I made a couple of nature-themed crafts to close out the week. The first was my Thursday craft, a photo box:



It's just a plain, white photo box that I decorated. (What I mean to say is that I didn't build the box, I just made it pretty.) I used some gorgeous Amy Butler papers that I got back in November and have been saving for something good. Something with...longevity. Seriously, when I found this paper at Michael's, I nearly cried. I've briefly mentioned Amy Butler before, but I don't think I can really express how in love I am with her designs. I want to frame each piece of paper. Or wallpaper my bedroom with it. Or maybe just the inside of a box so that I can crawl into it when I'm sad and be hypnotized back into cheerfulness by its awesome colors and beautiful shapes. Yeah. I like this paper.



This is the box lid. Cutting out that tree was sort of a horrible idea. The outcome was totally worth it--I love how the green-yellow pops off the hot pink background. And I love that it's got the obvious "family tree" metaphor going for it. But it took forever. I mean it. I must have been cutting that tree for at least 3 hours. I'm sort of obsessed with photo organization and this is the first in a series of boxes meant to sort out my family's oldest photos while still allowing them to be thumbed through individually. I think there's something pleasantly tactile about looking at pictures and I want to preserve that.



These little candles were my craft for today. I had all the supplies for making a candle already, but I've never bought a mold before. (Anna and I used dog toys as molds in our Tuesday Craft Days of yore.) So, I called up my mom this afternoon and said, "Hey, got any sand?" And without asking me why, because she's my mom and she knows that I occasionally have very random needs, she said yes. And, because she's also a grandmother, she indeed had a whole box of sand! Yay! I made holes in the sand and poured my molten, honey-suckle-scented wax into the holes. Twenty minutes later, I shook off the sand to reveal these lumpy little guys. They were easy to make and I think setting up this little scene really jazzed 'em up. Perhaps fresh spring greens and wildflowers would make all my crappier projects look nice? Ah well, they're not bad. And anyway, they're not for indoor use 'cause the sand will constantly be falling off. Ideally, these sandy candles should be made with citronella wax. But whatever. They're sorta shoddy, but the more I downplay them, the more I like them.

I have no idea what I'm making tomorrow. I have a pretty bad cold right now and the NyQuil I had last night is taking its sweet time wearing off and not making me feel light-headed. I'm getting sick of crafting and have already killed my good glue stick. I've bought a cheap replacement that I'm sure I'm just going to love. But at this point, I don't care to glue anything. Ever again.

Labels: family., sewing/crafting.

|