300 Cleaning and Crafting

Friday night I told Katie that until her room was clean that she could not have her friends over again. Her room was so messed up that it was a feat just to walk to her bed to tuck her in. I had to take a cup off her bedside table so it wouldn't fall. It was full of some milky fluid and HAIR! Katie likes to make "potions" with water and lotion and bath gels, but the hair had me stumped. She had given her Build A Bear a haircut. Her Siberian Husky looked like it had been shaved for hip surgery. I was irate! It probably made me so mad because I loved my stuff animals when I was a kid. I might have cut Barbie's hair and snapped her bendy knees the wrong way, but I loved my stuffed animals. I managed to get her to sleep and escape (normally I fall asleep after her bedtime story). I went straight to "my room" and began to play. I needed to de-stress. I started on a few things. I broke out the paint and the Modge Podge :)
This one came about only because a single strand on the paint brush I was using to Modge Podge was sticking out. I already had the dark brown paint out, and as soon as I mad a single brush stroke this is what I saw. Although, I seem to be painting a lot of trees lately (did I mention that my grandfather was a tree surgeon).
This one is just in its first stage, but I have no clue what the next stage is going to be.And this one will have a girl added to it. I have some ideas ...
The next morning, Katie woke up and got to work cleaning. She cleaned and cleaned ... two hours later she came downstairs to ask if she had cleaned enough. I trudged up the stairs, hoping HOPING that she had made some good headway on her room. And this is what I saw ....It took her TWO HOURS to shove her stuff out of the way to create a path? I wonder how much of that two hours was spent playing? 90-95%? So, of course I did what I had said I wouldn't do ... I started cleaning her room. And as I uncovered her floor this is what I found. I have no clue what it is. It is black and tarry/waxy. I am sure it is from make-up, and I was afraid it wouldn't come up. It was about that time that I looked in the hallway to find that Connor had dumped a whole bottle of blood red medicine on the floor. Luckily he did not try to take it. My old paint palette was laying in the hallway, and he tried to pour it in there. He missed. So, I had to bust out the steam cleaner. That thing has had quite a workout lately! It may not have gotten all of the mess up, but it did a pretty good job. I was afraid the black wouldn't come out at all. I thought I deserved a little relaxation, and using your old craft stuff is KIND OF like cleaning, right?! I saw this cute little felt plushie on Stix on the Beach, and I knew I would have to make one of my own oneday. Yesterday was the day. I grabbed what I had nearby (yeah, I have felt in the kitchen - well, in the buffet in the dining area) and got to work. I sketched out a basic shape for the body, and I winged it on the other pieces. It took me about two hours to hand sew the little guy. I started out thinking I would make a "boy" but when I started on its mouth that changed. Two stitches in and it looked like cupie bow lips, so I went with it. Katie named her Rose (which is much preferred to Heart Love that she wanted to name everything last year). Her neck looked a little bare, and my inspiration was wearing a scarf/necklace, so I decided she needed a scarf of her own. Connor adopted her rather quickly ... And he took Rose on her first swing.

All I needed was a little crafty time. It is amazing how it can calm me down. I need to do it more often, OBVIOUSLY!