Project #2

I don't have pictures to post today. It was a long, hectic day. Our septic decided to back up/clog today. I took the kids to my in-laws while Husband and the landlord problem solved. Sparing you all the details, I'll keep it simple and just say that we have flushing toilets again.

I decided, for my second project, that I would crochet a bag made out of pajama pants. This post will be loads more fun once pictures are included, but try to stick with me here. I cut the pants (four pairs total) into strips and connected them, creating a large ball of yarn. The bag turned out ....uniquely enough that I may actually use it! The project took a bit longer than I thought it would. I assumed that I would get farther along in the bag than I did with less than four pairs of pants. Finding pants wasn't a challenge, though.

Once the tedious (and slightly annoying) task of cutting the pants and attaching the strips was completed, I knocked the bag out quickly; which made sense considering I used a Q sized hook. For you non-crocheters, that's bigger around than a drum stick.

After I have the chance to include some pictures, I'll update on the kids as well. It's been fun around here!

Project #1

I did end up doing the cork board. It was a lot of fun! I don't have a lot of time to post right now. The kids are asleep and I need to shower because once they're up we're meeting up with Grandma to go bowling.

The hardest part about this project was cutting the corks. My helpful Husband was testing out a few knives to see which would be the sharpest for me to use. The winner was the a ~4" saw blade on a Gerber. I was nervous the entire time, afraid that the blade would slip and one of my fingers would bite the dust. Erring on the side of caution prevailed; I still have all of my fingers.

The cutting of the corks took a bit longer than I had anticipated and left my right shoulder achy and my hand stiff. I think roughly 40 corks were cut in half for this project. I could have cut more but I didn't feel like it! So there! I had just the frame I would use for the purposes of this project. During our move, one of our picture frames was mishandled resulting in broken glass. I was excited that I held onto the thing, though, because I was able to upcycle the frame! Bittersweet. For the sake of making sure the corks would fit comfortably, I placed them in the frame without gluing and then took them out in the same order.

Side note: I really need to find a decent enough corner of my house designated for photos. I'm by no means a photographer, so forgive the stuff that shows up wanting to be included in my shots.

I used a glue gun for the corks and buzzed right along, kids notwithstanding.

Progress pose.

As it turns out, I may have been a little too careful placing the corks in their place upon gluing because I ended up with some unsightly gaps. I was willing to forgive these gaps because, well, it's my first time doing a cork board, and I wasn't about to try to pry them off after having already glued them. Especially with the kids around.

Here's the finished product!

Lovely corks. Hand cut. By me!

This ended up being a wedding gift to a couple that I know. I hope they enjoy it!

Another side note: I feel compelled to add here that these wine corks have been accumulated over a long span of time; not all of these were from bottles that I consumed. I promise I do not have a drinking problem! I have an embarrassingly low tolerance for alcohol, actually.

No pictures this time.

My computer is currently out of commission so I don't have easy access to my latest pictures. After an injury it sustained a short number of months ago it has finally kicked the can. Until further notice I'll be borrowing my Husband's computer. If you have a burning desire to know what happened, here's the scoop:

In the midst of a frustrating spat with Elijah and my iPod (in that he wouldn't put it away so that we could go take a nap), I snatched it from him and tossed it onto the couch. I had forgotten that the thing was charging and therefore attached to my computer, because once the slack from the cord was out, it bounced back and smacked into the screen. Left a pretty little shatter mark and everything, right in the top left corner. It slowly got worse. All the small child finger poking, accidental bumps, and retaliating smacks (courtesy of Emily) it became rapidly worse for wear and soon I was only able to see through the bottom half-ish. Well, today it started to get a strange, white, screen/mesh appearance in the areas that were still visible and not manipulated by cracks and bleeding ink looking stuff. I asked our roommate J if I could bum some available space on his external hard drive until the laptop can be replaced. The only thing I have on my computer that I even care about are pictures, so it was easy enough. Thank goodness we did it when we did because less than 20 minutes after we backed up the white meshy areas in my monitor turned white and nothing was visible anymore.

In other news, I've been particularly crafty and have been cranking out a lot of fun projects. I cut out the alphabet and put it up in the kids' room, I stained some glass votive holders, am cutting out the kids' name in felt and sewing/stuffing/hanging the letters, and even upcycled a Melissa & Doug playdough box into a key hanging spot (pictures when I have access). Also, in an attempt do a stash buster with my yarn, I made some dryer balls. Throughout this craftiness I've been reminded a few times of my sister's 365 project. She is of natural born talent in the photography department and committed herself to taking one photograph every day for a year. While it would be unreasonable to get any worthy craft completed in 24 hours, we did discuss the possibilities of a 52 project: one project a week for a year. So I think I will start now. My first project will be a cork board made out of the wine corks that me and my mom have accumulated. I'll post pictures every Sunday...somehow.