Janet of All Trades

I have been feverishly preparing for numerous Jewelry shows coming up in the next few months Hoping I have enough Pendants and Necklaces to get me thru each show. It has made the Winter much more fun since I lock myself away in my Studio with heat blasting. How you can follow me on Facebook and see what I have been working on for the last few weeks. Follow me here at  Janetofalltrades Enjoy!

There is something about Yarn Pom Poms that makes me very nostalgic. I remember making them as a child with washers from my Father's tool bench. And after making them for Elf hats, it made me want to make more since they are fun,easy and somewhat like Snowballs. I started with just a few things I had in my craft room. Some white and green yarn, MDF Wreath form (not used for Christmas) and some cardboard. Next I cut the cardboard in to 2",3" and 4" wide rectangles and cut a split line half way to the center of each size. Next I cut and inserted a piece of yarn about folded about 12 inches long in to the split and then started to wrapping yarn around the a cardboard. Once this is done, I tied the 12 inch yarn around the wrapped yarn and tied a lose knot. I then started to cut along the top and pull the knot tighter. Once the top was done, I cut the bottom and slowly pulled it off the cardboard. I kept tightening the knot and making sure no yard cam...

As 2013 begins, I thought I would share a few of my favorite quotes and how they relate to the New Year. 1. Good things come to those who wait. I have waited a long time to pursue what I really love to do and this will be the year that waiting ends. (You can make your own inspirations photo at   http://www.recitethis.com/ ) 2. Dream Big by Order of the Management. The dreams I have had will no longer will be little, the will be big,creative and life changing. (Get our own sign here at  http://www.etsy.com/listing/60659745/inspirational-prints-dream-big-in-blue ) 3. Being Creative is not a Hobby. This year will be about turning a hobby in to a way of life. (Source your own inspiration here  http://homegrownhospitality.typepad.com/homegrown_hospitality/ 4. Control my Brain. Yeah, my brain is much like this most days and the few days that are good I am really productive,so I would like to have more good days this year. (find this card ...

Merry Christmas! I found myself wanting to make Santa hats for my twin nephews this year at the last minute. When I found this super cute flannel fabric for a steal and thought it would be perfect for the hats, but change them to Elf hats since it fits the boys personalities better! I was going to make my own pattern since it seem like it would be easy, but ran out of time and used a tutorial from Fun Fleece It has all sizes of patterns from baby to adult, and was super easy to follow. I tweaked it a bit since I was not using furry fabric and my color scheme was different. I started my making a white pom pom for the top. This is pretty easy and had to call on my skills from when I was a child and made these with washers from my Father's tool bench. Now all you do is cut two circles about the size of the pom pom you want, cut a circle from the center and a side opening and start wrapping yarn. They come out a little irregular but nothing a trimming with scissors wo...

I love bling but I am also cheap and usually those two things don't go together. So when I found this sequin embellishment sad and lonely in the clearance section for .99, I knew I had to make something fun out of it. I started my making two plain black headbands. You can find the tutorial here on my blog.  Next I cut it almost in half along the seam of the sequins. Then I applied felt to the back since this was a adhesive back embellishment and then sewed it down and it was done.  Super easy and fun (ignore my out of control hair), that I made another one using just sparkle ribbon and a narrow version on my headband  This was even easy since I just sewed the ribbon down the middle to the headband.  So easy and takes less than 1/2 hour to create and you have a little bling for Christmas Eve and beyond! Enjoy!

For some reason I wait until a few days before Christmas to think of some quick Christmas crafts. It causes me much stress since why didn't I think of these back in July? Here is just a Sneak Peak at what I have been working on and will post in the next few days... Some very cute Christmas fabric that will be made into something really cute! A bit of cheap bling that I couldn't resist transforming into something lovely. Check back the next few days to see what I have created..or not! Enjoy!

Every year I like to create a unique Christmas card and this year was no different. I started with an Encyclopedia circa 1975.  Then I started to use my new Snowflake punch and destroyed a few pages.  Then I added some card stock in craft paper brown and little strip of glitter paper. And the card was done! Simple,easy and a bit of recycling.  The Snowflakes are addicting to make.. So I had a few leftover to decorate some burlap trees. Merry Christmas!  Enjoy!