Crafting in Secret

Crafting in secret is exciting, fun, and mildly aggravating. I'm the type of person who likes to show things off when I complete them, especially if they turn out well. However, if you are making things that will later become gifts, you can't exactly do that! I've been making gifts and decorations for my best friend Amanda's baby shower, and now that the shower is over, I can finally share what I've been working on! If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen a few of the cryptic pics I posted as a tease. (I had to post something!)

Well, here's what some of those things became:

I found all of the ideas on Pinterest (of course!). Stroller butterflies Click here for the tutorial. 

plush blocks Click here for the tutorial.  A decorated bag for books Click here. a sign for the dog, and a shadow box. 

My favorite thing I made was this adorable plush bunny! It was my first time making a plushie from an actual pattern. It came from the book Storybook Toys by Jill Hamor. Which is an awesome book btw.

So cute!! And here's the one 'making of' pic I couldn't post to social media. 

Let's face it, those are clearly bunny ears!

My mom & I were also in charge of the decorations. 

The streamer 'rain wall' idea I stole from my fabulous friend Kayla Schuler who did a rainbow version at another friends shower. The block centerpieces were my own doing - I folded them using WeRMemory Keeper's Gift Box Punch Board and then cut the letters/borders on my Cricut. The name banner was also cut on the Cricut. The other ideas came from Pinterest. The chandelier is made of a metal ring, clear thread, ribbon, and lots and LOTS of punched butterflies. The alphabet book was a joint effort - mom & I created the blank pages and then the guests at the shower picked a letter to draw a picture for. We will eventually bind them all into a book. It all came together in the end and looked great! It was a labor of love for my best friend Amanda. I can't wait to meet baby Ellie!

Lending a Creative Helping Hand

Once a month, my church has what's called "6:35 Service." Basically, it's an 'artsy' evening service. I haven't been able to go for a while, but lately they've been working with the Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." This past Sunday was time for the 'act justly' part. We divided into four groups to participate in different service projects. One group collected hats and mittens to hand out locally, another made laundry soap for Next Steps (a women's recovery home), another made 'Blessing Bags' (bags full of helpful things like food and hygiene items) to give to local homeless, and the other was charged with making artwork to decorate the Department of Child Services (DCS) rooms where children have visitations with their parents. I was fortunate enough to be part of the artwork group. (Also blessed because originally I was suppose to work and they called it off!)

I had a blast creating some melted crayon art; something I had seen on Pinterest but never tried before. I decided to incorporate one of my favorite characters Totoro into mine. Basically I drew Totoro on the canvas, inked him with a black sharpie, then carefully covered the sketch with blue painters tape (love that stuff!). Then I hot glued the crayons to the top and used a heat gun to 'make it rain.' After that I carefully peeled the tape off and painted Totoro with some gouache paints. Super jazzed about the end result. Hopefully it will make some child smile.