Moved.

This ninja was having a hard time keeping up with two blogs. And now, it's all condensed into one.

The Ninja Herself

This will have crafts, recipes, and personal blogs here and there. So, if you're a follower here, please be a follower over there.

I plan on keeping this and my food blog active, but..not active? I won't be posting there anymore, but I won't be deleting anything from them.

Epic Magnets.

I love Tetris.

Too much for words.

There were many nights spent awake with a GameBoy in my hands. 

So I decided to make Tetris magnets after seeing them on Craftster.

First, using a Sharpie, draw out your shapes.

Then cut them out. Make sure to leave as clean of an edge as you can.

Now sew. Honestly, that's what I did. I did 3 wraps (stitches) in the corners, 2 everywhere else.

Start with the edges/outlines.

Then fill them in with color.

And now all you have to do is attach your magnets.

I tried gluing on some magnets with E6000. It's not working too well, unfortunately. I'm going to keep trying, though. These NEED to be on my fridge.

Naked House

It's true.

My house is naked.

Bare walls, nothing is decorating it. I mean, our upstairs bathroom is decked out in M&Ms stuff. And by decked out, I mean shower curtain, small rug, soap dispenser, soap dish, and toothbrush holder. That's about as extravagant as it gets here.

We have a few things here and there, but nothing amazing. 6 pictures in the house on display, one in a location that just looks awkward. We have a clock. We have empty picture frames on display on a sofa table (that we got FOR FREE on Craigslist). We have our football player cake toppers made by my aunt-in-law, who is super amazing, from our wedding cake.

She baked it herself, words and all.

We have..A SPICE RACK! And..well..that's pretty much it. >.<

So, to remedy this, I grabbed a piece of scrap wood I made Kyle pick up from my mom and dad's house. They just moved and my dad made a new tool bench thing for himself. He's handy like that.

"What are you doing with all these scraps, dad?" - Me

"Ah, I gotta get them together and throw them away before your mom yells at me." - Dad

"Can I have them?" - Me

"If you WANT them. They're just scraps and I doubt you can do any--" - Dad

"KYLE! I need you to get these scraps for me!" - Me

It's been an ongoing joke that the pieces of wood are just going to end up in a bonfire this summer. Thanks, guys, for having faith in me.

And knowing what will probably happen with most of it.

So, I'm looking through the scraps and realizing that there's honestly not much I can do with what I have. A lot of it still has nails stuck in it and whatnot. It's pretty rough. But then I find a piece and sand it.

And then put it in my craft room and forget about it.

Sometime after that, I re-found it. And then crafty things happened.

I really like how the gold came out somewhat distressed (I only did one coat in the letters). Ontop, I have a grid drawn out for the husband. He's going to drill some holes in there for me (because I'm not allowed to touch his precious DeWalt drill) and I'm going to industrial strength glue some wire into the holes, alternating in height. Then, wrap the wires ontop and BAM. Picture holder.

But yeah, we'll see when we'll finally get the holes drilled and the wires done. It's a slow going process.

Intimidating Crafts

I'm always looking for new things to do.

There's still plenty of things I could/need to learn with knitting, and I DEFINITELY need to up my crochet abilities, and...there's a lot of things I want to do. It's easier than listing it out.

One thing I always admired was resin pendants. If you don't know what that is, do a search on Etsy or DeviantArt. They look like glass, almost, but it's actually a clear epoxy. You can embed things into it, color it, etc. They look amazing.

But then I started reading up on the stuff. The dangers of the fumes, getting it on things, and I have a house with kids and pets. I can't do things dangerous.

But I found this stuff called Easy Cast at Hobby Lobby. It was around $14. And then..well...

Yeah, that happened. Lots of glitter, a mold tray, plastic cups, and stirring sticks.

Now, if you're planning on trying resin, please read up on it. There's a ton of things to read about it on Craftster, or you could do a search about it. There are some precautions to take and there's different mixing ratios for each resin set. Mine is a 1:1 ratio.

So, I threw my fears aside! I was going to conquer the beast!

Fail. To avoid this, I learned that I needed to pour some resin, then lay my object (which happened to be a skull button, OMG HOW CUTE?!) and let the resin set. Then make up another mix of resin, pour some ontop, then add the glitter. *facepalm* Duh.

I finally *kinda* got the hang of it, though.

Once they're fully cured, you sand the excess off along the edges and (can) paint some clear glaze on it to give it a nice shine. You also have the option of buffing it and whatnot.

A lot of factors go into the proper curing of your resin, temperature being one of them. It's kind of insane how much goes into it, but I think the end result is worth it.

