Tutorials

Grandma's Scrabble Wall Art

2011-12-22T09:38:00.001-08:00

Ah, it's Christmas again. Every. Single. Year.

No, I'm not all bah-humbug about it. It's just that each year I'm racking my brain on what to get for my two 90yo grandmothers. I love them to death, but they simply already have everything. And with one of them having 6 children/spouses and 19 grandchildren, it makes it even more difficult to get something that won't be duplicated by someone else.

So I try to make something for them instead of buying it. At least I can eliminate the duplicates that way. But still, there's the ever-elusive answer to the question, "But what??!!"

Both of my grandmas are sharp as tacks. Sadly, their bodies are failing them, but their minds seem fully intact (better than mine on many days!) One of the traditional things I do when I visit my one grandma is to play a game or two of Scrabble. I admit, she cleans my clock most times we play, but I don't mind. She's good! And that little activity we share is the inspiration for this year's gift.

I decided to make her a pseudo scrabble tile wall art with the names of all of her grandchildren! I think it's perfect for her! I know, I know, names aren't allowed in the game of Scrabble. Too bad, I'm making my own rules with this one!

Wanna make one too? Follow along and I'll show you how.

I made my tiles 2.5 inches square. You can make them any size, of course, but this made my finished product about 40" x 35" -- a good size for a wall hanging. To get the 2.5" squares, I used 1x3" boards.

When purchasing your boards, be sure to check the face of the board for knots. You want boards that are as knot-free as possible. It's not even that important if the boards are warped or not, since you'll be cutting them into tiny pieces, but you don't want to have knots showing on your finished tiles.

I picked up some really nice boards at Lowe's. They were really clean, and most importantly, they had edges that were already a bit rounded.

Cut your wood into squares and sand the edges. My dad got me a grinding wheel some time back and it works wonderfully for smoothing the edges.

You'll also need some appropriately-sized alphabet stamps. This was by far the toughest part of the project for me. I knew if I couldn't find the right letters, then I just wouldn't be satisfied with the final project.

I tried several office supply stores and craft stores for the pre-cut vinyl letters, but none of them were the right font or right size. Plus, I would have had to purchase several packages, which would have made this project too expensive to be practical.

I also looked into stencils, but with alphabet stencils, the letters are usually choppy as part of the design for holding the cutouts in place.

I also looked at stamps. I knew it was very unlikely that I would find 1.5" stamps in the font I needed, for under $10. And of course, I didn't. I did find a set of number stamps that were just right.

I still liked the idea of stamping, I just needed the letters. At Michael's, I found the perfect size and perfect font in this canister of adhesive foam shapes! I was set!!

I needed to mount the foam shapes onto something stable so I could use them as stamps. Well for Thanksgiving, I made these little turkeys with my family. If you look closely, you'll see that the head is made out of a 5-gallon paint stirrer.

I had to cut the paint stirrers down to the height for the turkey, and since I never throw anything away, I had the perfect item for the stamps! I just cut the paint stick left-overs into square pieces. I also cut a couple of slightly larger pieces for the W and M.

I assembled the adhesive foam stickers onto the tiny squares. Since I had a whole canister of letters, I put the letter on the front and the back. There's only a few letters that aren't symmetrical in some way and so I had to glue them backwards to the stamping side instead. I also had to work with the adhesive a bit so that it didn't mess with the stamping ink.

I had lots of names, and I needed help getting them all positioned. My son pointed me to Discover Education where they offer tools for creating all sorts of puzzles.

I used the crossword maker to come up with my layout. If you put your names in and don't like the arrangement, just click the "create my puzzle" button again and it will do a different form. I had to try it a number of times before I got a shape I was happy with. Also, just a note, sometimes it won't use all the names for some reason, so check the note at the bottom of the puzzle indicating how many words were used to be sure you don't leave anyone out.

If you do this step before stamping, it will reduce the number of letter tiles you need, since some of them are used twice. Before I started stamping, I counted how many of each letter was needed.

Once the Scrabble tiles and stamps were made, the rest went super fast!

I used a fresh stamp pad and started stamping the letters. Because I placed the foam pieces onto a square that was just slightly larger than the letters, it was easy to position the letters into the center of the tiles.

After stamping the letters, I came back and stamped the point values.

Once the letters were all completed, it was time to arrange and glue.

I laid them out on a flat surface and began gluing them together. I used basic Elmer's wood glue to secure mine and it worked great, but it's important to really let the glue dry before messing with it. It seems like it's holding after about 15 minutes, but any significant force will pop it apart. If I had it to do over, I think I would first glue the horizontal names, let them dry, then arrange the vertical names into the horizontal names.

Once the wood glue was dry, I needed to add more support to the back. On the corners that were touching, I added a wire to the back, crossing from tile to tile at the corner, and securing it with a staple gun. I also glued some ribbon strips spanning the full distance. I'm sure there's better ways to do this, but it worked for me.

When everything was dry and secure, I flipped it over again and that was it! I think it turned out great. In fact, in the pictures below, I think they look like regular one-inch Scrabble tiles, and not at all like they're 2.5" tall replicas.

One other note. You'll notice that the names William and Mary in the middle of the arrangement are darker than the other tiles. These are the names of my grandparents. One of the boards that I already had in the garage was darker than the others I recently purchased, and I decided it would be perfect for highlighting their names. I had originally planned on staining the boards, but I wasn't sure how the stamping would react with the staining, so it was perfect that it was already darker.

I also had to work with the puzzle maker function a bit, until I found one with their names together, then I altered the design a bit, shuffling their names to the center. It was basically a lot like playing Scrabble.

I also tried including their last name, but thought it was inconsistent with the rest of the first-name-only list. If I do another, I think it would be cool to do just an immediate family, and then have the last name included/darker. I'll post if I ever get around to that.

The last thing I did was spray a clear coat sealer on it. The stamping ink is water-based and it isn't pretty if any water gets on the tiles. Trust me on that. A thin coating of spray varnish worked fine for me, but try it on a test tile first, to be sure the sealer doesn't do bad things to it. And for the next one I do, I'm going to spray the tiles individually before I even start to glue them together. It's amazing how easily the stamping ink smudges.

Let me know if you give it a try! I'd love to see yours and hear of any great ideas you can add.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few of your own!

Paper Roll Santa

2011-12-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

Yes, again.

If you follow me at all, you know just what I mean.

It's another paper roll craft. This one is a merry Santa Claus! (And I suspect I'm not done, yet.)

Okay, so you know the routine. Cut your paper tube into 1/2" wide strips.

For this one, I decided to spray paint a few of the pieces. If you'd like to do that as well, you'll need 1 red piece and 3 white ones. You only need 4 pieces total.

Shape the red piece into a sort of lopsided triangle. This is going to be the hat.

Next, take one of the white pieces and shape it into a circle.

Glue the red piece to the top of the white one, curving the bottom of the triangle to match the shape of the circle.

Shape another white piece into a wide crescent moon.

Glue the crescent-shaped piece to the bottom of the round piece opposite the hat. This will be the beard. (You could also shape the bottom of the beard into a point.)

Crumple some red tissue paper and press it into the hat, shaping it to match the hat.

Glue a 1/2" white pom onto the tip of the hat.

Place some fiberfil into the beard and lightly glue as needed.

Shape a 1/2"-wide chenille stem along the bottom edge of the hat and glue in place.

Shape the last piece of white tubing into a mustache.

Place fiberfil into the mustache and glue lightly in place as needed.

Glue the mustache to the front of Santa's beard. This is a little difficult since only the edges of the two pieces are touching.

Once again, create the face by gluing to mini black poms to a 1/2" pink pom.
Glue the nose to the top point of the mustache.

Add a little more fiberfil to the outside of Santa's face for hair.

Attach a string for a hanger and you're done! He's ready for hanging on your Christmas tree!

Ho-ho-ho!!!

Merry Christmas!

This little guy was done without painting the paper tube strips first. It's not bad, but the painting helps to highlight the intended colors.

Recycle and decorate at the same time.

Let me know if you give it a try!

Paper Roll Mice

2011-11-17T23:30:00.001-08:00

Told you I'd be back with another one! This time, I've put together a pair of Christmas mice. Aren't they fun??

Wanna make one?? Or two?

Get your paper rolls ready! Cut them into 1/2 inch strips.

Form one into a circle.

Form another into a teardrop.

Glue the teardrop to the top of the circle.

Make two more circles and glue them on for ears.

Now for the feet. For this step, you're really just trying to make something for the little mouse to stand on. Pinch a couple of tiny mounds into one side of a strip and glue them down. (If you'd like you can make the feet for the second mouse, below.)

Glue the feet to the bottom of the body of the mouse.

Now you need to form the front paws. We did this shape for the paper roll puppy. Invert one of the creases, push it through to the other side and glue it in place.

You can also add a spot of glue to the crease, it you have a stubborn tube.

Place the front paws and glue.

Make a tail by flattening and shaping a strip. Glue down the center.

Attach the tail behind the feet.

I decided that I wanted the ears together, so I just added a spot of glue between them.

And that's it so far. Now it's time to paint him! I decided to make this little guy white.

Just a hint: cheap spray paint is no bargain. It takes too many coats to cover. Plus, this is paper, and you're really just wetting it down when you paint it, so less is more.

Remember the detached face we made for the paper roll Easter bunny? Well it's time to do that again. Just glue two 5mm black poms to a 1/2" pink pom.

When he's dry, glue the poms to his nose and dress him up with a few embellishments.

Now for the second mouse. Same basic principle, just a little different assembly.

These feet are less complicated than the first mouse. Start by offsetting one of the creases.

Glue the center down.

Glue the feet to the bottom of the mouse body and shape as needed.

Make another set of paws, but this time, place it inside the mouse body.

With that, she's looking pretty good, ready for a coat of paint!

I decided to paint her black. After she dried, a few embellishments were in order.

And now you have two sweet little paper roll mice, ready to share the holiday celebration with you!

I'd love to see yours!

Any ideas for other poses?

Recycle and cheer, all at one time!

Let me know how it goes for you!

Thanks for visiting! And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Paper Roll Turkey

2011-11-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

GOBBLE, GOBBLE!
Yes, I'm afraid I've been at it again. I can't really explain the appeal.

I mean, I don't believe I spend anymore time in the "supply room" than anyone else, if you get my drift. I just can't help it! Certainly part of it is because it's uber cheap. Part of it is because it's a trash-to-treasure project. I don't know....

... but I just can't stay away.
Okay, here we go. You know the routine -- cut your tubes into 1/2 inch strips. This time, you'll want to paint them mixed fall colors.
I used red, orange, and brown. It's what I had. It works.
Shape one strip into a circle. Arrange a variety of colored strips around it. You'll want to leave a gap on one section. I used 9 strips and it seemed to fit well.

Glue the strips together and to the circle. I found it easy to glue the strips to each other first, then to the circle. They seem to just fan out nicely and arrange well for easy attachment to the center.

Now for the feet. We did this same shape for the paper roll puppy. First, invert one of the folds and place a small drop of glue in the crease. Push the fold to the other side and glue the fold to the center of the opposite side.

Add a crease to the outer edges of the loops created.

Flatten out the edge between the corners.

Glue the feet into the gap left between the feathers on the body. The feet will need to set flat so you might need to adjust your feathers slightly.

Next you'll want to shape the head and neck. It's basically just a figure eight, or a two-part snowman.

