Ha! Crafter Humor
This is so very much how I feel right now! So much so, that I’ll come back tomorrow with the full update from my daughter’s birthday party! (You can buy this cute tote on Handmade and Craft on Etsy.)
Author Archive
DIY Play Money
I saw this adorable fabric play money on Estefi Machado’s blog (one of my favorite craft blogs that happens to be in Portugese), and it inspired a search for other clever homemade play money. She used a really cool technique…she coated a piece of cotton in spray mount, let it dry, then ran it through the printer. (At least this is how I understood the google translation.) Being on fabric save them from wrinkles and rips. Here are a few other clever DIY money crafts that caught my eye…
These homemade wooden coins by Lil Blue Boo are super cute: I love that they are in denominations of treats, rather than money amounts.
What’s better than a kid seeing her own mug in the center of currency? I love the iron-on and stitched details of this homemade play money.
Spring Break Staycation
If you are about to embark upon a week of kids at home (aka wild abandon) for spring break, maybe a few of these 10 ideas from my recent Mom.me story will inspire you! (And while you’re there, check out all the great things that Mom.me has to offer!)
Missing the beach in a bad way? Bring it home with this easy homemade recipe of flour and vegetable oil.
Too cold for a backyard camp out? Instead, camp in with a homemade tent in the living room!
Are Legos getting old? Try building a tower with marshmallows and toothpicks!
Download scavenger hunts for the grocery store, the mall, and traffic to keep your kids busy while you run errands!
Check out the rest of the story on mom.me!
Happy Thoughts
I just realized that as I’m uploading the above photo collage to this post, I’m smiling. It’s been a crazy morning: husband and 2-year-old son make pancakces for 1-year-old daughters first birthday (picture it: egg yolk running down face of kitchen cabinets), son throws tantrum over wanting to be with work-at-home mommy and not scootering with nanny, and then just the on-going stress of crafting my 100-craft, insane (but awesome) book. Serious first-world problems here, but still, I’ve been a slight ball of tension for the last 2 hours.
And then I spot this photo on Flavor Wire. Romania-based photographer Alexandra Sandu’s technique in The Daydreamers Project is to place subjects against a colorful pastel background and ask them to close their eyes and think of something cheerful. She snaps a photo, and ahhh…images of Zen. She began the project in September 2009, and her goal is to document 1,000 daydreamers. This boy makes me particularly happy…adults seem to look forward or to turn their faces downward, but he turns it up…a true expression of joy!
Maybe this is a good exercise for us all to do…think of what brings you the most happiness and have someone take your photo with your eyes closed. When your problems start to plague you, first-world or other, glance at the photo for a reminder of your happy place.
Jar Lid Crafts
| DIY Home, Everyday Crafts, Food, Grown-Up, Older Elementary, Tween to Teen, Upcycled
I save every jar, every lid, every bottle cap…my husband is about to go insane! But if ever there is a post to prove that my obsessive hoarding of trash has a point, it’s this one. Here are 6 lovely, clever ways to upcycle jar lids.
This fringe technique that Design*Sponge is showing is what makes these lids looks so smooth and perfect. Love.
I love people that embroider the unexpected, like these lovely jar lids that I found on Pinterest.
What I love about this amazing owl craft found via Recycled Aw Blog is that the lid isn’t painted, covered, or disguised in any way.
Are you serious? You can bake a tart in jar lids? I would probably never do it, but that’s just amazing. Found via Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body.
I’ve seen a gazillion jar lights, but never have I seen a light with just the lid. Found via Pinterest.
How cute is this printable jar-lid matching game from Smashed Peas & Carrots?
Embroidered Easter Eggs
What? I know. Sounds impossible. But look how gorgeous these eggs by Inna Forostyuk are. This is the last of my Easter egg posts this year, so I thought I’d end with a doozy. You can learn how to make a simpler, but still magnificent, version of them on Design*Sponge.
Last Minute Easter Egg Crafts
We are just 3 days away from the official Spring kick-off…Easter. By now you should have made some eggs or planned what you were going to make on Sunday, but if you don’t have more specialty craft supplies on hand like rubber cement or candy sprinkles, then just use your basic craft supplies…Tim Gunn would say it’s a make-it-work moment!
