Quick Fix: Children's Gallery Wall

My Personal Assistant has finally reached that "color and draw and paint for hours" phase and it is pretty glorious. BUT...

1. Every shred of paper he touches is now precious and must be displayed and/or protected from Mr. Baby.

2. They are constantly ripping things off the fridge/splashing water from the fridge fountain thing.

So, with some junk from the basement I made a gallery wall for the playroom. I'm a bad blogger and I don't have a before. So here's the after:

 

Baby it's cold outside: Quilt-As-You-Go Sweater Quilt

The response to my last post has been humbling and overwhelming. The personal notes and kind words left me speachless at times (I know you don't believe me, but it is true,) and I thank you. You all forced me to see that even though I don't like to hear praise and encouragement when I am angry at the universe, I need to accept that knowing that people are strangely, (and possibly irrationally) confident in my abilities is a life line I am in no position to reject.

I will probably write more about CSID in the future, but for now, it is back to DIYville for some happy happy denial time. I am going to show you how to make a truly easy sweater quilt.

Multipurpose Yogurt Lid

I work on making yogurt at home, but sometimes I've just gotta grab some Stoneyfield Farm.  What kills me is the plastic.  I don't get to recycle #5 around here so I have to throw the container away.  But what I have learned is that the lid is perfect...for EVERYTHING!

Rags to rugs pt. 2: Hookers.

I have become a reluctant hooker. It's true.

Although I have tried knitting and crochet in the past, I can't say I like them. They are repetitive and tedious hobbies. I made some afghans in college, and they took forever and I did not enjoy making them. Also, there is the whole yarn can be really expensive thing.

Dispite my misgivings, I bought an extra large hook, and tried the crochet method for making rag rugs. And I have to say, they came out kinda great.

Rags to rugs.

I make a lot of scraps. A lot. I also have waaaay too much fabric in my once neatly organized craft closet. I needed a way to use them up, so I decided to try my hand at making some simple woven rag rugs.

Fast Fix(es)

I was going to write about just one quick fix, then as I was taking the final picture, I realized there were several in one area. Here's the list of problems I had with this corner of the patio. There aren't any before pics. You will just have to trust me that it was unsightly.

1. Dirt was coming through the chain link fence every time it rained.
2. Chain link fence (duh).
3. It was boring.
4. Weeds.

Found Food - 2

I got so excited to see Jen post about "found food" because this is one of the ways I have started saving money as well.  I have a freezer full of "bits and scraps" that are actually very useful.  I think this might be a continuous topic as we continue to find food.  My husband sometimes looks in the freezer with exasperation..."Seriously?  Broccoli STEMS?  Where is the pizza?"

Creation

I love making toys and games out of garbage, or scraps, or bits. My son has an inspiration and I try to facilitate. "My Nutcracker man needs a lady robot to play with, mama!" Well, I've got Styrofoam, coffee stirring sticks, and bubble wrap...let's spend the afternoon making a robot in the sunshine because I'm a "great mom"!