and so do crayons, as shown in the above photo. This card is made from construction paper,
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and here is a sample of how tearing the construction paper gives a nice, feathery finish for the roof and the bushes. The brown paper tears nicely, too.
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Construction paper is soft enough to tear easily and has a nice fluffy finish for edges.
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This is for the bushes. Here is something you might have around the house: clear cellophane windows from junk mail or reply envelopes.
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They are used for windows, covering small clippings from magazines and catologs.
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Here is a close up view of the cottage windows, and the torn edge of the brown paper bag for the roof.
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This is the template, with extra pieces for tracing around different kinds of papers and fabrics. There might be a lot of things in your trash or your kitchen or your scrapbook materials that you can use. Try a small button for the door knob.
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Here are the finished cottage cards, done with various scrap materials. The roofs are made with pieces of heavy brown paper bag.
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Here are some of the supplies I used, but this card is designed to use what you have. White glue and glitter always works,
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and so do crayons, as shown in the above photo. This card is made from construction paper,
.jpg)
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This is for the bushes. Here is something you might have around the house: clear cellophane windows from junk mail or reply envelopes.
.jpg)
They are used for windows, covering small clippings from magazines and catologs.
.jpg)
Here is a close up view of the cottage windows, and the torn edge of the brown paper bag for the roof.
.jpg)
This is the template, with extra pieces for tracing around different kinds of papers and fabrics. There might be a lot of things in your trash or your kitchen or your scrapbook materials that you can use. Try a small button for the door knob.
14 comments:
Oh, this is delightful! I seriously wish somedays that I could sit down and have tea with you and have a scrapbooking session together.
You've also encouraged me in a lot of other ways, of course. ;)
Thank you for all the time you've taken out for posting on here, but also for taking time to personally respond to emails sent to you.
You are truly a treasure, Lydia. :)
How cute are those!?
My kids really enjoy projects we see on here. They are fun for all of us to do together and nice when they turn out well. So far the kids have wanted to keep anything they made so we haven't actually sent anything out!
You would think if they did two alike, they might be willing to part with one, but we find no two are ever the same =)
Those are adorable, Lady Lydia!
I read about an easy way to tear paper: With a paintbrush dipped in water, trace along the line you want to tear. The wet paper should tear easily, giving a soft edge.
Sabine,
That is a great hint for making the edge of the roof, especially with construction paper.
How fun, and I like how you recycled those envelopes. I'll have to link. Thanks for sharing...I love these arts and crafts posts of yours. These and your decorating posts are always frugally creative in a lovely way.
Isn't this just too preciouis?!! I can't wait to try these!
Those would be wonderful invitations for a little girs tea party or birthday party. :-)
It's always fun to look through your odds and ends and scraps of everything and make a new master piece by using what's on hand. :)
May you have a safe weekend!
God Bless!
Those are adorable.
Ok, that is just too precious! I don't know where you find the time for it though!
Adorable! :)
Please remember to cut these slightly smaller if you outline my outlines, as I haven't remembered that it won't fit in the envelope. I will try to make them smaller than necessary, in the future.
Mrs. K. I find time between the hours of midnight and 6 am when I am just laying around. Shapes wake me up and dance in my head, and I share them, because I can find no other use for them ;-)
Sorry to sort of randomly post this here, but I would appreciate prayer from my Christian sisters who read this. I have posted before about how I have longed to be at home, and how my husband had agreed to my cutting back my hours at work, which was very exciting and I was very thankful.
But for some reason, I can't seem to do it. I think part of it is the hold the world's belief that work at home doesn't "count", is not valid, and that you are wasting a good opportunity to make income for your home and contribute in the workplace (especially as I work for a missions organization) by staying home. If I had children it would be no question at all to me, it would be the most natural thing. But wihtout children, and with no plans for them in the near future (despite my own desires to have them) part of me feels like staying home would be wasteful.
Part of it too is that, as I was raised by a working mother, although I have worked at honing my housekeeping skills and have tried to improve my abilities as a homemaker, I am not a skilled homemaker. I don't know how to sew, or can or preserve, or do other domestic things that tend to be the more time-consuming things that one needs to be home during the day to accomplish. Yes I know I could do more and my home could run more smoothly if I were home more, but I just keep coming back to this feeling like I would be making a poor decision to cut back my hours.
If my husband really wanted me home more, it would be different. He is very supportive of whichever way I pick, but he has no preference either way, so it is all up to me, and I'm just unsure of what to do. Adding to the complication is the fact that I do work for a Christian non-profit and replacing me would be tricky for them (not because I am so uniquely talented but because they have invested time in training me and have limited resources to pay staff).
