Crocheted Edge Baby Burp Cloths

A while back, I visited a friend and she showed me a cute burp cloth she was crocheting.  She had actually done several and had them tucked away for new baby gifts.  One of the stitches was this X and O stitch.

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Watermelon Kitchen Scrubbie

So this is another version of the kitchen flower scrubbie I made a while back.  Although this is the same pattern, it turned out completely different so I had to re-post it.  I used a red nylon scrubber, some green and white yarn and a little black thread for the seeds and turned it into a watermelon! 

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Mod Podge Crayon Box

I have been MIA for a little while.  We have been spending time with visiting family from out-of-town and then the long holiday weekend took up more time, so I haven't been able to play with my crafts and blog too much.  But the holiday weekend is over, I'm pretty sad about that, and everyone has moved on to their next destination so now I'm back.  Posted below is my latest project.  :)

I made these little boxes for my granddaughters.  Although I made one for each of the girls to use however they wished, these could be used for anything--i.e.: hair barrettes, small toys, stationary, mail or, as I labeled my last box--crayons.  You name it...these boxes could probably hold it.

I found the unfinished wooden boxes at my local craft store.  They came as a set of three nested inside each other.  I took one look at them and decided they would be perfect for a Mod Podge project.  I love playing with Mod Podge, paper and paint.  You can do so much with it.

The items I used:
Paper (of your choice)
Paint (to match)
Mod Podge
Ribbon
Decorations
Cricut machine
Scissors
Hot glue
Pencil
Paint brush

1. Paint the inside bottom of the box and allow to dry. 
2. Paint the bottom outside of the box and allow to dry. 
3. Using my Cricut machine, I cut the paper to the size needed for the outside pieces.  That way I made sure I had correct sizes and straight lines.  My boxes had holes on each side for handles that I needed to also cut out. 
4. Mod Podge the paper onto the sides of the boxes.  Once dry, you can embellish them in any way you wish.

I cut names out with my Cricut in coordinating paper, and then I sponged those letters with the paint I used for the bottom of the each box.  Just to enhance the edges of the letters and make them pop off the paper a little.  The crayon box turned out the best.  I forgot to do the letters for the blue box and you can definitely see a difference there.

After gluing the words/names to the front of the box, I used some hot glue and tacked ribbon around the top edge to finish it off.  I also applied some cute little matching flowers. So what do you think?

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Pumpkin Door Hanger

My niece Jen and her daughter created this one.  They were not able to join us so they did their pumpkins on their own.

Saturday was our "family craft day", which I'm very much enjoying.  This month, we all made our own individual pumpkin door hanger.  My dear, sweet hubby cut them out of wood for us.  As you can see, each one came away with it's own personality.  It was a lot of fun.

Supplies needed:
wood
wire (for the hanger)
hot glue gun
scissors
buttons--variety
orange paint
white paint
sand paper
paint brushes
raffia
fall flowers
ribbon (Halloween colors and/or variety)

Cut the pumpkin shape and nose piece from wood. 

Paint all the pieces.  I wanted to make my nose look like a piece of candy corn, but when I opened my yellow paint it was dry.  :(    So, we just did variegated oranges. 

My sister's pumpkin

After the paint dries, sand to make it look a little distressed.  My daughter took her's to the garage and also beat it with a hammer (but be careful not to break it!)  ;)

Hot glue your eyes and nose in place.  Sam gave her's rosy cheeks. 

My niece Sam's pumpkin

Add the handle and some ribbon, flowers, etc.  

This is my sister, Paula's pumpkin.



This is one my niece, Tiffany and her three-year-old daughter, Chloe made.



This is another one Jen and her daughter made.

My daughter, Courtney's pumpkin, mine, and my d-i-l, Amber's pumpkin

Some placed their noses upside down, which I thought looked much cuter.  Courtney added eyeshadow to her's (a row of colorful buttons above her eyes).  We all had fun designing our pumpkins.

I will try to add the pattern but it is a little big for my scanner, so I have to scale it down first.

pumpkin pattern

Remember this is scaled down, so you will have to size it up a little bit in order to get it back to the size we used.  Have fun creating your pumpkin faces!

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Ribbon Flowers

I found this fun creative project on the Drab to Fab web site.  You can find the instructions here: Fabulous Accesories. They were so fun and easy to make.  I did make a change.  Instead of material, I used ribbon.  Not that I don't have material to use, I have a wider selection of ribbon.

SUPPLIES:
Ribbon
Felt
Hot glue gun
Embellishments
Various seed beads to make necklace

You can use these flowers as various accessories.  On a necklace as I did.  Attached to a headband.  Pinned to a T-shirt. Use your imagination!

Cute necklace!

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Mod Podge Halloween Lanterns

Several years ago, my aunt made this cute pumpkin lantern for me.  She filled it with a fun candied popcorn that uses kool-aid in the recipe.  I'l try to remember to dig out that recipe later, make a batch and post it.  Anyway, I love this little lantern.  I put it out every year,it's one of my favorite decorations.  This year I decided he needed some friends, so I attempted to make:

 Frankenstein,

a witch

and a ghost to join him.

