Chickie Gardland

With Easter just around the corner - I am convinced to make one of these awesome chickie garlands from Miss Vicky Viola (link)! It is was too cute to resist:

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Eee!  Those little fluff ball chicks are so adorable and although I do find the image of the needle going through one of them a little disturbing, this DIY is right up my alley! I mean pom poms and cute animals? I'm sold. I even bought a bunch of those little chicks from the craft store and although they are currently hanging out all over my house (I got a little excited with my decorating), I feel I have the skills to pull this one off. We will see how it goes. Do you ever decorate for holidays? What do you do for Easter?

Left over wedding decor

As you may have heard, Fraser and I have been working on fixing up and unpacking our condo for a good two years.  Now that the majority of the renovations are done (just some little touch up projects left), we can really focus on unpacking all of these boxes that have been sitting here for ages and enjoy our home and our things! What a concept!  

A lot of our unpacking is actually just trying to purge like crazy and see what we really don't use or need anymore and what fits in our lives (and house).  I found it super satisfying when I got around to sorting through our left over wedding stuff because most of it ended up being recycling and donations! I can't believe we just packed all that crap up after the wedding and shoved it in the spare room for it to sit for a year and half taking up space! Oy!  

I did want to keep a few things to remind of our magical special day - and one of those things were my homemade pom poms! I painstakingly crafted hundreds of tissue paper and yarn poms for months before our celebration and even though the tissue ones went straight in the recycling, I couldn't part with the adorable little fluffy white yarn ones I spent so much time and love making. But what do you do with a garbage bag full of white pom poms? Apparently put them in apothecary jar and pop them on the main bathroom counter! Behold:

Now whenever I'm washing my hands I can be pleasantly reminded of all the fun we had on our wedding and since these poms are wonderfully enclosed in glass they won't even become a giant dust magnet! Ho ho! Bonus! I even bought the jars on clearance years ago so they were just empty vessels waiting for a decorative purpose. Double bonus! I'm certainly thrilled with how this little project turned out and how wonderfully it fits in with our bathroom colour scheme. So how about you? Did you keep any of your wedding paraphernalia around? How do you use/display it? 

everything is coming up pompoms!

While my body is busy trying to heal itself from the unfortunate chest pain terribleness of costochondritis, my hands have been busy making loads and loads of pom poms in preparation for my wedding this summer! Here's a hefty stack that was feeling particularly photo friendly the other day:

Aren't they just lovely? Like fuzzy little yarn children ready to be stabbed with twigs and arranged in wonderful bouquets for the big party! Hooray! I figure I will just keep on pom-ing until I run out of yarn and hopefully that will give us enough to make one heck of a pom-pom statement at the wedding! What do you think?

dandy dandelions

With only a few months left before the big day, my mind is getting consumed with wedding planning. All the details seem to be coming together, and in case I haven't spilled the crafty details - we're skipping flowers for the celebration and doing pom poms instead! I'm particularly fond of these yarn and twig dandelions from Apartment Therapy (link):

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Oh my! I really love how simple and fluffy they are and figure if I start now I may have enough pom poms ready for July...looks like I'm going to be busy! What do you think? Pom poms for the win? 

pom pom GENIUS!

I'm always looking for new fun (and hopefully useful) crafts with pom poms and Meredith of One Sheepish Girl (link) recently did a wonderful post using some homemade pom poms on her cork and magnet boards! Just look how fuzzy, colourful, and pomtastic they are:

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Ah! I'm in love! I have no idea why I didn't think of this earlier but pom pom pins and magnets are such a perfect idea! They're sort of decorative, a perfect hint of added colour, full of yarn-y texture, and useful to boot! What a concept! I will have to hold off on the magnets until I once again live with a magnet-able fridge (or get a magnet board) but the pom pom push pins are right up my crafting alley! Oh lovely! What do you think? Want to come over and make a few poms with me this weekend? 

quite possibly the BEST xmas wrapping topper EVER!

You may think that blog post title was a tad exaggerated...but wait until you see this spectacular festive yarn gift topper from One Sheepish Girl (link):

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*Gasp!* Did it just take your breath away with its amazing awesomeness? No? Well...perhaps you aren't as easily excited about these things as I am but I am in love. What a sweet way to combine some of my favourite wintery activities - gift wrapping, crafting, crocheting, and POM POMS! Eeee! You could even take this beyond the intended gift purposes and throw them all over the place! You name it - wreaths, brooches, hair accessories - I'm all over this! I figure if reindeer ears are allowed at work giant pom pom holly hair bands should be too right? Anyone else out there as mad for this project as I am? 

we could always use more pom poms

You know what I'd love more of in my life? Hours in the day! Since that doesn't seem very practical or likely - pom poms are the answer! Who doesn't love a little happy yarn fluff to brighten up a rainy fall day? Just look how darling these pom pom bookmarks are from Design Mom (link):

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Oh I just can't handle their cuteness! I especially like how they look in a big stack like that (and all the fun colours they chose)! Oh my! Looks like I've got yet another project on my list (and even fewer hours in the day to do it in!) Happy Wednesday! 

