Under Construction

This site is under construction. Look for our grand unveiling 1-3-10!!

Have a joyous holiday season!

Garden Pictures

While I am working on the new layout, ideas, etc. for Angry Pincushion, my cousin John has suggested I post some nature pictures. Great idea John! Photography is one of my favorite hobbies, and I love to share my photos with others. So here are some pictures taken in my very own backyard...and maybe some in the front yard.

The End...Or A New Beginning ?

The Angry Pincushion craft blog as we..or I..know it is dead. Yes, dead. I have some ideas to rework this blog into something new but we'll see how it pans out. Why have I decided not to continue with the crafts blog ? Here a just a few reasons-

1. Too time consuming-I hadn't realized just how much time it takes to not only come up with an idea, then create it, write down instructions, photograph it, and then blog about it.
2. It costs too much!-Being unemployed at the moment I cannot afford to constantly be going to the craft store to get new supplies, plus even though I have a nice digi camera it doesn't photograph the craft projects as well as I would like. I noticed that most craft blogs that have a large following use expensive cameras and Photoshop, or a similar photo editor.
   
3. Very little or no feedback from readers (if I had any!)-I do know my brother, wonderful friend Kim and the awesome Alaskan Dave would occasionally read my blog and comment but other than that I received very little in the way of comments, or any other type of feedback. At one point in time I posted a poll to see how many responses I'd get, I thought maybe it would be a good way of gaging my readership, I think I got two votes...and one of them was me.
   

As much as I'd love to continue this blog it just isn't worth my time...like I stated above I have considered reworking this site into something a little different but we'll see. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at sproutedwings@gmail.com.

Temporary Delay

Due to daily severe weather and hail we've been having here my project has been somewhat ruined...but I am in the process of fixing it and will finish the post by Thursday! Thanks for your patience!

The Kitchen Sink Planter, Part 1

Recession Proof Craft #1::Kitchen Sink Planter: Cost- Around ten dollars


I've had an old sink laying around for a few years now, I couldn't decide what to do with it. I didn't want to trash it, yet we couldn't use it in the house. A few months ago after finding an old faucet in the basement that didn't work either, I came up with a plan for both. Planting the basin with blue flowers to look like water and beading floral wire to insert into the broken faucet to imitate running water! I know it doesn't look like much in these pictures but this is just the first stage. Since this tutorial is pretty long I'm breaking it up into two installments.

Materials-

• An old sink-FREE
• A broken faucet-FREE
• Floral Wire Stems or Floral Wire-1 $ (for a package of floral stems)
  
• Beads in shades of blue, Teal, and Clear-Around 5 $
  
• Wire Cutters
• Dirt
• Blue Flowers-About 5$

Assembly-

1. Find a spot in your yard for the sink. After finding a spot, place the sink either on some bricks or dig a hole to place it in so it is flush with the ground.
   
2. Clean the sink off if it needs it, a squirt with the hose will do
3. Pour potting soil or dirt from your yard into the basin of the sink.
4. Add flowers, I used Lobelia in shades of blue and white to resemble water.

Second Installment will be posted Monday.

Recession Proof Crafting

If you are like most people in the country nowadays you are on a much tighter budget, I know I am! My new budget has left me with very little money to spend on hobbies, especially crafting. So I have been extra creative with my crafts lately, using things I already have around the house or using very inexpensive supplies. So with my second blogging wind (does that make sense ?) I am starting a series of "Recession Proof Crafts"...I'm sure someone has already done it but what the heck! Look for the first thrifty craft tomorrow! Happy Friday everyone! :)

By the way...
The Angry Pincushion is being featured today on Zakka Life for "Facebook Fan Friday's"!! YAY!

Blogging Hiatus

Maybe you've noticed, (maybe you haven't) that I've taken a slight blogging hiatus. I've been struggling with the idea that I have to compete with other "fancier" craft blogs, something that came to my attention when I started this blog about nine months ago.

My life has also been quite hectic as of late and hasn't allowed me the time or more so the money to craft. I've decided to give blogging another shot in hopes that this time around I can attract more of an audience and can improve my blogging skills, I'm still learning!

Teeny Tiny Terrarium

I have long been fascinated with terrariums, and as I've mentioned before, tiny things. Leading me to create this little gem. Technically it's not a "real" terrarium since the Peat Moss inside won't grow, but when I was finished with it it looked so much like a little terrarium to me! My crafty mission since Earth Day was to use only recycled bits and pieces for my craft projects, so everything in this project, except for the tiny doe is being upcycled! This project is not only cute and eco-friendly, but it is exceedingly simple too!

