Cookie Sheet Calendar

I saw the most adorable idea for a magnetic calendar on Opps! I Craft My Pants (that's really the name of the blog... hilarious isn't it!) Well the idea has been hanging out in my "Projects I want to attempt" list over there so it was time to get crackin'. While in Charleston a while back my hubby found this awesome old metal serving tray that was starting to rust in all the right places. We took it home and I gave it a new calendar facelift.

I picked up a bunch of free magnets from the state fair this year and mod podged some scrap book paper over the top. Then I cut the magnets into 1 x 1 1/2 inch rectangles and free-handed the numbers with a Sharpie. If you're wondering, "nineteen" is my favorite! There's a glass magnet to mark the day.

Here are the other months. "June" wins this time I think, followed closely by "May."

So You Think You're Crafty- Green Challenge

Please tell me you've been visiting the So You Think You're Crafty challenge site!? Oh my goodness, the ideas are ridiculously amazing! Each week the crafters are challenged with a different theme, the viewers vote and the person with the least number of votes is "sent home." These super talented crafters are being pushed and the results are amazing! This week's theme is "Green."

8 layers of old plastic bags fused together and sewn to make these adorable grocery totes:

Scrap ribbon put to good use in making this ribbon wallet:
But my all time favorite is this "Cozy Car Caddy" made from old jeans! (Insert squeal here!)
I know a few little boys who will be getting these for Christmas!
The submissions are all anonymous, so we won't know who submitted each project until next Monday when the results are revealed and the next project is announced. Check it out here!

Christmas Rag Wreath

Here's a fun way to use up your fabric scraps and one of the trillion-and-one metal clothes hangers that you have laying around.

I whipped up this wreath in about an hour. I just cut a bunch of scraps 1 inch wide and about 4 1/2 inches long (longer if you want a fuller wreath). Then I tied them on to a metal clothes hanger that I shaped into a circle. One key thing to think about when choosing your fabric is the texture. I chose a thin cotton, a corduroy, a sheer red ribbon, a grosgrain ribbon and a thicker upholstery fabric. Have fun!

How to Tie A Scarf!

Do you love scarf weather as much as I do? I had the sweetest woman give me some scarf pointers the other day and this information was just too valuable not to share! Try to look past the very novice modeling pictures, the shower curtain backdrop and the camera self-portraits!

For the best scarf tying I use a thin scarf with some length, but for most of these looks any scarf will do. Start with the middle point of the scarf at the back of your neck and the ends forward:

Grab both ends of the scarf a few inches below your neck and fold them into a little loop.

Use a hair tie or rubber band to secure the loop. From this point you can create two different looks:

Look One: Pull the loop out a little and apart to create a "balloon" then position the "balloon" to one side. I think this would look good with a blazer. It looks a little silly with a short sleeve shirt!

Look Two: Rather than creating the loop in the front with the rubber band, make the loop in the back and pull the ends of the scarf out to hide the loop. This is my favorite! I think it makes you look really skinny because of the long lines.

Got those two down? Let's start over. Grab your scarf and position the middle point of the scarf at the front of your neck with the ends running down your back. Cross the ends one over top of the other at the back of your neck then bring the ends forward. Very "Oh I'm just running out for groceries!"

Look One:

If you need a little more breathing room, pull the part that is around your neck down.

Look Two:

If the extra breathing room isn't a big deal for you, go back to "look one" and tie the two loose ends from around your neck. I like this one with a big heavy coat for watching my Tarheels play football!

Look Three:

Finally, this is my "go to" scarf look. Fold the scarf in half and drape around the back of your neck so that the fold is on your right side and the two ends together are on your left side. Separate the fold just enough to slip the ends through and pull tight. Easy peasy!

I hope you're inspired to try something new! Happy scarf weather!

Simple Christmas

Isn't it easy to see those beautiful pictures on the front of ALL of the magazines you're getting right now and set tons of unrealistic expectations for yourself for this holiday season? Then the big day comes and it doesn't look exactly like the picture... or your family arrives 30 minutes late and you're totally in a funk the rest of the day!? My friend Jenn spoke at our Holidays Fit for the King event this weekend and encouraged us all to have a simple Christmas and Thanksgiving this year... to focus on cultivating the right heart rather than the right side dish. It would be better to eat Bojangles for Thanksgiving and to have a happy family than to have a massive feast with bitter hearts.

Proverbs 17:1 says, "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife." Proverbs 15:17 says, "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." Can I get an Amen!!

At our event each of the tables is decorated by a different volunteer. The idea is that the women in attendance will be able to get great, practical ideas for decorating. Many times the "Ah-ha moments" come from seeing an item they may already have repurposed! You don't need to go out and buy Pottery Barn's latest Thanksgiving tablescape if you can get the same feel using something you already have! Put that creativity to work!

