Unfinished Business

It's hard for me to work on projects that I can't finish in a day.  I really like to see results !  Here are some of the things I've been working on:

A granny square blanket.  I started making squares a little over a month ago and I only have enough squares for about a fourth of a blanket.  I'm going to have a lot of respect for grannies and their square blankets by the time I get done with this.

About a month ago I started cutting squares out of vintage fabrics for a light quilt.  I've never made a quilt before so this should be interesting.  At least I'm keeping it simple with squares.  Big ones.  I love all the different floral patterns next to each other.  They make me happy.

And, as if all that wasn't enough to keep me busy, I picked up a mini cross-stitch kit from Barnes and Nobel on Saturday night.  At least this is one thing I should be able to finish fairly quickly.  I've been wanting to cross-stitch for a while now and a mini project is perfect.  I can't wait to post something that's actually finished!   There just aren't enough hours in the day.  Who votes for longer weekends?

A Busy + Fun Weekend

Let me just start out by saying:  Happy Father's Day to the best grandpa in the whole entire world!  I love, love love my grandpa so much!!!

It was a fun and busy weekend.  Saturday morning a friend and I went to the swap meet to treasure hunt.  It never ceases to amaze me how I can go every week and there is always new stuff.  Where does all this stuff come from- it's so crazy.  But keep it coming, I'm not complaining.  I found three more enamel brooches, but my more exciting treasures on this trip were the three vintage paint by number paintings I found.  I love the style so much and I'm really excited about expanding my collection.  The landscape painting is the oldest as far as I can tell - it's dated 1958.  The one of Venice is dated 1979 and the horse one isn't dated.  The horse one was only $1 and the woman was amazed that I even wanted it.

Then Saturday evening we went to a wedding, Sunday morning Father's Day brunch for Grandpa and then a bike ride to burn off some calories and work up another appetite for an afternoon Father's Day lunch for my father-in-law.  Not a lot of time left over time for crafts and such, but I squeezed a little in; I gave my art journal some love and crocheted some more granny squares for a blanket (that is going to take me forever to make at two squares a night!)  I made these last week and forgot to post them - I think they are so cool looking and  I want to make a ton of them when I have time!  There is SO much fun stuff to look forward to right now.  Hooray for Summer!

Caramel Corn + More

I am SO sad this weekend has to end.  It was nice, calm, and relaxing -  I spent a lot of time baking, making, and creating - going at my own pace, doing whatever I wanted.  Saturday night I went to a friend's house to watch the UFC fight, which was pretty uneventful, not like I care one way or the other- but I got to spend time with her and her super cute baby.  I also made this caramel corn.  I've made it once before and it's super yummy and easy to make.  Check it:

{Caramel Corn}

2 bags (regular sized) popped popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp backing soda

Place popcorn in a large bowl (remove any unpopped kernels) and set aside.  In a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil.  Cook and stir until the temperature on a candy thermometer reads 238° (soft-ball stage).  Remove from heat and stir in baking soda.  The mixture will foam.  Quickly pour over popcorn and mix until all popcorn is coated.

Spread popcorn evenly over two large greased baking sheets.  Bake at 200º for 45 minutes, stirring once.  Transfer to waxed paper to cool.

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I also spent countless hours making pom poms.  I didn't know what I was going to do with all of them, but then I found this pom pom wreath on another blog and decided to make it.  It's kind of retro looking.  I like it.  I ran out of yarn (5 skeins) so I need to get more to finish it.

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I also wanted to share my swap meet find from last weekend.  This stool was only $5.  It was a little rusted, but with a little elbow grease, Sir and I got it looking decent.  I had to do some spring cleaning this weekend.  I have five chairs in my pink room now!  I love buying:  chairs (Sir loves them too!), side tables, plastic cups from Target, milk glass, knickknacks, and little dessert plates.

Happy Halloween

Despite two practice pumpkins before the final version, for the second year in a row, I lost the pumpkin carving contest at my work. It's actually pretty sad when there are only four pumpkins competing. Ha! Both years I've tried to do something different, difficult (for me), and not to mention time consuming - and I've lost. So I've learned my lesson- I was so focused on winning that I forgot to have fun. And it should be fun! So only fun pumpkin carving from now on...

On a happier note, my husband IS a winner! He won the contest at his work with his Edward Scissorhands pumpkin. He deserved to win, his pumpkin was really good.

And finally, a loser for the second time yesterday, I lost the Scariest Dessert Contest at my husband's work. I made these Ladies' Fingers from the Martha Stewart website. I thought they looked pretty gross. I didn't even want to eat one! Especially the nails, which are blanched almonds dyed with red food coloring. Ew.

Finally!

Can you believe it? I finally finished making my dress. Well, I finished a long time ago, but it was too long and matronly looking so I decided I wanted to shorten it. Which actually only took me like 15 minutes.  It's kinda boring-looking, but I figured I would most likely wear it with a cardigan (because I always wear a cardigan.) I'm proud of myself for beginning to make things that are actually wearable. Each item I make, I learn something new, so I guess I just have to keep on plugging away!

