With the president's upcoming State of the Union Address on Tuesday and a country that seems to becoming further divided and lacking in patriotism, why not have those living things in your home, who usually don't have a voice, speak out now and wear America's colors with pride?!

That's right, have your house plants show how patriotic they are and perhaps the good spirit will be contagious for all who enter your home.

We'll start off with my favorite, a gift from my sister Emily of course...

   

Chia pets are always a classy way to spruce up your home. And now with the wide variety of political figures cast in terra cotta, you too can decorate your home with the prestigious president of your choice.

Follow the directions on the bag of Chia seeds and start growing your Commander in Chief's cornrows, which with time will develop into a nice full fro.

Of course, you don't have to go all out with a Chia Pet. There are always fabulous tiny flags from souvenir shops that portray patriotism well in any potted plant.

...and, of course, we can't forget our U.S. territories. 

Alma and Armand have puertorriqueño pride... as should we all.

:)

...still really good at wrap

Now that you know how to wrap, you can wrap anything... like a stool.

All you need are the following items and the knowledge that you're really really good at wrap.

(not pictured - blue upholstery ribbon)

Before you mix things up, you have to take off the old fabric, trace it onto your new fabric and cut it out.

THEN, use those wrapping skills and wrap it like you would wrap a box or a canvas!

 (staple opposite sides first and work your way into the in-between with lots of staples)

When it looks like this, you're ready for the ribbon and upholstery nails.

(fabric things from JoAnn's and nails are from Home Depot... although Lowes has them too)

When you're all done hiding the staples with the ribbon and nails, relax on your new improved furniture and know that you are now not only really really really really really really good at wrap, 

but you, my friend, are a wrap master!

Look for a post on that rug soon. It's made from my old t-shirts.

  

... 'cuZ i'M ReAlLy GoOd At wRaP

Before we get into this post, I feel the need to explain the title.

There's a duo that my sister Emily introduced me to, their link is below, and if you listen to this song, you may appreciate the title more. We frequently reference this song because it is so awesome. So, please check them out if you are not below the age 17 and enjoy things that are redonk.

Jack and Lindsey Topht - Awesome Rap (um, not G rated at all... so if you're my little sister, don't click this for a couple years)

With that being said, I've always been told I'm really good at [w]rap... usually by people who aren't really good at wrapping. But, nevertheless, I'm going to show you the way I wrap things. First, I show you how I wrap a box and then a canvas. Actually, it's more like an already wrapped canvas that I wrapped with something better, because I'm really really good at wrap.  But, I'm sure you can use your imagination if you want to learn how to wrap canvas because you're a creative person.

Here is how to wrap a box. 

Make sure you have the following items 

(the white man thing is a tape dispenser... a gift from my little sisters)

Take the scissors and cut a big enough rectangle to wrap around the whole box.

Practice makes perfect.

Line up one of the long edges of paper with one of the bottom long edges of the box and tape it down.

Pull the other long edge of paper tightly around the bottom of the box until you've covered up the place you just taped and the box seems like it's getting a tight hug from the paper. 

Tape it down when you feel the love.

I always like to keep things fresh and fold the ends differently each time. The basic point is to not see the box. So, make it look like this and then tape it down.

And make it look like this on the other end. Or, you could wrap it up like a giant jolly rancher by twisting the left-over paper on either end and using lots of tape. Use that imagination.

The next portion of this extremely long post is dedicated to those souls out there exercising that creative muscle by taking on the challenge of painting on canvas.

If you can wrap a box, you can wrap a canvas.

 All you need is the canvas, the frame, the staple gun (not tape), oh and gesso... yuck.

I used wallpaper paste to adhere the wallpaper to my already wrapped canvas.

You use the basics of box wrapping, only instead of tape, you use a staple gun. Start on one side by stapling the paper down to the middle of the back of the wooden frame. Then, staple the opposite side in the same fashion. Do the same for the 2 remaining sides. Then, start stapling like crazy on either side of all those staples until you make it to the corners. Have fun figuring those out.

I find that it's a whole lot cheaper in the long run to just buy canvasses already wrapped and ready to go, that way you can wrap them better...

 ...with some pretty vintage wallpaper that can be found anywhere you can find pretty vintage wallpaper.

I got that stuff at Portabello Road in Durham which I don't think exists anymore.

Not only do you get the satisfaction of wrapping a canvas really really good, you also don't even have to worry about that pesky painting.

Just put some screw eyes and hanging wire in the back, hang it on the wall, and...

you're done.

But, if you really want to paint, you could paint cute little things on it like Diane Feissel.

http://www.dianeandjohn.com/indexdf.htm

HaPpY wRapPiNg!

How to make pompom balls and hang them on your walls.

Start by finding some scrap cardboard or paperboard around your house. Trace something round like a container of mod podge or a giant yogurt container or a small bowl on top of the board with a pencil. Then, trace something slightly smaller and round inside of that circle, like an old film canister from back in the days of actual film, or a glue stick, or maybe a container of lip balm.

Trace two of these doughnut like things and cut them out. Then, line up your yarn cut into maybe 20 or more strips the length from fingertip to shoulder.  You can keep it all one color or make multi-colored balls just make sure that they're bunched together nicely for the next steps.

Put the bunch of yarn through both rings of board and wind it around and around until the two paper doughnuts are completely covered. 

Trim the excess. 

Stick the scissors in between the two doughnuts and carefully, making sure that you keep the string close to the board so that the string doesn't come apart from the bunch, cut all the way around the circumference of the circle.

Lastly, take a piece of string and place it between the doughnut boards and tie a knot. Carefully take off the doughnut rings and you can tie this string to other pompom balls and make a chain. As soon as your chain is ready, you can attach some small 3m hooks to the wall and go balls to the walls!

Nuts for Crafting

I deliberated for quite some time on the title of this blog. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never had quite enough drive until a couple months ago when I went to my second Amy Sedaris book signing. 

Amy's latest book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People, makes me happier than all the episodes of Strangers with Candy combined, mainly because of the fact that I make my living by teaching crafts... thus, I am a poor person... hence, the book is perfect for me.  

Alas, I did not really get the chance to tell her this as she signed my book due to the star-struck verbal diarrhea that dribbled out of my mouth instead. Rather, I chose to tell her that "I liked the nut shells with googly eyes" and somehow managed to later out one of my best friend's excommunication from her church... oops, maybe I just did it again, but that's a post for another time.

So, I was going to call the blog "Annie and Amy," a play off of that Julie and Julia blog, only with crafts instead of food... and me and Amy Sedaris instead of Julie and Julia Child. But, I don't quite know how dedicated I'll be to this blog, so I'd rather not put that much pressure on myself.

I suppose "Crafts and Such" shall remain the name of this blog, and I'll just frequently reference Amy's crafts as well as the other crafts out there that make me want to spend countless hours recreating them.

Oh, I hope you enjoy these nuts with googly eyes as much as I do.

They have been lovingly named Armand and Alma the Almonds (respectively).