The Working Mother's Guide to Half Assed Crafts

I have a spice problem. Ok, really more of a spice storage problem. I buy spices from the bulk bin at the supermarket because they are so much cheaper (ask me sometime about my free Thanksgiving bay leaf) and so my “spice storage” consists of about thirty plastic baggies with stickers on them, that I have to sort through every time I need some nutmeg.

Or, I should say, CONSISTED, because I’ve fixed it.

For my birthday, my husband got me this awesome Xyron ‘Create a Sticker’ machine, and now that I’ve played with it for a bit, I have to say that I think everyone (particularly teachers) should have one. It does not require batteries or plug in, and it works better than I could have hoped. Just feed in any bit of paper (no more than 5″ wide) in the front, turn the handle, and it comes out the back with a super sticky adhesive attached, ready to stick. I’ve done photos this way, and some magazine clippings for one of E’s school projects, and have even put fabric through it, and it all works perfectly.

Anyhow, at Thanksgiving I was overwhelemed with these little bags of spices, so I finally got fed up and found five or six matching empty jars in the basement stash. Then I Googled for “free spice label download” and found tons. I picked one I liked, printed them off on some colored paper I had laying around, cut out the labels, ran them through the sticker machine, and ....

TA DA!!

Spices in jars with labels.

I even took the supermarket stickers from the bags, cut the date from the sticker, and stuck them on the bottom so I could tell when I’d last purchased the spice. 

On Sunday, we got back from our second trip to Disney World, where my Mother In Law has introduced my son to the world of pin trading. On our last trip, he brought home quite a few pins, which were languishing on their lanyards in the back of a cupboard. Right before we left, I whipped up a totally rickety and half-assed cloth thing (see second photo) to put the old pins on so we could use the new pins on this trip, and at that time I promised myself that I’d find a way to get the pins out of the cupboard when we returned. I spent some time yesterday browsing around at “pin display” solutions, and saw some wonderful ones (including a couple of beautiful cloth-covered Mickey-shaped cork boards on Etsy), but wasn't quite up to spending $70 to display the pins. So, last night, after a quick trip to the craft store and $14 in supplies, this is the (possibly temporary) solution I came up with. Basically, I bought a package of 6″ square cork tiles (4 per package), some Disney themed scrapbooking paper, a few “chip board” Disney characters (also designed for scrapbooking), and some sawtooth picture hangers. The steps were as follows: - Trace the shape of the cork tile onto the scrapbooking paper and cut it out.  - Use the glue pads that came with the tiles to stick the paper to one side of the cork tile. - Use superglue to glue the hanger to the back of the cork board. - Use superglue to glue the chipboard Disney characters to the bottom corner of the display side of the tile. - Stick the pins in the boards, store the backs in a baggie in the cupboard with the lanyards, and hang them up.

“I have dreams, you know!” I did a bit of sewing getting us ready for our Memorial Day trip to Vermont - and that sewing, somehow, included finishing these PJ pants which have been languishing in the half-finished pile approximately forever. (So long, in fact, that I had to lengthen the one leg that was cut out, because it was cut for a shorter child.) 

Sunday morning, I picked up our air dry clay hearts to add ribbon and wrap, and here’s what happened. Two of them fractured in my hand. We managed to glue them, but I have zero idea why these pieces, which had been sitting untouched on the table since Thursday just came apart.

Someone on Facebook had mentioned that it might be a good idea to use Mod Podge on them, and so I did Mod Podge the back of a third one before we packed it. Good thing. That one came apart in my hand later on, but the Mod Podge on the back held it basically together. Next time I do this, I’ll be sure to a) make extra, and b) Mod Podge them as soon as they’re dry. 

I still have no idea why this happened though. All I can figure is that they didn’t quite dry evenly or all the way through, because they were drying on the parchment paper vs. on a wire rack.

So, last night we tried air dry clay.  I’ve been looking at air dry projects for a while, after finding this listing on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/listing/157262520/mimi-heart-ornament-gift-for-mimi-mimi) which is not actually air dry but is that general aesthetic. Pinterest is also awash with them. Things I bought: a 2.5 lb bucket of Crayola Air Dry clay for $4.88; two new stamp pads because mine were dry and dead.

