Crafty Present Adventures!

I gave my friend her crafty present yesterday, so I can finally blog about it here! Remember the Facebook gifts that I blogged about in August? Well, it turns out that I forgot about someone! I felt so bad that I kinda went overboard with this crafty gift. Once I started making fun crafty things I couldn't stop! So here are all the different parts to her present:

First I covered some colored pencils in dictionary pages that had their different colors on them.

This was my first time trying this, and I love how they turned out!

I also covered some more pencils in security envelope liners. I love how they look. I definitely want to continue making these!

I was going to stop there, but then I decided to make a pad of paper to go with the pencils. I took some pages from an old daily calendar and tried a new way of making a pad of paper. This pad will allow each of the pages to rip away quickly and easily!

For the back of the pad I used some cardboard from the packaging for my husband's Kindle. The letters were done in a gloss coating, so they only show up in the light. I love how it looks!

Again, I was going to stop there, but then I got another fun idea. The last time that this friend was over to my house she commented on how my paper butterflies would look really cute as hairpieces. So I decided to do just that!

I like how you can see the word "Introduction" going through this butterfly

And the butterfly with the feathers and netting looked great in her hair!

So this would have been a logical place to stop, right? But then I wanted to make some kind of bag to put everything into. So I went through my fabric scraps and found part of one of my husband's old shirts that I had previously used to make a skirt out of.

I used the existing buttons as the closure for the bag, and then re-stitched the pocket to the front of the bag.

The pocket was just perfect to put the pencils in!

I had so much fun putting together all of these little crafty gifts! Sometimes having a reason to craft is the best way to get inspiration. Right now I'm going to focus on putting together Christmas presents, which I probably won't blog about here until after they have been received. But I'm sure I'll have enough side crafty projects to keep this blog updated between now and January!

Adventures in Blog Features!

There is nothing like being featured in someone else's blog to make you realize how long it has been since you have posted! Today my wonderful friends over at Sweet Athena featured me on their craft blog, which made me all warm and fuzzy inside. You should definitely go check out their blog, they make amazing jewelry, headpieces, and even cheese!

Now that the school year is fully underway I find myself having less and less time for crafting. But with the Holiday season just around the corner I am going to have to get myself in gear soon! So here are a few projects that I did recently in what little spare time I had:

I love this little flower that I made out of book pages! It's very similar to this hairpiece that I made earlier, but with a slightly different shape. I can't wait to wear it in my hair!

On a whim I decided to make this strand of butterflies to put in my classroom. I made them out of book pages as well, and really like how they turned out!

Very simple, but very cute.

And this picture is just to prove that yes, I do wear my creations out in public! I recently wore one of my paper flower hairclips to a family bbq, and my family members loved it! Here I am chatting it up with my amazing Grandma, who is a major fan of all my crafting adventures :)

And finally, a little teaser. I am currently working on crafting together a Halloween costume. I don't want to reveal what it is just yet, but it will incorporate what you see in the picture above...

Hair Adventures, Part Trois!

I am slowly getting addicted to making hairclips! There are just so many possibilities, and you know how much I love 'upcycling'! I made this latest hairclip out of a green paint chip I snagged from Home Depot and a page out of a book that has seen the end of its days. (I took the book from one of the teacher's 'trash piles' on that infamous last day of school. It was completely falling apart, ripped, etc. but is great for little craft projects!)

The buttons I already had in my collection, so it was simply a matter of mixing and matching until I found the combination I liked best! I love how it turned out!!!

I have found that making these different hairpieces has really helped me overcome my initial misgivings about my haircut. Instead of viewing my hair with a mixture of dread and disappointment, I now look at it with excitement! It has been extremely fun to play with, and especially to accessorize!

More Hair Adventures!

This morning I couldn't wait to continue crafting up some cute hairpieces! I decided to make a smaller version of the paper flowers that I made last week. I really liked how those turned out, but they were too big to put in my hair. So here it is!

I really like how it looks when clipped into my hair!

I can already tell that I am going to have a LOT of fun accessorizing my new haircut!

Paper Folding Adventures!

Today has been one of those wonderful, lazy days where you actually feel accomplished by the end of it. Sure, all I did was sit on the couch and watch episodes of some of my favorite shows (True Blood and Pushing Daisies), but I also made some cute paper flowers! I really like how they turned out, and I'm trying to think of ways to utilize them. I'm thinking hairpieces, but since they are made out of paper they would only be suitable for dry weather.

I made the flowers out of folded book pages. I really enjoy origami and other such paper crafting, but have been preoccupied with sewing lately. So it was really nice to sit down and let my fingers have some folding fun!