how to make this kid happy

this little boy is passionate. he loves like no one else. he loves books and space and food and his family and his friends and . . .

super heroes. like all of them. one of his favorites is the green lantern. so, i decided i would make him a shirt, but it got put in the pile of crafty to dos. and, well, that pile is big . . . huge . . . like never ending. once a few things cleared out, i found this:

 see, i had good intentions--i bought the shirt and even drew the design on freezer papaer.

so, when i was ironing something else the other day, i decided to make someone a little surprise while he was at kindergarten camp. i will show you what i did in case you are lazy like me and don't like to read the instructions on the freezer paper box. this is also to prove to all you girls out there who say you aren't crafty how quick and easy some projects are ;)

step 1: buy supplies (shirt, freezer paper, and paint. i use tulip soft fabric paint in matte.)

step 2: draw design and cut it out or use your cricut (even easier) to do so.

step 3: iron freezer paper onto shirt. make sure your steam option is turned off. this only takes a minute and you just want to make sure that it is adhered to the shirt so your paint won't seep into the area you don't want painted.

step 3 1/2: realize that you ironed the wrong pieces down and do it again. an awesome side note about freezer paper- the same piece can be ironed again and again.

ahh, much better.

step 4: paint your design. i used a stamping dauber to keep my paint thin in hopes that it would have a more vintage-y, faded look. i usually use a foam brush.

step 5: let the paint dry before peeling off the freezer paper.

this is a hard step for me. i am always so anxious to see what it looks like that i peel it off in advance and just try to be careful.

 my favorite little boy in his new shirt:

 my favorite little boy in his new shirt with super hero arms . . .

my favorite little boy in his new shirt with super hero arms and . . . just kidding. that's it.

because fabric makes everything better

okay, first things first, thank you so much for all the sweet comments reassuring me that i am not the only one who second guesses myself when i am making a gift for someone else!

when making gifts for others, my first rule is it has to be something i would want. and, well, some would say i am finicky. (and, some might say picky, but i prefer the former as it sounds nicer ;) this year, i just couldn't find any inspiration in catalogs or the blog world, so i turned to my stash. i found several magnet strips from ikea i bought a couple of years ago with good intentions to make cute for my kids artwork. then, i found two big ikea boards (similar to this). but, i had 5 teachers and 4 co-workers who needed gifts. so, i searched for a similar board and found nothing. then, while wandering through hobby lobby, i stumbled upon this:

they call it wall decor. it met all my requirements: metal, substantial in size and weight, and 50% off. really, no one should pay full price for anything from there.

i bought 5. one for 4 of the teachers and one for myself because i was starting to get excited about the project. and, collected my supplies.

now, if you own this and it hangs on your wall as is, please do not be offended because that is not the intention. but, the next thing i did was paint a thin coat of acrylic paint over the print.

then, after it dried, i flipped it over and trimmed my fabric so i had about an inch border all the way around. i used a simple linen colored cotton, but it would also be cute in a fun print.

i painted it with a coat of mod podge.

and flipped it face down making sure to smooth out any wrinkles.

 then, i cut the corners like so  . . .

 and mod podged all around the edges tucking the fabric under the already attached hooks.


for the finished product, i added some cute ribbon, 4 magnets and our christmas card.

for the magnets: i used 7/8" covered buttons and fabric scraps like you see in the back ground above (i may have a fabric addiction). i added magnets with hot glue because e6000 is not my friend (or maybe i am impatient, or maybe it was already 2 a.m.). and, made some adorable-y cute, mismatched magnets which may or may not be the entire reason i made this gift.

i thought this would be a cute way to display notes or photos or bits of inspiration or whatever. what would you do with it?

a confession or two

in the last few years, i have discovered something about myself. i like to make things. and, i like to make things for other people. both of these are confessions. why?

well, when you make something, it is like wearing your heart on your sleeve. (or, at least i think it is . . . i am very bad at understanding old phrasing.) a compliment or criticism can make or break you. example: as a girl, if you buy a shirt on sale and while wearing it, someone comments on how cute it is, then it validates that you got a steal and almost makes the shirt even cuter than it was just minutes before. when i make something, if someone comments that they like it, it tells me maybe it is possible to make something and make it cute. it gives me a little more confidence to try something else. am i the only one who feels this way??

then, i see something i think someone would like. even better, i think i can make this something. at first, i get really excited. i collect all my supplies. i start creating and, another confession, i start to doubt that what i am making would be appreciated by someone else. i start to wonder if they will be sad that they received it. i think, will they want this gift or will they throw it away wondering why i didn't just buy them something . . .

