A Very Crafty Necklace

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I make some beads with Sculpey Clay as part of the unit study we are doing about the Powhatan Indians. We experimented with using the pasta machine and different colors of clay. It was a lot of fun and I ended up with a fantastic necklace that I really enjoy wearing. Go homeschooling!!

The Cutest and Simplest Clothespin Bag Ever!

I decided that I really need to make a clothespin bag and was considering crocheting one out of plarn (plastic yarn made from plastic grocery bags) until I found this one online at The Family Homestead - it is made out of a toddler denim shirt! It is TOO cute and SO simple that I just HAVE to make one like that. Only one problem - no more toddler clothes! My kids are big now and I don't have any of their little clothes left. I guess I will just have to stop at a thrift store and find one for pennies:-)

Tip Nut also had a list of 11 different patterns for clothespin bags just in case you are looking to make one.

An Old Fashioned Sock Monkey

My littlest nephew has a birthday coming up this month, so I decided to make him an old fashioned sock monkey. I did a little searching online and found the Rockford Red Heel Sock Company where I bought a package of 2 pairs of socks (might make him an elephant for Christmas:-) and another site with the instructions. However, since I wanted him to have a hat, I followed the old fashioned instructions which use the toe for the hat (and the tail is still PLENTY long:-).

It didn't take me very long - probably a total of 1 1/2 hours - and is a great toy for my little 2yo nephew! I have also purchased a couple of sock monkey story books to send along with it. I can't wait to hear how he likes it - he seemed to really like monkeys when we visited a few weeks ago.

I always feel good when I make gifts myself from scratch. What about you? Do you enjoy making gifts? If so, what are some of your favorites? Leave me some comments with ideas and maybe I could do a post with a list of ideas for Christmas gifts!

For more creative "homesteading" ideas, visit The Homesteading Carnival #63: The Proverbs 31 Woman Edition hosted by Miss Amanda over at It's A Learning Experience.

Candy Wrapper Purses

I just came upon these, but apparently they have been around for awhile and are a fallback to the days when we made these chains out of gum wrappers. We thought they were adorable and will be making and selling them to raise funds for Hope House International.

Here is a link to the best step-by-step directions that I could find on the internet, in case you would like to make one, too.

Apparently, you can make them from all different kinds of things including newspaper (covered in celophane), wrapping paper, gum wrapper, candy bar wrappers, cookie wrappers, and more!

For more ideas of things you can make, check out Make It From Scratch!

Talk About "Walking on Eggshells"!

We have been saving eggshells for over a week now for an eggshell mosaic project coming up next week in our curriculum. I started washing and cleaning them out, but it takes a LONG time! Any hints, tips, tricks anyone would like to share? I will post pictures of the kids' mosaics when they are completed. This is for our study of Ancient Rome. We are also studying volcanoes, like Pompeii, so that should prove to be fun! Right now we have Rock Candy growing in a jar on the counter. Oh, the fun and joy of homeschooling!!

Organizing your pencils or crayons or crochet hooks or drum sticks, etc.

This is a great idea I found over at Sew, Mama, Sew! before Christmas. I made a couple crayon rolls for gifts, and today I made one for my daughter's watercolor pencils. She was always losing them out of the box and didn't want to keep them in a ziploc bag. So I made this cute pencil roll for her. Now my son wants one for his drum sticks - but I don't have "masculine" fabric to use right now. Must visit the fabric store soon! But you can also make them to hold crochet hooks, knitting needles and other kinds of tools, pencils, etc. I even applique their names on them sometimes to personalize. I will be making these to sell for Hope House in the near future and feature them in an Etsy store (like Ebay, but for handmade items). Let me know if you might be interested in purchasing something like this to help support Hope House. I am trying to get the comments working on this blog so you can let me know what you think each day. Look for it soon!

Keeping My Hands Warm!

Today, I decided I needed fingerless gloves because my hands have been FREEZING when I am on the computer. So I found a pattern online (what an incredible instant resource the internet is!!) and made myself this cute pair. If you know how to crochet and would like to make your own, I have linked the website and you can follow the easy instructions. My hands are nice and warm while I type this. In case you were wondering, we don't have heat in our house, so when it is chilly like today, I am freezing! So I wear heavy sweaters, socks, etc., but gloves just don't work when you are typing. Now I am all set - nice and cozy!