Glue the neck onto the bottom of the body just above the feet.

This is an awkward step. I haven't layered my projects before and this is the reason. It's really difficult to glue the "edge" of one piece onto the edge of another. So I have a suggestion for you. When you're cutting you're strips, leave two strips not completely separated, maybe with a 1/2 inch section uncut. Then you can simply shape the two pieces as needed while already connected to each other.

From a piece of red felt, cut a long wattle. What's a wattle, you say? It's that red thing on a turkey that hangs from the side of it's nose. There's a little trivia for you to take to work/school!

It's time to assemble a face. There's no real scientific method to this. I used a little yellow felt and two tiny black poms for eyes, then glued them all together with the wattle hanging down the side.

Glue the face to the paper roll turkey. Since there really isn't a place on the head to glue the face, I had to get a little creative. I just glued the wattle to the edge and the face is sort of just floating. It's surprisingly stable.

And that's all there is to it!

Care to give it a try?

What would Thanksgiving be without a turkey?

I'd love to see yours. You know you want to try it!

Thanks for visiting! Be sure to check back because I have 2 more paper roll tutorials coming up shortly that I think you'll really like for the Christmas holidays!

Burlap Message Board Chore Chart

2011-11-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if any of you other moms have the same struggle that I do with getting the kiddos to do their chores, but I suspect there are certainly some of you out there. I've tried a number of ways to make them more fun, including fun ways to chart them. They've all worked wonderfully, at least for a time, but as the kiddos grow, the responsibilities need to change, as do the chore charts.

Since my little guy isn't so "little" anymore, he doesn't need the entertaining chore charts anymore. And his rewards are much different too. Now he basically just wants money so he can buy things that I won't buy for him. And that's good because we're getting into the stage where he needs to learn how to manage money, and that money isn't "free."

I've also learned that if I'm going to expect him to do his chores every week, then I have to remember to pay him every week. With today's electronic financial payments, I don't always have cash on hand. So though I intend to pay him, I confess that I sometimes forget. Then when I finally catch up, I over-compensate his allowance because I can't remember how long it's been since I paid him. Hopefully, he'll learn money management better than me!

So I came up with this version of his "big boy" chore chart. It's really for both of us. It has his list of responsibilities with little magnet markers, and for me, it has pockets where I can keep and distribute cash. So at the end of each week, I can pull money out of the "Bank of Mom" pocket and distribute his allowance accordingly. He also does extra chores, like mow the law, that he gets paid for, and that will come out of here, too. I have pockets for the bank, tithings, savings, and "spendings."

I plan to keep a bit of actual cash in the Bank of Mom, because it's just niftier for my son to be able to have access to "his own money." I'll also have some play money that I plan to print with my son's picture on it, in case I run short of cash on hand. Luckily, I have no difficulty with my son being dishonest (at least at this point, thank God!), so I don't have to worry about him shuffling money on his own. I realize this won't work for everyone or for every age.

I had this uber-cool message center on the fridge that I got some time back, at the Goodwill store, I think (bargain!) It's a Dayrunner brand, which I think is sold at Target or Walmart.

I thought it would be great to add the chore chart to the existing setup. So follow along and I'll show you how I did it.

The first thing I needed to do was pick up some materials. Usually I have enough supplies in my stash that I can make do with what I have, but since I was trying to match the pre-existing message board, it required a trip to the fabric store. Which really for me is soooo not a problem! I just LOVE going there. The colors and textures and prints, oh my! Anyway, I brought the purchased project to the store with me and found some burlap and muslin that very closely matched.

I also needed a piece of sheet metal. Home Depot has little squares for 69 cents! Perfect! I was afraid I would need to buy a big roll.

While I was there, I grabbed an empty box for the pieces of cardboard I would need.

Begin by tracing the size and shape of the purchased board onto the cardboard, and cut two pieces. Your cardboard should be pretty thick and sturdy.

Next, cut the burlap and muslin about 4" larger than the purchased board, to allow excess fabric for positioning and securing.

The muslin piece will be used for backing to the chart, and to cover the cardboard. But the burlap piece is the frame. Cut out a rectangle slightly smaller than the final frame. Fold back about a half-inch of the burlap inside the rectangle to make a finished edge.

Use the muslin to make pockets. I used my embroidery machine to stitch the title onto the fabric before making the pockets, but this is entirely optional.

Layer the pockets and stitch together.

For my chart, I had pockets on one side and clear vinyl on the other side. Ultimately, I'll slip a chore list behind the vinyl that can be changed as needed.

It's important to check your alignment with the burlap frame to make sure you're not covering something you didn't intend to, and covering what you did.

Stitch the pockets and clear vinyl to the piece of muslin. Cut a slit into the vinyl near the top to allow insertion of the chore list.

Draw a line of fabric glue down the seam between the pockets and the vinyl.

Apply a strip of ribbon to cover the seam.

Align the burlap frame onto the chore chart and stitch just along the edge of the burlap, securing the burlap to the muslin. (I pinned everything!)

Now set the chart aside to work on assembling.

The sheet metal is used to create a background for the magnets to be used on the chore chart. Cut the metal to the desired size.

Place the metal onto one of the sheets of cardboard, ...

... checking the alignment with the vinyl window in the fabric piece. When you're satisfied with the alignment, glue the sheet metal in place.

Next, being careful about the alignment of the fabric chart, flip the piece of cardboard with the fabric and secure the fabric to the cardboard, thinning out extra fabric at the corners. Basically, this process is just like upholstering a seat cushion.

When you flip the cardboard back over, everything should be securely placed.

Using the other piece of cardboard, apply a layer of muslin and burlap in the same manner as the previous step, creating a backing for your message board.

If you're making multiple boards and want to tie them together, create a zig-zag of ribbon between the two message boards, covering the ends of the ribbons inside the front and back pieces. Glue the backing piece onto the back of the message board, placing the unfinished sides together.

The message board that I was replicating actually had stitching all the way around the edge, that went through both cardboard pieces. I gave this a shot and it didn't turn out too badly (yes, a sewing machine can sew through cardboard) but it was awkward to do and I think a little tough on my ancient little singer. Probably better suited for a commercial machine, but it's up to you if you want to give it a try.

And lastly, I created a chore chart list with boxes for each chore and each day of the week. I mounted the list on a piece of cardstock that was printed like burlap and slide it into the vinyl slot. There's a store of magnets at the bottom that can be shifted as needed.

If you wanted to do the calendar and the bulletin board, it's the same process without the chore chart part.

There you have it!

Good luck if you give it a try! I'd love to see your finished work. And I love comments, too!

Fleece Bomber Hat

2011-11-11T07:09:00.000-08:00

Well it's certainly been a while since I posted! I wish it was because I was off in the Carribean for a long, sunny vacation like the rich and famous, but I'm afraid not. Other more important (albeit less fun) aspects of life have simply overridden my opportunities to craft. Thankfully, with the weather getting colder, I've had the opportunity to put together a couple of things, with tutorials to share. Watch for them in the next couple of days.

The first is this cozy bomber-style fleece hat that I made for the little neighbor boy.

I made a scarf to match, and you can find the tutorial for the scarf here. But now, let's get on with the hat!

You'll need 2 pieces of coordinating fleece. For my hat, I used solid black for the cuff, and a sports print for the body of the hat. I have an embroidery machine, so I stitched his name onto the black fleece before I started assembling the hat. You can do the same or something similar, or simply ignore the instructions about the embroidery.

The fleece for the body of the hat should measure about 22" wide by 12 inches tall. This will vary depending upon the size head you're trying to fit. I've found that 20-21" is about right for young children. If the head you want to fit is readily available, just measure it and add about 2" for working space.

The fleece for the cuff should measure about the same 22" wide, by 7 inches tall. If you're embroidering a name, the name should be stitched about 2-3 inches from the bottom edge of the fleece.

You'll also need two pads of fleece for the ear pads, measuring 3x5" each, and you'll need matching "fluff" for the ear-side of the cuff. I used a modern terrycloth, like what they often use sometimes for women's bathrobes. It's heavenly. I want to live in it.

Let's begin with the cuff. Fold the smaller piece of fleece to form a cuff the size you want the finished cuff on the hat. This step is especially important if you're stitching a name so that you have the name aligned properly; not so much if there's no name to align, but you still want a properly-sized cuff. To make a cuff, fold in half longways, and then fold again, so you have four layers of fleece. Secure the folded edge.

Next, flip the fleece over and trim both edges longways to a width about 2/3 as wide as the cuff. This will ultimately be the alignment of the seam (with stitch allowance) making the seam invisible behind the cuff.

This cut is also the edge to which you'll align the fabric for the body of the hat.

Set the cuff aside while we work on the ear pads.

Cut the shape you'd like for the earmuffs from a piece of scrap paper. I just rounded mine, but you you can make them any shape (triangular, square, etc.)

Trace the pattern onto the back of one of the earmuff fabrics. Either one will work, but for mine, the black was too dark so I went with the white. I used a disappearing marker so the lines wouldn't show after I stitched it.

Place the right side of the fleece and the right side of the fluff together, and stitch through both layers on the tracing line, leaving the top edge open.

Trim the fabric around the stitch line, leaving about 3/8" of fabric allowance.

Turn the earmuffs right-side-out.

Now it's time to assemble for stitching.

Unfold the cuff and place the cuff onto the wrong side of the body fleece. Honestly, most fleece is difficult to determine which is the right or wrong side, but if you happen to have one like mine that it does make a difference, you want to position the wrong side up. If you stitched the name, place the name down, facing the wrong side of the body fabric. Don't over-pin as you still need to place the earmuffs.

Next, place the earmuff between the cuff and the body fabric, with the fluff side facing down. The alignment of the earmuffs should centered on the cuff, with the center edges spaced about 6" from each other. Again, this will vary depending upon the size of the hat.

So you should have from bottom up: body fleece, wrong-side up; earmuffs, fluff-side down; cuff, with stitched name facing down. Also, if you have a body fleece that has a top and bottom (not right-side vs. wrong side), you want the bottom edge of the fabric aligned with the cuff.

Now stitch the raw edge of the fabric, with a 3/8" seam allowance.

When finished, remove the pins and open the project.

Fold back the body fabric, positioning the stitch line behind the cuff. Hand press to flatten.

Fold the cuff in half, aligning the earmuffs, right sides together.

Secure the edges of the cuff. Since this part will be visible on the finished project, it's important for these edges to align.

Then secure the rest of the raw edge. Stitch the edge with a 3/8-1/2" seam allowance. As with everything, you can always make the hat smaller, but it's hard to make it larger. So sew it once, try it on, then adjust as necessary. (**Hint: I find it difficult to fit the cuff end under the foot of my sewing machine. It's easier to start at the top of the hat where there's only 2 layers of fleece, sewing down toward the cuff.)

After you're content with the size of the body, trim the excess with pinking shears.

Turn the hat right-side-out.

Now it's time to finish the top. This can be done in any number of ways. The simplest is to just gather the fabric in a clump. For that effect, just gather the fabric and secure it with a rubberband and fleece tie (see below.)

Or you can trim the top into a tassel. For that, just measure the available excess at the top.

Then flatten the fabric and cut narrow strips to the length of the excess. With the original measurements, you should have about 3" for the tassel.

Gather the fabric at the end of the strips and secure with a rubberband.

Tie a strip of coordinating fleece over the rubberband.
And there you have it!

