Crafting For Sanity: My sewing machine is suffering from months of neglect...

Yes, you read that right. My sewing machine is suffering from several months of neglect and I'm not exactly happy about it. Since the separation and divorce process has started, I haven't had a ton of time or motivation to really craft. I've done a few special orders that I made time for but other than that, my sewing machine has been neglected since probably November/December. The last thing I really remember doing on the sewing machine was the rice packs for the festival in Belmont which was early December I believe but I think at that point I just took the ones I had made for the festival in November.

Well today, after finding my thread and the numerous other supplies I needed I finally got to use my sewing machine again. My cousin wanted a rice pack for her shoulder but she didn't want any of the ones I already had made so I made one that is bigger than normal and took almost a full 3lb bag of rice. It finally measured 13 x 6 inches.

I realized I really missed sewing.

Ever since I brought out my sewing machine today, I've had the motivation to start a new project. I haven't decided if I want to create a blanket or a quilt but I want to make something PRETTY I know that much. I've been perusing Pinterest and I've found a few patterns I like as well as some good deals on fabric.

Who remembers Perler beads?!?

Well a few weeks ago my boyfriend and I were at Michael's and of course, I had a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket. I found a Perler bead kit for $11ish and decided that I would give it a go. It was a huge hit with his 11 year old sister. For some reason though the beads they are producing now do not melt as easy as they use to. The instructions say 10-30 seconds in a circular motion on medium heat, it took at least a minute on high heat to get them to set.

Here is what we created....