Crafts
Diary of a Not So Wimpy Girl Free Printable
Recently, my daughter became obsessed with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. Have you heard of it? I discovered that she had also started to make her own “diary of a wimpy kid” at the craft table using good ol’ computer paper and a stapler. I love it when books inspire you to do something productive. It gave me an idea to make her a more official-looking cover for her book, with my own spin on the title. Of course, when I had this idea, it was while waiting to board a flight and I had about 10 spare minutes. So, professional and perfect, it is not. Actually,…
Easter Egg Acorns
I so wish I was the original one to come up with a way to repurpose plastic Easter eggs into acorns. Alas, I am but one of the many, many imitators. I made these last year and I still love them this year. I’m predictable that way. Do you remember when nylons came in large plastic eggs? You kids out there remember what nylons are, right? I hear Princess Kate is bringing them back in style. Anyway, when I was little I would put those in my shirt and then laugh hilariously at the lop-sided boobs. Clearly, I was not proper princess material. Moving on… All you have to do…
Painted Pine Cones
I love a good mindless craft. Who’s with me? By the end of the day, my mind is mush. My emotional well-being is exhausted. There’s nothing I want to do more than sit and veg out with an episode of Scandal on Hulu. But, sometimes, my hands like something to do while the rest of me is zoned out. It’s a contradiction of mass proportions. My yard is over-flowing with huge pine cones. I’m kind of enamored with them since I’m used to those itty-bitty pine cones. Clearly, I know my pine cones. Or is it pinecones? Just call me the tree whisperer. The first thing I did was enlist my…
Clever Preschool Art
My son is in 4-year-old preschool or as it is called in Georgia, Pre-K. Let me just say, God bless preschool teachers. Seriously. Bless them for teaching, encouraging and putting up with these young, spirited children. Last week, I thought my son’s teachers really hit it out of the ballpark with the artwork he brought home. Especially during Halloween week when gross and gory is the norm. Perhaps their ideas all came from Pinterest, but I’m still going to give them the credit for pulling it off. How clever is this artwork about the Itsy Bitsy Spider? Why didn’t I think to put a spider ring on a “waterspout” straw?…
Paper Pumpkins
Hello, hello! Earlier this week I briefly showed you a mini-paper pumpkin I made before I decided that my fingers were too big to make more of those pint-sized spheres of cuteness. I do adore it though! That little craft was based on a pumpkin tutorial I used last year to make a whole patch of paper pumpkins using 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper. Seriously, I got addicted and was worried I wouldn’t be able to stop. Can you blame me? The pumpkins mainly survived being packed in a box and trucked clear across the country. They were a little mushed when I unpacked them and some of the tape…
Spider Hair Clips using Hand-Curled Fabric Ribbon
I see a lot of blog tutorials about crafts, decorating and cooking. A lot of it is eye candy because I look and file it away in my sub-conscious for later. I’ve concluded two things. 1) There are so many, incredibly talented people out there. I am in awe. Seriously, DIYers rock! 2) I don’t have the time, money or patience to recreate 99% of the things I read. So, when I saw a recent tutorial on how to curl fabric ribbon and make spider hair clips. BAM! I was on it! Of course, I had to finish cooking dinner and wait two days to go to the craft store, but seriously,…
How to Curl Fabric Ribbon – Corkscrew Ribbon
Am I the last one to know how to curl fabric ribbon? Have I been living under a rock? All of those corkscrew ribbon hair thingies that little girls wear…I could have been making those instead of spending a fortune on them. Apparently, this ribbon can also be called corker ribbon. That just sounds odd to me, so I’ll just go with corkscrew. The kicker is that it is super easy! Ridiculously easy. All you need are: 1. ribbon (duh!) 2. wood skewers 3. tape, binder clips or anything else to secure the ribbon 4. cookie sheet to place your creation on 5. An oven Secure one end of the ribbon…
Lettered Wall – Work in Progress
Do you collect things? The only thing I “collect” are playing cards from places we’ve traveled. I throw them in a big basket in our living room and they are a great conversation starter. They are also a practical reminder of places we’ve been and experienced. The irony is that I really don’t care to play cards…I just like to collect them. But let’s not delve into my issues! Lately, I realized that I have the beginnings of a collection of the letters “A” and “J” for the first initial of my name and my husband’s name. Here’s how I grouped them in our last home. I kind of miss…
Halloween Countdown Lunchbox Notes – Free Printable
Update: A sweet reader told me there were some font problems with the PDF. I’ve converted the PDF to Jpeg files. This should fix the problem. If not, please let me know! Who loves Halloween? My kids sure do! I love how much fun you can have with this holiday. The anticipation is already building around our house! The costumes have been selected and now it is time to start the countdown! I made some printable lunchbox notes that I can use to start counting down Halloween. It will be a fun switch from our day-of-the-week lunch box notes that we’ve been using. (Those things are still working so…
