Frantically Simple » She’s Crafty…

Shopping List

franticallysimple — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:37:24 +0000

wood
screws
spackle
paint
hinges
window screening
staples
felt
blackberry brambles

I can’t wait to show you the results of our little family project.
Anyone care to guess what we’ve been making?

Handmade by Heidi (except for the ones made by someone more talented)

franticallysimple — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:52:29 +0000

#1. Dino-mite!

Thrift store jar + potting soil + moss from my yard + plastic dino held in place with a couple of staples = my own tiny Jurassic Park
Roar!

#2. I must embroider these:

But on what? Ideas, please.
Found here

#3. Newt (GW) is getting one of these in the mail for Valentine’s Day.

I can’t wait to see it (with the included magnifying glass, of course).
Order here

She’s Crafty…

franticallysimple — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:12:58 +0000

I can never hear the word crafty without thinking of that old Beastie Boys song, but because of some, ahem, questionable lyrics, I’ll not link to it.
The last few years our family has made gifts for each other for Christmas. Here are a few of this year’s offerings.
Homemade snowglobes from GW and I:

(And yes, I made the Wonder Woman one for myself. I couldn’t resist.)
Snow globe instructions here.

From me to GW:

Nope, not Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets…

…just the chamber…

…and some secret treats to keep in it.
Hollow book instructions here.

And another Harry Potter theme gift:

I was inspired by the handmade spiral notebooks in Amanda Soule‘s Handmade Home. I bought a couple of used paperbacks and cut off the covers. Then I cut blank paper to fit and had them spiral bound at our local copy shop. So easy, but unique and fun.

Never one to procrastinate, W is in the garage right now working on his gifts to us.

I can’t wait until tomorrow!

Just In Case You Thought I Was Perfect

franticallysimple — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:47:51 +0000

I give you this:

Perhaps I overfilled them?
Oh well, they are just for family and a couple of close friends. All of those people know I’m not perfect.
Yes, GW is turning nine. Where did the time go? Wasn’t she just turning eight?
Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I love you!
Now who wants a melting ice cream cone cupcake?

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

franticallysimple — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:16:10 +0000

There is a slight chill in the air.
The morning light has taken on that early fall golden hue.
The rains have returned.
Yes, it seems that fall is on the way in. Goodbye summer.
Fall has always been my favorite time of year, but I’m even happier than usual to see it arrive this year. This has been a busy summer, a hard summer and I am ready for the change. I’m thrilled by the return to home and hearth that naturally occurs this time of year.
This evening, I finally got around to uploading the hundreds of photos that were languishing on my camera’s memory card, and it struck me: Even with all of the difficulty the last months have brought, there have been so many pockets of joy. We’ve spent time together as a family having wonderful adventures that I just never got around to sharing. Since this little blog o’ mine is a family journal of sorts, I feel a need to remedy this.
All this week, I’ll be sharing with you some of those adventures, starting with this one, natural tide pools on the Oregon coast:

What adventures did you have this summer?

An Enchanting Garden

franticallysimple — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:53:26 +0000

Happy Labor Day!
In honor of this day, I’d like share with you a wee bit of labor GW and I engaged in over the weekend.

We built a fairy garden to bring a bit of nature into our home.
Here’s the view from above:

With the exception of the tiny tropical “tree” we spent a whopping $1.99 on and the $1.00 fairy house from the Chinese market, all of the materials used were found in or around our home. Grass was created from moss we harvested from around our mailbox. A couple of lovely weeds from the yard complete the shrubbery.
We used a bit of hot glue and twigs to form the bridge spanning a pebbled creek bed. A tiny walking path leads from the house to the shell pond (treated with a layer of spray shellac to keep from leaking). More shells, this time used as bowls, adorn the stone table. A few more stones and shells round out the scene.

I’m not sure which of us is more enchanted with our new toy. Imagine our surprise when a fairy moved right in! It appears as though she spent so much time enjoying her new home that she completely forgot to bring in the washing.

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How to Turn a Chore Into an Adventure

franticallysimple — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:19:02 +0000

We got up early, both to beat the heat and to heighten the sense of adventure. Everything seems more exciting if you have to get up early for it.
It’s a fact.
Though, I think someone forgot to inform my girl. When I woke her at 6:00, GW cracked one bleary eye and said, “humnazzzzzz”. Then rolled herself up in her comforter and turned her back to me.
I replied with a whispered, “We’ll stop for donuts” and then had to run to keep up with my eager child.
Everything seems more exciting if donuts are involved.
We arrived at the farm just a bit after seven, fingers still sticky from our sweet morning treat, and the hunt began. We were looking for rows of green in a sea of yellow.
“Look Mom, over there!”

Betty, the farmer’s wife, told me that a leaky irrigation pipe had rendered these few rows too muddy to harvest. The beans were ours for the picking. Betty told me to just rip up the whole plant and stuff it in a lawn bag. I could pull the beans off at home.
GW and I set to work, pulling plants from the dirt while keeping a weather eye out for snakes. When she got tired, she climbed into the back of the car and started picking beans from the vine.

Four lawn bags later, we headed home, choosing a new way for fun. When we came to a river with no bridge, I asked GW to scout around for a fairy we could ask for help.

One came, but not the kind she was expecting.

Safely on the other side, we continued our journey pausing only to race a train down the road.

It won.
But we did too.
We arrived home satisfied in the knowledge that an ordinary Thursday had been transformed into an adventure.
Up next? The dishes!

Sew Cute

franticallysimple — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:45:55 +0000

Through all the rain in yesterday’s post were you still able to check out GW’s outfit?
The girls in the choir were asked to wear a white blouse with a black skirt. I knew about this months ago. So of course, I waited until the week before GW was set to perform to do anything about it.

First up, a white blouse. Easy enough to find, no?
Except…
My girl hates layers. She just won’t do them.
Luckily, I was able to find a white shirt thick enough to not need a tank under. And, it was only $5.00!
If only it came in my size!

Please ignore the giant weed growing up behind my girl. It’s, um, a…science experiment.
Now for the skirt. A black skirt. In May…
Time to whip out my sewing machine!
I used a black linen (on sale for $1.98 per yard) and loosely followed the directions for the peasant skirt posted here.

The linen is a bit sheer. I should have put a lining in it, but I didn’t have enough liner fabric on hand. However, in an uncharacteristic bit of clothing flexibility, my girl agreed to wear a slip.
But she didn’t agree to like it.

There was much adjusting going on in the front row.
Guess I’ll have to go back and add that lining after all.
*****
Don’t suffer for style: Frugal Fashionista Fashion Show at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Gifts from the Queen of May

franticallysimple — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:42:05 +0000

Bee flower cone instructions here.

Try This at Home

franticallysimple — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:13:08 +0000

If you stopped by earlier in the week you must have noticed that my blog was a mess.
The posts were all gone. All that could be seen were titles. And, I’ll be the first to admit, my titles are not all that creative.
You see, without getting too technical (because I don’t understand it myself), I tried to update my plug-ins. (If you are thinking air-freshener, just go ahead and skip to the next paragraph.) All I did was hit the auto-update button and WHAM: blog is now a series of crappy titles. Unfortunately, my blog guru was back-logged and it took some time to get things back on track.
Lesson learned: There are some things I am just not equipped to do myself.
Lucky for me, this does not include home improvement projects. I am fairly handy with a hammer, drill, and paintbrush.
Check out the before and afters of my latest project:

Isn’t it amazing what $10 worth of paint some sandpaper will do?

I went with a distressed finish to get a jump start on what will eventually happen on its own.

Next up, the entryway.
Hint: The spindles are already gone.