Quickie: Crafting Practicality

I have a hard time finding potholders that I like/go with my kitchen. So, needing a craft, I decided to crochet. Again.

My tension is still a bit wonky (it's HP weekend on ABC Family, excuse my words please) but that'll even itself out with practice.

These were crocheted using Peaches N Creme 100% cotton (I small ball at WalMart will make 1, and it's a little less than $2). You don't want to use ANY acrylic yarn, because acrylic is plastic. Plastic + Heat = Melt.

Pattern found here. And quite honestly, I won't be paying for new potholders anymore, unless it's the supplies to make more of these. These are the BEST potholders you'll get. They're double thick (I'll admit, I struggled with the pattern as a beginner crocheter) so NO heat goes through these babies!

I'm inlove with my potholders.

First Crochet Project - Done!

I can't believe it. I really can't.

4 skeins of I Love This Yarn! Stripes in Surprize Stripe.

Size I (5.5mm) hook, using all double crochet..stitches? I don't know.

And then a crocheted black border around it.

Baby blanket. Not to shabby for a first project, huh?

It's a bit large, I'll admit, but I love it. I'm going to pop it in the washer to get it clean and wet, then block it a bit. Blocking is a bit iffy with acrylic yarn for me, but I hope it'll work.

And I think I need a few thousand more of those skeins. I just love the colors.

Quickie: I'm a hooker!

I never thought the day would come.

I really didn't.

I'VE LEARNED TO CROCHET!

My tension is still pretty off, but I'll get better as I go.

This ninja is super stoked.

The Stash.

I'm always curious about what people have when crafting.

You might not be. But I know there's others out there like me. 

There's something about seeing the raw material they're working with and then seeing a finished product that is so awesome, it's hard to find words to describe it. Part of it is probably due to the fact that crafters know what kind of work goes into making things. 

So I thought I'd share pictures of what I'm working with, yarn, knitting, and crochet related.

This is my odd and end box. It's got my scissors, stitch markers, some embroidery thread, gauge reader/ruler, yarn bobbins, darning needles, etc.

This is my yarn. And it's constantly changing and growing or shrinking. It's made up of Red Heart brand (which I honestly don't like, I think it's too rough for much of anything) and I Love This Yarn! acrylic worsted weight. After taking this picture, I got two things of Peaches & Creme 100% cotton. My kitchen needs some potholders.

These are the only two sets of circulars that I have. They're size 8 and 10, both 29". Needless to say, I use a LOT of the magic loop method when knitting on these.

Theeeeese are my knitting needles. Thanks in large part to my best friend, Kristy. Her mom had moved into a house that had a mess of things left over, including a large amount of knitting needles. I've got a pretty good amount of 14", then a couple sets of 10", and then a few sets of DPNs.

These would be my crochet hooks. I had, literally, ONE before Kristy. I also have a big assortment of pattern magazines and books for crocheting, straight out of the 70s and 80s. My house would be retro-fab right now if it wasn't for Kyle stopping me.

And, you know, if I could actually crochet. >.<

So, that's my knitting and crocheting stuff. Not a lot, but it's mine and it works for me.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to show you my craft room.

If only someone could get it done...

(Kyle, if you're reading this, HINTHINT.)

Keeping The Husband Happy

When my husband saw the finished piece I made for his mom and dad for Christmas, he wanted something like that for our house.

"I'M SICK OF ALL THESE PLAIN WALLS!"

The guy gave me free range of crafting and decorating.

And I. Got. Excited.

First, I started tracing my letters onto some scrapbook paper. I ended up getting the same type of letters that I used for the in-laws gift, but smaller.

Then I had to sit down and paint the board I got.

You know, for someone that hates painting as much as I do, I paint often.

And look at my elaborate tools. A cool whip lid as a paint holder? Thrifty.

And a couple of plastic bags to cover my work space? Recycling at its best, no?

I loved how the paint looked on the sign for my in-laws, so I had no problem doing it for the one in our house.

Then the hard part. Cutting out and placing the letters to get the spacing as best as I could. I'm not so good with this, let me tell you.

The letters in all their glory.

"If you teach your child nothing else, teach them the golden rule."

The actual quote is:

"If you teach your children nothing else, teach them the golden rule and righty-tighty, lefty-loosey."

I didn't have enough room. >.<

All attached (mod podge) on the wood.

Final coat of mod podge to seal everything together.

And it's currently...not hanging up anywhere. Because I ran out of the hanger attachments.

Clearly, I don't think ahead very well.

Also, I'm not very happy with the spacing and jumbly-ness that the letters are.

Kyle loves it. Says it gives it character.

I say it's done and I'm not doing it again anytime soon.