Scenes of Late

Well, I don't know about you, but we have entered the holiday season full speed on! I guess because we had such a laid-back and relaxed Thanksgiving this year (just the 4 of us), we were well rested yesterday to begin our Christmas decorating, wrapping and the annual trip up to the roof (not me, thankfully) to hang the lights. (We also had the annual black-out that always accompanies us in the evenings when the outside lights go on.) I thought I would just share a few scenes from this morning along with a new school craft I am working on. (I am making Snowmen t-shirts for our first grade Christmas concert...more on that later.)

Ribbon Board

This morning, after I read the newspaper, I got started on one of many "projects" on my "Project TO DO list." I found the perfect sized bulletin board at a garage sale a few weeks ago, it measures 23 x 46 and it was a steal for $2.00! My youngest daughter wanted a new ribbon board for her room to go above her new full-sized headboard. Well, where are you going to find one that big? You've got to make it yourself! I can't believe I started it this morning, and with one break in the middle of the day, I actually finished it this afternoon. The first thing I did was cover it with two layers of batting. The first layer was stapled on, the second layer I hot-glued to the first. (My second layer was too short to wrap around the board.) Next, I covered it with the fabric she chose..."pink, please!" I used the staple gun again for that. Then it was time to apply the ribbon pattern to cover the board. I had 4 spools of ribbon and used only 2 (they were 15ft. each). Lastly, the trickiest part was deciding how to tack down the ribbon so that we could get that puckered look. We decided to use a longer staple and needle-nose pliers to curl the ends of the staple once we put it through the front of the board. To finish it, I used a needle and thread to give my pink buttons a "faux-sewn" look and hot glued them to the intersecting ribbons to hide the staples. I can't wait to hang it above her bed. I think the total cost for this project was approximately $10.00.

Turkey Pins

I saw these cute pins today on my kitchen counter and thought you guys might like to see them. I made them several years ago for my daughter's pre-school teachers. I think I got the idea from "Family Fun" magazine. I believe they used something similar to iron on a child's shirt. We never see Thanksgiving holiday shirts in the stores, so that would be a good idea. I decided to use the pattern and turned them into decorative pins. These are made using simple craft felt cut with pinking shears and pipe cleaners for legs. The eyes were made using some square beads I had in my bead stash. I stayed home with a sick child today so there was no time for crafting, but I'm glad I had these to show you.

Christmas School Fun

What new camera? What Thanksgiving crafts? Have you done anything new lately? Not me, I've been steadily working away at preparations for my school's Christmas festival. These are a few shots (taken really quickly) of some things that have touched my crafty hands lately. Not the real show-stopping stuff I like to talk about, but things that have occupied my time and it's all for a good cause....that's what I keep trying to remind myself. The big day is December 6th (right around the corner) and then I'll be free to pursue other things. These pictures are of various things: a giant "Surprise Wall" that my husband constructed. My neighbor drew the scenery and we have been painting it little-by-little. One of four reindeer vases to be used as centerpieces at our eating tables (we will fill them with starlight peppermint candies) and some simple bows to be attached to evergreen wreaths. I'll keep you updated!

Family Photography

As I spend my days getting ready for my school's holiday festival, I've been using my time on creative things without taking pictures. We are preparing simple and easy crafts for the children to make (100 of each) and although we are making samples, I didn't think about taking pictures. I've also be spending some time painting a wall mural that will be turned into a game - I'll print pictures when it is done. For right now, I thought I would share a few pictures that I've taken with my new camera. They are nothing fancy, but I'm still learning the camera's capabilities and sneaking in some shots here and there while the kids play. I'll be back later with projects to share.

Christmas Came Early

Well, I finally bit the bullet (and the wallet) and bought myself a Digital SLR camera.....I am so thrilled and can't wait to see the possibilities! A long time ago, before the digital revolution, I took really awesome pictures with a Minolta camera complete with all the fancy lenses and filters. When we decided to go digital I gave up on the lenses and just used the auto focus for everything. Today I went, after doing a lot of research (and budget reviewing), and bought a Canon XSi with two lenses! I didn't get too far with the owner's manual today, I think only to page 23, but these are two really pretty pictures we took from around the house.

It Always Happens this Way

I think it's funny sometimes how whenever I am working on a particular project it doesn't matter how much space I have to begin with, or how neat my desktop area is when I get started, I always end up working in a space that measures about 8x8.....I'm shoving things around, things are falling down, I lose my x-acto knife (every time) but in the end, I usually like what I can come up with.

This afternoon I put together two quick cards as a thank-you to the room moms that helped me with my 3rd grade class and our "unofficial" Halloween party. It was nice to have a couple of people helping instead of doing the usual solo thing.

These came together really quickly from an inspirational photo in the Stampin' Up (Spring) catalog. (The green card is my favorite.)