so long

I started this blog for many reasons, but the two main ones were 1) I was/am too afraid to start an etsy account and 2) my personal blog was private. I have since lifted the private restrictions from my personal blog and was copying a lot of the craft posts from there to here and keeping two blogs up and running is just too time consuming right now. So, I am closing shop on this blog. So long. Farewell.

You can follow me over at: wannabeblogster.blogspot.com where I will still be selling finger puppet patterns.

sale * sale * sale

Get my animal finger puppet pattern now for $2.99! I will email a PDF of 16 animal patterns once I confirm purchase through the secure Pay Pal option.

Wondering what you can do with such adorable finger puppets?

• Use them in a babysitting kit.
• Make them yourself and entertain your grandkids.
• Use this as an activity for your church youth groups.
• Let your older kids help make the puppets and then entertain younger kids with their very own finger puppet play!
• Make them yourself and entertain your kids at home, church, the doctor's office, or in the car.

The possibilities are endless! Order now and get your finger puppet pattern within 24 hours.

Do you already have a pattern and have made these puppets? I'd love to see them in action. Email me your pictures of how you use the puppets at: countingsheepdecor@gmail.com.

Thanks Peggy and girls for sharing your photo! I love the added bow.

keepin' it real: pallet flag

One of the many projects I'm working on right now is this little beauty:

I found a few free pallets back in Utah and snatched them up right away. My husband and I then worked REALLY hard prying the boards apart. I really is A LOT of work and VERY hard!

This project is still in the works and does not look ANYTHING like the picture above. I have the pallet wood put together in a flag form, I have the entire thing painted white, and the blue box is painted as well. You can read more about this project here.

This "keepin' it real" series are projects that are on my Pinterest boards. I'm posting this now to keep myself honest and actually finish this project in the near future and get it off my Pintrest board. Once it's all done, I'll post my pictures and give some tips and tricks.

Wanna follow me on Pinterest? Click here.

craft: tutu

I made this tutu about 3 years ago for a niece for Christmas. What so great about a tutu? Everyone make them. Right? Wrong! This one is made out of sparkly tulle and has folded layers in it that I stuffed with flowers! She was in heaven! She twirled and pranced and loved her tutu.

craft: birthday wreath

Isn't this the cutest birthday wreath? One wreath and five bags of balloons later ... viola! Cute cute cute. I hang it on our front door during birthday months.

craft: clothespin wreath

This was a Pinterst find that I absolutely fell in love with. You can find it here.

I used to live by my parents who had an AMAZING craft room. My mom had kept a box full of old clothespins from back in the day when she actually hung her laundry out on a clothesline. I grabbed half of what she had and I still had left overs! I also had a bunch of little crafty pins that I used around the inside.

I attached all the clothespins and found out that they did not want to stay where I wanted them; they were slipping and a sliding all over the place. Grrr. So, I pulled out my handy-dandy (did I mention I have 2 kids that watch a lot of public television?) glue gun and glued all of those suckers exactly where I wanted them to go. And wouldn't you know that one of them STILL hangs there limply.

This little craft has yet to be hung on the wall in my laundry/office. Joe is a bit of a perfectionist, and I, well, am not. I've hung pictures in the past by guestimating where the picture looks best as I hold it a few inches away from my face. I then guestimated again where the hooks are and hammer away. I only realize AFTER I try to hang it up that it is not, in fact, the place I wanted it and start the whole process over again. At my worst, I've put 3 nail holes in the wall for one picture. Needless to say, I'm not allowed to hang pictures any more.

happy heart day

Have you seen this craft all over Pinterest? I did. At least, I think that's where I saw it. Anyway, I fell in love with it the instant I saw it! And I had to recreate it so I could store it in a closet until I moved to Arizona. 

Oh, boy. I just went to Pinterest to find the tutorial I used and I didn't see it any where! That means I found it on a craft blog and have NO idea where I found it. Nice. So, google or search on Pinterest "heart felt wreath" and I'm sure you can find something a little more detailed than what I'm going to explain.

All you need is a heart shaped wreath form, which I found at my local Hobby Lobby store, felt, and straight pins. I have seen the wreath forms online and at different craft stores. Cut circles out of felt. Obviously, I cut mine out of red felt. This takes more circles than I thought it would! Seriously, cut out A LOT of circles. The fuller you want your wreath to look, the more circles you need (can you see the two colors of red in my wreath? I had to buy more felt and cut more circles. My wreath wasn't as full as I wanted it. The sun had already faded some of the felt, so now I get two different colors!)! Pop in a good chick flick and you've got a fun craft to do.