Bed Pom Poms

When I saw these amazing "bed pom poms" over at the Be Different Act Normal blog (link), I know my life wouldn't be complete without them. I mean - pom poms for your bed? Brilliant! You may think I'm exaggerating (or perhaps sense a hint of sarcasm) but no - I really think these are the bomb. Wait...do people still say that? Anyways - take a gander:

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Ah! I knew I needed to work some more pom poms into the decor somehow and this certainly has to be it! Of course the lovely white and pink hued linens in the image above are substantially girlier than our current bedroom theme (actually this looks like something Lindsay would have) but I'm sure I can modify it to meet my needs! Yep. Giant, fluffy, full of texture and completely useless. Sounds perfect! Now what to make it out of...

Thursday Pom

Happy Thursday! What better way to celebrate my favourite day of the week than with a cute cat with a pom pom hat? 

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Haha. I love it! Double win! I wonder if all cat enjoy pom pom hats as much as I'd like them to? Only one way to find out...hats available on etsy! What do you think?

Never enough pom

I am, and forever will be, in love with pom poms. They are such a wonderful craft with their kitten fluffiness and ease of construction! They are a pretty versatile craft you make tons of other projects with and you can make them out of just about anything (okay...probably not...but I was on a roll...)! When I happened upon Greedy for Colour's Tissue and Tulle half pom poms I knew I just had to share them. After all - you can never have enough pom right? Take a peek at their loveliness:


Oh my! I love the three colour combination and the great texture the tulle adds to the center of them. Plus, once you read the tutorial you'll see how insanely simple they are to make! (Leslie - once Jean is old enough to use scissors you'll have to loan her out to me for pom pom making weekends!). I like how they look almost flower like and think a bouquet of these would be stunning in a vase. Heck, I'm pretty sure I just convinced myself that my wedding bouquet may need to be crafted from pom pom flowers (for that non-existent wedding I'm planning). Haha! Or how about combining the tissue and tulle poms with the gift topper pom poms from paper n stitch's blog:


Slightly more practical than a bouquet if you ask me and still super fun! Hooray! Pom poms for everyone! What do you think? Are you up for some tissue and tulle poms?

Felt pom poms!

Let's be realistic. If any of you saw this fantastic tutorial over at Delightfully Tacky, you must have known I was destine to write about it. After all - felt? pom poms? wrapping? Ah! It's a triple win! And look how adorable they are:


Oh dear these are cute! Plus they are relatively simple to make (and I do have quite the selection of felt to chose from) making this project even better. Too bad I already mailed all my sister's presents away to her (which, by the way, arrived in record time for this time of year) and most of my other presents are all wrapped and ready. I guess if I manage to find a little creative time I can test this one out, but I figure it doesn't need to be limited to xmas! May 2012 be the year of the felt pom pom wrapped present! Who's with me?

Paper Balls

When I saw this 3D paper ball ornament project over on How About Orange I was reminded of how fun it is to craft with paper:


Isn't that super neat? Just print out of circles, snip in a few fold lines, and voila! Your very own geometric wonderful ornament! My sister learned how to make these in elementary school and I recall her making one out of wrapping paper that my grandparents used to see when the furnace fan was on. We are on boiler radiators here, so no need to whip out the wrapping paper for some nostalgia, but I am particularly drawn to the white versions:


They are sort of reminiscent of pom poms don't you think? I love the shapes and shadows they cast and think these would be just lovely hanging in the empty space between our kitchen/dining area and the opening to the living room! OoO! Even better - could you imagine them in felt!!?! Oh I'm drooling with inspiration! What do you think? Anyone want to make some balls with me?

Fabric Pom Poms!

Okay, so this project is actually labelled as "full and textured fabric flowers" by the creators over at make it and love it, but being a pom pom fantastic I would much rather refer to them as fabric half pom poms. Just take a peek:


Aren't they fun? I love the bright colours they used for their demonstration flowers and the instructions make the project look pretty simple. They are very much like the felt flower brooches I make, except instead of felt you use fabric (obviously) and you can use a sewing machine instead of hand stitching (hooray for less time consumption!). Then you can make them into whatever you want! They look cute on the little girls over at make it and love it, but I think I'd prefer to wear mine as a brooch. Heck, once you put a bar pin on the back you could stick them anywhere! Wouldn't they be cute as a nice bright detail on a bag? What do you think? What would you use your half fabric pom for?

