Yarn Covered Spheres

OK, I know that the using spheres in the title is a bit odd, but I just couldn't type yarn covered balls without giggling to myself (yes, it's true, inside I am a 8 year old boy :-D).

With that out of the way, onto the tut.

1.  Gather your materials.  Yarn, styrofoam balls, glue and not pictured-pins and a a brush. Tacky Glue is pictured but after wrapping two balls, I ended up using regular Elmer's Glue. It was less sticky.

2.  Use a pin to attach one end of a piece of yarn to the ball.

3.  Brush glue on the top of the ball.  I painted the glue about a inch or so at a time, all the way around the ball.

4.  Start wrapping the yarn.

5.  For a ball all the same color, skip to step 7.  For a ball with more than one color, when you get to the spot you want to transition, pin the starting color to the ball.

6.  To start the next color, pin the end of the new color on top of the end of the previous color.

7.  When working on the other side, keep wrapping, holding the uncovered end up and use your fingers to keep the yarn touching. This is where things can get a bit sticky so you may want to keep a damp paper towel to wipe off the glue.

8. Cut and pin the end of the yarn. Once you get to the end, snip the yarn so you have just a tiny tail and then pin the end down.

9.  You are done!

10.  Repeat over a dozen more times.

11. Display in your container & enjoy!

I think it looks pretty nice in our foyer.  It really picks up the blues and greens in the framed map.

I do have to share something weird that happened to me when I did this project.  Apparently, I am allergic to the yarns I selected (all the same brand).  What makes me thinks so? That evening, my hands started to itch and it just got worse from there. I ended up with hives from head to toe the next day.  Thank goodness for Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream.  I think it may have been some chemical used to treat the fibers since I know I am not allergic to acrylic.  So if you end up itchy after making some yarn covered balls for yourself, you will know what to do.

Check out the places I party.

Blog-a-Pal-Loosa Day 1 - Randee's Organized Chaos

Today's give away is from Randee's Organized Chaos.
 

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!  The day has FINALLY arrived!!!  Today is the first day of 

BLOG-A-PAL-LOOSA!!!

And I am the GIVEAWAY-ER!!!  LOL!!!

Here is what I have for you today....and let me tell you, I am JEALOUS that I can not win this awesome set!!  My great friend Stacey from over at the 

The Glamorous Cowgirl 

has graciously given us 2 FANTASTIC items!!

They have an $85 Retail Value!!

The BLING BLING "HIDE N SOLE" flip flops are to DIE for and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the "ALBA" bag to match!!  I can see me looking pretty darn cute in these all over town!!!  ;)

Head on over to Randee's Organized Chaos to enter!  Good luck!

Weekend To Dos 5/5-6 & Menu Plan 5/6-12

Another busy weekend around here, made even busier because tomorrow we have our Family Dinner so much of the day will be spent hanging out with family.  I guess we better get cracking since it is already 9:30 am here. 

1. Willow to the dog park
2.  Re-caulk roof flashing around fireplace
3. Get fabric for upholstery class (more on this coming in a later post)
4. Michael's (D has plans to make his Mom a Mother's Day gift)
5. Cleaning, Grocery, Laundry
6. Finish up horse bookends, shadowbox, vertical garden
7. Take photos of everything
8. Write up food posts
9. Take pics of Willow
10. Mow yard (moved until the grass dries out.)
11. Work on garden (it rained all weekend. Boo!)
12. Family Dinner

This is another Family Dinner weekend so tomorrow we will be having a belated Cinco de Mayo dinner.  Plus D is on break before he starts up his summer classes so will be home every night.  That will be a bit of a change since I am used to having the house to myself a couple of nights a week.

Sunday:  Salsa Verde Enchiladas, Corn Salad, Spanish Rice and dessert TBD
Monday:  Smokey Seasoned Steaks
Tuesday:  Chicken Chorizo Brats
Wednesday:  FITF*
Thursday:  Salomon Ceasar Salad
Friday:  Chipotle Burritos or FITF (depends on how many leftovers we have left)
Saturday:  Chicken Sate with Peanut Sauce

*Forage in the Fridge

Blog-a-Pal-Loosa Starts Tomorrow!

I am participating in a group give away over the next 14 days!  It is going to be awesome! Randee from Randee's Organized Chaos is our fabulous host.

I want all my readers to be sure to stop by every day so you can see where the day's give away is so you can enter each day and have a chance to win the great stuff that my fellow bloggers are giving away. 

What is a group give away you ask? (I had to ask since I wasn't quite sure myself).  Starting tomorrow, each participant will be posting about the day's give away on their blog along with a description of the item(s) and the link to where the give away is happening so you can head on over there to enter. 

The posts are scheduled to go up each morning at 9 AM so make sure to stop by every day so you can see where the give away is so can go there and enter. 

