Crafts
No-Sew Embellished Canvas Tote
Do you have one of those friends that has known you longer than you’ve been with your spouse or partner? I do. She’s pretty darn special to me. We don’t talk or see each other nearly as often as I’d like, but I know she’d be there for me in a heartbeat. A few months ago she called and told me about her new job. What impressed me the most is not that she had landed a new job (she’s talented and smart), but her attitude about her new job. She, in essence, told me that she’d finally come to the realization that she needed to stop undermining her value and…
No-Sew Way to Repair a T-Shirt Hole
June 30, 2015 Update: T-shirt repair using this method is still holding strong! This isn’t a shirt I wear everyday, but it has been washed and worn several times since this original post in February 2015. I hope you have the same results as I have had. The other day I paused to straighten my shirt as I was running at the door and somehow one of my fingernails of steel punched a hole right through my shirt. AGH! I still have no idea how it happened. Especially since I’m not sporting particularly long or pointy fingernails at the moment. This is the shirt in question. A dressier version of…
Magnifying Glass Valentine’s Card – Free Printable
I’m a big fan of Valentine’s cards for kids that don’t include candy. I know, I know, I’m such a party pooper. However, I do love Valentine’s cards that include trinkets. See, I’m not a complete scrooge! This attitude works really well because at my daughter’s elementary school they do not allow us to bring in sweets for Valentine’s Day or even for birthdays. It’s a little too strict, in my opinion, but their heart is in the right place. Last month my daughter and I scoured the big ol’ world wide web looking for Valentine’s ideas. If the truth is known, I find this part of Valentine’s Day ridiculously fun.…
Parachute Man Valentine’s Cards – Free Printable
My son has recently started playing “Army” with his neighborhood friends. So when I saw some examples out there for a parachute man Valentine’s cards, I knew he’d get excited. That was an understatement! I don’t know who to credit for the original idea, but I was inspired by this example here. Of course, I had to do my own take on it! Here’s the label that I came up with: I printed the labels out on white card stock, but regular computer paper would work fine too. I designed them to fold in half over the top of the plastic baggie that holds the parachute man. I got a dozen parachute…
Paper Rainbow Butterfly Art
An alternate title to this post could be, “How to Turn Birthday Decor Into Art.” Or, I could have titled it: “The Time I Spent 50 Gajillion Hours on a Silly Project.” Before we moved to Georgia, my daughter had a “Rainbow Butterfly” themed birthday party. There might have been unicorns in there too. It’s hard to pick just one favorite thing when you are turning six. Anyway, I had this brilliant idea to make it look like a swarm of butterflies were passing by our window. It wasn’t a hard project. It involved construction paper, tape and a butterfly hole punch. I did severely underestimate how long it would take…
Cookie Cutter Stencils and Embellishing a Brown Bag
I thought I’d share a fun trick for embellishing a plain brown gift bag. My secret is using cookie cutters as a stencil. I will confess… my cookie cutters see far more use outside of the kitchen than in it. These are the supplies I gathered to embellish gift bags for my children’s teachers. Ignore the snowflake cookie cutter. I was considering using it for my stencil, but switched to the tree. I insert a small cutting board inside the brown bag so that I don’t cut through it. I then trace the shape of the cookie cutter with a pencil on the brown bag. After that, it’s pretty easy to…
Jazzing Up a Fake Wreath
The house we are renting has a double front door. Cool, right? I have been very proud of myself for resisting the temptation to paint those things. Anyway, I don’t have two wreaths, let alone two matching wreaths, so I was on a mission to somehow dress up those front doors this holiday season. My first inclination was to buy a fresh wreath. Well, they were more than I wanted to spend. Big, surprise. Then I saw a fake wreath at Target and they wanted $25. For a fake wreath! Sheesh. So, I went to Hobby Lobby and their Christmas stuff was 50% off. I found a fake wreath for $5.00, originally…
Using Contact Paper to Make a Deer Silhouette
I’ve fallen for the animal silhouette fad – especially around the holidays. I can’t help it! I have not fallen for the vinyl cutting machines, like the Cricut, which would make creating a silhouette so much easier. I just haven’t been able to stomach the price tag on those puppies. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have one, but then I’d be afraid to waste the vinyl, so then it wouldn’t get used like it should. It’s a vicious cycle, people! It’s often these moments of cheapness frugality that lead me to get a little desperate creative. So, I came home from preschool drop-off last week, did my happy dance…
Holiday Footprint Art
My most treasured piece of holiday decor is not the tree topper or the ornaments from when I was a baby. Nope, not even close. It’s actually this piece of footprint artwork my daughter made when she was 5. Mistletoes? It doesn’t get any cuter than that. And you know I’m a sucker for hand and footprint art. There’s something so compelling to me, as a mother, to have a snapshot in time of their little feet – especially on canvas. If you are looking for a homemade gift idea this year. I thought you might like that one. It’s as simple as letting your child paint the background and…
Santa Belt Magnets
Last year I got on a magnet kick. Don’t ask me why. Sometimes you just get a wild idea and before you know it, your fingers are covered in Mod Podge and you forgot to start dinner. Am I right, or am I right? The result was a whole bunch of these ridiculously cute Santa Belt magnets. Don’t worry. No humans starved during the making of these magnets. We totally had cereal for dinner that night. Problem solved! Here’s what you need to make them: wood discs of some sort, magnets, glue, small paint brush, Mod Podge, tape, craft paint and rhinestones or gems. You may want to sand the wood…
