One Crafty Lady

A while back, a family friend of mine made a gift for me, and I've decided that it is absolutely far too stunning not to share. Now I have to be honest, this woman is the craftiest, most creative lady I know, not to mention, incredibly talented. I've known her my whole life, and even though we're not really related, my brother and I grew up calling her Aunt Kathy.

So, this lovely lady took a completely ordinary box, and turned it into a gorgeous, personalized chest.

On the front, she used a wood burner to carve in my name, birth date, and a phrase that represents my life (look familiar? lol)

Notice all of the floral designs on the bottom and between the text. All of this was done freehand-no stencils, because she's just that amazing. Also note the edges of the box, which she also burned. Don't the little details just make it that much more beautiful?

In order to make it more personal, on one side she carved both of my parents' names and their wedding date, along with my full name. On the other side she put a quote:

"Learn to Love

Learn to be Patient

Learn to be Disciplined

Learn to Forgive,

And to Love Again"

I'm so in love with this gift, and I can't wait to put it in the Old House. I just think it'll look so perfect in that house.

DIY: Knotted Headband

I've been in a really crafty mood lately, so I'll probably be posting a lot of DIYs. This is one I saw a while ago, and thought was very cute, so I decided to try it.

                                                     DIY: Knotted Headband

I was originally planning on doing a prettier color, but I decided on black since I'm not allowed to wear bright colors at work. I can always make some more colorful ones later.

Step 1: Start with a tee-shirt, or sweater or some sort of cloth that has a little bit of stretch to it. I chose a tee-shirt, just because I had an extra lying around.

Step 2: Cut off the bottom seam. You don't want this part to be in your headband.

Step 3: Measure about 5 inches from the bottom of the shirt. Mark it with a pencil, or chalk (whatever will show up on your fabric) and then cut along the dotted line.

Step 4: Measure the cloth around your head so you know where to make the first knot.

Step 5: Then just keep knotting until you've run out of the extra cloth. Make sure to make the last knot really really tight, and then cut off the excess.

All done! Easy peasy right?