Crafting Homestead

Category: Crafts

So many crafts to do and not nearly enough time.

The idea of making something makes me happy. Because it is something enjoyable, as a responsible mom, I feel as if before I take personal time to enjoy for myself, I must do all the not-fun-stuff, like cleaning, cooking, working.

Therefore, since those NFS’s are always there I rarely permit myself to do the fun stuff.

Perhaps it’s time to re-think that as I really find no motivation to do the NFS’s…

Here are some of the crafts I have allowed myself to enjoy. I would love it if you would pin them or otherwise share them, maybe even allow yourself to make something similar!

  • It’s February?

    It’s February?

    How in the world did that happen? Good grief!

    I have been busy, that’s all I know. Sure, I suppose I could have squeezed in a blog post here and there, but about what? Well, now I have plenty to blog about. Let’s hope I can find the balance between work, being mom, moving forward with our homestead plans, crafting, AND the blog.

    Well, since it’s February let me share some Valentine’s crafts I’ve made recently. Some cute wreaths. They are small and utilize recycled/reused items. For Christmas 2015 I had used some boughs from an artificial Christmas tree to make a lovely hanging decoration. It looks much nicer in person than the photos show. As a result of that craft, I imagined many other lovely crafts could be made from the lovely branches. Then, as luck would have it, I discovered someone selling their 7′ tree on one of those Facebook tag sale pages. I met her and only then realized, “What am I doing?? Now I need to store this entire tree somewhere,ugh.” Well, it is done. Better get started. Initially I had planned to make more of those lovely large decorations, but then I would have to store those as well. This is not getting better. Necessity is the mother of invention… so, first things first, eliminate as much of the tree that I don’t need. The center rod, nope don’t need it, the base, uh-uh, the metal rods to which each small branch is attached – gone…but wait. Dang, now I know what I can do with them.

    Eventually, when I begin selling my goods I need a display. What better to display Christmas wares than on a Christmas tree? You will see that project later, I haven’t taken pictures yet. The branches that were not selected for that need to be dismantled, see it in this post.

    With those little twigs, a wire hanger (everyone has those, right?), a few embellishments of your choice, and some simple tools: pliers, glue gun. DONE! See that project here.

  • A new day!

    Today was the day. I have basically been secretly writing this blog. Secretly, because no one else knew anything about it…until today. Today I invited everyone on my Facebook friend list to see my blog. There’s no turning back now.  The master procrastinator bit the bullet.

    Oh wait, no, there was one person, Kim. Kim from Made in a Day. She doesn’t know me at all. I did however comment on her blog that I really liked one of her projects and that I will be re-creating it myself on my new blog.  She cautioned me to give credit where it is due when posting information found on another persons blog.  ABSOLUTELY! I would never take credit for someone else’s ideas.  She did mention that she read what I had so far and thought it was well written.  Now, since that just happened two days ago, it must be the final push I needed to make the announcement.  Prior to that I wasn’t sure I had enough content and that I wouldn’t have enough going forward.

    I will fear no more! I have been doing really well lately getting some of my fun things done. Making crafts, I love it. Sadly, the one that I found on Kim’s blog I am unable to work on today because I must buy some supplies. Until then I have been busy with a few other items.  Pictures of those items will be posted shortly AND available for purchase.  😀 At this time I will not be shipping items, they are for pick-up only. But let’s not get ahead of things…

    Something else I will be doing is including pictures of non-crafted items for sale… Hey, this blog isn’t paying for itself yet.  😉 Your support is *immensely* appreciated.

    Thank you! Warmly, -Valerie

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  • Now what?

    So, lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about our homestead. The desire to make serious progress is there, what I have is a lack of direction. When I do not have a direction for anything I want to accomplish I get totally stuck. *SO* frustrating. Another thing that complicates this is that I find myself not only being relentlessly distracted, other folks in my home seem to think they need to provide me with things to do.

    As I write this I realize that the first thing that *must* happen is decluttering!

    By decluttering my life I will eliminate the need to clean, pick up, organize, put away, trash, wash, etc all these things around me. I have seen various social media outlets talking about simplifying, downsizing, and all, and I have cleared out quite a bit of stuff since we are still planning to move, but now I am thinking bigger scale.

    What does this mean? I am a sentimental fool. I keep everything, not like a hoarder, but I do keep lots of little momentos. For instance, growing up I would wonder about what I learned in first grade or what my penmanship was like. How I did on some random spelling test. Mom didn’t keep those things. Now as a mom, I have kept nearly every paper my kids brought home from school: artwork, projects, dang near everything. Each year they get a new backpack and the previous years backpack is filled with all their papers. We have a *LOT* of backpacks… When Honey and I were dating I was travelling cross country for my job and he was able to come with me. We’d see baseball games, have dinner, go to museums…every ticket stub, program, receipt – Yep, I’ve got ’em! The intent was to scrapbook them. 🙂 Unfortunately, that is still my intent, as in, it hasn’t happened yet. There always seems to be something else to do. sigh…

    TIME TO DECLUTTER!