Rubber stamps are one of those things that people often give me (because I’m “crafty”) but that I actually can’t figure out what to do with. The letter stamps I used had been languishing in my craft room for a looonnnnggg time (and I discovered they were “some assembly required” - we had to stick the letters onto the posts).

If you haven’t done this before, the basic idea is that you just roll out the clay, then stamp it or impress a pattern on it (I see a lot on Pinterest that use lace doily or cable knit sweaters to make patterns). You can also use regular rubber stamps (with ink!) right on the wet clay (which is what we did). 

Once you’ve put the pattern on the clay, then use a cookie cutter to cut the final shape. 

The biggest thing I learned is that parchment paper or some such is CRUCIAL for this project. I did the first one on a laminated place mat and it was a sticky disaster. The clay is very moist and sticks to EVERYTHING.

So, yeah, we did the ones pictured above and a few more that I won’t reveal yet. E reluctantly helped. I have a few additional Grand Ideas that I want to try when we get closer to Christmas, including finding a way to use my Springerle cookie molds to make ornaments, and this awesome house candle holder. (http://www.lachicadelacasadecaramelo.com/2014/11/tres-sencillos-diy-con-pasta-de-modelar.html). (I also love the snowflakes on this page.)

I am very curious to see how white the clay actually dries. All the photos of projects look very white. Mine (while wet) are still a sort of bisque/ivory color, so we’ll see what happens.

On the other hand, here is the candy jar project actually finished.

Things I learned: - Spraypaint is best for lids, but people look at you oddly when you are spraypainting into a box while standing on your sidewalk in your PJs at 730 am. - Using a screwdriver and a hammer to poke holes in the lids is oddly satisfying. (You use the screwdriver as a punch, if its not clear.) - People act much more impressed with gifts when someone says “No, she MADE that.” (To which I repeatedly replied - I didn't make the jar, I just dressed it up for Easter.)

I love those knobs, but they were not the right choice for these jars - they make them look more like bathroom jars than candy jars. Glass knobs would have been a better choice.

My mom totally wins Easter.

I’m sure you've been at Goodwill or somewhere similar where you’ve seen a giant brandy snifter, and thought to yourself “well, that’s cool - but what would I ever do with a giant Brandy snifter?” My mother found the answer. She filled hers with plastic eggs. About half the eggs had a prize in them. After lunch, we went around the table, each taking a turn to pull out an egg (you had to call your egg first, you couldn't just feel around until  you found a full one). Whomever ended up with the most “filled” eggs won a prize - a silver half dollar.

it was silly and fun and had us all giggling, and we each ended up with at least a few trinkets (although my husband, as he always mysteriously does, ended up winning with far more filled eggs than chance alone could account for).

Behold! The humble paintbrush. My favorite paintbrush. I never thought I’d say such a thing, but there it is. I’ve been painting the kitchen for over a year. As you can see, my kitchen is narrow, and has a lot of sections, so it hasn't been that difficult to do a wall section here or there, as the mood strikes me (or as I have an hour free to do the work). Its much less disruptive to the flow of our lives than a big two-day “now we’re going to paint ALL THE THINGS” weekend would be. I move stuff, paint, wait a bit, put them back. Rinse and repeat as needed.

I love how easy it becomes. And, I love this paintbrush, with its short handle and its angled brush, because it keeps me from having to tape everything. I’m at the point now, actually, where I tape almost nothing. I keep a damp cloth with me at all times, and if I get a smudge of paint here or there, I just wipe it away right away and keep on working. The brush does its magic - it gets the paint where it needs to be.

Now, all that’s left to paint are the hardest parts: One wall where the old wallpaper MUST come down and I need to skim coat before I can paint; one area where the wallboard is gone and I have to figure out what to do, Two windows that need vigorous sanding before they can be painted, and a few cupboards, which need to be emptied before I can do much with them.

I have planned ahead and hoarded - er - saved 17 empty eggshells with tiny neat-ish holes in the bottom. Now the question is: what to do with them? I did candles last year . I might do chocolate again, but I certainly won’t do 17 of them. A friend has recommended I make cheesecakes (but I don’t actually like cheesecake all that much. 

Glass etching, take 2

It took a little hunting, but I finally found some vinyl stick on letters (supposedly “permanent”) that work perfectly for this (they come right off, FYI).

Pro tip: make sure the apparently indelible expiration date stamp is on the BACK of the piece and not, say, right over the place you put your fancy word.