Humbling Hobbies and Habits Archives - Page 4 of 5

And Finally, It’s Done!

By Christina Lee| November 8th, 2016|Crocheting, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

Cooper, I’m glad that you find my crocheted blanket so comfy. Now please scoot over, so I can finally wrap this up. It’s taken me years, well probably a decade with all the breaks I took from making this blanket. This was a my very first crochet project that got me started on scarves, towels, amigurumi and other accessories. I’m especially thankful to the lady who taught me this granny square pattern in my good old days of working for a real estate company. This pattern is rich with a combination of stitches and taught me single, double and treble crochet along with the ‘popcorn’ stitch. I am proud to say I can now do this pattern with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back. A whopping seventy squares later, plus a few extras on the side for practice of course, I am finally done.

All in all, I didn’t mind crocheting the single squares as I did sewing them together and weaving in the loose ends. In reality I think it was the combination of light blue and dark blue that had me dizzy at times. With the help of my cousin, I was able to sew this blanket together. The final test of sturdiness was throwing this baby in the washing machine and praying that it didn’t fall apart.

In the end, it came out the same way it went in, intact and in one piece. However, I did have to mend a few strands, but other than that, it is one big throw that I’m gifting to my parents for Christmas. I honestly can’t track the number of hours spent on this blanket, but it is no comparison to the number of hours, weeks, months and years that my parents have spent on me. I hope they like it.

Pumpkin Carving Galore

By Christina Lee| October 29th, 2016|Craft Day, Holiday Fun, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!|

It must of been in high school or grammar school when I last carved a pumpkin, so I might be a little rusty. In fact, I think I might need a lesson or two from the kids who seem to be pros at picking out their pumpkins, coming up with a design and digging right in. With over ten kids in the house at a pumpkin per kid, I’d say we have quite a lot of work to do. But with a cup of sangria/fungria, anything is possible this Saturday afternoon.

Miss Kendall was nice enough to let me partner with her. We got our stencil, pumpkin-carving tools, a bowl and some clean hands. She dove right in and carved off the stem like a pro, while I stood to the side with my sleeve up ready to take her cue. Since she did such a good job with hers, she was in high demand with all the other kids to help them remove their stems. I continued to gut the pumpkin and separate the seeds, so we can roast them in the oven later for a tasty treat. Afterwards, she came back to create an imprint of the stencil by poking a series of holes to align with the ghost design. Since we gutted the pumpkin to its core, it made it a lot easier to puncture because the walls weren’t as thick. The kids considered that the fun part.

It took us into the early evening to finish and by nightfall. We ended up with ghosts, black cats, witches, bats and classic jacks. Wow, pumpkin carving is a lot of work. Thank goodness for the kids. Now it’s time to admire all the hard work and sweat, and top them off with a tea candle.

Lights on, lights off. Here is our pumpkin line up for the evening. Hope you have a Happy Halloween!

Scrapbooking with Maya Road

By Christina Lee| August 6th, 2016|Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Scrapbooking|

As with every Scrapbook Expo, I’m completely overwhelmed by hundreds and thousands of paper stock, stickers, ink, tape, glue dots, scissors and card-making machines that jump out at you at every direction as you enter the expo. My eyes dart back and forth from one scrapbook vendor to another and I find myself at the mercy of my wallet. If I come to Scrapbook Expo without a project in mind, I’m in trouble. I’ve gone from buying jewelry-making kits to acrylic albums to card stock to those fancy Copic markers. In fact my storage bins are spilling out with all these newfound hobbies that I should actually get moving on the handfuls of projects that I have already started. We all know that completing projects are a lot easier when you have a date appended to them and this time, I do!

Speaking of ‘I do,’ Kari and Richard’s wedding is just months away, I’m on the hook for a bachelorette present, something a little different from all the others. I’ve been intrigued by many of the scrapbook albums I’ve come across. Button Farm and Clear Scraps are a few of my favorites, and recently, Maya Road grabbed my attention.

As I came across Maya Road’s booth, I flipped through their album and was drawn to their mesh flower and needle work ‘make and take’. After a hearty ten minutes with the hot glue gun, I walked away with a solid embellishment to pop into my album. Combining a mesh flower with cardboard cut-out pink letters, needles and a spool of thread gave me a few ideas to stretch my scrapbooking creativity and skills. I was very happy with the embellishment and decided to pick up this Maya Road album kit for Kari’s bachelorette gift. It took quite a few hours to put together and I learned how to combine different textures and layer patterned paper on top of each other. Each page of instruction was a new adventure and a new technique.

The best part of this project was not just putting together the page, but it was inserting photos of the happy couple. I can’t wait to give this to Kari. I hope she likes it!!

