Paper Beads

This past summer I learned how to make paper beads. It is so much fun and provides relaxing time. In the evenings I can sit in front of the television and roll my beads. I have given them for gifts and plan on selling them in craft shows this fall. It seems like we always have paper around our house to throw away. So why not use those old catalogs and magazines to create something fun and enjoyable?


Here are some earrings and bracelets that I have made for a craft show.

This is just a closer look. Our high school colors are red and black. We had a car ad in our newspaper that was red and black. I love how each bead is a little different.

Here is a bracelet I made for my niece's birthday. I will add more pictures later. These beads were made from a comic strip out of a newspaper.

 



The Change has Begun!

Yay! I changed one thing about my blog today. I am so excited! I learned about labels and how to use them with my blog. I actually removed my pages and will just try using labels for awhile. I tried reading about how to do this, but finally found a video on You Tube that helped. Now when I post about my different crafts, I will be able to organize them by type. I still have a long way to go, but this is a beginning. I am definitely smiling right now.

Headbands

This week, I tried a new craft. During last year's Christmas holidays, my daughter and I got into making flowers. We used old t shirts and ribbon. My daughter actually made a few headbands to give as gifts. This past week I made a few headbands. I think I am going to post them onto Etsy, but I need to get better pictures first. So my blog will be the first place that I post the pictures. When I put them on Etsy, I will put the link on here.

The headband above is a felt purple rose. I made the base of the rose similar to the way that the t=shirt flower below was made. Then I made the bud by rolling a felt spiral and using fabric glue to glue the pieces together. I think this is my favorite of the three headbands I made. It was so much fun to make, and I can't wait to see somebody wearing it.

This headband is made with a yellow t-shirt. It has been fun getting on Pinterest and seeing all the different ways to repurpose old t-shirts. My daughter and I learned how to make these t-shirt flowers over our Christmas vacation last year. I made a blue chain crochet flower for the base.

This is the third headband I made. This headband is a felt flower I made with a button center. All of the headbands were fun and I am excited about the way they turned out.

Here are all three of my headbands. I am excited about them. I made a shamrock hair clip for my daughter to wear to work tonight for St. Patrick's Day. I haven't taken a picture of it yet. I will get my daughter to model it for me and post a picture later. I look forward to making more of these, and am excited about my first Etsy adventure. Hopefully more will get made this week. I will post pictures if they do. Have a great week and share what you make. I would love to see pictures.

Fun Frames

I have always enjoyed doing crafts since I was married years ago. I am thrilled that my daughter is learning to love making things. She recently decorated a picture frame for a friends birthday present. We found an old frame at a thrift store, and old costume jewelry pieces that were around the house and in thrift stores. Brittany had fun arranging the pieces on the frame. Before she placed the jewelry pieces around the frame, we took a little black acrylic paint and brushed the frame to "antique" it. We loved the outcome, and her friend loved the present. Hopefully, we will post more gifts that we make in the coming months, especially with Christmas coming!

Blogging!

I have been playing around with this blog thing for a few years now, and have gotten nowhere. Thank you to Ginger Snap Crafts for your post on blogging. This blog has inspired me to set goals and really get to work. As she said in her post, you can't start a blog and just sit back and expect it to grow on it's own. It makes perfect sense. After all, you have to water flowers. So now it is time to water my blog. Ginger Snap Crafts said to have a purpose. This is definitely one area I am weak in. There are three areas I feel very passionate about right now. I love crafting, teaching preschoolers, and really want to get into writing. Lately, I have been spending a lot of time on crafting, so this will be the direction I will take my blog. Maybe I will start a new blog on teaching preschoolers, but this will be down the road. For now I will keep my blog's focus on one thing. Hopefully, I will work on writing skills as I build my blog.

I am going to set goals for my blog. My first goals I will be working on will be building an attractive blog. This means that I will probably be playing around with my blog and it may go through several changes. Please leave comments. I welcome constructive criticism and if you see something you like, let me know. My second goal is to start a facebook group. Ginger says that she is a part of a group. So here is a link to my facebook page: http://facebook.com/dmneubert. If you would like to join in the group and work on your blog, send me a friend request. We can all help each other. We will keep the group to about ten. This was the suggested number, and I think it is a good one. My third goal is to join a link party. I have been looking at these, but I am going to join one during the next week.

So I have a lot of learning to do and hopefully growing. So again, thank you to Ginger Snap Crafts for your post and blog. I know I do not have many readers right now, but if you find yourself reading this blog, please go to her blog and check it out. It is wonderful!

Happy blogging everybody!

First Try to Share a Link

Ok, so I am still learning about blogging and am having so much fun looking at and reading other blogs. Today I am going to share a link to a blog you should go look at. It is called Babblings and More. I am going to post their link. They have a lot to share and a cool give away. So head on over and look today. Enjoy!!