Family Faces Match-Up

Now you may just recognize many of these quick gifts from the past–but a good thing bares repeating–right? So, in the hopes of offering a few fun, fast ideas to help your holidays have a cozy, handmade feel–I’m dusting off a few favorites.

Button Bauble Bracelet

Personal History Prompt Jar

Washcloth Bibs

Covered Clipboards

Flowered Headbands

Soma Cube Puzzle

Mosiac Bead Bracelet

Hope this helps with your Christmas lists my friends. Let me know…   :}

Happy holiday crafting!!

Ok, now seriously–how adorable is this guy? I mean, I just want to kiss him…

and then, of course, I want to gobble him up…

along with his entire sweet little family.

I first saw this fellow on Pinterest, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find any directions to make him. So, being the sturdy mountain folk that we are–we came up with our own way. Oh yeah…we shall not be thwarted.

Here’s all you need:

~Golden Oreos

~Nutter Butter Bites

~Gummy Raspberries

~Candy Corn- you can find them in the bulk candy section

~Royal Icing

~Sucker sticks

Directions:

Unscrew two Oreos and gently press the two icing sides together to make your own “double stuff” cookie. Set the unfrosted cookie halves off to the side to eat later…or now. Either way.

Carefully poke the tips of 5 or 6 candy corn pieces into the frosting–around the edge for the tail feathers.

Next, with a smidge of icing–glue on Nutter Butter bite onto the Oreo for the head.

Break off a tip of another candy corn and “glue” it on for the beak.

With scissors, cut the sides of the gummy raspberry into little waddles. Aren’t they just perfect? Glue them along the top and side of beak. Add icing eyes.

~If you’re like me, this is the hardest part. I swear, I can ruin the cutest project on the face of the earth by trying to make the eyes. THIS time, I let Lyndi make a whole sheet of icing eyeballs so that I have a two year supply.

Holding the cookie carefully together, slide a sucker stick into the middle frosting–and tie a cute little bow around it.

These would make pretty little place markers for the Thanksgiving table–or a lovely little welcome prize for your holiday guests–don’t you think?

:}

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

— Marcel Proust

I looked around this morning and found a few spots that needed a little last minute Halloween sprucing up. It’s not too late!

Oh, the other rooms were ready for the day but that one wall in my room was just a bit too…hmmmm…boring. Yes, that’s the word.

Not acceptable!!

There were just enough scraps from Lily and Beckham’s Halloween bags to toss together a pretty little banner and believe me—it was incredibly simple.

All you do is:

Cut Halloween scrap fabric into strips about 1 inch by 7 to 9 inches. The length wasn’t perfect science–just approximate measurements were fine.

Loop each strip around a piece of cord, rope or in my case–clothes line. I used about 4 feet of it.

Carefully pull the two ends of the fabric behind the rope and through the loop…

then gently tighten it like a tiny little neck tie. Ohhhh…sooo….cute!

Keep adding the knotted strips until you have the length of banner you need.

And POOF!

Previously boring wall–cured!

:} Oh, and the sweet “Happy Halloween” banner with the spooky skulls? Why, it’s from my clever little daughter’s blog–Prairie Grass Patterns.

How’s that? Two cute things for the price of one! Oh, wait…they’re both free. Bonus.

Happy Halloween my friends!

Now, if you’re an old timer to Gracious Rain you may be sayin’ “Whoa, Nellie–you already made this sweet, little garland a couple of years back!”

And I would say back to you–”That’s right…sort of.”

First of all, the last candy garland got eaten by “woodland creatures” so a new one was in order.  This time, it’s much easier to make. Seriously, took about 20 minutes start to finish.

Just a simple crochet chain stitch and every 10 stitches I wrapped the loop around one end of the taffy, pulled it tight and kept right on going. Cinchy.

However, if you have a house with little people in it, like we do, you’ll have to either hang it up high or just be ready to have it nibbled on by the critters.

This time–I’ll take my chances with the outdoor squirrels.

:}

If you happen to be an unabashed button freak–like me–then, you, my darling, are about to be very happy. Perhaps even squealing with delight will be in order. Wanna play with all those buttons–you know you have a stash–and have a pretty little bracelet when you’re finished?

I thought so.

First, choose your color pallet. Mine will be pinks, purples and black…because I barely know any other colors exist.  Ask my kids.   :}

I’m using a few newer buttons and a ton of vintage ones because they are gorgeous and they’ve been cooped up long enough. It’s time they went out on the town.

All you need for this lovely project is:

A piece of 1/4 inch elastic–the size of your wrist + 3/4 inches

Some thread– I used embroidery floss because it was the perfect color and, well, I liked it.

Buttons–a little pile of them

First sew your elastic together–

by machine or by hand…either way.

Now the fun part–start sewing on those buttons. Any order. Stacked or alone. Be sure to let them overlap just the tiniest bit so that the elastic stays hidden when you wear it.

Knot each button separately so that if you ever have to replace one–it will be easy.  Keep going around the elastic until the last button meets the first.

Now then, don’t you just have the most adorable bracelet on earth? And just imagine the possibilities–a new bracelet for every outfit…quick and easy Christmas presents…thank you gifts…kids party favors…you get the picture.

And the best part is–quite likely, you didn’t spend one thin dime.

Wait–I think I hear squealing.

And rightly so.

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For those of you who commented or emailed me for the pattern for the sweet little Soap Sack– here you go.

Crocheted Soap Sack

Using Cotton thread and an H hook–

Chain(ch) 6, to form a ring.

Row 1-  Ch 4, (dc, ch 1) in the ring 11 times. Join in  3rd stitch of beginning ch 4.

