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.

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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

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...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.

 

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