Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Transform Tuesday -- Praying and Waiting

I don't have anything for Transform Tuesday today.  I've been a bit distracted.  My brother was in a car accident last week and he is not doing very well.  He will not die, but will need a lot of time in recovery.  The Dr.s aren't sure how long it will take, and if he will have a 100% recovery.

If you have something for Transform Tuesday, link it up.

Rules:

1.  use the link to your actual post, not your blog address.
2.  grab the Transform Tuesday button and add it to your blog somewhere.
 

3.  check out what everyone else is up to and leave them some comment love.

P.S.  Come back tomorrow for a giveaway from Bonnie at House of Grace.  I promise you won't be sorry!!


Monday, June 7, 2010

Messy Monday -- Melted Crayon Art

I remember doing this as a kid and thinking it was the absolute most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  My definition of beauty has changed a little bit, but I still love the way these look and how each one is different.

Materials
  • waxed paper
  • crayons
  • hand held pencil sharpener
  • paper towel
  • iron
  • cookie cutters
  • scissors
  1. Sharpen your crayons making sure that the wax bits fall into a bowl.  Use whatever colors you want.
  2. Take a piece of wax paper (about 12-15 inches long) and fold it in half.  Open it back up and lay half of it on top of a piece of paper towel.
  3. Sprinkle your wax bits over the half of wax paper on your paper towel.  Make sure to sprinkle them evenly over your wax paper.
  4. Carefully fold the wax paper back in half and put another piece of paper towel on top.
  5. With your iron on "medium", iron on top of the paper towel.  Check it after every 2-3 swipes.  You want the wax to melt, but not run together.
  6. This is what it looks like when you aren't paying attention and iron it too long.
  7. This is what it is supposed to look like.
  8. Trace around a cookie cutter and cut out the shape.

You could use these for all sorts of things.  Hang them in your window, put them on the front of a card, use them as table decorations, decorate scrapbook pages, and a hundred other things.  We made ours very colorful, but I thing using different shades of one color would also look really great.

What have you done for Messy Monday?  Link it up!

Here are the rules.

  1. Use the permalink to your actual post, not your general blog address.

  2. Grab the Messy Monday button and display it on your sidebar or in your post.



     
     

  3. Go check out what others have done and leave them some comment love!
p.s.  Check back Wednesday for a super great giveaway from House of Grace.

I'm linking this to the following sites:
• Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
• You’re so crafty @ Miss Crafty Pants
• Market yourself Monday @ Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
• Making the World Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter
• Talk About it Tuesday @ Blogger Chix Designs
• Take a look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Craft Edition

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Crazy week!

This week has been so crazy.  I'm not going to go into any detail, but this week has been eventful in so many ways.  Some really great, and some really quite the opposite.  I feel like I've had a rollercoaster ride of emotions.  I think I've digested it all and made some sense of it.  I should be back to regular posts next week.

Get your Messy Monday and Transform Tuesday posts ready so we can have a couple of amazing linky parties next week!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Flowers and Bows

Due to some technical difficulties, I was unable to be the guest blogger over at Miss Crafty Pants last Friday.  I was so bummed when it didn't work, but super excited when Erika came up with a brilliant solution.  Thanks Erika!

Whoever you are and however you got here...WELCOME!  I'm so excited you are here today.  I can't wait to show you what I've put together.  I hope you love it!

For those of you who don't know, my name is Sarah and I have a really great life.  I have been married to Mr. Wonderful for almost 10 years and we have 4 of the cutest little pumpkins you have ever seen.  We had all 4 of them in 4.5 years, so it gets a little crazy at our house sometimes.  It's a good thing we like crazy!  In addition to everything that I do as a stay at home mom, I also teach preschool out of my home 2 days a week and I have an etsy store to go along with my blog.  I love to do fun stuff with my kids, decorate my home, crochet, bake, and a ton of other things that I try to squeeze in when I can.  The Pumpkin Patch is full of creative ideas to do with kids, home decor, parenting advice, recipes, and a ton of other stuff.  I just started hosting 2 different linky parties...Messy Monday and Transform Tuesday.  I'd love for you to join in on the fun.  Now, let's get crafty!

