My girls made these stickers for Cory’s guitar case last Christmas, but I think they would also make a wonderful Father’s Day gift, so I’m putting this out there for those who might need some last minute ideas.
It’s a very simple gift, perfect for our little ones, and there are a couple of ways you can go about making them:
I purchased some printable sticker paper from an office supply store (which continue to come in handy!) and printed a scanned image of the girl’s artwork onto the paper. Sometimes my kids make very light marks, so I wanted to be able to adjust the brightness and contrast of their work so that everything stood out well.
You could also have your child use markers to draw directly on the sticker paper.
You can cut your shapes out first and have the child draw within the confined space, or you can cut the shapes from an existing piece of artwork.
So many ways to make one sweet and simple gift for the musician in your life! Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day! We kept things pretty low-key around here, but I enjoyed being able to slack off on a few things and let the hubby pick up the slack! I received the most adorable photo card from Cory and the girls. It was very sweet and I’m wishing more and more that I had a card box (or old shoe box) to keep all of treasures.
As for my mom, I decided to print off a photo I took of her birds a couple weeks ago that I really liked. The colors on the print came out so vibrant and it really looks so much better framed then on the screen. I think she really loved it…but then she always loves anything I make for her. Even the unfinished latch-hook snowman I made for her a few Christmases ago.
I never remember to buy things like giftwrap at the store and anyways it’s seems like such an unnecessary purchase when I’ve got an entire craft room full of stuff. So, to wrap the framed print, I ended up trying an idea I recently saw in a Kath Kidston book. The woman can apparently do anything with fabric, and to make pretty wrapping paper she said to scan it and print it out. So I did.
I really couldn’t believe how pretty it turned out given just how easy it was to generate. I used two peices of standard-sized paper to wrap the frame then finished it off with a bit of ribbon. You can see the pillowcase I used under the gift…a perfect match! I totally love the fact that I can tap into my fabric stash without actually having to cut into anything or part with my favorites. So, the next time you have a smallish gift and no suitable wrapping paper, just break out your scanner! Try it. You’ll love it. Promise.
I am celebrating tonight, not only because I’ve completed my first knitting project, but because I actually finished a gift project!
I have more unfinished projects that were intended as gifts than I care to admit. It’s truly embarrassing. Thankfully, this little hat had alot going for it: It was quick and easy! The pattern is from the Stitch N Bitch book which has to be the world’s best “how to knit” book ever written. After videos and classes, I was still clueless until I read that book. I just checked the book out on Saturday and learned how to knit in the round using round needles and multiple needles, how to bind off, how to increase and decrease, and how to read patterns.
The hat was quickly whisked away to its new home and will rest atop newborn Baby, Eli’s sweet little head. The parting was bittersweet, but I know little Eli needs it more than I do.
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My next project will likely be for an upcoming baby shower. Think I can whip up a whole blanket in about two weeks?
Last week, The Toby Show posted about a domino game she recently purchased for her son and mentioned how easy it would be for someone to recreate it. I’ve been wanting to put something together with textures ever since I saw this, and I happened to already have some pre-cut wooden boards cluttering up my crafting area. So, I set forth to see what other textures I could gather.
It probably took me less than an hour to find the supplies and glue the pieces onto the wood.
For the textures, I used:
red craft foam
green felt
corrugated cardboard
corkboard
rubbery shelf-liner
chenille stems
I just cut the pieces into 2 inch squares and hot-glued them onto the wood….soooo simple!
I only had six boards, but it ended up being just right for my toddler. Enough to be fun without being overwhelming. She can play by herself or with a friend (aka Mommy) and she can finish the game quickly with a feeling of accomplishment. As she gets better and is no longer challenged, I’ll pick up some more wood and add more textures to the mix.
Sandpaper would be nice. Maybe something spongey. Really, there are so many possibilities. Any other ideas?
I mentioned before that I participated in a gift swap this Christmas, but I didn’t really go into much detail because I decided it deserved a post of its own.
The swap was hosted by Meg at Sew Liberated, and as soon as I read the details, I knew I wanted to participate. In a nutshell, you get paired with one other person to share the details of some tradition that you maintain around the holidays. Each person is to send her partner a handmade gift, a recipe, and the details surrounding their tradition. The really fun part is getting to "meet" someone that you most likely wouldn’t meet otherwise.
My partner was Debbie, and I must say she really out did herself.
She included examples of her traditional tin can baskets, which are perfect for putting little treats in for teachers and such.
She thoughtfully provided two sweet little felt Santa bags with beaded costume necklaces for the girls and sent along some delicious lotion for myself!
For her recipe (which sounds so yummy and actually looks like something I could pull off), she has this great idea to put a magnet on the back to keep handy in the kitchen. Awesome!
And finally, my favorite, is her handmade gift: a decorative plate with this adorable snowman image on it. She even thought to send a plate stand!
I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude at receiving such a bountiful and thoughtfully conceived package.