I'd love to see your version of this project! Let me know if you give it a try!

Thanks for visiting!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Paper Roll Twisted Oak Tree

2011-03-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

Well I think I've officially run myself dry on the paper roll obsession. I've also run out of paper rolls, so that helps.

This time, I put together something a little less whimsical -- an old twisted oak tree for the wall. This is actually version number one (aka my trial version) as I intend to make another one about 3 feet tall. This one is only about 18", but the process will be basically the same.

Obviously, the paper rolls were used for the leaves, and I also used paper grocery bags for the trunk. Follow along and I'll show you how...

Begin by cutting a grocery bag into strips about 6" wide. Dip the strips in water and let them soak for a few minutes. Remove them from the water and let them drip. Then, starting from one corner, begin twisting the strips tightly.

Align the strips into a bundle, then begin arranging the roots and branches. I placed mine on an old bulletin board and pinned the branches and roots in place until they dried. Drying took a good 24 hours (which was tough for me because I'm just not a very patient person!)

Once dry, the branches and roots are very stiff. However, if you decide to make a particularly large version, you can incorporate some additional support by including a piece of wire while twisting the strips. After they dried, I just glued them together.

The branches and roots can still be shaped a bit. I have a few protruding from the front to create a 3-dimensional effect.

Since this was my trial version, I wasn't being particularly careful about the printing on the grocery bags, and I ended up with some of the print showing. I also discovered that different bags ended up having a different color when dry. So I decided to coat the trunk with a layer of stain to make it all blend better.

When the stain dried, it was time to start applying the leaves. I lightly flattened my paper rolls and cut them into 1/2" strips. I thought about painting the leaves green, or a mixed of fall colors, but decided to leave that for version two. I applied the leaves to the branches in a random pattern, making sure to continue the 3-dimensional design.

There you have it! Not bad for a trial, I think.

For my larger version, I think I'll proportion the branches a little bigger than the roots. Plus, it would probably be good to add the wire inserts, just in case the limbs start to droop after a little time. And I'd love to experiment with different leaf colors. I suspect coloring the roll before cutting them is the way to go for that.

This is really quite easy to do, and super inexpensive! The hardest part for me was waiting for the wet paper to dry.

What do you think? Let me know if you give this a try!

Paper Roll Puppy

2011-02-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Yup. Still obsessing. But I guess there's worse things to obsess about. This one is free, not unhealthy, and I wouldn't be embarrassed if my neighbors found out. So you might be seeing a few more come your way.

My latest creation is this adorable paper roll puppy! Wanna make one, too? Follow along and I'll show you how!

The supplies you will need are: 1 paper roll, a 1/2" brown pom, two 5mm black poms, and a small piece of red felt.

Begin by lightly flattening the paper roll and cutting it into 1/2" strips.

Form a strip into a heart shape by inverting the fold on one side.

Pinch the fold firmly to encourage the new direction.

If you have a particularly stubborn roll like mine, you can help shape the heart by rolling the tube onto a pencil. Only do this at the section that will form the top of the heart.

You'll be using the heart upside-down.

Form another strip into a circle.

Glue the heart onto the circle, positioning the heart upside-down.

Take another strip and invert the fold on one side, pushing the fold through to the opposite side of the roll.

Glue the inside of the fold, then glue the fold to the opposite side.

Crease the curve to form corners,...

... flattening the strip between the folds. This will form the front paws.

Glue the paws to the bottom of the round piece.

Make a new fold about a third of the way from an existing crease, directing the fold inward.

Pinch the fold tightly and glue to maintain the crease. Make two of these to form the back legs.

Glue the back legs to the side of the circle, aligning the bottom with the other paws so it will stand when finished.

Like the back legs, use another strip and make a new fold about a third of the way or so from an existing crease, directing the fold inward. Crease tightly but do NOT glue.

Add another fold on the same side of the strip to shape the bottom of the ears.

Glue the ears to the top (bottom) of the heart.

Cut a tongue from the piece of red felt.

Shape another strip like the paws, except don't add the corners. This will form the puppy cheeks.

Glue the felt to the bottom of one of the cheeks.

Glue the cheeks into the face of the puppy.

Glue the black poms to the top of the brown pom. As with my Paper Roll Easter Bunny, you can do this step ahead of time if you're doing this with younger children.

Glue the poms onto the face of the puppy.

Form another strip into the tail. This is a great place to add your own creativity. You can leave it wide for a fluffy tail, or add a poof to the tip, etc.

Glue the tail to the side above the legs.

There you have it! All done! Wasn't that easy? And for a total cost of about 2 cents.

You can also personalize it by adding a dog-tag at the neck.

"Woof! Woof!"

How can you resist?
Let me know what you think and if you give it a try yourself. I LOVE comments. The 2 cents a day I get from Google just isn't all that motivating, ya' know?

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Pot o'Gold Rainbow Scarf

2011-02-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

It's still really rather cold out, so I thought I'd put something together to help warm you up a bit, in more ways than one!

With St. Patrick's Day coming up next month, I've had my mind in the clouds -- on rainbows, that is! I. Love. Rainbows. I probably didn't need to tell you that if you happened to notice my blog header, but....!

It's not rainbows as much as it is the COLORS. Total eye-candy!

I don't think I've ever enjoyed photographing a tutorial as much as I did this one!

Of course, the Bean Bag Games tutorial was fun, too, for the same reason.

Anyway, on with the tute...

Cut long strips of fleece in a mix of rainbow colors. The strips should be about 1" wide and somewhere between 24-36 inches long. The length and width will vary depending upon what size person you want the scarf to fit.

Use a zig-zag stitch to piece the fabric strips together.

Fleece works wonderfully for this. As long as the edge is straight and your stitch is tight, the fleece melds together as if it was always one piece.

If you find that your zig is occasionally dropping a zag (or that your stitches are skipping,) you might try changing out your needle. I've had this problem before with different machines. My current machine is about 20 years old, and nothing fancy, but I managed a very nice stitch just by changing out the needle. Perhaps it was dull or bent, perhaps the new one was thinner (it's certainly more difficult to thread!) but it did the trick, and it was labeled as a standard red-line needle. You might also need to adjust your tension, but use this as a last resort -- you don't want to end up creating other problems for yourself. Check with your nearby sewing store if you still have issues.

When you're finished stitching the strips together, trim the end straight.

Next, cut a cloud shape from a piece of white fleece, then mirror the shape into a second piece of fleece. The cloud should be just slightly larger than the width of the rainbow, and about 4" tall. Place the cloud pieces in front and behind the end of the rainbow, covering the raw edge of the fleece.

Stitch the outline of the cloud to secure it in place.

Next, you'll need to make the pot o' gold that everyone knows sits at the end of the rainbow.

Size the pot so that the top of the pot when finished is just slightly larger than the width of the rainbow. Round out the pot below the rim, leaving a little extra fabric at the rim to form a cuff.

Stitch the pot, turn, and flip down the cuff.

Next, insert about an inch of the unfinished end of the rainbow into the top of the pot. Pin the rainbow onto one side only of the pot.

Stitch a seam around the rim of the pot, securing the rainbow to one side. The top of the pot should be open to one side.

Add a piece of Velcro to the inside rim of the pot.

And that's it, you're done! Isn't it lovely??

Here's the fun part! Since the pot o' gold is really a "pocket o' gold," it's perfect for storing a pocketful of foil-wrapped candy coins! Or perhaps some Petite Ribbon Shamrocks or Chenille Stem Shamrocks pins. This is a great tool for a pay-it-forward. Wouldn't it be adorable to encourage your child to share a coin or a shamrock pin whenever someone did something nice, or even just complimented their scarf, thus warming their hearts too?!

My son is too old for this (boo-hoo) but it will be perfect for his little girlfriend next-door!

Give this a try! Spread a little joy and brighten someone's day, and bring a little color to the world while you're at it. Let me know if you make one, and I'd especially like to hear how your little one uses the "pocket o' gold!"

Check out the big smile created by Kim at Life of a Modern Mom.

Be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few of your own links to my perpetual link party!

Paper Roll Easter Bunny

2011-02-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

My imagination is like a bad habit. I have no apparent control over it. I'm trying to focus on work and school, but my mind keeps dwelling on toilet paper rolls. Ever since I did my Paper Roll Shamrocks, I'm completely obsessed. I guess maybe it's really more of an OCD.

Whatever. Anyway, yesterday's imagination binge resulted in this:

Isn't he cute?!!! Completely unrelated to ANYTHING else going on in my life right now, except for toilet paper rolls, of course. Completely unrelated to anything I NEED to be doing, really. But still ... isn't he cute? You want to do one too now, don't you? Easter isn't for 2 months, but you still want to do one now, don't you? And you'll want to even more when you see just how easy it is!

So, follow along and I'll show you how!

The supplies you will need are: 1 paper roll, a 1/2" pink pom, two 5mm black poms, a 1" white pom, and a short length of ribbon or yarn.

Begin by lightly flattening the paper roll and cutting it into 1/2" strips.

Form a strip into a heart shape by inverting the fold on one side.

Pinch the fold firmly to encourage the new direction.

If you have a particularly stubborn roll like mine, you can help shape the heart by rolling the tube onto a pencil. Only do this at the section that will form the top of the heart.

Next, form another strip into the shape of an oval.

Glue the heart-shaped strip upside-down onto the top of the oval-shaped strip. This will form the head and body.

Glue two more strips to the top of the head (the bottom of the heart) to form ears. The ears can be arranged in various positions.

Glue two more strips to the bottom for the feet.

You can use the strips for the feet as they form naturally, or you can shape the feet a bit more by adding a fold about 1/2" away from one of the other folds, and then flattening the shortened side for the bottom of the foot. (See finished project for examples.)

Take another strip and invert the fold on one side, pushing the fold through to the opposite side of the roll.

Glue the fold to the opposite side.

Glue the shaped strip into the body cavity to form the front paws.

Repeat the shape with another strip and place it into the face for the cheeks.

Your bunny should be looking like this.

If you'd prefer a white bunny, this is a good point to stop and spray-paint it.

Spray paint will have a tendency to absorb into the cardboard and will require a number of coats for good coverage. One trick to reduce the number of coats you'll need is to spray-paint first with a base coat of silver. The silver paint works as a primer and seals the cardboard, reducing the amount of paint lost to absorbtion.

Next, the bunny needs a face. Pom-poms work really well and add a soft texture to the finished project. Glue two 5mm black poms onto the top of a 1/2" pink pom. I used two black poms that were slightly varied in size, to give the bunny a more comical face.

If you're doing this with younger children, this will probably be a difficult step for them. You can glue the poms together in advance to make the project easier for them.

Glue the pink pom to the face. Tie a ribbon or a piece of yarn around the bunny's neck.

Glue a 1" white pom to the back for a tail.

He's all done! Wasn't that easy?? Now what to do with him?

He's adorable just as he is...

...but he is an Easter Bunny, afterall, so maybe a couple of Easter eggs.

Or he could be holding a tiny basket, or a giant candy bar.

Wouldn't that face be adorable delivering a special message?

What do you plan to do with yours? You know you're gonna make one! Let me know and I'll post a link!

Check out this one at Bonequinhos De Pano! Well done!

Blog Gallery Gadget

2011-02-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed my new gallery at the top? Isn't it cool? It's a link-out to all my prior posts. Just hover your mouse over an image and it will display the post title, or click an image and it will take you to that post. Isn't that so much better than the drop-down menu I have on my sidebar??! At least I think so.

