage type things would be needed.  A power cord for my Cricut, heat tool, glue gun, light and other possible crafting necesseties.  A tension rod for storing ribbons on.  I'm going to try using it vertically by threading the ribbon spools on and installing it between the shelves.  Not sure it'll work but I'll give it a try.  Another 12x12 set of drawers for storing papers and page protectors. 

I have more decisions to make today and I better get to it.  I'll try to get new pics up, too, once there is something good to share.  But first on my list is to empty at least one basket.  I started laundry earlier and I only have one basket to work with right now.  Yikes!

Pro-craft-ination

I love looking at crafty blogs.  I love doing crafts, especially paper crafts.  Scrapbooks, cards, cut paper hearts.  You know, all that cut and paste stuff we did in grade school.  LOVE it!  And I thought I would have fun sharing some of my own creations, simple as they may be, with you.  But do you think I could get past the "idea" stage and into the acutal "doing" stage??  Drives me nuts, that bit about myself.  I procrastinate.  And I'm good at it.  Lots of ideas in my head....just gotta get them out of there and active.  Grr.  I have a dear friend who is the grab the bull by the horns and go with it.  She and I work well together.  I come up with the ideas and she runs with it.  Maybe I should pick up the phone and ask her to give me a virtual kick in the behind.

So one day soon, I hope to have a couple of pics of some of the great ideas in my head!  Unless they turn out crappy.  Then I won't post them.  I'll just tell you they turned out crappy - but I had fun trying.  Seriously, there is one photo collage I did for Christmas that I haven't changed yet.  I plan on getting it changed out for Valentines Day.  Maybe I'll start that now...  That sounds good!  I have an hour before Cub Scouts.  Thanks for the pep talk and the oh-so-gentle kick in the behind.