Welcoming spring with a bunting banner

This weekend I celebrated the oncoming of Spring by making a bunting banner for the bathroom.  It was  super easy and instantly added some Spring color to the most important room in the house. Plus, because it was hanging on a mirror, the reflection from the back made it look like we have two banners hanging.  Makes me want to sing Double Rainbow! 

Thanks Odessa May for the inspiration!

Love: Valentines day

I am a sucker for Valentine's day. Perhaps its because my first Scholastic book order was for a Valentine doily art project.  Or that in 4th grade I had a secret admirer who showered me with gifts leading up to Valentine's day and then leaving me a "Will you go out with me, check yes or no" message on the day itself.   Or perhaps the greatest reason of all: eating chocolate to my hearts content - no guilt allowed. 

Regardless, once again I am excited.  I'm making heart shaped brownies for a ladies night this weekend, and am fully prepared to wear my red tights on Monday.  

I hope my wonderful cousin Kat will make her delicious Devil's Food cake, comparable to, if not better than this one.   

And if I had more time, I would make these heart shaped tea bags for all my tea drinking friends and family.  Life got busy this month, but perhaps next year. 

Have a great Valentine's weekend friends! 

February crafts

Can't believe February is lurking around the corner.  I've already come across way too many cute things I want to make, so I've already set a date on the calendar to get crafting.

Here's what I'm making this month:

Yarn Love

Postage Stamp Coasters

And a jewelry organizer, inspiration courtesy of Craft Warehouse.

I'm excited to start working on these projects for a few reasons:

1. Being a student, especially in the program that I am in, everything is theoretical, so its exciting to produce something tangible with my own two hands.

2. Home gets a little update and I get the claim of "making it myself" - such a rewarding feeling!

So I'll definitely be staying busy while its gloomy and rainy outside.   How are you spending your gray February?  Are you working on any projects?

December crafts

A while back, I came across some owl calendars (if you're a regular, you probably remember me talking about them) and thinking they were super cool, wanted to use the free printable for something. And behold, they became our card/party favor at our Christmas party.

The first step was to design the cover. I'm not sure if I found the red bows first and then came up with the idea to have them be part of the cover or thought it would be cool to have the bows and then sought them out, but in any case...I bought the red bows from the dollar store and began designing the cover. I wanted the card to have a worthwhile message/wish for people for the holidays and the new year and figured it was most appropriate to tie in something about wisdom because of the owls (maybe cheesy but hey). I found the passage in Colossians to be most appropriate.

In iWorks Pages I set up the page to print accordingly, leaving enough space for the bow. Then off to printing and cutting (so thankful for my paper cutter!) Then, punched a hole on the top of the front page, inserted bow, and taped it on the back to secure it.

Then after printing and cutting the calendar sheets, I paper clipped the months (in order of course) with a white paper clip to the cover page.

It was fun, multi-dimensional, and I hope useful for the recipients of the card.

Cost breakdown of project:

Nice paper - $5 (50 sheets)

Printing ink - $7 (cartridge refill at Costco)

Bow - $1 for pack of 20 at the Dollar Store

Total - $13 for 15 awesome calendar Christmas cards

________

For David this Christmas, I made him a special card (with custom wrapping paper out of a paper bag and scraps from our wedding invitations circa 2009).

David also got me an Anthropologie gift card (yay!) and it came with this cool box. I definitely see this turning into a project soon...

Of course, my paper crafts will never compare to the awesome people made out of paper crafts made in Russia. Check them out here (scroll about half way down the page).

SCRAP's Holiday Bazaar

SCRAP is amazing. They have been the source of a lot of my joy, including where I bought a variety of random supplies for scrapbooking and the ultimate place for finding craft supplies for the many groups I have led with students. Students have loved field trips here where they learned all about the joys of recycling and re-purposing everyday objects into works of art. This is a wonderful non-profit in Portland and I am excited to visit their Holiday Bazaar! They always have really cool stuff, and this bazaar is more than shopping. It's going to be a party.

What: SCRAP’s Holiday Bazaar 2010 – Craft vendors, live music, food carts, raffle and gift wrapping by SCRAP!

Who: Local vendors selling reused/recycled gifts made from at least 75% reclaimed materials
When: Saturday, November 20 and Sunday, November 21, 10am-6pm
Where: SCRAP, 2915 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR

November Scrapbook Giveaway

If you are into scrapbooking, you will be interested in this giveaway. from Sweet Peach Crop Shop featured on Simply Me. Scroll to the bottom of the linked blogpost for instructions on how to enter. Deadline is Friday morning. Sweet Peach Crop Shop features monthly scrapbook kits delivered right to your door. How's that for keeping you inspired and motivated to finish those projects?

Free Owl Calendar

For all the owl lovers out there, how about a free owl calendar? Click on the owl for the site where you can customize the calendar with your favorite owl images, then download and print! Make it even more fun by printing on textured paper and binding it yourself using thread, rafia, or what have you. If you aren't an owl lover but know someone who is, this would make a great gift!

Thanks paper n stitch for this one!

An Ode to Case Managers: Goal Setting

For all my case manager friends, this one is for you. You know that goal setting can be both excruciating and exciting and the challenge to finding a way to getting someone engaged in goal setting, who has previously lived their life in a rhythm free of such a thing, is enormous. The battle to even begin thinking in terms of goal setting is 1/3 of the battle. The other 1/3 is defining a goal, and the last is actually doing the goal. So props to you for helping people get over these humps and empowering them to think in these terms. This, I feel, is a huge part of your work and unfortunately the part that doesn't always get the most credit.

Plus, don't you think someone should donate these ridiculously cute goal setting chalkboards to you? When I saw them, I couldn't help but think how useful they would have been when trying to convince a 13 year old that goal setting isn't a completely obscure and stiff thing that just didn't, in any conceivable way, fit into her life.

Next time I'm in a place where I'm trying to get a teenager to consider the effectiveness of goal setting, I may make it a DIY project, thanks to The Bright Life for the inspiration.

But until then, my 2 goals:

1. Buy some milk.

2. Finish homework.

"The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score."

Bill Copeland

Craft: Message in a Spool

Looking for a way to sneak in a little special message for a special someone? I thought this was an absolutely irresistible simple craft found on Ruffled, a blog all about vintage, indie and DIY brides.



With all these crafts I'm stumbling upon, when Portland's rain comes - I think I will be quite content and busy.

Irresistible Timekeepers

It's still only October, but gorgeous 2011 calendars are starting to pop up and I simply can't ignore it. Currently we have an adorable calendar sent from David's Oma & Opa, which features cute critter illustrations with an inspirational fruit of the spirit verse. Even though most of our life is kept organized by Google Calendar, I still enjoy having a wall calendar to keep me in perspective of what day it is and what is to come.

Design Sponge featured this adorable canvas calendar that I am tempted to make. Who knows, maybe a lucky friend will get one for the holidays. Despite lack of time, I am feeling quite crafty...


Some more that grabbed my attention on Etsy:


A Bunch of Animals


Year In Food Photographs - Original Photos by Amelia Kay Photography