Colored pencils on eggs by Fine Little Day—seriously simple, seriously gorgeous.
Sharpie pens on Easter eggs by Mom.me! Yes!
I’m crazy about the soft, washy quality of watercolor Easter eggs. Two lovely examples by Spoon Fork Bacon and Oh Happy Day.
Five Pom-Pom Bunny Crafts
It doesn’t have to be Easter to get the hankering to craft a bunny. But you do have to have pom-poms on hand to make any bunny craft worth his weight in carrots. Whether it’s the whole body, the tail, or just the nose, listen up: pom-pom(s) required. Here are some of my faves…
This cutie-patootie little bow-tied cupcake topper bunny by Oh Happy Day is just the perfect amount of cute.
Not for the faint of craft, this pom-pom bunny by Jennifer Murphy is lovingly described in 18 “simple” steps.
Sweet and simple…I’m in love with this book-page and pom-pom bunny by Dekotante Rock My Home.
Just the noses…that’s all the pom-pom you need to give these envelope bunnies a soft touch. By Martha Stewart.
What a clever little party favor! Give your Easter guests a pom-pom necklace buy displaying it as the tail of a paper bunny. By B. Jane Brewing.
Delicious Easter Candy Decorations
| Decor, DIY Home, Easter, Everyday Crafts, Food, Holidays, Parties
I’m usually very anti- the idea of decorating with sugary, edible items as craft materials for all the obvious reasons…the waste, the insect-attraction factor, the potential for decomposition. But honestly, Easter has me rethinking this rule of thumb. And I think because you don’t typically leave Easter decorations up for weeks on end, it’s totally excusable. Pass the Peeps please!
I made these sprinkle and icing Easter eggs for Parents magazine a bunch of years ago. They are so much fun to make, and there a ton of different techniques! I used corn syrup as glue…worked better than hot glue!
Martha Stewart always takes Easter to a different place. I wouldn’t let my kids anywhere near these beautifully styled jars of Easter candy!
What’s prettier than a sugary, gumdrop wreath like this one from A Pretty Cool Life? Just shellac it and save it for Christmas!
I love the idea of using candy-dot paper strips as easter basket decor like this one from Parents magazine (ok, I know…but I used to work there!).
You can’t talk about Easter candy decorations without Peeps. This sweet topiary by Country Woman magazine is amazingly easy to make. Go ahead and use your glue gun on this one…who wants to eat peeps anyway?
5 Spring Break Staycation Crafts
| Decor, Early Elementary, Everyday Crafts, Nature, Preschool, Upcycled
I just started contributing to a very cool, newish parenting website called Mom.me, where you can explore crafts, behavior advice, recipes…basically everything under the sun that comes along with the parenting gig. They asked me to come up with some fun Spring Break staycation crafts. I tried to make each project something that would be just that: a project; not something that would only take 5 minutes. So here are a handful of the ideas. You can see the whole gallery here at Mom.me.
Snap Happy ABCs sends kids on a scavenger hunt with a camera, looking to find something from every letter of the alphabet to photograph. Upload the photos to picmonkey.com to add text then bind it with zip ties in paper-covered cereal box sides.
Growing up, my sister and I had a self-cleaning Lego mat like this Road Mat. You just push all of the toys into the center, then pull the drawstring and there you go! Clean-up is done-zo! My 2-year old son Oliver cannot believe how lucky he is that this is Mommy’s “work”.
The play value in this cardboard castle is huge. Let your kids spend the week constructing, and they’ll play with it endlessly!
I don’t think there’s anything more satisfying than putting together a terrarium. Send the kids out in the backyard to gather moss, sticks, and rocks, then arrange them on top of soil in an upcycled plastic snack container (the one I used was from Target’s addictive trail mix).
In most homes with young kids, you can find a handful of popsicle sticks. Just add some velcro dots to the ends and watch the kids come up with a gazillion ways to play with them. I call this, Popsicle Stickies. It’s good, I know.
Check out the rest of the craft ideas on Mom.me! My second story with them will go live on April 4th; I’ll be sure to remind you when it’s up. (And follow them on Pinterest…they have good taste, I swear!)