Spread the word!  You don't even need to be a blogger to win.  You just need an email address.  How easy is that?

Good luck!  Just a heads up, my give away is going to be on Wednesday, May 16!

Supporting Operation Smile & a $50 Credit Giveaway from CampusBookRentals.com

I wanted to use my post today to tell you about a great organization helping children around the world smile bigger and brighter, and to introduce you to a company that is helping to make those smiles happen.

Operation Smile is an international children's medical charity that heals children's smiles, forever changing their lives.

Every three minutes a child is born with a cleft - often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected. And in too many cases, their parents can't afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life.

That's where Operation Smile comes in as an international charity providing much needed surgical services. Since 1982, Operation Smile - through the help of dedicated medical volunteers - has provided more than 2 million patient evaluations and over 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities in over 60 countries.

Image from Operation Smile

In these photos you can see what a difference Operation Smile doctors can make in the life of a child.  Personally, I think the transformation is nothing short of amazing.  I can only imagine the impact that Operation Smile has had on this child, her parents and their community.  To see more unforgettable transformations, click here to see patient stories.

Additionally, while the main focus of Operation Smile is international, they haven't forgotten about those here in the US impacted by a cleft or facial deformity.  Operation Smile has developed a US Care Network with resources and referrals for those families living here in the US.

Here is where CampusBookRentals.com figures into Operation Smile and their mission. 


They have created their Making a Difference Program to support Operation Smile and its mission to heal children's smiles.  Through this program CampusBookRentals.com has committed to donating enough money to cover a minimum of 1,000 life changing surgeries. Of course they hope to surpass that number with their customer's help. 

To meet, and beat, their goal through the Making A Difference Program portion of the proceed of EVERY book rented will be donated to Operation Smile for medical missions, education and training, and building sef-sufficient programs in developing countries along with all the other work Operation Smile tackles.  So add that extra book to your cart and help bring another child a beautiful smile. 

While CampusBookRentals.com has been helping students keep their book costs down since 2007 (I SO wish something like had been around when I was in school), you don't need to be a student to rent books.  So if you don't have a college student in your life or you just want to check out some books on Clothing Design or Furniture Refinishing or  Organic Gardening or Theoretical Physics (in case you want to try and follow what Sheldon is doing on TBBT), this is the place to go.  Personally, I like the idea that I could get a book on Woodworking Projects and instead of the 2 weeks I get from my local library, I can keep whatever book I choose for up to 130 days and, maybe, actually make some of the projects.

Each person who leaves a comment will be entered in the drawing for a $50 credit at CampusBookRentals.com.  Additional entries for becoming a Follower of Claiming Our Space via RSS, Bloglovin or Google Connect, following on Twitter and/or Pinterest and for following CampusBookRentals on Twitter @textbookrentals and/or on Facebook.  Just let me know in your post where you are following.

Entries for this drawing will be accepted until Wednesday, May 9, 2012.  The winner will be announced on Thursday, May 10.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This giveaway and its prize are sponsored by CampusBookRentals.com. All opinions are 100% mine and I was not financially compensated to write this post. However, my family and I have donated to Operation Smile in the past.**

Willow Wednesday

What do you mean I am not a lap dog?

Tout It Tuesday - #4

Welcome to Tout It Tuesday - #4!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week! 
There were so so much great stuff shared last week and here are my favs.

Our Pinteresting Family shows how to turn an and old frame and some cork tiles into something special with her stenciled bulletin board. Doesn't it look fab?

Sew Passionate shared how she made her a Pottery Barn inspired pillow with a great tutorial on how to make your own. I may need to make one of my own.

The Farm Girl created a amazing looking Kit Kat cake. I think I need to have one of these for my next birthday (I love me some Kit Kats!)

Hot Flash n' Craft shows how she made a great "trophy" from palm fronds.  This one it too cool! I so need to make one of these for D. Too bad there aren't any palm trees in Michigan.

 Blissful and Domestic has a tut for a cute ruffled clutch. Best part? No zipper needed. Perfect for a novice sewer like me.

Make sure to grab the Featured button

 

<a href="http://www.claimingourspace.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/gooch100/COSButton-Featured.jpg" /></a>

I can't wait to see what people will be share this week and know that I will be inspired by everyone's projects and recipes.

Just a few rules/guidelines.

1. I would love it if you would follow through GFC or Bloglovin'. You can also follow on Twitter where I will be sharing my favorites throughout the week.

2. Please do not link parties or shops. Everything else is accepted.

3. Linking to Claiming Our Space isn't required but I would appreciate it if you would grab my button and either display it with the post you are linking up or under your list of parties.

<a href="http://www.claimingourspace.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/gooch100/COSButton-ToutItTuesdays.jpg" /></a>

4. Please try to visit at least two posts for each link you submit and leave a comment. Comments make everyone happy!

Now let's Tout It!!