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Yarn Trees For the Holidays My sister in law, Connie, and I have been getting together once or twice a month to craft and converse.  When both of us retired we started meeting every couple of weeks for lunch and decided to alternate lunch dates with crafting days.  We spend as much time talking as we do crafting but that is half (more like 3/4's) of the fun!  Connie creates beautiful blankets with her crochet talents and even had the patience to teach me how to crochet last winter. Materials I Gathered Before Starting: Yarn:   I used Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn "Little Sand Castles " Scissors Wood base:  Wood rounds from branches,  or lumber squares to use as a wooden base. Stick or Dowel:  Use a stick or dowel as a tree trunk for your project Drill with large & small bits:   I use the large bit to drill the hole in the wooden base and the smallest bit to drill the holes in the tree trunk/stick/dowel White Glue:   Used to attach yarn to the cone and als

Twig Holiday Trees Dumpster Day.......O' Dumpster Day..... You would not believe the crafting supplies I find on trash pick-up day. My husband has even gotten in on the joys of looking at what is discarded on dumpster day recently commenting, "I saw something up the block that looked interesting.  I'll bet you could make something out of it!"  Recent finds include cabinet doors that I plan to turn into farmhouse signs, scrap lumber that has become pieces for wooden wall art projects, and sections of willow garden fencing that I have been taking apart and using for all kinds of projects. This week I have been using the willow twigs from the garden fencing to make holiday trees--even though it is the beginning of November and the grass is still green (or it was until yesterday when it snowed!) Crafters, craft.........makers, make and dumpster divers are always trying to figure out how to turn trash into treasures. Materials I Gathered Before Starting:

Baseball Wreath Finished wreath--more ribbon in team colors could be added. We are a baseball family............ and we have baseballs in buckets, stuffed in cabinet drawers and falling off shelves.  Some are souvenirs of favorite moments and some are simply water logged, beaten up or starting to lose their covers. This project uses those discarded baseballs that found mud puddles, were collected from creek beds, or left out for the winter--it is amazing how many baseballs you find when you trim bushes in the spring!  This project could be adapted by using softballs or a mixture of baseballs and softballs. Materials I Gathered Before Starting: Baseballs:  Used baseballs that are at the end of their life (you will need 12-16 depending on the size of wreath frame you select. Wire Wreath Frame:  Hobby Lobby and Michaels have a wider size variety of wreath frames but I was at Walmart and they had two sizes (12" & 18").  I opted for the 18" frame for $3.4