You'll need:

• A bottle cap
• The top from a gum-ball machine plastic prize ball
• Peat Moss
• Craft Glue
• A small animal or trinket, I chose to use a HO Scale (Train Scale) deer.
  

1. Glue a very small amount of Peat Moss into the bottle cap. As seen below. Let that dry for a little while so it doesn't move around while you are gluing down your little deer.

2. Using your craft glue again put a good sized drop of glue on the moss (below) to glue your teeny deer down. Position your deer in the glue. Let dry for about an hour.

3. Put a bead of glue all around the bottom edge of the the top of plastic gum-ball machine capsule and a glue around the ridge of the bottle cap. Press the capsule onto the cap, make sure you use enough glue to hold the two together. Let it all dry overnight before placing into a plant or some other perfect place for displaying tiny things. OR! If you have a larger terrarium why not have a terrarium inside a terrarium ?

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

This salad is so good it should be called yummy salad x 2. It's a variation of a salad my Mom used to make, I just added a few different ingredients and subtracted some ingredients I don't care for. I invite you to do the same, add and subtract to create your own yummy-ful masterpiece!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Rotini pasta
• 1/2 a bottle to a whole bottle of Kraft Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette (depending on how much you like salad dressing ).
• 1 can black Olives, left whole or chopped.
• 1 small plastic carton of Cherry Tomatoes, left whole or chopped in half.
  
• 1/2 an Onion diced.
• 1 Cucumber diced.
• Salt
• Pepper

How to prepare:

1. Fill a large pot with water, salt the water. Bring the water to a boil and add pasta. Cook the pasta until Al Dente. Put a large Colander in the sink and dump pasta into it to drain the water. Run cold water over the pasta while it is still in the Colander. Make sure to drain all the water from the pasta then pour it into a large mixing bowl. Salt and pepper it to your liking and toss it to mix.
   
2. Wash all the vegetables and dice them. Drain the black Olives and chop them. Add vegetables and Olives to the pasta, toss together well.
3. Add the Sun-Dried Tomato dressing to the mixture and toss well again. Taste a noodle to make sure you put the right amount of salad dressing on. Start off putting very little in, after all you can always add more, but you can't take it back out!
4. Enjoy your salad, make sure to keep it refrigerated and it should stay good for about a week.
   

Domo-kun Marshmallows

I just found this website recently called Anna The Red's Bento factory. If you don't know what Bento is I advise you go take a look at her blog, you'll be just as fascinated as I was when I first saw it! When I saw this tutorial for Domo-kun Marshmallows on her site I almost wet my pants with excitement...I mean who doens't love Domo-kun ?

I have been working on some Domo-kun cookies and hope to post the how-to for those someday soon. I seem to have a back up of projects, and even though it's been a couple of months I'm still getting the hang of this blogging thing...who knows, someday I might even have an audience! ;P

Happy Earth Day!

Craft supplies

I can remember when I was in grade school and first found out about Earth Day, I was the only one I knew of who celebrated it. It is so refreshing now days to see so many people celebrating and participating in Earth Day festivities! I have decided to challenge myself over the next couple of weeks to use nothing but "junk" for my craft projects, as seen above! I hope you too challenge yourself to start thinking twice before you throw things out!


I also thought I'd share some great upcycling projects I've found on the web. I in the mean time am still working on upcycling my Grandpa's bowling ball. I've been so darn busy lately my crafting has fallen behind.

Light bulb Vase

This awesome upcycling project is from the Cut Out + Keep craft forum. Using an old light bulb and turning it into a cute little vase!

Very Stealthy Hide-a-Key

This creative project comes from Zakka Life, a great blog I check regularly for nifty ideas. This hide-a-key is a unique way to use all those old pill bottles or vitamin bottles instead of just throwing them into the land fills.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Fuzzy Cupcake!

Cupcake and kitties

I came up with the idea for this cute little fuzzy cupcake one day while rummaging through my large collection of pom-poms. For some reason I have a strange fascination with cute little furry things...this of course includes craft pom-poms, so I've acquired quite a few. Another thing I have a slight obsession with is cupcakes, so naturally bringing the two loves together you get a tiny, fuzzy cupcake!

Oh, and excuse my wrinkly sheet for the backdrop. Since I don't have the most sophisticated photography equipment I've been trying new things to enhance my pictures and I've found that a white background definitely helps...you should just make sure you IRON that white background first! :)

The"Ingredients"

You'll Need-

• A large pom-pom, for the cupcake
  
• A small red pom-pom, for the cherry
  
• A mini-cupcake baking cup (found with the regular baking cups at most stores)
  
• Craft glue (I use Aleene's)'

Steps:

1. Put a dollop of glue at the bottom of the mini-cupcake baking cup.

2. Put the large pom-pom ( I picked a pink one) into the baking cup pressing it down into the glue. Let dry for a few minutes.

