Counting Cookies and Christmas Ornament Balls

Counting Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really have been working on crochet projects. I just cannot seem to get motivated to completely finish them. These Counting Cookies look finished; however, I decided that they really need a container. So now I am contemplating what kind of container I want to create for them. If you have any ideas, please let me know. I am thinking that I don’t want to go for the huge cookie jar idea or the loose drawstring bag. I am thinking more of a container in which they fit only if put in neatly.

Holly and Ivy Christmas Ornament

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, I have been making Christmas ornaments. The tutorial can be found on my blog; I had discovered it elsewhere online a few years ago and have since lost the link. I seem to find myself making these in July; perhaps because they help me wind down from busy days with my kids and since I have made them many times they do not require too much thought once I have chosen the paper and ribbon. For more of my ornaments, please check out my Artfire studio’s Handmade Christmas section.

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Finding Cute Ways to Reuse Yogurt Cups

I had been saving some yogurt cups in hopes of using them to start some flower seeds this month. Since I had quite a few of them I thought I might decorate them somehow to be able to give some of the started seeds as gifts to teachers for Easter. I had a few ideas in my head, but I figured why not check out what other people have come up with before me. While searching I found some other cute ideas to use yogurt cups if we end up having any left over today.

Frog

Turtle and Frog Spring Crafts
This one might take a while to complete as you need to paint the cup first, let it dry, then attach the other items.

Felt Dog and Cat Yogurt Cup

Felt Dog and Cat
There are some great directions here if you think these are cute. I don’t think I have any felt on hand, so we probably won’t try this one today. Maybe after the next trip to the craft store.

Yogurt cup beaded baskets

Beaded baskets
This seems more along the lines of what we may do today, although I am not sure about the handle part if we are going to plant a seed in it. It does look like the handle could easily be bent down, however, when it gets to be time to replant the young flowers.

I will take some photos today of what we come up with and share later. Hope these ideas keep you busy on a rainy Saturday. I hear the brownies are ready to come out of the oven, so off I go….

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Magnetic Bookmark or Row Marker Tutorial

Magnetic Bookmark or Row Marker

I had been wanting something other than post-it notes to help me keep track of my rows while crocheting and had recently purchased some cute bookmarks that inspired me to create something for my crocheting. I also just found a new contest from Cricut and TodaysMama that pushed me over the edge to make these bookmarks. I made these bookmarks using a Cricut, but if you don’t have one yourself, you can cut out cardstock and scrapbooking paper in similar dimensions. The Cricut just makes it easier and faster.

Supplies Needed:
Cardstock
Scrapbook paper
Adhesive (used both Tombo and all purpose craft glue)
Grosgrain ribbon (mine is 5/8 inch)
Self adhesive magnets

Instructions:

Pieces cut from George and Basic Shapes

1. Using George and Basic Shapes, cut two rctngle4 in shadow at four inches with cardstock.
2. Using George and Basic Shapes, cut four rctngle4 at four inches with scrapbook paper.

Outside of bookmark

3. With Tombo or other scrapbooking adhesive, attach two scrapbooking pieces to the cardstock.

Glueing ribbon

4. Flip over the cardstock and attach ribbon to cardstock with crafting glue as shown. I chose to use ribbon because I was afraid that often used bookmarks would eventually tear if the cardstock was simply folded over.

Inside of bookmark after attaching paper

5. Place Tombo or other scrapbooking adhesive on the back side of the scrapbooking paper and then attach as shown to the cardstock.

Attaching magnets

6. Peel paper from magnet backs and attach to the inside of the bookmarks. I cut the magnets myself from a sheet of adhesive magnet purchased at a local craft store. These magnets are not especially strong since they are not necessarily meant to be attracted to themselves, but work fine for bookmarks or row markers. I am searching for a source for a stronger magnet for future use.

Putting my row marker to use

7. Put your bookmark or row marker to use. I keep mine busy with my crochet patterns.

I have also made bookmarks with Doodlecharms’ cards and the tiles from Going Places. These were used as teacher gifts at the end of the school year. I placed the decorative paper behind the cutouts of the Doodlecharm cards and Going Places. These were solely to be used as bookmarks, not row markers, since they were not long enough to mark the rows well.

