Arts and Crafts

Head band.....

2011-02-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

These head bands will go so well with the OUTFIT I bought myself a while back. I guess that in the picture it does not match too well but it's just about the exact same shade of purple as the tank top and some of the flowers in the skirt. I found the tutorial HERE for these.So easy it only took me about 10 min total for both of them. I do still have to sow the band though.

The old baby room pictures....

2011-02-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

These are the old pictures I had in the baby's room. I painted them on the deck of our Vesper house just a week before Conner was born now my little peanut is 4!!! Ughh where does the time go. I will be getting rid of these though I am a little sad to see them go :(

3 of 3....

2011-02-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

I am finished....my life can move on.

2 of 3.....

2011-02-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

I finished the monkey.....all I have left is the elephant now!!! Luckily I was able to somehow mix and MATCH my colors hopefully I can do it again for the 3rd picture. The green border on the monkey picture is a little lighter but not enough to really notice unless you look really close!!!

Pictures for baby's room

2011-02-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

One down 2 to go.....I think I will do a monkey and the blue elephant for the other two pictures.

Flowers

2011-02-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to make THIS but I did not have enough red felt at home so I settled for making a few more flower accessories.

Another flowere tutorial....

2011-02-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

I also made these little flowers. You can really use any kind of material for these it does not need to be silk since you do not have to melt it down.

First you need to cut your strip of material. I wanted my flower to be small so it was about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide. This was silk so I melted the edges carefully so that the material would not fray.

Next fold the material in half and do a loose stitch along the edge.

Then simply pull on the thread till your flower begins to take shape and sow into place.

Then for the center I used a button and a scrapbooking embellishment.

Since the back looks kinda icky like this I just cut out a little circle patch melted the edges and then glued it to the center back part of the flower to cover up the stitching.

The I sowed it to a ribbon with a partial rubber band on it with a couple other smaller flowers.

Jar....

2011-02-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

I had a candle jar that I needed to find a use for. I never ever throw away candle jars...do you????

Since I have been on a flower power kick the jar made the perfect storage container for my new flower hair accessories. I did finally get the lid to the jar pained too....I picked a plain boring red and just sprayed it with a clear coat. It seems like our whole house is decorated in browns and reds I need a new color pallet.

This will look so cute in our bathroom.

I also made this head band...I love how this one turned out.

This little flower I just attached to a hair pin but I love it....it's so sweet.

Some white roses.

Another one I love!!!

Ok so I like em all. These would also make cute little flowers to attach to sweaters and shirts and even shoes.

Silk Flowers....

2011-02-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

I found this silk pillow case at the good will store for .99 cents today. Start out by drawing out different size circles on the material then cut them out.

You want the biggest on the outside and smallest on the inside.

If you want more texture then cut them into flower shape which I did for some of mine.

Then use a tea light or candle to melt the edges. No need to put it directly into the flame it will melt better and make prettier shapes if you just hold real close to the flame.

Layer your flower and using a needle and thread sow all the layers together.

I found these hair clips at wall mart on clearance ages ago I think there was 6 of them in a pack for .49 cents. Cut out a small triangle out of the silk material and make sure that you slightly melt the edges with the tea light otherwise the material will fray and it will not work. Using a hot glue gun glue the triangle to the flower with the hair clip in the middle. You can also sow it on to the bottom flower petal before you assemble the flower but gluing was just easier for me.

The back of the flower!!!

I also glued a little pearl in the middle but you can be creative and use a button or more material.

I also made this head band. I have had the band forever and never wear it but I'm pretty sure I will more often now.

The back of it.

How adorable is that!!!

Recycling....

2010-10-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

If you have little kids in your house you have tons and tons of broken crayons. Most people would throw the broken ones out but I like to recycle, reuse and refurbish so I collect those broken pieces and save them in a little baggie till I have a bunch of them and this is what we made with them :)

First you need to remove the paper off the crayons. Though Conner was more than willing to help this was a little hard for him to do. Then break the crayons into little pieces and place into silicone molds....I love these heart and flower shaped ones I got a long time ago on clearance. Conner thought it was pretty fun to break them up and fill the molds. If you do not have silicone molds just use your cupcake sheet and line it with cupcake paper and it works just as well!!!

About half inch full I would say...I did not want them to be too thick!!!

Now they are all ready to go into the oven....seeeeee mama. Place in a preheated oven to 200 degrees for about 15 minutes or untill all the crayons are melted. Remove from the oven and let them coll completely....about 45 minutes to an hour.

Then just pop the shapes out!!!

Perfect for little hands!!!

How cute are these!!!!

Maracas.....

