Mason Jar Craft? Yep!

Being the ever crafty person that I am, I recently decided to create my very own pin cushion. I understand that you can buy a tomato-esque looking round ball for like a dollar but that is not good enough for me. I wanted to make my own. Period.

So I set about Pinterest looking for an idea and VOILA mason jar activity. Now I know that there are people that just absolutely adore mason jars and would like to use them for everything under the sun (I am also one of these people) so I thought this would be exciting to post about. I just love mason jars. They are so useful and unique even though they are overflowing peoples cabinets around the world (maybe just the USA, I don't know the geographic spread of the jars). They have the look of just being homey and full of jams made with love and rustic old time fabulousness. I digress.

First of all this is one of the simplest craft activities in the world (again not the entire world, don't be so literal people). It involved a piece of fabric, some fluff, a hot glue gun, scissors, and a mason jar (TA-DA!). Simple cut a square of fabric. Glue one spot to the edge of the mason jar lid (there is a different less permanent way to do with craft that I will discuss later). Now start attaching the fabric in a pleated fashion about half way around the lid. Insert the fluff to the desired level of fluffiness. Continue to attach the fabric until you have glued it all the way on. Done! Now throw some thread spools in the jar and attach your lid for a cute little all in one sewing kit via mason jar.

For a less permanent styled mason jar pin cushion you can simple wrap the fluff and fabric around the inner part of the lid and when pressed into the ring it will secure it. You can also glue it on and therefore getting your fix of using the liquid lava the glue gun creates. Have fun craftettes!

Eat, Craft, and Be happy :-)

Go ahead capture the idea!

Awesome Graffiti

Welcome back world! I have successfully ventured into the depths of Texas and came back alive and better for it! There was so much to see and do that I actually didn't do everything planned (job interview...oops, don't be mad mom) but I did take tons of pictures which totally makes up for the fact that I am still unemployed!

Creative Bathroom Signage @ HomeSlice Pizza

So today's lesson in crafts is to enjoy the beauty around you. Take in the sites, find the little antique shops down an alley, listen to a street musician, buy local, and take pictures! You would be amazed at what you can capture with just a digital camera or your phone since ideas for crafts are everywhere, you just have to open your eyes (and turn on your camera!). Now I in no way pretend to be a photographer, but to me it doesn't really matter, because however the picture looks it still captured a moment, a memory, an idea!

Coolest Antique Shop (Uncommon Objects)

Some things I saw were just so uniquely beautiful that I had to capture them. The random graffiti on the side of a cafe was one of those just beautiful things. I loved how the 'so much' was added later by a different person (or at least that is how I want to think of it) with different handwriting. It was just asking to be photographed. Another art related thing I saw was the bathroom signs at Home Slice Pizza. For a pizza place I thought this was just so imaginative and yet so simple that it was hilarious (camera click, idea captured).

DIY Beer Chiller

By far the coolest thing that I saw was at Doc's on South Congress St. My friend and I were all about buying local so as we enjoyed our pitcher of Lone Star (a very classy Texas brewed beverage)in the 70 degree heat our server thought it convenient to offer us a 'pitcher chiller'. So simple, but again I would not have thought of it(probably because the beer doesn't really stand a chance of sitting long enough to heat up!). Regardless it was a fabulous idea. Simply add a bag of ice to pitcher for continued chilling. Amazing!

Local Deliciousness 

You can find a craft idea anywhere. Just open your eyes and after you have sufficiently enjoyed it, capture it so you can then share it with others. Something as simple as adding a bag of ice to a pitcher of beer wouldn't usually warrant a photo op, but now that I have taken that picture, I can share it with all of you ! So that is my rant of the day along with some pictures of my adventures. (Note: food is also an amazing thing to photograph! Check out that burrito!) So go on an adventure, and see what you can find!

