Block Letters

I am so proud of myself!!!! I have been wanting to make a family plaque, sign, or letter blocks for years and I finally did it. (thanks to my sister-in-law) But I did them finally, they are awesome and they are easy!

All you need is...

Wood blocks

Paint

Scrapbooking Paper

Mod Podge

Brush

1. You need to get some wood blocks, by either buying them pre-cut or going to Home Depot and buying some lumber and having them cut it for you. I didn't measure them, I just had them cut my eyeballing it. I wanted my letters to look varied and unorganized.

2. Once they are cut you will need to sand them to get them smooth so the mod podge/paint/ and scrapbooking paper will lay flat. Plus I like the look for the soften edges.

3.Paint your block the color you want.

4. While you are letting your paint dry start cutting out the paper for the blocks background. You can either cut them nice and sharp to give a clean cut look. Or round the edges with a punch to give a cutie look (which is what I did). Or rip the edges/sand them to give a vintage rough look. DO NOT GLUE YET.

5. Cut out your letters, I used a Cricut to cut my letters out, but you c

ould use stencils or your printers and cut them out my hand.

6. Now you should have painted blocks, scrapbooking paper background cut out, and letters. Take your Mod Podge and brush Mod Podge on the back of the papers and stick it to the blocks, let them dry. If your paper starts to pucker and bunch just keep pushing the air bubbles out. Don't worry, it will dry nicer than it looks

7. Now that your blocks and paper are dry you can mod podge the letters. You will want to add Mod Podge to the back of the letters to glue them down AND brush Mod Podge all over the front of the block. Again, things might start to pucker, but just flatten it all down again and it will dry nicer.

Once all is dry (which it drys fast) you will have some awesomely beautiful name block. But be warned... Mod Podge is highly addictive and now all I can do is look through my apartment and see what else I can Mod Podge.

Valentine Crafts

Every holiday I want to get into the spirit of things and I always start off by searching websites and blogs for fun crafts and decorations that I can have fun making. And... well.. um, that is about as far as it goes.

So, this weekend I am going to plan on playing catch up with my craft wish list. But here are some fun ideas for all of you guys out there.

Here is a cute pillow banner that is just as sweet as can be. I think I am going to make mine with ribbon instead of yarn to give it a nice pop and make it more durable.

Here is a festive wreath that probably the easiest that I have ever seen. It is as simple as poking a hole and gluing. Truly simple. I think I am going to make mine in a circle wreath and use a couple varieties of fabric squares.

LOOOOOVE IT! This Valentines canvas is simple and sleek looking; I love this look and I want to make several of these like a nice little collage.

These cute blocks are sweet and can be changed and used in many ways. You can spell out anything you want. I think I might do a heart and "XOXO".

This wreath is made out of tissue paper, not fabric, which give a beautiful soft elegant look. You could even do this with a picture framed and put you and your husband's wedding photo in it.

Yes, yes... another Valentine wreath, but what can I say I think they are so cute on the door tied up with a big fat ribbon. This one is made with fabric roses and put on. I think these would be cute mini wreath to tie on door knobs.

Fabric Tray Decoration

Well, we resently moved into our new place and are loving it, especially since it has given me a chance to put my crafting and decorating to good use. All my projects are starting to pay off :) But the only problem now is that I can't stop... I'm finding empty spot all through out my house and until I get them filled, it is going to drive me crazy.

My main focus right now is the bathroom, Im trying to find those last little nick-nacks to fill in the cracks and thankfully to Lemon Tree Creation, I think I finally found what I was looking for.

They have a simple tutorial to make a beautiful Fabric Tray perfect for end tables or bathrooms. All you need is...

A tray (you can get all sorts from Michael's)
Cardboard
Fabric
Hot Glue

1. Clean up your tray the way you want it... paint it, saint it, use Old English to fill in stains... whatever you want.
2. Now cut your card board to the same measurements as the bottom of your tray.
3. Cut enough fabric to wrap around the card board. Use your hot glue gun to secure it in place. Now glue the card board/fabric on the the bottom. Finished :)

If you want a better step by step, with pictures, hop over to Lemon Tree Creations and read their Fabric Tray Tutorial.

