Gettin’ Crafty

Chalkboard Pumpkin

Published October 10, 2012 | By Krista

This easy fall craft doubles as a decoration and message board.

Materials:

sugar pumpkin (or other small pumpkin)

Chalkboard Paint

Ribbon

Chalk Marker (these can be found at craft stores)

Directions:

Tape around the stem so that paint doesn’t bleed onto it. Paint the pumpkin with chalkboard paint. Let dry completely. Remove the tape and tie the ribbon around the stem. Write your message!

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Post-It Stands: a useful DIY gift

Published May 27, 2012 | By Krista

This easy, DIY Post-It note stand is a great gift for teachers, friends, and kids alike. I originally got the idea from a blog called Paper Wings. Here is what you need:

5×7 Acrylic picture frame stand

Patterned scrapbook paper

Various ribbon

Post-It Notes

A embellishment to hang in the middle of the ribbon

Cut the scrapbook paper to fit the 5×7 frame. Slide into the space. Position the Pots-Its where you want them to go. Using a glue gun, or tacky tape, stick the notes on the frame. Wrap various kinds of ribbon around the top and secure. Add the middle embellishment. I glue gunned the middle of the ribbon in place after I had finished tying it all on. Useful and fun!

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Sock Puppet Kits

Published January 30, 2012 | By Krista

I have been absolutely amazed at how much fun my kids have had with sock puppets this past year. They spend hours making various characters, then craft elaborate stories. When they are ready to roll, they find us and give us tickets for the big show. Chairs are lined up for each person to sit on, and the fun begins. For the boys, the story line usually involves lots of socks battling and jumping on one another, but nonetheless, they are engaging in the creative play that I love to see.

Every Christmas I try to come up with a homemade gift that my kids can help me create for families that we love. This seemed like the perfect one. It could also be given for birthday gifts, used at family reunions, or pulled out for a rainy day activity.

Here’s what you need:

Socks, Pipe Cleaners, Buttons, Various Colors of Felt, Feathers, Googly Eyes, Twine, Tulle, and Various Craft Balls.

Using Clear Plastic Bags, begin the assembly line, instructing the kids how many of each item to put into each bag:

I used these cute Christmas boxes to place everything in, wrapped it in cellophane, and tied instructions to the top.

You can download the instructions tag here.

HAVE FUN & LET THE KIDS CREATE!

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Fruit Loop Necklaces & Bracelets

Published December 21, 2011 | By Krista

This is one of my kids’ all time favorite food crafts. Everyone can do it, and likes doing it, from age 5-13 in my house. It’s a 2 ingredient no-brainer: licorice strings and fruit loops. String on and tie the ends off. Great for a fun Christmas time activity.

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Kids Fall Keepsake Craft

Published November 6, 2011 | By Krista

I just did these darling fall trees with my kids and my son’s 3rd grade class. They make a great fall keepsake for years to come!

You will need:

*4 different colors of paint (I used brown, gold, burnt orange, mocha, and black to deepen the brown)

*14×17 sheets of drawing paper (Strathmore’s medium Drawing Paper is what I used)

*5 Foam paint brushes

*5 plastic bowls for the paint

*Water & rags

STEP 1: Paint the forearm of your child in brown and have them make the tree trunk. I did not do this with the class, as it was too messy, but at home it was doable. In class, I just had them paint the tree trunks (narrower at the top, thicker at the bottom)

Step 2: Rinse the brown paint off of the arm, and paint a hand in a color. Direct them to pull straight up off of the paper so it doesn’t smear. Have them do 2-3 handprints per color.

Step 3: While the child still has that color paint on their hands, have him make fingerprint leaves at the bottom of the paper around the trunk, or falling off of the tree.

Step 4: Repeat with the other colors of paint.

Each one turned out unique and different, and that is what makes them special!

Happy fall crafting!

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Dresser Re-Do: All That Glitters….

