Sheet Music Snowman

Snowman made with sheet music

In the historical school building where I work we have a holiday tree with home made ornaments. It has been many years since new ornaments have been added to the tree. In an effort to build community, freshen up the tree and learn new crafts we are holding a weekly make one take one holiday craft during lunches.
Our first week will feature the sheet music snowman.

Materials:

Snowman template(s)

Sheet music (or an old book, newsprint, scrapbook paper, or other decorative paper)

Coordinating oak tag or scrapbook paper (thick weight to add strength)

Piece of orange oak tag

Scissors

Pen or pencil

Standard size hole punch

Small hole punch (1/16 of an inch)

Twine or string

Fabric (cut in ¾ inch strips for the large snowmen and cut in ½ inch strips for the small snowmen)

Small black buttons

Glue stick

White glue

Black marker

Directions:

1. Using a snowman pattern cut one out of oaktag of the size you prefer (or-if you're like me-cut many of each size).  Snowman templates

2. Choose the back side of your paper (music) and trace the snowman template onto the paper. 

 Cut out two of the patterns at the same time.  Write a word or letter on back of each cut out snowman which will assist you in the next step. 

 Using a glue stick, put glue on the back side of one of the cut snowmen. Glue to the coordinating oak tag allowing about ¼ of an inch around the edge of the snowman.  I was able to fit two large snowmen and one small snowman out of one 8 ½ X 11 inch piece of paper (and was also able to cut out eye balls with a standard size the hole punch).

 Cut out the snowman about ¼ inch around the glued on snowman in the thick paper. 

Turn the snowman over and glue on the second pre-cut snowman to the back-centered within the ¼ inch edge with the glue stick. The template is not perfectly symmetrical so labeling the back will help to keep 1/4 inch border around the snowman.

Select three small black buttons for the large snowman or two small buttons for the small snowman. Using white glue-glue the buttons down the front of the snowman evenly spaced.

After cutting the strips of fabric (I used a rotary cutter), select a ¾ inch strip of fabric for the larger snowman and ½ inch strip of fabric for the smaller snowman. Tie on a piece of fabric in a double knot and cut to a visually appealing length. I frayed the ends by pulling off some threads to look like fringe. You can use a needle or pin to help pull the threads. 

Punch out two eyes with a standard size hole punch. Glue onto the face.

I cut out an entire sheet of orange oak tag 3/8 of an inch wide for the snowmen noses. I free formed the shapes with scissors to cut out paper carrots for the noses. Once the carrot was drawn, I added lines to make the carrot look more realistic and outlined the carrots. 

I then glued onto the face.

Next using a small hole punch 1/16 inch, punch a hole at the top center of the snowman.

Cut a length of string and tie on using an overhand knot.

Give yourself credit by signing and dating the back of your snowman. 

Enjoy!

 

Keeping up with good habits

Admittedly, I have always procrastinated to get things done...my type A perfectionism sometimes slows me down...but I often get the most creative ideas at the eleventh hour. Deadlines are always met-who needs sleep?!?!
When we moved three years ago I tried to leave a lot of my bad habits behind and also establish new routines and stick to them.
Since I am a decorating fiend for most holidays there are a lot of tubs of decorations in our garage. Each tub is labeled by holiday and contains a mixture of home made and purchased decorations. As each holiday approaches I eagerly open the tubs and look through what is in each deciding what can be given away and what will be used. Any items I make or acquire during the year go right into the correct box. Additionally, any items that need cleaning or repairs are left out until they are ready to be returned. Seeing the out of season decor reminds me to get things done and get them back where they belong more quickly and I am relieved when I open up a tub next year and everything is ready to be displayed right away.
Hoping that I can complete a lot of partially complete projects in the new year and get them holiday ready or in their tub as soon as possible.
Hope you can join me!

Inspiration

Who has inspired you and where do you get your ideas?
I have been blessed to have been inspired by my incredible maternal grandfather, Leo Jones who we lovingly called Gramps.  Beginning as a young child I would dabble in his basement, greenhouse and gardens for hours on end. He was very creative and not afraid to try any home improvement project, craft or tackle any suggested or requested task. Gramps would drive far and wide to visit shops and craft supply outlets to gather new ideas and supplies for his next project. He would get "stock" for his basement-supplies for potential projects that he would like to create. Another source of inspiration for Gramps were catalogues and magazines. He was a notorious "clipper" and would glue his ideas on notebook pages with notes.
Today I am still inspired by Gramps and wish he could see how much he has influenced my creativity and how I have tried to pass on his passion and artistic talent to my children.
For years I have to admit I hoarded every monthly copy of my beloved Martha Stewart Magazine under my bed (arranged in piles by months). I was a purist-and used post it notes to mark potential future projects, recipes and inspiration. When we moved a few years ago I was encouraged to part with my hoard-and did save some ideas before recycling my collection. We are fortunate to have Pinterest today. Gramps would have loved this creative outlet and would have loved taking pictures and posting from his browsing trips, locating projects and finding like minded individuals. Another site he would love would be Etsy as he had always hoped to open a shop of his own, with the intended name "Peg of My Heart" in honor of my grandmother and can imagine countless hours of online browsing on the site as well.
Admittedly, I too have "stock" of craft supplies throughout my house and look forward to adding to my supplies and using some for potential projects. This year I plan on opening up an Etsy store and will hopefully satisfy my grandfather's goal of selling some of our wares, albeit online.
Thank you Gramps for your continued inspiration!

