Under surveillance

While perusing Pinterest the other night (as I do every night), I came across this cute sign with elf legs and feet, striped stockings and all... that said "This house is under elf surveillance." What a great idea! I can make that!

But as I thought more and more about it, I didn't want to make it just like that. I wanted to take it a step further.

I wanted OUR elf on the sign. We have 3 elves, but one will be just fine for this sign.

So here is what I came up with, and I really love him!

Now I'm debating adding our elves' names on there as PIs or something. Just don't know how yet.

Also waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can spray the final protective coat on him!

I love that's he's cute and creepy at the same time! Lol!

Rumor Has It...

Who knows if this is "real" or not, but there is a rumor that Facebook is possibly shutting down personal business pages. Now, no one quote me on this or anything. It's just a rumor. But Facebook is *my* main source of showing off my projects. So, as a backup plan, I will be adding to this page more regularly, ultimately making this page and site my main spot. :) While this page is not perfect, it is what it is. I will do my best to make it make sense, and where you can easily comment or contact me. I have to change some settings, so please bear with me. Thanks and have a crafty day!

Hey! I made some MORE wreaths!

I'm seriously running out of doors to display my creations. So I've started selling some. So sad to see them go, but so happy other people can enjoy them!

Some of these were client orders, some were just created for fun. Most are for sale. If you want to copy my design and make one yourself, go right ahead! Have fun crafting, and thanks for checking out my blog! Please go and "like" my page on Facebook....https://www.facebook.com/TheCraftyApple :)

Craft Day

So I've started hosting a "Craft Day" once a month at my house. We've made just a little bit of everything, getting *most* but not all of the ideas from Pinterest.

We've accomplished a lot in 7 months, some months having 2 craft days. Here's what we've been up to!

Canvas board.

Fun and cute clipboard!

Back of clipboard.

Hand-stitched turkey, so cute. :)

Coffee filters! Really easy, but VERY time consuming.

The other side of these blocks spell out "SUMMER," but I didn't take a picture of that side! Oops.

We've also made cake plates out of terra cotta garden pots, but I haven't been able to find that picture lately. I'll get it on here another time, as I've had many requests to do the craft again!

Coming up next month we have more 2x4 crafts on tap. A snowman, and a countdown to Christmas block set! Can't wait to get our craft on!

Hey There!

Well, I've been busy crafting, and not very busy updating my blog with my newest creations. I'm going to take the easy way out and plop all the pictures right here on this one post. Be sure to check out and "like" www.facebook.com/TheCraftyApple .... that's my Facebook page. I update it more regularly than this blog.

 The Wise Owl

 Mantel Decor

 Inspired by Pottery Barn Kids

 Personalized Wreath

 Found a similar image on Pinterest, but then added my own touches.

 An Ode to Kansas

 Made with Aluminum screen. Never again.

 WPS!

 1x6 painted and weathered

 Coasters

Fall Wreath

I've been busy. :) But man, do I love crafting! I'm still recovering from my ACL tear, and getting back to a normal life. I'll have surgery in a couple months, but for now, I'm enjoying my time doing what I love.

OH ACL

6 weeks ago I fell and blew out my ACL. You know, like those athletes do? I am a certainly not even close to an athlete, I'm a momma. I'm a crafter. I'm a crafty momma who was simply walking to the track for some football and track fun with the family.

Then it happened. Completely hyper-extended my left knee, tore my ACL and I was down.

It took 4 weeks to be able to get back to the craft room comfortably. I'm now 6 weeks into the injury, and have a long way to go still, but am happy to report I can craft again! Just not sit criss cross applesauce like I used to. My left leg doesn't go, 'yo.

Anyway, I'm back up and running (Mentally, not physically. I wish!) and turning out crafts at a pretty steady rate. Only because I have my first festival this weekend. ;-)

Let me know if you want or need something! Christmas isn't far away! :)

St. Louis Cardinals

"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd... buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don't care if I ever get back .... so let's root, root, root for the CARDINALS.... if they don't win it's a shame, for it's ONE, TWO, THREE strikes you're OUT at the old, ball, game!"

Oh yeah, you know that's right.

