Christmas Advent

I've been on the lookout for a good advent. I wanted one that focused on Jesus Christ. I sort of combined 2 ideas. As we've all seen, the felt envelopes numbered for the advent. I hung mine on a ribbon with clothespins because frankly, I ran out of time to sew cute buttons on the back. :)

Then, I found this advent puzzle idea. I am LDS, and it was used in The Friend a few years back. Here it is all ready for you to print! I inserted 1 little scrpiture/activity, and 1 puzzle piece inside each felt envelope.

LINK TO ADVENT:
http://lds.about.com/library/bl/puzzles/christmas_advent_calendar.pdf

The kids love it!!!!

Custom Baby Plaque

Fun gift idea for a new baby. Based on the LDS song "I am a Child of God", personalized for the new little one...

New Baby

I love to give baby gifts. Here is a card I made to go along with a baby gift. Just thought it was a fun quote, and a fun little clothes line...sorry, the little clothes and diaper and moon were in my stash from who knows when, but I'm sure there are plenty of similar items out there to be found.

Pressed Flowers

My garden flowers are getting sparse as summer comes to an end. Last year I pressed some daisy's, and put them in this arrangement. I picked up the old window at a garage sale, painted it and antiqued it the way I wanted...then added two pieces of glass for each panel. I was able to sandwich the flowers in, adding a piece of vellum behind. I also printed my quote on vellum and sandwiched it between the pieces of glass. I know this isn't some new idea...we've all seen these a thousand times, but I always like to see the different ways people create them...

Birthday Chart

I gave this to my mom (the grandma) last year. It's a fun way to keep track of all the extended family members birthdays. Her home has a lot of wood, so I wanted it to blend with her decor. You could make this really fun and colorful instead.

What you need:
1. Everyone's birthdays.
2. 1 piece of large wood to hang from and put the months on.
3. Many small pieces of wood to put the names on. Mine are 2" wide.
4. Hooks: Find at Home Depot. 5/8" "Hooks & Eyes". Good luck finding anything besides brass. Place a hook on top, and a hook on bottom, that way you can add family members anywhere in the line whenever new members marry in, or are born!
5. Lettering: Of course, I used vinyl again, but you could just handwrite the names.

TIP: While you're making this, make lots of EXTRA small woods. Then, when you need to add someone new, you will have it all ready to go!

TIP 2: You could color coordinate for families. I just did blue for boys, green for girls, but you COULD give each family a different color. In that I have 7 siblings, I opted NOT for this option. :)

Birthday Cake

Inspired by a beautiful cake found at analteredstate.blogspot.com

Hers is a true piece of artwork, mine was cheap, and fun.

IKEA has these fun nesting boxes down in the wrapping paper section. You get 12 circle boxes (all fun colorsand sizes) for $1.50. The minute I saw this cake, I knew why I'd bought those cute little boxes for no reason earlier!

Decorate with any ric-rac, ribbons, felt, or paper you've got on hand. I made the little happy birthday tag...using iron on transfer paper and felt.

So fun to put little presents in the day of the big bash. And, since tomorrow is my birthday and all...(go ahead, wish me happy birthday). :0

Mailman Fun

We've been having fun playing mailman.

1. Envelopes: cut out of felt, sewn with a simple blanket stitch.
2. Stamps: cut with pinking shears out of felt.
(They stick together well enough for play time fun without velcro)
3. Letters: First I cut out pieces of cardboard. I then covered the cardboard with white vinyl. You could easily use contact paper. The kids can draw pictures with erasable markers, and it wipes clean.
4. Mailbox: made from an old cardboard box, covered with paper, cut a hole in the middle. I would love a mini metal mailbox in the future, but until then...

Of course, the vinyl machine came in handy for labeling, and lettering, etc. but I'm sure your handwriting is cuter than mine! :)

Pincushions

So so easy. AND fun! It is a mini pincushion made from:

1. A bottlecap
2. Felt
3. Embroidery Floss
4. A little bit of batting, or cotton balls!

Here is the tutorial I used. Hers are beautiful. Mine, is just simple. But, it was my first. I have many more envisioned now that I attempted it and it truly was easy. First, I've got to collect bottlecaps! These end up being the perfect size to fit inside my little tupperware embroidery floss holders! No more pins rolling around in there.

LINK to tutorial: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/945/how-to-make-pretty-pincushions

Hanging Dots

If you don't have access to a vinyl machine, you could just buy the dots at Staples (like you use for garage sales to write the price on). I was doing blue and brown for a wedding, and it was fun, but a rainbow of colors would look cute too. I guess you could even use paper...

What you need:
1. Sewing thread
2. Dots
3. Fishing weights

Cut your sewing thread as long as you want your strings of dots to be. Place two dots so they stick together, catching the sewing thread in between them. Space them out as much or as little as you like. Add a metal fishing weight to the bottom of the string, or in between your last 2 dots. Hang with tape or tie to a nail...

Suggestion: Don't hang them too close together or they will tangle.

Have fun watching the dots twist and dazzle in the light breeze!

Summer Fun!!

My kids are always begging for a new water toy. This is so fast and easy. All you need are the cheap O-Cello, cellulose sponges and some zip-ties.
1. Cut the sponges into equal 4th's, long ways.
2. Combine 6-8 cut strips, in any order you like.
3. Put a zip-tie in the center and pull as tight as you can.
4. Cut of the excess zip tie.
5. Soak in water, and be prepared for a water fight!!!