but, when you make something for someone and they like it . . . or they even love it . . . words cannot express how much it makes my heart smile. and, if they find out i made it, and still like it and don't feel like i gipped them out of a real gift . . . well, then i might just make another gift because it feels good to create something for someone else. really good.

so, i confess. and, i wonder am i the only one who feels this way? (oh, good night, people. i really just put myself out there. if you know me, you know i am not so lay-it-all-out about my feelings. abusive punctuation-yes, sharing my fears-no.)

i hope not. and, i hope to share a quick and easy gift tutorial, too.

i'm back and ready to craft!

night dying

another easter tradition is dying eggs with our friends. in an attempt to channel our inner martha, we read up on and watched all the tutorials she gave for this year's eggs. armed with a cricut and several martha punches and some vinyl, we thought we were ready. while the guys grilled and the kids played, we punched and cut and prepared for the event. once everyone was fed, we finally began. by now, it was almost dark, but anyone with kids knows some activities are best done outside so we pushed through.

we had almost three dozen.

we had each vinyled up 10 or so and each participating child had 4.

each child immediately dropped their eggs in a dye cup. they took about 2.5 seconds to finish dying all their eggs.

then, they were more than willing to help the mommies with their eggs.

meanwhile, this little guy was trying to climb into the koi pond. luckily, our husbands wrangled the youngest two or this little guy would have been swimming with the fishes, literally. spencer sat in her high chair nibbling away at dinner quiet as a mouse. it got so dark, we had to get a flash light to see what color we were dying our eggs. when we flashed it on spencer to see what she was doing, she was covered in mosquitos. that's when we headed in.

where did we go wrong or why don't our eggs look like martha's:

*instead of a beautiful studio full of all the things you may or may not need to dye eggs, we were scrambling to get everything outside and within our range of use.

*instead of incredibly gifted artisans with degrees from top notch art schools as assistants, we had 5 incredibly cute helpers who all attend preschool, though some of them are quite crafty themselves.

*instead of preparing for this project months ago using regular working days to practice and perfect the ideas before publishing them, we texted about our plan briefly 24 hours before putting it to use and began preparation less than an hour before the sun went down.

martha, we got nothin' on you because these two girls will never be that prepared. we just don't function like that. we are last-minute, up-til-the-wee-hours, pull-it-off kinda girls.

and, well, that works for us.

sometimes.

bunny love

last year, i made this bunny garland. it is one of my favorite paper things i have made. i hung it in the aqua frame i painted for spencer's first birthday party and, ahh, i could look at it all day. i haven't gotten to craft much for easter this year, so we are going simple with this and a little bunny topiary. i am enjoying the simplicity, but definitely felt the need to decorate with something. am i the only one who feels the need to decorate for each holiday?

another valentine tutorial

last year's valentine was one of the few crafty things i made last year in my newborn haze that was planned, prepped for and completed ahead of time. (ahem, take note, please. that still doesn't happen very often.) i came up with the idea after seeing a crayon tutorial at christmas. while perusing everyone else's valentine ideas, i saw this blog and her many, many valentine ideas. i thought it was so cute, i decided to do it this year, so i made sure to purchase mini candy canes during the christmas clearance. (look at me. two februarys in a row.)

so, i had all the materials purchased, but finding a time to accomplish the project was becoming difficult. then, completely unexpectedly, and i do mean completely. unexpectedly. we woke up monday morning to this . . .

once again, i was so thankful for my ray of sunshine in the dark cloud of winter. (btw, winter-i am so over it. so over it. again.) 6 inches of snow without warning. nice. so after playing outside until we couldn't feel our hands, we came in, watched a movie and made candy cane heart suckers.

first, find little hands to help you unwrap all those tiny candy canes. don't worry, all those little fingers were washed first as well. remember, i teach preschool . . . that makes me a handwashing nazi.

it was an all hands on deck kinda craft.

after my extremely particular child had them lined up just so, we placed them in the oven on 300 for approximately 5 minutes or until melty looking (but not too melty).

then, strategically place a child to watch and let you know when that just right melty time occurs.

once they are out of the oven, immediately place 4" lollipop sticks in the middle and smoosh together. i have no picture of the actual smooshing (yes, that is a word) because it might have contained expletive word bubbles. so, you are forewarned, hot candy canes are similar to hot molten lava and may cause your skin to melt.

once they have cooled, wrap and tie to create adorable heart suckers and attach them to your valentines.

happy valentine's weekend!

