making—random craftiness

for christmas i made a few random crafty things. i didn't get a chance to snap photos of everything, but here are two. the first is one of the sets of handwarmers (pinterest reference), and the second was a doll made out of scrap fabric i had up in my studio.
sometimes i wish i could just sit around making random, one-off crafty projects for a living. i don't really have the attention span to a lot of the same thing over and over, but i really find that i enjoy making things so much more than formatting type (which seems to be mostly what i'm doing at work these days). maybe one of these days i'll get the courage (and enough time) to do something like that (that's what sites like etsy are for afterall, right?)

more stencils!

i'm attending a baby shower tomorrow at work, so i whipped up a few freezer paper stenciled onesies for the mama-to-be. it definitely makes a great go-to project because it's not as time consuming as sewing up bibs or the like, but it's still "personalized". so this is what i was doing instead of crafting fun halloween projects with the kids (my poor kids!) though sam and i did manage to make a couple of ghosties for the front door.

one of sam's ghosts (who, according to sam, has been eating blue cotton candy—on its lips and in its left hand—and is holding a toy—black thing in its right hand). he drew the faces on both ghosts all by himself and i think he did a great job.

bubble fun

we mixed up a batch of bubble soap the other night using this recipe. they actually work really well (though not as stellar as mr. bubble bubbles. how i miss mr. bubble!) maybe it's because i didn't use dawn. i'll have to make a note on my grocery list.

making—freezer paper stencils

i've been dying to try freezer paper stencils for ages (i swear i've had this roll of freezer paper stacked away in my cupboard for more than two years), but i was recently trying to figure out ways to make sam's old white onesies seem a little bit more special (before they get handed down) and decided that this is the perfect opportunity to finally give this stencil thing a go.
i'm still not quite sure what i want to put on the onesies (can't do initials because she hasn't got a name yet, don't want to do hearts or flowers or other girlie stuff because that's just too, i don't know...the word boring comes to mind), so i thought i'd just experiment on my own t-shirts first (and even this was a stretch when it came down to it, hence the triangles).
i think the end result was okay. you can totally see places where i should've pressed harder with the iron when ironing on the stencil (or been more careful with the paint, or both), but now that i've done one, i'm totally hooked. i want to stencil everything!
i love this inspiration, and i pinned a tutorial here.
now what are you waiting for? i'm sure you've got an old, boring tee with a stain on it just waiting to be upgraded, don't you?

making—painted bead necklace

inspired by this pin on pinterest, i picked up some wood beads and bright springy paints and had a go at painting beads. i painted a lot (and am wishing i'd gotten a few more colors), but am now having fun mixing and matching my beads on the chain depending on my outfit. sam helped choose today's combination.

there's a tutorial here, if you need one, but it's not exactly rocket science—buy wood beads, buy some acrylic paints, paint the beads, string them on a chain (or cord of some kind), and you're all set with a fun new accessory.

making—noodleflakes

inspired by this pin on pinterest, i got a large quantity of pasta and made some noodleflake ornaments. they were a lot of fun, though the drying time made them a somewhat frustrating a craft (particularly for young and/or inpatient crafters).

the original pin used only wheels and honeycombs, but i added in some penne and mini-penne, and i thought they turned out really well. i also skipped the glitter because i prefer small contained messes, and i thought they had a nice rustic, naturalness to them in their native noodley state. if you're the glittery type (or feel like wielding a bit of spray paint), by all means, go to it.

when we were searching for crafts to do at church, we used pinterest as our go-to resource for crafty ideas. i'll admit to pinning a lot more project ideas than i think i'll ever have time to execute. you can view my christmas pinboard here. hoorah for pinterest!