"Fri-Yay"!!

 I know I have posted before about my obsession with Fridays! Even though I am no longer working and can pretty much do as I want on any day of the week, Friday still has that "hold" on me. You know, that "I made it through another week and now it is my time to do just as I want" kind of feeling!! Of course, if you're already retired, you don't even have to wait for the work day to be over...you can start your time as early as you want! Lol

And so, that is pretty much how yesterday went. Of course, I couldn't start until I had finished sitting in front of my computer and phone once again hoping to win a spot in the Covid-19 lottery...to no avail yet again but that is for another story.

In any case, once I could straighten up after the long time sitting, I got going on "my day". If you are a follower of this blog, you know how much I love crafting...and even more so in these days of semi-isolation. Crafting has kept me busy and excited as the days all seem to blend together. Since I had to run out for some groceries, I hit a few craft stores and loaded up on supplies for some new ideas I had just seen.

You can probably get an idea about what I will be making and, of course, I had to grab a few more spring flowers along the way. 

I started with the St. Pat's leprechaun shoe that I saw on "The Silver Farmhouse". In the past, most craft blogs have pretty much ignored St. Pat's crafts but, this year, I guess they are getting a lot of comments from people who decorate for the holiday and they are doing a much better job of coming up with new ideas. Since it really is hard to find cute new ideas, if I see one I think I can use in any way, I usually give it a try.

This turned out to be a super easy, super fast craft. I simply downloaded the pattern from her site, cut it out, glued it shut and stuffed it a bit.

Most of these craft bloggers do not sew their projects because they are trying to speak to the largest audience they can and, I guess gluing is more accessible to most. I am not a fan of hot glued, fabric crafts but, I knew if I sewed this I still didn't want to turn the project because it would have involved too much pattern manipulation to get the right details and this was supposed to be fun! I also could have sewn it and not turned it but, for whatever reason, I kind of liked the edge the hot glue gave. Yes, you did have to be super careful not to use too much glue lest it "smoosh" out the edges and, because felt usually has discrepancies in thickness, the glue shows more in some spots than others but, it is after all just a leprechaun shoe so, the show goes on.

Once I got to this point, it was simply a matter of embellishments. There were so many ways to go but I kept it simple. I just printed a St. Pats image, backed it, made it into a hang tag and tied it on to the twine and gold ribbon that I had tied around the top of the shoe. I thought it still needed a little "zshooshing" so I rummaged through one of my St. Pat's Rubbermaids and found some shamrocks that were up for grabs.

I'm not sure where this will end up but, it was fun.

And then it was on to Easter and an idea I got from "The Crafty Decorator" (who happens to be the sister of The Silver Farmhouse and The Shabby Tree bloggers ). Of course, I couldn't find a grapevine cone or a paper mache' cone as recommended but she did mention a styrofoam cone and I was able to find one of those. It also called for a half sphere shape and I decided to use a green one from the floral section so, just in case I didn't get my greenery all filled in, it wouldn't be as visible-more on that later.

I did cut the cone down a bit on both ends because I thought it would turn out way too large-that was a good call on my part.

I used my hot glue gun set on "cool" so the glue didn't melt the styrofoam as much and covered the bottom with the yarn. Then, it was a super easy job of just twisting the yarn around the cone making sure to cover it well. The yarn actually clung to the styrofoam so I only added a dab of glue every so often.

When I got close to the top, I glued on the half round and this is where my super fast, super easy project took a turn. I don't know of it was because the green foam wasn't as "clingy" or of it was because I was now going over a round shape but, no matter how careful I was, the glue was running out, the yarn wasn't sticking, the glue was all over my fingers (ouch!) so, even if I was finally able to manipulate the yarn where I wanted it, it would then stick to my fingers and lift off as soon as I let go....and on and on. Some choice words may or may not have been said. I decided to keep going and, if it looked as bad as it did right now after I was done, I could maybe just give it all a second wrap with the yarn. Luckily, I was able to clean it up good enough that, once I had wrapped it with the eyelash yarn, it looked fine.

I will say that I had a moment of trepidation at this point because I wasn't sure I had cut enough off of that cone...this is one big carrot. When I held up the bunny head, it looked way too small and I started adding up just how much this cutie had cost because I really thought I would be trashing it...or, at the very least, looking for something larger to pop into it. But, I persevered and I am so glad I did because I absolutely love this thing! I still have it hanging amidst all of the Valentine decor and can't stop walking by just to take another peek at it!

After that much fun, it was time for lunch followed by the first of the Valentine goodies I wanted to get done. Tomorrow I will do the rest and get everything packaged up pretty to deliver to the grand kids here in town. I will say that it was hot yesterday and, I probably should have put these cookies in the fridge for a bit after I scooped them. They are usually much smaller and thicker than this but I'm sure they will taste just as yummy.

 I hope everyone has a beautiful Valentine's Day. I will be back soon and when I am I will surely be smiling ear-to-ear as I will be on to all things green! Stay safe and stay tuned.