Bath "magnets!"

Sometimes it takes [more than] a little coaxing to get a 2-year-old into a bathtub. Other days, just the mention of a bubble bath sends my little guy racing up the stairs to the bathroom! :) Today was not one of those days...

In an attempt to at least coax him towards the bathtub, we started in my office, which is right next door to the bathroom. He LOVES my office because it's filled with an array of anything and everything in any color imaginable! I had picked up a big pack of craft foam at Michael's yesterday because I saw it on clearance and was excited to make Braden some bath "magnets!" (Craft foam sticks nicely to a bathtub or tiled wall when wet!)

For this project you'll need:
Craft foam in an assortment of colors
Scissors (and/or kid scissors)
and your imagination! :)

I cut out some seaweed, waves, and fishies, so Braden could make an ocean scene in the tub. Another sheet was made into a jigsaw puzzle that I drew Mike from Monsters, Inc. onto, which I thought was going to be the big hit. But the shapes he REALLY liked were the simple smiley face I cut out and the "clothes" I made for it. :) As it turned out, a lot of the shapes were interchangeable between the lady and the guy. The mustache doubled as hair, scarf for the lady's neck, sunglasses, a belt, pointy shoes.... The hat could be a handkerchief, a fanny pack, a big purse... The blue pants could also be the lady's leggings, her necklace could be a belt buckle for the guy...You get the idea. We were laughing so hard when we would discover a new way to use one of the pieces!!! He had so much fun!

 Next time he doesn't want a bath I am hoping I can remind him of the fun magnets we have waiting upstairs.  This kept him occupied in the tub for a solid 40 minutes, which was a great "break" for me!

Other thoughts I had for these "magnets" were a Mr./Mrs. Potato Head theme, alphabet letters, fruits and veggies with a basket or shopping cart...  Let the fun begin! :)

*This project can be made for under $1.00, which I think is WELL worth it if it makes Mommy's life even a little bit easier! :)

Happy Crafting!
- Diana

(I was worried about these getting mildewy if they were left all stuck together in the bathtub toy basket, so I spread them out on a big towel to dry out before storing them. Maybe that's ridiculous, but just a warning/suggestion in case the thought crossed any of your minds!)

Tweet

The Famous "Calm Jar"

You may have seen this "calm jar" floating around Pinterest lately.  It's by no means an original idea, so I, myself, and about half a million other people can't take credit for the "aha" moment some creative gal (or guy!) had when they thought of this wonderful little idea.  Actually, it's very basic and may seem almost juvenile... and technically, I'm pretty certain it's intended to entertain and/or calm down children, but, well...

I made this for me.

When my daughter is older and understands that the lid isn't supposed to come off, I'll let her in on this fun craft.  But for right now, this is just an experiment for mama.

I've seen that people are using it as a "time-out" method with their children.  They hand them the "calm jar" when they seem a little too rambunctious or have suddenly transformed into the Tasmanian Devil, and the kids apparently shake up this jar (sometimes to help get frustration out), and then they just watch the glitter sloooooooowly make its way to the bottom.  It takes a few minutes, so that gives them enough time to just breathe, relax, think more rationally, and just flat out calm the heck down.

Aaaaand this is why I made it for ME.  I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I need to put myself in a time out.  I'm an anxious person, sometimes a little stubborn, and I haven't mastered the art of not letting my emotions take over my reactions just yet... I have a lot of my own ways to clear my head normally, and they work very well, but I thought to myself, Why not add this calm jar into the mix, too?  So here I am, giving it a go.

If yelling out "Serenity nowww!" is no longer working for you, then by all means join me.  (Any Seinfeld fans know what I'm talking about.)  And if you have a child who needs a little calming every now and then, why not see if this helps... Maybe it will give you a little peace and quiet for about 5 minutes, huh?  :)

Supplies:
-Small jar or container with a (very tight sealing) lid
-warm to hot water
-2-3 small tubes of glitter glue
-A few tablespoons of fine colored glitter

Make sure your jar is very clean before you start.  First, add the warm or hot water.  The water needs to be warm enough that it can help break down the glue after you put it in. The glue is used to slow the time it takes the glitter to reach the bottom of the jar, but for goodness sakes, please don't add too much glue just to add more minutes to your calming time.  This will totally backfire my sweet desperate friends... The glitter will all be stuck up top unable to sink, and the kids will come running to you in frustration which defeats the entire purpose of the "calming experience."  ;)

On that note, add the tubes of glitter glue to the water.  I wanted to try different colors than I originally intended when I got out my supplies, so that is why yellow suddenly appears in the following photo.  I did end up using some of the green glue (probably half) and an entire tube of yellow, so technically I used 2.5 tubes of glue and it turned out just fine.

