October 31 & November 1: Halloween and Christmas

Saturday night was Halloween. Our neighborhood has so many kids come through for trick or treats. We gave out over 150 pieces of candy!  After the rush was over, I went to a costume party as a bat. I made the costume from a long-sleeve black shirt and a couple of black umbrellas that were disassembled and sewn along the arms and sides of the shirt. It gets topped off with a cat-ear headband with the points of the ears squished down to be more round and bat-like and some black grease-paint on the nose.

It was a long night, so Sunday called for something that a tired brain could accomplish. These tealight snowmen will become ornaments or magnets. The LED tealights came in packs of two at the dollar store. The “flame” got a coat of orange paint to become the carrot nose, and the rest of the face is drawn on with a permanent marker. The strips of fabric used for the scarf were from the scrap bag. I really didn’t feel like setting up the ironing board for such a small project, then I remembered a friend had given me one of those hair-straightening irons. Running the crumpled strips through it pressed them quite nicely. I will be using this trick again for small ironing projects.

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January 31 & February 1, 2015: Thing-a-Day begins

I was away for the weekend, making it difficult to put in much creative time. I did bring along some crochet to make sure I did put in a stitch or two on Saturday.
However, February 1 marks the beginning of “Thing-a-Day” for me. For the past 3 years, I have participated in a group blog that lasts just 28 days each year. The guidelines have been simple: commit to creating one project each day during February. The group has been diverse and the projects ranges from a photograph or recipe to creating animated computer drawings and intricate metalwork.
My own theme is to create something each day using only materials already in my stash, or that can be acquired at not cost. No trips to the craft stores. It is a fun creative challenge that has gotten me through the dreary cold month.
This year, the admins of the site decided to retire and close TAD. I will miss the community that grew there, and am waiting to see which of the offshoots seem to take hold.
I have gotten used yo the exercise, and will continue it this year. For February 1, I needed something really quick since I got home in the evening. I decided on this little sock snowman.