Homemade Knitting Loom

Check out the easy homemade knitted scarves my grandsons have made for their aunts and cousins for Christmas.

 Blessed with a big family, my daughter needed to find a homemade gift that her boys could make for their aunts. She found instructions for this cool homemade knitting loom, made from an empty toilet paper tube and craft sticks. She substituted pencils for the craft sticks and they seemed to work much better. The yarn was easy to slide off the pencils and the loom was just the right size for little hands to grasp. Following is a link to instructions to make the loom and to learn spool knitting: Spool Knitting

 

The picked their favorite colors and went to work creating "one of a kind" gifts for their aunts.  So much better than buying yet another bottle of lotion at the dollar store! What a great lesson they are learning about the true spirit of Christmas

Once they knit an appropriate length to enable them to loop a couple of times they will pass on the projects to their mother.  My daughter will then join the ends together and squish them in the suitcases for a 3000 mile plane ride home. Woo Hoo, that's my Christmas gift; she can just put bows all all their heads and I'll be a happy camper!

They are proud of their creations and their aunts will get a cozy scarf to keep them warm this winter.  They also made their mom some headbands which she loves, so soft, not those headache bands that she has always dreaded to put on.  Aren't they just the best boys ever? Of course, they are!!

Double Word Score F A M I L Y

I've been on a mission in my home to add a little color lately. My husband and I have very different styles and over the years the one thing we can meet in the middle on is the color brown. We both like chocolate brown and dark woods. Unfortunately that has left us with a very dull interior. We are realizing we need to rethink this plan, so I am out to find ways to add a touch of color in fun ways that will please everyone in our household.

This was our latest project. I saw the idea to use scrabble tiles to write your families name on pinterest, and in my effort to brighten up our home I decided that we would put them on a painted canvas.

This was a great project to do with our kids. While I mixed paints and did a first coat of paint they worked on configuring all our names into a crossword. We ran into a little trouble when we realized that scrabble doesn't come with three B's but my boys quickly rearranged the tiles so that we connected the B's and had enough.

Afterwards, I let the kids paint a second coat and we mixed a little orange and red to create textured background. Then after it dried I helped them place the letters and glue them on.

In hindsight I wish I had put a little bit of separation between the letters so that it filled the canvas better, but all in all I am happy with the way it turned out. It looks beautiful on the wall with our family pictures and brightens up that space just a bit.

If you stop by please leave a comment, We love 'em!
 

Happy to be linking up with the following parties:
Skip to my Lou
Hope Studio
Coastal Charm 
Not Just a Housewife
French Country Cottage 

Spooky Chandelier

Found this old chandelier at a garage sale last weekend for $2 and thought it would make a great chandelier to welcome little spooks. Just spray painted it shiny black, added a witches hat with some netting, old fabric roses and ornaments, and spiders.

My grandson's girlfriend, a bit goth, dubbed it "spooktacular" and wants it for her room. Until then it will hang on our porch above the Jack-O-Lantern. Check out all the other "spooky" decorations at Polish the Stars.