Saturday 24 October 2009

Paper Pumpkin Lantern

I found this idea on Nuture Mama, and thought it would be a great craft to do with the kids during half term this week! It's really easy, and really effective, so heres how....
1. I used orange construction paper and then used a paper cutter to make a pile of orange strips that were 1" wide by 12" tall. I then took 10 strips of paper, a push pin and two paper fasteners. I then stacked the strips and used the push pin to help make a hole in each end through all the layers.2. The pin is removed and replaced by the paper fastener. It's best to push it through just a couple of layers at a time.3. The paper fastener legs are opened and the strips are adjusted around each pin until they are equally spaced apart and a globe shape takes place.4. Black eyes and mouth are cut out and glued on with a glue stick. A string of yarn may be tied to one end.

Thursday 15 October 2009

Page One of the quiet book, This is going to take time,

Sorry all I have been way sick, I was going to do pages 1 and 2 together for you but I am still pretty sick. So here is page one like I promised ( Not complete yet.)

Ok so First I cut the pages out of the yard of felt, now this was more then enough for the one quiet book, for the page size I chose. Now I Have a Kick Butt sewing machine thanks to the ex husband, so I have to show you some of the stitches it has :)







Now I wanted the pages a bit bigger then the normal book so I went with 9 inches by 11.I did cut 2 pages together because I am going to sew the 2 pages together and then cut them with the fancy scissors to give it more flare.




This is the bowl I used for the mirror for the so pretty page, traced it on the back of the mirror and then cut it out,




This is what it looks like, THERE IS A PROTECTIVE FILM ON THIS I LEFT IT ON TILL AFTER I SEWED IT INTO PLACE!








Now I did a wave stitch, around the mirror, I am not a great sewer, but I try and it turned out ok.




Now I forgot the vinyl when I was at the craft store so I am at a stand still on this page, but the napkin is where i am putting the pocket for the comb, I am also making a FAKE eye shadow with a old make up tin and nail polish, for them, I am having my dad drill a hole in the comb since I have not found a comb with a hole, and I know kids will loose it then so I will rick rack it to the page.. I am lazy this week so I am going to buy the felt letters and sew them on for the SO PRETTY!!! and then this page will be done, The next page will be tons easier, with strips of velcro, and the felt letters, for the alphabet page, so get your supplies, and start your book. I have the patterns for the potato doll, the flowers, hearts,fish, water pitcher for the vase, and things as well. I will try to get uploaded for you to print, ANY QUESTIONS I WILL BE HAPPY TO HELP!!!




Halloween Candy Bar Wrappers

Found these creative Halloween candy bar wrappers on Skip To My Lou.

For the mummy... glue a set of googly eyes on the wrapper. Then take white crepe paper and wrap your chocolate bar as many times as you want. I then folded up the edges some to give it that ruffled look.

For the bat... I printed the template out at 60% because I was using smaller chocolate bars. Again, glue a set of googly eyes on. Tape your chocolate bar inside on the middle and use a festive sticker to keep shut.


**TIP** many years ago I learned that you cannot glue googly eyes with a hot glue gun! the black part of the eye melts to the white part and they no longer wiggle. so use tacky glue ;)

Pumpkin Centerpiece

I bought a foam pumpkin. Cut a hole in the top and filled with fall silk flowers from the dollar store. easy. cheap. and won't die in a few days ;)

Saturday 10 October 2009

Lollipop Ghosts

I know that everyone has probably done these at some point in their lives but I thought I would list them here just for anyone who hasnt. A friend and I are having a Halloween party for our children and 32 others. Ok so its a bit more than a party 32 children is LOADS! For the invitations I have made one of these for each child and then attached the invite to them. They turned out cute and will get the children into the Halloween Frame of mind!

These are the only things you need to make a Lollipop Ghost. Oh yeah plus a black marker!


At this point all you need to do it tie the tissue onto the lollipop and draw a cute face on it. See now wasnt that simple!!


Friday 9 October 2009

Eyeball t-shirt

Thank you ONCE AGAIN martha stewart for a great tutorial on how to make this eyeball tshirt.
it really was as easy as they made it seem!

Thursday 8 October 2009

Supplies and ideas for the quiet book!!!!

Ok as I promised I would get you a list of things you need to start this with me. Now would be a great time to break out those coupons, and look through your closets, dollar stores , and clearance racks. Trust me it will help you save money, and get many ideas.

Now first you need felt, felt , and more felt, I mean felt, All colors designs, and thickness. Now what I do is I went to my dollar store, and Joanns and I thought about the ages of the kids I am making these for. I am making 3 or 4 , the twins are almost 1 , Emma is 5, and johnathan is 3. Emmas is one I am not making till March.

