Scary snowmen?

Is it just me or are these the scariest snowmen you've ever seen? I just don't think snowmen should have faces! (This is just the opinion of Anisa... no offense intended)

Fluff and Stuff for little Girls

My kids had a birthday party to attend the other day for a little friend of ours. Ever since I've dived more heavily into crafting, I hate buying store-bought presents. Especially since you can't get much for the amount I'm willing to spend. The little girl was having a costume party to celebrate and that gave me an idea. Being newly 5 she's into all things princess-y and girly. I found this cute wand (with an easy-to-follow tutorial) at Little Birdie Secrets and knew I was onto something. If a princess has a beautiful wand, what else does she need to go with it? A beautiful fluffy tutu of course! (Tutorial coming soon!) A few dollars at hobby lobby and a couple of hours later I had dress-ups made for the princess that she is-a curly ribbon wand, fluffy tutu, and with my extra curls I was able to pull a cute little korker bow together. Sigh...I love crafting.

Swiss Days in Midway, Utah

I went with a friend to Swiss Days in Midway, Utah over the weekend. It is a HUGE craft fair with lots of fun stuff. We went for crafting ideas:) Anyway, I just thought I would highlight a few of my favorite boutiques at Swiss Days...

Cale & Company Design Sweet and Shabby Designs Vinylicious Designs Me and Mom's Hats

We have some talented crafters out there!!! -Anisa

A Little Accessory Organization Here

Thanks to Angie's clippie tutorial I decided to make some for my daughter...(I improvised. They are far from amazing). Anyway, right after I made these, I needed a fun place to keep them. Lo and behold. Nanny Goat had the perfect solution HERE. I put my mother (the woman is a garage sale fiend) on the scent for an ornate-looking frame. I think she found a good one. I painted it with regular acrylic paint, choosing not to prime it so that the previous gold of the frame would show through just a bit. I attached ribbon with a heavy application of hot glue. Ribbon is by (l to r) Basic Grey, American Crafts Basic Grey, Offray and Basic Grey. If not yet a fan of Nanny Goat you need to check out their cute craft blog for ideas and inspiration, too! --C

Awesome Tutorials

So, the other day I was blog hopping through links on some of my favorite sites. I came across this insanely awesome post The Princess and the Monkey has put together and keeps updated. It's a ginormous collection of tutorials-everything from hand bags, things to put in your purse, clothes, toys, etc. Some things found here I'd like to try (and their links):

No-sew (love it already) fabric flower clips:

From: miffy's world

Gadget wallet:

From: Hoppo Bumpo

Hooded Towels

A few years ago my mom bought my two oldest boys hooded towels.  One was Elmo and one was Diego.  Now that they are older, they have been fighting over the Diego towel... they're both too old for Elmo.

I was tired of all the fighting, so I went in search of a Hooded Towel Tutorial.  There were a lot of them out there on the web, but THIS tutorial on It's Sew Sweet was by far the easiest.

I bought very neutral TAN towels and made two hooded towels for $8.  I opted for no decorative trim because they are boys and wouldn't care about the decorative trim.  They were so excited that I made the towels for them and they love them!  

The only problem is that I only made two... and I have 3 boys!  I guess I need to make one more.

-Anisa

Getting Your Own Work Out There

There are so many opportunities to publish the crafting or scrapbooking that you have done or share your ideas with companies or publications that may or may not be willing to offer you compensation.

Here are a few links, listed in a frustratingly random order:

Lotus Paperie design team opportunity

Scrapbook Design Team Scrapbook Design Team

This link will get you information on how to submit to any of the following publications: Scrapbook Trends magazine, Bead Trends mag, Simply Handmade mag or Cards mag.

Bead Style magazine link

Threads sewing magazine sewing challenge

Creating Keepsakes magazine's latest Calls for Submissions list

Crafts 'n Things accepts entire crafting articles here

It's not hard to do. May be it takes a bit of courage. Go for it! I've been trying to get Anisa to submit her scrapbook pages for years.

(or you could get a photo of your work on here by sending us a digital image through email by April 24th! twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com. See right sidebar) --C

Peachy Cheap

Everyone likes a good deal, right?  I think for me, it's more the temptation.  I like to be tempted just to see how strong I am.  (By the way, I'm not that strong.  I am often on the phone with Cami...."tell my why I shouldn't buy this.")