Would you like to have one of these for your own blog? Free??! Yes, free! The left side of my brain won-out this week, and I've been "crafting" some javascript. And like all my other craft ideas, I thought I would share.

You can define the size of the gallery, the size of the images, the gallery title, how many rows tall, and even whether you want the date displayed with the description. It will automatically scan your blog posts for thumbnail images and display everything available.

Click here to initiate the setup. Key in the field values until your gallery looks the way you want it to. Then just copy the script on the right and place it in your blog in an HTML box. You could even paste it into a post, though I'm not really sure why you would want to.

Give it a try! And please let me know if you have any issues with it. Even free is no fun if it doesn't work. If you set one up on your blog, I'd love to see it. Let me know and I'll feature your site so others can see how great it looks.

Check out how Pam at Cloth to Creations set hers up!

Here's an application at Wonder Woman Creations:

Here's another application at Flower Photography:

And one at The Clip Cafe:

Rainbow Heart Shamrock Bouquet

2011-02-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

So now that Valentine's Day is over, what are you ready for? St. Patrick's Day? Spring bouquets? Follow along and maybe I can give you a little of both!

This little clover bouquet is soooo easy! Plus, you get to recycle some old magazines to make it.

Grab that heart punch out of the pile of Valentine's Day craft supplies you were just about to pack away. Punch a bunch of hearts from a recycled magazine. Solid colors and mixed colors both work great. I did solid colors for mine because I was trying to create a rainbow effect.

This the basic process for creating the clovers. First draw a stem. Next, glue 3 or 4 hearts around the stem, with the points of the hearts aligned to the center. Then, glue a faux rhinestone into the center of the hearts.

For a bouquet, first draw a bunch of stems. The stems don't have to be perfectly aligned because the bouquet is going to cover most of the ends anyway. Begin forming groupings of hearts around the stems. To make the bouquet appear nice and full, overlap several layers.

Add a few rhinestone embellishments to the center of some of the flowers.

Finish off the bouquet by adding a small bow to the bunch of stems.

This card example can be done with a bouquet on the outside and a single four-leaf clover on the outside, or reversed, with the single clover on the outside.

Example messages for the card are:
You're the only one I want.
I pick you.
You're the pick of the bunch!
I'm so lucky to have picked you.
All I need is you!
I always knew you were special!
It's just not the same without you.

If you don't have a need for a St. Patrick's Day card, the bouquet works great for anything.

Give it a try! I'd love to see yours!

Check out this fabulous framed version made by Gretchen at The Pike Family!

Laura at Betula'Loo improvised with a flower punch. Aren't these sweet?

Have you tried it yet?

Easy Shamrock Cards

2011-02-13T05:10:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad you could join me today!

I'd like to show you some super simple St. Patrick's Day cards. Perhaps you're not real big on sending out greeting cards for St. Patrick's Day, but maybe that could just be a happy coincidence. Maybe you could just send a card to say, "I'm thinking of you." I know I LOVE getting cards, so much more than email. It's just ... different. So I'm going to make it really easy for you to do it for someone you care about.

For this first card, all you need is a piece of card stock and a green stamp pad. And, of course, your thumb.

Using the green stamp pad, imprint 8 thumbprints on a piece of card stock.

Add stems, and maybe a rhinestone to the center for a super-easy, festive shamrock. This one is great for children to do.

Don't put away those Valentine's crafts supplies just yet! Re-purpose some of your Valentine's heart stamps for this quick and easy stamped shamrock.

Stamp three or four leaves, ...

...draw a few stems, ...

... and add a rhinestone embellishment to the center.

Add a fourth leaf to make a lucky 4-leaf clover.

Want a card with a little more bling?

Use your heart stamps again, but dip them in glue instead of ink.

Stamp and reload.

When your shamrock pattern is finished, sprinkle generously with green glitter.

Lightly pat the glitter in place, then shake off the excess.

Draw a few stems and add a rhinestone to the middle and you're done!

Aren't these simple? Isn't it great to not have to buy MORE craft supplies? Well, maybe that's not the best part -- I LOVE buying craft supplies. But it's certainly nice to have more cool things to do using the ones you already have.

And since the cards didn't take you any time at all, now you have plenty of time to send them to someone you care about!

Petite Ribbon Shamrocks

2011-02-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Looking for something super quick and easy to mark the St. Patrick's Day holiday? It doesn't get much quicker or much easier than this!

These petite shamrocks have a variety of uses and can be made in just a few minutes. I made mine with with a 3/8"-wide ribbon, but they can be done with any size ribbon. Follow along and I'll show you just how easy they are!

Form a small loop in the ribbon, twisting the ribbon to keep it facing the same direction. Place a dab of glue in the center to hold the ribbon in place.

Form another loop the same size right next to the first one, and glue in place.

Repeat for a third loop. Trim the ends of the ribbon, leaving one longer for a stem.

Glue a sparkling rhinestone into the center.

Your finished shamrock can be attached to a jewelry pin for a lovely decoration for your lapel, ...

or to a thumbtack for a decorative seasonal touch at the office. String several together to make a sweet garland, or glue several to the front of a greeting card. The options are many!

And you can make a four-leaf clover simply by adding another loop.

Because these are so quick, easy, and inexpensive, it's a great idea for a "pay-it-forward" activity. Just throw a few in your pocket or purse, and treat someone with a decorative ribbon, and a wish for a bit o' luck!

If I worked in an office, I think I would print up a little message that said, "Your lucky day has just begun, you've been pinched by a leprechaun! Happy St. Pat's Day!" Then I would use the thumbtack version and anonymously pin them to people's bulletin boards. Or I would buy a bag of small candy bars, stick on a shamrock, and drop one on a co-worker's desk. They're just that easy!

Let me know what you do with yours!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links of your own to my perpetual link party!

Wired Shamrocks

2011-02-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Green is actually not one of my favorite colors, but I do love shamrocks and ... well. They're green. So green it is.

I'm half Irish, so even though I'm not a fan of green, there's something almost sacrilegious about me not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. So I've always opted for the quietly-understated-but-fulfilling-my-obligation approach. It used to be green underwear, but I got tired of arguing that I really was wearing green, then having to explain where my green was. Granted, that was a long time ago. Plus I don't have any green underwear anymore. TMI? I thought so.

Luckily, -- for you -- this is not going to be a tutorial for making green underwear. Instead, I'm going to show you how to make this lovely wired shamrock brooch! Relieved? I thought so.

Your supplies -- green wire, faux rhinestones, a jewelry pin, glue, and pliers/wire snips. (Again with the short list! Less inventory for you, less typing for me -- we're both happy!)

Begin by shaping your wire, curving and forming a small loop.

Your wire should be something that's workable for you. I happened to use a very soft wire that was green plastic coated. I didn't need to use pliers for anything but snipping. The wire I used for the Wired Hearts Brooch was much stiffer, and colored red. I had no problem with either one. But younger children won't likely have the dexterity to manage pliers, so softer wire is better. If you really need it to be more durable, thicker wire would be better. Pliers can scratch colored wire, so if you're not comfortable shaping wire with pliers, you might prefer the plastic-coated. Just keep in mind that the type of wire needs to fit your audience.

Continue shaping your wire until you've formed a small heart. The loop in the heart is optional.

Continue the direction of the wire and form a mirrored heart. Loop the excess wire over the center of the hearts.

Form another loopy heart between the other two, feeding the excess wire through the intersection to the bottom.

Loop the excess wire to form a stem and snip, ending the wire in the center of the shamrock.

Apply a spot of glue to the center and position a faux rhinestone over the glue and the intersection of wire.

At this point, the pin could be completed simply by adhering the jewelry pin to the back. If you wanted something tiny, or you made your shamrock larger, this could be complete as-is.

I opted to add to it, since my shamrock was only about an inch tall. I made another shamrock with a complimentary-colored green wire. I secured it to the other shamrock with a few small dots of glue behind the rhinestones.

And I did one more shamrock in the original green and added it to the second.

Another spot of glue behind a rhinestone secures the jewelry pin.

All done! Are you feeling lucky yet? Green with envy? Nauseous from my puns? Okay, I'm done too. But there will be more tomorrow (shamrocks and puns,) so be sure to check back!

Check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links of your own to my perpetual link party!

Chenille Stem Shamrocks

2011-02-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Continuing my "I can't do any more Valentine's crafts right now" theme, I thought I'd share another uber-easy, uber quick St. Patrick's Day craft. I actually have a few more Valentine's Day crafts in the works that I'm going to squeeze in very shortly, but for now, green is good! Or mostly, it's just not red.

Your supply list - 1 green bump chenille stem, scissors, a faux rhinestone, and a jewelry pin. With a supply list that short, you know it can't be too tough, right?

Begin by forming loops in the stem matching the chenille bumps. You can use regular chenille stems for this, but the bumps make it so easy to space out your loops. Plus, the added fluff of the bump adds a little more dimension to the finished shape. If you are using regular chenille stems, just portion out the stem into 4 equal sections for looping.

Next, press in the center of each loop to flatten the outer edge.

Snip the excess chenille to from an appropriate length of stem.

Add a faux rhinestone to the center to cover the intersection of the wire, and to add a little bling!

Glue the jewelry pin to the back of the finished shamrock. All done!

These are a great item to make in quantity to "pay it forward" and hand them out to random folks, like the bank teller, grocery clerk, or for the kids to give to their teachers.

Paper Roll Shamrocks

2011-02-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

Are you sick of Valentine's Day yet? I don't really mean sick of it, especially since it hasn't even arrived yet. But maybe saturated?? I am.

But the "heart" theme is still stuck in my head and probably will be for a bit, so I stepped into St. Patrick's day crafting while not quite letting go of Valentine's day. No wonder I can never remember what day it is!

Have you seen all the uber cool toilet paper roll wall art rolling around blog land lately? Some of it is simply breathtaking! Recycled, free, easy, gorgeous -- what more could you ask for in a craft? Okay, perhaps this one won't quite make the category of breathtaking or gorgeous, but I've still got the others covered. So grab your supplies and follow along.

Your supply list -- one paper tube, scissors, and glue. (Now THAT'S a short supply list!)

Begin by lightly flattening your paper roll and cutting into 1/2" sections. You'll need 4 or 5 strips for each shamrock, depending on whether you want 3 or 4 leaves.

Form the leaves of the shamrock by inverting the fold on one side of the roll strip.

Tightly pinch the reversed fold.

If you have a particularly stubborn roll like mine, you can help shape the heart by rolling the tube on a pencil. Only do this at the section that will form the top of the heart.

Then take the last strip and flatten it to form the stem. You should now have 3 or 4 "hearts" and one stem.

Begin gluing the bottom points of the hearts together.

For the stem, glue one end of the strip to a heart (lined up to the bottom point) before gluing the heart onto the others.

Four hearts and one stem and you have a four-leaf clover!

If you'd like your shamrock to stand up, form another heart and glue it to the back.

Experiment with different angles to see which you prefer.

When finished, I applied a quick layer of gold spray paint to mine. The rough texture of the paper roll makes the tube look almost as if it's aged metal. Love it!

Prefer a more traditional shamrock? Just use 3 heart leaves instead of 4, and adjust the stem positioning a bit by gluing the tip of the stem independently.