Time Out Mat

Ahhh the lovely sounds of tantrums and whiny... what parent doesn't love to hear their child scream "Nooooo". But, surprisingly, there are a few of us parents who don't enjoy the blubbering sobs and fits that some parents do... and for us there is a magical, wonderful place called Time Out.
Time out can be a hard thing to get your child to agree to though.... shocker, I know.... who would have though that getting your child to sit quietly in one spot for a few minuets would be hard? :) But if you are starting with time outs or have a child that fights the time outs or you just love time out and want a better way to have them; I would suggest making your self a time out mat.

I got the idea from Lucy's development specialist a while ago (Lucy was behind when she was a year and our state provided a personal therapist to come over and make sure she was on track and that it wasn't something more serious) But she suggested that when we use time outs, that there be a designated area... that kids will be able to relate to time out betters and will then know their boundaries and the seriousness of the time out.

Well, I thought it was a little odd (and hippie-ish), but sure enough, it worked... like a charm. I made a Time Out Mat and soon as we started using it Lucy would not get off the mat and knew she had to stay there and would stay quiet.

All you need for a Time Out Mat is...

2 squares of fabric (large enough for a child to sit on)
4 buttons
Thin batting

You are going to want cut out 2 squares of fabric, mine were about 21 1/2 by 18 inches. Turn the 2 squares of fabric to face each other (pattern side together) and sew 3 of the sides together (you will want to leave 1 side open so you can slide the batting in). Then remeasure the size of your square because you will have lost a little length with sewing the edges... measure how big the squares are now and cut your batting to almost the same measurements. Turn the fabric squares right-side out and slide in your batting through the opening. Now close up that last side, either by hand or by machine.

You now should have one square mat with batting inside. Now you will need to secure the batting in place with the fabric. Take the whole mat and sew a line, about an inch or 2 inches from all 4 edges. This will keep everything nice and in place.


Now for the final step... sew your buttons on. The buttons are just decorative, so sew them on if you wish or find something else that is more to your liking. And now you should have one portable Time Out Mat.

These are really great. Since they are soft and small you can easily throw them in your diaper bag and take them with you places. We take ours to friends' houses and on trips, this has truely been a life saver.

How To Make A Memory Board

Who knew that ribbon and batting could be sooo dang cute. I have been in love with these boards for years, but never could get myself to get one.

Not only are these uber cute... but they were surprisingly easy and fast.... I'm serious. I was asked to teach a group of girls, ages 12-14, a decorating craft that they could use in their bedroom and I taught them this. Theirs was as good as mine.

All you need is...

A board to hold everything (either plywood, cork board, art canvas, any piece of wood really)
Quilt Batting
Fabric
Ribbon
Stapler (normal or staple gun)
Decorations for embellishment: buttons, flowers, jems

First find a board and size that you like. I used a plywood board that I got cut from Lowe's, they had a 4x2 piece for $9 and they cut it in half for free, so I had two nice 2x2 boards. Once you have the size of board that you want, you will want to go to a fabric store and pick out how much fabric and batting you will be needing.

Now you can take your board and lay it down on fabric and batting. Make sure that you lay the fabric face down (pattern on the floor), then batting and then the board. You can use as much batting as you want. I used a medium thickness and double layered it.... I like the look of the fluffier boards. You will want to trim the batting at this point... the batting should almost be the same size as the board, but the fabric needs to be a few inches larger on all sides.

Now that you have everything laid out, pull and tug the fabric to make sure that it is nice and smooth. When you feel that you have everything in place you can begin to staple one of the sides. You can either use a staple gun (that has not too deep staples) or you can use a normal home stapler..... I tried both and actually preferred the home stapler.