Anyway, I love the website peachycheap.com  Every day they have a different scrapbooking deal.  A couple of weeks ago, I bought both of these garlands.

On Tinkering Ink's site, they are each $8.  I bought both of them for $8.98 including shipping.  It's so hard not to buy their product every day.... today's is especially tempting for me.  Go check it out!!!

By the way, go to Little Nanny Goat and you will find a tutorial for a banner.  That is what I plan on doing with my garland.... they are so cute!!!

-Anisa

Deals and Steals

There is this great online fabric store, http://www.fabric.com/. They carry all kinds of great fabric, patterns, etc. that are hard to find locally sometimes. Some of my favorites: In the Kitchen

(City Bloom: Kitty Yoshida)

Chocolate Lollipop: Anna Maria Horner

When I grow up: Debbie Taylor-Kerman

You can search by category or designer (such as Amy Butler). They have already great prices and bonus-visit Homemade by Jill's site and you can get a coupon code for $5 of your order. The best part? No minimum order. I just scored this Amy Butler pattern for $8. With shipping. Oh yeah.

Recycled China

I love china! I love how delicate it looks and all the different designs. I think it's sad that most people don't receive china as a wedding gift any more...well, at least not where I'm from.

I loved this craft idea! Taking flea market china plates and adding words (I love words more than I love crafts) is genius! Here is the link to this project on www.countryliving.com.

This gives me a great reason to pull out some mismatched plates and get 'em up on a wall.

Favorite Brands

I must tell a short story 1st. When it comes to crafting, I had no idea that brand names existed. I had my favorite stores, but I bought paper or fabric because I thought it was cute... I had no idea who made it. That is, until I met Cami. The first time I scrapbooked with her, she said, "Oh, I love that paper. It's Scenic Route. I love their stuff." I was baffled. I literally had never really paid any attention to the fact that there were different brands of paper. So Cami took me shopping and enlightened me. And I definitely have my favorite brands of paper including... Scenic Route, American Crafts, Crate Paper, Basic Grey, etc.

And then I went fabric shopping with my sister-in-law Shauna.  She's a quilter and sewer extraordinaire.  I told her about the types of fabric that I like and she said, "Oh you must love Amy Butler."  It turns out I do!!!  Check out her website.  She has some really great fabric and some fun free patterns! Leave a comment and let me know your favorite brand of paper, fabric, etc.

-Anisa

Craft: mag

If you haven't entered our give-away yet click here after reading today's post.

This is the current issue of Craft Magazine. In this issue is featured instructions to help you creat the perfect mixtape for any party, make a keepsake wedding book, design beautiful invitations and make customized plates and coasters, fancy hats party cakes and cake toppers.

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I love this magazine.

I REALLY love this magazine.

Anyone who got me a subscription to this magazine would be my friend for life... ...but I digress.

Craft magazine is so fun.

It is filled with crazy craft ideas.

It has repurposing.

It has tutorials.

It has patterns.

It is never-ending goodness.

It has stuff to make for kids.

It has stuff to make for adults.

It is FULL of stuff to make for adults that think they're still kids.

It is funky and current.

It is always checked out at the library.

It is available for purchase at Hobby-Lobby. Here is a link to their blog: blog craftzine Here is a link to projects on their sight: Projects --C

Sock and Glove

The first time I had seen a sock monkey was on Homemade by Jill's blog. She was obsessed with them and promised that they were so easy to make.

While browsing through the local library's craft books, I happened out IT. The book that takes a plain, boring pair of socks and turns them into an adorable little lovey. Sock and Glove. Really, you should check it out just to read it. The author tells how her sock and glove animals came to be in a charming, story-book way. The instructions were simple, easy to follow and illustrated (my favorite).

I had to try one before the book went back to the library. There were flaws, but overall I learned a lot about what I'd do differently next time. I also think using a better quality than dollar-store socks would help. It was fun and my 7-year-old loves her silly new sock monkey

Fabric Baskets

I have been wanting to make a fabric basket (or 2 or 3) for storage in my craft room.  I just love all of the fun different fabrics that are out there.

Here are some sites with great tutorials on fabric baskets.  (I haven't tried any of them yet, so if you do, let me know how hard they are)  Just click on the link below the picture and it will take you to a tutorial on how to make each of these darling baskets.

