How much longer till spring??

The city I live in has had 41.4 inches of snow since Dec. 1. . . just let that soak in people . .. 41.4 inches!!! We’ve had at least 5 inches of snow on the ground for the last 50 consecutive days. (disclaimer: I know I have no right to complain because a lot of places get more snow than this on a regular basis - BUT this is the most snowfall we've seen in over 100 years so for us it's a lot and I reserve the right to bitch about it OK?)

You’re thinking, “What’s the point here Amy?” And I’ll tell you what the point is people. The point is that I’m so sick of snow that the next time I see a flake falling to the ground I will either a) curl up into a fetal position and start sobbing uncontrollably until spring, or b) figure out how to sell all of the duplicate organs my body can spare on the black market and drum up enough money for a 3 month vacation to the Bahamas.

Another point is that with the copious amounts of snow and ice on every surface of the earth around here getting out and about with two kids is not really feasible so cabin fever has set in. No, let me rephrase that; it has moved in, claimed a shelf in the fridge, used all my shampoo, borrowed my favorite pair of jeans and is currently wiping its orange cheese puff encrusted fingers on the arm of my loveseat.

Most people deal with cabin fever by finding ways to get out of the house. I combat it by purging and organizing. Because when you feel the walls closing in, the most logical thing to do is to get rid of as much stuff as possible that lies between you and the walls so that you have a little more room to breathe.

I started my purging/organizing in my craft area.

I keep my fabric in large plastic drawers and I really wish I had taken a ‘before’ picture because they were awful. The fabric was just shoved in willy nilly. Some of it was folded but most of it wasn’t and the only way I could find a specific piece of fabric I was looking for was to dump the entire contents of a drawer on the table and paw through it like a little old lady diving into the bargain bin at JC Penny.

I cut squares (or rectangles depending on the amount of fabric) of cardboard and folded each piece of fabric neatly around it. Then I organized by color. Isn’t it beautiful?

I also got rid of about 1/3 of my scrapbook paper and supplies. I really had a lot of stuff that I couldn’t ever conceive myself using.

I even made a pennant banner out of some old vintage fabric to spruce up the place. It's like the grand opening of my new cleaner space!

Maybe I can make it till spring after all. Next stop – the closet!

Those aren't raisins

It all started so innocently. I had a little bit of yarn leftover from a project so I made this little cutie.

And then I thought he might get lonely, so I made him a pal.

And they quickly formed a strong bond.

A couple days later I came home to Neil Diamond on the stereo and an opened bottle of Boone's strawberry wine. I think you all know what came next.

And then things really started getting out of hand.

I can't keep the cupboards stocked. They really like cookies - I'm buying Chips Ahoy in bulk!

And I'd really like to watch somehting other than GSN. I mean I enjoy Press Your Luck and old episodes of Let's Make a Deal as much as the next gal but 24/7? Everytime I try to change the channel thought things get ugly.

So I'm shipping these little guys off to my husband's mother who will find good homes for them with the children that come through the social service office she works for.

If you've got a surplus of cookies around you can make your own bunnies too. I used this fabulous free pattern from one of my favorite Etsy sellers; Rebecca of Danger Crafts.

The Joys of the Season

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday. I got some much needed time off and I happily spent it doing absolutely nothing. It was wonderful.

However, since I did absolutely nothing but revel in the joys of the holidays, I don't really have anything craft related to share with you today. But I didn't want to leave you hanging so I thought I'd show you one of the gifts I recieved this year. An Edward Cullen figurine:

As you may recall, I kind of have a small obsession and my husband indulged that obsession by putting this little guy in my stocking this year.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward's/Robert's hotness doesn't translate perfectly into plastic. Second, there was a part of me, and I wasnt' sure how embarassed I was of it, that was really excited about owning this figurine. And third, that I would absolutely and irrevocably keep this thing forever no matter how sad and pathetic it might make me.

I kept him on my desk at home during the holidays but I found that he drew quite a crowd. I tried to tell the princesses that Edward didn't like blondes, or seafood but they wouldn't listen. I thought Belle might have a chance being a brunette and all but she was just there to ask if Jacob was around. It seems she's got a thing for guys with fur.

