Category Archives: crafts

DIY DOOR MONSTER DECORATION FOR HALLOWEEN

Posted on by

0

Hi everybody! I hope you guys are well.  I had a great surprise for my daughters yesterday.  While my oldest was at school and my youngest was taking her nap, I had time to decorate the door in our living room for Halloween.

Inspired by a pin on www.pinterest.com,

I made our own door monster.

I know he’s supposed to be scary, but I think he’s adorable.  I used blue and white party streamers for the hair, eyebrows and mouth, two disposable plates and a sharpie marker for the eyes, and tape to hold everything up.  I might add some red to our monster so he can be a Giants fan just like us!

When my daughters saw this, my oldest couldn’t stop smiling and my youngest, who’s such a character already at just 2 years old, turned around and ran screaming.  She was pretending to be scared! 🙂 She came back smiling and couldn’t stop looking at the door.  This was a quick, easy and fun decoration to do.

This morning, as my youngest was staring at the door again, I told her  “We should give him a name.”

She replied, “Monster.”

Good enough for me!

Take care all.  Until next time…

DIY PAPER HEART GARLAND

Posted on by

1

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I wanted to show you another pin from, you guess it, www.pinterest.com, in which I used to make a paper heart garland as part of my anniversary centerpieces.  I absolutely loved this paper idea and I knew I was going to incorporate it one way or another.  Plus I had fun doing this project.

Pin with instructions (Thank you to the creator of this)

My version using turquoise and gold speckled cardstock. I used my Cricut paper trimmer and a paper clip to close the hearts into a circle.

              I made 9 hearts in turquoise and 2 in gold, symbolizing a total of 11 years happily married and the 2 gold hearts for my daughters. 🙂

Take care all.  Until next time…

DIY Banners

Posted on by

0

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Today I would like to share a project with you that has endless possibilities.  I love using banners to decorate, especially for birthdays and holidays.  You can always buy pre-made ones, but I like making my own so I can personalize them specifically.  Using the shapes application on Microsoft Word, I start with a triangle shape, and make it as big as I want.  Then, regarding the theme, I look for clip art online and I copy and paste onto the middle of the triangle.  I enlarge and flip around the images to my desire and then I print on white cardstock.

To make things easier and less time consuming, I use my Cricut paper trimmer to cut out my triangles.  Then I simply punch out little holes at the top corners of the triangle and using any string, I like twine, join the triangles together and you’ll have a one of a kind banner.  I like to use painter’s tape (the blue one) to put up my banners because they’re temporary (the banners) and the tape doesn’t mess up the paint on the wall once you take it off.  I usually put it on the back of the first, middle, and last triangles.

I made this banner for my daughter’s 2nd birthday.  The theme was the cartoon from Nickelodeon, Team Umizoomi.  I went to their official website, http://www.nickjr.com, to get some ideas and found a lot of printable material for birthdays including a square banner and a poster, which was awesome.  I couldn’t copy and paste the characters on that website, so I went to AOL search and found a bunch of clip art, which I used on my pennant banner.  On the picture tool bar, I re-colored the images using the color mode to fade the pictures so the letters would pop out more, but you can still see the image of the characters in the background.  There’s really nothing available in stores with this theme, which boggles my mind because kids are absolutely crazy for this cartoon and it’s been on the air for years now, just saying.

I recently did this banner the same way as above.  I found the clip art on AOL search and you can download these cute bats, along with a couple of pennant flags, here:  http://partyplanningcenter.blogspot.com/2011/09/halloween-banners.html

I used black ribbon to bring everything together and hung it up outside my door.  I hope you like this idea.  Of course you can make the banner using squares, circles, etc.  Like I said before, endless possibilities! 🙂

Take care all.  Until next time…

DIY Word Girl and Captain Huggy Face Costume Halloween 2011

Posted on by

8

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I’m posting this early just in case someone wants an idea on how to make a Word Girl costume for their child.  Last year we asked our daughter, “What do you want to be for Halloween?”  She said, “Word Girl!”  At the time, she had discovered this cartoon character featured on channel 13 (PBS Kids), and that’s what she wanted to be.  I searched for costumes online and found some that were made already, but their biggest size was a 4T and I usually like to buy a size bigger for my daughter.  I also found pictures of DIY Word Girl costumes and I thought, “Well, if they did it.  Why can’t we?”   

