February Wood Craft Classes

I am sooooo excited for this months crafts! I tried to think of some different things so you could have a wide variety. If you do not live in Utah but would be interested in purchasing wood crafts... finished or unfinished, please contact me at anisascholes@gmail.com. I am willing to ship the wood. I also have patterns to sell. Dates: Tues. Feb. 23rd 10 am Thurs. Feb. 25th 6pm Sat. Feb. 27th 10 am Lion/Lamb: $17 (you may also put this duo on a wreath for $4 additional) Leprechaun Trio: $10 (This price if for 3 leprechauns. The cost of 3 stands is $5) Leprechaun Yard Stake: $18 (you may also make this a hanging leprechaun) Kite: $12 (can be painted any colors) If you have any questions, please contact me at anisascholes@gmail.com

Amigurumi

What is Amigurumi? It is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.[1] Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings, and inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features. (Thanks Wikipedia)

I've been having so much fun with this great mini-book of crochet patterns from Lion Brand Yarn. My little boy looks through this book like it's a catalog for him to choose from.I'm not trying to personally promote Lion Brand Yarn, but Angie and I have checked out a few books from the library on amigurumi before and the patterns have left me really confused, but this little book I picked up at Hobby Lobby was really clear and easy to follow.

I'm almost finished with this alligator I started this morning and I waved good-bye to a cute little owl that I made for a friend's daughter just last night. Lots of fun.

They make up quite quickly. You just need yarn, a crochet hook, stuffing and safety eyes because at Lion Brand Yarn they have a endless selection of free patterns for amigurumi. You do have to sign up for their site, but I've personally never had a problem with them (ie they don't share your email) and I like getting their occasional email updates (which are easy to opt out of, if you desire).

Type 'amigurumi' in the Search box, sign in and enjoy all the free patterns! Here's some pictures of some of the adorable critters you'll find here.

-C

Crown Molding Shelves

If you live in the Salt Lake City, Utah area, I have a great deal on some awesome crown molding shelves for you!!! My little brother has started a little business making these beautiful shelves.

He sells them by the foot prices... painted or unpainted. Check out his blog for details. This black one is a huge 10 ft. shelf that he made for my mom's bedroom. How fun to have one of these shelves all along a room to display other fun crafting projects.... I think I'm going to have him make me one for my living room.

-Anisa

Here's Some Great Crafting Eye-Candy

About a week ago I asked you readers if there were blogs out there you'd seen and liked. Thanks for sharing your blogs with us (though I couldn't get your link to work, Kim)! You're all doing a lot of cute stuff! I found a list of reader favorites in the crafting world on Poppytalk. Of these, I loved http://www.goinghometoroost.com http://blog.betzwhite.com/ http://racheldenbow.blogspot.com/ Most of the winners in the post I linked have etsy shops for you peruse. Poppytalk itself is full of great stuff. Enjoy! -C

Craft room Storage Crates

I have a cute white desk in my craft room that I purchased on Target.com a few years ago. I love the style and simplicity of it, but the desk has open shelves on it. The open shelves are very deep and I have never been able to find the right size of baskets to fit the shelves. So, considering the fact that I love to cut wood, I decided I was going to make my own wooden crates... that way I could make them to perfectly fit under my desk.

And they fit perfectly.... it's almost scary. I only made three and now looking at the pictures, I'm wondering if I should make one more. I have my Cricut mats and paper trimmers on the top shelf and they kind of hang out so they wouldn't fit in a crate. I guess I could find somewhere else to store them so that I could have a perfectly even desk storage. I had so much fun building them. I love it when I get to use tools and saws without my hubby's help... it's even better that he's willing to clean up my sawdust mess:) My ultimate goal is to get this craft room organized enough that I can take pictures of the whole room and post them for you... one step at a time.... Here's a preview of one wall.

Tooth Monster

We have our first loose tooth at our house:) This is so exciting for us. But being the crafty mom that I am, I had to find something for my little boy to put his tooth in for the tooth fairy. So, we went blog searching to see what we could find. My favorite tutorial was on mmmcrafts. Totally cute, but super girly. So, I used the idea and the pattern... but then I saw this idea on instructables.com and my little boy loved it.

I wanted him to help. So, I cut out the white fabric. Then I handed him my stash of felt and told him to cut out his eyes and teeth and anything else that he wanted. I then sewed the felt onto the tooth for him. I wanted to have the tooth go into the opening of the mouth like on the tutorial, but the mouth was too low on the tooth and it just wasn't going to work. So, my husband suggested making a pocket for the back of the pillow! So, now we are patiently waiting for this tooth to fall out:) By the way, what's the going rate for a tooth from the tooth fairy these days? -Anisa

Cozy Car Caddy by Jill

We love getting all sorts of ideas from craft blogs everywhere to make for our families. When I saw the cute Cozy Car Caddy on homemade by jill (click link for her tutorial). I knew I'd be making it for my three-year-old. Being the least skilled at sewing of the three of us, I felt this was something I could handle. Here's my version:

The changes/shortcuts I took were these:

• I used a double layer of regular quilting cotton as I didn't have any duck fabric on hand.
• I used foam stamps instead of the stencil intending to paint over them again, but I liked the faded look of one layer of paint a lot and kept it that way.
• I didn't 'get' the Velcro closure part and so I used a ribbon folded over to make a loop and placed a button on the back. My little boy likes to button his own buttons now so this is perfect.

This is going to be ideal for taking in the car or for quiet time in church (if boys can really be quiet playing cars in church). Now my eight year old wants one. I'd like to make a My Little Pony version for my little girl, but time will tell if that materializes. Here's the very happy recipient. I don't know how he's survived these two days (though it just took two hours of those two days) to make this.

--C

What's New Out There?

I've had a great time perusing the craft blogs that we follow regularly.
It was so much fun, in fact, that it left me wondering...
What Else Is Out There?
Naturally, there's no way for one (or two or three) people to discover all the cool crafting blogs out there.
Leave a link (or two or three) of your favorites out there in the blog-o-sphere, even if it is someone we already have in our sidebar.
If YOU have a craft blog, promote away!