Tackle It on Tuesday: Pinterest Spring Burlap Bunting

March 18, 2014

Last week, I shared with you a fun project I had found on Pinterest to make a Spring Pom-Pom Burlap Bunting. I already had most of the supplies on hand, so on one afternoon, I cut out all of the burlap and fabric.

Taking the time to cut out all of the burlap and fabric was the longest part of this project. Plus I had enough supplies to make four of these. The quick and easy part was using the glue gun to put it all together! Overall, I was able to put these together over two afternoons.

So you might be asking, "What is she planning on doing with four of these?" Well, I am glad you asked! Last year, I used my Gifts from Our Little Corner Facebook page to post things for sale to earn money for our Compassion Mexico trip. Because I would like to go on trips in the future with Compassion, I am going to continue using that Facebook page to post items for sale. So, if you would like to purchase one of these for your own home, be sure to pop over to my Facebook page and let me know which one you would like!

Now onto my project for this week...

One of the blessings of having an extra room in our home is an area to work on craft projects and having an additional area to store things. One of the drawbacks of having an extra room is it kind of becomes a dumping ground for a lot of things...ugh!! And most of this clutter is my own doing. Now that my daughter's drama performances are over, my goal is to spend time this week putting these things where they belong. Wish me luck!!

Tackle It on Tuesday: Clutter Piles

March 11, 2014

Do you struggle with clutter in your home? I wish I didn't, but I do. Rather than take care of things as they come into my home, sometimes it seems easier to just add things to a pile and handle it later. So this last week, there were three areas of clutter that I wanted to tackle. How did I do?

So how did I tackle the clutter piles? One night last week, I had rice cooking on the stove. During that 20 minutes, I attacked all three piles of clutter. Sometimes, just devoting a set amount of time to tackle these projects is all it takes.

Now onto my next project! We are heading into our last week of drama performances, so I am going to have a little more time to work on some bigger projects now that we will not be driving back and forth to class/performances. I found a sweet spring burlap bunting project on Pinterest that I want to make.

Everything I need for this project (except the pom-pom garland) was already in my craft room, and I should have enough supplies to make at least four of these. The part that will take the longest is cutting everything out. That might be a good time to listen to a podcast or two.

What are you working on this week?

To 'etsy' or not to 'etsy'?

November 25, 2013

I like to make things, plain and simple. I have a room full of all sorts of crafting supplies. For the most part, the supplies are somewhat organized. But at any given time, I am working on multiple projects. Knitting, sewing, crocheting, hand stitching, mod podge, quilting, baking, canning jam. This can lead to many unfinished projects.

In fact, to add to my pile of projects, this coming up Friday (you know the one, the day after Thanksgiving when crazy people get up early to try to find crazy deals!), you will find me at my local JoAnn's to purchase flannel for $1.49/yard. Yep, I will probably spend at least an hour or more in the store waiting to have yards of flannel cut so I can have a collection of material on hand to make flannel baby blankets for the multiple baby showers that usually occur during the upcoming year.

I have to say though, the finished pile of baby blankets and wash cloths I had on hand earlier this year was the start of my fundraising for our upcoming Compassion trip. Since the beginning of May, I have canned multiple jars of jam, made umpteen knitted dish cloths, sold almost 20 sets of baby blankets and wash cloths, and a good number of other homemade items. I have been able to sell all of these items on one of my Facebook pages. And it has been very successful!!

So I come to my question for this post: to 'etsy' or not to 'etsy'? Like I stated at the beginning of my post, I like to make things. After our trip, I would like to continue to make things and sell them. We really could use the extra income (our new medical rates are doubling, but don't get me started on that subject!). And I would like to donate part of the profit to Compassion.

Here is how you can help me out: answer two questions for me in the comments, I will enter your name in a drawing for one of these fabric pennant banners!

Question #1: Do you think I should start an etsy store?

Question #2: Have you ever purchased something from an etsy store?

Thank you so much! I will keep comments open for the drawing until midnight pacific time on Friday, November 29th.

Candy Corn Jar Candle Holder

October 4, 2013

A couple of days ago, my blogging friend, Kris, shared a Book Leaf Banner tutorial on her blog. It was just the inspiration I needed to put together a fun project using a couple of my favorite fall items.

Do you like candy corns? I sure do. And do you know if you pair them with peanuts for a snack, they taste like Payday bars? Yum! And candy corns are made from great fall colors!

Anyway, back to the project…

The materials needed for this project are pretty simple:

half pint jars
mod podge
orange, yellow, and white tissue paper
foam brush
scissors

When I am working on a project like this, I like to use a sheet of wax paper to keep everything from sticking to my table.

First step, cut the tissue paper into strips. You really don’t need exact measurements for this, you just want to make sure all three strips will cover the jar.

Next, brush the whole outside of the jar with the mod podge.

Then wrap the white and yellow tissue paper around the outside of the jar on top of the mod podge. You can use two strips of white tissue paper if you don’t want the top of the jar to be too clear.

At this point, you will want to add more mod podge around the middle of the jar, then add the orange strip of tissue paper around the jar. Then carefully, cover the whole outside of the jar with more mod podge. Let the jar set to dry.

Once the outside of the jar is dry, add a tealight or votive candle to the jar and enjoy this cute fall decoration in your home!

Giveaway!!

Since I made two of these jars today, I would love to give one away to one of my lucky readers! To enter, leave a comment below. Want to earn extra entries? Pin, tweet, or share this post and you will receive extras entries! Please be sure to leave a comment below for each thing you do. (Open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be drawn next Friday, October 11th.)

Capture Your 365

March 6, 2013

Here are this past week’s photos on my Capture Your 365 adventure!

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/60 sec

Day 58 – Essential Equipment: today I wanted to make some muffins, so I pulled out all the ingredients to make some pumpkin muffins. Yum!

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2,8, 1/5 sec

Day 59 – Up Close and Personal: today’s prompt encouraged you to fill the frame. This little camera was the first camera I ever took pictures with a long time ago at outdoor ed. I found it at my parent’s house on a visit up there and brought it home. I like keeping it up on a shelf with some old books I have been collecting.

ISO 100, 24mm, f/4.0, 1/800 sec

Day 60 – Sweet Rest: in the busyness of this life, we tend to neglect taking time to just rest. Last week we were blessed with a beautiful afternoon, so Kelsey and I had iced coffees out in the backyard. It was a nice time to enjoy the warmth of the sun and some sweet time with my daughter.

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec

Day 61 – Whimsical: last spring, Kelsey and I put these together from an idea I found on Pinterest. They are a great way to add some spring color to our home.

ISO 100, 32mm, f/25, 1/8 sec

Day 62 – Upside Down: Now I know this photo is not upside down. But what I loved was how filled the sky was with clouds. I was waiting for the sun to move past the clouds, but not quite behind the hills. Kevin and I were on our way home from a date afternoon and I had him stop quite a few times until I got the ‘perfect’ shot. It is all the interpretation of the prompt, right? (insert big smile here!)

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec

Day 63 – Two: So I have to admit, I actually took this photo on Day 62. Kevin and I went out on a date afternoon (which I will blog about soon), and we stopped for a treat. One Mocha Frappuccino and one Chai Tea Latte. Two Starbucks drink, but one fun afternoon!

Are you Capturing Your 365? Let me know if you are! I would love to see what you are capturing!