Clothespin Ornaments

I recently purchased an ornament for my mom at a local shop. After bringing it home, I realized, "Hey, the girls & I could make these!" Ours are much more juvenile, but the concept is the same: a clothespin base.

These were soooo fun to make! All you need are clay & clothespins. I bought two different sizes of 'pins at JoAnne's: a regular size & a smaller 1 1/2" size. I also gathered up whatever tool-ish things I could find to help us in our clay molding efforts.

Wreath by Zoey (age 8)

(A word about clay: The girls & I have clay around to play with on occasion. I am not a clay expert. It is not my medium of speciality. I purchased this giant package of Sculpey III clay because it was on sale or I had a coupon or something. But, it's horrible to work with. Surprisingly my 6 year old was steadfast. But my 8 year old had many fits. Basically, it's really hard to work into a smooth consistency & it is very crumbly. Crumbs everywhere. Takes so long to knead into something you can work with. Although, because of its firmness, I do like the way it holds its shape when you are putting your pieces together. We've had other brands of clay that seem to work better for us. This is just my opinion & I'd love any tips or advice from clay experts out there!)

Snowman by Pazely (age 6)

Here is the cup of hot cocoa that Zoey made.

She inspired mine.

After creating our miniature pieces, we baked 'em in the oven, following the instructions. (About 15-25 minutes depending on the thickness.) While the pieces were baking, we decided to paint our clothespins. They can also be stained. Or left plain.

Once the clay pieces have cooled down, glue to clothespins with E6000.

Pazely's ornaments are pink & purple. She made a tree, a candy cane, a s'more with red graham crackers (to make it more holiday-ish--hee hee), a snowman, a melted ice cream & 2 cookies. Zoey made a cup of cocoa, a ball ornament, a tiny gift & a wreath.

Clip 'em on your tree or on a gift!

♥

Freezer Paper Stencils (Part 2 of 3)

Then I spread the screenprint ink/paint over the top.
I have heard some people adding a fabric medium to acrylic paint to ensure proper adhesion. But every time I've gotten acrylic paint onto my clothes (mostly on accident) it NEVER comes out. So, I'm not at all sure of the necessity of the fabric medium if you choose to paint with acrylic. (Any pros with fabric painting experience or advice, please leave a comment!!)





Let that dry. All the way. Wash your screen too, so you can use it again.





I needed to create the 2 little red stripes that bowling pins have, so I cut out shapes to block off these areas on my design. I ironed the paper atop the existing design & paper.





Here is a picture showing the t-shirt covered & only two small stripes UNcovered & ready for painting.





Here is a photo AFTER I painted the 2 red stripes using spray-paint.

Of the 6 shirts I made, all of the red stripes "bled" into the white areas, except one. And the thing I did different on that one was to remove the paper right after spray painting. So I suggest doing that. And LIGHTLY apply the paint. I think I sprayed in excess on the others. Light coats. Repeat for darker color only when the first coat is dry.

Click HERE for part 3 of 3.

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Super Paze!

For the girls' "WEAR" Christmas gift, I made them superhero capes. I got Pazely to model hers so you could get a closer look. I followed the tutorial HERE over at the Creative Kismet blog. I'm totally gonna make myself an adult-sized one. For reals. You just wait & see...

I used some lightweight yellow & white gingham, cut out two pieces &---before sewing them right sides together & then turning it all right-side out---I stitched the felt embellishments on the back.

I didn't have a serger, so I opted for "option 2" at the end of the tutorial. It was my first try at using bias tape too. And I'm sure I was using it totally wrong. Oh well. I don't think that will mess up her super powers or anything.

♥

Bug Catcher Necklace Tutorial

**THIS PROJECT WAS FEATURED IN THE 2012 JUNE/JULY ISSUE OF FAMILY FUN MAGAZINE!!**
My 5 year old LOVES bugs. Any living creature gets her sweet heart humming really. Today she found a lady bug at church & had to hold it in her hand all the way home. All of a sudden I thought of those little plastic cases that house the 25cent gumball-style treats. And how cute it would be to have one of those around to hold bugs in. When we got home, I told Pazely my idea & she mentioned she wanted a necklace--so, we got to work right away! What fun we had creating our own bug catcher necklace!

The supplies: beading cord, scissors, beads, a small vending machine plastic capsule, a thumbtack & (eventually) a bug!

*The capsules I used were some that the girls had lying around. But here is a link for some really cute ones at Tiny Things are Cute. They're a bit different than mine, so I'm not sure if they'd "click" together like mine did & hold the bugs securely. The price is right though!

