In my attempts at recycling some of the supplies in my craft room for the swap in my state team I came up with some gals I couldn't resist. ^-^
The Garden Shop Gal's will be sticking around my house for a while, but I'm thinking of buying some more peg people to make a few for sale.
These three gals seem to have a cheeky Desperate Housewives flair but they also make me think they would be fun to work with!
I had planned on making them little baskets of flowers as well as giving them arms and aprons....but I think that may be too much for their size. I mean they are barely over an inch tall! I had a blast painting them and then sewing their little dresses by hand.
I made a few flops in my attempt at recycling some supplies, but some may turn out to be good in the end. I made a few hair ties out of yarn and scrap wire that I may try with some different yarn to see if I like them. They are sturdy enough, just not my colors!
Oh! and in case you missed it, check the post below out. ^-~ Oh and the one below that for the results of the boys easter roving dying fun!
I love swaps!
I gravitated towards a large one recently and had a blast putting together enough items to send out (I can't wait to see what comes back! I mean 20 surprises?! What fun ^-^ )
Then theres the very cool recycle swap in the ArEtsy group. Which has been a mess. I mean I keep making things thinking, Oh! This'll be great! Then I either hate it....or don't want it to leave my house......^-~
I have a doll I'm supposed to be making a fellow poppeteer, but I keep missing the fur when I go to the store. Either the wrong dye lot (to match what I already have here) or theres just one on the shelf. Of course, had I bought the one last time then next time I'd only need one.....Doh!
Today I saw a PIF over on Sugarbug's blog that seemed like fun ^-^ So I jumped in. Not thinking....uh Hey lady! You've got a house to get ready to put on the market.....but Meh, it's all in fun!
So heres the deal, now that I've rambled a bit, The first three folks to comment on this post that they'd like to enter the PIF fun gets a present in the mail from me. Whats the catch? You've got to PIF as well! (Don't know what in the world PIF means? Pay It Forward means you got a fun freebie, now you do the same for three other lucky folks!)
So the first three who pop in here and say, Hey! I'd love to play the PIF game get a surprise in the mail from me. (I'll pay shipping and everything, you just do the same for some other lucky goose! Or geese in this matter.)
***Feel free to nab the lil image there and pop it on your blog. ^-^ ***
All dry and funky!
I'm really loving this so far. ^-^ I may be ordering a larger lot of white next time................^-~
All spun up!
I really do love it! I can't wait to see what my MIL can come up with for me using it. I think I'm going to request a business card holder. Or a mini scarf!
And its only early afternoon!
We headed out this morning to go to Kids Club and when we got there I saw the signs that today was a free kids craft event day. *Yippie!* They had three tables set up with different crayola products and we were trying them out. ^-^ The baby paints they just released are ok, but very messy! They have thin paint in them that smears all over the place until it's dry. Granted most paint smears but this is like watercolor/tempra mixed or something. The other thing I could see was the paints running out quickly and having to replace the whole set often if your kiddo really likes to paint.
The second table was the new markers they put out that are very bright. The boys really liked them so I might pick some up soon. ^-^
The third table was their play clay stuff. Not model magic but the newer version. The boys made wands and then we had a meltdown. Madd wanted to roll them up in the paper mat provided and I knew that they would get squished together and stuck. They are still drying and that was 11:30 or so......
He got really upset and started throwing a tantrum. So I walked him away from the tables to the other side of the store.That kids got a set of lungs on him and I knew it wasn't far from screaming temper time. I sat down and put him in a "corner" basically facing a wall. I spanked his bottom for thrashing out when I picked him up and tried to explain why he shouldn't wrap up the wands. He only got worse and I knew it wasn't going to solve anything to spank his bottom again. So I took him into my lap and held him tight. He was crying and upset. One of the employees walked over and said, Can I help you? I thought Uh, No....I'm calming my kid down lady, walk away. I'm sure she thought he'd hurt himself at first (or maybe not and she just wanted me to make him stop) but she gave me this look when I said No thanks, just calming a temper tantrum down. I wanted to smack her. Lady, raise your kids your way, sorry if I'm bothering other customers by calming my toddler down while sitting next to my cart in an isle. It's not like there was anyone in the isle with us! Grrr.......
Got him calmed down and we had fun coloring for a bit. He said he was sorry to me and to Angie (the art teacher) and life went on.
Then we headed to W-Mart to pick up groceries. I knew that there was a McDondalds (Madd's way of saying it ^-^) in their and I could sit down with them and eat. The easter bunny wandered in and their eyes lit up. I was so happy that they weren't screaming or afraid of him. It was funny though when he turned around and you could see his neck and the back of his hair, Madd said, "Mommy, thats not the Easter Bunny...." I just smiled and said, Nope, its one of his helpers.They were having free pictures with him so after we ate we headed over there to get our picture taken.
The boys were wearing their pirate bandannas from their Happy meals and though Madd took his off Lil Man kept his on.
*Lil Man has on his Monkey Muffin shirt from DogboneArt on etsy. ^-^ It was one of his christmas gifts and he loves it.*
Then we went back to pirating our "ship" around store. ^-^ Now were home and I'm zonked. I think I'm going to take a nap......
So you want to make dread falls out of yarn. Well, you could sit and braid for hours on end just to get chunky braids, or you could go with the less heavy version of mine. ^-^ Not saying either ones right or better, just saying mine weigh a bit less........
So here we go. ^-^
Step one:-----
Cut out yarn! Grab a skien you like or two, or three (how ever many really) of colors you want. I've used two, but many more are easy to add.
You pick your yarn length out yourself. I've got with a strand thats just over a yard long because I want long falls. You have to remember when deciding what length to cut out that you are folding this piece in half. So if it seems uber long and you just want chest length falls, then go with my measurement, if you want shorter, go with less! (Oh and to get those layered looks, go with a bunch of different lengths.)
