Hello from snowy SWMI! Right now, it looks like a snow globe outside, but feels like an arctic nightmare at a balmy 16 degrees.

I only have a few hours, since the kiddo has a half day, but I thought I’d give a quick look at the things I’ve been up to.

After the initial post-Christmas break cleanup (that actually took… a while) I headed to the craft room for a few reasons. First, since Harlow’s Christmas party for school had been canceled, her teacher did a small make-up New Years party the week after they got back. We pulled it together, and it went okay.

The craft I put together for the kids was a Pinecone Snowy Owl. A former co-worker friend of mine awesomely gave me 20-some gigantic pinecones to use for the project, and the rest was pretty easy to put together. Some white yarn, some felt, googly eyes, a few pipe cleaners, a Sharpie, and glue dots.

First, be sure to get the sap off. I tried a few ways I found online, but ultimately nothing worked except baking them at 250 for an hour (but check them often). That was the hardest part, getting the sap off.

After that was out of the way, I focused on Barbie stuff that Harlow had been asking for. Mostly beds/couches, clothing, and a Barbie Closet (Take 2). My favorite thing was her new Barbie futon. It turned out so cute and was really, really easy. If I can find more of the materials at the Dollar Tree, I’ll probably be making a few more. The futon mattress was made from black canvas and some batting. Tip: when sewing a batting liner, place a piece of tissue paper on top and sew over that so your sewing machine doesn’t get clogged up in the batting. It worked so well! I used the same canvas for one pillow (to which I added “Let’s Cuddle” iron on wording I cut out on my Cricut) and the other pillow was from some old material I’ve used a lot as a photo prop.

On top of that, I threw some wood bits and an old coaster together, added the leftover glass cup from an old candle, and made a glue gun holder. It turned out pretty great for what a hodge-podge it was.

Well, okay. That’s all for now. Happy crafting, and if you’re a fellow SWMI-er, stay safe!