Mosaic Cross

By Christina Lee| December 22nd, 2015|DIY Home, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Learning from the best, Mosaic Art, Oh My Crafts!|

Earlier this month, I took two classes at the Artistic Home Studio and it made quite an impression that I came back for more. I must admit it was a little daunting to be working so up close and personal with glass, since I was always told to stay away from sharp edges. Since I learned how to use glass-cutting tools, mix and match colored glass, and adhere them to a surface – all having done so unscathed (!), I became inspired and am looking forward to discovering more about this new found hobby.

I am enthralled by the fusion of glass, mirror and marble, and the bold, statement pieces you can make for the home. After making the mosaic turtle and rock, this time around, I’ve decided to make the mosaic cross, since this would be a perfect Christmas gift for a special someone on my Dad’s side of the family. The toughest decision this time around was choosing from the plethora of colored glass. Warm palette or cool palette? One marble or ten marbles? Decisions, decisions.

As fun as it was to make this gem, I can’t wait to see the look on my cousin’s face when she opens it, since it was made with extra TLC this holiday season.

From Canvas to Home Decor

By Christina Lee| August 8th, 2015|DIY Home, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Painting|

A few years ago, I took an Acrylic Painting Class over at the Pacific Art League to try and surface any hidden talent in painting. I spent my weekends in the art studio watching these ten minute demos from the instructor and then participated in three hour sessions of supervised painting. We painted old pottery, crooked vases and lots of fruit. Week after week, I painted a variation of the same setup with minor adjustments to lighting and draped backgrounds until finally my instructor pushed beyond the world of still life and introduced me to landscape. She pulled a photo out of her drawer and had me starting painting a scene from her weekend excursion to Pescadero, California. I had never visited Pescadero, but these rolling waves, rocky shores and luscious mountains could easily hold my attention for the next three weekends or 12 hours+ of painting. And so began a newfound of hobby of landscape painting.

As with all my paintings, when I finished, I tucked this one into my portfolio that lay under my coffee table. Only until my cleaner came and pushed my furniture aside did I realize that there was a hint of talent and possibly a “frameable” piece that could sit somewhere in the apartment. I decided to block out the white space on the entertainment stand in my room. It had been sitting there for years unattended, since I had no intention of buying a flat screen television and I had one too many unsuccessful trips to the furniture store. With my painting in hand and a trip to Michaels, I got this piece mounted and framed. Finally, a finished painting and a piece of art that I can call my own.

50 Sucks

By Christina Lee| May 30th, 2015|Creative Inspiration, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Scrapbooking|

Brett is clueless. He has no idea. Friends, family, sangria, a Mexican fiesta and this tree of suckers await the birthday boy. Hats off to the hostess for putting together this party and adding such unique finishing touches to warm up the household. Simple DIY projects such as this this foam ball with dum dums present itself as the centerpiece and is very popular among both the over 50 and under 50. It reminded me of good childhood memories and yep, I’m still a fan of the cream soda flavor. And now there are bacon and popcorn flavored dum dums?! Hmmm, I think I’ll pass, but they were a hit with the kids.

Sitting next to this tree of dum dums is a homemade album featuring the birthday invitation along with an assortment of colored index cards for everyone to send a special note to the birthday boy.

And for this, it’s reason #108 why I love these simple, yet thoughtful DIY home projects.

Santa Mail

By Christina Lee| December 19th, 2014|Holiday Fun, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Scrapbooking|

Part of getting into the holiday spirit involves writing Christmas cards and saying hello to a few good friends that I might not have caught up with throughout the year. And lucky for us, our family trip to Orlando, FL made the front cover of each of the cards. Topped with a warm greeting, poinsettia stamp and gold seal, these cards are ready for a trip to the North Pole and back.

First Book Club: The Goldfinch, Lemon Shooters and More

By Christina Lee| November 9th, 2014|Humbling Hobbies and Habits, In the Kitchen|

I’m excited to host and kick off our very first book club for The Goldfinch. Supposedly we all read the book in advance; however, for those who just barely opened the book, are still at the beginning or three quarters of the way done, be prepared for spoilers. I think I made it a little beyond the halfway mark. But bonus points to those who actually got through the entire 700+ page book this past month.

Of course no book club is complete without the wining and dining experience. Aside from the munchies and fruit and cheese platter (not photographed), tonight’s menu includes:

1. Spring salad with sliced apples, silvered almonds, goat cheese and raspberries with a champagne vinaigrette.

2. Mashed yams with creamy butter and milk.

3. Roasted vegetable (carrots, onions and bell peppers) pasta with garlic and white wine sauce, and a side of grilled chicken.

And to top it off our meal, I sprung for making these yummy lemon shooters. Crumbled vanilla cake with lemon curd and whipped cream.

Bon Appetit!

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