Give it all a nice stir to try to break it up a bit.  The glue won't mix in completely so don't worry about that.

Finally, dump in that glitter!!  It will settle on top, so you have to push it down a bit and stir it around.

That's it!  Now just get that lid in place and tighten, tighten, tighten!  I used a Ball jar, so the seal was as tight as can be... but I still got out the handy glue gun and did some touch ups just in case.

There you have it.  Of course, you can add in other things, too... Larger glitter pieces that come in shapes like stars or hearts, food coloring in the water, etc.  You can decorate the lid... whatever!  Go crazy, and have fun with it.

And when you're done, enjoy that wonderful gift of peace and quiet, my friends.

Happy crafting!

-Marybeth

Tweet

Spook-tacular wreath!

It's Halloween time!

Where did the summer go? It seems to have evaporated here in the McDermott household, but that's ok! I love the crisp Fall air, the changing leaves, and I love, love, love Halloween in our neighborhood.  I was looking forward to Halloween here since we decided to build our house in this community and I definitely have not been disappointed!  Everybody decorates for Halloween here with the same intensity as Christmas - and I am talking full-fledged, Chevy Chase, "Christmas Vacation" decorating! 

I am more into the fun, cute, whimsical Halloween stuff, not the scary stuff and spiders are about as creepy as I get (Yes, I am terrified of spiders, but I try to embrace my fears around this time of year and use them to decorate)!  I have been dying to dress Braden in this costume for Halloween since he was born and this year, I bought it! He is going to be the cutest spider on the block and served as my source of inspiration for this project. (I am big into themes, if any of you haven't noticed!)

So I buy this "squeeze food" for Braden and I have been saving (hoarding?) the caps since he started eating these.  Is anyone really surprised??? Sure, I could have just thrown them in the recycling bin, but isn't it more fun to come up with a project for them!? I will take this opportunity to answer for my husband, who is most likely holding his tongue ;) ...YES!  I kept mulling over in my head what I could possibly create from these colorful lids - car "wheels"?, "catterpillars?",   a colorful wreath? Then it hit me! Not just a wreath, but a HALLOWEEN wreath! Yes! 

Off to Michael's my little helper and I drove!

At first, I thought I would just use a styrofoam wreath and glue the caps all over it with some ribbon, then I found this!  A lightweight wood wreath form, which seemed like a better option for this project.  Next, Braden helped me pick out some pretty  ribbon, glittery wooden "BOO" letters, and some black pipe cleaners and we were all set!

I used the pipe cleaners to make the spider legs. I cut two of them in half, folded them over, threaded them through the bottom of the cap, then formed them into creepy spider legs.

1.

bottom of spider

2. 

top of spider

 3.

top of spider after the legs are formed

Kind of lay out your design a bit, so you have an idea where you are going to glue everything once you start. This will save you time once you start gluing!

When you've got all your pieces together and you're ready to start, plug in your glue gun to let it heat up, while you are cutting strips of ribbon (remember to cut the ribbon on a diagonal, to prevent fraying!).  

Then, just start gluing! Fold the strips of ribbon in half, and glue each one onto your wreath form. Next, glue your embellishments in place.  

(Just a tip: You might want to use a popsicle stick to press the items into place.  Somehow I always burn my fingers with the hot glue and this time was no exception! I even have a blister to prove it! :( ) 

I started my wreath by gluing the letters, to ensure there was enough space to spell my word.  Once you start gluing, it goes really fast.  I made mine in about an hour from start to finish.  

So, tah-dah!!! Here it is! I cannot wait to hang it on the front door!

Spook-tacular!!!

a little close-up of the detail

pre-glittered letters made this a breeze!

This tutorial can be applied to really any wreath for any occasion or season!  Show us what you made! :)

Happy Crafting!

~D.

Tweet

The Clipboard Chalkboard

Hello, everyone!

Please forgive my absence over the past few months... Life has been taking me down crazy lane as I've been dealing with my husband's current deployment while at the same time taking care of our 18 month old little girl alone.  Traveling had taken me towards family for a while, but at the same time separated me from my practically unlimited supply of craft goodies I have laying around in bins and boxes and closets and tables... (Hmmm... perhaps I need to go over Diana's post here one more time in order to get some organization in my home!)

