So, I recently completed my college studies and I have slowly been adjusting to my new life as a free woman. This is the first time in my life where I can literally do anything I want without feeling guilty about not doing school work, and I am not entirely sure what to do with myself! My husband is amazing and suggested that I try a lot of new things, or things I've wanted to do but couldn't because I was preoccupied with school. Not only did this seem like a great idea, but it worked out that I could start this adventure just as spring was coming on.
Just as the Earth comes back to life in the springtime, I kind of feel like my life is coming back to life. To help discover what I really like to do and to spend my days doing what I want, I created a 30 Day Bucket List. There are not 30 things on my list, but there is a list of things that I will accomplish within 30 days. My list includes a few things that I will do during the entire 30 days, a few things that I will do for a week, and then single items that I can do in a day.
So, to introduce my 30 Day Bucket List and to welcome spring back into our lives, here is an item from my bucket list: a lovely and modern floral arrangement to bring life to any room.
To make this beautiful and simple floral display, you will need:
- floral stems of your choice (I chose sunflowers)
- a paper bag (brown, black, or white)
- sheers to trim the floral stems
- a mason jar or similar-sized jar
- glass gems to help hold the stems in place, if needed
First, put some water and some plant food in your jar. Then trim your stems to your desired length and put them in your vase. If needed, add some glass gems to keep your stems in place. I had to do this with the sunflowers because the stems are so thick, the flowers are heavy, and there weren't enough flowers to fill the vase. The gems worked really well, though, so I would recommend using them if you don't have a lot of flowers and/or you want to keep your stems in a specific arrangement.
Next, open your paper bag and roll down the edges to your desired height. I rolled mine three times so that the top of the paper bag was only slightly taller than the top of my vase. Then simply place your vase with the flowers inside of your paper bag.
To add a little more flare, I used our label maker and added a label to the paper bag. I simply labeled the bag with 'flowers' but you can label yours however you want. I think this arrangement looks so great even without the label, but the label just seemed to be the cherry on top.
This arrangement is so easy and simple, but it adds such a beautiful touch of spring to any room. I am excited about this new 30 day adventure, and I will be sure to include some updates of some of my favorite crafts and activities. I hope y'all take some time to spring into something new that will make you feel alive, especially during this time of year where the Earth is all about new beginnings.
I hope you enjoy my Easter-related bunny puns, because this post is all about bunny crafts for Easter. When spring comes around, I can't help but think about Easter - and the combined seasons make it easy to decorate your house. So if you want an easy but adorable spring craft that you can make on your own or with your kiddos then keep on reading because today, we are making pom-pom bunnies!
So, before you get started, here's what you will need:
Yarn in the colors you want for your bunny (I used cream, light grey, and dark grey) (also, the dark grey and cream were chunky, and the light grey was normal thickness)
Scissors
Pom pom makers
Felt for the ears (colors to match the yarn, as well as pink for the inner ear)
Thin yarn or embroidery thread for the eyes and nose (I used black and pink)
Hot glue gun
Okay, so here are my instructions on how to use the pom pom makers. I bought this set from Hobby Lobby, and they worked pretty well. This set has four sizes, and for the larger bunny, I used sizes 2 and 4, and then used the smallest size (size 1) for the tail).
First, make the head. Set up the pom pom makers like the picture below, then stack them together.
Wrap your yarn around your pom pom maker. Wrap the yarn so that it covers all of the pom pom maker, and use the same strand of yarn to wrap around both halves of the pom pom maker.
When you are done wrapping the yarn around the pom pom maker, then put the two halves together to form a circle and use the clasps to keep the pieces together. Then use your scissors to cut along the space between the two plastic pieces.
This is what your pom pom will look like after you cut around the circle.
To finish off your pom pom, take a strand of yarn and lay it in the gap between the two plastic pieces, like in the picture below. Wrap the strand all the way around the circle, and then tie a knot - be sure the knot is very tight, since this is what will be keeping your pom pom together. Once you have tied your knot, then remove the plastic pieces and you will see how the yarn is in a little pom pom. To finish it off, use your scissors to trim the pom pom to the desired size.
So now you have your bunny head! Now time for the body. If you want your bunny to have a little white tummy, then follow the directions below. If not, then simply make the body with a single color, using the largest sized pom pom maker. To make a white tummy, put the two pieces of the pom pom maker together, and wrap the cream yarn around the center of one of the halves, making a V shape with the yarn. Go ahead and make it pretty thick too - no need to do one layer.