Remember to only staple ONE SIDE, and try to keep it even and smooth. Place your staples 2-3 inches apart and not too close to the edge.... you will want to give yourself a little bit of space from the edge so you can correct any mistakes. Once you have a side completed start stapling the opposite side. Now make sure that you don't pull too hard and pull the fabric which might tweak it. Repeat these steps with the top and bottom sides as well. Now you should have a completely secure board.

Now you can start to place your ribbon. Flip the board over and make a large 'X' from corner to corner with two ribbons and staple them firmly in place on the back of the board. These will be the guidelines for the rest of the ribbons. Go ahead and lay as many ribbons as you like down.

When all your ribbon is layed down and placed where you like it start to staple them in place on the front of the board.... where the ribbons crossover and connect. When all the ribbon is stapled down, you can flip the board over and start to staple down loose ends.

Now your board should look almost complete. All that is needed now is to glue some embellishments to hide the staples that are securing the ribbon down. I used buttons to hide the staples, you could also use flowers, jems, or bows. Once dried and finish you should have one beautiful and custom made memory board.

This has been one of my favorite crafts that I have done... I want to do more, but honestly... how many memory boards does a family need? :)

Color Me Mine Pottery

Years ago Curtis and I found this fun little art studio chain called Color Me Mine. It is a pleasant little place where you can go and pick out ceramic pieces to paint and Color Me Mine will fire them for you and get them ready.

Curtis and I have enjoyed this place several times. The first time we went Curtis was taking me to be nice... he knows that I enjoy that kind of "artsy fartsie stuff" and he was just trying to be a good boyfriend by taking me. And it did score him brownie points he was looking for.

But as the years have past and the more we have gone, the more Curtis has gotten into it. We go about once a year and we always make some kind of mug. Our goal is to never have to buy another mug again; we will only want to have these hand painted family mugs. Curtis's goal is to have our children fight over who gets what mug when we kick the bucket. A warm sentiment, right?

Color Me Mine makes pottery fun and simple. They provide anything and everything you can think of and are more than happy to help you along the way. You pay $8 as the studio fee, this will cover the cost of all paint that you want, brushes, sponges, puff paint, and firing fee. Then you can pick and pay for what piece you would like to paint. The pieces can cost anything from $5 to $100... they have animals, mugs, plates, pitchers, cookie jars, platters, giant gargoyles, and much much more. Curtis and I usually go for a simple $8 mug.

The employees there love to help you out and much as they can and seem to like a challenge. This last time we went, Curtis decided that he was going to pre-plan what he wanted to put on his mug before we got there. We are really into a card game called Killer Bunnies, so Curtis figured that he would make a Killer Bunny mug and brought in some pictures to copy. When we got there they were so helpful and help Curtis copy his photo, enlarge it, and turn it into a transfer where he could simply trace the image onto the mug. It turned out great and Curtis was thrilled with it.

We have been thrilled with that place every time we have gone. The only down side we have faced is that we never seem to plan enough time there. As we get more and more into it, we have spent more and more time trying to get our mugs perfect.

Color Me Mine is just a great place for people of all ages. I have seen little 3 & 4 year olds there painting animal figurines with mommy and adult parties taking painting lessons. They offer classes, birthday parties, and even have school programs. So go and check out if there is a Color Me Mine in your neighborhood, it is a fun family activity/date night/girls hang out.

Homemade Birthday Cards

I really liked scrapbooking, but it takes up so much space and time that I just never seem to finish a project or have the energy to drag everything out to even work on it. I have a wedding, baby, and vacation albums I have been needing to finish for about 3 years now. So, instead of actually finshing them, I have changed my attention from scrapbooking to card making... and what can I say.... I loooove it.

It is easier to finish a project and cheaper to keep up with. Plus, with all my cards laying around I try to challenge myself to use them more and show people gratitude and love with them. So, I try to stock up on 'birthdays' and 'thank yous'. Cause, who doesn't love receiving a card in the mail.

I made this cute birthday card fairly easy and thought it turned out pretty good. Simple embellishments can make beautiful additions, my favorite are buttons. I practically put buttons on all my cards... cheap and cute.