 Eat, Craft, and Capture the Moment :-)

Disruption in Service

As I will be traveling to Texas over the weekend till mid-week there will be a pause in the ever exciting rantings by me. I will however be thinking of all of my readers while I am enjoying some nice warm weather sans snow (Sounds a little like new england currently, strange?). As well as leaving all of my millions of fans I will sadly be leaving my beloved animals(some people like to say I run a farm, this is false). My blind baby cat Coonie (check out his new glasses!), my over-breed special needs Golden Retriever Beau, and my three insanely annoying parrots (two of which are in there 30's, working on 100!) will be left in the care of local volunteer family members, aka Mom :-).

So now until we meet again, Adios, Au Revoir, Aufweidersehn!

Keep Eating, Crafting, and Being Happy :-)

Food is Art(s and crafts)

Question of the day: Why can't I put food on my craft blog? Answer: I can, it is my blog! So delicious discussions of delightful dumplings will ensue( I adore alterations). I have been cooking up this idea(pun totally intended) to add a baking day to the blog. Although I had set out for this to be a complete craft blog in the purest sense of a hands on activity that is fun and creates something at the end (hmm sounds like cooking to me) I have decided to branch out. Begin Wednesday baking day on Salamanders Blog.

Supplies

Baking and I have always been a friend. We have been through some pretty tough times though (burning double batches of chocolate fudge..arg) but we always seem to rekindle our friendship(monkey bread, yum). My mother and I have for years created a holiday baking extravaganza in which we create over 40 plates of yummies for family and friends(peanut butter fudge, choc fudge, cheesecake brownies, multiple types of cookies, home made kitkat bars, seven layer bars and much much much more!) So when this Sunday came around and I was to bring a snack to an event (we won't discuss this event any further) I began to get creative. I took my love for Monkey bread (an amazing cinnamon and delicious sugary pull apart bread object) and my love for buffalo chicken to attempt to create a one of a kind Buffalo Chicken Monkey Bread snack! (It was not very successful, but I know how to fix it!)

Ready for the oven

I used whole wheat pizza dough as the base (this was my biggest mistake). The dough was too dense though and when cooked created a giant brick of a snack and although it was delicious it was hard to pull apart. I should have used a type of crescent roll dough like with monkey bread (oh well). Step 1: Cut rotisserie chicken (I will not have raw chicken in my kitchen..yuck) into little baby pieces and drench them in buffalo sauce. Step 2: Cut mozzarella cheese into cubes.  Step 3: Take a chunk of dough and add a cube of mozzarella and a scoop of buff chicken. Step 4: Fold up the dough into a nice little pouch. Step 5: Roll little nugget of deliciousness in Parmesan cheese and toss into a bunt pan. TA-DA! Now cook that sucker according to the dough instructions and that is it. Flip over the bunt pan to reveal your ready to eat buffalo chicken snack bites!

Eat, Craft, and Be Happy :-)

Pets want in on Superbowl fun too!

1/4' seam 

As the big game approaches I felt the need to get my animals into the spirit (every fan counts!). Being a New Englander, I just happen to have left over Patriots logo material from a previous project which worked out perfecto. My golden retriever Beau is never without his bandannas so I felt it only fitting to make a Pats one for him.

My Pats Fan

Usually I just cut a festive themed bandanna in half diagonally and tie it on but it always (ALWAYS) frays on the ends or loosens up and falls off. Now since I usually just use a dollar bandanna I am not really concerned about them falling apart, but with the sweet New England fabric I became more concerned. Break out the sewing machine!

Added tie strips

When I took out the fabric I had a square that was 27" diagonally which didn't seem that far off from a standard bandanna. So I cut my triangle and got to work. To prevent the edges from fraying I made a simple 1/4" seam along all edges (ta-da!) Now at this stage I could have just tied it on my white-faced boy and been done with it, but I was in the sewing mood so I kept going. I made two 4" long strips and attached them onto either end of the triangle to use as my tying apparatus.

