It's Not Too Late!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid was making our gingerbread house each year with my mom and brother.  This is the third year I have made one with my kids, and although Christmas is just days away, it's not too late to make one!  

1.  Assemble your supplies:

Easy gingerbread:

2 3/4 C flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

2/3 C molasses

1/3 C brown sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 C oil

1 egg

Mix, roll out with a rolling pin, use some paper templates to make a front, back, two sides, and two roof pieces... here's where you can get as creative as your little heart desires :)

Bake pieces at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes

Easy Royal Icing:

3 egg whites at room temperature

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 lb. powdered sugar

use a mixer to really fluff it up, use icing bags with a simple decorator's tip to apply it to gingerbread (if you don't have these, a thick Ziploc with a tiny hole cut in the corner will work)... and although this icing is technically edible, it dries rock hard... perfect for gingerbread house glue!

2.  Assemble some adorable helpers

3.  Use the glue to stick on whatever candy you have... a great way to use up Halloween or Christmas party candy!

4.  Glue the pieces of the house together with the icing, and enjoy the finished house as part of your decor for a few days... and if your kids are anything like my brother and I were as kids, they'll enjoy prying off the stale candy after Christmas.  Man, kids will eat almost anything.

Frosty {Ornament}

{This is an oldie, but a goodie.  I posted this quick and easy tutorial last year. If you're in a scramble for an adorable gift, this is quick, and so so cute!}

So if you're like 95% of America... you are in the process of switching over all of your household light bulbs to the new energy efficient CFL variety (if you're not... you should!). At our house, as the old energy guzzlers burn out, we replace with the new and improved. Well, this week the last of our bulbs finally kicked the bucket and that left me with supplies for this adorable little ornament, which will soon be sent off to live at Goofball's teachers' houses. Although, they are just so cute, I think I'll make an extra one for our tree, I just love snowmen!

To get started:

1) Gather these supplies: an old lightbulb, various shades of acrylic paint (white is a must, but the other colors are up to you), some iridescent glitter, modge podge (although this isn't mandatory as I discovered today), fabric scraps, tiny bit of orange felt, sponge brush

2) Paint a thin-ish coat of white paint on the bulb part only (leaving the top silver for now), and sprinkle on the glitter while the paint is still wet (this saves you a step and eliminates the need for modge podge). I found that sticking the silver end in the playdough freed up my hands while it dried.

3) Dab some dark paint for the coal eyes, mouth, buttons, add the tiny orange felt triangle (I used a hot glue gun)

4) Add a scrap of fabric for the scarf, add some detail by cutting some fringe in the ends, hot glue that baby on...

5) Paint the silvery top a color of your choice, wrap some ribbon around the the top, and you've got yourself one darling little snowman ornament... doesn't it feel great to be crafty AND green :)

Fun With Felt {Garland}

I love felt.  It is cheap and easy to use, and I love color.  Here are a couple of easy ideas for some festive felt garland.  All you need are some basic sewing skills, a few pieces of felt, and a night or two in front of  your favorite movie.

{Felt Garland #1}  

Materials:
  *  felt in your favorite shade (or shades), I choose glitter white
  *  a sewing machine, or if you don't have one or are feeling super ambitious, a needle and thread
  *  a couple paper template in two different shapes, pictured are a circle and diamond, duh

Step 1:  Cut out a plethora of the two shapes.  Mine are about one inch each.  I used four 8"x10" sheets of felt, which yielded about 20 feet of garland (more than I needed)

Step 2:  Sit down at your machine and make one long continuous stitch through the middle of the alternating pattern of shapes

Step 3:  Decide where to hang the hand-crafted lovliness.  I hung mine in the opening between our kitchen and playroom, where I will hang all the Christmas cards we get in the mail.  Done and done.

{Felt Garland #2}

Materials Needed:
  *  Felt in a multitude of  fun colors, the more the merrier
  *  Embroidery floss in just as many fun colors

Step 1:  Using a paper template (I traced the top of a mini-playdough container), cut out a bazillion circles

Step 2:  Sandwich two of the same color circles together and sew together using your choice of thread colors using a blanket stitch (use {THIS} tutorial to figure what in the world a blanket stitch is, and how to do it)

Step 3:  Use a long needle, with tape over the tip so it is blunt, not sharp... string emboidery floss through the middle of each felt sandwich to create the length of garland your heart desires. 

I love the look of this garland because it reminds me of candy, and I do love me some sugar.

 

ABC's- A Collection

I finally finished a project that has been on my to-do list for quite some time.  Months.  I stumbled across several variations of this around and fell in love.

I have quite the soft spot for unique typography, and thought this idea would be perfect for a huge, empty wall in Buddy Boy's room.  So, the hunt was on for letters on the cheap.  I spent the past few months using my Michael's and Joann's 40-50% off coupons, browsing ebay, and even making a few of the letters, to complete the collection below.  After I had all 26 letters, I went to town modge podging, spray painting, and overhauling almost every letter, then practiced arranging them on the floor before committing to holes in the wall.

And here's the finished product!  I love it, and most importantly, so does the boy.  I wanted him to take some ownership in decorating his room, so he helped pick most of the colors, and even painted the "N" himself on a small canvas.  I took color inspiration from these things in his room, and went from there:

Most of the letters came from Michael's or Joann's, with the exception of a few cool finds:
H:  made from a ripped children's book and a file folder, I just cut out rectangles and assembled a 3D letter with my hot glue gun

I:  an old wooden ruler

K:  a reflective letter from a highway sign, found on ebay for $7.00

P:  wire letter from Pottery Barn Teen, on clearance for $5.00 plus free shipping... although these are long gone, *these* cute ones are on clearance!