Crazy Mom Quilts

J. Caroline Creative

Pink Penguin

-Anisa

P.S.  Our giveaway is still open until Sunday...

P.P.S.  Which baskets do you think I should make?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Weekly Discovery

***Make sure you visit us tomorrow for our 40th post and a GIVE-AWAY!!!*** My discovery is this book by Julie Armstrong Holetz. This book uses 'uncommon' threads such as kitchen twine and sisal as well as other natural fibers like wool and cotton to create functional decor and cute bags, etc. I made a bud vase for my daughter's room using this book with some poly-twine that I bought at Lowe's Home Improvement for 97 cents. I realize that this is not a natural fiber (it did slip quite a bit), but it was a fun material to use. Here are the shots of my handiwork. The patterns were simple, the projects fun and the photography was great. This is a book I would purchase (I found it at the library). --C

Organize.Plan.Create.

January. The time of organization and goals. Crafting and scrapbooking supplies can always use some good organization (at least my supplies could!) and even an occasional sprinkle of inspiration. Let me introduce you to Marlene and Missy of Organize.Plan.Create. (OPC for short.) These two very talented women have collaborated to bring you a website dedicated to helping the world organize their scrapbooking supplies and photos (both digital and hard copies), getting a plan in place and putting those memories on paper and into albums. Each week they have weekly challenges to help you with what kinds of layouts to do, journaling and ideas for new themes to try. They also use their site to showcase some of their work. The main objective of OPC however, is to help free us all from that being overwhelmed when it comes to documenting our family and personal stories. It's a great site with lots of promise and an e-book soon to come! Marlene and Missy also sponsor Get Down With Scrapbooking an annual scrapbooking event to support the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. We've just come back from a lovely weekend of scrapbooking, great food and AMAZING prizes and free stuff. More to come on this tomorrow!

Dabbling in Digital

I am a scrapbooker:) I am a traditional scrapbooker and I will never concert to digital. I love the hands-on approach and I love texture.  I love ribbons and buttons and things with dimension.  However, I thought it would be fun to dabble in a little digital scrapbooking with my December Daily album.  I downloaded some free kits from Shabby Princess.  Then I bought some more kits from Shabby Princess.  I love their stuff and I love that they have a lot of great freebies.  Here is one of my finished pages. I just ordered the prints today and I may have a heart attack when it comes back with all of these fake buttons on it. But it was nice to be able to scrapbook in my car or sitting in my bed late at night.

Here are a few more sites that I like for digital scrapbooking.

Scrapbooks etc. freebies

Scrapgirls

Designer Digitals

Monday Discovery: Frosty Day

It is an awesome thing to support hand-crafters that sell their stuff on http://www.etsy.com/ and other such sites (usually their own), so today I wanted to post pictures to some great hand-crafted items I 'discovered' today (with links to the seller and using 'frost' as a tag search).

Hopefully, the creators of these products won't begrudge my using their photos and will view this as free advertising!

--C

Monday Discovery: Paper Genius

At http://www.craftstylish.com/ there is a contributor that is a paper creation genius! Jeffery Rudell's latest post is this gorgeous silhouette nativity. This is definitely something I would love to do. Here is the link to his instructions.

I also loved his 'snow storm.' As a replacement to handcut snowflakes in the window (which I was actually going to do with my kids today), he suggests putting together a simple concoction of dental floss sandwiched between white dot labels. The result is whimsical and modern and I love it!

Three more links to his posts that are worth checking out:

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/26379/extreme-paper-the-long-dark-road-to-a-bright-idea

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/25718/how-to-make-a-garland-with-punch

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/13737/how-to-make-a-surprisingly-simple-paper-wreath

Martha Stewart

First off, I am not a huge MS fan, but-that said- I do like some of her ideas. Some favorites are the glittery pumpkins and a baby quilt made of mens dress shirts. When I discovered these I discovered something else as well. Something I love. She has a new craft project for every day of the week!!! Do you know what that means????? No more crafters block! Wahoo!!! (Not that I'm having any of that...) Click here to go see for your selves all the wonderful things there are to create! Have fun, but don't stay up too late. :) And I will leave you with something to pamper yourselves with, snowballs

-Ang