Week 9. Whew!

Ok, lots going on.  To keep this from getting too long, I'm going to give as much of the story as I can in pictures. :)

I found these jello molds at a thrift store, for about 1.50 for all of them. Score!

Eva and I then used them to make these crayons.  Silicone jello molds seem to be oven safe, for now, lol!

 I got invited to *pray about* going on a craft mission trip to Managua, Nicaragua.  I have no idea if I can go.  However, since finding out about it, I've been almost *obsessed* with finding artistic uses for trash.  Green Crafting was already fun for me--now it feels like a lifestyle.

I worked on making my own dyes.  This is from grapes from my fridge, and roses from Valentine's day.

I took soda cans,old tea light holders, and acrylic craft paint, cut and smooshed them together....

....then covered credit card ads with paint (using the fake credit cards they sent me to apply the paint, lol!)...

 ...then painted a piece of scrap wood with gesso, some totally random colors of craft paint, and....

...this is the work in progress.  I didn't like the background I'd done at first, so I'm re-doing it.  I'll post more pics as I finish it.  Don't ever try to paint around sharp aluminum flowers that have been nailed onto plywood.  I'm just saying. :)

I've also made a ton of recycled scrapbooking embellishments, from household cardboard boxes. (Think cereal, crackers, snacks, spaghetti---all those perfectly good pieces of cardstock that we throw away!)  I covered some with vintage papers, and used my trusty Sizzix machine to cut them out.  Loving it!

I also made a few inchies with some scraps of ledger paper from another project.

I love it when God answers prayers.  I have a thrifting friend, and we watch thrift stores for each other's shopping lists.  She was going to spend a whole day in Columbus, perusing about a dozen thrift stores, so I said, "If you HAPPEN to MAYBE come across a binding machine, I've been looking for one.  It would really cut down on my paper waste."

She gave me a look like, "Are you kidding?"

I thought, Dang, I know it's rare, but I've found weirder things at thrift stores.  Like furniture that perfectly matched mine, or the exact unused toy my kid wanted, etc. Why is she giving me that look?

"Dotty," she said, "We have one that's been sitting in storage for years.  It's collecting dust.  We've never used it."

Sometimes, I think God giggles when He provides for us, you know?

The pastor's wife was there, and she went into the storage closet, dragged something out, and said, "Is this it? I've never even opened it.  Dang it's heavy!"

"Lol!" says God. 

 The first thing I did was make some recycled notebooks (from paper bags and cracker boxes) for the girls.  I had no idea how much they would love it!

"This is my Supergirl Superpower Super-secret book."

"Look Mommy, I wrote my name!" (not really, but she was trying. I'd told her that her name was on the cover.)

God kept right on giggling through this past weekend.  I'd never even PRAYED for one of those super-cool storage units that a lot of paper-crafters use.  Like this one.  It has plastic drawers and pouches and fold-down tables and keeps your stuff all organized and cool.  The cheapest one I could find was a thousand dollars.  The cheapest one I could find that would fit in the space I had was almost $1700.  No need to even pray for that, right?  It wouldn't happen.

Then I found these.

Two wall units, three base units.  Only one base unit is pictured here, standing up on it's end. 

All five units, all wood, delivered from an hour away, for $370.

God giggles.

I'm also working on a week's worth of skits for this summer's VBS. I'm having a real blast with that one. I seriously doubt I'll be able to direct them, but I'd like to.

Did I mention that the laundry is piling up?

:)