Supplies I used: 

Mod Podge
colored tissue paper
empty jar
brush (to apply the Mod Podge)
sponge (for Frankenstein's bolts)
hot glue gun & glue
wire for the handle
tea light candle
black sharpie (to color Frankenstein's bolts and draw stitches)


Cut out a face for your character and decide your placement prior to beginning project.  Mod Podge the top of your jar (green for your pumpkin stem, black for your witch's hat, etc.) and then begin to Mod Podge the characters strips down the jar.  Mod Podge the face in the place and allow to dry.  Twist the wire around the jar and up over the top to fashion a handle.  Drop a tea light candle down inside and voila!  A darling Halloween lantern.

My daughter and I decided to get all the women in our family together once a month (or so) for a craft day. For our first get together, we made these Halloween lanterns.  Here are a few pictures from our day together.

My niece, Sam, and her one-eyed Cyclops.

My D-I-L Amber, making Jack for her Halloween obsessed two-year-old.  :)

The cheesy poser, Courtney.

My big sis forbid me to post her picture.  :)  My mom, her twin sister, and my M-I-L also joined us. 

A collection of the day's lanterns.

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Mod Podge Storage Cans

My newest Mod Podge creation.  Storage cans for my paint brushes, pens, scissors, and assorted tools.  These items were already being stored in jars and cans, but they were just plain old jars and cans.  I decided my craft closet need some sprucing up and out came the Mod Podge and tissue paper.  Isn't Mod Podge just the greatest stuff?

My supplies:
Mod Podge
variety of tissue papers & homemade or recycled papers (papers that give the deckle-edge when torn)
variety of ribbons, raffia, embellishments
hot glue gun & glue sticks
scissors

Mod Podge the tissue paper to the can and allow to dry.

Decorate!

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Necklace and earrings

This is the newest necklace and earrings set I have created.  I'm happy with the necklace.  I really like the way it turned out, but I'm still up in the air about the earrings.  

The supplies I used:

Various beads (your choice)
Fishing line
Clasps/closures in metal to match your project
Earrings hooks
Jewelry tools

Just getting started here.  I decided to use very small seed beads and with the limited time that I had to spend on this project (when I actually turned my attention to it), it took some time to string all of these tiny beads on this necklace.

Total three strands of beads.  Each strand is
different with a variety of other beads.

  The finished piece has the three strands of beads twisted together and
the main focal piece dangling from a circle of bronze seed beads.

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Mod Podge gift box

I going to let everyone in on a secret about me.  I love boxes.  I'm addicted to them.  All shapes and sizes.  I save them for all kinds of projects, gifts, whatever strikes my fancy.  And once I have them in my possession I hate to let them go.  Believe me, you can do so much with just an plain, ordinary box.  With just a little Mod Podge, the right tissue paper, some cute embellishments and a little imagination you could turn a plain brown box into a child's secret box.  A box where he/she can hide away all of their most prized treasures.

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Jewelry making

I have been wanting to learn how to make jewelry for a while now.  Every time I visit one or more of our local craft stores I have been drawn to the beading section.  I would look at the colorful beads and all of the clasps and earring hooks, but honestly I didn't have the first idea where to start.  Every time, I would wander away empty-handed.

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Easy Homemade Lollipops

Easy homemade lollipops

Before my daughter was born (she is 27 years old) my grandmother gave all her daughters and granddaughters a wooden lollipop tree.  Unfortunately, mine is packed away with our holiday items and my husband did not have time to find the box it was buried in for this blog post.  I remember my grandmother was always cooking, baking, quilting, crocheting--generally doing "crafty" things.  She was always busy with some activity and enjoyed seeing her grandchildren stay active also.  I was still living at home, when she gave me my lollipop tree.  My mom went out and bought the round lollipop mold and supplies and we went to work on our first batch of lollipops.  It was so much fun, I made lollipops and decorated my tree for every holiday.  I seldom decorate it anymore, but occasionally I still make homemade lollipops.  They are very easy and fun.

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Kilim Throw

While my husband was out of town last week, I visited the craft store trying to find myself a new project to keep busy.  The throw on the front of this book of afghans, Vanna's Choice--Color it Beautiful Afghans, caught my eye, so of course I had to make it.  It uses a lot of yarn, however, I didn't use as much yarn as the pattern called for, but I didn't follow the pattern in the book.  It's very thick and heavy and will make a nice cover during the colder months.  Each row is two colors of yarn, giving it a variegated look.  I made the afghan in a basic ripple.  The pattern I used is below.

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Decorative Tile Art Project

For Christmas last year, my daughter-in-law, Amber, gave me a tile with a phrase in vinyl letters place on it.  Very cute!  When my daughter bought her new home, Amber went to work on one for her (shown above).  I asked her to take pictures and write up the instructions as she went.  This is what she said:

The good thing about this project for me at least, is having a connection in the tile business. It's fun to choose the tile you'll be working with. I usually try to match it to colors already being used in the decor of the recipient. My FAVORITE part is choosing the saying that will go on the tile.  A good web site for a variety of expressions: Vinyl Letter Decor Then you choose the vinyl. There are so many colors. When I picked up the chocolate vinyl I also saw hot pink, blue, yellow, white and black.

I used my Cricut machine to cut the vinyl with the George font and Basic shapes cartridge. I measure the tile and divide it up using tape as a guide so I can get the lettering as straight as possible.  After measuring the tile, then I cut the letters.  You can place the lettering anyway you please.

After they are placed to your liking you press down on the vinyl making it stick to the tile. This is a really simple and cute project! So fun and makes great gifts.

Supplies used:

Cricut machine 










George font and basic shapes cartridge

Cricut brand vinyl

Tile

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