In other news, today is my second to last run at the Artisan's Market in downtown Kamloops. Feel free to pop by between 8 and 12 today for some Kate made goodies! Happy Saturday! Wish me luck!

Pouf Sunday

I saw this amazing chevron ottoman pouf on etsy last night and fell in love:


Not only does it rock the zig zag chevron stripe trend in a lovely neutral gray and white, but it also allows for comfortable lounging as a foot stool! If you haven't had the pleasure of sitting with your feet on an ottoman you had better get one - it is amazing! Although I usually sit on the chaise end of our couch for leg support, I do own a crafty upcycled footstool my mom and I made by upholstering and stuffing an overturned milk crate with denim (which, by the way looks great...and I should have taken a picture of for this post). Anyways, I got to thinking about how much I love homemade ottomans and thought I'd do a pinterest roundup of some of my favourite poufs! Let's go:

Pouf #1 - Knitted and orange! I love the textures, simplicity, and pop of bright color! Too bad I am not a master knitter...

Pouf #2 - Floral and sewn (and has a cat)! Similar to the chevron pouf I spotted above but with a completely differenet feel thanks to the change of fabric. I don't think the pattern would be that hard to make up and possibilities for colours and patterns is endless! Plus it has a cat! What's not to love?


Pouf #3 - Pom poms! Although substantially more difficult to clean this one combines the foot stool with one of my favourite crafts - the pom pom! Although I'm sure these ones are made from felt I think yarn poms would be an amazing addition to my living space. Just think of the texture! My legs/feet would be on brightly coloured bits of heaven each time I sat down! Oh my!


and Pouf #4 - Crocheted foot stool cover (with a bunny)! Not really a "pouf" so much as an ottoman with a granny square crocheted slip cover, but hey, they are all in the same family right? I love the pop of colour (again) with this one and how you could change it up to match your decor. I also really like the idea of skipping the ridiculous amount of stuffing you'd have to get for any of the above projects and instead just buy an old stool to recover! Hurrah for a more inexpensive project and an excuse to go thrift shopping! Plus it has a bunny! Eee!


So what do you think? Which is your favourite? Are you a foot stool user? Ever made a pouf?

DIY Billy Balls

As you may already know, I am a huge fan of pom poms. I've been meaning to make myself a pom pom bouquet (similar to this one I made Linds for her bday last March) but haven't found the time to get some yarn and make one! I know, it is a pretty simple project but I full of good intentions and less full of enthusiastic project completion skills (aren't we all? or is that just me?). Well - let's add yet another pom pom-esque project to the crafty to do list with these fantastic felt billy balls from Design Sponge:


Aren't they just wonderful? I first saw a vase full of craspedia (the cute yellow flowers this project is mimicking - also called billy balls or billy buttons) as part of another inspiring Room 6 display a while back and have been dreaming of them ever since! I really like the simplicity of this project. Heck, I've even had practice felting before when I decided to make my mom a crocheted and felted fortune cookie when I lived in Nelson! I am sure I can do this! Now to keep my eyes peeled for some yellow gold wool roving. Any suggestions on where I can get my hands on some? Anyone else up for a good craft project?

Oh! And happy July the 4th to all you Americans out there! Hope your day is full of cheery red, white, and blue goodness!

monday morning crafting

After my all too exhausting weekend I decided to whip up a quick craft this past monday. After finishing it I realized what a gigantic mess I'd made and thought I'd take a picture of it. Can you guess what my craft was?


No? I'll give you some hints - it involved the only pink yarn I could find (cotton stuff), some crafting tools smuggled across the border, and my new fantastically wonderful "recommended by the arthritis association" crafting scissors! Still guessing? Ok - probably not at this point...I'm not very sneaky and my crafts are fairly predictable...but here is another hint just in case:


So the cotton threw the texture off a bit.....but I'm sure you guessed it by now! Pom poms on sticks!


Hooray! A lovely pink bouquet of pom pom flowers for lindsay's bday! Perfectly matching her cute craft room in her fabulous apartment and certainly not at all saying "you've hit your mid 20's!" I've been wanting to make pom poms with my clover pom pom makers ever since I got them after xmas but boy craft show completely hogged all my spare time (darn that show!) I had plans to pom it up on the 27th (the day after the show was over and the day before lindsay's bday) but apparently my body would only let me sleep that day so they had to wait for monday. My verdicts on the craft project (list time!):

1) clover pom pom makers are the bomb (do people still say that?)