Anyway, I would appreciate prayer, and if anyone has any words of wisdom I would appreciate it. I know women who have children need to be in the home, but I guess I feel like without children, I am running away to some degree from my "real" responsibilities. Sigh... I am confused.
Thanks, ladies.
My grand daughter is only 7 moths old, but when she is old enough I look forward to making all these cards with her.
Needs Prayer:
My husband and I will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary next month, and I've worked most of our marriage. I've been a terrible housekeeper almost the whole marriage. My husband, who was raised by his widowed grandmother, was very understanding about the house, but some areas of it really depressed him. He didn't mind if I worked or if I quit to stay home, but I could never bring myself to quit altogether. We were in a lot of debt, and I felt obligated to work to help pay it off. Well, we haven't paid it off, and 3 children later, our lives had become completely unmanageble. When I found out that I was going to have a baby at 41, I knew I couldn't manage it all while still working. My other children are still pretty young, 8 and 5, so they would still benefit by my being home. I pulled my daughter out of school to homeschool, but I STILL couldn't let go of work and worked weekends for a long time. When it finally got ridiculous, I had to quit. It's taken months to get over it. There are times I still feel like I'm not contributing. But, as I am able to do larger projects at home, my husband sees the fruits of my labor and is happy to see the house pulling together. When something bothers him, I don't have to worry that I don't have time to tackle it. He leaves for work in the morning, and, by evening, that thing is resolved, and it makes him so happy.
Now, I know you don't have children, but I want you to understand that the drive to stay at work is very strong. I felt the same way about my leaving my company. Not that I'm irreplaceable, but they really counted on me. I was working for a small start-up and built the department from the ground up. I was the only one who really understood the complexity of the job. I only worked part-time, and it was hard to find someone with my skill set that only wanted a part-time job. I had tried to quit a couple of years ago, when my son was struggling in preschool. They hired a replacement who didn't work out, so I came back to train someone else. She didn't work out, so I ended up coming back 3 months later. I had a lot of guilt about my employer. He was so loyal to me, worked with me on my schedule, paid me more than fair market value, and let me take time off with sick kids anytime I wanted. He was a dream employer! But, I knew in my heart I needed to be home. I finally quit permanently in April, just shy of my baby's first birthday. My boss didn't hire a replacement in hopes that I would change my mind, and he told me many times that I could work from home if I wanted. On my last day, I handed several department heads an entire how-to manual of all that I did in hopes that my replacement would be able to look that over and continue where I left off. They've never hired anyone to replace me. Though I have some misplaced guilt about that, my wise husband reminds me that the success or failure of that company doesn't rest on my shoulders. It never really did. The owner of the company is completely responsible for whatever is done. He would like me back, of course, but that's not an option. Scripture tells me my job is in the home, and this is where my loyalties must reside.
At some point, you just have to cut it off. It's hard to let it all go, but you just have to. (For me, it's been almost 6 months, and I still feel the pull to go back to work. Sometimes, I enterain it, other times I ignore it.) In your case, I would suggest that, if you really believe you need to work part-time, secure another job first. You are very tied to the current job, and the guilt will kill you. If at all possible, quit altogether and learn how to be a good homemaker BEFORE you start a family. Let me tell you that it's SO HARD to learn this stuff when you have 3 little ones running around. I can cook single meals, but planning a weekly menu and shopping for it with a budget in mind are challenging to me. I can load the dishwasher but neglect the kitchen floor. I've mastered laundry, but I still struggle with putting it all away when it's done. I've only been home a few months, but I'm slowly getting the house organized. You can buy any number of books on organization or look at www.flylady.net for ideas on how to make your house a home without getting overwhelmed. If you master it, you will save your husband so much money. You might even master it quickly and be able to pick up that part-time job to supplement his income if you still feel like you need it. But, for now, I highly encourage you to quit everything and master your first priority. If you make your husband and home the highest priorities in your life (after God), your hubby will be so happy, and your home will run smoothly. You'll be able to take on more, because you'll know what needs to be done and be able to do it in no time. When your hubby sees how pleasant it is at home and how gorgeous you are, because you're rested and have time to make yourself pretty for him, unless he's a complete loon, he will want to work harder to maintain that lifestyle for himself.
I quit working 25 years ago because we moved to Berlin and I was not allowed a work visa. My husband wanted me to quit anyway. I felt extremely guilty and worthless, and suffered from jet lag and depression for a long time. I became a Christian several months after arriving in the country and then became pregnant and then began to understand God's idea of my role as wife and mother. He renewed my thinking and gave me such a sense of purpose and worth in my role as a homemaker. But it didn't happen overnight, it was gradually by one tiny step after another.
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