One Crafty Contest - Wood Round

Just when I thought I was out, they reeled me back in. No, I am not in the mafia. I'm referring to One Artsy Mama's One crafty Contest.




 In a strange twist of craft contest craziness, I am back in the competition. My gnomes did not disappoint.

Sadly, the very talented Melanie at Arzy Creations had to step down from the competition.  My gnomes, received the next highest amount of votes, so I was asked to step back in to the competition.

So, a BIG thank you for your votes!

I've now moved on to round 4 to compete with 4 other very talented bloggers in the wood competition.  Voting is now open.  Once again, projects are anonymous so vote from the heart and share your voting love with the projects that inspire you.

Go vote!

The Big Top

One of my visions for our circus party is a big top tent.  A fort of sorts, for the kids to play in.  I was thinking a teepee draped with red and white fabric.

This task I left to my handsome husband.  Who insisted it was just as easy to make an actual big top tent than make a teepee.

Oh really, I said, as I sat and watched.

Look at how annoyed he looks.   I can only assume it's because, at this point in time, I was saying something like, yeah, that looks so much easier than a teepee.

He was, surprisingly, able to get the tent to this point, however unorthodox an approach he took.

Everything was starting to come together, even the structure for the domed top.

Then came the request, I knew was inevitable, the whole reason I wanted to do a simple teepee.  He asked me to sew a cover for this domed circus tent top.

Do I sew...sure.

Can I make a draped and fitted domed circus tent top...no.

In my head, I am trying to figure out how to customize a domed top.  Mind you, during this time, we also realized we ran out of red and white fabric so I was left to improvise with an old bed sheet.

I was growing more frustrated {measuring, cutting, remeasuring, re-cutting}, when my handsome husband says to me, if you can make a pillow you can make a fitted domed circus tent topper.

Are you kidding me?  If I can make a pillow, I can make a 4 sided, customized fitted domed circus tent topper.  REALLY.
 
So many things were running through my mind.  Things like, our wedding vows included for richer or poor, in sickness and in health BUT not a domed circus tent topper. 

In the end, our marriage survived.  I'm curious to hear, if you think the domed circus tent topper did as well?

Yeah, another cliffhanger, I know :)

You can find out if we were successful here.

Balloon Animals

I feel like balloon animals are vital for any circus themed birthday party.  Have I mentioned we are throwing a circus themed 4th birthday party :).

Anyways, I could have hired a professional to make balloon animals for the kids BUT  I am, admittedly cheap, so I took it as my personal mission to master this craft.

I headed to the party supply store and bought some special balloon animal balloons {the really long skinny balloons} and tried to blow them up...

Ok, that was a fail. I quickly realized, the pump they recommend isn't a suggestion based on convenience, it's a suggestion based on necessity.

So, if you too want to become a balloon animal making master, you'll need the following supplies:

And this handy instructional guide from about.com.

 My first try was a success.  Hurray!  A pretty pink puppy was born. 

Cockiness got in the way because my 2nd and 3rd attempt did not go so well.  By attempt 4, the pink puppy found true love...aren't they sweet?

In the end, I feel accomplished and proud {and as long as no one asks for a giraffe balloon animal, I'm good}.

I just might have to carry these supplies with me, at all times, there's no telling when they might come in handy.

Gnome Sweet Gnome

I know, you maybe wondering, where is the tutorial. Here's the thing, when I started this project, I wasn't even sure I could make what I had in my mind.

I made the top of the gnome house first.  Which surprisingly took a lot of figuring & Pellon {I didn't even know what that was before this project}.  I almost scrapped the entire thing and kept it for a party hat.

BUT...I persisted.

Somehow, I  managed to build the structure for the house.

Then, I added the party hat and things started to come together.  With more details, came more character.  I realized, after the structure was built, it definitely needed a door...more figuring.  The house needed a flower box, filled with easy to care for button flowers and Spanish moss.  And, I thought slatted embroidered shutters made this house a little more special.

As soon as I finished the gnome house, I suddenly had 2 gnomes show up, looking to rent it out.  With all my I heart fake felt foods and Felt Advent Calendar Pockets I've made, making this little felt gnome couple was easy.

They decided, on the spot, to move in.

And, they agreed to take care of the apple tree and water the flowers.

There only request, they like to move around so they wanted their home to be easy to relocate.  So, I added a ribbon handle to make this gnome house portable.  I hope the gnomes and their landlord will get along.

For my first attempt at making a gnome house, I am satisfied.  It's full of flaws, none of which you would be able to notice in the pictures or that Grace apparently cares about. So it's hard to be too critical of things I could have improved upon.

SO, is this something anyone would be interested in seeing a tutorial about?  I might be tempted to make another one, hoping the next attempt will go smoother.  What do you think?

Come one, come all

Come one, come all to Grace's 4th birthday. In case you haven't already guessed, we are going with a circus themed birthday party and the party is THIS weekend.  Beware, there will be lots of circus themed posts around here.

Being an avid DIYer, it may surprise you, I went with store bought party invitations.  I found them at Hobby Lobby and thought 1. these are really cute and 2. this will save me some creative energy.

But in a Sandra Lee fashion {from Food Network}, I decided to take a semi homemade spin on my invites.  I used my Martha Stewart elephant stamper and a grey paint sample swatch.

Grace helped lightly glue the elephant cut outs onto the invites.  Yes, if you live in this house, you get sucked into my crafting sweat shop :)

The finishing touch, we stamped an elephant onto the back flap of the envelope.

Tada...not bad for semi homemade, huh?

Test Your Strength

Your weight is over.  The question, what is she up to, using 2 rubber balls and a portable dustpan from the dollar store.  The answer, making a barbell...of course!

Curious how I transformed my dollar store rubber balls and dustpan, keep on reading.

Get some liquid starch and lots of 1 inch wide strips of newspaper.  Dip the strips of newspaper into the liquid starch and cover each rubber ball.   Allow the newspaper strips to dry completely once applied {approximately 24 hours} and then add a new layer.  You'll want 3-4 layers before you are ready to put your barbell together.

Yes, I realize, I duplicated a picture...that's what happens when you blog at nearly 11 at night.  Cut a hole into the paper mache rubber ball approximately the size of the pole you plan on using.

Remove the dustpan from it's pole.

Insert the pole into the rubber balls, using more liquid starch and newspaper strips, attach the ball to the pole.  When that has completely dried, wrap with electrical tape to fully secure the two together.  Cover the newspaper with black paint.  Decide how much weight you want to lift and paint on the pounds.  

Yes, I am raising the world's strongest 4 year old.

So, was it worth the weight?

*My favorite guess, concerning what I was up to, came from No. 29 Design who thought I'd use these rubber balls and portable dustpan to whip up some fake food.   

What is she up to?

I've been inspired by 2 rubber balls and a portable dust pan, all of which I found at the dollar store.

Any clever guesses what you think I could be up to?

Only one way to find out for sure what it is... come back on Monday and find out!

This is what they call in blogland a cliffhanger.