handcrafts Discussions
| | How I Volunteer and Why | | A few years ago, I had hit a new low. I had volunteered for several types of organizations, but burned out after seeing that I couldn't really change a lot in the lives of those I wanted to help, simply because I couldn't make the choices for them. So there I was, eager to help but wary. About that time, I learned how to knit. Nothing fancy, but I started wondering as I made scarves for everyone I knew if there was a way to use my yarn and needles to help others. I checked with the shelter that I adopted my cat from and I was told that they could always use blankets for the cats and catnip toys. So I got to work, buying yarn from Walmart because it was cheap and washable. I found a program called h4ha.org, and the Snuggles project which has a directory of animal rescues and shelters around the world that accept blankets and other handcrafts to either use for the animals in their care OR sell at bazaars and craft shows to help defray the costs of caring for the animals. I have been able to donate to shelters around the country and in Canada. I work on the various things I make (blankets, cat beds, toys, ponchos for dogs) while I watch a movie or tv. The shelters have been so... | |
| | Does your hobby cash you in or out? | | Can you make money out of your hobby? Or instead, you need to spend your money for your hobby?
Some people just enjoy cheap hobbies like reading, simple sports like jogging, etc. Some even can make money out of their hobbies, like handcrafting, paintings, etc.
But some people have expensive hobbies too, like playing remote toys (cars, helicopters, etc), expensive water sports, etc.
How about you? | |
| | Learning to Knit | | I used to knit a lot. I just loved seeing the finished product. It was amazing to watch a roll of yard take shape into something useable. After my kids were born, I did not knit as much. It seemed taht I did not have the time. So you can imagine my surprise when my youngest daughter who is 25 now, teach herself to knit and come home to show me what she could do. There are not too many younger people knit these days. Do you knit? | |
| | Artists and Art | | We are all of us artists in some way. On a dreary icey day here, I am thinking of how art lights up our days and nights. Art, as we know, takes many, many forms. We all have some form of it in our lives and perhaps we take it for granted more than we know. In this discussion, my dear myLotters, I would like to know about what you consider art in your life, how it affects you positively, and what it has meant to you, past, present, or future. Many of us have dreamed of becoming artists in some form of the arts. Art is a word which encompasses nearly all there is tangible and intangible. It can be very simple or all encompassing. Perhaps your art is something we have never seen or heard of. It may be even be a manner of speaking. Let's educate eachother and find the glory and beauty in our special gifts and crafts which we use or present to the world in creativity. The human gift of imagination is wondrous and blessed! It is one of the highest forms of communication for us in expression. For those who keep creativity locked inside, this is the discussion to let it out. Please share if you will. Thank you. | |
| | | what stuff do you usually buy as souvenirs from the different places you visit? | | i usually buy tee-shirts with prints about the places i visit. like the one i bought from a town that loves chilly food, it has the name of the town and the letters are made up of red peppers. and then, another one i bought from Baguio City with prints of the rice terraces and other popular spots.and then i also buy a lot of accessories and stuffs native to that place. but the most special i got, are the shells and sands i brought home from a beautiful beach we visited when i was in college. i got a lot of shells and a bottle of white sands. i had troubles bringing it home since they were heavy.^__^;;what about you? | |
| | All good things must come to an end... | | I say that because all of my life I have been really bad about starting projects, not finishing, starting something else, and bouncing back and forth between a bucnh of different stuff. Eventually it all would get done, but thinsg would sit around untouched and unfinished for months and even years! so therefor - I am putting an end to all of these projects one by one and all of them are good thinsg I am proud of having made. Well, I finally resolved to stick to no more than one project in each of the different hobbies I have at a time. I realized just this morning that I have finally finished all of the incomplete crochet stuff I had started (I'm down to 2 tiny left over balls of yarn!) I am almost finished with all of the cross stitch stuff I have had going, scrap booking is an ongoing process as I am always taking more pics, so that one doesn't count, and my quilting and sewing are the next things on my list to finish the undone projects. My question is this: Has anyone else ever had this problem?? How did you solve it? Also - did this bad habit ever return?? Just wondering... | |
| | Wonderful Homemade Bird House | | As my friends on mylot know, my husband is very talented when it comes to making things. I have posted some of his work on mylot already. Many have ask for the directions and I find that it is hard to publish that on mylot as I need to post many pictures to show the process as well as write the instructions. However, I have posted the directions to make the cement bird bath on anonther site.
My husband made many of our Christmas gifts this past Christmas. He made my Purple Martin house that I posted a while back. He also made my beautiful calendar holder. I just love it. He made many bird baths and bird houses for family and friends as well.
I just love this bird house. He made many of them as gifts. He sold a couple to men who work with him. Everyone who received this gift was excited to get it up. To date every bird house that he built has been the home to baby birds. It is always exciting to hear them as well at watch the Mommy bird as she cares and feeds her babies.
This picture is of the bird house that he built for others. | |
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