2010-10-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

Some things you will need..... along with a bit of patience and willingness to deal with a BIG mess.....

I used old yogurt cups....traced the tops on the cardboard and cut out the circles.

Using a box cutter cut a line through the center long enough to insert a popsicle stick....

Place some dry beans or rice in the cups.....about 1/4 of the way full....

Using a generous amout of glue (I used hot glue) glue the tops on the yogurt cup....

Make up some paper mache..... basically just flour and water and a pinch of salt. pretty caky consistency......

It's messy but ohh so fun.....

Sorry for the blurry picture.....rip peaces of newspaper dip in the paste and layer all the way around the yogurt container till well covered or shaped to your liking. Conner did the dipping and layering I just smoothed it out and held it for him. Let them dry overnight.

When it's completely dry you can paint them.....

This was Conner's favorite part...he loves to paint!!!

shake shake shake

How fun are these....ohh yeah I also used a clear coat of paint in a can to give it the glossy look and to keep the paint from rubbing off and chipping.

Chair....

2010-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

I had this chair and it glided and I rocked my babies in it and it was the only chair I was comfy in while I was pregnant and then it broke...the end!!!

Then I saw this beauty on the side of the road....someone was throwing it away!!! It's not a glider but it is on springs and it does rock and it is SUPER comfy. I simply could not let it go to waste!!

SO I took it apart and I ripped off the head rails to make it look more sleek. I sanded and cleaned it well and patched what needed patching and fixed what needed fixing!

Then I painted and painted and then painted it again. I used a little black paint to accent some of the detail in the wood....something that gets lost when you paint woodwork but something that I do appreciate so much being the sister of a woodworker and all! And then things went BAD.....I gave the chair a CLEAR coat of varnish to protect the paint from chipping and scratching and to give it that finished look....WELL what was suppose to be a clear varnished turned my white beautiful chair yellow. You can only imagine the frustration after all the work I had put into it. SO I started all over sanded it down and gave it a few more coats of white.

Then came the difficult part....sowing!!!! I have had a sowing machine for years but it has only been used well I'm not sure if I have ever used it to be honest. But I needed cushion covers so I dug it out. I had NO IDEA what I was doing whatsoever but it went much smoother than I could have ever expected. No it's not perfect and the 2nd one I did looks much better than the first which is understandable. I wish I had used a zipper but instead I sowed it shut. I used cording....YES....you rad that correctly I made my own cording and made it a part of the cushion. I had the guidance of this BLOG to help me make these! I also made so pillows with the leftover fabric!

I'm very happy with it and I believe that the sowing machine will be making an appearance much more often now that I know how fun it is to sow. Not that I need any more crafty addictions:) I'm sure my husband would agree with that statement!!!

Cake stand.....

2010-07-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

I bought these at a good will store. The little cheese cutting board and glass cover was only $1.00 and the salt shaker was a Quarter!!!! Yay for a super fun find.

I removed the top part with a screwdriver so that I would have a flat surface to glue the dish to!

I sanded down and cleaned the shaker and the cutting board so that the paint would stick better!!

I used a green Acryllic paint and painted the whole thing using white to accent the edges then painted white dots on the middle part of the salt shaker and the edges of the board then used another shade of green (lime green) to add a little extra touch to the dots! I let it dry completely then sealed it in by spraying a clear coat over the entire thing.

When it was completely dry I used a generous amount of Gorilla Glue to Glue the 2 together. Then of course I had to make some cupcakes to display my little work of art!!!! Recipe HERE!!!!

Baby food bins....

2010-06-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

These little plastic baby food bins make me so happy....they make the perfect storing solution for scrap-booking embellishments and buttons. They are clear so it's easy to see whats inside. They easily snap shut and are sturdy. You could even take them a step further and glue some thin magnet thingamajigs on the bottom to use on a magnetic board. LOVE em!!!

Renewed passion for an old love....

2010-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

The last time I remember trying to sketch a person was when I was doodeling Neal's face all over my notebooks. It's been a while but I forgot how awesome it made me feel.

Today our house was a mess my kids were crabby and I was feeling blue.....

As I was putting away toys and then folding laundry and changing leaky diapers I realized how much I do for those around me.....

Don't get me wrong I love being a mom and a wife and I would not trade it in for anything in the world and I actually do not mind cleaning up messes and dirty diapers BUT.......

sometimes we all deserve to be a little selfish and today I rekindled a passion for an old LOVE and things might just never be the same again!!!!

Plane

2010-02-17T17:43:00.001-08:00

Duckies

2010-02-17T17:42:00.002-08:00

Lion

2010-02-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

Boat

2010-02-17T17:40:00.000-08:00