Showing posts with label Handmade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Handmade. Show all posts

Just Something I Made...

I realized I forgot to show you all this...

It's a wooden sign made from a vintage ad I found!

I made it at the very beginning of May... it was a very easy task, just a little time consuming. Here's my process:

  1. I emailed the original ad to our local print shop and had them enlarge it to about 36"x36".
  2. Had my husband make me a wooden square and then I painted it white.
  3. Taped my enlarged print to the painted square.
  4. Used a jumbo sheet of carbon/transfer paper (I found mine in the canvas aisle at Hobby Lobby) to transfer the image onto the painted wood sign. Just put transfer paper under the print paper and trace around your image and words with a pen or pencil.
  5. Your pen or pencil will push down on the carbon paper and transfer your image onto the wood sign. Once your all done transferring...
  6. Usually I would use paint to fill in my transferred image...but this time I used a black sharpie and was very happy with the results.

All total, the project cost me under $5!

That's it! Easy peasy!



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Handmade Christmas

This week in my house the elves are busy at work...
My oldest daughter has had 3 snow days in the past week...which I love having her home....but it makes it hard for the little sisters to work on their homemade Christmas gifts!

I did manage to get a couple gift projects done yesterday.
The idea from the clipboards below come from Skip To My Lou. Her instructions are here.
It was a pretty simple project....the hardest part was making the template for the paper to lay nicely around the clip...(which I recommend doing)
I found the clipboards and paper at Staples. The clipboard was just under $2.00 and a pack of 12 notebooks was around $3.50.

The next project I did was to cover these little mixing bowls I found at the thrift store (all 3 for $5.00). I was planning to use paper, but quickly found out I needed something a little more flexible for all the curves. Tissue paper could have worked. I used fabric...and lots of modge podge to go with it!

I like how they turned out. They are for Sophia and her little kitchen.

Just a fun picture...
the girls in their vintage Christmas aprons. (Found at a garage sale for .10/each!)





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Christmas Gift Giving: Handmade

Hello all! We are digging out from a foot of snow and trying to stay warm and not too stir crazy!
I have been sick since Tuesday night...yuck!
Today I am linking you to other lists of great handmade items. Enjoy!
make sure to check out their archive for even more ideas!

You've found the perfect present...wrap it up...find the perfect free printable gift tag here!

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On The Good Ship...

We made lollipop birthday cookies for Hannah to share with her classmates! This was one of those projects that evolved as we worked. It was easy peasy!
1. I made a basic sugar cookie recipe.
2. Rolled into balls and slightly flattened them
(they will flatten and spread out even more as they bake.)
3. Stick a Popsicle stick in the middle before you bake.
4. Bake according to recipe. Normally I prefer my cookies very soft and slightly under cooked, but don't do that because the cookie will fall right off the stick before the kid gets one bite taken...unless you LIKE making little kids cry.
5. Allow to cool COMPLETELY.
6. Mix up a batch of "Shiny Cookie Paint" This layer of icing does NOT need to be colored...unless preferred.
Shiny Cookie Paint Recipe
2 Tbsp. Milk
2 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup
2 Cups Powdered Sugar (Sifted)
Food Coloring
Mix liquid ingredients together in small bowl.
Sift in the sugar.
Add more milk if needed.
This is an icing, not a frosting, so it will be thin and more runny then traditional frosting.
7. Spoon some glaze on each cookie.
It will spread out and level itself. Don't worry about the excess that runs off the cookie...it is easily removed.

8. Allow the white layer to dry completely.

9. To make the color swirls I used a small round cake decorating tip and disposable cake decorating bags. Mix up the Shiny Cookie Paint and add food coloring of your choice. The icing for this step shouldn't be too thin, so that it will hold it's design. Just circle the cookie with the icing. You do not need to wait until completely dry to add the next color swirl.
Before wrapping, allow to dry.

They're wrapped up and ready to send with the birthday girl!


EXTRA TIP:
Another way to use this icing...
Give your kids paint brushes, put the different color icing in muffin tins and let them paint their own cookies!




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An Invite...

Here's the invite I made for my sister-in-laws baby shower. I originally saw this idea here
and have been saving it for almost a year in the "must do" file. It's just a circle of fabric with a piece of pie cute out (find a cup or something else that's round to trace) and then sew it up with some contrasting thread. I used glue dots to attach the "wheels", but hot glue will work just as well! It says at the top "here comes the baby in the baby carriage" with all the details below that. I right justified it, so all the writing flowed from the right side. (Print first, then sew).
Another thing I learned is because of the buttons, you will have to pay more at the Post Office to send this. Apparently they have to hand sort instead of running it through their sorting machine...you will need to buy a .64 stamp.