Published June 11, 2011 | By Krista

More glitter. I know….. it’s a problem. You’d think I would have outgrown it by 8th grade. Not so — I just can’t shake it. I had to re-paint my daughters dresser and mirror because she got a new bed that was a different color. We decided to put a little sass into the project by adding some SPARKLE & SHINE…. with what else? GLITTER I SAY!

Here’s what we did:

Step 1: We spray painted the mirror. I found this one at Ross. It had a horrible yellow/brown finish, and it’s no wonder no one wanted to buy it. It had the right price tag, and I could see its potential through my spray paint lens (love that stuff).

Step 2: After the spray paint dried, working in sections, we used spray glue and then poured glitter on top of it.

Step 3: We repeated step 2 until it was covered well. Sprinkle thoroughly with several coats or until you run out (which is what happened to us).

Step 4: Using Modge Podge, I painted the middle section of each drawer of the dresser, and sprinkled some glitter onto that also. I thought it would pull the two pieces together.

Step 5: Repeat step 4 until well covered.

Here is the final product! It looks really cute in her room. One thing to be sure, a little glitter goes a long way….. just like in 8th grade.

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Barnwood & Glitter: Make Your Own Custom Dry Erase Board

Published March 15, 2011 | By Krista

I looked too long for a dry erase board that was big enough to fit a particular space when it finally dawned on me to make my own! I already had a large barnwood frame in the garage that I’d been wanting to use for something, and it was perfect for the space! I started by ordering dry erase sheets . $8.00 a roll was just right. I then bought a foam board at Hobby Lobby that was big enough to fit the frame.

I trimmed the foam board to fit the frame.

Then I rolled the white board sheet out onto the cut foam board. The material was surprisingly easy to work with — if I made a mistake I just pulled it back up and started over. I smoothed as I went, unraveling slowly.

Next, the foam board (with the white board sheets now attached) was glued to my frame.

The fun part…. decorating it!!!

I have always loved barnwood and glitter — two opposites that go hand in hand. I suppose it is because they are both me. I am as comfortable in cowboy boots as I am in heels. I feel most at home in the rugged mountains, but love to wear long, glitzy chandelier earrings with hot pink. Barnwood and glitter — it just works for me! So I added sparkly, glitter letters that I bought in a pack at Michaels and hot glued them onto the frame.Attach picture hanging hardware to the back, and you have a very fun, personalized whiteboard!

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Decorative Clipboards

Published February 6, 2011 | By Krista

One of my favorite organizational tools: Clipboards! But how boring is a regular old brown board? After seeing a similar idea online, I decided to decorate the boards with fun scrapbook paper and give them as gifts to friends this year.

Supplies you will need: a clipboard, scrapbook paper, a sponge brush, ribbon, and Modge Podge.

1. Modge Podge your scrapbook paper onto the clipboard. Smooth with a straight sided object (I use my plastic pan scraper from my kitchen).

2. Spread Modge Podge over the top of the paper. Smooth, then let dry completely.

3. Embellish the top with ribbons and place a decorative word or symbol on the bottom if you want to really get your craft on!

4. Clip a note, a set of notecards, or a bag of goodies onto the board and give to your favorites!

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You HAVE to see what they’ve done!!

Published January 25, 2011 | By Krista

This year is a milestone birthday….. and on Saturday night my family and friends threw a party for me! I walked in to find these lining the hall….

I was speechless and crying before I even walked in the door! My husband and sister had organized for some of my family and friends to make plates for me at a paint-your-own-pottery place. Isn’t this the most creative, precious gift? Let me show you how they turned out!

My favorite is the one from Erik and the kids. My daughter wrote our family verse around the outside and each of my kids signed their name next to their handprint. I can’t think of a better gift….this one REALLY made me cry!

Each one took so much thought, time, effort, and planning — a real act of love! I see each person’s personality come out in the plates. I will TREASURE these because of the people who made them! It is a perfect gift for me…. a mix of the heart, homemade, and practical!!

That is my dad’s hand on the blue plate. He wrote “Daddy’s little girl.” I feel like I always will be no matter how old I get! One of my friends did a WORD FIND in her plate! Can you imagine how much time that took?? I love each for different reasons~