a non-crafty crafter

I'm not crafty.

I like order, cleanliness, and science.

I love to organize.

Protocols make me happy.

i'm really that geeky science kid. 

I like research journals.

that's me. doing my science thing. and my boss.  pretending, for the camera.

I have never thought of myself as "crafty"
but yet I have a shop.
and I spend a few hours each day crafting.


it's something that's completely "not me"
and it's something that I don't have a lot of confidence in.
but it's something the Lord is using in our lives.
and it's something that I can see His hand in the whole way.
when I think of my shop, I'm reminded of this verse:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

my shop is not mine.  i'm rejoicing in the power of the Lord.

he's made it perfect.

i'm just weak.



what about you?

are you crafty? what are you good at? what is the Lord good at through you?

____________________________________________________

don't forget to enter to win a copy of 1000 Gifs!

double your chances and enter both places

here and here.

it ends tomorrow, and this is a book you will want to read,

and then give to a friend to read.

DIY Chevron Rug

note: this post has a TON of pics.  sorry if you are downloading forevs. 

In my crazy pinning state, I decided we needed to make a rug.
because rugs can be really really expensive.
and I don't want to go drop $200+ on a rug.
but I want my living room to look cute, you know?

so I saw these on pinterest:

and I promptly decided I was qualified enough to make one.
my qualifications: really really wanting one. and other bloggers did it.
after some searing for stencils on line, we decided to go with the chevron.
you could use a roller on the chevron, and had to hand paint the stencil.
sorry stencil.

I'll tell you the ending now: we did it, it worked, and it's AWESOME.

here how we did it:

1. Go to ikea and get a cheap-o rug.  You want the weave to be flat (translation: non-puffy).  think flat and floppy rug.  This is the rug we got from Ikea

2. You will need 2" painters tape, floor paint, and a carpenters triangle.  You can get them all at home depot or Lowes.

3. Measuring:  Our rug was 55" wide, so we decided we wanted two "peaks" of chevron on our rug. Thus, our "midline" was at 27.5; thus, our two peaks were each 13.25 inches from the edge of the rug.
I know, I know, math in real life.  Figure out how many peaks you want for your rug, and measure. Mark where you want  your peak.

4. TAPING. Taping takes forever!  Use the carpender's triangle to get your peak for your chevron going.  I measured four inches on each arm of my triangle. The mark you made for where you want your peak will be helpful here.

You want your "stripes" to be 4" each so use two pieces of 2" tape.  Try to overlap as little as possible to prevent any length shorter than 4", but don't leave any gap (could cause issues during painting!)

To prevent having to measure each time, I used a little "jig" system.  Take two short pieces of tape, and back with a small notecard to keep them together.  This will by your 4" reference for spacing.

In picture above, I have my first row of chevron done, and have used "jig" to mark 4" to where the next row should start.  Just place your carpenter's triangle over the 4" jig's and use as a reference for your next row.

It is important to keep using the same angle when you are making your "peaks".  We used the carpender's triangle to get a 45 degree angle on each peak. Just keep taping...

When you get where you need to cut part of your tape, the method that worked best for us was using a ruler as a straight edge and a box cutter.  This is far easier than trying to cut or tear the tape straight. This will give you clean, straight edges.

EVENTUALLY, your rug will be taped.  I promise.  I messed ours up (USE YOUR CARPENTER'S TRIANGLE, PEOPLE) but Sam re-did it for me.  Taping will end.  It won't seem like it, but it will end.

Then, paint.  I used a 2" roller and it took about half of a gallon of paint.  We used floor paint.
I did a first coat, which took about 2 hours and soaked up a lot of paint, and let it dry overnight.  I finished with a second coat the next morning (much easier and only 20 minutes!)

Here's our rug reveal:

felt flower tutorial

Last fall I made my first yarn and felt flower wreath.
I loved it so much that I made 5, and we use them above the TV in the living room.

(I had already taken down one)  oops. just pretend you see the last one in that hole.

when I made them, I was still new to crafting, and was not very good.

the flowers sucked.  they were weird cone looking things.  

i sewed floral wire to the bottom of them and then pushed them into the styrofoam wreath.

hot glue now solves all of my problems.

but it was my early crafting days.  i was thrilled.

about a month ago, I sat looking at the flowers and really hated them.

so, I started re-making all of the flowers.  

here's how to do it.

