Crafting will always be a part of me...

It almost made me cry when I saw the date on my last post!

Suddenly, I seem to have lost control over life. Not that I was in total control before, still. There's just so much to do and so little time! I had never imagined that I would be so swept away with the tide...it's almost as if a strong gust of wind is trying to take (a reluctant) me along with it. Where to, I don't know. All I want to do is stay still for a while, with my eyes closed and pretend that I never have to open them again. Keep them shut while gazing into my inner peace, forever. Sigh! Overwhelmed is what I am right now...

I thought I could do it all. I thought I'd be this super cool mum who reads to her little girl, cooks for her darling husband, does the laundry, diets, exercises and stays slim, and makes gorgeous stuff in the craft room. How I dream! Reality is a totally different picture.

These should tell you something about my state of mind right now :)

(Courtesy: Pinterest, of course!)

Yeah! Being a stay-at-home-mum IS a job! A job that goes on and on, doesn't have an eight-hour shift and no weekends off, well technically. Oh don't think I'm complaining though...it just gets too much to handle at times and a good rant usually lets off some steam :)

Anyway, so I thought I'd do something about the 'I-miss-crafting' itch that's been there for way too long now. 'Even if it means something really simple', I thought and made this peg-pail (well, technically it's not a big project, but was just enough to whet my appetite for something make-y do-ey). It's an empty yogurt container. I had to rinse it out anyway before I chucked it into the recycle bin, but then the hoarder in me somehow made me put it on the dish drainer. So there it was, all clean and white and I had to use it for something. So I grabbed a few Sharpies and sat down with Little Miss on her play mat and turned an empty plastic pail into something simple and very useful in my laundry room. 

And it wasn't a big ordeal too as Little Miss seemed to enjoy picking out the colours for me :)

Crafting mommies out there would nod with me when I say it could be a challenge to sit down and craft with a little crawler who wants to touch every little craft supply that mommy has out! But this was easy...

You know something (I told you I was going to ramble) this little project made me think of my Grandma. She is one person who inspires me to be enterprising and productive. She would never waste anything and would try and get as many creative uses out of an object. Hers were simpler times where an empty cough-syrup (glass) bottle would turn into a little kerosene-filled lamp with thick twine running through the drilled bottle cap. Several of these would dot the beautiful old country home during power-cuts, lighting the rooms softly as rain and thunder ruled the night outside. 

I love the heart-warming effect crafting has on me, sigh!

Here's hoping for more!

Happy Crafting!

Altered Art: Upcycled Baby Formula Tins

Hello, hello! I'm back, as I'd stated earlier, with a fun project.
I've been saving baby formula tins and little baby food jars, oh the joys of being a mother! The father is not very pleased with the growing number of 'recyclables' (as he calls them) huddling together cosily in all possible corners of the house. I, on the other hand, have loads of ideas for them and every time I stash away another formula tin, I envision in my mind a beautiful new project.
So four of these graduated from being just boring old empty tins into personalised gift holders. I tell you, I had the most fun with this project!
 Here's how it all started - We got Little Miss from the hospital eight months ago (boy, does time fly!) and ever since her arrival I've been wanting to give something nice to the lovely midwives at the hospital as a 'thank you' gesture. Never got around to doing it, shameful, I know. But I'm a firm believer of 'better late than never' (as of today, heh) and I finally finished making my gifts. Call me wonked in the head, but I think there's something sweet and quirky about using baby formula tins as gift holders here, hospital-midwives-babies, you know what I mean? No? Never mind.

 This is what I did:

• Bought a bunch of little somethings for each of them (I have 4 lovely people in mind)
• Wrapped them in pretty scrap booking paper
• Made those handy key tags (the ones you wear around your neck)
• Customised plain coffee mugs - wrote RELAX.BREATHE.PUSH on them, fun hey?
• Made some CAS thank-you cards
• Decorated the formula tins (and had loads of fun!)
• Filled them up with all the goodies

Now, I just have to make sure I don't take another eight months to give them :)

 The BEFORE picture.
















Here's what they look like AFTER being dressed up :)

I threaded some pink sewing thread onto a big fat needle and it went right through the lids. I added tags to write the names on. I think it finished everything off so well.

The goodies all covered in matching pattern paper.

The key tags I made. They were so simple to make. I found the lovely wide ribbon at a local store and they were perfect for this project. I picked up some hook 'n' key rings from the same store. Then I simple cut the ribbon to length and stitched on the key rings.












The idea for the mugs is actually a Pinterest find. I wrote my text with Sharpies and then baked in the oven to set the ink. I avoided the rim to be on the safer side and went for the base of the mug. And of course, I didn't trust my own writing, so I created stencils for the words on my Silhouette. So handy!

And here are the CAS cards...

The highlight of this whole episode was when everything fit in (snugly) into the tins! Perfect, sigh!

So there you have it! My super fun upcycled baby formula tin project. Hope I've inspired you to create something similar.

Happy Crafting!

Father's Day Project for Studio V

Hello all! Thought I'd share a fun little project with a Father's Day theme. I made this for Studio V's Hands2Hearts Challenge for June.

 

Any man can be a father. But it takes someone special to be Appa (dad).

I was waiting for an opportunity to use the chevron background from Lawn Fawn and I love it in this project. I love the rough, distressed look it created. And I've been smitten by this colour combo - turquoise, coral and amber. Wanted to put them together somewhere! I created this fun little (upcycled) remote caddy with a matching card. I used one of Little Miss' empty formula tins that I've been hoarding for a while now. (By the way, those formula tins are great for upcycled projects. I'm currently working on another fun project using the tins, stay tuned).

So, I created some pattern paper using the chevron background stamps, wrapped it around the tin and secured with glue. Then I finished it off with some raffia twine and a little tag with a cheeky sentiment! The card was very easy to put together since I already had the colours picked out. A 5x5 card base in white, some more stamping and a simple little banner for the sentiment - easy! 

Go on and make something for that special man in your life who loves you, guides you and inspires you. And enter your creation in the Hands2Hearts Challenge for a chance to win some yummy goodies. You even have a chance to get 15% off purchases at ScrapKorner if you're among the top 5. So head to Studio V, look at the DT's projects for inspiration and get started with your own.

Will be back soon with some projects I'd love to share once I'm done. Oh by the way, if you read my previous post, I'm very pleased to say that I figured out what the matter was with me. My craft room was a big, humongous mess! I recently cleaned it and straightened it out a bit and what a difference that made! Husby even exclaimed at the floor space that he could actually see, ahem. So lesson learnt - I work well when I'm organised. How much simpler can the truth be? Sigh. 

Happy Crafting!