finally finished, part 1

I am gong to celebrate my finished projects; the works-in-progress that I deliberately complete before moving on to new things (mostly).

See, I have actually started and finished 3 little cross stitch projects in the past week, including this one.

But let's refer back to my first two official finish-it-up projects that I blogged about here:

I finished these mittens!

The pattern is "Midge" by Berroco, worked with Patons's Kroy Socks Jaquard in Denim.

I finished this cross stitch... mostly. I'm still leaning toward using it as part of a pillow cover, but we'll see. At least the cross stitch part is completed.

I wish I could give better credit for the pattern but I can't find it anywhere on the internet. It's called Phoenix Rising by R. Lawler, and like I said, I modified the thread colors to better represent my alma mater.

birdhouse in your soul

You might be 2 days into a head and chest cold that leaves you coughing every few minutes.

The weather might be inexplicably warm for a February morning. So warm that you open doors and windows to enjoy the sunshine, breeze, and windchimes.

Your best friend from high school might be celebrating a milestone birthday this weekend. 

You might be undecided about making the 9 hour drive, each way, to her house to celebrate, especially given how you're feeling right now.

But you might also be compelled to begin a birthday present for her, regardless.

Regardless of sickness, distance, or other works in progress (they're both almost done, anyway.)

You might choose happy colors based on an equally happy song, and immediately get to work.    

Time is of the essence.

Make a little birdhouse in your soul.

Non-fiber crafts

I know, I know... it's been weeks since I've posted craft pictures. I'm making slow progress on the mittens & cross stitch, but the end is in sight for both! Pictures very soon!

Yesterday I decided to venture into my crap craft hole and "clean up." I have heard rumors that my husband is talking about other uses for the third of the den that my disorganized chaos is currently occupying, so I'm trying to get ahead of the game and make my space seem organized and presentable.

Here are three projects that I knocked out:

• Map Letters

I bought these wooden letters for a Cub Scout game 3 or 4 years ago, and have held on to them because I was going to do "something" with them. As I was unpacking this past summer, I found a map of North & South Carolina from back in the days when maps were a thing you needed to keep in your car (our kids will never know... sigh...), so suffice it to say it was pretty outdated. Some Modpodge and strategic positioning let me place some of my favorite locations on each letter.

Shout out to when "Elon College" was a place!

With my leftover map, I covered a small Pringles can which I have been using as a pencil holder. The strip of map I had left over from the letters was not quite wide enough to cover the whole can, but a border of washi tape that was gifted to me this Christmas completed the project nicely.

• Modpodge all the Pringles cans!

My youngest has a thing for Pringles, and I have a thing for wanting to organize my knitting needle collection, so I asked him to give me his used cans. While I was organizing yesterday, I found some pictures that I scavenged from my eldest's Star Wars photo-a-day 2016 calendar which he packed up last February before our first move, and found mid-January 2017. I didn't have any specific reason for saving them, I just liked them and knew I'd find a use for them.

A little strategic placement found that 6 pictures would fit nicely on a tall Pringles can with the empty space filled nicely by washi tape (yes, this is a new addiction forming...) But I only had Christmas washi tape, and I really wanted black. My options consisted of: 

1. going to a craft store the next day to select ONE roll of washi tape, purchase it, and leave. [cons: must wait 12+ hours, and must only buy one thing at craft store]
2. order one roll of washi tape on Amazon. [cons: more expensive, longer wait, and less selection, but also zero temptation to buy more crafts]
3. use candy cane stripe washi tape from my stash. 

I think my deliberate choice is obvious. I had to double-layer the tape and you can still see some Pringles graphics through it, but I think it turned out pretty okay and also pretty free which is pretty awesome.

(my artsy attempt at a panorama photo of a cylinder)

• Dreamcatcher

Middle son has recently had a thing for tribal prints, and in my late-fall blogging absence I made a valence and a pillowcase for his room using fabrics he selected. On the same shopping trip, we bought supplies for him to make a dreamcatcher. Guess what? He didn't make it. The bag o' supplies ended up in my craft zone and I uncovered it yesterday so *I* made it!

It still needs some dangly things at the bottom, but the hard part is done.