A B C, it's easy as 1 2 3

i didn't really have an idea this year for teacher gifts and i needed 5. 5, people. i needed something i could make so it might be cost effective, but i wanted it to be something they might like, too. my mom always says in gift giving it is the thought that counts . . . and i say, if you don't put thought into it then it doesn't count. not bitter, i'm just sayin' . . .

i saw this tutorial a while back but didn't think about recreating it because it was a large project- large as in big in size and number, and i didn't have the space for it. but when i was perusing the anthropologie site, i saw something i already own, the printer's letter stand, and it came to me.

i began the project with a wood candle stick and a wood circle from the craft store and a wood block from my very gracious and meticulous father. (he even accommodates my crazy requests when i need them the next day, but i think it secretly makes him crazy . . . well, maybe it isn't a secret!)

details: the candlestick is more than 1.5" wide at the top so he cut a block thick enough to cover  it. therefore, he cut the blocks from a 2 by 6 approximately 5.5" wide. why 5.5"? because that is what looked balanced to us on the candlestick we chose. you can adjust measurements based on your pieces.

where were we? okay, glue your candle stick to your base with whatever glue you have handy. we used elmer's wood glue.

then, we glued the block to the top of the candlestick.

after the wood glue dried enough (remember, i'm in a time crunch), i painted them with my favorite spray paint, heirloom white and canyon black.

after my scarf exchange, i finished up the details.

for the details, i used burlap, decorative tacks, the cricut and the winter woodland cartridge, black acrylic paint, a sponge brush, twine and jingle bells.

i cut out burlap rectangles slightly smaller than my wood block. then, i created a stencil using the cricut. i cut 4.5" letters from the winter woodland cartridge and painted the letters black. i would not have used a sponge brush typically, but i didn't have the right type of brush and i started this project at 11 at night, so i am pretty sure my local craft store was closed. regardless, the sponge brush worked and that is what matters, right?

after the acrylic paint dried, i tacked the burlap to the block using the decorative tacks.

next, i tied jingle bells at the ends of a piece of twine, wrapped it around the candlestick and called it a night, or morning.

when i was finished, i was a little jealous i had already bought all the candlesticks in the city. i need one, too.

if you need another teacher idea, i made these using this tutorial for the girls who work in my pod with me:

it makes wearing a lanyard way more fun!

i'm still crafting away. how about you? what are you trying to pull off with only 5 crafting days left?

i've got my scarf to keep me warm

as expected, christmas day is rapidly approaching and my crafting list is still growing. i have been crafting every night, well into the wee hours and now, i am sick. ugh!

this week i had a scarf exchange and the last day of preschool, so now i can post the tutorials for my scarf & my teacher gift. this season, i have been inspired by my favorite store, anthropologie. they are responsible for both of the gifts i gave this week and my christmas cards. ahh, i love everything in their catalog (and stores, but since there is not one here, i rarely get to have that experience.)

so, while perusing their website, i found this:

the squiggle scarf. isn't it amazing? and, it is cashmere. and, a little costly for my budget of $10 to $15 for the scarf exchange. and, now sold out online.

i thought i might be able to create something a little similar. (well, at least inspired. isn't that what you call it when it doesn't turn out anything like the original?)

i purchased 2 yards of a nice weight knit, matching thread and elastic thread.

i cut a 10 inch piece of knit that was the entire length of my fabric (2 yards).

i set up my machine with the matching thread in the needle and hand wound the elastic thread around the bobbin. you do not want to pull the thread as you wind as it will stretch the elastic and your gathering won't look right. this is the most annoying/hardest step in making this scarf. (and, please ignore all the spray paint on my hands. it is from the next tutorial.)

my machine settings were as follows:

stitch length 5

tension 3

next, decide where to stitch. i decided on three rows at 2.5, 5 & 7.5 inches. then, straight stitch from one end all the way to the other. don't forget to back stitch at the beginning and end to secure your stitching.

can you see the fabric ruffling behind the foot?

i sewed rows 1 & 3 first and then stitched down the middle.

and, after no more than ten minutes of time, i had this:

isn't it cute? i love it! of course, i finished it with just enough time to get ready and go to my scarf exchange, so i have no pictures wearing it. i will make another one today for myself (that is how much i love it!) so maybe if i don't look too rough tonight josh can take one and i can post it then.

edited to add this not-so-great picture of the finished product:

when i tried it on, miller said, "mommy, why are you wearing a swirly tie?"

squiggle scarf. swirly tie. i don't care what you call it, but it's cute.

check out this and other ideas at diy day and  frugal friday party and at