So I'll start us off with my table. Remember these glass containers? My ribbon may be all over the place, but at least the table looked cute!

I used all paper products because that's so much easier don't you think?

This is Rockie's Christmas tree themed table. She made almost everything you see here! Pretty creative isn't she?!

I loved the way Laura used candy in this centerpiece.

This table was my favorite! My friend Donna made it and she hulled out small pumpkins to use as "pots" for the little flowers at each place setting. Donna always comes up with something amazing! Remember her table from last year with the wine glass votive holders?

Leslie wrapped up empty boxes for this table and kept all of the gift wrapping supplies out. Wouldn't this be a great centerpiece for a gift wrapping party with the neighbors?

Shirley used a bird cage for this one! I mean hey, if a dog can wear a Christmas sweater why couldn't a bird be a live centerpiece? Kinda makes me hungry though!

After breakfast the women split off to go to their workshops. Michele led the gingerbread workshop.

Every attendee of this workshop got to make their own gingerbread house! There were a ton of happy (and sugar-high) campers leaving this room!

We had prayed that God would get every bit of the glory for this event and that the women in attendance would be encouraged to make their own homes "fit for the King" this holiday season. I'd say it was a success!

Handmade Christmas

Pssst... It's November... that means Christmas is just around the corner! If you're stumped about what to give this year I've got 574 good ideas for you! That's how many awesome pictures are posted in Create's Flicker Group called "Handmade Gift Ideas." Just check these out:

Lyrical Song Birds (the song lyrics are written on the bird's wings!)

Bookmark Clips (It looks like this is just a covered button with a paperclip attached... how easy!)

Who Doesn't need a 2010 Calendar? This one is downloadable here.

Petal Pusher Pockets

Holidays Fit for the King is coming up this weekend! I'm SO excited! This year our committee is wearing petal pushers made by Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy. When I was trying to decide how to give these yummy little goodies to our group I was stumped. How do you wrap this up?

I discovered this tutorial that I really wanted to try, but for the life of me could not figure it out... humph! But just as nap time was coming to an end and the situation was getting drastic... an idea hit!

Let me suggest that you make these with someone around because these are definitely squeal-worthy and you'll want to show them off! Here's the tutorial:

Draw a square the size of the odd shaped gift (mine was a 3 inch square). Locate the middle of the square and draw a big X. The distance from the farthest point of the X to the center of one of the sides of the square should be 1/2 inch larger than the side of the square. The picture below might help:

Grab something with a good arch (I used an embroidery hoop) and draw in the arches.

Here's what the design looks like before you cut it out:
Oh I can't wait to wrap up these beauties!
Trace the template on to double sided card stock then hole punch the tops of the four "petals".Line up the holes in three of the petals and thread a piece of ribbon through.
Put the two ends of the ribbon together then thread them up through the fourth petal's hole. Tie a bow.
Then squeal!

I'll have tons of pictures from HFFK next week... get excited!

Were You Featured Here?

Let me start by admitting that I am not a graphic designer. I'm also super cheap and not willing to pay to have a real-life graphic designer help me design my blog at this point. So I've done a lot of trial and error to change the HTML code and make this blog into a 3 column format and create buttons. (Some of you have no idea if I'm speaking English right now and to be honest, I'm not so sure myself!) It's really fun to challenge myself with something totally new, just jump right in and see if I can swim...well, I've done alright until now. I can't figure out how to make this cute little graphic into a button.

So here's a good option for those of you who have been featured on Create Studio and may be interested in letting your blog readers know.

1. Right click on the image above and choose "copy link"

2. On your blog, choose to customize your blog then click "Add a gadget"

3. Choose "Add a picture"

4. Paste the link in the "link" field

5. Save to one of your sidebars

Email me with questions: createstudioblog@gmail.com and I'll do my best to help!

So You Think You're Crafty?

10 weeks 10 crafters 10 challenges. Who's the craftiest? Let's decide!

There's a new competition starting Monday featuring some of my favorite crafters on the internet: "So You Think You're Crafty!?"

Here’s how it works: Ten craft bloggers will be going head to head to find the web's favorite crafter. Every week for 10 weeks there will be a new theme. The 10 featured crafters will submit their best craft that uses that theme. Then it’s up to us to vote for the best one! Each week the winning craft will be posted as a tutorial to give us a chance to try our hand at it. However, the crafter with the least votes will be “sent home.”

Want to check it out?! Click here. Who is your favorite? I have to admit I'm a little biased already because the blogger who originally inspired my crafty pursuits and this blog, Jill, is in the competition. However, I also subscribe to Mique and Dana's fabulous blogs too, so this is going to be a tough decision!