Now you've got most of a skien or how ever much you feel like using. (I only used a bit of the black skien I picked up which is your basic skien you see at Wallyworld or most craft stores. The green was a smaller skien and I've used most of it. )
Step Two:-----
Cut out holder. I've used ribbon *black* for this set of falls because I wanted to just tie them in and bobby pin for hold. You can use stretchy lace ribbon, elastics (though the falls will have to be really scrunched for most pony tail holders) or basic sewing elastic (like for clothes)
I've used a fairly long piece as I'm loading it with yarn and want to have a good amount left to tie with security.
Step Three:---------
Fold a few strands of your cut yarn in half and lay under your holder.
Then fold the loop the folded yarn has made over the holder.
Lastly pull the ends of your yarn through the loop and tighten.
It should kind of look like a mans tie at the top. ^-^
Step Four:--------
Fill that puppy up! Squish the yarn loops together and put as many on their as you'd like, leaving a tail on both ends thats long enough to tie. (If you used a pony tail holder, just fill it to the brim!)
Step five:------
Pull your hair up in buns and secure with bobby pins. Of course if your just making a single fall, by all means, make one bun on the back of your head. ^-^
I like mine higher than I did for these photos, I was just popping them in to show off. ^-~
I recommend these bobby pins if your doing yours like mine. they help support the weight of the fall and are large enough to go over the yarn and holder. I got mine at the local beauty supply store and I love them. (Also means I only have to use two pins for a bun in my hair, they hold like a dream!)
Now really, that wasn't too hard was it?! ^-^ I love these and can't wait to wear them out. I'll be making some other ones soon though, I've got roving to try and I want to add some foam to some. When I figure those all out I'll post tutes!
First off, theres my surprise today! Johnny our mail man got a stern bark from Lily as he had to stand there more than a moment to put the packages in my mail box. One package was the yarn I ordered the other day. (So fast!) The other was my surprise from the ArEtsy swap we've got going on right now.
I'm so in love with this mini scrapbook that BeeHive made me! And the cool little snake family will make the boys grin. They made me grin! ^-~
Whats cool about this swap was the rules. Had to be stuff you wouldn't just grab out of your supply box, but stuff you've recycled into something cool. I'm still working on mine to send out. Its evolved as I've thought it out.
This mini album as Beehive told me was made from some cords, a belt, sandwich bags, old post cards, bottle caps and a shoe lace! I'm amazed. I keep flipping through it. ^-^
Check out her store here and her blog here! She's so talented. ^-^
The forecasters called for a huge chunk of snow for today and while we didn't get the 8in they said we might, we did get some more snow ^-^
The boys haven't been out in it yet today as it just now stopped snowing. I take that back, its still snowing, but just not a steady almost looked like rain fall snow. But I've run out to take a few pictures.
Heres a bird I caught hanging out in one of our bushes.
The amount of snow thats blown up onto my porch is crazy. The snow was just blowing the right direction though because as I opened my front door it came right in. *laughs*
Heres an update on the next yarn I'm spinning from fabric. It was a large cut of blue mottled (painted/tie dyed/or something like that) silky fabric. I've hardly made a dent in it and I've spun quite a few yards already. Each little cut piece is over 2 yards long so it will be a good sized skein!
The last thing I've done in the past couple of days is try to make some yarn falls. (Dread falls) I've always loved crazy funky hair and though I like to have normal hair for most outings, I do have some punk urges. ^-~ So I've been playing with some scrap yarn to learn what weights and how much to put on each fall. The one here is going to be one of two but for now its just one.
I've got to finish the other side so I can do buns and cover them. I want to make a few that braid in like normal dreads but I like the idea that I can just tie in falls and take them out when I need to.
So thats my picture heavy post and an idea of what I've been up to in the past couple of days. Back to work!
The funky outdoor fabric samples I got yesterday were sliced and diced last night to create a new yarn ^-^ I cut lots and lots of strips and spun them up into this.!
It's really bright and colorful. I'm hoping it makes it through the setting process, I'm pretty sure it will but I've never even heard of Vinyon fabric before. The label says Vinyon (PVC). There were two of the samples made out of that, and the others were acrylic. It's 16 yards (give or take a few inches) and most of it is about pinky finger in size. It sheds a bit, but its really fun. ^-^ I'm planning on putting it on etsy, I'm sure someone can use it!
I just had to laugh. I'd just commented in a thread and hit the Etc button to check what else was new. I nearly spit my drink out laughing. It's a bit lewd and too close to a dirty joke not to share.
*Hit the picture to see it larger.No not with your fist! with that lil button on your mouse. Yeah....that one. *
Ok, so may not be as funny to everyone, but it cracked me up. ^-^ And I needed that!
I've had a single (extra large one ^-^) sitting on my spindle for oh I guess over a week or so now and it's fairly well set itself. I've been meaning to ply it but just had one thing or another come up or my wrist would start hurting me and I wouldn't feel like doing it.
Last night I said, Hmpf! I'm finishing that! Helps that I'd finally decided what I was plying it with. *chuckles* So I started plying it with thread and little beads. At the half mark I started using large chunky beads with some medium sized ones mixed in. Then I folded it at the half and plied it back onto itself in a very loose ply. I adore it and can't wait to use it for something.
I know it's not really knit able as it's as big as my index finger as a single and then you double that since I plied it, but it will make a neat non knitted scarf or some interesting jewelry or perhaps even a mermaids hair. Overall I just can't wait to spin something new. ^-^
I've ordered some more roving, black green and then some white so I can possibly try my hand at dying. If nothing else the white may become some little dreads that I dip into kool-aid to dye the ends. ^-~
