Thing-a-Day 2012 - #16 Zentangles

#16 Zentangles

I discovered zentangles quite by accident several years ago. They're a fun way to relax assuming you don't stress yourself out deciding which patterns to use! I was given a book about zentangles for christmas a couple years ago and I love all the patterns that can be made with simple shapes and lines. I didn't stress too much over today's design. Being that it's February, hearts seemed to be the only way to go :)

Thing-a-Day 2012 - #9 Felt Valentines

Felt Valentines

I saw somewhere on the 'net some felt valentine ornaments, but I am running out of places to hang things so I left off the ribbon and made these to nestle in a bowl. Unfortunately, the bowl I wanted wasn't available, so I stuck them in my mondo mug. I think they're cute and I got to practice my blanket stitch again :)

Also, they were made completely with supplies I had on hand AND they are stuffed with scraps! Waste not, want not. I used up the scraps from these hearts in 3 of them and then pulled out a bag of fabric scraps from a bag I made a couple years ago. Yes, I kept my scraps for that long. Yes, I always keep the scraps. You never know when you may need a patch, or a small bit for another craft :)

Thing-A-Day 2012 - #8 Felt Heart Bunting

#8 - Felt Heart Bunting

I had a huge stack of felt that I bought several years ago for another craft that I never got around to finishing. I've seen these heart buntings around the 'net for awhile now, not only in felt, but paper as well. It took me longer than I thought to hand cut all those hearts and in the end I had to cut some more to complete the entire room. On the up side, I did use up most of my felt bits and instead of tossing all those scraps I stuffed them into an old mason jar, tied it with a bow and called it "bonus craft!"

And later I can pull those scraps out and do something else with them ;)

There is nothing better than making something awesome out of scraps that would normally go in the trash. 

Thing-a-Day 2012: #7 - Valentine Specimen Art

Valentine Specimen Art

I already had the frame and tons of paper scraps so this craft was a no-brainer. I do wish I'd had a heart punch to make this go a little faster. I didn't enjoy hand-cutting 20 little hearts for this. I think I'll need to skip my next craft because it requires almost 100 tiny hearts. I need a heart punch. I'll leave that craft on the list for next year, I guess. I'll also add the punch to my Christmas Wish list :)

Side note: I missed days 4-6 because I was sick - as in really, really sick. It rarely happens that I am so sick I'm stuck in bed for 3 days. I was so bummed that I missed out on completing the Thing-a-Day challenge this year. Ah well...can't win 'em all.

Rainy Day Fun

Yesterday was a pretty yucky day weather-wise. It was dark and overcast when we woke up and it only got worse from there. Normally, Chad and I have been going out for coffee every Friday morning. This week his boss asked him to fill in at another office, so no date for us. Instead, the kids and I went to Panera Bread for breakfast and hung out for the day. I took my camera with me, but when I pulled it out to take some pictures of us enjoying our yummy baked goods, I realized that I'd forgotten to put the battery back in! doh! So no pictures from our mornings jaunts.

Immediately upon getting home, I put the battery back in my camera so it'd be ready.

Barely a handful of minutes after we got home it started to rain. And I mean rain. Luckily, I was smart enough to grab a new game while we were at Target! If you haven't tried the new Scrabble Slam! game you just have to go and get it. Best $5.24 I ever spent!

Before we knew it, we'd played 4 games! And it's an extra bonus that it works for homeschooling! Score one for momma :)  And after we'd exhausted our store of 4-letter words, we moved on to another word game: Last Word. This game forces you to think fast. Great game for finding words in a category.

And then we busted out Clue, though our version is a bit older than the one on the link. There are a lot of new Clue games out there that I just might have to invest in :)

We played our first round of Clue in about 5 minutes. So while we set up for the next game we also took a break for lunch. J had PB&J, I had a pulled pork BBQ sandwich, and K asked for PB&Mallow

After a quick bite we played 2 more games of Clue and then cleaned up to bake our Valentines cookies. K was all about the sprinkles. J was all about rolling out the dough. I can't wait to have a full-sized kitchen so we can really do some fun cooking together!

My only job was moving the cut cookies onto the pans and working the oven. Once they were all cooled I pulled out the cookie icings and had some fun. Unfortunately, my sugar cookies always bake up with big bubbles and round tops. I wish I knew the trick to flat cookies. I had to trim them flat to keep the icing from rolling off the edges and making a huge mess.

So even though the weather was icky, we had a great day.

More Valentines Fun

I've been playing with my food.

February is a great month for playing with food. We've had quite a bit of fun. The jello recipe is so yummy, it's difficult to put the fork down! And sugar cookies! mmmmm......

                                     

Valentines Fun

Hearts for the hipster mom

Hearts for the cutesy mom

Hearts for the goth mom

Bwaahhaaahaahhaa!!! This is too much fun!

Thanks to The ACME heartmaker via Katie the ScrapbookLady

and some food fun: