Take Time To...

I have so many hobbies and things I'd like to be doing in my life. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by all the possible ways to spend my free time that I end up spending hours on Pinterest or something like that (not that there's anything wrong with Pinterest. I love it, but it doesn't feel good to spend hours on it.) I realize that I'm stacking up the ideas, but not taking time to act on those ideas. 

I decided to make a "Take Time To..." jar for those times when I just can't decide. I made a cute label then wrote out all the things I enjoy, ideas I have, and things I want to make sure I'm taking some time out of my life to do on strips of paper.   

Here's how it turned out. I made my strips of paper out of some copied sheet music to make it all the more personal and cute. 

Here's the label I made. I used a free template from a blog I love called Eat Drink Chic. I love that quote I found for this label: "A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away!" I believe it! When you are fully engaged in something you love, there is no room for worry or the blues.  

Bird Feeder Fun

I had a hard time getting good pics of the bird feeders I've been making after I hung them high up in the tree, but I wanted to post about them anyways.

I made some out of these 50 cent twig wreaths I found at Michaels by spreading peanut butter all over them, dipping them in birdseed, then hanging them up with a strip of cute cloth.

I made two other bird feeders out of two halves of a coconut shell by drilling two or four holes then tying them up with lace ribbon. Pour the birdseed in and wallah! The birds love them!

This one's already been half eaten!

My cat Gracie and I have loved watching all the birds out our dining area window! My favorite sound of all time is birds chirping.

More Digital Painting Practice

Here's my latest digital painting! I call it "Elf Girl" (ok I know it's not very original, but it's just a practice painting). The one I'm working on now is a character painting from the book Inheritance which I just finished. Look for it soon!

Love Notes Board

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be a more thoughtful wife. I found a cute idea off of the Dating Divas blog that I decided to try out...

It's a magnet board for love notes! I got an old magnet board that we weren't using, covered it with blue paper to match our dining area, and cut out and glued the letters spelling, "Love Notes." I also glued on a few cute love printouts. We've been writing each other sweet notes, and I'm finding it's a great way to help me focus on the things I'm grateful for about Henry! 

Eye Sketch

Lovin' my digital sketch pad! Here's an eye I just did...

I SEE you! :)

My New Digital Sketch Pad

For Christmas my sweet husband got me a digital sketch pad! My friend Liz is a professional artist, and she's helping me learn to use it. I've had so much fun with it already! I intend to play on it a bit every night before bed. Here are a few things I've done so far (as you can see, I'm getting better with practice). :)

A quick bird doodle. I love how I can get an airbrushed look with digital.

Another quick doodle.

This is last night's. Liz helped me find the right brushes and get the look. 

I'll keep em' comin!

Lacey's Workshop

I'm finally getting a chance to post about my holidays! Here's a few of things I had goin' in my holiday workshop...

Winter snowglobes! I made these trees out of sparkly garland beads. I glued them on one tier at a time, gluing the bottom tier to the lid of a mason jar with super strong glue. Then, I filled the jar with water, glitter, and fake snow and screwed the lid on tight. I think it's a cute way to display any little figurine. 

For my violin students, I ended up making these little "counters" to help them with their practicing. I often give them "drill spots" (trouble spots that they have to repeat correctly 10 times or so everyday), and these counters can help make that more fun. 

I used two painted wooden shapes that I had nailed a hole through for the ends, stuck a wooden dowel through one, slipped on 10 pony beads, stuck on the other end, then glued some jewels onto the ends.

I'm super excited to use the gift my friend Liz gave me...

A pen and ink set! It looks so beautiful as well as being useful. I want to make some herb labels with it. Thanks Liz!

Winter Crafting

Here are a couple of crafty projects I've done this week...

Last Saturday, I suddenly came up with the idea to stick a fabric cutout of birds on a tree on my wall. I knew I could come up with and cut out a pattern that I liked, but wasn't sure how to stick it onto the wall. I experimented on the inside wall of my closet, and found that using a regular old glue stick works very well! I'm pretty sure the fabric will just peel off when I'm ready to take it down, and I can get any glue residue off with some soapy water. I wish I could get a better picture of how it turned out, but I really like it!

These hot chocolate and marshmallow-holding snowmen were Noura's idea. She's been following websites like Tip Junkie and Craft Gossip and found tons of cute ideas like these! We used two jars, cardstock for the hat brim, acrylic paint for the face, ribbon for the bowties (or use fabric for a scarf), and buttons. Don't they make cute gifts?

Here's another snowman idea I found. Snowmen are great, because you can use them all winter not just until Christmas. You use containers like Gatorade bottles to make these ones. I like the recycled paper trees next to them too. The whole scene is totally from recycled materials! Some people come up with the most creative things.

"Lady Fire" and "Sabriel"

One thing that I've started doing and really enjoying is every time I finish a good book, I draw or paint a picture of one of the characters. It's a fun way to remember the books I read, and it gives me a sort of outlet for my imaginations about the book. I've only done two so far...

"Lady Fire" from Fire by Kristin Cashore

"Sabriel" from Sabriel by Garth Nix (Yes, I was completely influenced by the painting I posted earlier this evening.)

There will be more to come since I'm almost finished with the sequel to Sabriel! 

D.I.Y. Jewelery Hanger

Yesterday I browsed jewelery holder ideas. Here are two of favorites...

I love the idea on the right so much that...

 I made one for me!

I used a picture frame that I had painted a light aqua blue then sanded to make it look vintage. I took out the glass, then nailed sticks across the back. I had previously nailed a bunch of little nails into the sticks to hang the necklaces on it. Wallah! 

Little Hair Bows!

I wanted to make a birthday present for my good friend Chantel, and I remembered her really liking some little hair bows from Forever 21. I looked up how to make them (A Beautiful Mess blog had a tutorial). Here are some of the bows I made...

The ribbon ones are fun. You wrap the ribbon around your hand a few times then follow the same instructions from the tutorial. I decided to sew on buttons instead of a ring of fabric.

Thanks for modeling Gracie!

I wore one in my hair on Sunday and really liked how it looked. Shoulda taken a picture... I think the white ribbon ones would be cute clipped on a collared shirt like a bow tie! 

Leather Binder Cover

I've been wanting to compile the things I learn about the uses of various plants into a old-looking, apothecary-ish notebook, but didn't happen to have one on hand. Whenever I don't have something on hand, I try to make it! 

Here's what I used:

• 3-ring binder
• fabric (can be any kind, not just leather)
• hot glue gun
• needle and embroidery floss (or any string that fits through the needle) 
• leather strip (or any ribbon or string you like), long enough to wrap around the binder plus another 12" or so
• button

Here's how I did it:

1. Open the binder on the wrong side of the fabric. Measure and cut the fabric 1 inch longer than the top and bottom, and 6 inches wider than the two sides. 

2. After heating your hot glue gun, put glue on the spine of the binder then press it into the middle of the wrong side of the fabric.

3. Open the binder up and glue the extra fabric on the sides to the inside of the cover by folder the fabric over the cover.

4. Using your needle and embroidery floss/string, stitch the fabric hanging off the top and bottom, staying close to the binder. You don't have to do this, but it looks cute.

5. Stitch or tie the button to the end of a piece of ribbon or strip of leather.

6. Glue the button end to the front cover of the binder like you see it in the picture above, and continue gluing the ribbon/strip of leather to the left and all the way around the binder, stopping where the binder opens. 

7. Wrap the end of the ribbon/strip of leather around the button a few times and cut the tail as long or short as you like!  

It didn't take long, but boy do my finger tips hurt from trying to get the needle through that thick leather! Should have used a thimble...

DIY Leg Warmers

So I loved this idea from one of my favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess. You transform an old sweater into awesome leg warmers! Click the link above for detailed instructions. Here are the pairs I made...

I used lace to tie them at the bottom. I love lace! 

This pair is super comfy. I'm wearing them today!

Can't see the actual leg warmers in this one too well, but I just liked how the pic turned out!

By the way family and friends, please comment if you like something I make. Who knows? Maybe you'll receive a little gift from time to time...