Stop by, say hi!

Hey readers... I can see my visit number on the rise. It's probably the same few-- but-- if you stop by, say hi! Add a comment will ya? Let me know what you want to see me make. Remember, I have to make this in a day-- so be easy on me.

If I don't know ya, and you are checking through blogs, PLEASE say hi! I'd love to read ya!

Day 9: FAIL, sort of

I'm a little psyched about making my house look all spooky for halloween. I wanted to see if I could do a few little decorations before the stamp club that I will be hosting tomorrow.
But-- I sort of failed. I tried a few different ways to make these bats, and it just didn't turn out like I had hoped. So, I'm calling this a FAIL. UGH.

I think if I make them from black denim and leave frayed edges, that would look a whole lot cooler. hmmm... may have to try that in a few weeks. Let me lick my craft wounds and try again.





Looking ahead....
Tomorrow night is stamp club. I will be posting pics up of the crafts that we will be making!

Day 8: Spooooooooooktacular, and EASY!

If you know me, you know that I looooove Halloween. Heck, I love everything about it. I like the costumes, the scary movie marathons that run all october long, I love the candy, I just love everything about it!! What's not to love.

I saw a really cute template for these lil crows. But- I got to thinking-- hmm-- I bet I could make some penguins for christmas-- I just need to do a little adjusting.. hmm. Stay tuned in december for more.

Materials:
Scrabooking paper -
Wire :
Template for the crow :
http://www.cheekymagpie.com/wp-content/gallery/cheeky/crow-pattern.jpg


How to:
Just cut the template out, puting the straightest part of the crows back on a fold of paper.
Then- take three strands of wire and wind them around each other, leaving just enough room to make his little feet. The hardest part is to make him stand. I taped the top to the inside of the paper-- and then just kept working with the legs and feet until he was able to stand alone.

Add these cute little guys to your mantle or another spooky setting, and you have a Halloween deco that you spent little to no money on at all! Can't beat that with a stick, can ya?!




Happy Haunting!!

Random image. hehehe

THE best Granny in the world sent a whole bunch of corks for crafting with! YESSSSSSSSS!

**As a side note-- I asked a friend of my who lives in Holland (Hi Mikey) to send me some cool Dutch stuff to craft with. He has collected 200-300 Beer bottle tops to craft with. COLOR ME EXCITED! can I get a WOOT WOOT!

Day 7: Sweet Dreams

I can't believe that I have been at this for a whole week.
Like I said yesterday, I haven't been feeling well- so the projects this weekend wern't overly elaborate.
I love the idea of ribbon on pillow cases for a punch of color, and I do love me some color! :)
So-- the idea is simple:

Materials:
Pillow case
Strips of ribbon
Sewing machine

Instructions:
Just cut some different lengths of ribbon to fit your color scheme.
Sew on the the strips in random order -- think outside the box, BE RANDOM. Trust me on this, it will pay off in the end.



**And please do not poay attention to the unmade bed. That's just how I roll people. hahah
Happy Sunday.

Day 6: Hooot Hoooot

I'm not feeling very good today, so this is gonna be a simple (but still cute) one.

Check out this years cool new Stampin' Up Owl punch! one word:ADORABLE

Day 5: Put a lid on it!

I'm stuck on the Green theme this week:
Today I've made a Jiffy Gift Jar!

Materials:

• Jiffy peanut butter jar (cleaned in dishwasher)
• scrapbooking paper
• ribbon
• super tacky tape
• scissors
• circle cutter

Instructions:

Measure the flatest place around your jar to put the scrapbooking paper around. My jar was 3.5 inches wide. I cut two pieces of paper at 3.5 inches X12 inches. ** The reason I did two is because i wanted the pattern to show on the inside of the box as well. I wrapped that paper around the jar, put tape on both ends, one to secure to jar, one to secure to the paper. Now just add some cute ribbon and a tag if you want. I just happened to have a cool Paisley punch that went well with the paper I picked out. I figured this was good for both a boy or a girl. :)

Day 4: iWarm and iCozy

Today's Craft is a iPhone cozy. I've seen these lil guys everywhere on Etsy. I just adore the monster themed ones. So--- This is my creation.

