Little Farmer Crafts

I took my crafts out to the Little Farmer in Malone the end of July.  I love getting ready for the craft barn and thought I would share some of the fun things I took out to sell.........

I made grapevine wreaths....some decorated....some plain.....I will post them later so you can see what I did :)  I like the cheerfulness of this one!

Some adorable candle holders....I love how these turned out!!!

I also made some of the larger ones that I had made last year too.  These have a washer that is stamped with different words on them.

Some cute little birds.... I love how these turned out.  These would be great as home decorations, in a tree, a Christmas ornament, a mobile.... I've seen them different ways and LOVE THEM!!! 

I love the fun materials....think how cut these would be in a nursery too!!!

Sweet hair bobby pins....don't you love the fun packaging......yahoo for bakers twine!  I shopped around and the cheapest twine I found was on Amazon in case your obsessed like I am :)

 I think little girls are going to like these :)

I made a couple of bags from sweaters - I'll post more about them later.... and I also took out my pillowcase totes..... I love those bags for the farmers market, grocery store, etc....  I love that they are washable too!

I also made some fun book marks this year!!!I love how they turned out...I also was able to use fun buttons and beads to embellish them :)

 I kept a couple for myself and my cats thinks they are new play toys!

I also took out some washer necklaces and a few other items that I didn't take pictures of.  So now you know what I have been busy working on.  Hopefully others will like the items as much as I do.  I try to only do crafts that I would like myself and have fun making :)

Blessings,

Linda

Summer Shed

We don't have a garage at our house.  We have a "shed".  Our next house will have a garage..  especially if we live somewhere where it snows!

But for now we work with what we have :)

I usually hang plain grapevine wreaths that I make on the doors.  

This year I wanted some color so I made these little wreaths.

I first wrapped the wreaths with burlap but it still was a little to plain for me.

So I picked up some flowers and got out the hot glue gun.

I choose to use yellow because it is so cheery and pops against the white of the door.  I had picked up two little bird houses at the dollar store and painted them yellow and orange and just set them in the middle of the wreath. 

I also had seen so many pendants floating around on the internet so I had an idea to make one to hang over the door. 

I used burlap and cut out triangles and then stenciled "WELCOME" using black paint.  I also wanted to see what would happen if I stamped on the burlap and how well it would hold up to the elements.

   I cut apart old jeans and used the material to frame the triangles so the triangles wouldn't unravel.  I left the edges unfinished on the jeans thinking if they unravel it might add to the look.  I then sewed the individual pieces onto a piece of pre-made bias tape for hanging.

I made this in the spring and it has been hanging up all summer - it has weathered very well.

I don't know what the candle holder originally had in it but I added a mason jar and filled it with sand and added the candle.  I picked up the old chair at a rummage sale (for free!).  I put one of my grapevine baskets on it and filled it with flowers for color.

I thought I would add a side shot of the shed also :)

And that's my little shed :)

Blessings,

Linda

Linking up:

http://www.thegirlcreative.com/

http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com 

Wheeler Summer Update.....

It's been a little while since I've shared anything.  

I would craft all day if I could but there is this little thing that gets in the way called life~ yes real life must be dealt with....you know ~ the job, ministry, cooking, cleaning, laundry, keeping my head above the water!

So here is a brief update of what we have been up to.....

Melissa graduated in May from the UW-LaCrosse. 

Then Jim and I graduated from the MIP (Minister Interim Program) the end of June.  We are thankful for the opportunity we had to attend and truly enjoyed it but will not miss traveling to the Chicago-land area once a month (approx. 3.5-4 hours one way).  We know are excited about all that the Lord has for us in our future.  We have no plans other than to keep serving at our local church ~ Jim is on the praise and worship team, is doing follow up, we both lead the Wednesday night Bible Study/Midweek service and I do the Children's ministry....plus a few other things as needed :)

Later in the day after graduation we drove into the city of Chicago....

 

to pick up Mel's blessing.... God blessed her with a car!  It's a great testimony....God's timing is incredible.  The girl who was an answer to prayer had the car in Indiana and her parents just happened to come to Chicago the same weekend we were graduating.  So we were able to work it out and pick it up that weekend.  If you know Mel ask her to share the story...it's encouraging!!!  God is good even if Chicago traffic isn't!! lol....okay it wasn't too bad but I had to look like it was horrible!!!

Then of course we have had a few birthday's to celebrate...

Jim and I have birthday's 15 days apart

 For my birthday, we spent the day at Kohler Andre and went hiking and walking in Lake MI. 

It was FREEZING!!!  But it felt good in 90 degree weather.

For dinner we went to a yummy Mexican restaurant in Sheboygan.  

Will definitely be heading back there!!!

and of course there must be cake!!! DQ is always a winner.

Beautiful flowers from Jim were a nice surprise too!!!