For this card I used buttons, eyelets (the little metal circles in the top corner), a "Happy Birthday" stamp, stitching with embroidery thread, and corner tabs (the orange triangle things).

Buttons are pretty self explanatory... glue, stick, and voila!.

The eyelets are small metal circles that you can punch through paper with an eyelet setter and hammer. You can purchase eyelet setters from Michael's or Joann's and you will have two choices; either a Crop-A-Dile which is nice, cause everything you need is right there in that one tool, but it is a little bigger and can only reach so far pass the edge of the paper. Or... you can purchase a tool that punches a hole out and a tool that sets the eyelet. The Crop-A-Dile usually runs around $30 and the eyelet tools run about $10 (hole punch) and $5 (the setter). These are great because with these tools you can place the eyelet anywhere you want to.

To set the eyelets in place you will need to first: Punch a hole where you want the eyelet and put the eyelet into the hole and use the eyelet tool with a hammer to smash it into place. You will want to have something to protect the surface you are hammering. I used a normal hammer to set and a thick magazine for protection, but you can purchase a eyelet hammer which is nice and small and a setting mat that are each $5.

The corner tabs on the card are simply made by cutting a square in half diagonally, which will leave you will 2 triangles. You can either use a square punch to get your square or cut it out by hand. Now you will cut out a small triangle from of the middle of the big triangles, leaving the tabs that are perfect for embellishing open spaces and edges.

Those are just a few of my tricks and tools that I used for this card. Feel free to ask any questions about other things that you see. I will be posting more cards and more tools in the future.

Crafting Blogs

I love to craft and the last few months I have been in a funk and just haven't found something that has gotten me excited enough to get off my crafting-butt and do something. The only thing I have been longing for is all the unfinished furniture that I have scooped up this summer from garage sales. I have about 7 pieces downstairs that need to get finished and now that it is winter, I don't dare paint in the garage with the door open, brrrrr.... so I guess I will be seeing them this summer :)

But I need some help. I have been on the look for some great crafting ideas or blogs and I have been completely missing. Finding blogs in not my gift. :) The only blog that I have found and completely loved is Homemade By Jill .

Does anything have any great craft sites or blogs that they are willing to share? :)

Magazine Holder Craft

My friend Anna Dawn is one of the most amazing crafters I have ever met. She is just one of those people who can look at something and just know how to do it. Or will see something that is being wasted and think, "how can I use that"? Seriously, she has a gift.

Well, I am tired of scratching my head and thinking how the crap does she do it?! I sat down today and challenged myself to try and find a use for an empty box we have had sitting upstairs in our family room for 2 weeks now, besides its obvious use of collecting cobwebs. And what I came up with was a simple magazine organizer. All you need is...

scrapbooking paper

cardboard

hot glue gun

paint

sandpaper

First you need to cut out the shapes. The easiest way is to trace a magazine holder that you already own onto the cardboard, but if you don't happen to have one to trace (which would explain why you are making one) then you will need to cut out 5 pieces. The front piece will be 7.5in x 4in. The two side pieces will be 9.5in x 12in. The back spine piece will be 7.5in x 12in. And the bottom piece will be 9.5in x 7.5in.

Now that you have all 5 pieces cut out, take the two side pieces and get ready to trim them. Place the side pieces down and on the left 12in side mark about 4in up from the bottom and on the 9.5in top about 2.5in from the end of the right side. You will now connect those two marks with a diagonal line. You can now cut them out to have them look almost like a right triangle. This is a great time to use your 5 cardboard pieces to help you trace and cut out your scrapbook pieces.

With all your pieces cut out you can now start sanding all the cardboard edges to help give them a softer and rounded look. When they are to your satisfaction you can now start hot gluing the pieces together with your glue gun. Try really hard to not use too much. Using an old pencil to help clean up extra glue spilling from the sides really helps. When it is glued together you can paint the inside and the open edges.

