Can I do this for a living?

I've been at it again. 

I just can't seem to get enough of this crafting business.

What did I pull together this time? Well, since you asked...

I snagged this block of wood from the basement, compliments of my Dad's scrap wood pile. 

Then I cut it up into cubes (well, Daddy did), took them to the drill press (I did that myself - go me), sanded them up nice and sharp, and...

Bam. Wooden dice.

And, of course, I couldn't just leave them there. I grabbed some wood stain, old rags, extra bedroom paint, a paintbrush, magazines, and scrapbook paper - and this is the result:

I want to make a million.

Besides making my dice I finally found the inspiration to do a few scrapbook pages... from half a year ago. The worst part is knowing that I still have at least 10 more spreads to do before I catch up to senior year, which really isn't even up to date considering I'm halfway through already. But! one at a time and they'll slowly be finished.

Now I'm taking a week long vacation from crafting (and literally) because tomorrow I fly down to Nate's house!! Last time I flew into the Philly airport by myself I ended up in the wrong terminal and was horribly lost. Thank goodness a custodian was cleaning the ghost town of a baggage claim area or I never would have found my way back to people!! Really, I was that lost.

Always, always, always more

Happy late Christmas to all my blog readers! 

I can't believe it's already the 26th.

Last week was insane. I think I spent almost all of my time crafting for presents (well, one present actually). I still have more to do. Thank goodness all of the others don't have to be finished by Christmas. Sometimes it's actually convenient to have almost all of your friends live several hundred miles away.

There also might be glue, ink, and dye permanently soaked into my fingers.

Here was my big time sucker - Mom's thank you cards.

 They were SO much fun to create. Unfortunately, since I wanted each to be unique and special they took extra long to complete. EXTRA long. All week long. What a project they were.. but I am so completely satisfied with how they turned out! Here are a few favorites of mine:

I also happened to spare a little time to thrift store with Bethany last week! Eek, I love thrift stores. Besides buying a million mason jars, glasses, and vases for my projects I added to my future classroom collection of fantastic children's books! 

3 for .99... could it get any better!?

And here's my last little creation for the week:

Little monsters! I can't just craft one thing non-stop without losing inspiration or direction somewhere in the middle. Instead of muddling through and creating something meh, I start a little project to take a break. Genius idea, because then I get two projects finished instead of one (yes, I realize it takes me twice as long to do one thing). I love my little two-inch-high monster. Nicole made the little snow hat for him. Isn't it the cutest tiny polka dot hat ever?

Oh. And check out my new DIY!

The end.

Winter is Here!

Happy winter! 

I wish some snow would show up, though. Green Christmases should never happen.

At least in Buffalo.

Some more crazy crafting has occurred over the last few days. Much of it secret, but there are a few little things I can share...

 Flowers made from old books. I just love these.

 Envelopes from old maps... so much fun!

And here's what's been occupying a good chunk of my time... mug cozys!

Sissy taught me a few knitting patterns for cable and fair isle and I gave knitting a shot. I'm pretty proud considering how little experience I have with knitting. 

Not bad for a non-knitter, huh? 

I also have a couple glass jars in my possession now, so depending on how creative I'm feeling in the next day or two hopefully I should have something fantastic to share! 

Cross your fingers for snow!

Christmas Time is Crafting Time

It's finished. All finished. My major is finished.

Oh happy day

I most definitely have been crafting and crafting. I love making gifts for people and Christmas is the perfect excuse for me to try out a dozen of the crafts I've discovered on Pinterest. So...

Another card.

Paper roses (see my DIY page to see how I made these pretty flowers)

A pocket watch necklace!! 

I saw one of these on Pinterest the other day and just had to make one myself. They're too adorable not to!

And finally: the Truth Box I made for Bethany. She's heading off to Tanzania in January and I wanted to give her a little something she could squeeze into her suitcase before she left. 

Basically a Truth Box is filled with Bible verses or other things that can be pulled out and read whenever you need a little extra encouragement. I love these things to pieces. I love them so much I would make one for every person I know if I had the time to. Here's a little glimpse of the verses inside the box:

And of course, there is so much more but that has to be a secret for now :)

After Christmas I'll post some more creations.

Oh! And last night I discovered, with the help of some wonderful friends, a cute little theatre downtown... New Phoenix Theatre on N Johnson Park. Sondra, Bethany and I took a little trip down there to see Peter Pan and I loved it. Good find for sure.

They are such dear friends. I love them so.

And Some More

I think I'm on a crafting binge. I'm blaming Pinterest, my new time waster. Oh my goodness, the fantastic craft ideas I've found on there! And recipes I'm dying to try. I get so sucked in. Every single time. Thanks to Pinterest inspirations I spent most of yesterday afternoon creating more goodies that I've been dying to post ever since. 

 

 This is a Carambola flower, apparently. I think they're gorgeous. If you want to try to fold them (it's really easy, I promise!) you can watch a step-by-step video here. 

Now, this is where I got really creative. I have so much scrapbook paper I never use because I end up changing the layout of a page or it came in one of those big books where only half of the papers are useful. On Pinterest (of course) I found a TON of links to free printables... which are silly if you print them on white paper. What on earth do you do with them on white? So I printed them on that scrapbook paper that i thought was totally useless. Brilliant.

I started with these labels... or gift tags or or or ... and then I just kept going.

Fun vintage clocks...

 

 Some more labels...

 And some other wonderful things like old maps and vintage playing cards I didn't take pictures of.

Oh my.  Love.

 

P.S. Since several people have asked me about making those cute little stars, you can find out how to make them here.  

Crafting and Crafting

Right now I have two of the biggest projects of my college career - my portfolio and my philosophy project. So, like any good student I've been procrastinating some, working some, crafting a little, and trying to actually enjoy a little bit of my time here before Christmas.

Mostly I've been crafting. I can't show all, because then certain people might get a sneak peek at their Christmas gifts, but here's a tidbit of what has been happening in Flat 201:

I gave up doing work one day and made a card for Nicole while watching Tangled.

Ahh!!! These stars just might be my new obsession. I can't stop making them... they're just too cute.

This is a half-completed paper lantern. The pattern said grapefruit sized, but I'm pretty sure I can tweak it to make it bigger... likeeee a basketball. It's sitting around right now waiting to be finished because I have nothing to make a tassel or hang it with. I can't wait to hang some of these next semester!

And like I said, the rest is all Christmas gifts for dear people, so I obviously can't put them up. That would just ruin everything :) So that's all for now! I can't wait to get home so I can craft my little heart out.