Great website!

I found a really awesome website, via this blog, for kids (and mommies) when boredom strikes. This is mostly for older kids, not toddlers. You can find it here.

Free downloadable folded paper animals.

Stitchery basics!

Sorry I have neglected the craft blog for a few days!  I have been spending a lot of my free computer time lately getting my Reading Blog going. So if you are a reader check it out!
Anyway this post is for all those out there who have never tried stitchery before or maybe it has been awhile and you don't quite remember how.  Unlike counted cross stitch where there is a lot of counting and messing up and picking out etc. etc. etc. Stitchery is very relaxing, calming and easy to do, but it looks and feels like you did something really amazing when you are done!

Stitchery is like drawing, tracing or writing on fabric, but with a needle and thread. The pioneer women taught their kids the alphabet with stitchery.  You can draw your own  patterns, purchase patterns online or at a craft store or I also like to find cute chunky coloring pages They make perfect stitchery patterns :-)

This letter A is an example of something fun to do in a small child's room or a nursery.  You could do the whole alphabet in cute frames that go all the way around the room. You can find these alphabet pics here.

You can use a light box to trace your picture on muslin fabric or you can be like me and you can use a window with good lighting shining through it to trace your pattern with light pencil onto your muslin fabric. Then you choose the embroidery floss you want to use.  Embroidery floss has 6 strands of thread.  I usually use two threads for my regular stitching, but I use less or more threads to create different looks to the stitchery.                                                                                                                                                                 Spotted Canary has a great tutorial on how to do the basic stitches. and 

The Stitching Cow blog also has a great tutorial and a cute free pattern to go with it!

Happy stitching!

July bugaboo book pick

As usual I am late getting a new book picked.   This month my sister Paula suggested one that I should post.

"The Giver"  by Lois Lowery.  I read this book a few years ago and it was interesting, but I also finished it very frustrated so I was not sure about choosing this book, but she made me aware that there are two other books in the series that pull everything together in the story." Finding Blue" and "The Messenger" I have decided I would take her word for it and read the other books.  So my challenge to you is to read all three If you can.
I am also starting a new blog for book lovers and amateur writers!  I am going to have my monthly book  picks on there as well and hope I can generate good discussion and opinion on the books  like a real book club, but online.  The new blog is currently called "Michelle's daily reading fix", but I am thinking about changing it to
"Something to read, Something to share"  I would love to know which name you think sounds better.  I am targeting this blog to the ordinary house wife who needs a reading fix once in a while, but does not have a ton of time to sit down and read as much as she would like.

Family Reunion Crafts!

So my family had a family reunion in the Uintas over the weekend and I was able to finally able to see my sister Paula that lives in Tennessee (who helps contribute to this blog) after two long years!  It was so nice to see everyone!  Anyway Paula and I were in charge of the crafts for the kids ( imagine that : )  We had several fun things thanks to Paula and I was not as on the ball as she was and only came up with one idea. I also was mad at myself for not getting pics of the kids doing the crafts in action, but I got some after the fact.

1st the kids made bottle cap necklaces and magnets.

This is fun idea that has been going around the last few years.  You Mod Podge scrapbook paper in the inside circle of a bottle cap and then put diamond glaze or crystal lacquer on top to give it a finished glazed look.  Here is an old post of mine on how to do these, washer and scrabble tile pendants.
Paula also had a cute idea to make Alien magnets and necklaces.  You glue little puff balls into a bottle cap and add google eyes and antenna if you want. you can punch a hole in the bottle cap with a Crop a Dile and make it a necklace or a key chain or just make it a magnet.



2nd We made cute nature bracelets with duct tape.

This is the one that my two year old made.  she loved finding things on our nature walk to put on it.

There are instructions at Skip to my Lou.  These ended up being a huge hit with all the kids under the age of twelve!  We went on a small walk and found some amazing stuff to stick on their bracelets up in the Uintas.   We also made cute wallets out of duct tape.( you can do anything with duct tape!)  I unfortunately did not get pictures of that.  Paula will have to post how she made these since she made this up after seeing an idea on how to make a tote bags out of duct tape.  She thought the boys would like to make a wallet out of camouflage duct tape.  Can you believe that there is camouflage duct tape!



3rd we made my ONE contribution. Corner bookmarks.

 I've seen several ways to do these, but this is my favorite idea that I adapted.  Cut the corners off old envelopes ( good way to recycle all those bills and junk mail envelopes you don't need anymore)  mod podge cute scrapbook paper on each side and embellish them how you want.

4th Paula had another great idea she found making no sew tote bags out of bandanna's.
We did not end up having much time to do this one, but it is an awesome idea that I can't wait to try!   The instructions on how to do them are here.  To make a big tote you use two bandannas and to make something more like a purse you do it with just one bandanna.

