Bird Seed Eggs

I saw these little bird seed eggs this summer at the Bible Camp gift store and immediately wanted to figure out how to make them myself! My only drawback was to determine how to get all that birdseed to stick together. Thankfully my friend Stephanie came up with a water/flour paste. Not a couple of days later a blog popped up on my Reader board, and she was right! You do use flour and water.

So I made my own (finally) and I love the way they turned out! The egg shapes are my favorite but you could make them whatever shape you like…

Step 1- Grease Jello egg mold

Step 2. Make a paste of water and flour that is the consistency of Elmer’s glue.

Step 3- Add bird seed until it is a sticky goo. There needs to be mostly bird seed but still sticky enough to sticky together.

Step 4- Pack very tightly into both side of Jello molds. Overfill them just a tiny bit. Be sure to keep hands moist with water to keep bird seed mixture from sticking to your hands!

Put both sides of mold together, lining up the two halves and press together.

Lift off the top mold.

Step 5- Gently pry eggs out of mold with butter knife. Pack them tightly together using your hands. Be sure to keep hands moist with water to keep bird seed mixture from sticking to your hands!

Step 5- Place back gently into molds and let dry in a cool dry spot for at least 24 hours.

Flip eggs over and let dry another 24 hours.

Step 6- If you added a string for a hanger while packing them into molds, you can hang them from tree branches. Otherwise, place in bird feeders and watch the birds this winter from your window!

Bath Towel Mat

In my mind a bath mat should be able to be washed. I had no idea that putting the cute little round bath mat from IKEA in the washing machine would totally destroy it!

It’s been a couple of months since the boys’ bath mat met its untimely demise, and I decided I had had enough of the ugly old bath towel laying on the floor. It’s just too cute of a shower curtain for that… :o)

So I took another bath towel, folded it in half and sewed a few wide stripes across it to hold it together in the washing machine. :o)

Then I took some of the fabrics and denims I used in the shower curtain and made the binding to go around the edge.

*Note to self: my sewing machine does not appreciate going through multiple layers of denim and terrycloth. Next time, use only cotton.

But it did turn out pretty good and I think it will wear just fine in the wash!

Plate Art

I saw this at the restaurant we had dinner at. I stared at it quite a bit while we ate wondering just how it was done. Then Chris walked up and touched it… It was just a bunch of glass plates glued to a piece of glass with clear silicon adhesive on both sides.

Now I want to buys lots of glass plates and make one to hang in my window! Oh and something that can cut glass plates…

Sorry the pics didn’t turn out very well, but you can get the idea…

 

Operation Organization

I really let myself go the past few months…

While I didn’t do any actual craft projects, I did accumulate LOTS of stuff for doing craft projects. And to make matters worse, I just let it stack up everywhere! I couldn’t even see what I had, much less find space to work in.

With fall quickly approaching, I knew it was time to get organized. So I moved Will out of his private “office” and into the schoolroom onto my desk and put myself on the work table.

Then Chris built me some shelves in the furnace room for all my stuff. After all, my rule is “If it doesn’t have a home, it can’t stay”. And I just wasn’t willing to give up any more stuff… :o)

So I tackled the job all at once. I can only take so much disaster for so long… And since it only gets worse before it gets better, it had to get done quickly!

I picked up some bins, put everything away, labeled and yes, even got rid of…

And viola! It’s all clean again! Now I wonder how long it will last???

The Trailer (So Far)

Our trailer is our newest (and on-going) project. While it’s not yet done (it’ll be a while), I thought I would show you what it looks like so far. It’s kinda been a fun little sewing project for me, but it’s been a lot of hard work for my wonderful hubby!

I just want to thank my sister Amy for all her help with covering our cushions. I could not have done it without her! Also to my dad for letting me use his upholstery machine and to my other sister Theresa for helping me sew them all shut!

the bed cushions before

  the bed cushions after

  

the kitchen before

the kitchen after

the dining room before

the dining room after

I have a few more things to hang up and a great 70s serving bowl to put out before our next trip. I’ll post pics later…

Lunch Bags

I bought some ripstop nylon for a project I wanted to try and it turned out to be a total failure. Since I had to think of something else to do with it, I decided to join it with another failed project and see what happened.

The new project was a success! The sandwich wraps turned out great! But it really needed something more…

So then I took a purse pattern and modified it a bit to become a lunch bag.

Then with the little piece of scrap that was left over, I made a snack bag.

The result… a lunch bag that is perfect for a busy day of running errands or a picnic lunch at the park!

sandwich wrap and snack bag

the lunch bag

I love the one in brown!

Denim Bandana Quilt

I finally finished it! I really don’t like doing the binding and there were so many other projects distracting me… But now it’s done and I love it! It is such a nice heavy quilt that reminds me of rolling green hills with grazing horses and bluegrass music. It makes me want to sit in the backyard in the sun and read a Larry McMurtry novel.

While that little daydream may not ever happen, I do have plans for my little quilt. It will make a great place to sit this summer while watching my guys play Ultimate Frisbee at Bible Camp or rocking out at Creation Fest!