In the Craft Room

Whooooo Lives Here?

Paper cutout owls assembled on a dowel rod for a door decoration

Mid February through late March are an interesting craft time for me. There aren’t many holidays (we don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day), so it’s kind of a weird let down after the rush of Christmas, Super Bowl and Valentine’s themes.

We’ve always loved birds, and owls in particular are a treat when we hear them at night calling at each other. And they make a great craft profile with their easily exaggerated features.

So down with the paper chain hearts and up with my owls!

Click the red arrow to see how I made this. And the cut file is available as a free download at the end of this post.

How SuzerSpace created this

Stick & Twig Letters

Use sticks, twigs and a cereal box to make a personal wall art initial letter

I’ve seen this craft quite a bit, most recently an old post from hellolittlehouse.com surfaced somewhere in my line of sight (maybe Pinterest?), and I realized I really wanted to try it.

The weather last week has been unusually warm, so I wanted to stay outside for a bit. A nature craft fit my needs perfectly.

Our house is in a older neighborhood, and while that does have it’s downsides (older house = lots of things to fix, most of them expensive), it also means we have huge towering oak and gum trees in the yard. Not those spindly trees you see in the new subdivisions. Oh, their doors probably open and close correctly, and they probably don’t have any cracks in their walls or ceilings, but they simply do not have game when it comes to sticks and leaves for crafts.

The basics of this craft are cut out a letter shape, fill with cut-down-to-size sticks.

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Show and Tell: Winter Letters

3D letters cut with a Silhouette Cameo

The test letters came out great. The final version for the actual craft? Not so much.

I really love 3D paper art, and I’ve been wanting to do something cool with letters for a while. I saw this craft post that looked like a good starting point.  It’s on a craft supply website, so naturally they are using pre-made letters. Not my thing. I sourced around and found a few options for using my Silhouette Cameo 3 to cut letters, as well as some printable versions, and morphed them up to make my own patterns.

I test cut  and assembled an “S” (for Susan, naturally) and a “P” for my better half. They went together pretty well (a few glitches in my pattern but I fixed them).

I even found a green bottle brush on super reduced after Christmas sale, so I figured I’d be set.

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Home is where the heart is

Turn old maps into a personalized Home is Where the Heart Is framed art project.

I had an old framed cross stitch that no longer suited my style. The frame has a heart shaped mat, and I have saved it for several years, always thinking it would be good for something.

We also have several road atlases, from back in the day before GPS existed. Yes, there was a time when the passive-agressive voice saying “Re-calculating” was more a frantic voice in my head saying “Oh no. That was my exit.”

This craft puts both the old maps and the old frame with mat to good use.

I’ve use the maps to highlight the four cities Mr. SuzerSpace and I have lived in for a very personalized wall decoration.

Click the red arrow below to see how I made it.

How SuzerSpace created this

Upcycled Jean Pocket Coasters

Upcycle jean pockets into coasters (new sewing required)

I’ve been working (like everyone else) on purging items from my home that no longer belong. I’m not so much in the “does it spark joy” camp, as I am in the “why do I still have this sh*t” camp.

I’ve actually found the clothes closet the easiest place to work – I have a small box in the back and anytime I put something on, only to take it off again because it isn’t right somehow, I drop it in the box. Maybe it doesn’t fit, maybe it has a hole, maybe I have never found a matching shirt, whatever it is, if I keep on not wearing it, it has to find a new home.

Of course, the box does present a dilemma – donate or turn into crafts?

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