    We have no plans this weekend, but to prepare the house for winter (put patio stuff away into the shed, rake, bring brush to the recycling center…). Honey just got the motorhome winterized today. I’m going to hide inside and organize! Make a giant donation pile and get it to our local homeless/near homeless faith-based non-for-profit pantry. What’s going? Anything that does not fit our current decorating style, we love rustic! If it can be used for our homestead, it can stay, but it must be useful. Another credential, it must be used!!! Beyond those requirements: if it’s for my craft room, it can stay. 😉 I have already begun regretting some craft things I have parted with…like my large bin of yarn. Of course I find several really cute ideas using yarn AFTER it’s gone. drat.

    I hesitate to take before pictures…at least of my basement…out of pure embarrassment. However, I will take them. Whether I actually share them likely depends on how drastic an improvement there is. Why? Because most of the stuff there is quasi-packed and ready to move. Months ago. Now there is random clutter on top of the boxes, some of the boxes are topless (no flaps or separate top to close them – totally messy looking), bunches of empty boxes, toys galore. It’s hideous!

    I imagine while cleaning I will be considering my next post, in fact, it’s certain. It will be about our next steps toward self-sufficient homesteading. Making a list to determine what we need, how to make it, what would be most beneficial to do first.

    If you don’t hear from me in the next week, tell my family to look for me in the playroom!

  • Recycling plastic containers

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    Some containers I like, they must be kept, no idea why. This is true for the containers that I will tell you about today.

    My favorite color is purple, my least liked colors are yellow and orange. I like and appreciate all colors, they all have a place in the world, they just don’t all draw me in, in fact, some repel me…

    WHAT?

    Where are you going with this?

    Oh, right…recycling. The containers I have gathered the most of are bright yellow, not a nice pale yellow like my kitchen walls (which I love), but bright, stinkin’ yellow. UGH! Something about the shape of them, the size I suppose, and the fact that I was going through them like wild fire. Finally after having so many, while packing I realized, “GOOD GRIEF! There are a tons of these!” Knowing full well that if my Honey found this moving box full of empty Nesquik containers he would chuck them (not even into recycling) and they’d be *gone*. Something had to be done.

    storage-3Simultaneously, while packing up some boxes to move I realized there were some random things floating around in my craft room. Like pins. The kind you keep and collect or swap. The ones that used to emblazon my denim jacket back in the day. There was a pin here, a pin there, a small pile of them in some dark crevice. They should all be together in one space. And key chains, some are relics from my teen years, some are just plain rings for some project I must have needed them for. Another pile starting, this one has paper shapes…you know, when you are making a scrapbook page or a greeting card and you punch a few extra pieces, just in case. Or the kids just find your punches and think it’s fun to make confetti with them. I can’t bear to chuck them, so pile them up.

     

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    Enter Nesquik. Good sturdy containers, but ugly as they are, that label doesn’t come off – must. cover. it.  OOOH, that cute shelf liner is saying, “pick me!” A couple quick measurements and cut with the rotary cutter. Yeah baby! That one roll of liner covered nine containers. I’d call that a complete set and a spare, but I do have more. tee-hee, gotta grab another roll or two.

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     The new homes for my keychain pieces, pins, paper punch pieces and more!

     

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    All that is left to do is label them. I think they’re great! They disguise the contents so my room looks nice. Maybe I will spray paint the lids with something translucent…is that a thing? Oh crud, something else to add to my list. :/

  • Wedding gift dilemma solved!

    Last year we were invited to a wedding.

    The problem? We didn’t know the bride *or* the groom. My husband is a co-worker of the bride’s father. We respect him and were honored to be invited to their special day. We had no idea what they have, want, need, like.  How do you buy a gift with so little information?  Cash? I’m sure it would be put to good use, but how boring. Gift cards? Eh, slightly better, but still boring. It’s so much nicer to receive a thoughtful gift that you actually like and to actually have something to open besides an envelope.  😉

    Their invitation was different, not your standard white embossed covered in flowers, hearts, and butterflies. Clearly it’s a style they like in colors that interest them, relaxed and neutral. I really liked it. I headed to the store to find a frame that would coordinate with the invitation, what a find, it was *perfect*!! Leaves engraved into it, the color matched nicely and it was a great price. I had a nice sheet of paper, centered the invitation towards the top, placed a piece of burlap ribbon across the bottom after placing three heart brads on it. Before placing it in the frame I wrote a little note inside, should they ever open it. Sadly, I don’t recall my exact words, just reminding them to always show their love for each other, not to take each other for granted. Then I wrapped it in a box with kraft paper and tied it up with a burlap bow. Of course, that wasn’t enough of a gift so we also put cash in a card, but at least they had something to open. ♥

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  • I’m finally ready to start a blog.

    I have been tossing around the idea of starting a blog for at least a year.

    What should I write about? Who would actually read it? Would anybody read it?

    ARE YOU CRAZY? When do you have time to write a *blog*???

    Yeah, there is *no* time to write a blog. However, this little life of mine is whizzing right past me and my memory has proven over and over again to not be able to keep up.

    I want to document all these happenings. Someone might find something useful about my life (hahahaha, yeah right…more like a warning).

    Anyway, somewhere in between all the craziness that never seems to stop I am determined to create this journal of stuff. So bear with me while I learn to navigate creating a blog while also attempting to keep the kids entertained and stay on top of their chores, my chores, a new motorhome, preparing the house to sell, moving, birthdays, summer camp, and starting new schools in 2 months.

    Thanks for coming along for the ride!

     

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