Favorite baseball team deserves an awesome, one of a kind wreath! Never seen one like this... I created it myself. :)

This is a 24" wreath, with a 12"x12" hand painted logo suspended in the middle. Looks so awesome in person!!

Contact me if you want one! I can make ANY team for ANY sport. Just give me the specifics!

(Although we all know that the 1st wreath like this I made was for the #1 team in MLB....)

Party on the Patio!

That's right! Man, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wreath. It's ME. It's totally me. I had it created in my head for close to two weeks, so when it came time to make it, BOOM. 1 hour and 20 minutes is all it took. It was one of those late night, spur-of-the-moment urge to craft creations, and I rolled with it!

So what in the WORLD can be so awesome about this wreath?

This is what.

My newest favorite wreath ever. I'm sure I'll come up with something even better soon, but I love this one.

Have I mentioned I'm kinda fond of this?

I'm just a little proud. :)

4th of July Wreaths

Here are some of my newest wreaths. I made all three this week, and am seriously running out of doors to hang them on. ;) I'm sure that won't stop me from making even more!

Hopscotch

So I came across this idea on Pinterest. (Go figure!) So the kids and I headed out, bought some 12x12 stepping stones at Wal-Mart (cheap!!!!), some paint, already had some varnish... and away we went!

Each of my kids painted two stones, and I painted the rest. B painted 4&5, E painted 7&8, and K painted 10&2. Then I went over all of the numbers with white paint, outlined with black paint, coated with varnish, and there they sat. For literally a week. Why? Because it rained. And rained. And rained. I couldn't get them in the ground because it was complete mud mess in the area I wanted to put them! (Okay, just where the number 10 goes.... but that was a good enough excuse to put off digging in all that dirt and ground.... for a week, anyway.)

Once it stopped raining, I went outside to assess the damage. Guess what? NO HARM DONE!!! The varnish worked! (The stones were slick as snot when wet, but not an issue when dry.)

This, my friend, is HUMIDITY.

So here is the finished product. Amazing, huh!?!?!? Thanks for the idea, Pinterest!

LARGE door hanging

When I say LARGE, I mean large. Well, for a normal 36", 32" or 28" interior door. Most bedroom doors are the latter, right? Anyway, I had a friend ask me if I could paint one, and after seeing an example of what she wanted, I bought the supplies I needed, and finished in just a couple of days! Would have been sooner, but I have to drive 45 minutes to the closest Hobby Lobby..... anyway, here are the pictures! It turned out great, if I do say so myself. ;-) It matches the little girls' bedding and room theme. Yay!

Teacher Appreciation 2

Last week was Teacher Appreciation week. I posted the gift I made for B's teacher here, and said I would get around to E's teacher's gift soon. (I'd do gifts for K's teacher as well, but he is "too old for that kind of thing." Especially being a 6th grade boy, you know.)

So here it is a week later, and I finally figured out and finished the gift for E's teacher. What momma of a little boy wouldn't love this?

As a young girl, when I read the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, it left me just with a "meh" feeling. I didn't really "get" it. When I read it now, as a momma of a little boy, oh my. OH MY. I get it. Tears.......

So here is the gift, I hope she likes it! :)

Woo Pig Sooie!

For those of you visiting the blog from the other 49 states (or countries! Woo! I'm international, baby!).... there is a saying down here in Arkansas.....that is ingrained in every Arkansan, natural or transfer. They stop you at the state border and teach you how to call the Hogs, you know? ;-) Anyway, this famous saying is how to root for the Razorbacks. "Wooooooooo.....PIG SOOIE! Woooooooo......PIG SOOIE! Wooooooooooo......PIG SOOIE! RAZORBACKS!" That's how it's done. While I've only lived in the Natural State for 5 years, I've quickly picked up on the hype that is the Razorbacks. Those frightening hogs are displayed all over this state! I've started crafting Razorback stuff, and will be venturing into some painting of the spiked hogs soon.

These were all client orders or gifts that I gave. I am not a graduate of the University of Arkansas, or any (Arkansas) state college for that matter..... I'm a proud graduate of (now) Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University) and then Webster University for my master's. Although with my master's, I didn't attend any sporting events. Just did my work, attended class, made my As, and got outta there! I will say however, those Razorback fans are something special... they make everyone feel welcome! WPS!