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Distressed Letters

I have been trying really hard to not get ahead of myself with the decorating of a house that doesn't exist...but as it starts existing and showing signs of getting finished I get a little, um a lot, excited! I decided to do one little project...some letters to hang on my big girls headboards. I saw some at Land of Nod that I thought were really cute, but really limited on the color selection. I knew I could make some in the colors I prefer. Here's the finished product:



You'll Need:
-Wooden Letters (found mine at Hobby Lobby in the unfinished wood section-2 for .99)
-Scrapbook paper of your chosing -Brown Paint -Modge Podge -Emery Boards (nail files)


-On the back of the paper, trace your letter backwards. -Cut out the paper letter just inside the line you traced.




-Paint the tips of your fingers brown. ;) -While you're at it, paint the edges and sides of your letters brown.



-Coat the wooden letter with the Modge Podge. -Apply your cut-out paper letter. -Smooth out bubbles. -Allow to dry.


-Now take your emery board and distress that baby! -Concentrate on the edges and tips.


A close-up of the distressing.


-Apply another coat or two to the paper and wood to protect it.



There we have it...some pretty little letters. I will attach some ribbon to the back to hang on the girls headboards.

(Do not hang close to a crib if using ribbon or string)

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The Coffee Table...

One of the hardest things about having kids...decorating wise...is the lack of cute coffee table decor. Gone are the candles and choking hazards...and replaced by....nothing...emptiness...nada. Until one day I had the realization that I could have coffee table "pretties"...they just needed to be kid friendly...really kid friendly! Oh and don't forget cute...always cute. That's when I replaced the traditional coffee table books with kids books. I change them out monthly and always try to have "seasonal" ones. So this month I dug out our Leprachaun books. Another item on the coffee table this month is this memory/matching game I made.


I found the Irish themed memory game at the Toy Makers site. I printed out 2 copies of the game. I used some green gingham paper and some wood rectangles from the craft shop. Modge Podged it all together to make this cute memory game. My girls love memory games...and since it's only put out for less than one month a year, they don't get bored with it. All that's left is to find a pretty box or tin to put the pieces in.

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A Nice Little Project...

I originally saw this project here and thought it would be perfect in Sophia's room (in the new house). It seemed easy enough...and it was! The hardest part of the whole project was taking 3 kids into the scrapbooking store :) The project, start to finish, took about 30 minutes.
Gather your supplies: a shadow box (mine was 12 x 12), a white piece of 12 x 12 cardstock, an assortment of papers, a butterfly punch (mine was from the Martha Stewart line from Wal-Mart) and some mini glue dots.
I marked my white cardstock with a pencil every 1 1/2 inches...leaving a 3 inch border around the edge.
I punched out my butterflies
Laid out my pattern first and then attached butterflies to the paper with the glue dots.
While I was attaching I slighty bent the wings up.
Place in shadow box with more glue dots to attach paper to back of shadow box.
That's it...easy peasy...and no butterflies were harmed in the making of this!

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A Memory/Matching Game



I helped Ella make this matching-memory game for Sophia for Christmas...it's as simple as buying some wood circles at the craft store (I've found mine at Hobby Lobby and Michael's), placing some cute stickers in the middle (make sure there's 2 of each) and applying a coat or 2 of Modge Podge. Voila...you're done! Sophia who's 1 1/2 matches the animals where Ella who's 4 plays memory with this. This idea can be adapted in so many different ways...different stickers, holidays, seasons or even colorful paper! The possibilities are endless! I even have some mermaid and fish stickers waiting to be put on sea shells! Get creative!

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Have no fear, a "SUPER" present idea is here....

Technically I made these last year....but I'm just posting them now. (it's called a 2 week long headache) We gave these little heroes plus a few other super accesories to one "super" sweet 3 year old for his birthday! (Super Z on the far right is the birthday boy)

The above heroes were made from wooden peg people shapes, some paint and felt. I finished them off with 2 coats of modge podge. Here's my inspiration:
Her Cup Overfloweth
Green Jello

I found the wooden pegs at a garage sale this summer, but they can be found at your local craft store. Or online here:
Caseys Wood Products
Etsy

Along with above "Pocket Heroes" I made capes, a crown and a reversible mask.
I used this tutorial over at Juicy Bits for "guidance" for the crown and then I just used the same techniques to make the 2-sided mask(one side black for Batman and the other side red for Super Z). Felt is the secret to my success here!





A boy needs a cape...or four! I made 2 capes, but they were each double sided, resulting in 4 capes. I used the tutorial at Puking Pastilles for my capes. She has the Superman and Batman logos all ready for you (she also has a cape for a girl, plus other logos). My other cape I made had a "Super Z" side which was a blue cape and a yellow and red logo. The other side was a king cape with a crown appliqued on it.



On a side note: I assumed this was a "boy" gift, but my girls LOVED them and asked for their own!

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