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Crafting Christmas in the Midst of Chaos

Ok - I've been a very bad blogger over the holidays!  After the craft show, I just couldn't catch up before the holidays, and decided to just spend some time with my family!  It was our first Christmas here on the Prairie, so we were attempting to find our way with no family and "old" friends around.  Never fear, I have been crafting and scrapping, though!

I wanted to share one of the projects we worked on as a family.  When I say we, I really mean Mr. Right was put to work.  We made a Ladder Ball set for my in-laws.  We got all the directions on the internet on Just Build Stuff Here.  Isn't the internet a wonderful place?  I'm not going to show you all the details for that project here, because they did such a wonderful job over on their site.
After making the set, I wanted to make a bag to carry it all in, but boy was this bag a heavy one!  I originally thought I could just transform the leg of a pair of jeans into the bag, but had to split two legs open, piece them together and make the bag much wider than the jeans.  Once this all got done, I then made a pocket to put rope through and then went on a search for those little pincher slide clasps.  (Sorry, I have no real name for those!)
Close up look at the pincher slide clasps (PSC)

I know that craft and fabric stores sell these, PSC's, but I couldn't' find any in our little Prairie Town in a "pinch." (I'm cracking myself up this morning! lol)  

Then, my daughter and I tried to make a long handle from jeans, but couldn't get it to reverse for the life of us!  That jean material was too thick to turn on itself easily, and because we were trying to do it last minute, of course it just wouldn't work! (Note to Self: Do not do projects at the last minute!)

As a back up plan, I used the rope to macrame a handle from a piece that was really long!  It actually was probably more sturdy in the long run, and if my in-laws every need survival rope and happen to have the ladder ball with them, they will have a good 30 feet of it!
Anyway, we also used the same rope for the bolas (fancy name for two golf balls on the ends of a string!).  We spray painted half the golf balls black using Rustoleum spray paint for plastic.  It turned out looking really professional.

Needless to say, I think my in-laws really liked it, since their last one was destroyed by children.  Those store versions are not nearly as sturdy as these are, and parts can easily be replaced at a hardware store!

Don't forget to check out those blogs in the right column that I love to link up to.
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Comments

  1. srpprcrftrJanuary 14, 2013 at 7:39 PM

    Your inventive talent sure paid off.I don't know exactly what it is you do with what you made but it's great when people can and do figure out other ways to do things. Great job
    A few years ago we moved from San Diego where anything you need is pretty much around the corner. When we moved to MT there wasn't anything around any corners except for prairie and cactus and trees down by the lake. We lived south of Helena, MT and it's considered the high desert. After San Diego it was quite a different place to live. We had 20 acres off of Canyon Ferry Lake, every where we looked was mountains, space, lake. It was incredible after being a city girl all my life. Happy creating

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prairie ScrapsJanuary 15, 2013 at 5:53 AM

      We are fairly close...just a few hours away. We live just in Northern, ID on the other side of Lolo Pass. It's beautiful, but challenging. It truly tries your inner being!

      Delete
    2. Prairie ScrapsJanuary 15, 2013 at 5:54 AM

      oh, fyi, Ladder ball is a yard game. Campers really love playing it in the campgrounds. Fun for kids and adults alike. Just the store purchased ones are flimsy and often break easily.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2013 at 6:41 PM

    Dori
    I think those things are called "drawcord toggles". Great job with the ladderball game!
    Have a great day!
    Sarah C.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prairie ScrapsJanuary 23, 2013 at 6:10 AM

      You might be right on the name! I was going through my craft supplies the other night, and found a dozen that I actually had purchased for another project! Can't believe I went everywhere trying to find them just a week or so ago!

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 29, 2021 at 4:12 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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