... But I'm back!  Let's get crafting!

My daughter was introduced to my childhood chalkboard while visiting my parents a couple months ago.  She LOVED it.  Honest to goodness, we one day spent like 2 straight hours chalking away... And believe me. The fact that her attention was hooked on one thing for that long was huge!  She's not one to sit still for very long, watch TV, or even play with the same thing for more than 5-10 minutes at a time, let alone 2 straight hours!  That being said, I had to make her a chalkboard of her own!!

After racking my brain for a while, I decided to make her one using a clipboard so we could take it with us on our adventures.  At the same time, it could also be used just as a clipboard if we wanted to clip some paper to it for coloring.

For the basic project, you'll need some chalkboard paint and a clipboard (I'd recommend a cheap masonite one that you could get for about a dollar at office supply stores)...  Plastic ones won't work well because the surface is just a little too smooth for the paint to adhere to.

I happened to have chalkboard spray paint, so I used that for mine, but regular chalkboard paint would work equally as well... You'll just need a cheap foam brush to add to your supply list, too.

Make sure you cover the area you are working on, and then follow the directions on the container!  Easy as can be.  The hard part is waiting for it to dry, right?

Now if you want to just leave it as is, that's totally fine.  No judgement!  But, we all know I can't do that.  So here's what I did for mine...

Since I knew we'd be taking it out and about with us a lot to keep Nadia occupied in places where she can't, well... get into trouble... I decided I'd like to cushion the back just an itty bitty amount so it would feel a little better on her lap.

I grabbed some fabric I had lying around, and using my rotary cutter (obviously, you can just measure and use scissors if you don't have one of these!) I set the clipboard on top of the fabric and simply cut around it...

After I had it cut, it was time to get out the ever so handy glue gun!

I recommend gluing down small sections at a time for accuracy purposes.  My fabric was cut just a little larger than the clipboard, but I wanted the edges to line up nicely.  So I glued it down in 1 inch sections to keep everything in line.

After I had a couple edges glued down, I used two layers of thin felt to add a small amount of "stuffing."  [Note to my husband:  See, honey??  I DO make use of all that felt I collected!!!  You're proud of me, right? *wink*]

After that, I glued the remaining edges down...

Now for even more fun.  This is the best part of crafting... Getting towards the end and adding all the finishing touches!

See?  Felt hearts... More felt.  I told you.

...Sorry, that was to my husband again.  Who says collecting hundreds of sheets of felt is a waste, right?   ;)

On the chalkboard side, I also used a paint pen to create a simple border along the edge.  I tied some ribbons around the clip, and voila!  All finished!

 (You'll need to use the length side of the chalk and rub it on the entire surface to "cure" the chalkboard paint... Then just wipe off, and it's all set!)

The possibilities for this project are endless... I know I say that a lot, but it's true.  You could add a pocket on the back to store the chalk and eraser, too.  (I happened to have a cheap binder zipper pouch lying around, so I just decided to use that for storage and just keep it clipped in place when it's not in use.)  If you do the painting, I bet older kids would love to do the decorating for their own chalkboards, too.  If you make this, please share a photo or your idea with us on our Facebook page.  I speak for all three of us when I say that we'd love to see what you came up with!

As always, have fun & happy crafting!

-Marybeth

Tweet

...jazz up an ordinary bag...

Reusable bags are popular right now, so chances are, you have a few stashed in your car or in a cabinet.  For this project, any type of plain fabric or canvas bag will do.  I had this dollar-store canvas tote hanging around collecting dust :), and I recently saw something cute online about having a bag specifically for toting your (or your kids') books to and from the library.  {That is my disclaimer that this post was inspired by something I read... the design itself was my idea, though.}  

Getting started... what you will need:

* plain fabric or canvas bag or tote

* fabric markers (optional)

* embellishments

* glue gun (of course!! ...this non-sewing girl lives by the glue gun method!)

Forgive the quality of the photos -- they were taken using my iPhone instead of my camera this time!

Next, I found a quote online about books/reading and used fabric markers to write on the bag.  I don't own a Silhouette machine or anything like that, so I had to rely on my own freehand for this part!  The reason I chose this one was because the bag just happened to have a pocket!  Tip: You could carry your library card in the pocket.