Row 2-  Slip stitch(sl) in first ch 1 space, ch 4. (dc, ch 1) in each ch 1 space around. Join in 3rd stitch of beginning ch 4.

Row 3~7  Repeat row 2.

Row 8-  Sl in first ch 1 space. Chain 5, (dc, ch 2) in each ch 1 space around. Join in third space of beginning ch 4. Do not fasten off.

Hang loop: Chain 65. Secure last chain to first chain and fasten off.

Tie a knot at the base of the hang loop…

close to the bag.

After you drop your favorite soap into the bag, weave the hang loop through several of the top chain 2 spaces and cinch the bag closed.

Now my friends–you can begin your Christmas gift stash RIGHT NOW.

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I have a confession to make….

I’m crazy about handmade soap. I discovered it’s wonderful-ness late in life–like last year when Amethyst Soap donated a busload of their “Sorcerer Stone” samples to our Harry Potter party. I checked out the site and believe me–I was hooked. ANYway, the one thing you have to be careful about with any soap, but even more so with the handmade types is that they are allowed to dry between uses. We wouldn’t want it getting all mushy, now would we?

So to help with that quest, check out my clever little Soap Sacks.  Not only will they allow the soap to drip dry, but the cotton bags also act as a gentle scrubbie in the shower.

Plus, they are just perfect for all those pesky little, slippery soap ends that no one ever knows what to do with. Smart, hmmmm?

If you crochet at all–this is an easy one. You may find yourself making one for everybody in the world–they’re that easy! If you don’t crochet–fear not. We’re revamping the Etsy Shop in the next little while and these will be in it for sure.

Aren’t they just adorable?

If you’d like the pattern posted let me know. I’d be happy to share.

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I have a sweet friend over at Starshine Chic who wrote this really clever post about taking photos of simple things and turning them into art. Check it out, if you like, but come right back. :}

I was so intrigued by the idea that I just started snapping interesting pictures…you know…

of anything and everything…to see where it went.

Let me just warn you–if you try this, and you should, because it’s dang fun—

you may just find yourself looking at everything around you…

with an odd little tilt to your head…

and suddenly, the strangest things will begin to look like art…LETTER art. And all it takes is a bit of flipping and a little cropping to help everyone see things–the way you do.

See for yourself.

“F”

“A”

“M”

“I”

“L”

“Y”

What do you think? Cool–eh?

Try it–and be prepared to suddenly see things very differently.

Good luck!

I’m off to find a pretty little frame…and amaze people.

heh.

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No, no. I’m not going to show you how to use a Hula Hoop. That would be incredibly humiliating for me and extremely unpleasant for you. No, no–I’m going to show you how to make your very own Hula Hoop. And not one of those silly things that bend the first time someone blinks at it–but a very sturdy, lasts-nearly-forever one. Beat that.

All you need are three simple things:

Polypipe

Connectors

Duct Tape

I went to Home Depot and asked for 10 feet of Polypipe and the man said, “Sorry ma’am. It only comes in 100 ft. rolls.”

Wow. Luckily, it was only $13.00 for the whole 100 foot roll. That’s enough to make 10 Hula Hoops! What a great activity for a little kids birthday party, huh?

Ask the nice HD man to give you 1 connector for each hoop you want to make. They cost about 65 cents each.

Directions:

Measure out about 10 feet of pipe and cut it. If you have pipe cutters, that works best. I didn’t have any handy so I used a bread knife. Be really careful to cut only the pipe!

Dip one end of the pipe in boiling water to soften it up a bit…

then press the connector in and push it to the middle line.

Now do the same thing with the other side–warm it then push it on to the other side of the connector until you almost can’t see the connector at all anymore.

Now tear strips of duct tape and wind it around your hoop. This will add a bit of extra weight and will make your Hula Hoop dang cute.

Keep winding until you have covered the whole hoop and don’t worry about wrinkles in the tape–you’ll never notice them.

Now I’d love to show you our adorable Hula Hoops in action, but alas, Chompy is only 2 and wasn’t quite sure what we wanted her to do so you’ll have to use your imagination.

But be aware…

they do make nice Fairy Rings for the Wood Sprites.

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We’ve always loved hands-on toys around here. You know, the kind that you have to interact with to get it to work. So, I knew when I saw a picture of this pretty little “music stick” that we’d need to give it a try.

The idea is so simple, a two-year-old can use it. It works like this…

Your child slides the washers up to the top of the threaded metal rod then lets them go.

As the washers spin and twirl down to the bottom, they make a lovely, tinkling sound–almost like a rain stick–only softer. Quite pleasant, really.

Now the really nice part. It went together in less than 5 minutes. No kidding. Seriously, the hardest part for me was walking in to Home Depot and trying to act like I knew what I was doing. I finally just handed the list to one of the workers and they gathered up all the stuff for me.  :}

You’ll need:

1/2 by 4-inch threaded eyebolt
Teflon plumber’s tape

1/2 inch all-thread rod, 24 or 36 inches long

1/2 inch coupling nut

1/2 inch locknut

10-15 1/2 inch washers

Directions:

1. Wrap a piece of Teflon tape around the end of the eyebolt and both ends of the rod. This will help it all stay screwed together over time.

2. Take the eyebolt…

and screw it to the coupling nut.

3. Screw the rod to the other end of the coupling nut.

4. Slide the washers onto the rod.

5. Secure the locknut to the bottom–and you’re finished.

Now hang it from a post or tree or–in this case–the top of my canopy bed, and turn the kiddos loose with it.

They’ll be enthralled, captivated, amazed and surprised at just how fun it is to play with.

So will you.

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