Where's Waldo (at the Library) - Library Life

January is kind of a quiet time at the library, so I thought it would be a great time for a contest! I had the Where's Waldo idea for a while and I wasn't able to do it until now! The idea is basically a scavenger hunt around the Children's room with characters from the Waldo series. So far it has been getting a good reaction and it is a lot of fun to watch kids try to find all of the characters. One day Tim came for a visit. I told him about the Waldo's and he felt the need to participate as well!

Here is how I ran the contest. I rounded up all of the characters which included Waldo, Woof, Wilma, Odlaw and Wizard Whitebeard. I found some images of them and had them laminated. I sent the aids to go on recon and hide the characters all over the children's room. They did a really great job because I had trouble finding them the first time. Next to keep track of entries, I made forms for kids to write their info. I also put small images of the characters so the kids knew who to look for.

Its a fun contest and the kids enjoyed it. This won't be the last of scavenger hunt type contests be sure to look for more in the future!

Iron Challenge #2 - Orange Shoes!

I am glad to say that I have completed the second Iron Craft challenge: orange ya glad. This challenge let crafters either make something with the color orange or actually use oranges (the fruit) for something. I opted for the former.

My original goal was to get some kitschy accessories and spray paint them. However, I didn't have too much luck at the thrift store. Nothing really called out to me. While browsing I found an ugly pair of flats and figured I could try painting them. I already had some spray paint left over from my Halloween decorations. After I painted the shoes, they still looked a little blah. I thought some teal would work well on the tips. Here is how they came out!

My partner in craft, Michele was not sure exactly what to do. She said she just grabbed a punch of paint chips from Home Depot and hoped inspiration would strike. We sat in the craft dungeon paint chips before us thinking. She said the colors reminded her of Harry Potter. So here is what she came up with. Read more about her adventures here.

True Facts About Sloths (Meme for Monday)

Hello there! Its another Monday.....back to boring work day. Hopefully today's meme will make ya laugh and go 'aw' because it features Sloths (and true facts about them!) 

If you like this True Facts video check out Ze Frank's site where he has a whole bunch, including Tarsiers and even Moran Freeman.  

Sunday Snapshots (it was cold this week)

Hey guys! I hope you have had a good week! Here is what I have been up to! 

Newsflash, it was really flipping cold in the North East! It the worst because its the kind of cold that makes you hurt no matter what you do. But its winter, its supposed to be cold. 

I have really fallen in love with coffee recently (or is it an addiction?). However when I felt that I need a little something to nibble on while sipping my cup of joe. I thought about my grandma and the biscotti cookies she would make. My aunt gave the recipe to me so I tested it out and got delicious results! 

Its another Iron Craft challenge. This one is all about orange! I was sure what to do so I took a trip to Savers for some inspiration. I came across some ugly flats and thought I'd try painting them. Here they are in progress. 

I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed Tim stuck in a technology loop between the lap top, ipad and phone. He didn't realize how ridiculous this was until I snapped this picture. 

Sadly, Gypsy does not want to go in the basement. I think she is afraid of stairs (because she's afraid of EVERYTHING!) But when I go down into my craft dungeon she knows and hides out in our bedroom. I just love when she creeps her head out when I leave. She's a dope. 

Snowflake Sun-catcher (Library Life)

Here is a simple craft that is perfect for January, the Snowflake Sun-Catcher. Although it hasn't really snowed that much this year, January is when I usually break more winter themed crafts. I saw this technique in the Muppet's Craft Book. In the book they used crayon shavings where I used tissue paper and you still get the same kind of look. This craft is also perfect for the little guys. I did this with ages 2 - 3 and a few older siblings even joined in and made their own! This same technique can also be used to for different occasions such as hearts for Valentines day or even shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day.

Here is how we made the sun-catchers!

Materials & Tools

• Snowflake shapes 
• Tissue paper 
• Glue 
• Wax paper 
• Iron 
• Hole punch
• Yarn 

Instructions

• To prepare, I had cut out snowflakes using a die cut machine. I also cut up different colored tissue paper squares. I used the wax paper and cut out circles (big enough to fit the snowflake)

• Next, glue tissue paper squares to both sides of the snowflake.

• I set up an 'iron station'. Kids came up after they were done decorating both sides
• Sandwich the snowflake in between two pieces of wax paper and iron. 

• Punch a hole and string with yarn and hang them up! 

Sunday Snapshots vol. I lost count

Hello there! Hope you all have had a wonderful week. I myself have been working like a mad woman. Here is what I have been up to this week.

I completed my first Iron Craft challenge from Just Crafty Enough. Michele and I are all ready planning what to do for the next challenge, orange. We have a few ideas brewing.

Speaking of Michele, she freaked the hell out of me with a text of a weird baby Michael Jackson thing. I had very scary nightmares . Thanks Michele!

Last week I showed off my Star Trek fabric. So I am trying to use every possible piece of it! Which includes head bands made from scraps. I am still working out the measurements but they are coming out quite nicely.

Tim likes to reinvent popcorn. My favorite popcorn recipe of his is hot sauce popcorn. This week he introduced a new pop corn recipe that was so good I made a complete mess eating it. He made pepper corn parmiganno pop corn. SO GOOD!

The other night I had a girls night with Caitie. We watched the movie Batchlorette, which is pretty much a raucnh-er, darker Bridesmaids. Caitie's cat Pennypuss was also a part of girls night and this is her being adorable.

On Friday night Tim and I were able to check out a new cafe near us, Crazy Beans. Its makes very happy and excited that such a cool place is near my house. Its a cool funky place that, although serves alcohol, isn't a bear and it really isn't a restaurant (they do breakfast and lunch). There are board games all over the place and plenty of comfy seating. Tim and I got some delicious latte's (Tim got toasted marshmallow, while I went with Strawberry Fields) and we played some Scrabble. I was also excited to see Butter Beer was on the menu! I all ready have plans to go back soon.

Heres to another week!

Mail Organizer (Tutorial)

Its been a while since I posted one of these things! A while back I got fed up with the growing mail pile that just accumulated on my counter. To put an end to it, I decided enough was enough! I also just so happen to have a ton of this burlap bunting with antique keys printed on them. So I put two and two together and this is what I came up with:

It was a fairly easy project, good for beginner sewers. Here is how I accomplished fashionable organization.

Materials & Tools

• Fabric (I used burlap) 
• Staple gun 
• Canvas (I used one measuring 11 x 140)

Instructions:

• Iron all of your pieces
• Lay the canvas on top of your biggest piece to figure out your dimensions. Remember to give yourself enough seam allowance to staple the fabric to the canvas. Here is what I ended up with 
• Main Fabric: 15 X 18 
• Big pocket: 16 X 15
• Small pocket: 12 X 15
• Take the poket peices and fold them in half. Sew along the folded edge. That way your pocket will be nice crisp. Do this for both pocket pieces

• Lay the pokets on top of the main peice, then sew along 3 sides of the pocket.

• Lay the main fabric (with pockets attached) face down. Lay the canvas on top. Make sure to position it so it fits the pockets. 

• Fold the corners and staple, then proceed to staple all around the canvas until it is nice and sturdy. 

• Lastly hang it up, stick some mail in there and enjoy the your brilliant work! 

If you give this tutorial a try, let me know how it turns out! I love hearing from you!