She's a Maniac, Maniac on the Floor

Finally - I've got a new item in the shop!

Isn't she just adorable? She's made from the Sammie the Sock Monster pattern from Danger Crafts but I thought instead of socks she could rock out some awesome leg warmers instead.

I am a child of the 80's you know and her little leg warmers remind me of the heyday of legwarmers - and my introduction to them in the movie Flashdance. Every time I look at her it's like I'm reliving scenes from the movie all over again. Except of course that she's not a welder supplementing her income by choreographing and performing elaborate shower scenes at a local strip club all while harboring dreams of enrolling at Julliard.

She's just a sweet little monster with long cold legs that need some covering. Maybe I should have fashioned her a little sweatshirt with the collar cut out so one shoulder would be exposed. Nah, that would have been overkill.

Craptastic Inspiration

I’ve mentioned previously that I’m currently searching for crafting inspiration. Life is hectic right now. It’s spring and that means my mind is a jumble of home beautification and improvement projects. Also my son is in T-ball and that means weekly practices and games. So between work, kids, and the house I’m pretty much too pooped to come up with any fresh, steaming craft products for the shop.

Sure I could just whip out some re-digested version of something that’s been done before but I want something of quality. Something unique, something fantastic that will show the true fiber of my talent!

I’ve been struggling with this crafty constipation for months but I felt confident that inspiration was about to explode somewhere, perhaps just beneath my shoe or on my front lawn and then I found it!

Yes, that is an entire shelving unit covered in fake poop. I came across it while browsing my local flea market. The umm, items, are made with dyed concrete. Note the attention to detail and the varied shades, textures and consistencies that this artisan has captured.

It had a profound effect on me. You see, the moment I saw this display I realized that no matter what I came up with it was bound to be better than a shelf full of concrete feces. And well, if that’s not inspirational I don’t know what is.

(In case you were wondering: yes, this entire post was just an excuse to weave in as many feces related references as possible. I really had to strain to work in “constipation”. I mean how often do you come across such a display of concrete poop? Well okay once is really more often than necessary, but still I had to share.)

Happy Crapping - I mean Crafting everyone.

Trophy Pincushion

While I'm waiting for inspiration to strike for some new Etsy shop items, I've been making some small things for around the house. Things like a wallet for my son's allowance money and some little cloth diapers for my daughter's baby dolls.

I decided that it was time to make something useful for myself as well. I'd been needing a second pincushion for my craft area. I keep one by my sewing machine but often do my pinning on my work table and transporting it back and forth was just annoying. So I grabbed a vintage quilt block from my stash, a garage sale milk-glass piece and the trophy pincushion was born.

It's been named the "Trophy Pincushion" by my daughter who ceremoniously presents it to me everytime she sees it and says "Here's your trophy Momma!". I suppose it does look a bit like a trophy, though to me it's more reminiscent of an ice cream sundae.

I used the container because I wanted it to be large enough that I wouldn't misplace it, and I didn't want it to be rolling all over my workplace either.

If that milk glass looks vaguely familiar that's because it previously held some fantastic moss, but alas my greenery didn't make it through the winter. Now I've got to add moss to the list of things I can't keep alive. I'll put it right below ivy, cactus and the will to follow a low carb diet.

The Best Bingo Ever!

My birthday is coming up and while normally I might lament the addition of another year to my already downtrodden body, this year I've been anticipating it with tremendous zeal. Why? I'll tell you, because this year the anniversary of my birth coincides with the DVD release of New Moon!!

I was only able to see New Moon once in the theatre (I had hoped for at least twice) and so I'm quite thrilled at the opportunity to view it again and have it available for my viewing pleasure whenever my little heart desires. Well "whenever" is not really accurate. I'll have to wait until the kids are asleep, not that it's really that scary, but just because they'll complain the whole time about how they'd rather watch Scooby Doo. Plus it's March Madness so my husband will be watching basketball games and/or highlights from basketball games for the remainder of the month. But, the point is that theoretically it will be available if I can ever squeeze it in.

I'm certainly going to watch it on the 20th! What better way to celebrate the DVD release AND my birthday than with a New Moon DVD viewing party?!

I've spent the last two weeks preparing. I've got plates, napkins, streamers. I found an extremely cheesy New Moon card game on clearance and sacrificed some of the cards to decorate some straws. I'll be serving blood red daquiri's of course.

But the best part of all is going to be my New Moon Bingo!

I must give credit to my friend Shawna for spurring the idea. She suggested it as a way to make our movie viewing night more interactive. I found a New Moon Bingo game available for purchase online but all it consisted of was varied pictures of the cast.