After you finish with the cream yarn, use the same yarn you used for the head to wrap around the rest of the pom pom maker. Then cut along the gap between the two pieces and tie off your pom pom with another strand. Finish it off by trimming your pom pom to an appropriate size to fit the bunny head. If you want the bunny to sit flat on a shelf or something, then trim one edge shorter and with straight cuts rather than making it rounded. That side will be the bottom and allow the pom pom to sit flat.
Finally, make the bunny tail. I used the smallest size of the pom pom maker with the cream yarn. Follow the same instructions as the head. When trimming the pom pom, trim half of it to be flat so that it will sit against the body easily.
If you want ears and a nose on your bunny, then go ahead and do it now. I did black eyes on one of my bunnies, but then realized that it wasn't very noticeable, so for the other ones, I did not make eyes. For the eyes and noses, simply loop your yarn or thread through a needle and tie a knot on the other end. Thread it through the entire pom pom, and make an 'X' or a circle on the face side. For the nose, thread your pink yarn and make an 'X' or a 'T' with the yarn on the face side. When you're done making the eyes and/or noses, just pull the thread to the back of the pom pom and cut it.
Once you have all of your pom poms, use your hot glue gun to attach the head and tail to the body.
Now it's time to make the ears! I didn't use a pattern for this but just judged the size based on the size of the head. My first two bunnies were larger, with the dark grey, and my ears ended up being a little oversized, so I would say that you should make the ears smaller than you would expect. Use your grey felt to make the ear in a color that matches the yarn, and then make a pink piece that is slightly smaller than the outer ear size. Use your hot glue to glue the pink onto the grey. Then, if you want, glue the left and right edges together at the base of the ears to make the ears more rounded than flat.
Once your glue is dry, then glue the ears onto the pom pom head, and your bunny is done! Again, my ears were a little oversized, but the bunnies still ended up being super cute. After I made two large, dark grey bunnies, I made a smaller light grey one. Now I have some adorable, fuzzy little bunnies around the house just in time for spring and Easter.
Hey y'all - I'm back and I have a new project that I tried this week! For those of you who may not have noticed, macramé is making a HUGE comeback and it is amazing. My sister-in-law Tasmin and I have been obsessing over this for quite some time now. I mean, just look at how beautiful and versatile macramé can be!!!
(all of these photos were found by doing a Google search)
(also, for any of you that are interested in macrame and want to see more beautiful options,
follow my weaving Pinterest board, or just follow me on Pinterest in general!)
For Christmas, Tasmin gave me this macramé book and this macramé cord so I could actually make my own wall hangings and other beautiful projects she knows me so well. So after I finished my gemstone soap, I knew my next project had to be a macramé wall hanging. Here is what I used for my project:
Macramé Pattern Book
Wooden Dowel
Cotton Macramé cord
Twine for hanging the dowel
Scissors
thumb tacks - to hang the dowel
First, I wrapped and tied my twine around the ends of my dowel, then I hung the dowel on my wall using thumbtacks. I hung this on a spot where I knew I would not hang it permanently, but in a place where I could sit on the floor and work on the project.
Next, I cut 14 strands of cord at my desired length - for this project, each strand measured from fingertip to fingertip. Then I attached each strand to my dowel using a lark's head knot.
Now, I did not have a specific pattern I was following for this project, which may have been a bad idea. Because I did not know really what I wanted, it took me a lot longer to finish this project than it should have. I was constantly trying new knots in different patterns and then taking them out. I wanted to try a variety of knots, but I just didn't know how I wanted this project to end up. If I had a pattern to follow, I could have easily finished in a few hours - I found most of the knots to be pretty simple. But, no matter how many times I added and removed knots, I always kept my first few rows as an alternating pattern of square knots.
Regardless of how long it took me or how frustrated I got at not knowing what I wanted, I found the book to be very helpful. I also used some of the posts from my Pinterest board as guidance, and I also found this video to be very informative and easy to follow. Here's a couple of tips I would suggest based on my first experience with macramé:
If you are making a wall hanging, try using thinner cord. I found that the cord I used was great and thick, but as you can see in the photos, it was a little difficult to make it lay flat once it had been knotted.
If you want to make a hanging planter, I would definitely recommend using this cord- the thickness will work great not only for the knots but also keep it sturdy and capable of holding a heavier pot
When making your project, make your strands a little longer than expected. Overall, my length worked well but I had to change my desired pattern several times because a few of my strands got shorter than the rest and I was not able to continue making the same pattern I wanted.
Have fun! Macramé is so versatile with knot patterns for beginners through experts - make this project your own and don't be afraid to try some more challenging knots; they may be easier than you think!
I had such a fun time with this new project, and I am really glad I finally gave it a try! My first hanging is certainly not perfect, but I still love it. And even with taking out my pattern so many times, I found macramé to be very relaxing. I will definitely be trying this again soon.
