Pearly Chandelier Earrings

Sparkly!

For some strange reason, whenever I hear (or think) the word "chandelier" I think of Scarlett Johansson on Saturday Night Live. Weird. Anyway. I made these pearl chandelier earrings using some pearl beads from my friend Laura's bead store swag bag. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

A Fishy Felt Cat Toy

Just a little fish swimming by the window.

 It's Iron Craft day! This week's challenge was Best in Show, which was all about pets. Animals in general, really. And, since I have three cats, I thought I'd make them a little something...even if they do keep me up all night and wreck everything I own. I love them anyway. Dunno why. I guess they're just too cute to kick out of the house. I whipped up a little felt fish toy for them.

Carnelian and Wood Necklace

Carnelian and wood necklace. Lovin' it!

Last weekend I met up with my excellent friend Laura who had stopped into a bead store in her hometown just for little ol' me. New jewelry-making supplies make my heart feel super happy. (Can you tell I've been watching too much Nick Jr. lately?) The two carnelian beads were just a tiny portion of fabulousness in the shopping bag. This necklace was pretty easy to make, and, in fact, I whipped it up while chatting with my husband, attending Craftermind's Twitter chat, and watching an episode of The Martha Stewart Show in which I learned that Jimmy Fallon has a new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor that includes potato chips. I'm intrigued. Anyway...what was I talking about? Oh, yeah! Here's how I made my carnelian and wood necklace.

Makeover Monday: Layered Necklace

For this week's Makeover Monday, I'm getting a bit nostalgic. My great-grandmother, Reathel, once gave me a beautiful flower locket bracelet that she had had for a pretty long time. I loved it. I loved how if you pushed down the right petal it would reveal a secret compartment. It seemed so magical to me. And then it broke. The clasp snapped off and I could never figure out how to repair it. I kept it anyway. Fast forward to today, when I finally figured out what to do with the locket. I've been loving all of the layered necklaces I've seen everywhere, so I made my own and used the locket as a focal piece.

An Upcycled Pet Bed

Berkeley checking out her new digs.

Question: What do you get when you cross a cardboard box, a men's shirt, 

and a whole lotta shelf liner?

Answer: A pet bed!

And, no, that's not a very pathetic attempt at a joke. It's today's project.

Sneek peek!

It's a puzzler.

What do you get when you cross a cardboard box, a men's shirt, and a whole lotta shelf liner? Check back tomorrow to find out!

Shooting Star Necklace

Make a wish!

I've never met Bruno Mars, but I do think his "The Lazy Song" is about me. If you haven't heard it, the chorus is:

Today I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything
I Just Wanna Lay In My Bed
Don't Feel Like Pickin' Up My Phone
So Leave A Message At The Tone
'Cause Today I Swear I'm Not Doin' Anythin'
Nothin' At All

There are some naughtier bits, but that's the part about me.  I've been the laziest creature for the past week. So that's why I left this week's Iron Craft challenge until yesterday. The challenge was to do something that represents Lucky. I made a Super Simple shooting star necklace.

Growing Every Day: A Personalized Growth Chart

She's getting tall!

When Zara was a baby, I scoured stores and websites looking for a perfect growth chart that didn't cost a bundle. I couldn't find anything. Seán suggested that since I was crafty, maybe I could make one. Well, that got me thinking. I loved the idea of doing my own, but couldn't figure out what to make it from. I searched the house and the outbuildings trying to get an idea. And then I stumbled onto the pieces of laminate wood we had leftover from doing our living room, kitchen, and bedroom floors. Perfect!

Makeover Monday: Easy Memo Board Re-Do

From very 90s to very now.

Way back in the 90s I did something I thought was very cool, very clever, and oh-so stylish. I decorated my very plain memo board using stencils and sponges. Specifically, an ivy stencil that matched my curtains, my bedspread and sheets, my bedroom suite, and, yes, my wallpaper border with matching light switch plate, also decorated by me. Ivy was very "in" in the 90s. Not so much now.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Cake by Gloria. Photo by Seán O'Donoghue.

Okay, I didn't make this cake or even take this photo, but I thought it was was too stinkin' adorable to not post it. My niece, Emma, had a birthday last weekend and is over-the-top obsessed with Hello Kitty. I mean, who isn't? She's cute. She's a kitty. She, uh...I dunno...greets people...? Or is her name Hello? Who knows? Such an enigma, that Hello Kitty.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Irish soda bread & a lapel pin

Irish flag pin

Seeing as how Seán's Irish born and bred, Zara's an Irish citizen, and I lived in Killarney for the first three years of our marriage, we feel that we should make some sort of effort for St. Patrick's Day. Seán asked me to make a lapel pin of an Irish flag for him. He almost never asks for me to craft for him, so I jumped on the chance.

