Candy Apples With Variations. Yum!

Description: One Charming Party has posted recipes and instructions for Candy Apples With Variations. Try your hand at caramel, chocolate, chocolate drizzle as well as candy apples with toppings. Yum!

Craft Link : Candy Apples With Variations

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Incorporating Change Into Crafts

When my kids were teens, the only craft I did was needlepoint. Later, after my sister introduced me to scrapbooking, working with photos was my obsession. Nowadays, my craft of choice is graphic design.

I’ve enjoyed three completely different crafts over the last 10 years, two of which I rarely work on now. What has happened to all those years of knowlege and experience? Are they now worthless?

The answer is a definite NO. While it’s true I might never go back to enjoying needlepoint or scrapbooking, the remnants of my past interest show up on frequent occasions.

How?

There may be several subtle answers to that question, like influence on style (scrapbooking) or willingness to progress slowly on a project (needlepoint). But I like a less subtle answer. More often than not, when I work on graphic designs, they are usually printable for scrapbooks or patterns for needlepoint project. Those old hobbies haven’t disappeared from my life, they just manifest themselves differently now.

Another example. When I was younger I used to eat only margarine or butter. Later, for health reasons I switched to olive oil. Now I use a mix of olive oil and yogurt as a fat on potatoes, pasta, rice and vegetables. It’s delicious, but I would never have started this new practice, if I didn’t already have a love of creamy (from the butter) and olive oil (from my low-fat days).

Here are my questions to you:

How have your interests changed over the years? And, how have you current interests been improved by the remnants of your past?

To merge your new interests with your old, consider the following questions…

…Can you use the skills learned from a previous hobby in a new endeavor? A lover of sewing and cross-stitching can combine previously mastered skills to create handsewn baby outfits with cross-stitched collars.

…Can you use the subject matter from an old interest as the motif for a new? A sewing and golfing enthusiast can use golf themed fabric to make sofa pillows and awning for a porch swing.

…Can you combine two or more interests to make a third completely new interest? A hardcore fabric dyer and rubber stamper can experiment with using fabric dyes to stamp on cotton.

I’d love to hear your answers to these questions. Please write a comment to let me know what new and exciting projects you came up with!

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Scrappy Floral Skirt Tutorial

Description: This attractive Scrappy Floral Skirt project starts with a premade skirt. If you’d rather use a made-from-scratch skirt, check out this link with dozens of free patterns for you to chose from.

Craft Link : Scrappy Floral Skirt

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Felt Flower Pillow

Description : Classy Clutter has put together a great copycat tutorial for this charming commercially crafted pillow.

Craft Link : Felt Flower Pillow

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The Big Ezine Roundup

Description : Zakka Life has put together a tremendously useful list called The Big Ezine Roundup. Most of the ezines listed are free. Btw, here’s the link to the issue of Inspired Ideas pictured above.

Craft Link : The Big Ezine Roundup

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

Description: I can’t wait to try out these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies from Two Twenty One. My ex-neighbor used to bake and sell pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and they were amazingly delicious.

Craft Link : Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

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