3. Using the craft glue again, glue the little red pom-pom (the cherry!) onto the top of the cupcake pom-pom, you might want to press it down for a few seconds until it holds on it's own. Let dry overnight.

4. Display your little cupcake or make a few to give away to friends or for party favors.

Pearly Easter Eggs

A Basket of Pretty!

These simple to make yet elegant Easter egg decorations are my Mom's crafty genius. She was flattered to be featured on my blog, apparently she doesn't know much about my blog or the fact that it's sadly lacking an audience...Anyway! I'm not really sure if I will ever reach my Mom's level of creative ingenuity but I'm working on it.



You'll Need-

• Styrofoam eggs
• Small plastic pearls by the yard (spool) in different colors
• Craft glue (I used Aleene's )
  
• Scissors
  
• Patience!

Steps:
As you can probably tell in the pictures the process is pretty easy, but patience is key with this project!

1. Using your finger (or a sponge) spread a generous amount of craft glue on the top half of the Styrofoam
egg.

2. With the plastic pearls still on their spool unwind just enough to start the top half. Keeping the pearls on the spool makes it easier to wind the pearls around the egg. Starting at the very tip top of the egg begin coiling the pearls around and holding them to the egg to ensure they stick to the glue.

3. After you have the top half done cut the pearl strand and glue the end down to the egg. I recommend letting that half dry for a while before staring the bottom half. Then grab your other color of pearls and begin applying glue and pearls as in the last two steps. When you get to the bottom of the egg cut the strand from the spool and glue the end down.

4. Let these eggs dry at least overnight before displaying

Happy Easter everyone!

Upcycling a Bowling Ball, Day 1

Recently I found my Grandfather's old bowling ball in my basement. I love, love, love going bowling and was somewhat excited at the idea of having my own bowling ball, until I tried to lift it...it's a 13 pounder, a little bit too heavy for my scrawny arms. I didn't want to give it away since it was my Grandpa's but yet I knew I couldn't really use it, so I came up with the idea of making into a yard ornament! Think very heavy gazing ball covered in small tiles and grout. Plus with the weight of the thing there's no way it's going to blow away! Here are a few pictures to wet your appetite for the full tutorial coming soon.

At the End of the Rainbow, and Vegan Corned Beef

Tomorrow is, as you probably know, St. Patrick's Day! But it's not too late to whip up some last minute St. Paddy's Day treats!
This little treasure at the end of the rainbow is from Make and Takes, and the complete tutorial on their site for this little pot'o'gold is simple to follow. It's so simple and so fast you could still do a couple of these tonight for your little leprechaun's, or your co-workers...or your leprechaun co-workers.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Vegan Corned Beef and Cabbage!Thinking about having some Corned Beef and Cabbage tomorrow but don't have a good recipe ? Check out this recipe from All Recipes.com. It's tradition in my family to have Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick's day. We also have some Vegetarian's in our family though. I tend not to eat red meat so much either since my family has eaten mostly Vegetarian meals for years now. So for all you Vegan's, Vegetarian's, and those who just want to try something new, here is a recipe for Vegan Corned Beef and Cabbage! Doesn't it look yummy? I think so!

It's Your Lucky Day, If You Can Crochet!

A cute pattern for a four leaf clover buddy that you can crochet! I found this pattern at Cut Out + Keep, by Alicia K.

A Fanciful Shamrock

It is shamrock season once again! Of course you know I speak of March, and Saint Patrick's Day. I can't help but love St. Paddy's Day, being half Irish and all. Although I'm not too keen on the whole getting drunk and passing out parts of St. Paddy's, I'm more for the traditional parts. Such as the wearing of the Green--( did you know that BLUE used to be the designated St. Paddy's color! It was! Google it!!)--the corn beef and cabbage, the Irish music, and of course the shamrocks. Not four leaf clovers people, Shamrocks!

So it bein' in good Irish tradition and all I'd like to share a few shamrocks with you that you can make to wear on March the 17th. So for the next week and a half be checkin' back my friends for I'll be posting new shamrocks. Hopefully one of them will catch your eye! Here's the first-


The full how-to and PDF download for this lovely, sparkly, shamrock is at A Fanciful Twist. A magical, whimsical, blog with beautiful photography. I plan on making a couple of these, they're so pretty and easy to make. I hope you check this one out, her tutorial is easy to follow and the pictures are great!

You'll Need-

• white cardstock
• a printer
• scissors
• glue
• a safety pin
• a small paintbrush
• fine glitter in several colors
• Optional: a jewel or other embellishments
  

My Craft Loving Cats!