Yo Gabba Gabba Cupcakes

A tower of Yo Gabba Gabba cupcakes!

My fabulous, wonderful, amazing daughter Zara had a birthday last weekend and she wanted a Yo Gabba Gabba theme. Awesome. I happen to love the show and have been known to watch even when she's not around. I made her a tiny cake so she could blow out her candles at home, but needed something to feed a whole party that would be easy to transport. The situation called for cupcakes. A lot of cupcakes. Four dozen cupcakes in three different flavors and six designs. Not too much trouble. Yeah, right!

Happy Birthday, Zara! Fresh Strawberry Cake

Pink Strawberry Cake

When asked what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, Zara said, "Pink Foofa!" She wanted a Yo Gabba Gabba theme and Foofa is her favorite character. Foofa is pink and happy and has a flower on her head. Of course.

The venue for her birthday party doesn't allow lit candles, so I did four dozen cupcakes to take there. I did a very small two-tiered cake for her at-home celebration so she could blow out her candles.

Makeover Monday: A Spiffed Up Trinket Box

My pretty "new" trinket box.

For this week's Makeover Monday, I gave my sad little trinket box a new look. I've had this box since somewhere in the mid 90s and it was pretty beat-up when I bought it for a dollar at a flea market. It's been around. I had been using it to keep my hair elastics and then the hinge broke. Also, my hair is short, so the elastics are a bit useless now. Anyway.

An Orange & Nutmeg Birthday Cake

Happy birthday, Grandma!!!

I love my Grandma. I love her enough to spend my whole Saturday baking a cake for her birthday. Yup. The whole Saturday. My husband Seán reckons I spent four or five hours doing it. Time has no meaning for me when I'm working on something. All I know is that my iPod's battery died before I was even halfway finished. How long does that take?

A Birthday Card for Grandma

I do love my Grandma to pieces. She's awesome.

My Grandma's birthday was on Sunday. Happy Birthday, Grandma! Woohoo! Okay, got that out of the way. I love, love, love to make cards. I think a handmade card shows that you put more thought and effort into it than just picking up whatever the store has to offer.  And...I forgot to pick one up at the store. So what's a girl to do?

A Rag Rug Wreath

A Rag Rug Wreath. Say that five times fast.

When Iron Craft announced this week's challenge, I nearly panicked. Nearly. This week's challenge is called "FAT Tuesday in the QUARTER" and it's all about, you guessed it...fat quarters. Fat quarters are 18" x 22" of fabric and not defective coins as someone's husband thought. Not mentioning any names. I had a hard time coming up with something to do. My sewing skills are sketchy at best. My front door wreath needed a change since it's no longer February, much less Valentine's Day. So, I had the inkling of an idea for my project.

Kid's Art Gift Wrap

Extra-special gift wrap for Grandma.

This has been done millions of times before, but it's the first time my daughter has done it. I'm talking about turning your kid's artwork into gift wrap.

Makeover Monday: A Tidy Junk Drawer

Seán's so happy he found his safety masks.

It may be because Spring is in the air (despite the snow on the ground), it may be because I'm starting to shape up as a housewife (doubtful), or it may be because I spent a solid five minutes searching for Scotch tape (most likely) that I decided it was about time to clean out the junk drawer.

An Elegant Hair Clip

My little model loves her clip so much...or maybe it's just the episode of Dora the Explorer.

I know, I know! Yet another hair clip! This one will be my last for a while. Probably.  I had made a base for a clip that kind of, well, failed and is now a pincushion. In case you missed it, you can check out that post here. In the spirit of making lemonade outta lemons, Zara now has a new hair clip. In spite of everything, the finished product is Super Simple. At least something went right.

More Hair Clips!

Clippies!

While dressing Zara the other day, I noticed a few holes in her hair clip collection. She was missing a brown one (her last brown one was lost on a shopping trip), a lavender one (different shopping trip, same ending), and a yellow one (guess where the last yellow one went). That kid tends to go through a lot, and I mean a lot, of hair clips.  Luckily for her, she has a mother who loves to make them.

The King's Speech vs. Black Swan: How (not) to make a pincushion

The King's Speech was an awesome film, but my swan is adorable.

I thought I'd just breeze through this week's Iron Craft challenge. Bwahahahahahahahaha!!! (That's the sound of me rolling around on the floor laughing like a mad woman.) The challenge was "The Oscars". It could be anything film related. Anything. Sounds sooooo easy. And it would have been if there hadn't been a whole series of craft fails...

Easy Earring Holder

A perfect place for beautiful dangly earrings.

I've been seeing tons of DIY earring holders lately, but I decided to do my own twist on the idea. I had everything on hand except the plastic canvas, so this whole project cost me a grand total of 68¢. Yup. You read that right. Sixty. Eight. Cents. Total.