mamasaysmine

I am in love with pretty much every project from this Halloween Party guide. The best part? All of the materials are available at your average thrift store, and the projects are all very no sew/low sew (for the sewing impaired, the sewing intimidated, or those, like me who are having a “difficult” relationship with their sewing machine lately).

The creator of all of these awesome projects also has a wonderful little blog that I find so inspiring - Wise Craft. Can I be her when I grow up? (note: it is entirely likely that she is much younger than me.)

Is there anything better than coming home (sick) from an out of town visit and finding a big box of craft stuff waiting for you?

My craft swap partner was Ms. Mik over at So Dazzling Blogs (run over and check out her templates!) and she sent all kinds of stuff… some that I’ve been wanting to try, some that my toddler has already stolen and some that I’ve already put to good use.  (what can I say - being sick makes me crafty) 

When a package comes with zebra tissue paper, you know the contents will be good. 

mmm… paper… 

tons of baby-themed die cuts, perfect for the tons of babies my friends are pregnant with these days 

stickers!  (successfully hidden from Hurricane Eva) 

tons of blank discs… I’m already dreaming up projects… 

the doo-dads pile.  lots of stuff I’ve been meaning to check out at the craft store anyway! 

stamps & purple ink (also successfully hidden from the toddler) 

this stuff, I sacrificed to Eva’s craft cabinet. 

SO excited about this - it’s a metal square!  I think I’ll put felt on one side, so it’s a felt board AND magnet board.    

Putting new supplies to good use! 

Sorry for the terrible photos - I’m having computer issues.  

Thanks to April at April Showers for coordinating the craft swap!  

Want to do a swap but don’t know where to start?  Check out Swap Dex for a list of current swaps! 

I love love love this idea.

April over at April Showers (seriously, check her out. she’s awesome) is organizing a Craft Swap. Got supplies you just haven’t used? You know you do.

Check out her post here for rules & details on how to enter. (it’s easy. and fun.) I’m already looking forward to seeing what comes in the mail! (and I can hear my husband cheering at the prospect of a little extra room) (just don’t tell him about the new stuff coming, ok?)

One of the hard things about being crafty can sometimes be the start-up expense.  

While I get vast amounts of joy from skulking around the craft store, not everyone finds that a soothing way to spend 20 minutes, and not everyone compulsively saves their 40% off coupon every week at Michaels. (really, if you use it on something that’s under $5, you’re building up a nice little craft stash…)

But I digress.

Here’s a fun little blog I’ve stumbled upon, written by a former art teacher - 4 Crazy Kings. I particularly enjoy this post about making crowns out of takeout coffee sleeves. Talk about saving money on supplies! If you used things like magazine cut-outs for the decorations, your only supplies would be glue and elastic. And coffee, but you’ve already taken care of that, right mamas?

I adore garlands.  They’re whimsical, festive and oh-so-easy to make.  The perfect crafty trifecta. 

As promised, here’s what to do with all of your leftover hearts from yesterday’s Valentine Wreath.  This project is just for you, mamas (unless you’re the mama of a kid who knows how to work a sewing machine).

Materials:

• Many, many paper hearts (how many?  depends on how long you want your garland to be) (I used about 200, but remember, I cut all these out watching one tv show, so don’t panic.)
• 1/4 inch wide ribbon (or wider.  whatever. )  (how long?  depends on how long you want your garland.  see?  this is totally self-directed!)
• Sewing machine (no sewing machine?  you could thread the ribbon through with an upholstery needle if you really wanted to.) (but I recommend getting a little Mini Sewing Machine - I had one when I was living in a teeny tiny apartment and it really made crafting easier.  plus, it’s like the Easy Bake Oven of sewing machines.)

Directions:

1. Sew hearts onto ribbon.  I sewed mine very close together, but you can stretch your resources by spacing them farther apart.
2. Hang and admire.

See how pretty?  

Here’s a craft for you mamas and kiddos.   Supplies needed:

• extra scrapbook paper (if you don’t have this laying around, you can use construction paper or even magazine pictures)
• heart stencil (if you’re not into free-range paper cutting) (plus, pencil & scissors for tracing & cutting)
• glue
• cardboard wreath (mine was $2 at Michael’s.  I think it’s 16 inches??) 
• 

Directions:

1. Cut out a ridiculous amount of hearts.  (I used a 10 year old Creative Memories tracing template, but if you don’t have one of those sitting around, click here and print out a heart stencil, size to your liking.)  I personally find cutting things out to be very relaxing and cut out enough hearts during an episode of House to make 6 kid wreaths plus a fabulous project I’ll share with you tomorrow.  I recommend cutting everything out before you sit down with your little person, as they can often glue faster than you can cut. 
2. Sit down with your little person and glue the hearts to the cardboard wreath.  Hurricane Eva is most into glue when I let her use the bottle.  This requires constant supervision but is the most fun too.
3. Date the back of your creation and display proudly.  (or gift to a grandparent - they love this stuff)