Shrine Time

Being that it was the first weekend in October, I was really excited to start my Halloween decorating at home. I really wanted to put up a Dia De Los Muertos shrine for my Grandma and my kitty, Miette, who died last Halloween. My shrine isn't that great, but it's a start. I'm not a very good Mexican - It definitely needs more color! I will keep working on making more paper flowers and papel picado (punched paper). Cutting the papel picado was the most time consuming, but they turned out really pretty. I also made some more felt skeletons, Halloween colored ranunculus, and black crepe paper roses to take to work. I love Halloween so much!

It's Almost Time...

I know, I know... Halloween already?? It's still two months away, but you have to enjoy it while you can. Well actually, I still have a few Halloween decorations up from last year. Only the super classy ones, of course. Skulls are always in season. Halloween is my favorite holiday as far as home decor goes. So this weekend when I walked into the craft store and saw them putting up Halloween decorations, I got excited whereas most people would just roll their eyes.

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And, of course, you have to get a jump start on any crafts because there are so many. My mother-in-law found these cute guys in a magazine called Cloth, Paper, Scissors. It was a contest winner, so there were no instructions, but we winged it and they came out cute. Mine is above and my mother-in-law's artistic broken-hearted skeleton is below.

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We also tried this Martha Stewart craft, paper-covered switch plates. Only we had to stop after a few switch plates because I couldn't decide which paper I liked best.

And finally, I also made the new pillowcases for our living room pillows. Unlike our last covers that I just sewed right on the pillows, I made these cases with zippers, so I can throw them in the wash when they get dirty. I get smarter every day...

I'll say it was a productive weekend.

Ranunculus

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My second attempt at clay flowers was a success! These are from the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts that my lovely mother bought me for my birthday. Thank you, mother. These make my hydrangeas look like a 3rd grade school project. The clay is everything. Air dry is the bomb biggity. I made these last night while I watched Twilight with the commentary on. Robert Pattinson is a crack up. Aaron was downstairs and could hear me laughing and was curious as to what I was watching. Then he was like "I wanted to watch that too!" Don't worry babe, I'm sure it won't be hard to make me watch it again.

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I made some roses too, but eh.. I'm not really a rose kind of girl.

Clay (Hydrangeas?)

So, hydrangeas they aren't, but call them what you will, they are still cute! Martha was trying to get my to buy some fancy clay, but I said hey I have polymer clay at home... My partner in flower making crime, Monica, tried air dry clay and says it's better, so hopefully there will be some new and improved clay flowers up soon.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/clay-flowers?xsc=eml_crd_2009_03_21

Crepe Paper Roses

Martha really came through on this one. I thought these roses were awesome from the first time I saw them in my craft-of-the day email and I was right - they are awesome! Fun and easy to make too - if you can find crepe paper! And don't let anyone tell you that you can buy it at Party City! I had to order it online. But it was worth it.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/crepe-paper-roses?xsc=eml_crd_2009_03_20

Paper Christmas Trees

These paper christmas trees were easy to make after we got the folding technique down. Martha's "evergreens" were all green, of course, with gold balls at the top, but gold's not allowed in my house, so I spiced it up!

Cupcakes!

My hip and urban mother-in-law found a video on how to make little teeny-tiny cupcakes out of clay on the internet. So we went to the store and bought some clay and had a fun-filled day of making tiny desserts. Of course, I love anything cupcake-related and tiny!

If you look next to the gigantic cheesecake, you will find the world's smallest cupcake! I think maybe that's only funny to me and my mother-in-law... . As you can see, I also made things besides treats.

Also in cupcake-related news, I got these lip glosses at Borders the other day... aren't they the super cutest?!

Domestic

While I was making super cute cupcakes, I got to wear the apron I made last week. I have to try real hard not to get it dirty...

Halloween + Dia de los Muertos

I was excited for halloween this year. I got to make lots of scary goodies for my work's halloween party and I carved TWO Martha Stewart pumpkins! My first one was better, but afer having an already terrible day, I set it down at the top of the stairs and having declared itself a loser for not winning the pumpkin carving contest, my pumpkin hurled itself all the way down and cracked in half at the bottom. Total bummer. Above, is my lesser detailed second attempt.

I was particularly excited about making brain cupcakes! The merengue buttercream frosting was a chore, but they turned out so cute and everyone knew they were brains!

A few weekends ago, my mother-in-law and I started a paper mache project for halloween. We were supposed to make these really cute little pumpkins, but it turned out to be more difficult than we thought. So, no, a first grader didn't make these, I did! It was my first time doing paper mache! Even though they didn't turn out the way we expected and they are pretty bad, they are still kinda cute, so here they are:

And lastly, the actual day of Halloween was a sad one for us. It was our dia de los muertos. Our first ever and best kitty, Miette, got very sick due to fatty liver disease. While we thought we cured her and she had two good weeks, in the end it recured and we knew it was her time to go. My heart aches when I think I will never see her again. And I know it will make me sad every time I see this posting, I can't help it. I love looking at her! She had so much personality and her absence will leave a huge void in my life.

Glass Bubble Magnets

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These magnets were supposed to be my craft party project, but I'm not sure when that's going to happen, so I just decided to go ahead and make them by myself. They are so cute and easy! I found so many cute pictures, I just couldn't stop making them... as you can see...

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Softies

I woke up at 6 a.m. this morning and was bored so I made this "treeling" softie. Softies are little stuffed characters usually made from felt. I started the tea cake a while ago, but got confused on the whipped cream, so stared at it for a couple weeks before I finally improvised and made my own, which is just a rosette, but it works.