I wanted something that would truly help us appreciate the New Moon experience, which is both wondrously fabulous and wondrously cheesy and disappointing at the same time. You see, as much as I love the Twilight movies and the books, I have to acknowledge that they're really just downright silly at times. So to really capture those moments and appreciate them, I tailored my Bingo game to accentuate them.

There are squares for things like "Carlisle is in a scene" or "Jacob has long hair" and then there are the more entertaining squares like:

-Jasper's hair is the most frightening thing in the scene

-Edward expresses his angst by looking like he smells something unpleasant

-Jacob has a shirt on but you're imagining him without one

-Bella runs through the forest duck-footed and dressed like someone from Little House on the Prairie.

It's all in good fun and I'm hoping it makes the night more enjoyable. Want a copy of your own to enhance your New Moon viewing pleasure? It's available here. I've removed the images from the Free square (I don't want to risk any copyright infringement or whatever) but other than that it's as pictured, with 6 varied game boards, just for you. Enjoy!

Fruit Fetish

I'm busy making some new stuff for the shop. Okay, not really. I'm busy thinking about making some new stuff for the shop when in reality I've hit a crafting block. Have no fear, I shall overcome.

In the meantime I've listed some vintage items in the shop and quite frankly I'm surprised they haven't sold yet because these are some high quality items - if you have a thing for fruit.

I mean, check out these fabulous vintage patterns!

Do you have a strong and unhealthy desire to be the next member of the Fruit of the Loom spokesperson group? This pattern could be your first step in the right direction. They've already got the grapes so that's out - but consider the watermelon or the strawberry! You'd be a shoe-in. What about the tomato? I mean they allow that leaf guy in there, why not a tomato. Sure some people consider it a vegetable but botanically speaking it is classified as a fruit.

My favorite though has got to be this 1988 California Raisin pattern. This thing just screams class.

You know I've had this pattern for quite some time (it wasn't mine originally I found it at a sale) and it took a lot of willpower for me to finally give it up. I used to have the little raisin figurines and all that jazz and this costume pattern brought back a lot of memories. Strange but wonderful 80's memories.

I debated this past Halloween on making my own raisin costume from this pattern, but in the end decided that even dressing as a dehydrated fruit would probably still make my ass look big.

Valentine Block Magnets

I've been dying to do this alphabet block project ever since I saw it months ago, but I just didn't have the heart to cut up the kid's alphabet blocks. (project by Megan of Plum Pudding)

And then it hit me - why can't I just use plain wooden blocks? Then it hit me again - why not paint the blocks and embellish them? Then it came back at me again with brass knuckles - since Valentine's day was coming up why not use some cute hearts? And by this time I was battered and bruised, but inspired nonetheless.

Here's the finished product:

And here's how I did it.

I bought a set of 1 1/4 inch wooden blocks at the craft store and prepared the blocks following Plum Pudding's fabulous tutorial (here). Just get yourself a little saw and a 3/4" drill bit and you're good to go.

Once you've followed those instructions your blocks should be sawed, drilled and magnetized. Next, comes the pretty part.

Paint them. I just used acrylic paint. It's a good idea to slide a scrap piece of paper into the slit after each coat of paint to keep the paint from piling up in there.

Get yourself some wooden hearts and give them a quick coat of paint as well. Trace their outline on some scraps of decorative paper and cut them out.

Adhere the paper hearts on top of the painted wooden hearts with glue. I used Mod Podge. Once the adhesive is dry take some sandpaper (I used 220 grit) and rough up the edges of the paper and the wooden hearts for a nice distressed look.

If you don't want to go the paper route you can always just use the painted hearts and leave it at that. I just painted this one, sanded the edges and used rubber stamps to embellish.

Then give each heart a thin coating of Mod Podge to seal it up and then smack it on the front of the block. I used my favorite high-inducing adhesive: E6000. Hot glue would work well too but it's just no fun without the fumes you know man.

I knew I'd be putting mine on the fridge so I centered the hearts on the front of the blocks but if you wanted them to possibly sit on a flat surface for display, make sure to glue the heart up a little higher so the block can sit flat.

And there you have it. A great way to display Valentine love notes you receive.

Or better yet, pictures of your Valentines. These would make quick and inexpensive Valentine gifts too.

Of course the possibilities are endless in how you could decorate and embellish these magnet blocks. Who knows maybe inspiration will strike again, but if it doesn't start pulling its punches I'm going to have to get a restraining order.

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!