They say that in hard financial times, lipstick sales actually go up because women purchase “a little something” to dress up an outfit.  Well, I still haven’t mastered regular lipstick use (it just wears off and I am never satisfied with the color…I’ll probably be in Clinique’s Black Honey for the rest of my life, and that’s ok), but I think that earrings are the new lipstick.  They’re inexpensive, easy, and can change any outfit.  And, of course, etsy is the perfect place to find earrings (plus other fabulous things).

On to my Valentine’s Day Etsy guide for grownups!Perhaps my favorite jewelry shop on etsy is Mud and Mint (insert dreamy sigh).  I recently splurged on a truly fabulous necklace, but I recommend the gorgeous color pools earrings for your first purchase.  People have offered to buy these off my ears.  I refused. 

When I moved to Iowa, I left not only friends and family, but my favorite potter. I may have found a suitable replacement in JD Wolfe Pottery. This yummy heart dish belongs on my dresser holding earrings.

I think this Valentine Apron from Fashions and Findings might help me embrace my domestic diva side. I know the hubs finds aprons kind of sexy, too.

I love any flowers that won’t die on me, so Nesta Home’s Rose Garden fits the bill nicely.

Original art at affordable prices is darn hard to come by, but this sweet Dear Heart watercolor by Karen Faulkner Original Art is a nice addition (or a beginning!) to a collection.

Feeling more spicy than sweet? This Zombie Card by Tina Sea Monster is for you. (and how often do you get to buy things from a sea monster???)

Feel free to leave this page up so your significant other sees it. That’s what I’m going to do.

All photos are property of their respective etsy shops.

I’ve been hearing a lot of mama guilt out there related to Christmas.  Seriously, just because some people do hand-crafted activities with their children for every single day in Advent, doesn’t mean that you are a bad parent if you don’t.  Can we get that out of the way?

The only thing worse than the self-righteous crafter is doing a craft project you hate.  Trust me.  I’ve been involved in both.

I’ve confessed before that I am a crafty gal.  In fact, I’ve started a craft class for our buddies every week at my house.  Our friends get to do craft projects without dealing with it on their home turf and I get a weekly reminder to make sure the floor is swept.  Everybody wins.

So, if you haven’t handmade a photo album for each of your child’s grandparents, embroidered their handprints, or created a custom silhouette (all fabulous ideas, and all better accomplished in AUGUST, when you don’t also have to make 6 dozen cookies for tomorrow morning, ok?), fear not.  Here’s the project we made last week, and it’s guaranteed to add a touch of handmade-by-a-child sparkle to your holiday gifts.

GIFT TAGS!!  (fabulous, really)

Supplies:

• gift tags of some sort.  You can buy blank ones at a craft store (look in the card-making section) or make your own out of cardstock or (if you want to be SUPER GREEN) cereal boxes.  I got mine from a bank my dad works for -they were going to throw them away.  I ignored the neon colors because they were free.
• Rubber stamps.  (you could make your own out of potatoes, but I’m guessing that if that felt feasible at this point, you are on a level of prescription drugs only available on the internet, so look up instructions there)  I got mine at Michael’s in a set of 30 holiday themed stamps, on clearance for $6 and they came with two stamp pads.
• Ink.  I prefer washable (who doesn’t??), but the non-washable comes off pretty well too.
• Glue (stick or liquid, whichever you prefer)
• Glitter (I understand that not everyone has a secret stash of glitter.  But really, think about developing one.)  I like the super-fine glitter you find in the embossing area (often next to the stamping area) of the craft store.

Directions: 

Unleash your child/ren on the tags, stamps and glitter.  Provide as much supervision as you feel necessary.  (when we’re working with glue, I like to use traditional Elmer’s, squeeze some out on a paper plate, and use a paint brush or q-tip to spread.  It cuts down on the glue mess SOMEWHAT.)  (I’ll also add that pretty much all children and some adults need to be supervised when using glitter.  Sprinkle lightly, like sprinkling cheese on a pizza.)Lay flat to dry.  Lovingly address your gift tags to grandparents, aunts, uncles, the postal worker, whoever, with a note that the tag is handmade by your precious angel.  Who doesn’t love children’s art?

Sidenote: This project was especially fun for moms.  We helped the kids make elaborate tags for family members and then stamped and glittered away to our hearts content.  We really liked using the wet ink to adhere the glitter - this doesn’t work perfectly (you have a fair amount of glitter lost), but it’s pretty darn cool.