Atticus

Being the proud owner(mother) of two 10 year old kitties, I feel I must introduce them to you, since they are such a big part of my crafting life. They love to knock over glue, glitter and pretty much anything else that might spill. They sit on my lap while I blog, sometimes they step on the keyboard, trying to put their two cents worth into the post I suppose. They chew on my pencils and pens, and occasionally they will even lay down on top of a project I am working on. Maybe they were crafters or artists in a previous life. Their names are Isabelle (Izzy for short) and Atticus, sister and brother. They were both adopted from a wonderful local no-kill cat shelter called the Cat House. Unfortunately, Isabelle had to have one of her back legs amputated last May due to cancer. Thankfully she hasn't had any signs of cancer since then, and is getting around just fine! If any of you have your own crafty cats, dogs, or any kind of pet, feel free to share. I'd love to hear your stories!

Izzy

My Favorite Things for the Last Week of February

Jar photo frames. Most creative way I've seen in a while to display your photos. From Photojojo.

Giant stuffed Microbe, Mono. I had Mono in high school it was definitely not this cute.

Panda Poo Journal from Uncommon Goods. Both unique and eco friendly! Yay!

A pencil holder that brings the outdoors in...

If you are like me you can barely wait for Spring, maybe that's why I came up with this outdoors themed pencil/stuff holder, this is a great kids craft! Thanks to my Mom for help on this one, she's such a creative lady!

You'll need-

• -One tin can (washed, and with the label and any sharp edges removed)
• -A package of plain wooden Popsicle sticks
• -Acrylic paint in your choice of color, I chose purple.
• -Paint brush
• - Foil glue and green foil sheets (found at most craft stores, or online.)
• -Craft glue
• -Bugs and Butterflies of your choice. Pictured below are feather butterfly found at Micheal's craft store, and vintage tin bug pins from SilverCrow Creations.com )

I took an ordinary sized soup can, removed the label, washed it out thoroughly and made sure there were no sharp edges left. Then using a good slathering of craft glue on the can I began placing the unpainted Popsicle sticks on the can, as close as I could get them to each other. I then let it dry overnight. I chose to paint my sticks with Acrylic paint in a light shade of purple, you of course can chose to paint yours whatever color tickles your fancy. After painting I let it dry overnight again. I thought about just using green paint and painting some grass on the bottom but my Mom came up with the idea of using green foil sheets and foil glue, I was curious how it would turn out so I gave it a shot. You can't really tell in these pictures, because my camera is not the best, but the grass is very iridescent.
Next, using a special glue just for foiling, I put the glue over the Popsicle sticks in very organic lines, to resemble grass. Then after letting the glue dry for a little while I followed the directions on the package of green foil sheets. I placed a sheet over the glue, and using a Popsicle stick I began pressing the foil onto the glue to adhere it. It's pretty simple, all the directions are on the package. I loved the results!

Last but certainly not least, I glued a few lovely tin bug pins onto the Popsicle sticks with some craft glue, I had to hold them on for a little while until the glue was tacky enough to hold them by itself. These tin bugs are little pins, but you can easily cut the pin backing off if you find them easier to work with that way. I also considered gluing a feather butterfly on as well, it seemed more girly, but I'm a girl who likes her bugs! Next time I do one I'll do a butterfly. If you make this project with your kids, I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did!

Simple and cute child's bracelet

I was looking through my beads the other day and found a few packages of star paddle beads. As a kid I always loved paddle beads, still kinda do, but alas I feel that I have out grown plastic beads. But! I did think that they would make a pretty cute, simple and sparkly, bracelet for a little girl. All you need is some elastic thread, and two small packages of star paddle beads, in two different complimentary colors. I used a few smaller beads in mine just because I had them in the corresponding color, but you don't have to use my exact pattern, of course. This is a great project to do with kids because it's so easy, and the shape of the paddle beads makes them easy to pick up and thread for little fingers.


-Cut a length of elastic thread, make sure it's long enough that you can tie some knots in it and it will still fit on your child's wrist. start threading the paddle beads on, alternating colors, and fitting them together (interlocking them). When I had about an inch in thread left on both ends I stopped putting beads on and tied a knot, I'm not very good at knots so I tied a couple, just so it wouldn't come undone. Then I trimmed off the little bit of excess thread that was left close to the last knot. Simple, cute, and something fun to do with your kids!

Got Crafty Kids ?

My next two crafty projects are for kids!...and young at heart adults too, of course...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Crafts

I recently found some really great Valentine's Day crafts on a new favorite blogger blog, Zakka Life. This cuter than cute snail Valentine for one......and a how-to for this amazingly adorable pom-pom heart.
I have become a big fan of this blog, and encourage you, if you haven't already, to check it out.