Who isn’t sick right now?
Good heavens, there is something going around and it’s brutal. It’s taking us all down one-by-one.
I have a friend who was fine one day and then didn’t move from her bed for three days. It’s coughing, fever, stuffy nose, cloudy head, the whole shebang.
This situation called for a care package.
I went to good ol’ Target and loaded up on all the things that are essential when you are sick:
- Chicken noodle soup
- Vitamin C
- Zinc
- Coconut water
- Tea
- Cozy mug
- Hand sanitizer
- Tissues
Of course, you can go all out and add in a blanket, cough drops, ibuprofen, chapstick, a good book, a movie, fuzzy socks, magazines or anything else you love to have nearby when you’re feeling under the weather. No matter what you choose, it’s the sentiment that matters.
Stay well, friends!
Tips on supplies:
The little bin, the filler, Airborne and the hand sanitizer was found in the deal bins right when you walk inside Target. The travel section is perfect for additional items like tissues. I made a stop at Michael’s and happened upon the chalkboard stakes in the dollar bins. God bless dollar bins. It worked like a charm.
I love to crochet. Nana taught me when I was really little. Back then I just made crochet chains. Loooooong crocheted chains. I continued to crochet through the years making lots and lots of afghans, but got bored with those. Seriously, how many afghans do you really need? Unfortunately my pattern reading skills are fair at best, and my knowledge of crochet stitches beyond the basics are limited, so I’ve really never advanced past beginner projects.
My sister mentioned she’d love to have some crocheted snowflakes for her tree. The ones that had been passed down through the family that she’d been putting on her tree in the past were falling apart. I decided there’s no time like the present to advance my crocheting skills, and went in search of some snowflake patterns. There are a ton of free patterns out there, but good LORD! I can’t tell you how many I started, then ripped out.
After a lot of frustration, I finally landed on five that worked for me. My end result may not look perfect, but I felt pretty accomplished when I had finished. For the most part they were really easy to do, and my sister loved them! They don’t take long, and once you’ve got the pattern down, you can whip through them pretty quickly. They’d make a great handmade Christmas gift. I’ve shared the instructions with you below.
Good luck and happy crocheting!
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*For all of the snowflakes below, I used white 100% Cotton Crochet thread – size 3 weight 1 (Super Fine), and a Size 8 (1.50mm) crochet hook*
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Snowflake #1
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Instructions:
Ch 6, join with a sl st to form ring
- Rnd 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in ring. Sl st in first sc.
- Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in first st, (ch 3, sc in next sc) 11 times; hdc in first sc to join and form last loop – 12 ch-3 spaces
- Rnd 3: Ch 1, sc over hdc, *(2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next space**, sc in next space; repeat from * around, ending last repeat at **; join with sl st in first sc.
- Rnd 4: Ch 4, sl st in same st as joining, *ch 2, (sc, ch 3, sc, ch 5, sc, ch 3, sc) in next ch-3 space, ch 2**, (sl st, ch 4, sl st) in next sc; repeat from * around, ending last repeat at **; join with sl st in sl st of last round. End.
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Snowflake #2
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Instructions:
Ch 8, sl st in first ch to form ring.
- Rnd 1: Ch 7dc in ring, (ch 5, dc in ring) 4 times, ch 5, sl st in 2nd ch of ch 7–6 sps.
- Rnd 2: Sl st in next lp, ch 4 (counts as 1 tr); holding back last lp of each tr on hook, make 3 tr in ch-5 lp, yo and through 4 lps on hook (4 tr cluster), *ch 9, 4 tr cluster in next lp, repeat from * 4 times, ch 9, sl st in top of first cluster.
- Rnd 3: * Ch 7, sl st in 4th ch from hook for picot, ch 9, sl st in 4th ch from hook for picot, ch 3, sl st in top of cluster; in ch-9 lp work sc, hdc, 4 dc, hdc, sc, sl st in top of next cluster, repeat from * around, end sl st in sl st at beg of rnd. End.
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Snowflake #3
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Instructions:
Ch 7, sl st in first ch to form ring
- Rnd 1: Ch 6, (dc in ring ch 3) 7 times, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 6–8 sps.
- Rnd 2: Sl st in next sp; ch 3, 2 dc in sp, (ch 3, 3 dc in next sp) 7 times, ch 3, sl st in top first ch 3.
- Rnd 3: Ch 7, sk 1 dc, dc in next dc, * ch 4, dc in next dc, ch 4, sk 1 dc, dc in next dc, repeat from * around, end ch 4, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 7.
- Rnd 4: Sl st in first sp, ch 4, 2 tr in same sp, ch 4, sc in 4th ch from hook for picot, sl st in last tr, 2 tr in same sp, ch 3, sc in next sp, *ch 3, 3 tr, picot, 2 tr in next sp, ch 3, sc in next sp, repeat from * around, end ch 3, sl st in top of ch 4. End.
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Snowflake #4
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Instructions:
Ch 6, join with sl st to form ring
- Rnd 1: Ch 5 (counts as 1 tr and 2 ch), (1 tr into ring, 2 ch) 5 times, sl st to 3rd of 5 ch at beginning of rnd.
- Rnd 2: Sl st into first ch sp, ch 3 (counts as 1 tr), tr4tog into same ch sp, (ch 7, tr5tog into next ch sp) 5 times, ch 3, 1 dtr into top of first tr4tog.
- Rnd 3: Ch 1 (does not count as st), 3 dc into ch sp partly formed by dtr at end of previous rnd, (ch 9, 3 dc into next ch sp) 5 times, ch 8, 1 dc into top of first dc.
- Rnd 4: Ch 3 (counts as first leg of first tr3tog), tr2tog working first leg into center dc of first 3 dc group and second leg into first ch after 3 dc group, *ch 2, miss 1 ch, 1 tr into next ch, ch 2, miss 1 ch, (1 tr, ch 3, 1 tr) into next ch, ch 2, miss 1 ch, 1 tr into next ch, ch 2, miss 1 ch, tr3tog working first leg into next ch, second leg into central dc of next 3 dc group, and third leg into first ch after 3 dc group; rep from * 4 more times, (ch 2, miss 1 ch, 1 tr into next ch) twice, 18 ch, 1 dc into 16th ch from hook, 1 dc into next ch, 1 ch, 1 tr into same ch as last tr, ch 2, miss 1 ch, 1 tr into next ch, ch 2, miss 1 ch, sl st to top of first tr2tog. End.
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Snowflake #5
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Instructions:
Ch 7, sl st in first ch to form ring
- Rnd 1: (Sc in ring, ch 2, dc in ring, ch 2) 6 times. Sl st in first sc.
- Rnd 2: Sl st in first 2 ch, sl st in dc, ch 3, dc in same dc, (ch 3, sc in next sc, ch 3, 2 dc in next dc) 5 times, ch 3, sc in next sc, ch 3, sl st in top of first ch 3.
- Rnd 3: Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), dc in next dc, (ch 4, sc in next sc, ch 4, dc in each of 2 dc) 5 times, ch 4, sc in next sc, ch 4, sl st in top of ch 3.
- Rnd 4: Ch 3, dc in next dc, (ch 5, sc in next sc, ch 5, dc in each of 2 dc) 5 times, ch 5, sc in next sc, ch 5, sl st in top of ch 3.
- Rnd 5: Ch 3, dc in next dc, (ch 7, sc in next sc, ch 7, dc in each of 2 dc) 5 times, ch 7, sc in next sc, ch 7, sl st in top of ch 3.
- Rnd 6: Ch 3, dc in next dc, (ch 9, sc in next sc, ch 9; holding back last lp of each dc, dc in each of the next 2 dc, yo hook and through 3 lps on hook) 5 times, ch 9, sc in next sc, ch 9, sl st in first dc. End.
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Finishing Snowflakes
To stiffen snowflakes, mix one part glue with one part water in a medium bowl. Stir until smooth. Submerge a snowflake in the mixture, then squeeze out excess liquid, lay the snowflake on a towel or corkboard. Shape it and pin it into place. Sprinkle with white glitter and let dry.
If you have any questions, you can comment below, or feel free to contact us by email: inbox (at) organizedchaosonline (dot) com.
As with the way I do everything, I don’t take action until it’s crunch time. We’re hosting Thanksgiving, and for two weeks I’ve been thinking of ways I’d like to decorate. I’ve been laz-ing through Pinterest getting ideas, and even made a collage of ideas so I could print it and look it over when I was done working for the day and kicked back relaxing. Therein lies the problem. I work from home, and the past two weeks we’ve been slammed. There IS no “done working” nor was there any “kick-back” time or relaxing.
So here it is, two days before Thanksgiving and I just finished making my decorations…which means my decorations are done, but my house is trashed. When I’m crafting, I apparently like to involve every room in my house. Downstairs for supplies, office floor for assembly, haul it all to the living room to see how it looks, lay my project on the kitchen table to rummage through the house looking for more supplies, stack unused supplies at the top of the stairs to go down, well…you get the picture.
Here I sit with my grocery list still to be made, the house to clean, hours of work still to do, and this blog to finish that I wanted to share with those of you who have just realized you’re running out of time and need to make your house somewhat Thanksgiving-y before your guests show up. Use this quick tutorial for ideas. What I’ve done doesn’t have to be what you do. I used what I had in my craft room. All these projects should cost you is the time you decide you want to put into them. Improvise with what you have. Substitute, burlap for fabric, duct tape for a Sharpie, and come up with your own version of this last-minute DIY Thanksgiving decor.
Table Runner
Supplies:
- Burlap
- Black duct tape
- Black Sharpie
- Ruler
- Foamboard (2 pieces)
- Pins
[spacer]Measure how long and wide you want your table runner. Roll out your burlap. I needed mine to be 60″ long. Burlap slips and slides around a bit, so to be able to work on mine, I butted two foam boards end to end, and pinned my burlap to them. It kept it from shifting and I was able to work on the whole runner instead of a section at a time.
Measure and mark where you want to put your tape. For my design, I found the center of the tape, then ripped it the length of my measured amount. For my middle stripe, I ripped one of the halves down the middle, then I ripped one of those in half for the thinnest stripe.
[spacer]Start sticking your tape on your runner using the lines you marked as a guide. NOTE: After this picture was taken, I replaced the thin bottom stripe with the widest one, then worked my way toward the center, adding the medium sized one, then the thinnest.
[spacer]In the corners I knocked the dust off a stencil I’ve had like forever, and colored the design in with a Sharpie. I saw a similar table runner on Pinterest and they had stenciled words along the side.I loved the look! This time I used duct tape just for the sake of saving time, but If I make another one, I’ll Sharpie some words along the side in cursive, and also color the lines in with Sharpie. To Finish: Pull strings away from the sides to ‘fray’ the edges.
Mantle Banner
Supplies:
- Burlap (cut in rectangles)
- Patterned scrapbook paper
- Solid color scrapbook paper
- Glue gun
- Pins
- Ruler
- Black extra wide bias tape
- Twine
- Buttons
- Stick-on letters
- Black acrylic craft paint
- Stiff bristled paintbrush
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Decide what size you want your banner and how many letters you’ll require for the words you’ll use. Cut enough burlap pieces for your letters, allowing another inch to the square heights to allowing for turning over. Decide the size of your patterned square and cut that amount. Finally, measure and cut your solid paper squares that you’ll stick your letters on. My measurements were: Burlap squares: 5’x6-1/2″ Patterned: 3-1/2″x4-1/2″ Solid: 2-3/4″x3″.I ended up cutting down the width of my squares after I eyeballed them on my mantle and realized the banner would be way too wide. Our mantle is fairly small, and I would have had to attach one end in the dining room! Okay, I’m embellishing a bit, but be sure to pin everything and give it a dry run before you start wielding your glue gun.[spacer]
To get the edges of your solid paper to have a vintage look, lay your square on some scratch paper. Dip the end of your brush in a very little amount of paint. Brush your brush back and forth over the scratch paper until most of the paint is off your brush. Holding your brush at an angle, press down as you brush against the edge of your square. (You’ll get a feel for how hard to brush and how much paint to use as you go to get the amount of shading you want). You might want to do a practice square until you get the look you’re after. [spacer]
Stick your letters onto your solid colored squares. Glue your solid squares onto your patterned squares. Glue your patterned square onto your burlap rectangle, leaving room at the top to fold the top edge down. Glue underneath the top edge of your burlap and fold it down, pressing and creasing the flap until it dries.[spacer]
To Finish: Center your squares on the black bias tape. When you have them where you want them, open the tape and glue the back of the squares onto the bottom half of the tape. Glue the top of the squares and fold the tape over them. Embellish with buttons, twine, etc.
Candle Jar Wraps
Supplies:
- Rubberized shelf liner
- Buttons
- Twine
- Glue gun
- Burlap pieces
- Coffee beans
- Scrapbook paper
- Black paper
- Epsom salt
- Glass containers + two glass votives
- Tealights
- Branches
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Wrap shelf liner around candle jar to get the measurement for cutting. Allow for the liner to have an overlap on the front. Cut the liner, then cut a small piece of burlap the same width as your liner (this will be glued to the end of the overlap). [spacer]
Glue burlap piece to underside of liner end. Glue buttons to top of liner. Scotch tape one end of the liner to your container (to keep it from slipping), then wrap the liner around the glass. Glue the underside of the overhang and push it against the liner. Fill container with coffee beans, push the glass votive into beans, and add a tealight. [spacer]
For Center Container:
Cut thin piece of shelf liner long enough to wrap around your glass container and glue it on itself. Wrap twine twice around the liner then tie in a knot leaving ends long. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper the side you want. Cut a piece of the black paper slightly larger. Cut a small strip of burlap that will extend past both edges. Glue the burlap onto the black paper. Glue the scrapbook paper over the burlap onto the black paper. Punch a hole through the corner of the paper and thread one of the strings from one side and one from the other side through the hole. Now thread one of the strings through one of the button holes, and one string from the other side through the other button-hole. Pull the strings to snug them up against the paper, then tie a bow. Trim the string where you want them. Fill the container with Epsom salts, then push branches into the salt.
Another couple quick ideas…
Glue strips of lace around a candle. I love the patterns it makes on the walls. Easy peasy![spacer]
Open a Word document. Type a few words that say what Thanksgiving means to you. Randomly change the font color. Copy and paste the words to the end of the page, then choose full justify. Print on colored cardstock, then frame. There you go. I hope these ideas will help get your creative juices flowing.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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This mug is massive! I was trying to come up with a simple DIY gift for my aunt a little while back. She always ends a conversation with, “I love you more than my luggage.” I think this is just so cute of her. There are gifts you can buy with the saying but I still wanted it to be more personal…and a little funny. I’m rarely serious. My aunt loves coffee. If a 12 oz. mug works for most, a 48 oz. mug is MUCH better! I just made that last measurement up. I have no idea how big this mug is. Big. That’s all I know.
My skills do not include painting on ceramic. Oh wait, they don’t even include painting. What a great idea this is. Geez.
Supplies:
- Mug (Michaels has the giant ones but even the dollar store has options)
- Ceramic Paint Kit (Michaels)
- Paintbrushes (Michaels – get a great artists brush, not a watercolor brush, silly)
- Pencil (for tracing)
- Coffee (optional. I put a bag of Starbucks in the mug…still with plenty of extra room)
With zero knowledge, little talent and instructions on the back of my paint kit, I went to town. Everything I needed to know was on this handy dandy yellow background. I found an image online that was similar to what I wanted so I just started winging it. It was super-easy and I was so happy with how it turned out.
- Found image
- Used a pencil to trace a basic outline
- Filled in the tracing and added a few extra touches (and covered up mistakes)
While you might not opt for a giant mug, you could pick up some of your favorite colors and styles and create a personalized gift for a housewarming party, a mug swap or just because you want a super-rad mug.
I first “met” Haddy from House of Creative Designs last Christmastime on Instagram. It’s a crazy social media world we live in. Haddy was always doing some amazingly cute things with her Elf on the Shelf and I was getting into it at the same time. We just started chatting and have been in touch for a year, now. Since that time, Haddy has officially created House of Creative Designs and has an incredible eye for design (something I do not have) and is so stinking creative. When I saw her DIY Outdoor Movie Night, I asked if she’d be willing to do a guest post.
Friends, meet Haddy. Haddy, meet our friends. Let’s begin, shall we?
First of all let me say this was super fun and I’m absolutely doing this again. My guests all loved it and demanded that we have one monthly. The bonus was how inexpensive and easy it was to create. It took just ONE WEEK to prepare.
SUPPLIES:
- PROJECTOR
- SCREEN
- SEATING
- SNACKS
- DECOR
- EMBELLISHMENTS & FUN TOUCHES
PROJECTOR
I literally had less than a week to make our very first “Outdoor Movie Night” happen. So the first thing you need is going to be a projector. We lucked out and just borrowed one from My aunt’s office and hooked it up to my laptop, then used some computer speakers to amplify the sound (optional). If you don’t have the same luck and would like to invest in a projector, I have seen some pretty good deals on Overstock.com and Amazon for about $200. The other option is renting. There are several online AV rentals companies and they typically charge around $55-$90 for a weekend.
SCREEN
The next main staple you’ll need is a screen. You don’t need anything fancy and you don’t need to spend a lot of money. Just head over to your linen closet or thrift store and dig out a stain free white sheet and iron it. You can also use a fabric shower curtain, drape panel, or a tablecloth – which is what I used. I used strong clips to hang it from the gutter off of the roof line but you can also run rope or heavy duty fish line or clip it to a fence.
SEATING
For seating, a mixture of blankets, pillows and chairs will give your guests options.I would suggest writing instructions on your invites for guests to “Bring your own lawn chair”.
SNACKS
Now for the fun stuff. Of course, movie night is not complete without popcorn. Why not a popcorn bar! Remember people like options and popcorn is cheap! To create this, I used an existing tablecloth and bought a couple of yards of burlap (cost less than $10) and threw that on top. I wanted my popcorn bar to be rustic and a bit vintage so I incorporated an old create and wire basket and made a wood popcorn sign. (more on the popcorn flavors under EMBELLISHMENTS & FUN TOUCHES)
DÉCOR
The popcorn sign was also pretty inexpensive to make just using some old wood, nails, rope to hang it from the fence and paint. I wanted a bit of a wow factor so I decided to add little lights along the center of all the letters by drilling holes as evenly spaced as possible. I stuck the light bulbs through the holes and taped them down on the backside of the sign. This was my rustic approach to the DIY marquee sign.
EMBELLISHMENTS & FUN TOUCHES
Some of the staples you’ll need to pull off the popcorn bar are:
…for the popcorn. This is where the Dollar tree comes in. They actually sell all the “Popcorn” labeled bags and plastic containers. They even have big serving bowl sizes to match. I, again, like to give my guests options. So I had some pre-filled bags of buttered popcorn for those who didn’t want to scoop their own. I put them in glass jars and a DIY sack (which was just a paper grocery bag I lined with butcher paper with burlap and twine wrapped around the outside).
The flavors of popcorn I went with were:
- Butter popcorn
- Chile lime popcorn
- Moose Munch (recipe HERE)
I had to add a jar of red vines – another movie staple. My bar was made to feed 15 people. For a larger group, I would suggest adding another couple of containers and a third savory flavor like cheese flavored popcorn. We also had other treats for guests to snack on like 7 layer bean dip served in individual cups and little finger foods.
That’s it. Just start the movie and tell everyone to be quiet. A last minute fun touch I wanted to add was a chalkboard with the movie(s) that were playing. You can pick up a piece of plywood at Lowes for cheap and some chalkboard paint. Just remember when using chalkboard paint you need to make it 2-3 days before you intend to write on it.
If you like what House of Creative Designs has to offer, check out their other cool inspiration pieces and Etsy store. Like them on Facebook for more.
My son has been a total butthead lately. Yes, I meant to write that. No, I’m not sorry. It’s amazing how you can love someone so much your heart feels like it’s going to burst into a million pieces but at the same time can feel so frustrated by their actions. My son started kindergarten and has been telling his teacher that he’s too tired to work on his writing. I’m talking a full-on debate. Thankfully, his teacher is amazing and doesn’t play his games. My son may be tired by the end of the day but what on EARTH are you thinking telling your teacher that?
In an effort to get my son on track (without nagging), we created a magnet chart together.
Why not stickers?
I didn’t want to make one thing and be able to use it for just one purpose. I wanted to be able to add to, take from and edit when the mood strikes. Plus, this won’t be the only time my son will be in need of some sort of reward system.
This board lives on our refrigerator and it was the EASIEST thing to make. Plus, it cost us less than 10 for everything.
- Magnetic whiteboard. We found ours at the grocery store in the clearance back to school items. Don’t pay a ton for it.
- Decorative buttons. I used wire clippers to clip the loop off each button to make the back flat.
- Magnets. I hot glued these to the back of the decorative buttons as well as the whiteboard (if no magnets are already there)
- Wet Erase. These are dry erase pens that flow like liquid chalk pens. They are vibrant and are easier to read.
Each great report sent home from my son’s teacher earns one magnet. 10 magnets equals a toy. We are four days into this whole project. As you can see, we’re at two magnets.
I need a drink.
