Projects...craft time!

In one of my posts awhile back..."Joys of Self-Discovery" I mentioned that I was going to start doing crafts again. Well, one thing that I realized since then, is that, the crafts I enjoyed 10+ years ago have changed. I used to LOVE to paint...ceramics (plastercraft) mainly. And, one of my desires was to hand paint an entire Christmas village. I actually started one in high school for my mom, but never finished.I would get lost for hours just painting. Kept me from eating. ;)
Well...I have realized that I no longer have patience for that now. With the time restraints I have as an adult...or should I say mother...I like projects that I can finish quickly.  Remember...I'm all about "Instant Gratification"! And, I think I have developed a severe case of ADD over the years, so it's even worse now!!
One day, a few weeks ago, I sat down with Sydney and we painted some butterfly flower pots. And, as disappointing as it is for me to say this...it wasn't as fun as it used to be. :(  But, that's ok. There are plenty of other things that I can do. And, I always have some new brilliant idea to try...or "expensive" if Mike would have a say in it. But, he doesn't...so, we'll go with brilliant!  And, as we all know, some work and some don't. So here are some of my crafty projects that I have completed. Not all of them are recent, but I still wanted to share them. :)

***This is my most recent project. It's more of a motivational tool really. I filled a glass jar up with pebbles...one pebble to symbolize 1 pound...200 to be exact. Which I labeled "Pounds to Lose". The other jar is my "Pounds Lost" jar. For every pound I lose I move a pebble over to that jar. Kinda hard to see the letters, I may have to change that.

 ***This is a hair bow holder that I made for Sydney's hair bows. I started with an unfinished plaque and individual letters and then painted everything and glued on the letters. Sydney loves Princesses, so I decorated it to that theme. I also made most of the bows.

***I am forever trying to organize my family. I have made several charts and fun boards to help. They aren't always as functional as I had imagined, so I frequently redesign them. Sometimes, it's the materials that I use that don't work.

The first one is my favorite, but I had to retire it because it fell apart. Plus, I didn't use the "Reading" section. I used a cork board and stuck velcro in the spaces to hold the cards that I made. Whenever the week was over, I would change out the menu cards and rotate the kids' cards. The tugging of the velcro ended up ripping the cork off the board. So, I had to make a new one.

This next one is the one I currently use. It is actually a lot more convenient and easy to use, but I like the look of the first one better. This one is just a regular picture frame. I decorated the cardboard insert with scrapbook paper and ribbon and stuck it in the frame. I use the glass as a dry erase board, so it makes it super easy to update each week. I don't have to make tons of "meal" cards and thumb through them each week.

***The next round of pictures are from a little craft get together that some friends put together. A bunch of ladies made crafts to sell to each other for the holidays to use as gifts or whatever. I have to say my crafts didn't turn out as good as I hoped. The magnets didn't stick very well. Sorry to whoever bought some...I am happy to give a full refund if you weren't satisfied! :) The jars~ I wanted them to have slots for coins, but ran out of time to do it. So, I didn't like their functionality. The Altoid tins~ I liked those. The First Aid one has a little tube of Triple Antibiotic that I made using a straw and a lighter to seal it up.

***The next few are just some things that I painted for Sydney's room a long time ago. Two were painted on blank canvas. The dragonfly was an unfinished ornament and the ladybug was a stencil. The flowers I painted on her wall. The flower heads were stamps, but the rest was free hand.

So, these are some of the crafts that I've done.  I have lots more ideas!! Now I just have to find time and figure out which ones I want to start on next. :)