 For Jim's birthday we went to Gino's and had deep dish pizza...yummy!  

We came home and had one of his favorites....chocolate eclair torte. (He has a camel on his torte with candles...don't ask it's a Wheeler thing!!! lol)

(p.s. don't look at the mess behind him please!!!!)

Here's Mel chilling out :)  I love it when she plays on here or the piano....

Since I haven't shared any craft projects with you I thought I would share 2 the cats did.....

The girls are so talented!!! 

We are so proud of them!!!

Hope you enjoyed our update.....

More craft projects to come...I promise :)

Hugs,

Linda

Get Well Card.....

I was really happy with how my card turned out so I thought I would share it with you.  I never jumped on the card making band wagon but have really been enjoying it lately. 

My friend Mary had surgery and I wanted to make a card that was light hearted and would put a smile on her face.

I have a little cuttle kids die cut machine.  I have to tell you the reason I bought it was because it had the cute monkey dies.  If you know me you know I love monkeys!  I also liked the price... the machine was about $20.00 and the dies were inexpensive also.

I started with a blank card and used some scrapbook paper to put on the front.  I cut out letters for Mary's name and made 2 monkeys.  I rounded my corners on the scrapbook paper and glued it to the card.

For the inside I just typed out on the computer what I wanted to say.  

I used some of the scrapbook paper and monkey stickers to dress it up.

Now to take it to her with a loaf of homemade banana bread and some ice cream and I should be all set to accomplish my mission :)

Seeing that beautiful smile!!!

Blessings,

Linda

Fun Knit Necklace

I want to share a fun necklace I made out of an old knit turtleneck.

To be honest I wasn't really sure if I liked it at first but it has really grown on me.  I like the braid and the pop of color the beads add.

Here is how I did it:

I took my old gray turtleneck and cut strips of material (I'm guessing I used about 2" strips - you can make as thin or thick as you want)

I then opened one end so I had really long strips. 

I took 3 strips and sewed them one end together so I could braid the three strands.  (Note: when braiding the strands it will seem to take FOREVER because they are stretchy and grow!!!!)

Figure out how many braided strands you want to do and play around with adding beads to some of them.  - I used fun, big, blue beads I bought at Joann's - (with a coupon of course!!!) and 3 finished braided strands.

I actually put all my beads on the same braided strand - but again you can do whatever you want.  Play with it and find the look you like best.

Sew your ends together when you are ready to finish the necklace.  I did not sew all my braided strands together but I did inter loop them so they can not be separated now.  You can do this however you want - I liked the look of inter looping but if you want the versatility of wearing each braid separately you may want to keep them as individuals

That is all there is to it....very easy - fun - chic and cheap :)


**If you want to see what I did with the extra strips check out the cat cuff :) - (the necklace that was a fail was different from this one in case your wondering )Warning if you have cats ~ they will want to play as you try to braid! But they are so cute how can you get mad?!**

Blessings,
Linda

linking at:  http://www.thestuffofsuccess.com

http://www.craftyscrappyhappy.net 
http://raegunwear.blogspot.com

Upcycled Bags

One of the things I love to do is take something old and make it into something new.  Pillow cases are great for this!  I look at rummage sales and thrift stores for cute vintage pillow cases.  Some of them remind me of when I was little others are just fun....bright vibrant colors or cute designs.

Here is one I recently swapped on whoopdwhoop.  It is a vintage pillow case that I modified the pattern on.  I wanted to keep the band of white showing.

I think it turned out cheery :)  These are great bags to use at the farmers market, the grocery store, the library, the pool...  I think you get the idea!  The best part is because they are made from pillow cases they are completely washable!

Blessings,
Linda

Linking at: http://www.thestuffofsuccess.com
http://www.uncommondesignsonline.com
http://adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

Spring Decorating

Had a chance to do a little Spring decorating......

I found the candle holder at Goodwill and loved the shape and the glass and the price - $3.99.  The bottom was a golden brass color that I didn't love.

 So I did what any good crafter does and I sprayed painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze - Satin finish and now love the whole thing :)

The cabinet is one I redid a few months ago.  You can see the cabinet redo here.  I liked it but still felt something was missing. I saw a redo someone else did and used upholstery tacks to outline the piece and I loved the results so I thought I would try it.

I like the way it turned out but still can't decide if I over did it with the tacks.  Maybe I should have just did the top and bottom of the cabinet?  What do you think?  Did I get too carried away?

Here is a close up of one of the little birds I have been busy making.  You can get one for yourself by going to whoopdwhoop.com  (only 2 whoops each)

I also found a birds nest and added some fake eggs to complete the look.

So overall I like my Spring decorating and hope you enjoyed seeing it too :)

Have a blessed day!

Linda

linking up:

http://www.thegirlcreative.com

http://www.flourmewithlove.com