Give it a try! You'll be thrilled with how quick and easy they are.

Check out the green ones done by Kim at Life of a Modern Mom.

I have a series of super quick and easy St. Pat's day tutorials coming up over the next couple of days, so be sure to check back! If not already, you might want to set up as a follower.

Bean Bag Gaming

2011-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

With all the electronic entertainment bombarding our children, it's sometimes difficult to find fun activities that can compete for their attention, especially without spending a fortune to do so. But there are a few traditional toys that are tried-and-true and still pack a punch today.

One of my favorites is the bean bag.

The materials themselves don't get much simpler or less expensive. A little fabric and a handful of beans or rice is all you need. If you don't sew, you can make them with socks and close off the end with a rubber band. If you have a bit more crafty talent, you can make them out of themed fabric, or apply numbers or letters to the bean bags for additional gaming rules. A few added props such as laundry baskets or bowls and the options are almost endless.

The games you can play are as uncomplicated as the bean bags themselves. They're safe, simple, and versatile. Here are just a few ideas:

Two-players:

Bean bag toss:
Simple game of catch using bean bags. This is a great game for younger players to build hand-eye coordination without requiring the dexterity needed to handle a round ball. Pick a short distance and gently toss the bean bag back and forth. If the bean bags have numbers (or letters) on them, have the players say the numbers as they toss them.

Bean bag double toss:
Give each player a bean bag. Both players toss their bean bag at the same time and try to catch the bean bag thrown by the other player.

Target practice 1:
Scatter a few baskets or bowls on the floor and assign a point value to each one. Toss the bean bags into the baskets and add up the points. Alternatively, use masking tape to draw lines on the floor, or to tape down paper targets.

Target practice 2:
Line up a series of empty aluminum cans and plastic bottles along a flat surface. Label the empty containers with a number for a point value. Toss the bean bags at the targets and knock them down to accumulate points.

Hide and seek:
One player hides the bean bags, the other searches for them. For more interaction, the player who hid the bean bags can say "hotter" or "colder" to indicate to the other player if they're getting close.

Marco Polo:
Tie a blindfold onto both players. Give one player the bean bags, and the other player a basket. Spin both players. The player with the bean bags says, "Marco," and the player with the basket responds with "Polo." The player with the bean bags tries to toss them into the basket, based upon the sounds made by the other player.

Bean bag hopscotch:
Use chalk to draw a hopscotch court on the driveway. Toss a bean bag to mark a skip. If you're trapped indoors, masking tape works great for outlining the court.

Shufflebag:
If you have hardwood or smooth tile floors, these make great surfaces for an adhoc shuffleboard court. Use masking tape or cans to mark the borders of the court. Give each player 3 bean bags which they slide down the court to score points.

Two or more players:

Balancing relay:
A player places a bean bag on a their nose and balance it while walking a short distance and dropping the bean bag into a basket, without ever touching it with their hands. If they drop the bean bag or touch it with their hands, they have to go back to the starting position and try again.

Hot Potato:
Sit the players on the floor in a circle. Give each player a bean bag, with one of the bean bags being red. Start a musical tune and have the players toss their bean bag to the player next to them as quickly as they can. Stop the music randomly. When the music stops, the player with the red bean bag steps out of the circle. As a consolation, that player could be put in charge of the music for a turn.

Balancing act:
Place a bean bag on top of the player's head. Have them do a series of actions while keeping the bean bag balanced on their head. Suggested actions are: turn in a circle, touch their toes, hop on one foot, crawl, deep-knee bend, animal imitations, sit and scoot on a skateboard, etc. The added bonus of this activity is the hidden exercise.

Dodge bag:
Place a few players inside a ring of other players. Have the players on the outside toss bean bags at the players on the inside while the players on the inside try to dodge the bean bags.

Bean bag tag:
One player is "it." That player chases the other players and tags another player "it" by tossing and tagging them with a bean bag.

These are just a few of the many great activities you can do with a couple of simple bean bags. You'll probably find as you play some of these games that they morph into new ones without really trying. What a great way to get your little ones away from the electronics, while sharing some laughs and getting a little exercise at the same time!

If you have some ideas for bean bag games that you've enjoyed, drop me a note or leave a comment to share!

Be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links of your own to my perpetual link party!

Heart Butterfly Cards

2011-02-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

I love the fact that St. Patrick's Day follows shortly after Valentine's Day. The "heart" theme from Valentine's Day flows wonderfully into a number of crafts for St. Patrick's Day, so I don't even have to put my craft supplies away. Just a little shift in color and theme and I'm onto the next holiday. I came up with these card ideas while putting together some St. Patrick's Day crafts that I'll be posting in about a week. Follow along and I'll show you how to make them.

Use a tiny heart-shaped paper punch to punch a bunch of hearts in various colors from a recycled magazine. I purposely searched for solid colors for this project, but I also think it could be very attractive done with punched newsprint or mixed color patterns.

Using a glue stick, glue the hearts in pairs in a random order onto a piece of card stock, aligning the tips together.

Use a pencil or marker to draw a body and a pair of antenna onto each butterfly.

Draw a wavy dotted line behind each butterfly representing the flight pattern.

Repeat the process with just one butterfly inside the card.

Some optional inside messages for this first card are:
- You're the only one for me.
- You give me direction.
- Love is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and softly lands on your shoulder.

Here's another example. Attach a row of hearts in a random color pattern, leaving a space for one heart. Then create a butterfly with matched wings flying from the open space.

Some optional inside messages for this second card are:
- You complete me.
- Together we can fly.
- Step out. Be different.
- I always knew you were special.

These are just a few examples. And if you have a larger heart punch, you can do larger butterflies.

I think this is a great idea for making easy cards, with the added benefit of recycling. It was really fun and I'm sure I'll be making quite a few more of these. I'll post pics if I do. And if you make some, I'd love to see yours!

Check out these great inspirations by Ficer at Ahsap Boyama Tasarimi.

Wired Hearts Brooch

2011-02-06T10:05:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Add some holiday pizazz to your outfit with a wired heart brooch.

Sweet and so simple to make. And I'll show you how to personalize it, too!

For supplies, you'll need some wire, plyers with snips, small rhinestone embellishments, a short piece of wired ribbon, and a jewelry pin. The wire should be workable but not so soft that it won't retain it's shape. I found a lovely red wire, almost ruby, that is probably a 20g weight which worked really well.

Begin by forming a small loop at the end of the wire.

Gently curve the wire to form the side of the heart.

Decide how tall you want your heart to be, then bend the wire to form a tight angle.

Reverse the process for the first side, forming a gentle curve that ends in a tight loop, then cut the wire.

Repeat the process to form a second heart. Slip the end of one heart through the other, connecting the hearts.

Apply a rhinestone to the connection of the hearts. I just used hot glue, and secured the hearts together under the rhinestone.

Weave the ribbon through the hearts, trimming the ends to an appealing shape. Make note to cover the wire of the hearts as little as possible.

Attach the jewelry pin to the back of the ribbon.

The pin is lovely and complete at this point. However...

I decided to add yet another heart to represent our son.

You can personalize yours with as many hearts as you need.

And it's ready to dress up any outfit.

As an added bonus, if you have extra wire, the little hearts make great bookmarks!

Let me know if you give this a try! I'd love to see yours!

Weaving Paper Hearts

2011-01-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

I wanted to give these a try, though I confess I didn't really have anything in mind to do with them when I was finished.

I just knew I would like the finished texture, and I do!

The weaving is very simple. I just cut a bunch of narrow strips of mixed colors of paper, about 1/8" wide, then began weaving them together.

I interspersed the colors randomly to give it a mixed tone. As I added strips of paper, I used a fingernail to tighten the weave. When I reached my desired size, I secured the back with some clear tape to keep the outer strips from loosening as I continued to work it.

Next, I turned the weave over and traced a heart shape onto the back.

I carefully cut the heart from the weave. Having the back taped really helps keep the weave tight.

And there you have your finished heart!

I did another one that was similar, except that I made a smaller weave, and cut the heart at an angle, leaving the edges of the heart loose and rough.

So, now what to do with them?

They would work wonderfully as-is on a lovely Valentine's day card, or glued onto a toothpick as a cupcake pick. And I have something in mind for a necklace pendant, but you'll have to check back for that.

I'd love to know what you do with yours!

Recycled Greeting Cards

2011-01-04T13:51:00.001-08:00

I'm sure you're like me in that you get sooo many greeting cards this time of year. Of course there's Christmas cards, some thank you cards, and even a few birthday cards thrown in.

It seems a shame to just toss them in the trash, especially when the front is usually untouched. I always save them with the intention of doing something with them, and I think that's going to be one of my winter projects.

I especially like using cards because they offer such great print options that I can't accomplish on my own, without buying card stock anyway. This way, I get to recycle and save money -- two of my favorite things!

My son received this nice thank you card from his teacher. It's basic with a nice print, and perfect except for the written note inside. Since my son needs to write a thank you note to an out-of-town grandma, I thought this would be a perfect one to start with. So I gathered a few simple embellishments and a matching card stock. This wasn't a "frilly" card, so the embellishments are quite simple.

I started by removing the front of the card from the back and trimming it up just slightly. I kept the back too, since it matches the front.

Then I measured out and cut a piece of card stock, making it a little more than twice the size of the trimmed card front. You can easily determine the size of the card stock if you copy the size of the original card before you disassemble it.

Fold the card stock in half.

Check the size by aligning the trimmed front. You can glue the trimmed front "as-is" to make the project very simple, but I encourage you to look for ways that you can dress it up.

I decided to cut out the "thank you" block.

Then I glued the card front to the front of the folded card stock. Be sure to check your fold direction before gluing so you don't end up with a card that opens the wrong way.

Next, I put grommets in the corners.

I placed a pop dot in the center of the cut-out...

... then positioned the "thank you" block onto the pop dot.

Next, I trimmed a few short pieces of satin ribbon and aligned them in a corner...

and added a tiny rhinestone onto the intersection.

I decided to use some of the back of the card on the inside to highlight the message. I'll print out a message later and glue it in the center.

But cards need envelopes, right? And since the envelope that the card came in was written on, I needed to make a new one, which can be done with a plain sheet of paper. The easiest way to size the new envelope is to take the old one apart and make a template from it. However, in case that's not an option (I don't usually save the envelopes,) then I'll show you how to make one.

To size the envelope, align the two side corners of the card at one corner of the paper, positioning the card inset slightly from the edge of the paper.

Fold down the paper and crease. This crease will be your guide for the rest of the folds.

Flip the top back up and fold in the sides.

Fold up the bottom.

Next, open up the folds and remove the card. Trim the folds to the corners.

Be sure to trim the corners at the top as well, so that the card will insert easily.

Assemble the card, first folding in the sides and then the bottom. Glue in place.

Your finished card should slide easily into the new envelop. Since there isn't a pre-glued strip, you'll need to seal the envelope with a glue stick.

And there you have it! A "brand new" card, ready for signing and mailing.

I'm actually looking forward to getting started on the stack of Christmas cards! Although I'll probably start with the birthday cards, since I'm sure I'll need them before Christmas. I'll post some reworks as I do them.

So don't throw those cards away! This is just one of many ideas for their uses. I'd love to see what you put together!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Wired Name Ornaments

2010-12-25T20:28:00.001-08:00

Well, I did it! I made set of wired names for each of my grandmas, each set containing all the names of all of their grandchildren!

