Book Pages Wreath

At the moment I'm really trying to declutter our house. Bags and bags of stuff have already made their way to Goodwill. Borrowed things have made their way back to their rightful owners. Several bags of garbage have already hit the curb. In all this cleaning I have come across things that I can't help but look at with a crafty eye and say "could I use this?". An old dictionary (that I had picked up from a thrift store) was stowed away in my closet and was begging to be re-purposed. I decided to make a book page wreath with it....

Materials:
-2 large pieces of cardboard
-Book pages curled into cones ends folded so as not to unroll
-glue gun, glue sticks and a small bit of white glue
-staple gun, staples, small piece of picture wire and a nail to hang from

First I glued together the cardboard pieces and cut into a wreath shape. Covered one side with a few pages attached with the white glue. Made the paper cones and glued them in rows around the form (from the outside in) folding up more of the ends of the cones on each row. On the last row I folded them around to the back and glued them there as well. Folded my picture wire in half and stapled to the back once folded it back over the staple and stapled a couple more times just to be safe. Hung it on my diningroom wall and hoping that Hubby doesn't hate it :)

Quilt.....

My Mom recently made quilts for Abby and Sydney which, of course, made me feel like my bed needed a bit of handmade love too. I'm sure that if I asked she would have made one for me too...but I know that if I applied myself I could shrug off my earlier failed attempt and make a beautiful quilt to be proud of. So I watched a ton of videos on YouTube and borrowed a quilting book from my Mom. I watched and watched and read and read until my eyes were sore and my brain hurt in typical Crys style. Finally after much consideration (and to be completely honest a little out of spite because of the doubters) I decided that hand piecing my quilt was the way to go....yep, that's how I roll! I have to say so far I'm really loving it. Much more portable and peaceful....well as peaceful as it can get with 2 kids running around (at least they're not tripping over my sewing machine cords...right?). And well I have to admit I love proving people wrong. One more strip of the green squares pattern then I'll have to buy the black fabric for a wide border around the whole front and full back (still need to decide which stuffing I'll be using...bit more research to do on that one).

But here's a sneak peak...

String Art

I desperately needed something to replace a mirror in my bathroom that was relocated to a better spot in my front hall. So off to google images I went for a bit more crafty inspiration. And I sure found some here .

Materials:
-1/4" plywood
-Stain
-Handful of smallish nails
-White yarn
-picture wire
-staple gun

(I ended up not having enough to nails to place them every 1/2" so mine are 1" apart...it makes mine a bit different at least)

Monogram Door Signs

Been checking out lots of crafty sites lately and getting lots of inspiration from some very talented people out there. Love the monogram wall art I've seen and decided it was time for my girls to have some gracing their bedroom doors. First things first I checked around the house to see what I had laying around and if I could turn it into something beautiful....gotta love things that cost next to nothing to make right?

List of Materials:
-picture wire, a few staples and a hot glue gun
-a button stash that I inherited from my Grandmother-in-law
-some letters from a previous failed door sign
-left-over mosaic tiles from our kitchen reno
-a fairly large 1/4 plywood board (cut into 12" squares) that was left jammed in the rafters of my garage by the previous owner 10 years ago! Here are my crafty results...