T:  a letter from an old marque sign, $3.00 on ebay

&Z:  this antique school slate was given to me by Gary's Grandma, and I've been wanting to do something cool with it ever since... it was hers from childhood!

Back to School Teacher Gift

After teaching first, second, fourth, and fifth grades for a total of ten years (yikes... can I really be that old?!), I have received my fair share of teacher gifts. This one is one of my absolute favorites! I saved it with every intention of making my own to give Buddy Boy's teacher when he started Kindergarten. Well, the time has come. My baby boy starts Kindergarten next week. I thought I would share in case anyone else wants an awesome gift to so thanks to their child's teacher, or to celebrate the start of a new school year.

Pencil Can Vase

Supplies:
* A pack or two of pencils (super cheap right now with the back to school supplies)
* A coffee can (or other medium sized can)
* About a foot of school-ish ribbon
* Hot glue/hot glue gun

So Easy:
Just sharpen all of the pencils to the same length. Glue the pencils around the edge of the can with the points facing up. Tie a cute ribbon around the circumference. Add a bouquet of flowers. Brighten your teacher's day!




p.s. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below for a family or newborn photo session with Christina Hendrick Photography. Winner announced on August 10th!

Custom Bleach T-Shirts

Despite the horrid temperatures outside, we ventured to the patio to create our own custom bleach t-shirts. We were hot, sticky, and smelly by the time we were done, even though we were outside for a mere 15 minutes. So, enjoy our finished product, but go here for a beautiful picture tutorial on how to make your own. We altered the instructions a bit for our own purposes, choosing some clip art over initials, and I used contact paper instead of freezer paper.

This was such a fun project! I purchased Sweetpea's purple shirt on clearance at Target for $1.50, Buddy Boy's navy blue on clearance at Target for $2.00, and his gray one at the dollar store.


In the tutorial that I read, it had a disclaimer: "This requires very attentive adult supervision and responsible kids that are obedient and good listeners". And let's be honest... my little darlings didn't get the nickname "The Crazies" by accident. I had visions of The Crazies going squirt crazy on me, with bleach... the nightmare ending with a visit to the E.R. because of bleach in the eyes. But alas, they were very obedient, no one ended up maimed, and they loved their new t-shirts!

I was so inspired, that I finally tackled a task that has been on my to-do list for a year: tags for the toy bins! I used all scraps that I already owned, a turquoise blue linen leftover from a project my grandma made. After cleaning out the toy room, I divided the goods into new categories and made a tag for each bin. I used quite a hodgepodge of alphabet stickers, that incidentally made a cool ransom-note-ish effect, then sprayed with bleach. I sewed each piece onto a felt rectangle, and finally attached snaps to both the tag and the buckets. The tags are now interchangeable, and cost merely $5.00 each, the cost of the toy cubes at Ikea.

Easy ABC Art

I am so excited to be in the midst of making over Sweetpea's room. She just got her first big girl bed and it has inspired me to complete projects I have had on my "craft to-do" list for months (years?). The first is a quilt. I have purchased the most spectacularly adorable Amy Butler fabric, but have yet to actually start cutting. The second project is this super easy ABC Art for her wall. I was inspired by a similar project I saw in a scrapbook magazine a few years ago. The whole project cost me about $10.00 and I just love it, and more importantly, Sweetpea does too!

First, I gathered my supplies.
* a canvas, any size (I had this humongo one hanging around the house from a failed "fine art" attempt I made a few years ago, then spent some time in our family room covered in some cool fabric from Ikea, now on to it's new life as ABC Art...)

* Chipboard ABC's
* patterned paper of your choice

* pictures, trinkets, stickers, etc. for your ABC pictures

How To:

1) Paint the canvas (I used a bright pink acrylic)

2) Spray paint the chipboard letters (I used a turquoise blue, then distressed the edges with some sandpaper)

3) Cut 54 squares or rectangles in your choice of paper (a mix of stripes, polka dots, and flowers are my favorite combo)

4) Gather trinkets to pictorially represent each letter (some of my favorites are the owl sticker for "o", the picture of my girl for "m", an old key from my Grandma for "k", a zebra print ruffle for "z") If Sweetpea were older, I might have had her illustrate some of the items, kid art is so awesome and would really become a keepsake. This is the fun part!5) Arrange the letters and pictures and modge podge those suckers to the canvas

6) Done! A totally cool and unique to your family piece of kid room art!

Frosty

So if you're like 95% of America... you are in the process of switching over all of your household light bulbs to the new energy efficient CFL variety (if you're not... you should!). At our house, as the old energy guzzlers burn out, we replace with the new and improved. Well, this week the last of our bulbs finally kicked the bucket and that left me with supplies for this adorable little ornament, which will soon be sent off to live at Goofball's teachers' houses. Although, they are just so cute, I think I'll make an extra one for our tree, I just love snowmen!

To get started:
1) Gather these supplies: an old lightbulb, various shades of acrylic paint (white is a must, but the other colors are up to you), some iridescent glitter, modge podge (although this isn't mandatory as I discovered today), fabric scraps, tiny bit of orange felt, sponge brush
2) Paint a thin-ish coat of white paint on the bulb part only (leaving the top silver for now), and sprinkle on the glitter while the paint is still wet (this saves you a step and eliminates the need for modge podge). I found that sticking the silver end in the playdough freed up my hands while it dried.

3) Dab some dark paint for the coal eyes, mouth, buttons, add the tiny orange felt triangle (I used a hot glue gun)

4) Add a scrap of fabric for the scarf, add some detail by cutting some fringe in the ends, hot glue that baby on...

5) Paint the silvery top a color of your choice, wrap some ribbon around the the top, and you've got yourself one darling little snowman ornament... doesn't it feel great to be crafty AND green :)