Here’s the clip art I used for inspiration and to make sure we had everything covered:

This is Word Girl and her trusty sidekick, Captain Huggy Face as seen on channel 13 (PBS Kids)

            

My daughter, Olivia, as Word Girl with her trusty sidekick Captain Huggy Face 🙂

Here’s the breakdown:

Red long sleeve turtleneck – Old Navy (I couldn’t find a crew neck shirt, but since it was chilly outside the turtleneck was ok)

Red leggings – K-Mart

Shiny, yellow fabric – Lady Jane craft store (absolutely PERFECT for the cape, cut to size and we used a button for closure)

Plush monkey – www.toysrus.com

Red, yellow, and blue felt, yellow and brown craft foam, black pipe cleaner, and white pom-pom ball – A. C. Moore

Black boots – Already had

Between my husband and me, he sews the neatest and is not afraid to tackle something new so he made both CAPS using red felt.  He didn’t use a template or pattern.  Just measured my daughter’s head, cut the felt, and sewed it up!

I used the yellow felt and a template to cut out the STAR and my husband sewed it unto the shirt.

I made the BELTS with the craft foam and used Velcro with double-sided tape to open and close.

I made Captain Huggy Face’s pants and shirt.  I didn’t use a pattern or template.  Just sort of measured the felt on the monkey’s body and started sewing away.  Unfortunately, this method resulted in the shirt coming out really small, but lucky for me stuff toys can be squished.  I squeezed him into that shirt because I wasn’t going to make another one.

For the antennae on the monkey’s cap, we used a black pipe cleaner and affixed a small, white pom-pom ball on top.

I was trying to find some red or burgundy leg warmers to put over my daughter’s black boots, but I couldn’t find any.

I was a little worried that people wouldn’t know who she was dressed up as, but I was worrying for no reason.  After they came back from trick or treating, my husband told me that every kid who saw her shouted, “Word Girl!” and my daughter couldn’t stop smiling.  There were even mothers asking, “Where did you get the costume?” at which my husband proudly proclaimed, “We made it ourselves!” 🙂 We had a great time putting this costume together and my daughter’s face, every time another piece came together and she saw herself transforming into Word Girl, was very enjoyable.

   

We also went to a Halloween party a few days before and my husband and I dressed up as pirates, which we bought at Party City.  I had to make some alterations to my costume because the skirt was too long so I shortened it and the sleeves were too wide so I took them in.  My youngest was a daisy flower, but she fussed nonstop with her costume.

For this year, I’m not too sure if we’re dressing up.  I’m still thinking about that.  I’m looking for something simple for my youngest.  As for my oldest daughter, the costume has been store bought already because she wants to be…stay tuned! 🙂

Take care all.  Until next time…

DIY Paper Gift Bows

Posted on by

6

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Did I ever mention that I love Pinterest?  Oh I did, well I’m going to declare my love for this website (www.pinterest.com) once again because it’s ABSOLUTELY wonderful.

When I saw this pin for magazine gift bows, I thought, “Oh my gosh, I have to try this because if it works, I will never buy a gift bow again!”  Guess what?

                   

It worked!  “I am never buying another gift bow again!”

I used a magazine page, turquoise cardstock, and the instructions from the pin above to make these pretty bows.  I have to admit that I was so giddy after I made them.  I know I’m a dork, but a very happy one.  🙂  So go ahead and follow these instructions (thank you very much to whoever made them) and make a gift bow yourself.  It’ll put a smile on your face and keep your hard-earned money in your wallet (every penny counts).  You’ll be showing some talent, making a gift pretty, and recycling.  A win, win situation.  Happy bow making!

Take good care all. Until next time…

DIY matching envelopes for greeting cards

Posted on by

2

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I wanted to share this little idea I had with you.  Every time I want to send a small greeting card to a family member or friend, I 95% of the time include a picture with my message, but the accompanying envelope is usually too small to accommodate the picture, so instead what I do is make my own envelope.