So I sat down and thought of a good order to do the twins books in first , and this is what I decided on , I am making a 12 activity page book. I am also trying to decide rather to do a soft cover or hard, Leaning toward just a felt cover. So On page one I am going to do a SO PRETTY PAGE, ( I will do a tutorial as I do them, but want to give you all a idea, and shopping list, so you can start finding your deals. So here is my layout, PAGE ONE SO PRETTY, with a circular mirror, ( they sale the soft bendable non breakable mirrors on the mirror isle at Joanns for under 3 , I will add a pocket out of vinyl, and add a comb, . PAGE TWO I am doing her name, in felt letters, but I am doing the entire alphabet so as she gets older she can spell different words. But on Christmas it will just spell her name, again a vinyl pocket for the extra letters, I am going to rotate colors, to spice it up a bit, PAGE THREE is going to be a dress up page, I am doing a potato head of sorts with yarn hair, but no pocket on this page, because on PAGE FOUR is going to be a closet out of felt, with a mirror inside with the felt doors, and a pocket for the clothes. PAGE FIVE is going to be shapes for matching, with a pocket for the shapes. Page SIX is going to be a button page with flowers to help with fine motor skills, and a pocket for the flowers, ( I am going to make extra colors so they have a variety. PAGE SEVEN is going to be a buckle my shoe page, they sale these with the little sewing notions for a few dollars (BUT I AM A BARGAIN GIRL, If you have a old purse, backpack fanny pack anything you will not use break out your scissors girls and use it:) ) PAGE EIGHT is going to be a peekaboo page, I am going to do a lady bug, with a mirror in it under the wings, I am also going to make the dots Velcro on and off for more fun. PAGE 9 Is going to be numbers, there are a few ideas I was tossing around for this, but I am going with the giraffe and his spots, with numbers 0-9, and a pocket, (FOR THE OLDER KIDS I AM LEAVING A SPOT AT THE BOTTOM FOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION) for PAGE TEN I am doing a purse, with fake make up, and bracelets that are Velcro on, with a small mirror on the purse flap. I will of course embelish all pages with ric rack and ribbons, bows, buttons, snaps, ect,. PAGE ELEVEN is going to be a cooking page, with detachable hot pad, small mirror for stove window, and PAge 12 is my ALL DONE PAGE !! with the pans. and plates.


I know this is a long post but ideas are needed for both boys and girls, so I am doing one for my nephew but he will dress a dinosuar, and have robots, to play with , a teepee for his peekaboo page istead of cooking I am thinking he will have a fishing game, he will have a fake shaver for his HANDSOME page, no flowers but a baseball mitt, a football to lace instead of shoes. a ice cream to build instead of cooking, or a sundae, hamburger, sandwich, ect. possibly a build a robot page. You can do puzzles, I think for the younger kids I would do the BIG pieces, I have some of them laying around

I hope this is helping you all So here is a simple shopping list and how I got some of my PATTERNS!!
1 Felt, tons, about a yard for just the pages, I got pinks for the girls,
colored felts all colors, ( my dollar store gets them in sometimes a 10 pack, ) but you can buy it on the bulk or just by pieces, depending on the size of your book.

2 embellishments, Buttons, Velcro, snaps, eyelets, (THESE ARE A LITTLE TO PRICY FOR MY BLOOD AT WAL MART! BUT MY LOCAL SCRAP BOOK STORE SALES THEM FOR .10 CENTS A PIECE IN ALL COLORS AND SHAPES) a eyelet tool, (THIS IS NOT A MUST HAVE, THEY ARE PRICEY SO WATCH FOR A GREAT SALE OR CLEARANCE I GOT MINE FOR 12.50 at WAL MART ON CLEARANCE!) ric rack, ribbons,

3 batting if you want thick pages

4 scissors can use pinking wave as well

5 Thread

6 Zipper

7 Yarn, and shoe lace if you do the lacing instead of buckle, or just a buckle

8 and my secret lifesaver color pages, books, ect This is where I get my patterns as well as from appliqué I have laying around. I AM NOT A ARTIST, I have some real cute desert patterns that came with a appliqué kit I bought, I can try and scan some that I have done with there inspiration as well as any other patterns you may want,

Now the fun part is you know your child what they like don't like, ect, one twin does not have a favorite the other is a mickey mouse fan, so will get to dress mickey, so if your kid does not cook, maybe they like to color and draw? then add a color page, easy with a pocket, crayons, and pad of paper, maybe they are having trouble with letters, do a alphabet book, a is for apple, art, ect. make it fun with Velcro pic, and then they have to sound out the pic to find where it fits, or numbers add subtract, use animals, candy, and that. I am doing a under the sea one as well nephew loves animals, so use your kids likes to your advantage, maybe your child will like theres with robots, or cars, animals, the possibilities are endless here,.

So now till I get the pic up for page one figure out your theme, and look around your place, DI, dollar store and that to find what you want, sit down with a pencil and paper and jot it down, then you will know what you need, if you have questions want different ideas and patterns let me know I will be more then happy to help you..... Hope you are all still reading, :)

Wednesday 7 October 2009

A question for you all

I am doing quiet books for my nieces and nephews for Christmas, I have tons of ideas for the pages and that, I was wondering if anyone would want a tutorial? I do not mind doing one but it would be a 2 part one, If you are interested let me know, For those of you that do not know what a quiet book is it is a soft book for small kids, ( you can make them for any age) they teach little ones small motor skills, buttons, zippers, snaps, buckles, ect, can make it a story about them, alphabet, numbers, animals, anything, these are great for cars, shopping, church, ect. the possibilities for the embellishing of these are endless, you can make them jingle, crinkle, ect, I have twin nieces that will be a yr old then, a 5 yr old niece and 3 yr old nephew, as well as a new one due in dec Thanks for the input

Monday 5 October 2009

Bleeding Candles

take a red taper candle and spray paint it black. when you light it and it burns, the wax drips red and looks like it's bleeding. very halloweenish!!

Thursday 1 October 2009

Witchs Broom Treat Bag

here's a fun, easy and cheap craft tutorial! i call it witchs broom treat bag. i saw it on martha stewart.com. but it had no pictures to go along with the directions. so i thought i'd show how i made mine.


first are the supplies...
to make one bag you'll need:
1 twig
2 brown paper lunch bags
scissors
twine
take bag 1, and cut strips down to the base of the bag.
take bag 2, and cut stripes just on the top.
place bag 2 on bag 1. fill your bag with whatever goodies you want. gather the strips of bag 1, over bag 2, stick twig in the center, wrap and tie with twine.
and there ya have it!


Happy Halloween!