2) making cotton pom poms is sort of odd...they totally look like bath mat pom poms to me...

3) my new spring loaded crafting scissors are amazing on the hands! The arthritis association didn't lie - those babies are worth the investment!

4) I don't think our landlords have ever pruned the unruly trees in our front yard - making them ideal pom pom stem candidates!

and

5) I'm still totally in love with pom poms!

Yay! What a fun project and I'm glad you played along with my guessing (ok - lame attempt at guessing) game! What do you think? Are you going to make a pom bouquet? OoOOo! What should our next pom pom project be?

Martha's pom pom branches

About a year ago I posted a link to a fabulous tutorial showing you how to make your very own pom pom pussy willows! Lindsay and I fell in love with the project and although we haven't actually found time in the last year to execute this one - it is still pretty awesome:


To my surprise martha stewart's craft department recently did a similar project, this time by dying the pom poms! Take a peek:


How cool! I think lindsay and I will have to summon our inner resurrection fern and get dying! Now to find some branches that need to be pom'd! Just in time for lindsay's birthday too (ok, not actually in time, since it's today and I haven't started this project yet...) Happy bday linds!

why yes, we are the same person.

The other day my friend lindsay sent me a link to a project she saw in country living magazine over the holidays. As it turns out it is pretty much the same project I posted about yesterday (which was pre-scheduled very much before she sent me the link) with a few alterations. Take a peek:


Why hello there pom pom flowers! Made of actual pom poms! Ooo! Clover pom pom maker made pom poms (which I now own thanks to amazon.com)! I am definately going to have to execute this project now, especially because I wasn't entirely sure what I'd use to hold the pom poms up and those little sticks look wonderful! I'm sure this project will be all about the pom colours I use so I will have to brainstorm on that a bit. What do you think? Will pom pom flowers be the cool new thing of 2011? I'm betting on yes...

Friday Find: Berry Island

Let's start 2011 off right - with lots of pom poms! This friday find is the pomtastic decoration of the ultra talented berry island. Just check out the wondrous pink pom pom decor:


I may not be up to the crafting level of needle felting but I do adore the idea of pom pom flowers! No better way to add a pop of colour to a room and show off those vases that stay tucked away for most of the year! Double win! What do you think?

Friday Find: New Years Eve!

Can you believe that 2010 is almost over? And what a year it has been! This may even be my first year to sort of stick to my new years resolutions too! Let's take a moment to look back on how they went!

Resolution #1 - blog everyday


Woo! Looks like I actually did it! And today being the last day of 2010 I'd say that resolution was a success! Biggest lesson I learned on blogging? It is really hard to come up with something to blog about every day! I am so pleased that I managed to pull this one off and although I'm not promising a post a day for 2011, I will try to keep blogging regularly into this upcoming year as well. I'm also super stoked to have build up a bigger fan base with a wonderful 123 followers! A big thank you to each and everyone of you out there taking time out of your precious days to read (and even comment) on my crafty ramblings! Hooray for you!

Resolution #2 - break into craft shows


I definitely focused on this goal and ended up doing a whole plethora of craft shows this year! I started out doing a small show in kelowna last may which stemmed into a summer full of bizarre bazaars and the ultra successful fabulous finds show (pictured above)! I had so much fun meeting customers and making sales and am so pleased to have started the craft sale side of selling! I'm hoping to continue on with this trend for next year and maybe even work in a few more consignment shops to keep a steady flow of money coming in! Woo!

Resolution #3 - banjo


Well...I think I'll give myself a half check for this one since I did manage to purchase a banjo (and such a pretty one at that) but haven't found time to really get into playing it. I did however see a whole slew of amazing banjo performances for added inspiration though! That counts right? Maybe 2011 will be better for my banjo success...

Now as far as my goals for 2011, here is what I am aiming for this year:

1) get my sketchbook project done! and posted! I've got 14 days left! Ack! (but at least I've started it now)

2) continuted craftiness! I'd love to work into a few new products, a fuller etsy shop, more craft shows and consignment and continued crafty success!

3) attempt to figure out the rest of my life (eep) and general good health choices cliche. I'm doubtful on this one...but I'd like to put it in there for good measure...

and

4) more pom poms! woohoo! (It just couldn't be a new year without a few poms...)

What do you think? Any of my resolutions actually manageable? How did your 2010 goals turn out? and what are you planning for 2011! Oh (and most importantly) what would you like to see from me to keep you reading my blog? *sigh* Farewell 2010! See you all next year!