Thanks Marie for the great idea! www.makeandtakes.com

Button Flowers

Spring fever here! I've seen these around a lot, but finally decided to try it. SO fun!
FLOWERS:
1. Craft wire
2. Buttons of all shapes and sizes

String the buttons on the wire, twist the wire at the base of the buttons, and make a whole bunch for your own bouquet! I couldn't find the right sort of vase, so I made one.

VASE:
1. Chunk of wood
2. Drill a hole in the center (1/4 - 1/2")
3. Paint and sand for the antique look.
4. Ribbon as an accent.


I'm thinking these would be a GREAT craft at a primary activity to possibly give the Mother's on Mother's Day!! We'll see...

Old Jeans

I have way too many pair of jeans with holes in the knees.


I made these little bags for my boys. They are always collecting rocks and other small knick-knacks outside - and filling their pockets. They picked the ribbon and color of felt for their initials. They've had fun carrying them around, putting toys in them. Once the snow melts they can use them outside for their collecting!


Here is my crayon holder. I used the pant leg of a pair of jeans for my crayon holder area. I also used an old placemat for my bright material. The edges were already finished so nice, I just picked the seam on the side and pushed my jean material in before sewing it all back together. I then used the inseam from the other side of the pant leg as my "tie" to keep the crayon holder all rolled up and closed.

I of course have a levi quilt planned, but anyone else have any clever ideas on how to use all the jeans I have stashed away?!

Ribbon Pouch

I really don't know what to call this! I'm using mine as a coin holder. It also holds my i pod perfectly. Could fit a cell phone too! I saw these in a small version to hold a "mint" as a wedding favor, and I thought that was really cute too - might do that for one of my sisters weddings this summer. Anyway, they are so cute and fun and fast!

WHAT YOU NEED:

1. Wired Ribbon
2. Hot Glue Gun
3. Velcro (optional)
4. Embellishment, button, flower, etc. (optional)

Measure out how big you want your little baggie to be. Cut Ribbon. Fold down the raw edges 1/4" to create a nice finished egde. Put a small amount of glue in the fold to keep it in place. Hot Glue the edges of the wired ribbon and pinch sides together (don't use too much glue or it will ooze out and look ugly). I added a small piece of velcro to keep the top closed on my coins...and added a small "e" coin embellishment for fun. I think I will be addicted to making these for everyone I know!

Egg Decorating

You probably saw these on Martha Stewart as I did...she made hers out of REAL eggs. I'm not gonna go to that extent, I decorated the plastic one's. I let the kids choose the colors and draw the eyes. And, as we were making them, my younger child started playing with the eggs and they were eating my scraps of felt. So, we decided to make some carrots out of my left overs! For preschool we then played, "Carrot, carrot, who's got the carrot?!" We'd send 1 child out of the room, while the rest of us picked which bunny would hold the carrots. The 1 child was then invited back into the room while we chanted our little song. They would then go about opening 1 bunny egg at a time to find the carrots. It was a HIT!

There are templates on Martha Stewart.com, but I didn't use them. They are pretty self explanatory...and I hot glued the pieces on - it was MUCH easier that way.

BIG Letters

I was at JoAnne's the other day (never go there anymore it seems!) They had the huge letters for $1.50! The difference was they weren't made out of wood, but a thick cardboard type paper. I just quickly picked out 4 patterned papers and came home, modge podged them on, and tied a few ribbons. I thought it was a very fun and fast project. Now I want to go back and get all sorts of letters to spell things the whole year long! I think normal price they are $2.99, so not too bad. They are 12" tall...

Homemade Puffy Paint

Combine:
1 T. Salt
1 T. Flour
Food Coloring

Add a little water but keep the mixture thick. Let the kids paint on cardstock with the mixture. When their masterpiece is complete, place in the microwave for 10-30 seconds until it bubbles up and dries. Thanks Becky!

Magnets

**There will be no more winter posts on this blog** I know it's only february, but I'm tired of the snow. In my office, I have a magnet board with very plain round black magnets. So, today for fun I covered them with felt flowers. Nothing fancy, but it does make me feel like spring is on it's way!!!

Bookmarks

I read almost every night before bed. Lots of times I fall asleeep while reading, and wake to find some piece of garbage (that my husband has so lovingly placed for me) in the book to mark my page. I normally fold the corners, but he wouldn't dare do that to a book. So, I've made a stash of bookmarks to keep in my nightstand...and some for the kids...and some for my hubby...anyone else want some?

I cheated and used the vinyl machine to cut out my shapes and letters, but if you choose a simple design it wouldn't be hard to cut out with an exacto blade. I then put paper behind some, material behind others. Up to you!

Scrap Books

This post is for my sister in law Stephanie. Last week she called me with a vinyl order. I was in the car, and wrote down her order, and email on the back of a receipt...it's all I could find! Did I complete the order? No. Did I forget? Yes. Why? Because I never have anything to write on! That was the inspiration for these. Little mini books made from scrap pieces of paper. I even had Beck draw me a cover for one of them. The covers I then laminated (if you don't have a laminator, use contact paper), added some plain paper for my filler, stapled in the middle, and wala! I made enough for each glove box, my purse, the diaper bag, and a few extras to stash next to the phones in the house...

Cards for any occasion...

I love to make cards. I don't make them very often anymore, but these should be a good starter to get me back in the mode of making a few generic one's.

Print the template for the stems here:
http://www.jessicajonesdesign.com/downloads/button_card.pdf

Add a few of your favorite vintage buttons. I'll have to raid my mom's stash I'm sure. :)