Share with us any fun craft projects your doing for your family reunions this summer.  Or share what you have done.

The latest with my chickens!

This is what a chicken in shock looks like!

Unfortunately my dog Abbey (a flat coat Retriever) shows no sign of accepting the chickens as part of the family.  Her instinct is too strong I guess.  The guy at Cal- Ranch assured me that the dogs even Retriever's will eventually get used to the chickens and leave them alone.  Well Abbey already killed one chicken awhile back and is diligently  always watching for an opportunity to get to the chickens. She does not want to eat them she just wants to hold them in her mouth and retrieve them, but then ends up mauling them to death. My poodle does not want to hurt them, but is curious about them.   

I let the chickens out of their pen a couple times a day to peck around the yard and look for bugs (Which they love to do!) and so we have to make sure Abbey is contained somewhere so someone does not accidentally open the back door without thinking and let her out while the chickens are free roaming.  

My kids took the dogs on a walk a couple of days ago and I thought it was a perfect time to let the chickens out since the dogs would be gone out of the house for a while.  When they got home Abbey was panting really hard and so with out thinking or remembering there chickens were outside I told the kids to let her out back to get a drink from her water bowl.  So I swear at least 5 min. passed and my 9 year old son happened to  notice a chicken fly through the air in front of the kitchen window and he asked me "Mom are the chickens out?"  You can imagine my panic as I ran outside fully expecting to find dead chickens all over the yard,  but luckily we had no deaths, but we had a hard time locating them all.  They were all hiding in different parts of the the yard and  this poor Chicken named "Cricket" had been a close target because there was dog slobber all over her and she was in shock for quite a while!  It was kind of fun though because she totally let us hold her and pet for quite a long time and they have not let us do that since they were little chicks.  She sat their with her eyes as wide as saucers and her beek open.  I am surprised she did not have a heart attack or something she was in such shock!  Anyway I have found it to be a true joy having chickens/hens. They have a lot more personality then I thought and in one more month and they should be old enough to start laying eggs!  I can't wait!

Latest Redo

Hey everyone! Yes, I'm still alive. I don't know why blogging has been so hard for me these past few months. I have several things I need to post, but for now I'm just going to post about the desk that my daughter and I just recently redid for her room.

She's been wanting a desk in her room for a while now and so the other day I got onto craigslist.com and found a desk for $30 that I thought would work. Her room has a lot of turquoise and aqua in it and the desk was already aqua so I thought we might be able to get away with just changing the drawer pulls. When we went to pick it up I realized that it was going to need a lot of work. I was going to leave and keep looking, but my daughter loved the desk and didn't want to leave without it. The lady threw in a free chair, so we piled the desk and the free chair into the van and home we came.



Here is the lovely desk in all its glory!



Here's another picture of the desk with my daughter, Hannah, taking the paint off the top. She really was a huge help and hung in there until almost the very end - about a day and a half!



This is a picture of the lovely free chair, which was actually very filthy and wouldn't even come clean with a magic eraser. We ended up repainting it, too.



And here's a picture of Hannah enjoying the finished product. She absolutely loves it! I love that she loves it and I also think it turned out great! My favorite part, though, was working on a project with my beautiful daughter. I hope we'll continue to do this over the years.



We did this repaint job the old fashioned way, by painting and sanding and painting and sanding and then waxing and buffing because the furniture comes out so much nicer that way, like Amish furniture.

I'll be posting some other things soon!!!

Recycle blue jeans into a purse!

A wonderfully talented lady in my Ward has the neatest purses she has made out jeans.  I have wanted to learn how to make one for myself for awhile now and she is going to teach our neighborhood craft group how to make them on Tues. My 14 year old daughter who has type 1 diabetes wanted a new purse to hold all her "Stuff" because the strap broke on her purse she has been using all year. She has to have a purse that can carry all her diabetes stuff, a juice or snack in case she get low blood sugar, i pod, camera, cell phone, lip gloss etc., but she does not want something to big or bulky, because she has to carry it with her all the time because of her diabetes.  So since funds are tight right now I decided to try my hand at making one yesterday out of an old pair of girls size 10 jeans I had in the D.I. box.  I found a tutorial on how to make it right here.  I did not follow the instructions exactly because I am a short cut crafter type, but it will do the job until I learn in more detail how to make one on Tues.  The strap is a little too long, but she likes to wear her purses across her body and wanted it longer. What I love about these purses is that there are pockets and spaces for everything!  My daughter is going to the Zoo today with a friend and was excited to use the purse :-)  If it meets her approval that says a lot! (she is kind of picky)