When Michaels asks you if you want to participate in a community pumpkin decorating sweepstakes, how can you say no? Right? And here’s the fun part…I didn’t have to use a real pumpkin! No seeds, no gunk, no potential for rotting! The contest (enter the #TrickYourPumpkin sweepstakes here, folks for a chance to win a $250 Michaels gift card and a bounty of Plaid products!) asks crafters to use one of Michaels’ craft pumpkins which are available in stores now!

But then there’s the burning question of how can I decorate my pumpkin in a way that I’ve never tricked it out before! I’ve carved, I’ve etched, I’ve painted, I’ve dressed ’em up in costume. So I decided to reference a place of inspiration that is far and away more me than any Pinterest board could ever be…my book, PROJECT KID.

Thumbing through the book I thought yarn-wrapping, nah. Stickers, nah. A robot? Maybe. And then I found my hot-air balloon (page 134 for those with the book). And that was it! It would be a huge challenge to do this with a real pumpkin, so the craft pumpkins are the perfect solution because they are hollow and super lightweight. And I love how the basket becomes the container for the most important part of Halloween…the candy!

Here’s what you need:

• Celebrate It 9″ Craft Pumpkin (I painted mine white)
• Ashland metal container
• Burlap
• Fishnet stockings
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Dowels
• Lime Green 7/8″ ribbon
• Black 1 1/2″ ribbon
• Hot-glue gun
• Buttons
• Scissors
• Styrofoam
• Tissue paper
• Twine

1. Use the ridges in the craft pumpkin to create the stripes of your balloon. Paint every other one in the color of your choice. Let it dry.

2. Paint 4 dowels black and let them dry. (I keep a piece of styrofoam handy to dry painted sticks and what-not.)

3. Cover your basket or tin in burlap using a hot glue gun. Trim edges neatly.

4. Once your pumpkin is dry, slip fishnet stockings over the pumpkin.

5. Trim around the stem at the top of the pumpkin, and secure cut edges on top and bottom with hot glue if needed.

6. Glue 1 1/2″-wide ribbon around the center of the pumpkin.

7. Glue the thinner ribbon at about 8 points around the pumpkin, creating a swag with the ribbon.

8. Glue buttons on top of where the green ribbon meets the black ribbon.

9 Use scissors to make 4 holes on the bottom of the pumpkin about 3″ apart in a square formation. Push painted dowels into holes.

10. Stand dowels in square tin—use styrofoam to keep them in place if needed.

11. To make the sandbags, crumple tissue paper into ping-pong ball sized wads and wrap with orange tissue paper. Tie a string around the top of the bundle and hang from inside the balloon.

I love trash. No, I’m not Oscar the Grouch—I’m a crafter and almost every project I do has something from the recycling bin. Drink lids, cardboard tubes, yogurt cups—you name it, I will find a way to reimagine it. This practice has 2 benefits…
1. Good for the environment. Yay!
2. Good for busy parents who don’t have time to shop for special supplies.

Craft Foxes came to me and suggested we do a video of 3 crafts from Project Kid that upcycled something. We had a lot of fun shooting here at Project Kid Headquarters!

Stay tuned for the next one…crafts that kids can make then wear!

July Fourth is the first official celebration of summer—kids are out of school and ready for fun!

This project, made from washi tape, bells, beads, and upcycled K-cups, is fun not only to make, but to use in any number of festive ways. You can hang it on your door as a chime, attach it to your backpack or beach bag, or tie it to the back of your kids’ Radio Flyer red wagon to make some noise at your Independence Day parade.

What you’ll need:

• 7 “pods” from a single-cup coffeemaker, cleaned out
• Washi tape in 4 or 5 red, white, and/or blue patterns (available from CuteTape.com)
• White paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Thread
• 9 bells
• Small beads
• Snap Hook
• Ribbon

1. For each cup, cut or tear one pattern of tape into eight to twelve strips that are roughly the height of the cup and apply them vertically to the outside of the cup. Don’t worry about making them neat or evenly spaced.
2. Adhere three or four strips of this same tape side by side to white paper and cut a 1-inch circle out of this covered area. Attach the circle to the bottom of the cup with glue, being careful not to cover the puncture hole that the machine made when brewing the coffee.
3. Cut a 2- to 3-foot piece of thread and tie a bell to the bottom. Thread on some beads and then a cup, stacking enough beads to prevent the cup from covering the bell. Thread on more beads, then a bell, then more beads, then a cup, and continue until you have three or four cups per strand. Repeat to make a second strand.
4. Tie both strands onto the snap hook, then tie a ribbon to the hook to hang on a door, if so desired.

When I was working on Project Kid, lacing cards were on the list of things to make. I had a binder where each page was a separate project. I would stare at the blank page titled LACING CARDS in the Playtime chapter and just couldn’t figure out a new way to craft them. So I kindly abandoned those for projects that I felt more confident about.

And then I saw these photo lacing cards from Skunk Boy, and now I see what I was actually going for. Cute. Modern. Different. I adore the idea of lacing a heart around someone you love, punching holes to create an initial, or making eyeglasses. A bow in the hair could be a cute one too!

Head over to Skunk Boy for the full tutorial! [Project found via Whimsey Box.]

I’m testing out some regular column ideas, and I’m thinking of featuring a photo craft every Friday. I like that photo-finish + Friday = the last day of the week.  The alliteration is nice too. And photo crafts are big-time fun. 

I fell in love with the work of Yellow Owl Workshop about four years ago when Christine Schmidt, the creative genius behind the line, crafted this printmaking Valentine story for me at Parents Magazine. I had learned about her through a Potter Craft event when her first book, Print Workshop, was being released. I follow her on every platform possible because I’m kinda obsessed with everything she does. (If you don’t already follow her on Instagram, you should start. Right now. She’s not just crafty, but she’s clever too. Plus she has a super-cute kid.)

Stamps sets? Love em. Pendants? Canning jar charm, please. And now the tea towel and tote bag stencil kits. There are three designs to choose from: Cat Love, Sweet, and Market. Once you’ve decorated the goods, you can take to the WALLS! Or greeting cards, T-shirts, wrapping paper…your options are endless, folks.