I received a cool set of blank cards from my cousin and I wanted to make matching envelopes so I scanned the front of the greeting card and saved the image, opened my word document with my saved envelope template (AOL search or Google), inserted and fixed the image to fit properly in the middle, and printed it out.

All you have to do is cut out your envelope, fold and glue it up.  For this design, because it had a dark background, I inserted white rectangles, while in word document, so you can see the address part as well as the stamp.  I prefer clear address labels, but you can use white labels to make the boxes as well.  You always want the post office to be able to see your mailing information clearly.  I hope you guys like this idea.  It does have endless possibilities.

Take care all.  Until next time…

My little artist

Posted on by

0

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday night, my husband and I went to our first parent/teacher conference.  It was pretty exciting to see the classroom where my daughter goes to learn Monday through Friday.  It was bigger than I had imagined so that was impressive and reassuring.  Before we entered the classroom, our daughter showed us her artwork displayed on the bulletin board that was titled, “Our Summer.”

I had provided her teacher with some pictures of our vacation to Massachusetts and my daughter drew a picture of us in our rental house and wrote down that she went on vacation during the summer.  I’m one proud mama! 🙂

My daughter has been practicing writing way before she started school.  Sometimes it’s a task for her, but when it comes to arts and crafts, she’s all smiles.  The other day she took a piece of paper and her scissors and started cutting away.  She was in the zone!  When she finished, I was so proud of my little artist that I took a small, forgotten frame and gave it a makeover to display my daughter’s new artwork.  I’ve had this frame for a long time, even before my first child, and back then I decided to paint over the original color.  I was new to arts and crafts so my attempt to redesign was amateurish.  I like to believe that I know a heck of a lot more now when it comes to crafting so my frame got a new paint job.  For some UNKNOWN reason (maybe a brain fart, I don’t know), I absolutely forgot to take a before pic.  😦  Maybe subconsciously, I didn’t want anyone to see how ugly the frame was before, but here it is now:

 

How awesome and fitting are the apples on this frame?  I gave it about four coats of Anita’s All Purpose Acrylic True Red (#11003) paint, used FolkArt Varnish Gloss (882) to make it shine, and for the panel inside the frame, I couldn’t wait to use the Americana Chalkboard paint, which as you can see, it worked!  I wrote, Mami and Olivia, because my daughter told me that she made us.  She cut out little pieces of paper, then glued them together, and drew what she wanted.  When she saw the frame with her work, her humongous smile was so heart warming.  Now, I’m making it my mission to have markers, crayons, scissors, glue, pencils, etc. easily available for her so her imagination and creativity can soar from her mind onto paper for everyone to see.

Just like this other piece, made with markers.

Take care all.  Until next time…

DIY fabric covered wooden letters

Posted on by

2

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well.  I wanted to share with you my second project that I did this past Friday.

I’ve had this letter A and this pink toile fabric for a long time now.  I love this fabric so much that I decided to use it to decorate the letter A, which is my first initial.  I’ve never done this project before so I just did it my way and took pictures highlighting each step that I thought was helpful.  Basically, it’s like wrapping a present and using glue instead of tape.

Here’s what I did:

Using a ruler I outlined the letter (I didn’t trace it) on the front of the fabric because I needed more fabric for the sides and I wanted to see exactly what part was going to show.  I also used a vanishing marker.

I used my rotary cutter and mat.

This time I traced the letter on the other side of the fabric so I could know exactly where to place it down once I applied the glue to the letter.

I glued the letter down and these were my tools.  I used my x-acto knife, sharp scissors, a ruler (borrowed from my daughter :)), vanishing marker, glue, and a Q-tip (the top of my glue was broken so I used a Q-tip to apply the glue onto the front and sides of the letter).

Using my ruler, I started marking where I would cut and glue the fabric.  The process was like wrapping a gift.

As you can see in the pic above I lost some of the fabric due to the curve of the letter A so I just took a small piece of fabric and glued it onto the spot and then covered the side with the rest of the fabric already there.

Working my way around…progress.