Now time to add embellishments -- fabric/paper flowers and buttons in this case.  This is where the glue gun comes in!  (Note: this kind of renders the bag un-machine washable!!)

And that's it!!  This was a quick and easy project using supplies and an old plain bag that I already had, so the cost was zero.  :)  

Now we can keep track of what comes and goes from the library, and carry them to and from the library in style!  :) 

~S.

 

Tweet

Pretty "Rosette" Wastebasket

I saw this beautiful garden stool from Wisteria and totally fell in love with it. I am dying to add this piece to my living room and this beauty served as my source of inspiration for this easy project!

Project level: Easy

Time required: 1-2 hours, plus drying time

Materials: Recycled cardboard canisters

 (formula, coffee, or iced tea cans work great!)

Duct tape

White acrylic paint

Paint brush

Newspaper 

(or strips of fabric as found in this post)

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Glue sticks

Spray paint

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                             

When I was planning Braden's first birthday party, I started saving some baby formula cans, knowing they might come in handy for a craft project!  (And of course they did!)  A few of you may remember seeing this "Seuss hat" lollipop stand at the party or in the party photos, which I constructed from three stacked cans that I duct taped, painted, and decorated as the cat's hat! 

After the party, I still thought the cans could come in handy, so I removed the lollipops and red crepe paper stripes and decided to recycle it into a wastebasket for my office!  

So...I bring you the embellished wastebasket!

* * *

To make the "rosettes" I cut approximately 1 inch strips of newspaper and formed them into the flowers.  

Using a hot glue gun, I attached the rosettes in a random pattern all over the cans. Just play around with it and try to fill in as much white space as possible.

 

 Once you've entirely covered the can, it may be spray painted in the color of your choice!  For this project I decided to paint it a glossy ivory first, then used a quick spray of silver to give it a pearlescent sheen.  I love how it turned out and am excited for the new and improved wastebasket in my office! :) 

Close up detail of painted flowers
 (another quick coat of paint would have provided even better coverage, but I was on borrowed time from Braden during his nap!)

* * *

Share what you've created with us on our facebook page! We would love to see it!

Happy Crafting!!! :)

~D.

Tweet

10 Tips to Organize Your Craft Space!

Whether you have a craft room, or maybe just a closet where you keep your stash, organization is a must if you want to keep your items handy at your fingertips.  Sometimes I find myself avoiding my craft room when I know that it is messy inside.  I just love making crafts and it is great to have a designated space to work, but when it is disorganized it makes it hard to even think inside that room! When it comes to "free time," I am at the mercy of a one-year-old and limited to the duration of the li'l guy's nap, so I must be able to find things quickly and easily when I need them.  Here I've compiled a list of 10 tips and products I've found handy in keeping organized - and as a craft packrat (borderline hoarder?) - trust me...organizing my space is no easy task! :)

1.  Utensil dividers/organizers like the ones you use in your kitchen drawers are great for your DESK drawers to keep all your stuff separated and neat.

2.  I have no shortage of baby food jars in my house and I've found they are great for storing little odds and ends like buttons, little spools of thread, beads, etc.

3.  Over-the-door shoe organizers are my favorite thing for organizing my ribbon stash.  I can quickly see what I have when it is organized by color!  I use ribbon often, so this has been a great storage solution.

4.  Hanging shoe/purse organizers keep my [enormous] stash of yarn nice and neat.  I used to have it in huge garbage bags organized by color.  With this method, I still couldn't find anything and much to my husband's dismay, I would (accidentally) buy more of the same color when what I needed was right under my nose.  Now, I can easily see what I have, how many skeins, etc.

5.  Those clear zipper bags that your comforters and sheets come in are great for storing projects that are in the works, scrapbook findings, cuts of fabric...

6.  A rotating desk caddy makes finding your scissors, glue, markers, pens, and paper clips easy!

7.  Clear plastic storage boxes keep things tidy and let you actually SEE what is inside!  (Not that you would ever forget... right? ;) )

8.  I am a huge fan of baskets and decorative bins to keep my office looking tidy and pretty!  (You can make your own -- see Steph's post on the fabric covered box!)

9.  Photo boxes with dividers make organizing photos by month/year easy....you know, the ones you actually PRINT!

10. Scrapbook paper containers (12 x 12") keep your loose sheets and scrap-pads protected and looking fresh!

Hope these ideas help YOU get organized! If you have any ideas to share with us, we would love to hear them!!! :)

Happy Crafting!
-D

Tweet