Your structure should be built now and it is time to attach the scapbooking paper. Make sure that your paper and cardboard match up really well and you have glued the edges down smoothly. Again, try not to use too much glue, but smooth it out if you can. When all is glued and attached feel free to run sandpaper on some of the edges again if you are needing to sand off some hardened glue or scrapbooking corners.

You can use any cardboard box to make these. The first one I did, I used a hardy cardboard box, but my second one I used a Costco cereal box and even that lighter cardboard did great. The tutorial used for this magazine holder is a fairly large one. You can easily shrink it down to a slimmer or smaller size. I made a CD holder for my husband's desk with an old cereal box and it turned out great.

These were really easy to make and I pump out two this afternoon pretty fast. Not only is it a easy craft, but it is a great way to spruce up an office and to also recycle some materials. Cereal boxes are great for some slimmer ones.

How To Make Invitations

There is so much that is involved with throwing a party, whether it is a bridal shower, baby shower, fancy dinner party, or just having family over for a birthday. It is just hard to keep everything straight, but first things first... you need to invite them.

Making a good invitation card is more than making a cute card that is appealing and sweet. You need to make sure that you are able to get across all the information needed for the evening in that card. So here are some tips you can use when sending out invitations to your guests.

• Make sure the card you maket conveys the purpose of your gathering, that the cards shows the theme of the evening. For example - if it is for a baby shower make sure the card is the same theme/colors as the baby's nursery.
• Have all your information for the evening on a separate piece of paper in the card that isn't attached. People can be forgetful and by placing the information on a separate piece of paper people can easily tag that on the fridge to reminder them selves.
• Give the proper information for the evening like the date it will be, where it will be held, who/what the party is for, the time to arrive, who to RSVP to, and extra information like registries and such.
• Ask guests to RSVP by a certain date. Let them know the deadline, a contact number, and who they need to contact. For example... "Please RSVP by Monday May 2nd to Mary Sue at 1-908-555-1254". This will help you know in advance on how much food and party favors that will be needed. Plus by giving a deadline it will help keep stragglers from taking too long to get back to you.
• Make a few extras. It is nice to have extras just in case there is someone you forgot to invite. Plus it is fun to have an extra invitation for family scrapbooks and such.

If any of you have made some invitations you should post them and send a link. It would be great to see every ones ideas and crafts.

Toy Bag Tutorial

Oh it feels so good to be back blogging again, it's bloggerific! So I am going to ease back into the blogging world with a nice easy craft, plus hopefully posting something that is simple will tempt you non-crafters out there to finally jump in on this.
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I made these cute bags to help with Lucy's toys from over flowing and taking over the house. I swear, I think they were plotting against me and on the move! I finally sat down and start pouring a few out to help keep blocks, books, puzzles, and animals in their place. I even made a few to help keep her laundry separated. They are really easy and need a minimal amount of sewing, cutting, and time. All you need is...

1 foot of fabric

1 yard of string or ribbon

Take your foot of fabric, fold it in half and trim it so it will be 11 inches wide and 18 inches tall. Measure 3 inches from the top and mark it on the right side of the fabric, THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE FOLDED SIDE! Cut at that 3 inch mark a little less than 1/2 an inch into the fabric.

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Unfold the fabric so it is now 22 inches wide and the back of the pattern is facing up towards you. You should have two little cuts on both sides of the fabric. Now go ahead and fold the 3 inch slits inward and pin them, do this on both sides. Sew these flaps down, when you are done it should look like the top three inches are thinner.

You can now fold the top down about 2 inches down. You can now place the string in the flap and sew it shut. You will want to make sure that the line you sew will line up with the edge of the 22 inch wide part of the fabric. Now fold the fabric so it is back to being 11 inches wide and have the back side of the fabric facing out, which means that the patterns should be inside and facing each other. Pin the edges together. Start to sew the fabric together, when you start sewing make sure that the line you are sewing also lines up with the top folded edge, so this should be about a 1/2 inch seam on the side and also do a 1/2 inch seam on the bottom. Once done, go ahead and turn the bag right-side out. Go ahead and tie the strings together which will be the final step for this wonderful bag.