For the little hole in the letter A, I used my x-acto knife and made a cut in the form of a cross all the way to the edge and glued the fabric.  At the bottom of the A, I used my sharp scissors and made cuts at the corners and glued the fabric as neatly as I could.  As you can see, there are some parts that are not covered.

Just take a scrap piece of fabric, make sure that it covers the area well and glue it on.  Now you’re covered!

Same process and…

…I’m done!  I love, love, love my fabric covered wooden letter.  After taking this picture so you guys can see it,  I placed it on my dresser and it looks fabulous.  I’m so happy with the result.  Now, I have a great gift idea and more arts and crafts to do for the future. 🙂

I hope you like this crafty idea.

Take care all.  Until next time…

A set of keys

Posted on by

0

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday I decided to do some arts and crafts.  It’s been awhile and I was simply in the mood, plus my daughter was taking her nap.  It doesn’t get any better than that, unless you’re taking a nap as well, but I was never good at that so crafting it is.  My first project involved a set of brass decorative keys and paint.  I have been wanting to do this for a long time now so what better time than the present.

Here’s what I did:

I purchased this lovely set of keys from a catalog, Terry’s Village, a long time ago.  You can check out their website for great, inexpensive home decor at terrysvillage.com.

Got my paint and brush ready.  I chose a baby blue, but I’ve had this bottle for a while now so I was scared that the paint inside was bad, but a good shake revealed that all was good.

I wanted some of the brass to show so I didn’t paint the key completely.  I let each key dry and then I painted the ring that held them together.

I love my new set of keys.  I love the blue shade and the brass gives it an antique look.  The painting process was actually quite calming, especially when there’s a two-year old napping away peacefully.  🙂

Take care all.  Until next time…

DIY project with iron on transfer, a great picture and a tote bag

Posted on by

0

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well.  Today I want to share with you a project that I love to make and give as a gift.  I love to add an unexpected and personal touch to a gift that actually comes from the person the gift is intended for.

For example:

My wonderful cousin, Janice, is an amateur photographer and she currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama.  Needless to say, I MISS HER GREATLY!  One day while driving, she spotted a gorgeous, enormous tree.  The sun was illuminating it perfectly.  A scene like that, you got to act fast if you want to capture it for life.  So she quickly pulled to the side of the road, got her trusty camera, and took several shots.

Ninety-five percent of the time when I receive a letter or greeting card from my cuz, there’s a picture or more inside.  Who’s the subject of the picture?  That’s the exciting part.  It’s always different.  It could be a funny picture of one of her cats, a butterfly outside her window, art displayed on the sidewalk in the city, a waterfall, horses, etc.  We love corresponding through snail mail because it’s so much more personal and it’s our special thing.  When I received a copy of her magnificent tree, it spoke volumes on how good of an eye she has and how talented she is with her camera.  This picture needed to be displayed, for her, but where?

Here’s the pic:

I love using iron on transfers, especially on t-shirts, but I wanted to use something different.  At A.C. Moore craft store, I stumbled upon cotton tote bags.  They were like blank canvases that you could decorate, but instead of hanging them on the wall, you could carry your masterpiece for all the world to see.  You could wear a t-shirt for a day, but you can carry your bag almost every day. 🙂

After scanning the picture on my printer, I inserted the pic into a word document and copy and pasted my cousin’s signature at the bottom of the pic.  This, I felt, added an extra personal touch.  I saved my project and printed it out on iron on transfer paper (tip: always remember to read the instructions on how to print your image on the transfer paper).

Once I had the image ready, I got my iron, a pillowcase, and a piece of wood that’s big enough to lay your project down.  Lay your pillowcase down on the piece of wood, iron out any wrinkles so you can have a smooth surface, and do the same for the tote bag.  Position your transfer where you want it to be and iron away.  Give it time to cool and then peel away the backing of the paper.

Here’s my project completed:

I was so happy with this bag that I almost kept it, but I didn’t because I knew it would bring so much joy to my cousin.  I filled the bag with the rest of her Christmas presents and when she received it, she was so happy and couldn’t wait to use her new tote bag.

I hope this idea inspires you to make many different and personal projects either to keep or to give.  Until next time…