Un-decorating and planning for next year

This year our home was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer in the Haven section for the holiday decorations (December 14, 2014). Here is a link to some of the images  and the article.
For decades I have carefully collected and created holiday decorations. As I am currently taking down all of the decorations this week I am mindful of the way things looked this year and how I can modify or recreate each area next year. Some of the strategies that have helped me to be more efficient include:

• Take pictures of each area 
• Label where things belong
• Search for products to make your life easier
• Mix it up from time to time
• Get rid of what you have not used

The image on the left shows an area of our stairs. The greens are enhanced with dried artichokes sprayed in gold, hand made ceramic snowflakes, stars and ribbon purchased from Michael's Arts and Crafts. This year the snowflakes and stars were new and made at Earth Center Pottery (Tyler Park-Bucks County, PA). Textures were imprinted in the clay and then the shapes were cut with cookie cutters. They really helped to enhance the appearance of the stairs. 

One of the big finds I had this year, at Joann's, was Scotch Reusable Garland Wrap Fastener. It comes in a 20 foot roll and enabled the garland to be attached easily to the handrail without messy wires. What a great find! 

As I am taking things down this week I am careful to label everything so that I know exactly where things were this year to make things go more smoothly and quickly next year. (image on the right)

This year I didn't want to once again ignore the Christmas boxes that get picked through and ignored. I took an entire box of holiday decorations to work and co-workers were able to pick and take "new to them" items for their home. Anything left at the end of the week was dropped off at the local thrift shop. 

I'm already dreaming of what I can do to make next year even better!

Where Do You Begin?

We fell in love with this renovated circa 1790 barn. It has a lot of rustic charm but it also needs a bit of tender loving care. At first we took care of the critical needs: clogged pipes, leaks and safety hazards.
We moved in on Halloween a short four months ago.
An occasional emergency has transpired, but we are handling those one at a time.
When we were looking at the barn the home inspector recommended some things as general rules to follow when buying and selling a home. One tip was to caulk around tubs, sinks, windows and anywhere else caulk belongs. Another tip was to keep filters clean. The inspector pointed out some minor issues with the property and we asked the previous owner to remediate the problems that we felt we could not fix ourselves.
At the closing table we received an owners manual for our home. It included pictures of the renovations, instructions for unique mechanical devices and suggested contractors for service. We also have a drawer of manuals and warranties.  We are working to expand upon our starting manual and record the quirky fixes for some of our home renovations.
So the answer to "where do you belong?" is part safety, necessity and then let your wish list take over.

Humble Beginnings

I've been told for years that I am a wealth of useless information-and it's not worthy of Jeopardy! I'm kind of like the McGuyver of do it yourself. I'm a hard working teacher with two kids and a passion for decorating, home improvement, gardening and crafts.

I do all of my own cooking, cleaning, work full time and try to be the best parent I can be. When that's done for the day, the passion for home improvement and pursuing my other hobbies takes over.

You might wonder-how did I gather the tools and skills to tackle almost any project around the house? I come from a family of do it "yourselfers." My grandfather, Leo, would tackle any home improvement project from repairs to refurbishing. He gathered the tools and materials and had almost anything you might need in stock in his basement. He was a passionate clipper gathering ideas from a variety of home improvement magazines, catalogs, and trips to home stores. Gramps wasn't afraid to try anything new and always allowed me to help out. He had a gentle way of sharing his talents and enticing me to get involved.

My mother is incredibly handy, but prefers these days to limit her talents to the fiber arts. She is also passionate and talented and humble regarding her knitting and sewing expertise.

My kids are encouraged to sink their hands into all projects around the house. Depending upon the complexity of the project they are given age and ability level tasks to help out and keep the spirit of home improvement alive and thriving.

We rarely need to use contractors to work on our home-but know where to draw the line as well.

Hope you will join me as we make our new home a haven.