You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'creative' tag.
I just had to share this really cute tutorial I found today on SwirlyThoughts. She shows how to make padded envelopes using reclaimed materials.
It is such a wonderful idea. So many possibilities!
I came across this great utensil holder project made from paper bags, over at Machine d’amour.
All you need is a paper bag, some vinyl and a sewing machine. It is really quite simple. Check out her instructions here.
This would also work great with magazine pages and left over paper scraps.
I have some extra vinyl laying around, maybe the girls and I will make some pretty placemats for when it’s warm enough to eat outside again. :)
We are ready for Valentine’s Day!
Jade and I made some very cute Valentine Fortune Cookies for her to hand out in class. Each with a fortune and a chocolate heart. She insisted on adding lucky numbers, as it is not a real fortune cookie with out them. She had a hard time deciding between counting by 2’s or counting by 5’s. In the end she decided on using the date.
She also had to make a special Valentine for a secret pal in class. Her secret pal turned out to be a boy, so she tried to make it not girly.
Check out the how to we found here. The only changes we made were to use foam sheets instead of felt (a better texture), and hot glue as we had trouble with regular.
All and all, a really cute and simple project.
Hope your V-Day is a Happy one!!!
My little Jade came up to me after finishing her homework and asked when I would finally teach her how to sew. I have to admit I was a little surprised by her question, so I asked her what she had in mind. She answered by pointing out my knitting project, the crochet needles and my sewing machine. Then she went on to explain she wasn’t sure witch one would be best, she just wanted to learn something new.
As a mom, who could say no! Well my little Rain didn’t want to be left out. So we decided to go with the sewing machine as it seemed the easiest for both of them. We grabbed a bag of clothes that Rain had grown out of and started plotting.
After much talking and planning Rain decided to make a bag out of her strawberry shortcake shirt and Jade went for a doll out of an old dress.
Rain loved her project and it was a great one to start her on as it was very easy and fast. I sewed the bottom of the shirt and she went to work on cutting off the sleeves.
It turned out pretty cute and she has been putting everything in there since. I am so happy she likes it!!!
Jade’s project took a couple of days to finish, but she did a great job. First we measured out the skirt and used a piece of news paper for her to draw up a design for her doll. She made a few patterns before she found the one she liked.
After it was all cut and pinned, she got to sewing. Jade was really excited to use my machine. She had a blast, and did a great job. I hand sewed the eyes for her. She did the seams and the mouth.
Stuffing it was a really fun part for her. She wanted to make sure it was super soft and cuddly, so she kept hugging as she went, just to be sure.
All and all her doll turned out very cute. Jade is thrilled and has been telling everyone she sees that this is her favorite doll and she made it out of her old dress.
I think she is very proud.
So am I!
I found a craft very similar to this online, where they used 2 pouches to make a coin purse.
What you need: 
Capri Sun or similar, empty and clean (slice through the bottom to clean out.)
Velcro
Sewing Machine (unless you really want to do this by hand)
To start, sew velcro across the top on the back side of the pouch. Then add the other strip across the bottom on the front side.
Fold up the bottom. Sew around the edge and you are done. Easy!
I thought it would be neat to try and Decopodge on the back side of one. I used a piece of colored tissue paper from my daughter’s birthday present.
Just glue it onto the back. When it drys just sew it together.
I really like the way they turned out. Perfect for lunch money and spare change. They would also be cute to personilize. I am going to make one for my sisters gift card.
Happy Birthday m4m4b34r!!!!
Most of the paper that makes it way into my home ends up in the compost pile or the recycling bin. Lately I have been noticing how much we receive that is non-compostable. So with my efforts to try to reuse before recycle, and my love of crafting, I took a recent ad I received and tried to make something more useful out of it.
Since it is such a beautiful day I took my project outside. Making paper beads is relaxing and quite a bit time consuming. I really like the way they turned out though.
I like the ones that I used the hemp with the most. For the others, I used an elastic string on one and a salvaged clasp with string for the other. I would like to try ones with more color next time.
Here is a neat way to recycle your unused matchboxes.
I tried it the other day and it turned out pretty good. The picture I used was taken in 1921, I found it in a National Geographic.
Supplies:
Matchbox - with 12 matches
3 Incense sticks
Paper scraps
Exacto knife
Scissors
Decoupage Glue
Cut out paper to match the size of the box, leaving one side open to strike the matches on.
With the decoupage, glue your image onto the box using your knife to trim the edges.
While waiting for it to dry, cut the incense down to the size of the matches.
Scrape off one of the ends of each little incense stick. This provides better stability when they are in use.
When the box is dry use your knife to poke a hole in the top for the incense to stick in.
Fill the box with your mini incense and matches and you are ready to go.
Here is my new Vintage style portable incense holder.