ASL sign for the post:To sign book, pretend your hands are a closed book and open them.

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Looking for a printable nativity set?

I found this printable nativity set last year and my daughter was not quite old enough to get very far along with it. (She was still in preschool.) This year, however, I think she might be able to do well with it. It might take her a few sessions to get through it. I had it packed away with the Christmas decorations. I would definitely suggest using card stock to print it on. I printed some on flesh toned card stock to help with less coloring of some of the features.

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CASTteam Christmas Contest….

UPDATE:
Congrats to the winners:
Hurdler4Eva, Ulixis, DebsRandomArt, and Saire

Here are some details of a contest to win lots of nifty prizes from etsy artists. Check the CASTteam page for contest dates. If you have not registered at etsy.com yet, please let them know “lauraslefthook” sent you.

To enter:

Read through the Christmas Carol “O Holy Night” on the CASTteam site. There will be ten words in CAPS. These 10 words will be hidden in the participating shops. When you find the words, copy the links and submit them to:

Castteam
You go to the Castteam site above and click on contact Castteam.

You will be entered into a drawing to win one of several gift baskets containing beautiful items from the Cast Team shops. One correct entry per person.

Participating shops:

www.meowy.etsy.com
www.knitblitz.etsy.com
www.RubiesNRoses.etsy.com
www.InspiredbyRose.etsy.com
www.SilverRiverJewelry.etsy.com
www.whimsiedots.etsy.com
www.zudagay.etsy.com
www.mitches21.etsy.com
www.eclecticChaosCreated.etsy.com
www.potatoface.etsy.com
www.tiggerbonn.etsy.com
www.DownFromtheMountains.etsy.com
www.MyissaG.etsy.com
www.KelliRene.etsy.com
www.RunAliceRun.etsy.com
www.RoseThistleArtworks.etsy.com
www.Baggavond.etsy.com
www.lauraslefthook.etsy.com
www.BonghiVestiti.etsy.com
www.createdwithjoy1.etsy.com
www.cindyforrester.etsy.com
www.LamplightBoutique.etsy.com
www.debtybeautifulbeads.etsy.com
www.bowbabybow.etsy.com
www.twistedpurl.etsy.com
www.GloryGifts.etsy.com
www.MommyKnowsBest624.etsy.com
www.TheTwistedPurl.etsy.com
www.hiphostage.etsy.com

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I made it in a Treasury!!

VickiDianeDesigns was nice enough to include me in her etsy Treasury. She is featuring a set of my origami gift boxes. Check it out:

Update: The treasury has expired, but you can still see my origami gift boxes!

If you have not signed up at etsy yet, please mention “lauraslefthook” sent you there when you do. Thanks a bunch!

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True Snowflakes have six sides….

My five year old daughter was teaching her friend how to make snowflakes on Monday afternoon. They were folding the paper into smaller and smaller rectangles until I had to do the cutting for them. Of course, my daughter chose construction paper instead of something thin, like printer paper.

This put me in the mood to make snowflakes. I used to spend a class period with my sixth grade students teaching them to make snowflakes (first eight sided, then six for those ready to be challenged.) After we decorated my classroom, I would ask them to write instructions that someone else would understand to make snowflakes. That was quite a task. It did help them think about writing more clearly.

Check out my tutorial page with some directions and photos for my six sided snowflakes. I know there are pages out there for making snowflakes, but this way I don’t have to search for the perfect site myself anymore. I already have the photos but I have to get the kids into bed before I can work on something more complicated than typing.

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What is the secret here?

So, I am making these to sell to make some money for my craft supplies (but mostly for bills right now since we are severely underemployed in our household ), and somebody wants to know how to make them. I want to say, “Buy one and take it apart and figure it out yourself.” I don’t. Instead, I give a generalized statement of materials involved and hope they get the idea that I am not giving my secret away. (Especially when you can easily spend some time online and figure it out yourself if you can use a search engine and have some time to kill.)

Oh, and it is not that I don’t share plenty of instructions and how-tos with friends; it is just frustrating when I think someone is trying to get me to do the work of getting them the instructions for free….

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