That was quite a list! Good thing they're easy to do, since I didn't decide on that until the last minute.

I used the same method as the Wired Word Ornament Hooks, except I put a diamond bauble at the end. I could have left them as ornament hooks, but some of the names got rather long.

What else to you give two 80-year-old grandmas that both lived through the depression and won't do anything extravagant?

I wish they didn't have to pack them up right away. They turned out quite pretty.

I suppose I could get them some suction cup hooks for the window and they could hang them up like sun-catchers.

In any case, it's a great personal gift that you could do for almost anyone, for a very inexpensive price. Give it a try!

Be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

Wire Word Ornament Hooks

2010-12-23T20:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes ideas are like recipes ... if you combine two things, you get something totally new and wonderful! Recently, I've stumbled across two inspiring posts. The first one some time back was a tutorial on how to make wired words. The second was a more recent tutorial on how to make fancy ornament hooks. I combined the two and came up with these fancy wired word ornament hooks!

Aren't they great??! And they're especially so because they are S-I-M-P-L-E! If you can write, you can make these. You just "write" with wire instead of with a pencil.

The only things you will need is wire and a pair of pliers with a wire cutter. I like to use the wire sold at the hardware stores used for drop ceiling. It comes in a roll of 100' for about $3.

The length you will need for each word will depend upon the word you choose and how big or small you "write" the words. I suggest you just work from the roll and cut when you're finished, leaving about 3-4" at the end.

Begin writing out your letters. I started with something short and sweet -- JOY.

If your wire is very flexible, you'll be able to make your letters correctly. If you use thicker wire like mine, you'll want to improvise a few of the turns, just to make your job easier. It looks the same in the end.

If you do need to make a sharp turn, use the pliers to "crimp" the wire a bit.

Finish your word, then cut the wire, leaving about 3-4" at the other end. You can always cut more if it's too long.

Turn the end of the wire to form a tight hook. This end will attach to the ornament.

At the other end, form a tight loop. Then curve the excess wire into a gentle hook.

Make any final adjustment to your word. I didn't like my original "J" so I reshaped it.

And it's ready to hang ornaments on your tree!

This really adds a wonderful, special touch to the tree, without being overstated.

Give it a try! It's so easy, I'm sure you'll be pleased with your results. I've decided I'm going to give my grandmas each a set made with each of the grandkid's names on them. They're both 90, and I'm thinking this might be the one thing they don't already have!

I'd love to see your finished projects!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

Party hopping? Save time and check out Party Central.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links of your own!

Party Central

2010-12-23T14:02:00.001-08:00

Having a hard time keeping up with all the great parties? Me too!

I love to craft, and I love to scan the parties for ideas and inspiration, but I find I end up pulling my hair out! This week the left side of my brain won out, and I spent my time "crafting" a solution. I'm thrilled to share it with you! Check out what I've done on my home page!

From my home page, click on the "View Neighborhood Party Links" button in the right column:

This will display a listing of all parties that I'm currently tracking, by day. I'm sure you'll recognize a bunch of them as parties you're familiar with. (If I'm missing YOUR party, just drop me a note and I'll be happy to add it!)

Click on any party logo to view the selected party:

This will display all the links currently participating in the party. Click on any party link and it will take you out to the feature link.

If you want to see the party live, click on the party name below the party icon:

Missed a party last week? I've also included a listing of recent archives. Just click on the link-out at the bottom of the party.

And here's another cool feature! Like the theme of the party and want to see what else is going on at the hosting blog? Click on the "BLOG SUMMARY" link-out at the bottom of the party.

I'll display a listing of the most recent postings, complete with a short summary and preview gallery! See something you like? Just click on the link to be taken to the blog posting.

But here's the really GREAT part! Can't find a link that you saw last week? Don't even remember where you saw it? Or maybe you just don't have time to look through all of the parties for something in particular. Well you can search ALL of the blog parties I link to simply by keying a search word into the search box, select "neighborhood" for your search location, and select "Go."

I'll display for you ALL links from ALL parties that contain the search words you entered, including parties from previous weeks! Isn't that awesome??!

My update isn't immediate, so you won't find a link that was just added, but I update usually at least once a day. And I can't do anything about misspelled words, or descriptions that aren't actually "descriptive" for the link-up. But it's a 5-second effort that might save you much time otherwise.

I hope you'll give this a try and maybe let me know what you think! I'll be doing a little more tweaking (like I would like to have a larger archive list) but didn't want to wait up for that before making these changes available. I'm not quite convinced that websites are ever really "finished" anyway.

I hope you like these new enhancements! And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. hile you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Chocolate Fruit Baskets

2010-12-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

As if the food around the holidays isn't yummy enough, we have to enhance it by making it all utterly visually irresistible, too, right? And it doesn't help matters when the process is really quite easy.

I've simply reconciled myself to a New Year's resolution of having to lose the 10 pounds I'm going to gain in December. Nothing new, happens every year...

Doesn't this just make you drool? I'm not a big cook/baker, but if you can disguise the process in the form of a "craft," then I enjoy it a lot more. Follow along and I'll show you how to make these adorable and yummy Chocolate Baskets.

For ingredients, you'll need a package of the chocolate of your choice. I use regular chocolate chips for mine. I've used the almond bark but wasn't as pleased with the result. You can experiment with different chocolates yourself, and you'll just have to eat your mistakes. Not a bad consequence, if you ask me.

For supplies, you'll need a plastic baggie or an icing bag, a basket form such as a cupcake pan, and some plastic wrap.

Begin by lining the form with the plastic wrap. I used cupcake pans for my form. I moistened the pan slightly before I applied the plastic so that it would stick nicely. I accomplished a very nice application simply by pressing a second cupcake pan onto the first to mold the plastic in place. I've also lined with aluminum foil before, but it doesn't remove as easily and ends up breaking a number of baskets.

Next, place your chocolate in the baggie and heat to melting. Don't overheat.

Cut a tiny hole in the tip of the baggie. Begin drizzling the chocolate over the mold in a random fashion. Check for large gaps.

The finished form should have a basket look -- not solid, and with fairly consistently-sized holes.

When finished with a tray, place the tray in a place to cool. I put mine in the freezer to speed the process. Or today, I could have just put them outside for 5 minutes. Brrr!

When the chocolate has hardened, remove the baskets from the mold by gently tugging on the plastic wrap. NOTE: Since I lightly moistened the pan to get the plastic wrap to set, I had to wait a few minutes for the metal pan to warm slightly, as the plastic wrap was frozen to the pan.

The plastic wrap should come off fairly easily, with the chocolate baskets intact.

Next, pull the plastic wrap from the chocolate. Be especially careful at the edges of the basket, so you don't chip away any chocolate. If you do mess up a basket, you can simply remelt and try again, or eat it to hide the evidence.

Your completed baskets should be somewhat firm and able to be gently handled. After the first few tries, you should have an idea of whether you need to adjust your weave.

And now they're ready for piling with some festive treats!

I love to use fresh fruits and berries! It's so colorful, with the added bonus of being especially yummy and at least remotely healthy.

Give it a try! They'll be the hit of your next party! And I'm sure your family and friends won't mind being your guinea pigs while you practice.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links of your own!

Earmuff Snowman

2010-12-10T05:12:00.001-08:00

Already feeling the chill this year? We sure are!! Of course, for me, anything below 65 is too cold, so the temps we've been having in the teens is way below my comfort level. I'm not a fan of winter here in the Midwest.

So to get around the cold, I spend my time indoors trying to make it at least LOOK fun! Like this little earmuff snowman ornament -- it's simple and fun to do, and warms my heart. You should give it a try!

For supplies, you will need the following:
1 - 3" white ball ornament (any size can be used)
1 - 5" x 8-1/2" piece of fleece for the hat (size will vary depending upon the size of the ornament)
1 - 1" x 6" piece of coordinating fabric for the scarf
1 - small piece of orange felt for the nose
1 - 8" piece of flexible wire
4 - 1" circles of faux fur, sherpa, or fuzzy fleece
1 - 6" piece of gold string or ribbon for the hanger
1 - small rubber band
2 - snowflake embellishments (optional)
For tools, you will need glue, scissors, a pencil, black paint or marker, blush, and (optionally) pinking shears.

Begin by folding the large piece of fleece in half and stitch the edge, making a large "tube" of fabric.

Gather one end of the "tube" of fabric and secure the gather with a rubber band.

Snip the fabric beyond the rubber band into narrow strips, forming a tassel for the top of the hat.

Trim the other side of the tube of fabric with the pinking shears, to make a decorative edge.

Fold back the end of the fabric to form a cuff.

Tuck the hanger of the ball ornament into the opening of the hat.

Glue lightly in place, leaving the bottom edge unsecured.

Wrap the wire around the pencil, forming a loose spiral.

Slip the wire off the pencil and straighten the ends.

Glue each end of the wire between two faux fur circles.

Position the earmuffs onto the hat and glue in place.

Fold the thin piece of fleece and half, then tuck the fold into the bottom of the hat. Glue in place.

Snip fringe into the ends of the scarf.

Trim the piece of orange felt into the shape of a nose. The pinking shears add a nice edge. Glue the nose to the face of the snowman.

Use the paint or marker to add eyes and a mouth. If you're using paint, an easy way to get a nice shape is to dip the back end of a paint brush in the paint, then "dot" the paint on.

Add a spot of blush to the cheeks.

Add the snowflake embellishments to the scarf and hat. Tie the string to the wire for a hanger and you're done.

Isn't he cute??

Just in time to adorn your Christmas tree!

I bet you won't want to pack him away after Christmas...

Twiggy Star

2010-12-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

I like simple, and inexpensive. Throw in fast and I'm a fan for life.

This one borders on free and can be done in about 5 minutes. Are you in?

For supplies, you will need:
5 - thin, relatively straight twigs, all cut to the same length
1 - extra twig if you would like your star to stand
1 - 8" length of thin ribbon if you would like your star to hang
various embellishments to suit your preference
For materials, you need hot glue, and whatever else you need for your selected embellishments.

Begin by overlapping and gluing together the tips of two of the twigs, forming a tight angle. The opposite tips of the twigs should be spaced slightly more than half the length of the twigs. If you're concerned about getting the shape correctly, you can draw the shape onto a piece of paper and align the twigs with the drawing.

Glue the tip of another twig onto one of the open ends, replicating the previous angle.

Repeat with the fourth twig.

Add the last twig, completing the shape of the star.

If you want your star to hang, position the finished star the direction you like best, and tie a ribbon onto the top point.

If you want your finished star to stand, glue the sixth twig to the back of the top point. You might need to shorten the twig to make the star stand properly.

I think it looks awesome at this point, and you could be finished. But I love the combination of something rustic with something luxurious, like burlap and satin, so I couldn't stop at this point. The great thing is that the options for what to do with it are endless!

You could add a couple of mini pine cones and satin roses...

Love the mini cardinals on Christmas ornaments! Maybe with a little nest?

Maybe some satin ribbon and some glass beads...

Some festive mini gift packages...

A little embroidered Christmas message stitched on a piece of frayed muslin or burlap...

Remember the name tag from the paper cone Christmas tree?

A tiny clothespin makes it easy to change out different labels, plus it's just sweet.

Even a simple satin ribbon with some pre-cut foam letters...