I have chosen 2 projects to show you.  The first one I introduced on my blog a few weeks ago and I have had so many people ask me about it I thought I would share it again...with some tweaking to make them even better.  The second one I saw on someone else's blog and I changed it up a bit so it was something that I could use.

Crochet Rosettes
Don't let the name scare you.  I have made a ton of crochet flowers, and I think these are SUPER easy.  If you don't know how to crochet, then scroll down to the next project.  I promise you will love it.

Materials
  • cotton yarn ( you can use synthetic yarn, but I prefer cotton)
  • J hook (use whatever size hook you need to get the flower size you want)
  • yarn needle
  • scissors
  • coordinating felt (optional)
  • tacky glue (optional)
Row 1: loosely chain 51.
Row 2: Starting in 3rd chain from hook, single crochet (sc) across. Chain 1. Turn.
Row 3: Skip first sc. SC in next sc. (Skip sc, 5 double crochet (dc) in next sc, skip sc, sc in next sc.) Repeat from ( to) across. In last sc, finish off, but leave a 15 in. tail.
There will be an extra little bump on one side.  It will become the center of the flower.
You can finish this off 2 different ways.  I like them both depending on what I am using the flower for.
To finish it off with felt, take your felt and cut a 2 in. circle.
Arrange your flower by spiraling it loosly around itself and cut the tail off so that only an inch or so is left.
Once you get it to look like you want it to, carefully set it down. Spread glue on your felt and put your flower on top. I just used tacky glue.
Quickly make your final adjustmets and press it down into the glue. After it is dry, trim off any extra felt and you are done!
To finish it without felt, take your yarn needle and thread the extra yarn from the tail you left.
Arrange your flower by spiraling it loosly around itself.
Now flip it over and you can see the spiral patter on the underside.
Carefully take your needle and go through each ring of the spiral and come out the other side.  Do this several times working your way around the circle.  Don't pull the yarn too tight or your rose won't hold it's shape.
Once you have it securely stitched together, cut off the extra yarn and you are done!

What do you do with these little cuties?  Whatever you want.

How about gluing a clip to the back of it and putting it in your hair, or making a headband out of it.
How about gluing a pin to it and putting it on your jacket or purse.
How about pinning it to your daughters sweater?  The possibilities are endless.
If you don't want to make them yourself, but love them, I'll make them for you.  I have several colors already listed in my etsy store and am adding new ones each day.  Go here to see them.

Ribbon Bows
I first saw these made out of paper at a super cute blog called Christy's Creative Chaos.  I loved them out of paper, but wondered if I could do it out of ribbon, so I set to work.

Materials
  • 2 yards of 1 in. grosgrain ribbon
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun
  • matches or candle
Cut your ribbon so that you have 8 pieces that are 6 in. long, 4 pieces that are 5 in. long, and the remaining piece should be 4 in. long.
Burn both ends of all of your pieces of ribbon.  (Be careful not to let any little fingers get in the way.)
Glue all of the ribbon pieces (except the 4 in. one) so they look like this picture.
Glue the 4 in. piece into a circle.
Glue the ribbon together following these pictures.

There you have it.  Cute as can be right?  You can use other ribbon too, it is just easier to start with grosgrain because it holds its shape well.  You can also use thinner ribbon.  If you use 1/2 in. ribbon, cut the length of each strip in half.  It will make a smaller bow.  If you want a bigger bow, use 2 in. ribbon and make each strip double the original length.  For big bows, wired ribbon works really well.

These would be so cute on birthday presents, in little girls' hair, as a pin on a dress or jacket, as ornaments on a Christmas tree.  There are so many possibilities!

I hope you've had a great time visiting The Pumpkin Patch and hope you come back again.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

enjoying the long weekend

I apologize for not posting yesterday and today.  We had a great weekend and I just don't want it to end!  I'll be starting back up tomorrow.  Hope you all had a great weekend too!