Hello and welcome to The Capricious Crafter blog! Who or what is the capricious crafter? Well, that would be me, Becky, a sixty something child of God, wife, daughter, aunt, great aunt, friend and lover of crafting, cooking, reading, travel, and more. My husband and I have been married almost thirty years and are looking forward to his retirement at the end of 2014. Our plans are to buy a new camper and hit the road as much as possible. Oh, the possibilities are endless for our future!

I am a child of the 1950's and that is definitely my favorite 'era'. I collect Fire King items from the 1940's and 50's, clear glass or crystal glassware, especially pitchers, cream and sugar sets, etc., as well as old dishware and serving pieces, vintage fabrics and so much more!

I have been crafting for as long as I can remember, and definitely from my early childhood. I remember my mother teaching me how to make paper dolls from the Sears catalog and 'shirt cardboard' from the cleaners. And now I still love playing with paper! My primary crafty passion is paper crafting items such as mini albums, cards, tags, etc., however I also enjoy crocheting, some sewing, embroidery, mixed media art and art journaling, felt crafts and so much more.

My purpose for this blog is to share the crafts I make, foods I cook, decorating and caring for my home, new products I try, treasures I find at estate and yard sales, my collections, and anything else I come up with. I hope you will join me on this journey ... it's going to be a very 'capricious' ride!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Sharing ... Craft Product Revew and A New Obsession!

Hello there!  Are you staying warm these days?  Here in northern Georgia we have had some really, REALLY cold temps thanks to the 'polar vortex' or 'arctic blast' or whatever it is they are calling it today that has been ravaging our country this past week.  This morning in Atlanta (a little over an hour south of here) it was a balmy 6 degrees, with wind chill temps of around -15 ... degrees!  But I've pretty  much stayed inside and worked on some crafty projects (and some laundry) instead of going out into the deep freeze!  And that brings me to my review of a new (to me) crafty product!

I have always wanted to learn to make yarn pom-poms, but that whole thing with the two pieces of cardboard and winding just never worked for me.  In fact, I guess I'm just not smart enough to figure it out, and usually I am pretty good at that kind of thing.  But ... during the Christmas holidays, as I was following Christy Campbell Tomlinson on facebook and she had been making pom-pom garlands to decorate her home, and she showed a picture of her sitting in bed (well, actually her feet) with pom-poms and  yarn all around her, and one of these things in the mix ...




This is the Clover Pom-Pom maker, and just about the coolest little thing I have found in a while!  My husband gave me an Amazon gift card for Christmas, and this is the first thing I ordered!   I didn't even read the directions, however I had already watched the you-tube video and knew it wasn't that hard.  But it was easier than I had thought, and the learning curve was minimal ... the first one took a small learning curve, but by the second one I had it down pat!





I have made over 30 of the pom-poms and have made a couple of Valentines garlands.  This picture is really bad, but you can get the idea ...




I am loving these garlands ... you could do them for a child's room, classrooms, your mantle for holidays, and I think several strands together would be beautiful over a window as a topper.  Oh!  wouldn't all white pom-pom garlands would be beautiful for a wedding or bridal shower decorations! 

But other than making garlands, I can see many ways of using the little fluffy balls of yarn in my crafts!  Just yesterday I finished a Valentine's tag for a swap I am doing and it has a cute little hand made pom-pom hanging from the bottom of it.  Go to Pinterest and search for yarn pom-pom crafts and look at all the great ideas.  And if you are interested in learning to make birds and animals from pom-poms, you can find some great tutorials HERE.




And kids ... wow!  I think kids of all ages would love making pom-poms!  I am a child of the 50's and 60's and I remember girls making pom-poms to tie on their roller skates, majorette boots, tied into their hair and more.   Girls today love color and texture and the wow factor, and anyone who can use scissors safely could make pom-poms by the dozens!

So, what do I rate the Clover Pom-Pom Maker???  Well, considering the fact I am now in love and addicted, I had no choice but to give this product



I love it when someone come up with a new way to make an old craft, and that is what the folks at Clover have done in a product that is easy to use and fairly inexpensively.  Thanks for joining me today, and please come back soon!  Blessings,





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