Materials:

• embroidery floss
• felt
• wiggly eyes
• needle

I used my phone as a sizing guide and cut a length of felt that would fit all the way around the phone. I then took a bright green floss and blanket stitched a pocket in the felt. I left enough felt at the top to make a flap. You can use velcro to enclose it if you want.

I plan on making another iphone case this weekend, but it wil be a little more purse like, so stay tuned!! :)

Day 3: Stick a cork in it!

Continuing on the Green theme: My aunt is a wine-o. Ya, I said it. Our whole family really loves wine-- so, she isn't the only one. She has been saving corks and sent me a bag full of em. I used them for decor for a while, but I really wanted to put them to good use.
I have a spot in my office where I need to be able to hang things. (just above my desk, but below my shelving) I don't want to put a huge cork board there, so I decided to make a strip.

Supplies:
Wine Corks - I used 68 corks.
Foam board (you can also use a piece of wood or anything to secure the corks to)
Felt (enough to cover the foam board or to put on the back of the wood so you dont scratch the wall)
Hot glue: I'm addicted to hot glue. I'm totally going to run out now, must replenish supply.

Directions:

• Cut the foam board to the desired size. I used a rotoray cutter.


• Learn from my mistake: I did the felt as an after thought. If you are covering foam board- cover it first! You dont need to cover the front-- just the back and the sides, covering just enought so that you won't see the edges.


• Glue on the corks in pairs, gluing both a strip on the side (to attach the corks together) then glue the bottoms on to the board and just keep going!

I'm still working on how i am going to get this thing to hang- pobably picture hangers- or wire screwed into the cork. Will figure that out later today and fill you in.

Happy Crafting!!

This is Wyatt, he is my lil crafting buddy, usually he is a pretty big pest, expecially if I am doing anything with string. UGH. He decided to get right in the middle of everything this time!!!

Day 2: Getting Green! Magazine bowl

I decided to go green today! I found a really clever craft using old magazines to make a bowl! How totally cool is this?!

To make this:

• 2 magazines -I used old Martha Stewart magazines because they are a little bigger
• Hot glue glun and PLENTY of glue sticks
• Modge Podge-
• Ribbon

Take apart each sheet, don't worry if the torn page isn't perfect. Fold longways into half inch strips, start winding in a circle to make the bottom of the bowl use the hot glue to secure the ends. I also dotted the paper as I went along the winding process. This will also help with stability of the bowl.
Once you have the base of the bow the size that you want-- start building up the sides of the bowl little by little, making sure that you continue to wind tightly for stability.

After you have the bowl shaped the way you want it, paint on heavy coats of modge. After Modge podge dries, add a ribbon on the lip of the bowl to secure the paper down, I used hot glue for this as well.

There you have it-- it's cute AND green! What a great gift this would make, dont you think??
Tell me what YOU think and let me know if you have tried it. I loved it so much, I think I will make another!!

Other ideas:

Trivets/Hot Pads: just make the base and dont build up the sides. DONT use modge podge on this, because it WILL melt it. :)

Vases: You can start with a glass vase so that it will be water tight

My Challenge: 1 year of Crafting - 1 craft per day:

Hi, I'm Melli, I'm a craft-a-holic. :)
I have been reading some awesome blogs lately, and they have inspired me to challenge myself to create a blog: 365 days, yes, that's one full year of crafting and blogging about it. That means- I have to create a craft a day for 1 year.

My goal: expand my creativity way past it's current limits. I want to try to push the envelope a little and experiment with new mediums. Having said that-- there will be some days where I have a craft FAIL. I will make sure and call it like I see it. Hopefully there will only be a few days of that! (Had one last week for sure!)

So-- to start out with a BANG:
This is what I came up with this weekend, while on a trip to see my Granny! I made a 60s inspired stained glass mushroom recipe holder: