Banner crazy!!!!

So at my work the library got rid of all these old books, stacks and stacks of them, and crafter that I am I could not just let them get "recycled" aka shredded.  I literally have stacks of books waiting for a purpose sitting on the dining room floor.  I wanted to find something fun and easy to do with them so I could get some immediate gratification to make up for the scary hoarder scene taking place in my home.  I found this idea on Pinterest (where else?) and started with an old book.

We decided we liked them so much we would hang them willy nilly (that is a real academic term I am sure) around the house.

 

I loved them so much that next I used a Chinese newspaper I found.  Then it was the wrapping paper from one of my birthday gifts and some carnival tickets. 

  

After that I tried paint chips since we had stocked up at Lowe's last night.

All I did was cut out diamond shapes, fold them over the string and stitch them close together so as not to waste thread, and then cut the threads between them when done and hang.  Super easy.  Ayla says it looks like we are having a circus at home but I think there could be worse things!

Girls' sewing party!

There is so little time to blog about all the amazing projects lately.  I guess I would rather be a crafter than a blogger but people always ask me "how did you do that?" so I'm trying.  Last week my friend Jane brought her girls over for crafty grrrl day and we made my favorite layered fabric cuffs again.  What I try to do when teaching others is to give them the basic idea and let them run with it.

Everyone has their own vision of how to use materials and they did their cuffs in ways that would not have occurred to me.  I found myself wanting to control it, especially when Jane decided to cut one of my old hand-crocheted doilies in half, but that isn't how we make art, right?
 

Jane's cuff using half of an old, stained doily

The girls were very excited when they discovered they could finish two of these things in an hour, once they got the hang of it.  They were much more spontaneous in choosing materials than I am.  it was admirable.

Ananda's cuff

Ayla's cuff

Maia's cuff

Notice I didn't take time to make one.  I was supervising proper use of my good scissors and sewing machine turn taking etiquette.  Next time we do this I need to set up an extra machine for sure.  It was a satisfying day to watch my friends and the girls really get into playing with fabric.