Crafty girl

So lately my list of must-read blogs has been growing & growing. I'm hoping this weekend to give the happy needle notebook a bit of a revamp & with luck I will get a blogroll going so I can share with you the amazing talents of so many crafty people.

While my life is consumed with fiber arts, I love reading blogs of those who are crafty. Really crafty. People who have homes that look like magazine pages and picture perfect (read: clean) children. Then I look around my house and just sigh. I used to have a cute house. Then I had a Beastie. Beastie breaks things, drags things, throws things, needs constant supervision, etc etc. My once cute house is now lucky if it gets the occasional vacuum and dusting. Decorating is the last thing on my agenda.

But I do like to look at pretty things. And actually, I like to make pretty things too. Lately I've been a dollar store demon. I most recently acquired some very cute independence day decorations and decided to break out the old glue gun and get crafty. I made two wreaths for two of my dearest friends.

This is the wreath that went to live at Leigh Ann's house.  It's a wicker base that I then wrapped in a blue gingham ribbon.  Around that I put a red tinsel with mylar flags.  Then I made a bow out of red ribbon with blue & white star ribbon for the hangy down part.  And finally, I made a 'firework' using a circle of wedding tulle, some shiny red mylar paper and a bell.  I think it turned out fantastic.  Leigh Ann thought I bought it pre-made, so I guess I didn't do too bad.

Also in my dollar store adventures I have found the best bad-ass straw cowboy hats.  I got myself one with a black band.  I wear it everywhere, especially in the car.  I love the looks I get as I drive with my too-loud, too-young for me music blaring, windows & sunroof open, sunglasses & cowboy hat on, driving my mom-mobile.  I rock a little.
Anyway, Leigh Ann wanted a hat too, so I got her the one with the green band.  She wasn't home when I dropped it off, so I left it on her porch.
You can't quite tell from the photo, but the hat is perched on her little statue of the Virgin Mary.  I think Mary looks bad-ass too, sportin' the hat.

I also bought a book this week.  The first non-crafty book I've purchased since I bought my kindle.  It's A Patriot's History of the United States.  I'm politically very moderate.  I don't generally talk about politics, especially in a public forum.  But I have heard good things about this book and I do love history.  I bought the paper version because I can think of several people who might like to borrow it when I finish reading -- although it's over 700 pages, so I might be reading for awhile.  I'll give you a review as I plow my way through.