Dollar Store Basket turned Baby Doll Bed!!

When I was putting together a basket for a silent auction fundraiser, I wanted to do a baby doll basket for a little girl.  I found this basket at the dollar store, it was perfect!! I loved the flexibility of it and the handles, which would make it so easy to pack around the house.

2X4 Snowman Decoration Tutorial

I love making stuff out of 2x4's and I love making snowman, so of course this would be one of my favorite crafts!  What I love about snowmen are they are great to decorate with in January too. Here are the how tos:

Homemade Christmas Ideas

I am so excited to be apart of the Christmas Advent Calendar on Chicken Scratch N Sniff! What a fun idea!! As you see from the image above I am Day 15. Please take a moment and view some of the fun ideas I have below of Homemade Christmas Ideas, then click over to Chicken Scratch N Sniff to view the rest of the Advent Calendar, link will be at the bottom of the page.

Be Grateful! Thanksgiving Crafts and Ideas 2014

 I wanted to take some time and focus on a holiday that seems to be overshadowed. Thanksgiving: On Wikipedia it states, "Thanksgiving Day ... is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year."  For me it is also a time that I can bring a special focus on all that I have been blessed with. Let's just face it, turkeys, tee pees, pilgrims and pumpkin everything are some great stuff!

Here are some Thanksgiving Ideas:

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Halloween Fun: DIY Star Wars Costumes

One of my favorite things about Halloween are the fun things my children get to dress up as.  They get excited and so do I! We have had some cute costumes, most of them my mom made, some have been store bought, and some I have even ventured into making.  I have to tell you that my favorites by far are the homemade ones!! They are more original, cute and frankly put together better.

Ideas for Primary 1 manual, Lesson 12: I Am Thankful for Animals and Lesson 13:I Am Thankful for Birds and Insects

Aren't the Sunbeam lessons the funnest!  I was reviewing this weeks lessons (we missed classes last week, so we are combining #12 & 13 this week) and I had so many fun, cute ideas come to mind.

These would also just be great for preschool or kindergarten, also!

Here they are:

Bee Puppets:

I made these bee finger puppets a few years ago, out of felt.  I traced my finger onto some paper and then made it about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch bigger. Then I traced them onto the felt, cut them out and sewed them on the sewing machine. For the black stripes I used black yarn and hot glued them around the felt. For the wings, I used black pipe cleaner forming them into winds by bending and twisting, then glued them on with the hot glue.  The eyes were just drawn on with a permanent black marker. And for the little antennas I tied a knot in some black button thread (it's pretty thick and stiff). Then with a needle I sewed it up through the top of the bee, tied a knot right next to the felt and then tied a knot at the end.  I did this for each antenna. Hope that all makes sense.  You could talk to them about what bees do, maybe have some flowers, and you could talk to them about where bees live.  Even sing the "Baby Bumble Bee Song" it can be found here.


Another fun thing might be a small Animal/insect bingo game.  You could use cereal, marshmallows, small candies like smarties or skittles, or you could just use paper for the kids to mark their spaces.

Here is a printable:
Printing tip: Click on the image and save it to your computer, then you will be able to print the image from your computer.

Felt Flower Hair Clip Tutorial- Perfect item for the Easter Basket!

What girl, big or little, does not like flowers?  Here is a tutorial to make the perfect hair clip for any girls Easter basket!  These hair clips are easy enough that they could also be used for an Activity Days, Relief Society or Young Women Project!

Supplies Needed:

Felt- Either one color or two coordinating colors

Matching thread

Embroidery Needle

Button

Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Hair Clip

Scissors

 Instructions:

Step One:

 Cut out  12- 1 1/2 inch squares out of felt
If doing two colors of felt, put them in a pattern, alternating colors.  The bottom layer of the flower will have 6 squares, so will the top layer.

 Step Two:

Thread the thread through the needle.  I like to pull my needle through so it is at the half way mark of the thread. This makes the thread doubled, so it will be less likely to break.  Tie a knot at the end of the thread.  Then weave the needle in and out through the first square, then the second, and so on until all six squares are on the thread. See figure to the right.

 Step Three:

When all six pieces are strung onto the thread, you will pull the thread tight.  So it forms the shape in the picture to the left.  Needle back through the first felt piece and tie both ends of the thread together. Making sure it is knotted and secure.

Step Four:

Do not cut the thread.  You will then begin stinging on the second layer onto the same string.  Still alternating colors.  When the six pieces of felt are strung on you will secure the same way as you did in step three. Now you will want to sew threw the two layers, near the center in a few places, until the two layers are secured together. You will finish it off at the bottom, tying it off with a knot. Cut your thread ends.

Step Five: 

You will now round each petal of your flower with scissors.

