Come on Tomato, Catch-up!

Today's post is all about the random projects I've had going lately.  With the recent blizzard we were confined to the house for 3 entire days- just the girls and me- so my goal was to KEEP BUSY and finish as many projects as I could!  My husband was out of town for work and it was too cold to take the girls out to play in the snow.  So I had to get creative.  Really creative.  The day before the storm was expected to hit I made a trip to Hobby Lobby to stock up. 

First on the agenda was a little thread organizer shelf.  I used wood pieces that were leftover from another project, wood glue, and nails.  Then I painted it black and hung it on the wall.  Its the simple things that make me happy. 

Thread Organizer

The next project was born out of frustration from constant digging to find the right tool while crocheting.  The plastic canister 
was. not. working. 

Now I have a pretty fabric hook organizer.

Crochet Hook Organizer

It folds and snaps closed from the top to prevent hooks from falling out, say, if when a kid tries to run off with it. It could will happen.

Crochet Hook Case

And finally, I saw a quiet book that inspired me and I just had to make my own.  My teacher brain knows how important fine motor skill practice is for little fingers.  And my mommy brain dreams of having a quiet activity to keep my kids engaged.  Below are the first two finished pages.

Quiet Book Pages

The pipe cleaner stem bottoms are secured under the grass.  The stem tops are sandwiched inside the flowers to hide the sharp point.  The flowers snap to the page.

The shoe is for lacing practice.

Peek-a-boo!  Inside is a silly photo booth snap shot of the girls with their daddy.

That's all for now!

Goodbye Halloween, Hello Valentine's Day!

Hello F&F Fans!

I'm Amanda, aka Hooker #2! I'm really excited to contribute to Katie's blog!

Like Katie, I'm a teacher. And like most teachers, I LIVE for snow days! I might as well rename them "stay at home and make stuff days" because that's what I do. And take naps. With my cats. This week Mother Nature gave Oklahoma a snowy kick in the pants, and thus today is our third "stay home and make stuff day" in a row! Woo hoo!

These days off gave me the opportunity to finish some Valentine's Day projects and get them up on my mantel. The pathetic thing ... I had to take down my Halloween mantel! That's right, Halloween. I'm a little behind! You see, this year my husband and I were out of town for the holidays, so I decided not to put up Christmas decor, and the fall stuff never came down. Each time we've had friends over I've had to explain. I tell people Halloween is my favorite holiday - HA! So here's what my mantel looked like from October to yesterday:

So on Tuesday I got busy finishing my Crochet Hearts Garland that Katie and I started at our last craft date. I used 15 hearts and strung/hung them on a chain I crocheted with some random cotton stuff the hubby had in the garage. I had some mini-clothes pins on hand and they were perfect for attaching the little guys:


Next I made my first attempt at Subway Art! And that's just what it was ... an attempt. I created a major craft fail. The plan was: download a free V-Day Subway Art printable (found at Sprik Space), print it on transfer paper, iron it onto some pretty pink fabric. Everything went well until the final step:


The transfer paper didn't adhere to the swirly "damask" parts of the fabric. Sad! So, Plan B. I printed again and ironed it onto a different fabric. But the fabric was too busy and it was too hard to read the cute words:


So I moved to Plan C: print something new on cardstock (found this cutie at it is what it is), cut out with fun scissors, and glue to pretty fabric. Then the final step I'd been planning on all along - wrap fabric around an art canvas! Here's how it turned out. Not as polished looking as I had hoped, but I'm happy:


Then I made a V-Day wreath! I was inspired by a fun post over at tatertots & jello. I used a heart shaped foam wreath, red spray paint, about 100 cupcake liners and my hot glue gun:


When the wreath was finished I was ready to put it all up on the mantel! Wreath, garland, subway art, plus red, pink and white candles equals festive Valentine's Day decor! I'm pleased with the way everything turned out!


Now I will sum up everything I've learned with a Crafty Valentine's Day Poem:

Crocheting is fun,
Iron-ons are scary,
Glue guns solve problems,
Hope your Valentine's Day is merry!

Amanda

Snowed in!

Here in NE Oklahoma we are expecting quite a bit of snow!  I'm curious to see how much we actually get.  To help me keep track I made a simple snow measuring stick.  Here it is in my front yard.

I found a scrap stick in the garage and hit it with spray paint (this will keep the paint pens from bleeding).

I marked every inch with a pencil.

Then I traced the lines with a paint pen and wrote numbers on the lines.  Easy peasy!

Stay safe and warm, wherever you are!

Update:  I moved to the back yard!