I know that potato stamping is traditionally a child’s craft, but I’ve also seen some pretty impressive potato stamps out there. With that in mind, I thought that creating a potato stamp for some homemade Christmas cards could be a cheap resourceful and creatively satisfying project.
In case you can’t see it, this is supposed to a star shining over Baby Jesus. After carving it, I envisioned a stack of carefully stamped and thoughtfully composed Christmas cards that would be sent out to our family and closest friends. Upon stamping, however, it became obvious that I had no idea what I was doing. It came out looking terribly gloppy and, well let’s just say Baby Jesus wasn’t exactly looking his best.
What did I do wrong? First, I think I didn’t dry the potato enough before stamping. Second, I didn’t take any precautions to keep the paint on the just the image. I recently saw this video of Martha Stewart making skull potato stamps. In the video, she used a paint applicator which I think would have really helped to keep the print a little cleaner looking. I think my final mistake was not having really clean lines between Jesus and his cradle, so it really just looked like a big blob.
Take 2
My second attempt went much more smoothly. I used a real ink pad instead of paint and carved deep into the potato…probably a good 1/4 inch. I think that made all the difference in the world.
You can see how much cleaner the lines are on my second attempt:
especially when you look at the image.
Potato stamping, and stamping in general, has so many possibilities. I could definitely see myself getting into this more if I had the time to experiment with it in more depth.
If you ever find yourself with a potato in hand and a few moments to spare, go ahead and take a knife to it. It’s more fun than you might think. And, if you’ve read this post (as opposed to just looking at the pictures and moving on) then you should be all set to do it right the first time!
For the past month or so I’ve perused the pages of Etsy, looking for a sturdy Nativity set that could stand up to two toddlers. I wanted something that they could play with, something that would be with us for many years, and something that would be nice to look at…oh…and it had to be affordable (that’s always the kicker, isn’t it?)
I am so thankful that I peaked over there again last Wednesday because I found the perfect set on reserve for another customer. It was made of wood (pine), simple in design, and very reasonably priced. Upon looking a little more into it, I found out that the seller would create custom orders upon request. Score!
Did I mention that was last Wednesday? Right before the Thanksgiving weekend? So guess what I found in the mailbox today?
Isn’t it just lovely? The set was made, mailed, and received all within a week’s time. I can’t even tell you how impressed I am with this seller. Not only are the pieces beautiful, but she was so pleasant to work with. And fast!
Well, I could go on and on, but I wanted to get a few pictures up and pass on the seller’s info in case anyone else was in the market for something like this.
The Etsy shop is called Sawdusted. If you don’t see the nativity set listed, go ahead and convo her and see if she’d be willing to do a custom order (that’s what I did!).
Here’s another craft that I picked up from the Advent Fair. I just love this sweet little angel and it is soooo quick and easy to make. Little hands will have a hard time with this one so either be prepared to offer a lot of help, or stick with an older crowd (maybe 8 or 9 and up?).
You’ll need:
* 1 white chenille stem (aka pipe cleaner)
* 1 silver chenille stem
* one wooden bead
First feed the stem through the bead and leave about an inch on the end:
Wrap the end around your finger and secure:
Hello little angel, what a lovely halo you have!
Now bring the other end up just under head and twist it to secure around the neck
Form the body into a triangle shape::
At this point you can put the body down and form the wings with the silver stem. Start by making a bow-tie:
Twist the ends to secure them into place, but be sure to leave some untwisted as this is how you will secure it to the body:
Wrap your ends around the angel’s neck to attach the wings to the angel:
Ahhhh, one sweet little angel ready to add some sparkle to your gift-wrapping
I know that Thanksgiving is supposed to be about giving thanks and all…
but…
but…
turkeys are fun!
Especially when they talk!
We have been having so much fun with our latest project. I saw this turkey noisemaker on the Craftsanity blog and knew right away that we had to make it.
The instructions call for a soldering iron to puncture holes in the plastic cup, but I don’t recall seeing one of those around here so I used a lighter to heat up a nail and worked just fine!
This was one of those projects that both of my girls could get into, which makes it an instant success in my book. They both helped me tear the brown paper and glue it onto the cup.
Then we sponged some paint onto our feathers…just for fun!
I added the face once the paper had dried and then demonstrated to the girls what this little bird was capable of! The screeching ranges from gawd-aweful to chicken-like and tends to send house pets into a frenzy trying to figure out what’s going on.
For your viewing pleasure:
Everybody took turns making the turkey talk, but it takes a little practice to really get him going.
It’s a simple description of the Thanksgiving holiday that includes everything from the Pilgrims to hand-traced turkeys to cooking up a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Both of my girls have enjoyed reading it and Annabelle actually asked to read it twice last night. We have a couple of Tomie dePaola’s books and they always seem to go over well with our kiddos. So, if you’ve got some little ones and you’re looking for an “Intro to Thanksgiving” type of book, be sure to check this one out!