What are some new project you have done recently? Tell us about your experiences with trying new things, expanding your skills, and stepping out of your comfort zone.
So this month, we are focusing on trying new things. I'll be honest, I forgot about choosing something new I wanted to try... but that is why we have Pinterest in the world! I have so many pins that are crafts or activities that I just save so I can refer to them later, so in order to pick something new to try, all I had to do was scroll through a couple of my Pinterest boards and find a pin. My first choice: gemstone soap! I always think this looks so pretty and it seemed easy enough so I thought, "Heck, I can do that!" Well, here is my experience with making gemstone soap, along with my own tips of what to do and what not to do.
Before we get started, here is a little reggae-style love song titled "Gem" by Irie Souls to get you in the mood. Gotta love it!
Okay! First thing's first - your materials. Here is what you'll need to make your own gemstone soap:
Clear glycerin soap (I bought a 2 lb. block from Hobby Lobby, which is about $10 without a coupon)
Soap Scents - I chose lavender and grapefruit
Soap Dye - I bought a three-pack from Hobby Lobby for about $4 with the colors wine, gold, and orange
A knife
Mircowave-safe bowls
Disposable stirring utensil (I used a wooden skewer)
A 16oz clear plastic disposable cup (I just got the cheapest brand at Walmart - you don't need anything fancy)
A large bowl with ice
Once you have all of your materials, start by cutting your glycerin soap. For one batch of soap, I used two columns, which is a total of 8 squares. Once I got my 8 squares, I cut each of those into 4 pieces, for a total of 32 small soap cubes.
Once you have your soap cut, divide it between your microwave-safe bowls. Use one bowl for each color or shade you would like in your gemstone. For each of mine, I ended up doing 4 shades, so I had 8 of my small cubes in 4 different bowls.
Before I jump ahead, let me clarify a few things. When I made my soap,
I used like a 20 second, no word Buzzfeed video, so some of the steps
were not as clear as they should have been. If you want your gemstone
soap to not be a solid color but to blend gradually from light to dark,
then you cannot dump all of your soap in at once. So, the following steps
are based on the desire to have your colors be blended rather than solid.
Okay. Now that you have your diced soap divided between your bowls, then heat your first bowl of soap in the microwave in 30 second intervals. The max time I needed to melt the soap was 45 seconds. Once your soap is melted, then do the following:
add a few drops of your soap scent
add your soap coloring, if desired (if you want the gradual light to dark look, then I would recommend not adding any color to your first layer)
pour your soap into your clear plastic cup
Now, these next steps get a little tricky with getting the timing right. You want your soap to sit in the cup for a few minutes before you pour your next layer in. By waiting a few minutes, the soap starts to stiffen, so when you pour your next layer in, then it won't just all blend together. The tricky part is knowing when to pour in the next layer. By my third batch, I felt a little more comfortable and waited about 5 minutes in between layers, sometimes closer to 7 minutes. This worked, but be warned! I waited just a little too long, causing my soap to be distinctly layered rather than blended. Not only were they layered, but because the previous layer had dried before I poured in the new layer, the layers did not stick together once I started cutting it into gemstones later.
I would recommend waiting about 3-4 minutes before pouring in your next layer.
So, after a couple of minutes of waiting, start preparing your next layer. Melt the soap in 30 second intervals, add your scent, then add your dye. Here is how much dye I added in each of my layers:
For my pink soap
Layer 1: no dye
Layer 2: one drop of wine color
Layer 3: two drops of wine color
Layer 4: four drops of wine color
For my yellow soap
Layer 1: no dye
Layer 2: one drop of gold color
Layer 3: one drop of gold, one drop of orange
Layer 4: two- three drops of orange
This photo is of all the pink shades I had; however, I would not recommend making all four shades at the same time. If you pour them all in right after the other, then they will blend together and your soap will be a solid color. If you let them sit out while you wait for each layer to stiffen, then the other layers will also stiffen while they sit in the bowls. So, I would simply recommend preparing each layer as you are ready to add it to your cup.
This is my pink and yellow batches after pouring in the second layer. See how they are layered but still have a little blending? That is what I was going for!
Continue this process of preparing your layer, adding it to your cup, and then letting it sit for a few minutes before adding the next layer until all of your layers are added. Once you are done adding your layers, it is time for an ice bath! Add some water to your bowl of ice and then set your cups into the ice bath for 20 minutes.
After the bath, remove your cups, wipe off the water, and work the soap out of the cup. You might be able to do so by loosening the suction between the cup and soap. I just used some scissors and cut my cup until I reached my soap, then I could tear off the cup from around the soap without actually cutting the soap with my scissors.
