Monday, December 29, 2008

Bring on 2009!

Earlier in the year, I posted about giving 2008 a stink eye due to all of the crappy events that had occurred. Little did I know that I was only jinxing myself by posting that back in.....June?, I believe. 2008 continued on the path that it had set for itself during the 1st few months, going out with a bang on December 14th, when I required an emergency appendectomy spending 5 days in the local hospital. Not a great Christmas gift, if you ask me, but at least I won't have to worry about my appendix every again as long as I live.

So for 2009, I have decided a few things.


  • I will not have any unnecessary surgical procedures requiring time off of work. Total time off work in '08 was 6 weeks. Four when I had my foot nearly chopped off for a plantar wart issue, and then 2 for the appendix going rogue.
  • I am going to continue to move toward my goal of being more healthful by renewing my motivation in my Weight Watchers group and being more active.
  • I am not going to dwell on negative situations or people and strive to be happy with my life and my choices every day.
Okay, so I realize this is a super serious, semi-sappy post, but everyone is entitled to one once in a while right? I should be posting very soon with some fantastic Christmas and New Year's pics.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Fuzzy Candy Canes


I found an awesome tutorial for felted candy canes at the feltcafe blog. I have been wanting to try to make felted items for a while, but just hadn't found quite the right project to inspire me to do so. Everything I saw just looked a little too over my head as far a beginner for felting went. This tutorial looked to be right up my alley ,and the perfect chance to make little package embellishments for the all the wrapping for the holidays.

After some searching on Etsy, I found 2 sellers to purchase small amounts of wool roving from to get started.
I purchased my white wool roving from 7 Yaks Designs and a crimson pink roving from Wind Rose Fiber Studio. I was able to pick up all of the supplies needed for a little bit of nothing.

The process was very easy and only took me about 15 minutes to make 3 candy canes. I think if you wanted to produce a ton of them, it would not take very long at all. I've included a few pics, although I admit, they aren't the greatest. I may try a felted heart outline for the upcoming Valentine's holiday using the same materials and technique and tie a ribbon to use as a valentine's ornament. Happy crafting!

Sock Monkey Sock Hop

I know that I may be in the minority, but I have never owned a sock monkey. I vaguely remember my great grandma having one at her house that I may have played with many moons ago. One of my coworkers had asked if I could make some "funky" sock monkeys for her 2 boys for Christmas. I found a great online tutorial at Craftbits.com that was super informative and easy to follow. I figured I had to be able to do it when I started to read all the comments about kids and people who had no sewing experience whatsoever having great results with the instructions. I found the perfect socks at Target. Three pairs of knee high socks for $6.99. I chose the most traditional looking pair for my first attempt which I show here in this post. Sock monkey #2 is still being formulated in my secret lab. I think he will be much funkier than his older brother.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Vintage Reindeer Display

A few weeks ago while doing my daily cruising at Etsy, I came across these fantastically altered vintage flocked reindeer (seen in 1st pic to right) from Magpie Ethel's shop. After inquiring if she planned on having anymore available, I happened upon two of the unadorned treasures at one of my local antique shops, Fairmont Avenue Antiques, in Fairmont, WV for a very meager $3.oo each! (seen in pic to left)
I quickly snatched them up and set off to beglittering their antlers and hooves. It was a very easy process using Martha Stewart's glitter and glue that I picked up at Wal*Mart for about $6 if I recall correctly. It was a very easy process that took only about 15 minutes to complete both reindeer. So next I had to decide how I was going to display my fabulous new "flamboyant" deer as my husband put it. Little did he know that there was much more to come! I ended up ordering a couple of adorable handmade pink bottlebrush trees from Magpie Ethel's shop as well. She graciously offered to make necklaces for my deer to make them as sassy as the ones she had done. I found the last piece of my vintage puzzle at another local antique shop, Sweet Memories, also in Fairmont, WV....a set of 5 pink glass ball ornaments. I took a strand of white lights and laid a blanket of glittery snow over it, at the advice of a good friend. Also you can see our ceramic lighted Christmas tree in the background that we purchased in Gatlinburg, TN last year at their giant craft show.