Since they're so simple and inexpensive, I think you should make a variety! I'd love to see your finished work.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Follower Appreciation Give-Away

2010-12-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

************************ UPDATE ************************

Thanks to the services of random.org, the random winner of my Follower Appreciation Give-away is:

Number 11!!

Number 11 is Charlotte!

I've already dropped her a note letting her know that she's won and hope to have her chore chart in the mail to her so she can have it by Christmas!

Many thanks to everyone that entered! I'll be having another give-away at 400 followers. I'm already a good step toward that milestone, so be sure to watch for the next give-away!

************************ UPDATE ************************

Holy Christmas, Batman! I turned around and just noticed I'm at 300 followers! Yippee~!

I've decided to celebrate by hosting a give-away!

For my last give-away, I offered a set of custom embroidered wooden name blocks. To enter, I just asked participants to leave a comment telling me which of my tutorials they liked best, and what they would want me to offer for my next give-away. Well, Staci at Craftity-It was my winner, and she voted for the Ice Cream Chore chart for my next give-away. It think that's a perfect idea as this would make a great Christmas present!

Will it make the chores more fun? Perhaps not, but at least it might motivate your little one to do them.

Each scoop is machine-embroidered, with a vinyl slot in the back for holding the name of chore, and magnets on the inside for ease of use by little hands.

So if you'd like to try winning one of these, just leave a comment on this post, something about the site, positive or negative, and maybe what you'd like me to give away next time. If you're not already a follower, I would REALLY appreciate you becoming one, and you'll expedite the next give-away in the process!

Thanks for visiting!!! And good luck! The winner will be picked by random number on December 10th. (Please be sure I have a way to contact you!)

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

Paper Christmas Tree Placecards

2010-11-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

I wanted to try something simple, and I got the added bonus of it being versatile!

Today I'll show you how to make these simple Christmas tree placecards. The versatile part comes into play when your dinner guests go home and you pull off the names and you're left with a colorful forest of trees!

For supplies, you will need the following:
- several colors of Christmas paper or card stock (optionally can be done monotone)
- an item to use for the base, such as the star pictured above
- a straight twig or dowel rod
- a short piece of gold string or the equivalent
- ribbon and other embellishments to your liking
For tools, you will need a glue stick, scissors, a small hole punch and hot glue

Begin by cutting the shape for the tree. Using a corner of a piece of paper, cut an arc from one side to the other. You should end up with 1/4 of a circle. I used scrap-booking scissors to add a scalloped edge. If you're using multiple colors, cut different sizes, with the longest one being the desired height of the finished tree. For mine, I used 3-1/4, 4-1/2, and 5-3/4 lengths.

Draw a line of glue along one straight edge.

Gently roll the paper to form a cone, slightly overlaying the glued edge over the other.

Firmly press the glued edge in place.

Repeat with another color.

Stack the shorter cone onto the top of the medium-sized cone, lining up the seams, and glue in place.

Repeat with the longest cone.

Put a generous spot of hot glue on the tip of the twig or dowel rod. Insert the twig into the cone to the point. Let cool, making sure the twig is aligned and centered at the bottom of the tree.

Glue the other end of the twig to the base, making sure the tree stands vertically.

Begin decorating your tree with your choice of embellishments. I went with a simple piece of ribbon garland.

Next, make a name tag. I used some matching paper and overlayed a piece of white. I punched two small holes in the top corners and tied the gold string through it.

Hang the sign over the top of the Christmas tree and your placecard is ready!

When your dinner is over, just slip the name off the tree and either use it again for another dinner, or use them without names as decoration elsewhere. You can also replace the name with a festive Christmas message, such as "Noel" or "Merry Christmas."

Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear if you give this a try!

BTW, I promised with my last post that I would be putting together a lightbox because I was so frustrated with my photo quality. Well I did and a love it! What do you think, are the pics better? I also spent a little time in the user manual for my camera and learned some helpful hints there, too.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Clay Pot Pilgrim Boy

2010-11-20T09:57:00.001-08:00

As promised, here is the tute for the boy pilgrim for the clay pot pilgrim couple. I posted the tutorial for the girl pilgrim yesterday.

He's a bit more complicated than the girl because of his hat, but they make such a sweet couple.

For supplies, you will need the following:
1 - 2" clay pot (actual size may be slightly smaller)
1 - 1-1/4" wooden ball
1 - 2" x 2" piece of white felt
1 - 3/4" x 2" piece of brown felt (or other hair color)
1 - 2" x 2" piece of black felt
1 - 1" x 1" piece of black felt
1 - 1/4" x 1/8" piece of black felt
1 - 4" x 1-1/2" piece of black felt
1 - 4" x 1-1/2" piece of cardstock
1 - 1/2" x 1/2" of gold felt
1 - 6" length of 1/8" black ribbon
For supplies, you will need scissors, glue, black paint or markers, and blush (optional.)

Begin by cutting a 3/4" slit into the center of the edge of one side of the 2" x 2" piece of white felt. Optionally, trim a slight curve or angle into the two halves to add a little shape to his collar.

Glue the collar to the center of the bottom of the clay pot. Glue the wooden ball onto the center of the collar.

Now, shape the hair. Fringe one side of the piece of brown felt, making tiny snips the length of the felt.

(BTW, I'm putting together a lightbox this weekend!! I'm so sorry about the pooey quality of the photos. Future tute photos should be much better-- hopefully!)

Twist the uncut edge into a circle and glue in place on top of the head.

The hair is really a great place for individual creativity, just like in real life. This was by far the funniest step when I did this with my family.

Next, trim the piece of cardstock into an arc. This doesn't have to be exact and the shape can vary.

Turn the piece of cardstock to form a loop and glue or tape securely.

Cover the loop of cardstock with a piece of black felt. Trim as necessary.

Apply glue to the tip of the narrow end of the loop. Place a small piece of felt covering the end.

After the glue has set at least somewhat, use a sharp pair of scissors to trim the excess felt from the top of the hat.

When you're finished, it should look something like this.

Now, apply some glue the to other edge of the loop, and glue a large piece of felt centered in place.

Use scissors to trim the excess felt, leaving about 3/8" of felt for the brim of the hat. Set the hat aside.

Trim the piece of gold felt into a belt buckle by cutting two parallel slits into the center.

Feed the narrow piece of black felt through one of the slits, being careful not to rip the felt for the buckle. Feed the end through the other slit.

Slide the buckle to the center of the "belt."

Glue the belt onto the hat just above the rim.

Glue the hat onto the boy's head. Tie the piece of ribbon into a small bow and glue it to the collar just above the slit.

Use paint or black markers to add eyes and apply blush to the cheeks, and that's it!

If you try this craft, I'd love to see yours! And I'd also love to hear what you do with them.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Clay Pot Pilgrim Girl

2010-11-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

I just love the colors of fall!

I don't usually spend much time on Thanksgiving crafts, but last year I put together the supplies to make a pilgrim couple from some small clay pots, as an activity to do with the kiddos at my sis-in-law's. It ended up being quite a hoot and I can't wait to see them brought out again this year!

I started with a design by Amanda at Crafts by Amanda, tweaked it just a bit, then added a boy pilgrim to it. I'll show you how to make the girl pilgrim today, then check back tomorrow for instructions for the boy pilgrim. It's a great and inexpensive activity for your younger guests for Thanksgiving.

The supplies you will need are as follows:
1 - 2" clay pot (actual size may be slightly smaller) painted black
1 - 1-1/4" wooden ball
1- 2"x2" square of white felt for the collar
1 - 1-1/2" x 1-1/4" piece of white felt for the apron
1 - 2" x3-1/4" piece of white felt for the hat
1 - 1"x4" piece of brown felt (or other hair color) for the hair
1 - 6" length of 1/8" black ribbon
For tools, you will need scissors, glue, black marker or paint, and blush.

Begin by cutting a slit about 3/4" long into the corner of the 2" x 2" piece of felt.

Next, glue the piece of felt centered onto the bottom of the clay pot.

Glue the wooden ball on top of the felt into the center of the bottom of the clay pot.

Next, scallop the edge of the piece of brown felt to make hair. Glue the hair to the center of the top of the wooden ball, with the slit in the white felt facing to the front. The back of the wooden ball will not be covered with hair, but that's fine.

Place the 3-1/4" x 2" piece of white felt over the hair, lining up the edge of the white near the edge of the hair. The longer side should align with the hair. Glue the white felt in place on the top and sides of the head only (not the back.)

Now you'll need to form the hat. Turn the pot around and working from the back, fold down the center and glue in place. Next, fold in one side, creasing at the point, and glue in place. Repeat with the second side.

Round the corners of the 1-1/4" x 1-1/2" piece of white felt to form an apron.

Glue the apron onto the pot below the collar.

Next, use the ribbon to form a tiny bow and glue it onto the collar above the slit.

Use paint or a marker to add eyes.

Apply a little blush to her cheeks and she's done!

These make great little table place settings or just simple decoration. They're fun, quick, easy and inexpensive, and the supplies can be gotten at almost any craft store. Your little pilgrims will just love making their own this year and you'll be a hit for thinking of it!

Don't forget to check tomorrow's post for the instructions for the pilgrim boy!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Wired Felt Snowman

2010-11-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

I thought you might like to see another of the crafts featured at this year's Family Christmas Workshop. This is another felt ornament that I emulated from a scrapbooking page by Rebecca Sower.

This little guy can be dressed in various ways, like with a felt vest or stocking cap, even some little boots. We went with a simple scarf and ear muffs.

For supplies, you will need the following:
- white felt (self-adhesive felt works great!)
- red fabric or felt
- fabric for a scarf
- sturdy but pliable wire
- 2 poms for the ear muffs
- orange felt for the nose
- 2 buttons
- 6-8 seed beads for the eyes and mouth
- gold string for a hanger
For tools, you will need scissors, wire cutters, tacky glue, and (optionally) hot glue.

Begin by cutting a template for your snowman, making a shape that's appealing to you. We're making ours about 6" tall, but you can adjust larger or smaller. (Smaller ones would make great lapel pins.) Then, use the template to cut two snowman shapes from the white felt.

Cut a length of wire for the arms. Apply a generous layer of glue to one of the felt snowman pieces. Place the length of wire in position for the arms. If needed, add more glue around the area of the wire to ensure stability. Alternatively, self-adhesive felt makes this step less messy.

Place the other snowman felt onto the glued section, sandwiching the wire between the two sides.

Next, create a template for your mittens, and cut two sets of the mittens from the red fabric.

Apply some glue to one of the mitten sets and place the mittens around the tips of the wire.

Repeat for the other side.

Next, place the scarf around the neck of the snowman.

Gently tie the scarf around to the front.

Use scissors to snip fringe into the ends of the scarf.

Apply glue to the front of the snowman to secure the ends of the scarf.

Position the scarf into the glue.

Next, add a couple of buttons to the belly of the snowman.

Cut a nose from the orange felt. Pinking shears add a nice edge if you have any handy. Glue the nose to the center of the face.

Next, glue the eyes.

Draw a thin line with glue for the mouth and apply the seed beads. Try using a pin to maneuver the tiny beads into position. The glue keeps the seeds from rolling away and dries invisible.

You could also apply some blush to the cheeks. Then, set the snowman aside to dry for a few minutes.

Twist another length of wire into a curled shape for the ear muffs and trim to size.

Use hot glue to secure the poms to the ends of the wire. You can use tacky glue, but the ear muffs will need to be set aside to dry.

