Crafting, for the Record

Here are a few fun things I've been up to...alone and with friends!

My friend and neighbor Jen have been planning to make this three paneled screen for months. We are such good planners, but the follow through is questionable. Here are the screens sans-frames:

I must confessed we still haven't assembled them in their frames - the painting part has been a substantial time-sink...

And here is a fun nail-art project I did for Valentine's day. I needed to experiment with it to find a very simple version to do with Jacob's class for their Valentine's party. I found out that hammering so many nails into a board is actually pretty challenging for a child, even a very competent 9-year-old. Also the idea of procuring 22 hammers and then listening to 22 kids use them was enough to drive me under the covers with a full dosage of ibuprofen.

So I came up with this variation, after a brief perusal of pinterest: It utilizes foam instead of wood, and as such the nails can just be pushed in. I used my silhouette to quickly cut out 24 4x4" squares of paper with the holes for the heart in their proper places. The kids just had to glue the paper to the foam, push in the nails, string the yearn, and then wrap the outsides with fabric. Jacob's class loved the project although they were easily frustrated by wrapping the yard...and wrapping the yarn again when it unwound itself. Oh and knot tying does not come naturally to third graders, at least not this kind...

My mom convinced me to make this giant "LOVE" sign for my house when I was down visiting her with the kids. The "L" is from an old window, the "O" is a picture frame, and the other letters are from various reclaimed wood pieces. We are all showing off wood projects that my dad helped us do while we were at their house. I tried my hand (somewhat unsuccessfully) at the lathe, Bekah and Beau made a car and a motorcycle, and Jacob worked on his pinewood derby car

And last but not least I had fun making this little poppy print. It could be a whole lot better, but the fact that I took the time to make it equals success in my mind...