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These are cute bags to make and really cheap, you can pump out 3 bags with 1 yard of fabric. So go ahead and make some, I would even love to see some of the bags you make and what you add to them. Happy sewing!

Crafts To Do

Hello one and all! It feels good to be back after my break. Sorry to put blogging in the back seat, but with family in town, parties to go to, and goodies to cook, I figure blogging might help bring a stressed induced aneurysm this holiday. But now Christmas is over and the New Year is upon on.

To get ready for this new year I have been making a list of goals, ideas, and activities I am wanting to do this year. But I did something different this time around... I decided to also have a craft goal list. So, here is my list of crafts that I am planning on completing.... wait.... um, I'll change that to planning on ATTEMPTING... we will see how successful they are :)

Clothes/Accessories
Quick Tote Bag
Apron
Head Band
Chic Shopping Bag
Necklace Organizer

Children
Growth Chart
Lunch Bags
Pony Tail Holder
Art Apron
Bed Book Organizer
Pillow Case Back Pack
Pillow Case Dress
Apron
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Toys
Octopus
Sea Horse
Fabric Doll House
Felt Strawberries
Felt Donuts
Felt Whip Cream
The Best Puppy
Monkey Doll
Robot
Cashmere Bunny
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Decorations
Hand Tracing Frame
Silhouette Frame
Family Tree Picture Holder
Key Holder
Scary Ghosts
Gratitude Sign

Odds and Ends
Sewing Organizers
Bath Salts
Birthday Banner (I have been wanting to do this one for a long time)
Apple Pin Cushion
Make-Up Bag
Luggage Tag
Hot Water Bottle Cover
Tissue Holder
Mini Photo Album

Christmas Wall Hanging

I maaaay be going a little over board with all these Christmas decorations, but what can I say!?!?! I can't help it! I JUST LOVE THIS SEASON! So, hopefully this fun holiday craft will help feed you Christmas need for mooooore festive fun!

This simple wall hanging is a great decoration and super easy craft. All you need are...

Wood Holiday Shapes

Scrap Booking Paper

Letters

Wooden Pole

Wooden Head Beads Ends (optional)

Ribbon and/or Twine

Tools Needed - Sand paper & hot glue gun

To start this craft take your wooden shapes and start gluing them to your holiday scrap booking paper. Make sure you are gluing the shapes to the BACK of the paper, so the pattern will be face up on the shape. The best glue to use is aerosol/spray glue if you don't have that you can use Elmer's glue... just make sure that you use VERY LITTLE or else the paper will pucker on the wood. Buy a little extra paper so you can try again if you accidentaly use too much.

Once all the shapes are glued down, cut them out as best you can. Now take your sand paper and use it to help smooth out the jagged edges... this will really make them look professional. Now you should have all your pieces cut out and sanded.
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At this point take your wooden letters, the pole, and the wooden ends and paint them the color of your choice. Once they are dried, hot glue your wooden letters onto your festive shapes.

Start cutting out your ribbon so you can attach it to your pole. If you are doing the Christmas ornaments like me you can thread the ribbon right on through those holes, but if you are doing Christmas trees or reindeers you can simply glue the ribbon to the back.

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Now you can start hanging your shapes from the pole... I glued the ribbon to let them hang from the pole, you can glue them directly onto the pole if you like or simply tie a knot and hang them from the pole as well. When all your shapes are nice and hung you can now hot glue the wooden ball ends onto the pole.... this step is optional, these balls just help to give a more professional/completed feel.

With all of the steps completed, you now just need to tie some ribbon or twine to help you hang the whole thing on the wall. I tried ribbon, but thought it looked a little much, so I switched to twine and loved it.

The whole project ran me about $10-$12... depending on how nice of paint and paper you buy. But this only took me a couple hours and turned out fairly nice. What I really love about it, is that I can totally use this for other holiday ideas too. It will be fun to make one for Halloween and Valentines... but maybe I should just worry about one holiday at a time :)