And All the Rest

The past weeks have been very busy, so busy in fact, that I really haven't written many blog posts. So here is one BIG post to cover it all!

This month has been a crafty month... First I went through all my cloth and determined that there was a lot there that I would never sew into anything. I gathered all the fortrell pieces and began cutting them into strips...

 Once they were cut I threw them into a box...

 Then I ironed them so I could fold them easily (I probably could have skipped this step, but I wanted a nice neat braid in the end...)

 Once they were all folded up, I braided them together until it felt like I had piles and piles of braids just waiting to be sewed together....

 Well, there weren't piles and piles it turned out, but this is the beginning...

 And a picture of the rug to date.. it's still got a long ways to go as the goal is an 8' x 5' rug! YUP, next month will be busy too!

 Aside from rug making I've put together a bunch of crocheted dish rags.

Here is the beginnings of a large crocheted afghan. That is one large ball of yarn crocheted up and just starting the second one.

 Breanna and her bridge making project for school.

Melodee, Breanna and Charity have been learning to do embroidery. Below are Charity's samples.

 Here is Charity showing off her first ever embroidery samplers....

NOW, for my favorite project of all!!! This is a drawer that Chad built for me to hold all our games. It is actually built into a cupboard that is about 30" deep and only about 18-24" wide. It was a very difficult cupboard to use because of it's depth and as such, we never finished it until now....

Chad built a shelf and put it on rollers so that we can open up the cupboard just like an oversized drawer! Here is a picture of it just after it was finished... OPEN...

CLOSED... No we haven't finished the laundry room yet, but that is in the works too...

And the finished project put into good use (I couldn't believe how full it is of games!!! Didn't know we had so many!) We've got the door back on the laundry room here too and a nice handle on the front of the cupboard. 

I am so blessed to have such a handy husband and creative children. It is a joy and a delight to watch them as they create in their own ways and to see how those things contribute to the family and the household is wonderful.

As for the rest of the month it was filled with activities like playing tag in the back yard (love this unusual winter weather we've had), an indoor weiner roast, lots of card games, little TV, a movie day, a sleep-over, and there has been a fair bit of 'horsing' around done by Beth and Melodee. With a week off school we were even able to do some visiting! What a great family month we have had!