Position the ear muffs and glue in place.

Tie the gold string in a loop around the wire of the ear muffs for a hanger.

As soon as he's dry, he'll be ready to decorate your tree or add some cheer to a package.

While you're at it, make several! Since he's flat, he stores very neatly.

Try some different outfits while you're at it! If you give this project a try, please let me know and I'll link you up. I'd love to see what you come up with!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Snowman Family Diorama

2010-11-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, let me confess up front. I am very proud of this little craft. I just LOVE it! I love it so much, I think everyone I know is going to get one for Christmas this year. I did this one for my neighbors so I would have one for my tute, but now I'm not sure I can wait until Christmas to give it to them! And since I just don't have time to make one for everyone in the whole world, I'm just going to have to share the how-to so you can pass on the fun to your family and friends.

This little snowman family diorama came to fruition over a number of years. I had put together the little family made from glove fingers some time back, but wasn't quite sure what to do with them after that. Then this year at Dollar Tree, I came across these shadowbox frames and the idea just popped.

For supplies, you will need:
- 1 glove finger for each family member
- 1 shadowbox frame large enough to hold the completed family (larger family = larger frame)
- 1 sheet of cardstock with appropriate print for the background
- 1 sheet of white cardstock
- white felt, measuring a little more than half the size of the frame
- orange felt for the nose
- mini black pom-poms (2 for each snowman)
- assorted ribbons, trims, scraps and other tiny embellishments (eg. rick-rack, sequins, etc.)
- blush
For tools, you will need sharp scissors, tacky glue, and a glue stick, and access to a printer or alternate method for adding the names to the matting.

The first thing you'll want to do is prepare the matting. This will vary depending upon the size of the frame. I suggest laying out the "family" to estimate the size of the window you'll need. There should be about 1" of matting.

Prepare the matting from the cardstock.

I did mine using a simple word processing package. First I drew a square (I made a table with one column and one row, with a border) then inserted the family surname above the box and the individual family member names below. I printed the document centered on the page so I had room to trim around the outside. Then I cut out the window slightly inset from the printed box to give a little extra depth.

Next, insert the matting into the front of the frame, and secure as necessary (from the back.)

The frames I purchased had a cardboard edge inside the frame that I needed to work around to get my matting to fit in properly without the cardboard showing from the front. The advantage was that then I didn't need to do anything to secure it in place as the cardboard was already doing that for me. If yours doesn't have this, a few pieces of scotch tape is really all you need. Just be sure to secure it from behind so it doesn't show from the front.

Next, take note of the back mounting. You'll want to make sure that you position the back properly, as you'll be mounting your snowman family directly onto the frame backing. Make sure that the "top" is positioned to the top.

Now it's time to start arranging your diorama. Begin by placing your backing. Apply a piece of the "sky," covering at least half of the area, and glue in place.

NOTE: For this step and the following, you want to make sure that your "scene" is slightly smaller than the backing for the frame.If you don't allow some space around the edges, then when you put the backing into the frame, it bulges in an unappealing way and doesn't want to mount properly. The matting on the front of the frame will hide any raw edges.

Next, using some of the white cardstock, cut a wavy edge.

Glue the wavy edge to the backing, covering the raw edge of the sky print. (Note the space around the edges.)

Set the frame onto the backing to get an idea of how things are going to look. I recommend you do this periodically while arranging your scene to prevent accidental misplacement.

Arrange your glove fingers for your snowman family. Set the frame in place to view the arrangement. Make adjustments as necessary and then glue the glove fingers in place.

Next, cut some snowbanks from the white felt. For my 6"x8" frame (4"x6" mount,) I used two pieces of felt, 2" and 2 1/2" inches tall. Yours will vary depending upon the size of your frame.

Align the first snowbank covering the bottoms of the glove fingers. Set the frame in place to confirm the alignment. Adjust as necessary, then glue in place.

Repeat with the second snowbank.

Now it's time to start making snow-people. Use the black poms and the orange felt to make faces for the snowmen, and glue them in place. You could try adding a mouth of your own design, but the work is very tiny and a bit difficult to maneuver.

Next, using whatever embellishments you have gathered, begin dressing your snowmen. This is a great step for using things from your scrap bin. Be sure to be sensitive to the edge of your matting, so your dressing isn't lost at the edge.

When you're finished dressing them, add a little blush to their cheeks.

The blush is optional but it gives them all a rosy, wintry look.

And the last step is to place your snowman family scene into your shadowbox frame.

Because of the thickness of the scene, you won't be able to slide the backing more than about an inch. My frames were pretty flexible, and the backing was pretty bendable, so between the two, I was able to insert my backing without having to slide it much at all. Keep this in mind when purchasing your frames. Alternatively, you might be able to work on a secondary piece of cardboard, separate from the backing, which might give you a little more flexibility.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Please let me know if you give this a try! I'd love to see your finished project! Oh, and I LOVE comments, too.

Helen sent me this image of a snowman family she put together, but she added a twist and did it with paper. I think it turned out fabulous! I love the colors, and I especially love the little glasses on Daddy!

And check out THIS cutie made by Honey at Daisies Are My Favorite Flower! Her sister included her fur babies. Too fun!

Amy at Day by Day put together this little lovely! I adore the hats, and confess that I haven't quite mastered them looking so cute!

Here's a fun colorful version!

One done in a recycled frame at Wiccan Make Some Too...

Check out the variety at In The Moment...

Check out this one done by Guatmama at The Graber Gab. She was able to do hers without having to purchase anything. I say, "Well done!"

Peechee at Candy, Cake and Crafts put together several that turned out just great! She was even brave enough to add mouths!

Christine from Brooklyn, New York, embellished hers with a little extra "fluff" of snow on the outside of the frame.

Let me know if you do one so I can add you to the examples!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Sheep Magnet

2010-11-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Every year for the Family Christmas Workshop, I like to make something out of a magnetic clip. The clips are getting harder and harder to find at a price we can afford, but thankfully Dollar Tree came through for us again this year and we'll be making this silly sheep.

For supplies, you will need:
1 - Magnetic clip
1 - 18mm triangle nose
2 - 7mm google eyes
1 - 2" x 2-1/2" piece of white sherpa
1 - 2-1/4" x 3/4" piece of black felt for ears
1 - 1-1/2" x 3/4" piece of black felt for legs
1 - 1/2" x 1/2" piece of black felt for tail
1 - 5" length of 1/8" red satin ribbon
black spray paint
For tools, you'll need a sharp pair of scissors and a hot glue gun.

This is the magnetic clip from Dollar Tree. It comes in a package of 6 mixed colors, and is about 2" wide.

Begin by spray painting the clips black. It's not necessary to do the back. The only part that will show when finished is the clip.

Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the piece of sherpa/lambswool up the middle a little more than halfway.

Open the clip and insert it into the slit cut into the sherpa, positioning at the end of the slit. Then close the clip, holding the sherpa in place.

The edge of the sherpa should line up right a the end of the clip. Adjust as necessary.

Wrap the two halves around the base of the clip and join in the center. Glue in place. When this step is completed, the back of the clip should be completely covered by sherpa

Apply glue to the edges of the clip and secure the sherpa in place.

Use a sharp pair of scissors and trim any excess sherpa to the edge of the clip.

Your clip should be looking like this.

Cut a triangular wedge out of the center of the large piece of black felt.

Cut two more wedges on either side of the previous cut, forming the legs of the sheep.

Glue the top edge of the legs to the back of the clip at the bottom, leaving the legs hanging past the sherpa. NOTE: The bottom of the clip is the open side, or the side you "pinch."

Your sheep should be looking like this.

Next, use scissors to round out the corners of the medium piece of black felt.

Apply a small amount of glue to the center and fold the felt in half longways.

Pinch open the clip and insert the ears into the opening, raw edge in. Add a touch of glue and release.

Now your sheep should be looking like this.

Round out the small piece of black felt, forming a nubby tail.

Glue the tail onto the back of the clip in the upper corner.

Apply some glue and add the eyes. If little ones are doing the craft, the step is best done with craft glue, rather than hot glue, as it allows for adjustment of the eyes.

If you haven't already done so, clip the stem from the back of the nose. Glue the nose in place.

Tie the ribbon in a tiny bow and glue it to the front of the sheep.

And you're done! If you've trimmed the sherpa enough around the back edge, this little guy should still work as a magnet.

If you put one of these together, I'd love to hear how it worked for you.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Felt Mittens

2010-11-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

I thought you might like to see another one of this year's Family Christmas Workshop crafts. This one is super quick and easy, but I confess that this is not an original idea, as most of my tutorials are. In this case, I emulated a printed design I found on a scrapbooking page by Rebecca Sower.

This is a simple pair of wired felt mittens with a touch of embellishment. Very inexpensive and very easy to do. These would work well for tree ornaments or package decorations.

For supplies, you'll need two colors of felt (1 for the mitten, 1 for the cuff,) about 8" of pliable wire, 6" of gold string, and two small embellishments (such as snowflakes or buttons.) For a just a little extra cost, you can purchase adhesive felt which works well if you don't want the mess of the glue.

Begin by creating a template for the size and shape of the mitten. Use the template and cut out 4 mittens from one of the colors of felt.

Next, from the other color of felt, cut two cuffs. The length of the cuff should be a little more than twice as wide as the mitten so that it can be folded over the edge of the mitten.

Next, shape the wire to form a series of random loops.

Place each end of the wire inside a set of 2 mittens and glue them all together. This is where the adhesive felt works really well.

Next, apply glue and wrap the cuff around the top of the mitten. Press firmly.

Repeat for the other mitten.

Add a couple of snowflakes or buttons to the center of the mittens for embellishment.

Tie a string to the wire for a hanger and you're done! If you get started now, you can have a bunch done for Christmas!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Sock Snowman

2010-11-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

Here's another quick and easy idea for Christmas. It's inexpensive and great for younger children. For this craft, I modified a muslin and sock snowman I found on eHow.

The supplies you'll need are:

1 - small white sock
1 - small piece of orange felt
2 - 7mm black poms
1 - 6" thin strip of black felt, cut on one side with pinking shears
1 - 6" length of 1/8" red satin ribbon.
1 - small embellishment, such as a star or snowflake
2 - small rubber bands
fiberfil
For tools, you'll need sharp scissors and fabric glue, and optionally pinking sheers.

Begin by cutting the cuff from the sock, cutting across at the heel.

Loosely stuff the toes with fiberfil.

Secure the stuffed sock with a small rubber band.

Fold the red ribbon in half and tie the ends together with a large knot.

Insert the knotted end of the ribbon into the cut end of the sock cuff.

Secure the cut end of the cuff around the knotted end of the ribbon with a small rubber band. Tug the exposed loop of the ribbon to form a hanger.

Place the uncut end of the cuff over the rubber banded end of the stuffed toe section.

Roll back the edge of the cuff and secure with fabric glue.

Your sock should look something like this.

Next, cut the orange felt to make a nose. Pinking sheers add a nice decorative edge.

Apply a thin line of glue outlining the mouth.

Apply the strip of black felt onto the glue line for the mouth.

Add a spot of glue in the position of the eyes.

Place the two poms onto the spot of glue.

Add a spot of blush to the cheeks.

Glue the embellishment to the snowman hat.

And that's it! A cheery snowman to brighten someone's Christmas tree.

Let me know if you make one -- I'd love to feature your finished product!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!