Commitment-phobe?

Do you think making a formal proclamation of something you want to / plan to accomplish actually commits you to completing said task? I hope I'm not alone as a crafter who has many... many unfinished projects. I have 'parts' for projects I bought and then never did anything with. I have piles of supplies and materials and loads of PLANS! I need to get off my butt and get some stuff DONE!

So, here on the 'internets'... for anyone who's reading... I'm going to commit to 2 (count them, TWO) projects this weekend!!! Do you think that means I'll really get them done?

Blogland is absolutely SO inspiring. It's almost dangerous for me to make the rounds of the crafty linky parties because I start mentally making those plans... maybe even start assembling materials at home.. for that NEXT project... the one that never comes.

So I saw the TWIN SHEET TEEPEE at Obsessively Stitching and fell in love!

It's the perfect project for my little guy and it sounds really easy to make. I picked up the PVC last night on my way home... already have a twin flat sheet I can use... so that is PROJECT #1 for the weekend.

For project #2... there's a little history to tell...

Our Girl Scout Troop does "Cookie Booths" every year in February and March. We stand out in front of grocery stores and the like peddling those yummy-can-only-get-once-a-year boxes of goodness. We have several tables that we use for these booths and they are functional but plain. I really have been planning (see?) for the last few years to make some tablecloths for them. It will make them more eye-catching, I think. I've just never gotten around to it.

But now, it's almost National Lemonade Day!!! The girls have decided to run a Lemonade Stand on Sunday, May 2nd so maybe this is just the right motivation to get one tablecloth made.

I have yards and yards of khaki twill (I used it behind the glass of my memo board) that I could use - cost: FREE! I had a 'brainstorm' moment a couple of weeks ago to put our troop number on there in the same 'style' as in on their uniform:

See those numbers on the left - green rectangles with white letters? I thought that would be cute across the front of the tablecloth so I've already picked up several sheets of dark green and white felt. As another 'decoration' on it, I was thinking of putting random 'extra' badges and patches along the bottom. We sometimes get extra patches from events or duplicates so I have quite a stash.

So my goal for this weekend is to get JUST the tablecloth made. Here is my 'mock up' vision I put together this morning:

Next weekend I'd like to figure out how to rig some sort of PVC frame to the table and make a slip on banner to go above the table. I can make different banners for different events..... but that is a project for another weekend. As are tablecloths for the other 2 tables we use at Cookie Booths.... hahaha

Happy Weekend everyone! I'll check back in on Monday and update you with pictures of what I get accomplished :-)

Kickin' it old school...

Remember Shrinky Dinks? Man, I think I'd forgotten about them, but they really are pretty cool. Here's how it all started....

My daughter's Girl Scout troop are first-year Juniors. For those not 'in the know' - Junior level is 4th & 5th grade and is the first level they can earn a big award. For Juniors, the Bronze Award is the highest award they can earn. Basically, there are several 'prerequisites' they have to work through and then they complete a 'big' project - something that benefits their community somehow and takes about 15 hours to complete.

We're only in our first year as Juniors, so we won't be working on the final project until next year but we needed to go ahead and pick a 'theme' because a lot of the pre-work has to relate to our final theme. We talked about general themes where girls their age could really make a difference... whether it be the homeless, the hungry, animals, children, elderly, etc. These girls, though, are all about animals... so that's the direction we're heading.

Over the next few months, we'll start on that pre-work, but we'll also start checking out some local agencies that we might be able to help with our project. In our area, we've got an excellent SPCA, the Humane Society, Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition, CAP, Special Pals, and several rescue agencies (shout out to Lone Star Boxer Rescue, where we got our doggies). Feel that linky love? Check 'em out!

Wow - I sure know how to make a short story long, right?

Anyway, we're starting with the SPCA. We'll take a tour, of course, but they also offer a patch project for scouts. As part of that project, we discuss seveal aspects of responsible pet ownership. At our meeting on Wednesday, we discussed the different ways of pet identification - tags, tattoos, and microchips. The girls also threw out spraypaint, but they're just kooky like that.

As a fun go-along activity, we brought out the Shrinky-Dink (paper? plastic? what the heck is that stuff?) and some tag shaped templates (heart, circle, bone, etc.) The girls traced, wrote and colored and then I took them home and shrunk them. They turned out really cool, very cute, and I would LOVE to show you... but I just don't have the time to graphically edit out all of the addresses and phone numbers they included on their tags, like good pet owners. Is it odd that all 12 of our scouts' families have pets?

But just for you... so you can experience the magic... here are some before, during, and after photos of some fun Shrinky Dinks my kiddos made over the weekend. These are photo'd on a standard size sheet of paper so you can grasp the shrinkage.

Run to Hobby Lobby, grab some of this stuff... and start making things. No idea what we'll do with most of them, but it's pure fun!

Here's the before. Paige made the kitty (she cut off one leg), Blake made the chicken (????) and their friend made the ghost.

Here's the during... I pulled them out of the oven to get a picture of the funky way they curl up in process. This is about 90 seconds into the baking... they don't take long. A little longer in the oven and they really do flatten back out.

Here's the 'after' with a close up shot following. So cute!!