MMMM, pear cider.

Dylan and I worked together and juiced a few BOXES of yummy Asian Pears that were given to me from a co-worker. After we had our fill of regular cider, I took the rest and have started turning it into hard cider. Without having a proper airlock, I am concerned that it will turn to vinegar but I think sealing off the air exchange with plastic wrap (just enough to let the gas out and no new air in...) that it wont turn as quickly into sour vinegar but we shall see.

Jewelry hanger.

I picked this frame up at our last family vacation....the shop was one I could spend all day in but cant for the life of me remeber the name. It was located in Grants Pass Oregon.
I just stapled metal mesh to the back and was done.

Halloween crafting begins.

The kids and I started our crafting blitzkreig early for Halloween this year and started making our party favor treat bags with craft paper, cardstock and yarn. I found an easy tutorial here then modified it a bit. I hated the large inner flaps so I cut them out. I also added fake paper blood splatters on the outside.

Crochet, felted zombie cat cave.

So I suck as per usual and haven't taken the time to update this in a LOOOOOOOONG time. Unfortunately I haven't had a ton of time to even craft much. Our time is eaten away by work and typically our days end with just enough time to make dinner (as much from scratch as we can), eat and chill together just before bed time.

Now that I have taken up a new albeit small/tiny motorcycle, even more of my time is taken up with practice. Believe me I need it.

Here is a project that took me a week and then a few more to deliver it to its intended. Its a green crochet and felted cat cave.

I had a few skeins of vintage green wool hanging around and even used my beloved pure wool that I had obtained on our last vacation.... even these four skeins were not enough and I found myself purchasing at least another three at the only place I can locate all the colors of the rainbow....that would be Canvas Works in downtown Olympia.

I crocheted a flat circle then made my way up leaving a giant opening at the front. Taking it up till the sides were long enough (too heavy to support itself, that is why I felted it) I decreased to make another flat circle on top. Since this is supposed to be a zombie I cut out a hole on the top to use red wool instead.

After felting it I added felt teeth and eyes etc. In the end the brain ended up looking like an organ of a different region but hey,I get points for trying right?

Cool painting idea.

For those that appreciate print and would rather get er done faster.

White trashy lawn water bed fun!

So I saw this ingenious project on Pinterest and decided to do it for our house. It was in the eighties today so it turned out great. The water was freezing and the sun was blazing so it was perfect.

We added food coloring throughout the process so it added to the fun. The kids spent hours out there and had a blast. We will reuse the plastic for its intended purpose as a drop cloth.

To do this yourself all you have to do is pick up a plastic drop cloth (we got ours at Home Depot), fold it in half and ducktape the bejesus out of it to seal the edges. The sealing is the most time consuming but you will be thankful later. We didn't spend enough time on the first run and ended up retaping in spots. The food coloring lasted a few hours but then did fade by the sun. We had a lot of fun pretending there was a shark attack once we added the red. We did visit the sharks earlier today at the Point Defiance Zoo.

here are pics of the kids.

easy cheap homemade baskets.

So I have been cruising a lot of crafter blogs and ran into this awesome one called "On My Honor." Its this great blog that these three local sisters write that includes awesome crafts.

This post in particular got me interested. I decide to make my own.

After pricing the clothes line on Amazon, I decided to go to my local Ace Hardware. Unfortunately it was much cheaper online. Amazon sells the same line at 12 bucks for 100 feet and Ace hardware itself sell it for 5 bucks per 50 feet.  Needless to say I was already there and didnt want to go back home empty handed but this is just one more example of it being WAAAY cheaper (I get free shipping) to buy online than even smaller local stores. This is depressing because I want to support local business but when the price is half online, it gets harder and harder to justify.

But I digress....

I followed the instructions as posted at "on my honor" but added some red wool yarn in between the cords as well as some handles.

Overall I was very pleased and the project was super easy. This basket now resides in my car for the kids lil odds and ends that usually end up all over the place.