So that I would have his full attention, I took him into work and put him on my desk next to my filing cabinet and I've been composing poems for him all week with my magnetic poetry set.

On a completely unrelated note

Have you ever gotten a tacky gift? I'm sure you have. A few years back my best friend and I decided to celebrate the joy of tacky gifts by creating a Tacky Gift Competition. Visit here to get more information on how the competition started and its rules.

My reason for telling you this today is that it's voting time. Both she and I have purchased our tacky items and I'd like your help to determine a winner. Take a gander at the tacky beauties below and then if you're so inclined, please head to the tacky treasure website to see even more photos and place your vote.


Which is tackier? Jesus of the Sea? or Googly Eyed Fisherman with crotch protruding pole?

You decide!

Stamped Clothespins

I've got a lot of clothespins hanging around my house and I've also got a fair amount of rubber stamps. This weekend I put them both to use to create some fun stamped decorative clothespins.

Here's how I made them.
Supplies:

Rubber stamps or clear acrylic stamps
Wooden clothespins
ink pad or ink markers

I chose a variety of rubber stamps though you could easily do this with the new clear stamps as well. As you can see, even if your stamp is larger than your clothespin you can still make some pretty cool effects.

I found the easiest way to stamp the clothespin was to place the stamp rubber side up on my table and then apply the ink. I used these ink markers which are very convenient and allow me extra control over what section of my stamp gets inked. Of course a traditional ink pad would work as well.

Once you've inked your stamp in the color of your choice, simply press the paper clip down onto the stamp. I used fairly firm pressure and rocked it very slightly to make sure the design transferred to the wood.

And simple as that you've got your decorated clothespin.

I think the swirl one is my favorite.

They'd work great to clip a gift tag onto a present.

Or a gift bag.

Think how cute they would be holding closed a small bag of homemade holiday goodies! You can smack a magnet on the back and use them to clip notes on the refrigerator. Decorate lots of them and use them to clip your Christmas cards from friends and family onto a ribbon or string. The possibilities are endless.

Eat The Cookie Mother!

Another entry about food. I'm sensing a theme - but it is the holidays after all and this weekend my friends and I had our 2nd annual Baking Extravaganza. We got together and made tons and tons of goodies and then divided them up amongst ourselves to give as gifts for daycare providers, neighbors and co-workers.

Here are some of the spoils of the evening.

I focused on sugar cookies this year. I baked over 150 and my back and hands are still sore from icing them all.

The best treat of all though has got to be these chocolate mint brownie cookies. They're really good but one of the girls was quick to point out that with their lovely coat of powdered sugar they looked like the arsenic dusted cookies from the Flowers in the Attic movie. That movie freaked me out as a kid. Not so much the cruelty and death but that bathtub scene - ewww - it haunts me to this day. I'm all for family togetherness but I'm not letting my brother scrub my back in the tub okay.

Anyway, these cookies will forever be known as the "flowers in the attic cookies" within our little circle of friends.

This is for you girls:

Teeny Tiny Nanners

Okay, this post is absolutely non-craft related, but I had to share.

Look at these absolutely adorable teensie-tiny-eensie-weenie little bananas I found at the grocery store the other day.

I must admit, a little “Awww!” escaped me right there in the store when I saw them and I had to get them. They taste like regular bananas, perhaps just a tad bit sweeter. I’m not sure there is a huge demand for miniaturized fruit, but they’re cute and a great idea for school lunches since they fit in a lunch box/bag much better than a regular sized banana.

I’ve been obsessed with them for days and I started to wonder about some of their advantages over the typical larger banana. Here's what I came up with:

1. They create the perfect number of slices to top off your bowl of cereal or stack of pancakes. See that half of a banana in the background? There would be no leftovers with the mini banana to taint your fruit to cereal intake ratio!

2. They boost the egos of really tiny monkeys – now they can carry around a whole banana instead of half of one – even animals feel shame you know.

And last but certainly not least!

3. The little peels would be perfect in the circus acts of really tiny clowns.