The smaller pieces will make a stronger knot and Beau will be able to be a fan for a longer period of time (I will wash it and keep it for next season!). Now attach your homemade bandanna to your animal and you now have a certified *Patriots fan!

Eat, Craft, and Make your pet a Pats fan!

Beau modeling

*Beau says" I will not condone the use of this pattern for other teams (Just kidding), no but really...woof"

Is it a button? Or a pin?

Shadow Pin Box

Whether you call it a pin, a brooch, badge or a button we all have them. They are those objects that attach to your clothing using a sharp object on the back. They can be functional by fastening a piece of clothing shut, or decorative in the case of a brooch, or the every popular advertisement pin commonly seen with campaign buttons. Who cares about these trivial pieces of metal? I do. I found that I had gathered a small assortment of buttons over the years from all over the place (Disney, Ski Resorts, Campaign Buttons, Name Tags etc..) Now being the small hoarder that I am I could not find it in me to just throw these things into a landfill with all the other junk of our nation. So a craft they became.

BUTTONS!

I had this vision of using the pins for a sort of scrapbook/memory box that I could add to as more pins entered my world. So off I went to the Christmas Tree Shop (Don't you just love a bargain?) to find my display method for these old school creations. Enter shadow box. PERFECT! It has a cloth lined backing that was meant for sticking pins into(amazing). Now it was just a matter of gathering up my pins and organizing them into a sweet presentation. Some other 'non pin' items have been added over the years just because I wanted to keep them and they added some flair to the craft.

Box with door open

Pins can be very unique and when you keep them all together they start to tell your story. The middle pin is a photo of a friend who has passed away. I will never forget him and now his pin is the center of my pin art.(We miss you NateBuddy). Pins can also show the places you have been, activities you took part in, achievements that you have earned all in one craft that can grow everyday. Go gather up some of your pins and see what you've got! I bet they will tell a story too! PINNING (Charlie Sheen style)

Rest in Peace NateBuddy

Eat, Craft, and Start a Pin Collection!

Crafts, Plagiarism, and Thread...Oh my!

I find that some of the best crafts are the ones that mix several different techniques into one project. Sure it is fun to just write something for a scrap page, but why not embroider it! I got really into embroidered things after the first few creations (Let it snow, and Map Art) and just could not stop incorporating it into my crafts. So when the time came for me to yet again make a present for a good friend I decided to mix embroidery with scrap booking to make a one of a kind gift from the heart.

Project= Complete

Before I get into rambling about the craft I made I would like to travel away on a tangent about quotes(also in a rambling format). So here is the thing with quotes: Using a famous or cited quotes is all good and dandy and I do it frequently, BUT why not make up your own poem or saying and use that instead! Voila, quote yourself! Now don't go out plagiarize the worlds poets and call it your artistic license or whatever you may, but you can use them as inspiration (I think?I'm not to up to date on my plagiarism laws). For instance feel free to look up quotes about love or friendship but instead of using an outdated saying like "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" (author unknown, I checked) change it to something like, "We are never apart for our hearts beat as one"(written by Salamander just now). Yep that was cheesy but at least I wrote it for the craft and I can personalize it that way. I also love to use music lyrics. People forget that underneath all the noise and beats is a handwritten song just waiting to be quoted. OK moving on to the craft now. 

Embroidery thread gone wild

I decided to make a framed scrapbook page for my friends birthday. She loves my crafts and is always excited to be on the receiving end of one. I found this cool quilted looking paper as the base. I then added a Salamander made quote that incorporated quilting and friendship, but instead of just writing it on the paper, I embroidered it! Embroidered paper just looks so cool because you never see it done. It adds a whole new quality to a scrap page that I have grown to love. I also used some punch out letters to emphasize some words and added some different cut outs to complete the quilted look and that was it.  

Take away message of the day: PERSONALIZE YOUR CRAFTS! Write your own quotes, make your own gifts, and always have fun :-)

Eat, Craft, and Be happy!