She’s had some really cute ideas so far, including this lovely gem. Tutorial for the wreath is here.

This is super fun too, great way to use thrifted finds! Tutorial here.

Can’t wait to see what else she posts! There might even be some giveaways! I mean, I’m just saying . . . there might be

Now I’m so excited about it but when I took some pictures I realized that the electrical box looks pretty hideous on film. I know nothing about drywalling but I’m either going to beg someone who does to help me, or I’ll be learning! So pardon that tiny eyesore while I tour you around my happy little creative space.

I still want to attach the powerbar to the underside of my computer desk and get all the cords off the ground and tidied up.  That thing in the corner is our freezer but it really can’t move anywhere else in the basement so for now I just covered it with a cool storage basket. The white cart under the table on the right holds all my papercraft tools and supplies.  The blue bins beside are my fabrics and yarns.

There’s my scrapbook for our trip waiting to be filled.  Along with some favourite pictures of me and my mom and dad, my Style School binder and my Jayne, “Time for some stunning heroics” and Marv the Martian mugs I use to store things.

I picked up the red, blue and green collapsible buckets at IKEA.  I’ve got juice pouches in one, buttons in another and rick rack in the last one.  At least one was supposed to be a little garbage bin on the table top but my supplies took over.  There’s my cute new sewing box, contents all organized, my fun sewing books, and my Style School wreath project in progress.

In attempt to hide the eye sore I’ve filled the space up with some fun things.  An owl from Cuba, a cute postcard, my inspiration hoop, silly faced Happy Bunny, a Beatles souvenir from London and yet another Style school project, the Polaroid art frame.  For the Polaroid frame I used pictures from when I was a kid to add to the vintage feel (wow I basically just called my childhood vintage . . .) and I love those shots.

These are some completed things I have sitting around.  I’m hoping to make a few more things this weekend and make my donation to the Craft Hope store.

Fun new fabrics.  I fell in love with the wood grain fabric used for a book cover Style School assignment so I searched some out on Etsy and found it at uberstitch. I’m going to use it with the little woodland creatures print. The cursive writing practice one was just cute, and hey, I’m a teacher, I can print! The funky red one was on super clearance at Fabricland because it’s a Christmas print, but I thought it was just neat.

So now that I’ve accomplished so much there I can focus on my Style School assignments, do my own creative things and figure out how to put my sewing machine into this neat little table my mom gave me then paint it some cool colour.

Wow, looks like I’m going to be a pretty busy bee for the next little bit. Yippee!

Here’s what you need

1. ring of something pretty sturdy, cardboard works, or you can buy the fancy ones from a craft store and sometimes a dollar store.

2. gingerbread man cookie cutter

3. glue gun and glue sticks for it

4. tacky glue

5. 1 1/4 cups of cinnamon

6. 56 scraps of fabric, measuring 1″ x 9″, It’s more rustic looking if you tear the fabric but you can cut it too.  9 1′ x 4″ fabric scraps, cut these ones.

7. rolling pin, cookie sheet and wire cooling rack

8. some acrylic craft paints, colours can vary but I used a tan, and pinkish colour.  A paintbrush and I had a black marker on hand, rather than paints, for details.

Here’s the handy steps!

1. Mix one cup cinnamon with 4 tablespoons of tacky glue and 3/4 cup water.  Mix it around until you have a stiff dough.  Add more of something to achieve that consistency.  Place the dough on the counter and sprinkle with cinnamon so it won’t stick to the roller.  Roll dough out to about 1.4″ thickness.

2. Cut out 9 gingerbread men and transfer them onto the wire rack.  Place the wire rack on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 for about 2 1/2 hours.  Turn the men over every 20-30 minutes.  Your house will smell wonderfully of cinnamon!  Leave the cooked men on the rack overnight.  They might curl slightly.

3. Paint most of the men with the tan paint, leaving a little bit of the gingerbread edge showing.  This may take a few coats to cover the way you like.   Add little rosy cheeks and eyes and a mouth.

4.  Tie the little 4″ strips into bows and glue gun them to the men to look like little bow ties.

5.  Set the men aside and pick up whatever you have for a circle!  Tie the 1″ x 9″ fabric strips around the circle until it is entirely hidden by fabric.  Photo shows the back.

6. Once it’s entirely covered place the ginger men around the wreath with room at the top for your hanging device, be it ribbon or an actual hanger from a door.

As I’ve learned, and you can see from a few of my men, they are fragile and can break so store your wreath lovingly.  The men also smell like cinnamon for some time, so if you can keep it in some sort of sealed box that will help preserve the smell.  What’s more festive than yummy smelling cinnamon!

my fall wreath

I managed to get down to the basement last night and dig out the Halloween decorations. While I was poking around I found a wreath I made last year that I had totally forgotten about. It was quick, easy and best of all super cheap to make. Then today, while getting lost on the internet, I stumbled upon a tutorial advising you to think outside the box when you buy supplies and take a moment to see the potential in what might appear strange or even ugly at first. That’s exactly how this project came to be!

funky, cute little bird nest with eggs

I was browsing at Michael’s and found the floral decorations in a clearance bin. I think I bought about 5 and they came to less than a dollar each. I pulled them all apart down to just their decorations and wire and then fit them to the wreath and twisted the wires craftily in behind the branches. Et voila! For definitely less than $10 (don’t remember what the wreath cost but I’m sure I used one of those handy 40% off coupons) I have a beautiful fall wreath!

the multicoloured ribbons used to hang the wreath