First, cut circles out of the color felt you want.  

cut as many circles as you want, in any size.

don't worry if they aren't perfect circles. mine are far from real circles.

then, cut a spiral in your circle.  

you want to have pretty thick "strips" in  your spiral.

once you have your strips cut, you have to "scallop" your felt.

to scallop, first lay out your felt in a circle (like it was before you cut it).  

this makes it easier to find the outside edge.

start at the outside edge, and start cutting scallops along the felt.

you want to make pretty high mountain tops, and pretty low valleys.

scallop the whole circle of felt.

once you have finished scalloping, you need to roll your flower.  Start at the center of the circle, and fold and roll.  Use a dot of hot glue every few turns to secure.

horray! much prettier felt flowers.

now...it looks so much better and so much more ready for fall in my house!

we have progress

ah Friday.

you hold the promise of so much.

a weekend with family, relaxation, and time with the hubby.

and this week; Friday brings craft progress.

um, yes.  we have rosettes everywhere. 

have a happy (and craft-full) weekend!

can you be in love with a craft?

because I really think I am.

I think about these little beauties at work.

and I just want to make them all night long.

In lots of colors, on headbands, on necklaces.

I think I'm in craft love.

 Um, yes, I did wear my hair to work curly today just so I could have more time in the morning to work on the rosettes.   And yes, I purposely cranked out my first headband so I could wear it.  And, yes, I am also very very happy because I have the cutest hair accessory at the office, why thank you.

 I will show the other fabrics from HL some love, but these are my favorites for now.

 =)

Don't forget to go win yourself a little something something over here.

crafting progress

i am in love with crafting rosettes....
and to think, my first ever was created on Saturday!

it's been a long time wish of mine to figure these pretty little flowers out, and put them on everything.
so now, I am doing just that.
well, as much as I can, at least.
but work, cooking, laundry, etc seems to be getting in the way.
if only I had a day off, I could get tons of these little babies made.
there's always saturday, right?

it's raining here today (like really raining) for the first time since January 23.
JANUARY.
I live in Houston.
Last fall, it rained once a week.
Now it never rains.
I love the rain--good excuse for curly hair, reading a book, staying inside, and crafting!!

I can't seem to upload photos at the moment....I want to show you the fun fabric I got at hobby lobby and the few rosettes I was able to get done.
alas, I will try again later...
to work, for now...

ah FINALLY....pictures for you to see!  There are the scraps I got from hobby lobby.  They were super cheap.  awesome.  thanks hl.  I have been trying to get lots of pretty little rosettes out--will be doing more this weekend! 

Successful Lunch

There is a hobby lobby 2.12 minutes from my work.
sometimes, when science gets the best of you
pretty fabrics make it all better.

so at lunch, I went over and found a wonderful clearance section of fabrics...
you know, those little odd sized pieces they have left over when they are done with a bolt (maybe bolt's not the right word, but whatevs) of fabric.

because i am still obsessed with rosettes, and will be making hundreds of them, i needed pretty fabric.
and hobby lobby supplied.



can you guess what I'll be up to the minute I am done with work for the day?

don't forget about the giveaway going on here

Crafts

Confession:

I am a blogger now. Although to my husband this fact is embarassing.
Not that all my blog posts previous to this were not sufficient to make me a blogger.
But now I think "I need this picture for the blog".
Or "I wonder how I can make the blog cuter"

It's not just I like to write my random thoughts just for mom to read (but thanks for reading, Mom!)

But I enjoy learning the HTML and widgets and formatting stuff like that.

And I have blogs I love love love.

And some of those ladies can make some pretty incredible crafty stuff...(yes, Mom, that includes you!!)

So...I thought I would share a few of the projects I will attempt to tacke in the next....while

1. Hoop frames

Aren't they adorable??  You get to pick your fabric, can easily change the photos as you choose, and they are simple!  And for those of you who love photos like I do...you won't blow your whole budget on frames!!  

2. Date your mate

This cute little idea is from the blog dollar store crafts.  All you need is a deck of cards, sharpie, whole punch, and two rings.  How easy is that?  Oh yes, and you need a wonderful husband to love on.  Check, check, check.  Samuel, act surprised when this little goodie shows up in  your lunch one day.

3. Headbands

Out of all of my crafts...this looks the hardest, and is probably just me dreaming away and will never really happen.  But come on, maybe one day??