Yarn love

I'm a huge fan of the Daily Danny blog. It's full of awesome ideas for upcycling and making something beautiful. A few weeks ago, he asked for some reader ideas for turning janky old Goodwill mugs into something worthy of admiration. I threw out my favorite craft-standby: wrap that thing in yarn! When in doubt, smothering any object in yarn will probably give you something that looks just homemade enough to be sweet while not being too Martha-esque.

Well, he liked that idea! He liked it the most! I was so flattered because people were giving really awesome ideas (chalkboard painted herb gardens, mosaics, wall art, organizers...really cool stuff). So, if you're stopping by by way of Danny's post: welcome!

I've spent the past few nights fighting with some St. Patrick's Day decorations, so I'm hoping I can crack that mess tonight and share a simple knitting project soon. At least I can feel like I have the backing of a professional if I cave and just wrap the whole project in layers of chunky wool.

For never was there a tale of more schtick than that of Alexson and her swizzle stick

Yeah, I just copped some Shakespeare to discuss my signature craft item. It's been a long week, what can I say?

Last fall, after all my crafting dreams for the wedding where realized and waiting patiently in boxes waiting for their moment in the sun, I realized I didn't want to be done with making handmade touches for the big day. I had seen a really cheap and easy idea in one of the many, many ridiculously creative wedding blogs I read - flagged sizzle sticks.

One ribbon scouting trip to Archivers, two packs of kebab sticks and a few hours later, I had these.Nevermind that I had more than 200 of these bad boys for a 150 person wedding or that we only had one mixed drink on our bar menu. Let's especially ignore the fact that now, almost four months after the wedding, I still have 198 swizzle sticks in my basement. Please, focus on the prettiness.

Anyway, faced with another beer-centric event, naturally I am resurrecting my beloved swizzle sticks. They are so simple to make, it'd just be wrong to leave them off the guest list for our annual St. Pat's shindig.

Step One: Rally the troops. The troops in this case are scissors, ribbons, kebab sticks cut in half and of course, a trusty glue gun.

Step Two: Cut ribbon strips.

Step Three: Glue 'em up!

Step Four: Wrap the ribbon around the stick.

Step Five: Bevel those edges, ladypants! Without the bevel, these things are just sad.

Step Six: Perfectly frame the cat while taking a supa' fly photo of the festive swizzle sticks your friends will ignore as they sip beer.

Green, mean craftin' machine

With Valentine’s Day safely behind us, it’s time to get crackin’ on decking the halls for my favorite holiday of the year: St. Pat’s. Having spent six months “studying” in Cork, Ireland, I have a serious nostalgia for that silly little island and it pangs me especially hard on March 17th. And what better cure for nostalgia pangs than crafts? Am I right? Can I get an amen? A-men!

Ahem.

I’m going to start by sprucing up our fireplace with some bunting, like this, but decidedly more Irish:

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But, wait! I found some knitted bunting that melts my little ruddy face with awesomeness.

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I couldn't resist. This project is already started. My flags are a little taller and more narrow and I currently only have two, but these pupies fly off the needles, so I'll be set in no time!

Why, is that a festive swizzle stick in your drink? You know it.

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My knitted coozies are also getting better, so maybe I'll whip up a few to keep our Murphy's cold (even though we drink them from pint glasses, lovingly pilfered and imported by yours truly, and never ever from the can because of that little foam-producing magic ball thingy).

And I want to get many kinds of crafty on the table. Maybe even spray paint something. Ooo girl, get crazy!

Do you get crafty and homemakery for random holidays?

I make stuff!

This past weekend, while it was a nearly tropical 40 degrees and an equally tropical monsoon-ish type thing here in the Great State of Iowa, I managed to finish my first scarf (with the help of instructions from class, knittinghelp.com and a few YouTube videos, because I just couldn’t grasp the whole bind off movement). Here the old girl is, in all her neck-warming glory:

I have to admit, I’m pretty smitten with knittin’. It’s the most calming hobby I’ve ever had, aside from napping. You just sit back and twiddle your thumbs and voila – you made something worth wearing in public. I think that is saying something. The last time I wore something I made in public, it was definitely tie-dyed and totally signed by all my BFFs (because we won’t count the time I spilled soup on my white shirt at work and sported a nice tomato stain all afternoon right? Right.).

On busyment

Yes. A made up word. For a person who reads grammar and language books for fun, I sure do take some liberties with the English language.

Anywho, I must say that my crafting extravaganza is going well so far. Of the three projects I currently have going, I have to say that knitting is my favorite. I just learned last night, but I am totally digging how much I’ve already learned. Calligraphy is nice, too, but I get the distinct feeling it might be too precise for a gal like me. Chunky, imperfect knits, though? Lovely. And the third project – the redo of our side entry way and hall – is of course not fun. Rewarding and worth it, but not all that relaxing. More on these later.

With all this going on, I’ve barely had time to sit still this week and I forgot how much I missed that. The holidays were busy, too, but it was a different kind of busy. November and December were all about hurrying up and finishing so I could relax and enjoy. A very good kind of busy and a very worthy end, but kind of stressful. Now, the busyment is more focused with tangible results. Just like vacuuming with a Dyson is more fun because you can see the dirt, this kind of busyment is more calming.

What’s your favorite kind of busy?

Another statistic

If I were a betting woman, I'd wager that 97.5% of bloggers write a post at about this time making known their resolutions and plans for the next 365 days. Because I'm such an on-again/off-again member of the blogging world, I figured I'd spare you all the lofty goals and ambitions of a whole year and stick to the next few weeks.

1. Marathon levels of craftiness. In January, I'm taking a calligraphy workshop (at Ephemera here in Des Moines) AND a beginner's knitting class (also at Ephemera). I'm also plotting a three day weekend in which I redecorate our side entry way and hallway.

Um, yep. One thing. But it has subthings!

I've never knit (knitted?) before and my handwriting is wildly unpredictable. Also, painting is one of those things I think I like, but soon I realize I don't. Like butter pecan ice cream or ellipticals. But, with grad school behind me, my brain is itching to learn new things. My poor eyes are tired of blonde pine and cream walls. So, knit and calligraph (?) and paint I shall!

I'll report from the front lines of craftiness as all this transpires. Happy New Year!