Needle Minders - I never knew they existed!

Up until about two weeks ago, I'd never even heard of a needle minder. Now, I'm not sure how I got through HSHY without one.

Needle minders are a simple premise: they're fun little magnetic gizmo that you attach onto your aida and when you're not using your needles, it'll hold onto them and keep them from getting lost.

In the past, I've lost needles on the floor and not been able to find them. Husband almost got one in his foot one time, so he was very supportive of me getting a minder despite the fact that money is pretty tight right now.

When I broke down and decided to purchase one, it took me a little while to find a store that I liked. The store I ended up falling in love with was TheCreativePalace on Etsy. There are an absolute ton of designs that you can choose from on her store and they're reasonably priced (which obviously meant that I had to buy more than one...)

I ended up choosing a Zero from NBC, the Toki Doki inspired unicorn, and a nice big cupcake with lots of surface area in case I ever decide to try parking projects down the line. The little unicorn on the bottom left was a bonus gift that was included with my order and I can't wait to use it down the line. Oh, and everything got to my house from Idaho in just a few days. I was really impressed. So, yeah, go check out her shop. Her stuff is great!

Note: I have no affiliation with TheCreativePalace or Etsy except as an occasional customer. ☺

No More Pen Thieves!

When I went through my office recently and took inventory, I discovered that my office had not one pen in it. There were pencils and pens and highlighters, but no pens--Oh, sorry! There was one, but it was completely crusty and dried out. So, yeah, no pens.

What I ended up finding out is that pen theft is an occupational hazard for me. They get taken at meetings during sign-in, at meetings during sign-outs, and during meetings whenever someone forgets their own writing utensils. And since I have meetings at least once a week, pens tended to have a short-lived residence in my/my predecessor's office.

As petty as it sounds, I've decided that pens will no longer grow legs while I work in this new job. Plus, not having pens gave me a really good excuse to try out a project that I've been wanting to do for over two years when I was working in my previous office: pom-pom pens!

It only took about five minutes on Google Image Search to find exactly what I was looking for on Doodle Craft. (Thank you, Google, for all that you do.) The link to the tutorial can be found here, along with my "I hate cliche flower pens" comment at the end.

So, what did I use? You'll be proud! I took a photograph before ravishing the new craft supplies I got at Michael's. And did I mention that my new job gets me 15% everything there now because I work in education? I know... I'm going to be broke soon.

From left to right are some donated Bic pens from a colleague, a new hot glue gun since I apparently have never owned one before (Don't ask me how. I still don't know...), Recollections brand "Twine" from the card making section of the store, 26 Gauge silver floral wire, and some Purple Tones Aunt Lydia's #10 crochet thread.

Now, if I haven't mentioned this before, I've decided on The Nightmare Before Christmas as my office theme, hence the black and white twine. Originally, I was planning on using Aunt Lydia's #10 crochet thread in "Zebra," but for some reason I haven't been able to find it anywhere, so I'm stuck with the twine until further notice. I think it turned out really well, though, and I've had multiple meeting attendees ask me where I got my pens. Nightmare has officially become my signature at work.