Using a hot glue gun, glue the button or jewel into the center of the flower.
                                                                             

Step Six:

Cut a circle out of the felt. Fold the circle in half and cut a small slit towards one end. Insert the hair clip and glue the top of the hair clip to the felt.  Using the hot glue gun put glue all over the felt circle, then place the circle into the center of the back of the flower.  Make sure no glue gets in between the two sides of the clip. You don't want to glue the clip shut. 

You are FINISHED! 

St. Patty's Day Flower/Shamrock Hair Clips: Tutorial

At my children's school the PTA board puts on a box top store every month.  At it the kids bring their box tops in exchange for tickets.  They then go over to the box top store where they can spend their tickets for some fun stuff.  This month, I am donating some items to be sold at the box top store.  One of these items is St. Patty's Day Hair Clips.  Here is a picture of the finish product!

And here is my little Tutorial:

 You will begin this craft by gathering your supplies: - Green felt
- Needle and thread
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Hair clip
- Ribbon

First, cut a strip of the green felt.  Then cut them into 4 rectangles, about the same size. The size will depend on how big you would like your hair clip to be. It should be rectangular in shape.

Next, fold the rectangle in half and round the top with scissors.  See the picture on the right.  When you open back it back up there should be two round humps.

Now, it is time to start stringing them onto the thread.  I like to double up my thread.  That means I fold it in half. The needle should be at the middle point of the thread.  Then tie a not at the bottom. Start fishing your needle in and out towards the bottom of the felt pieces as shown in the picture to the right.  String all for pieces onto the thread this way.

When all four pieces are strung onto the thread, you will pull the thread tight.  So it forms the shape in the picture to the right.  Needle back through the first felt piece and tie both ends of the thread together. Making sure it is knotted and secure.

  Get your ribbon and tie a bow.  I had to melt the ends of my ribbon lightly with a lighter so it would not fray.  Once you have tied your bow you can fasten it to your felt flower/shamrock with some hot glue. See picture to the left.

You are almost done!  Cut a circle out of the green felt. And cut a small slit towards one end. To do this fold the circle in half and make the slit.  This is for the hair clip to go through.  Hot glue the top of the hair clip to the circle felt piece. (I hope this makes sense!) Now hot clue the felt piece/hair clip to the back of the flower/shamrock as seen in the picture to the right.  This can be worn in your hair or on your clothing so you can avoid getting pinched when St. Patty's Day rolls around!





*I linked this post onto Skip to My Lou's Made by you Monday link party. I am #326.

Thanksgiving craft: Gratitude Bean Bag

For the next couple weeks I will be posting some Thanksgiving craft ideas.  After that I will be focusing on some Christmas Crafts, since there are so many!

The Craft I chose today is the Gratitude Bean Bag.  It actually has a couple purposes.  The first, is it is a cute decoration.  The second, is that is can be used for a little game or "Name What You Are Thankful For".

Here's What You Need to Make One:

Muslin about 4x6 inches (size may vary, just make sure front and back fabric are the same size)

Fabric for back 4x6 inches (size may vary)

dry beans

sewing maching

scissors

embroidery floss and needle

pencil

crayons or colored pencil

Here's How You Will Go About Making One:

One a piece of muslin either free hand a design or find a patter you would like.  The one I did I just free handed it on.  Next, using an embroidery needle and embroidery floss, do a primitive stitch on you design.  Now, fill in any areas you would like colored with a colored pencil or crayon.  Put wrong sides of fabric together stitch around the edge with a forth of an inch to half inch seam.  Leave a small opening so you can fill it with beans.  Fill it with beans about 3/4 full.  Now stitch opening shut.  Use scissors and cut fabric into almost the seam every 1/2 inch, giving it a little fringes look. Now, you have this cute Thanksgiving decoration.

To Play the  "Name What You Are Thankful For" game:

You will need to sit around the room as a family.  Gently toss the bean bag to a family member.  That family member then needs to name something they are grateful for.  Then they gently toss the bean bag to another family member, who then names something they are grateful for.  Continue until everyone in the family names at least one thing they are grateful for.

Halloween Craft Final one- Cute Fabric Pumpkin

I made some pumpkins like this last year for the kids teachers. I put a little bit more embellishments on theirs though.  This is supper easy, even if you aren't much of a sewer.

You'll need:

Fabric- the size of the fabric will determine the size of the pumpkin. Examples 20x20 inches would be a more round pumpkin, where 20x34 inches would be a tall pumpkin.  This would be a good size.  You could definitely go smaller.  The one above is smaller. 

