It's been a crazy holiday season, mostly due to non-holiday activities and having a bad head cold for far too long, so I can hardly believe that Christmas is next Saturday.

There have been a few moments where I wanted to go back on my pledge to not buy any new holiday wrapping. Those brightly colored tubes of paper would be easier. But, I am determined to keep my promise and have a recycle wrap holiday. The good news is I had a few moments of inspiration this weekend, one of which led to these gift bags.

Using newspaper for wrapping isn't exactly a new idea, but I had forgotten about the idea of using newspaper for bags until I found this in my stash of old bags, bows, and boxes.

I had saved it, because I thought it was such a cool idea.

When I got married more than 4 years ago, I put a lot of thought and effort into all pieces. From the wine glass charm favors made with scrabble tiles, because it's my husbands favorite game, to the table runners, which I didn't just rent, but made from the perfectly selected fabric. Of course once the wedding was over I was left with a lot of supplies, including dozens of large and small candle holders.

Bridget Morrison!

Congrats to Bridget. Thank you everyone who liked, followed, and commented over the last week, your support is much appreciated!

And, if the Huskies beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl I just might be in the mood to give even more scarves away. (Hey, it could happen!)

Thanks again.

The Urban Craft Uprising is quite possibly my favorite annual art & craft event! (Although probably best not to mention that to my work, since I work for a visual arts organization. And, maybe I won't tell "Work Maren" either since she plans several art events for a living. Oh well.) 

But, the Urban Craft Uprising is my kind of craft show and if you happen to be in the Seattle area this weekend you should definitely check it out.

Maybe I'm just feeling generous after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend or feeling full of glee over the Huskies win over Cal this past weekend (and forthcoming win over the Cougs in the Apple Cup), but I feel like it's time I did a giveaway on my little blog. And, what better item for me to giveaway than one of my sport scarves (like those seen below).
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Well, it's beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas, or at least winter. Here is a picture of my courtyard last night. (It looks about the same today, but not as pristine.)

I was feeling in the Christmas spirit this weekend, so I spent time working on holiday cards.

I'll admit that bingo cards don't exactly scream "Merry Christmas" (unless your winnings pay for your Christmas gifts and then by all means scream whatever you want).
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This weekend I finally finished my wine cork wreath! Here is the finished product.

The wreath started two posts ago with the endless cutting of wine corks and then the painting/dyeing of them all. (In the end the dyed corks were just too light, so I ended up painting them another shade of green as well.)

I did have some trouble coming up with a wreath form.
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Recently a colleague sent me the link for the Assemble Shop in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. After just a few minutes perusing their website I knew this was a place I had to visit.

When I saw they were having a linoleum block printing workshop on Sunday, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to check out their shop and learn a new crafting skill.

The 2 hour workshop was a great introduction to carving linoleum blocks for printing and various stamping techniques.

This weekend I took another step towards completing my wine cork wreath - turning the natural cork into green cork.

This summer I had success using black Rit dye for fabric on cut pieces of wine cork, so my first choice was to use green Rit dye. The black dye created dark gray cork, so I knew the green dye wouldn't be too dark. This seemed like the perfect way to maintain the look of the cork's texture, while creating a green hue.

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out quite like I had hoped.

What did I do this weekend? Besides a little Halloween fun on Sunday evening, I spent my Sunday morning cutting up wine corks into 1/2" and 1/4" discs.

I've been meaning to get started on this project for a while and with Thanksgiving now weeks away I better get moving on my cork Christmas wreath.
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About Me
About Me
I'm Maren and I inherited the "project" gene. While this probably isn't a scientific term, I believe it is why I am constantly starting (and usually finishing) new projects. I focus most of my efforts on various crafts, sewing, art, home decor, recycled materials and anything else that peaks my curiosity.
Email me
Email me
madebymeo (at) gmail (dot) com
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