*UPDATE: Caryn, of Tiny Things are Cute, has informed me that, though the capsules in her shop will hold bugs, she does not think they will work for securely "clicking" & being used as a bug catcher pendant on this necklace project. Just an FYI. (I must find another project for those capsules of hers, because they're just so darn cute!)

First you'll want to poke little holes all over the lid of the capsule. And poke a larger hole right in the middle.

Thread one end of your beading cord through the large hole.

Now hold it around your neck & measure how long you'd like your necklace to be. Remember to leave about 1 1/2" at each end for knotting off the necklace.

String beads onto the cord.

When the beads are all strung, push the other end of the cord through the hole. I had to push it through with the tack.

Slide one more bead onto both pieces of cord & knot it a couple times to secure.

Insert bug, & you're done! We put a tiny snack of lettuce inside too.

Remember to not leave your bug in the catcher too long. Eventually let your buggy pet go free!

To see Zoey's necklace, click HERE.

Not so crafty-natured? Let US make YOU some Bug Catcher Necklaces! Click HERE! (And we thank you from the bottom of our buggy-lovin' hearts!)

♥

Silly Sandwich Toothpicks

Last night I decided to fix some BLT's for din-din. (Ok, they were BLAT's. I added avocado.) While the bacon was sizzling I had a fun idea! I love getting those fancy fringed sandwich toothpicks when I order up a tasty sammie at a restaurant or deli. (It's the simple things that make me giddy.) So, I decided to make up my own version of them.
My old-school Dymo label maker was all I needed! Make 2 labels & stick 'em back-to-back, with the toothpick in-between. If you don't have a label maker in your crafty stash, you can create a similar look by simply stamping letters/words onto circle dot stickers. Again, adhere 2 stickers back-to-back.
Here are a couple other versions I came up with:
Garage sale stickers.


Tiny stars made from a mini punch. A little dab of glue is all you need.
My girls loved these on their sandwiches!
You can totally personalize these for baby showers, weddings, birthdays, etc.

I really could have gone crazy making silly sandwich toothpicks. But I found out that doing this during the prime hours of tummy grumbling is not such a good idea.

♥

Hanging Bedside Organizer

I love crafting with felt! I found inspiration for this project while searching in the dollar bins at Target. There was a cheesy cheapo version for sale & I immediately thought, "I can do this! Only WAY cuter!"

To make this handy-dandy little organizer, you'll need felt, scissors, & a sewing machine. Pinking shears are optional. And, though I didn't use any in this tutorial, you could completely make this project "no-sew" by using some fabric glue.

The first thing you'll need to do is measure how long you want your organizer to hang. Ultimately this will slide right between your box spring & your mattress. So, measure from your box spring down.

I chose to have about 11" hang down. Add 18" to whatever measurement you have. (The 18" is what will slip between the box spring & mattress.) My final piece of felt measures 29" x 11".

I traced a scallop design on the edges & then cut it out. I didn't create the scalloped edges all the way up---since 18" of the piece of felt will not even show.

Next I cut out different shapes for the pockets. There are 4 pockets total.

I tried making this easy by labeling the pieces with letters---from biggest to smallest. The largest piece, "A", is the main felt piece that all the other felt pockets will be sewn onto.

"B"--measures 8 1/4" wide x 6 1/4" tall

"C"--measures 4 1/2" wide x 5 1/4" tall

"D"--measures 8 1/4" wide x 2 3/4" tall

"E"--measures 2 3/4" wide x 3 1/4" tall

Once you have your pocket designs laid out, sew the embellishment onto each of the individual pockets:

Now, sew the finished smaller pockets onto the larger pockets:

These pieces will now be sewn onto the largest scalloped felt piece. Pin & sew them in place. Remember to keep the tops of the pouches open. You know, for the whole "pocket" effect to work. I also added 3 vintage button embellishments before this largest pocket was sewn on.

Now you're ready to slide the excess under your mattress. Fill the pockets with a diary, pencils, a small flashlight, a favorite toy, a love letter, a dream journal, etc. My 6 year old adored this one I made for her!

Here is another version that is more simple. Cut a large piece of felt approximately 29-30" long & 14 1/2" wide. Cut 9 pieces of smaller felt 4" wide x 3" high. Use pinking shears on the sides & bottom.

Pazely & I picked out a rainbow of felt. She had fun helping me find matching buttons in my stash of vintage buttons.

After sewing on each button, pin the felt pockets in place onto your large felt piece.

I took a more time consuming route & even matched the thread in my sewing machine to the felt & buttons.

Once finished, it'll look something like this:

Pazely loves all things tiny, so that's why I made her organizer with a bunch of smaller pockets. Kids could help make this version in a snap---with the fabric glue.

Have fun!