Now you have some lovely soap blocks and it's time to start cutting them into gemstones!
To start, I cut each soap block into quarters, so I ended up with four pieces of soap from each cup. Then, with each of those pieces, just start cutting off the edges at different angles. Be careful not to cut yourself!!
I ended up with quite a bit of shavings at the end, but I didn't want them to be wasted. So I re-melted the shavings and then poured them into some silicone molds I had lying around the house. If you do the same, just pour the melted soap into your molds and put the molds in the fridge for a while - I ended up leaving them in for a couple of hours while I did other things. When the soap is solid, just pop it out of the mold - now none of the soap is wasted!
Once your gemstones are shaped the way you'd like them to be, you are done! Just look at these beauties! They were so fun and easy (ish) to make, and you can make them too! Now it's your turn to scroll through those never-ending pins on your Pinterest boards and find something new that you want to try. You don't have to be a professional, just have fun and go for it! I already have my next new craft in mind, so come back next week to see what that will be!
I wasn't sure what to do with all of this soap, so I decided to give some of it to my friends at church. I wrapped up some gemstones and attached a little note to each one that said "You're A Gem." While it may have just been a silly play-on-words to go with the soap, just remember that it is actually true. Each of you are as beautiful, unique, and valuable as a gemstone. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but also, don't be afraid to embrace your individuality. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from doing what you want to do. This life is meant to be enjoyed, and we are meant to have joy. Embrace who you are, love who you are, and do what makes you truly happy, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone every once in a while. Because...
Handmade gifts are always a good idea. They are more personal, unique, and show that you truly care for someone. Plus it's always fun to put on your crafting cap and let your creative side take over. Next time you have the chance to give a gift to someone, try making a gift for them. Even if you make something simple like your own card instead of buying one - it's fun to do, and the recipient will most likely love the gift even more. Besides, isn't it the thought that counts? :) This month, I made a gift for my sister Margeaux who had a birthday! Birthdays are a big deal and I always jump at the chance to go a little overboard when it comes to parties and presents. Plus, I'll use any excuse possible to spend time crafting, crocheting, sewing, painting, or pretty much anything that doesn't include studying for school. So for my sister's birthday, I crocheted her a bohemian style mandala doily.
Eventually, I will do a post on the basics of crocheting so that those of you who want to learn can have some introductory instructions. If you happen to already know how to crochet, then this will be a fun project, though I would consider this pattern to be intermediate. I got the pattern from here so I won't write it out on this post, but it is a very simple, straight-forward pattern.
I chose my own colors for this project based on the Bohemian home styling posts my sister shared on Pinterest; gotta love Pinterest, right?! I used Crafter's Secret Cotton yarn, available at Hobby Lobby, which I also love (I could seriously spend all day in that store). You will only need one skein of each color, and I chose seven colors. Here is my list of supplies used for this project:
Yarn Colors:
Bordeaux
Taupe
Ocean
Purple
Ivory
Dark Teal
Papaya
Other Materials:
US size H/8 5mm crochet hook
threading needle
small fabric scissors a little snack to keep you going
I didn't follow a specific color pattern - I just went for it and chose a random new color for each round. This is after round 11 of 26.
This is the final product! It is 26 rounds and the diameter is just shy of 2 feet.
After you finish your mandala, it might be beneficial to do some blocking. This will help to keep your mandala flat and equally spread. Here's what I did to my finished product:
Get a piece of cardboard large enough to fit your mandala.
Lay out your finished project, then start pinning it down with some basic sewing pins. As you pin it down, work from the center outwards.
When you get to the outer layer, pin the edges in somewhat of an X pattern. To do this, pin the edge on one side, then pin your next pin on the opposite edge. Continue doing this until your mandala is fairly flat. Then you can start pinning around the edges any way you like.
When your mandala is pinned down, lay some damp towels over the project. Be sure to cover the entire thing.
Using an iron, steam your mandala. Be very careful! Do not actually place your iron on top of the towels, as the heat can melt your yarn. Rather, hover your iron over the project to steam it.
When you're done with this, remove the towels and let your yarn dry. I ended up using towels that were a little more wet than I intended. After leaving the mandala out to dry for a little bit, I found that it was still damp. So I steamed it again, but this time without towels. Again, only hover over the project!
Once you have steamed your mandala and it has dried, remove the pins. It should now be flat and perfect.
Now you have a beautiful new addition to your home, or a beautiful piece of decor to give to a loved one! This is an easy project that can add some personalized touches to any home. If you try it, let us know and share your photos in the comment section! Happy crafting!