Batting

Raffia

Stick

Hot Glue

Sewing machine or serger

Needle and thread

Scissors

Thick embroidery floss

Embellishments

What you'll do:

Fold fabric in half right sides together and sew along the raw edge.  Turn fabric out, so right side is on the outside.  Take a needle with some thick thread or embroidery floss and do a gather stitch along the bottom, closing it, knot it so it will not come undone.  Start stuffing the pumpkin with the batting. Stuff until full and then do a gather stitch at the top, closing it up again. Take two long pieces of string or thick embroidery floss. Lay on floor, place pumpkin on top in the middle.  Bring string up and tie in knot. This should be done tightly so some fabric puckers out, as above.  Do the same thing the opposite way so it crosses like an x at the top and bottom. Hot glue the stick into the top.  Tie the raffia in a bow around it.  You may add some more embellishments such as: scrap fabric, silk flowers a little sign saying "Pumpkin Patch", a spider, etc.

Wisdom Wednesday- Doll Accessories

Wednesdays are Wisdom Wednesdays, which means I am going to share something I know or know how to do.  I am in no ways full of wisdom, I just had to find a "w" word.  And I wanted a day to share my stuff, so here you go.

Today I am sharing the doll accessories that I have made for tonight's auction for our fundraiser for YW camp. Hopefully it can get the girls some money.

Cutest little boy bed!

So, I just had to show off my little boy's new bedspread. It was made by my mom, I must say she is very talented and did a fabulous job. We have found that if you need to purchase a lot of material, such as for bedspreads, the most inexpensive way is to by sheets. We usually just purchase the flat sheets from Walmart. You get a ton of material for your money. The front of the bed spread was made from a brown flat sheet, muslin and spraps for the cute bears and trees. The reverse side was an off white sheet with some pladish lines in it. She also used the shapes of the bears and trees to quilt the beadspread, so cute! I love the cute little deco pillow made to match! She even made the sheets for the bed.

Super Saturday Display Table

This past Saturday I did a display table for our Relief Society's Super Saturday. It was up-cycled and repurposed craft ideas.  Here is just a preview of what was on the table.  I will be posting directions on these craft items, so check back throughout the week. 

* I do have to point out that some of these crafts were inspired by other crafters. I will be posting who these creative crafters are as I go through and post about the items. *

Links to items I have previously posted about:

Flower Pot/Candy Holder made from plastic container

Bean Bag Toss from Box

Bean Bags

Children's Chalk Boards

Basket made from mailing box

Boy's Scripture bag

Beach Pillow

Getting Batty!

Here is a fun little candy holder, great for a little Halloween gift.

To make this craft all you need is some black yarn, google eyes, canvas, hot glue, ribbon or halloween fabric, black cardstock, & white embroidery floss.  First cut out all of your pieces.  I cut 4 squares 12X12 (that is not inches, that is counting 12 holes). The front one I cut a little different, because it has ears.  I also cut the strip for the handle it is 25X2.  I then stiched all of the pieces with the black yarn. Then I stitched on the mouth and teeth on the face with the white embroidery floss and glued on the google eyes.  Then I sewed all of the pieces together.  Last I cut out the bat wings out of black cardstock and hot glued them on. Then filled with candy and there you have it a fun little gift.

Click on pattern to print, may have to adjust size of wings so they look proportioned.

Inexpensive Box/Tote

You can use this box for anything, I am using it for diapers. I used a box from the post office, cut off the lid flaps, taped the bottom of the box (so it would stay a box), then I glued paper onto all of the sides. Then I painted it. On mine I used three different color. Doing the base coat a medium color and then dry brushing on a darker and a lighter color in different directions. My husband thought it looked a little like a metal box, with how it turned out. I also made a fabric liner for it, fished some twine through it and there you go, an inexpensive container.

Boys scripture bag

My little boy has been taking his scriptures to primary. I decided he needed a bag for them when the started getting worn edges. So I cut up one of my husbands old church pants using the scriptures as a guide for the size, sewed up this little bag.

Beach Pillow

So I finished part of my beach project. I finished the beach pillow. I used a vinyl table cloth and cut it into the size of pillow I wanted. I then serged around the edges and stuffed the pillow. Then I made a cover for the pillow out of a towel. Here's the finished project!


Now I just need to finish the blanket.

Bean Bags

I've been wanting to make bean bags forever, so I finally did it. My kids have had a lot of fun with them and they were a pretty easy craft to make. I even got my youngest involved with stuffing the bean bags with beans. Great thing is I was able to use scraps from other projects and I got to get rid of some of my expired beans.

Turkey Day Crafts

Here are a couple of crafts I have made this year for Thanksgiving. They are pretty easy, if you have a sewing machine. Let me know if you'd like the patterns.

Blessing Bag


Toss this bean bag around and have each person say something they are grateful for in their life. Also can be used as a cute decoration. I stuffed another one with batting so it was a little pillow.


Small Turkey


My mom made big turkeys a few years back. I tried making my own pattern for a small one and this is what I ended up with.