Creative Craft Project: Fabric Binder Clips
January 12, 2009 by Emily · 16 Comments
Last week I found this fun little craft project from My Favorite Things that will take you only 5 minutes to make! I loved it and couldn’t wait to share this one with you. Isn’t it creative?
Supplies:
- Fabric, Scissors, Fray Check, Permanent Spray Adhesive, Binder Clips
- Gather the supplies.
- Trim your fabric with your fancy fabric only scissors.
- Use fray check on the fabric edges.
- Spray the backside of the fabric with adhesive and adhere to your notebook clips.
Simple as that!
DIY Felt Board
October 28, 2008 by Vanessa · 7 Comments
I am attempting 
a handmade Christmas this year and have been searching for projects to do for my family and friends. I originally saw this idea on The Artful Parent and thought this would be the perfect Christmas gift for my two girls. This way they could have their own large felt board complete with different packets of cut out images that go along with different stories and landscapes.
It is quite a simple project and is very do-able (which is perfect for me). First, I purchased a scrap of plywood about 1/4 inch thick and 2 feet by 2 feet. You will also need to pick up a can of Elmer’s Spray Adhesive, a large piece of felt a little larger than your piece of wood (for the backdrop), craft glue and many different colors of felt.
Follow the instructions on the back of your Spray Adhesive can to attach the backdrop felt to the wood. I chose a light blue color with the idea that it could be used as both the sky and the ocean. Fold the corners on the back and glue them down with the craft glue and you are already done completing the felt board!
For my images, I cut out images for each season of the year to put in packets to include with the board:
- For Winter a pine tree with ornaments, a large star, snowflakes, snow to put on the ground and presents to put under the tree.
- For Spring a large sun, clouds, grass to put on the bottom, stems for the flowers and quite a few flower cut outs so they can put together their own flowers.
- For Summer I cut out a large tree and leaves in many different shades of green. I also cut out a large tire swing, sandbox and small swimming pool.
- For Fall I cut out leaves in gold, yellow, orange and red along with a pile of leaves to place at the bottom.
No need to put anything on the back of your cutouts, felt will stick to felt and attach just fine onto the board.
I also “tried” to cut out our family and two dogs to use in all the different seasons, I hope to get around to cutting out and designing some extended family and friends. My favorite part has been recreating their favorite stories into felt board pieces. The one pictured here is The Chocolate Chip Ghost story which is a favorite in our house.
You can check out these great links for more felt board stories and displays:
- Fun Figurines
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
- Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?
- Farm Theme
- Gingerbread Man
- An Autumn Tree
- Create Your Own Flower
- Under the Sea
- Chicken Little
Hopefully this will be a present my daughters enjoy playing with during those long winter months that we will be stuck inside!
Vanessa’s blog: http://www.inevergrewup.net - Ideas and Reviews to Help Parents Entertain, Care for and Educate their Children.
How to Make a Flower Fairy Lamp
September 19, 2008 by Lauren · 5 Comments
Making your children’s room a magical place doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult! With a little imagination you can create an enchanting world that will inspire and delight your little ones. And the very best way to begin is by getting your kiddos involved!
For starters, take note of your children’s favorites - colors, toys, books, art projects, etc. Incorporate those elements into the room you design. Ask them what their favorite places in their current bedroom are and focus on making those spots extra special. Take them with you to the fabric store, craft shop, and home decor show rooms you love to visit. Kids have wonderful imaginations - listen to their ideas as you shop and find practical ways to incorporate their creativity.
Here’s an example: My little girl and I were wandering past the fake-flower aisle one afternoon and she plucked out a handful of these beautiful roses and touched them to her cheeks. My decor taste tends to shy away from floral, but she just loved them so much that I had to find a way to put them in her room. Here’s the finished product:
This flower-fairy lamp was super-easy to make, and budget-friendly!
I started with a second-hand base and “dollar store” shade. Simply buy fake roses at the craft store, cut the petals off, then hot-glue each petal in place, layer by layer around the shade. Hot-glue ribbon around the top and bottom of the shade to give it a finished look. I even took some little fake rosebuds and glued them along the top and in random spots throughout the petals (conveniently covering up any “patches” in the petal layers).
Lauren’s blog: Supermom Central - tips, tricks and tidbits for the aspiring Supermom.
How to Make Beautiful (and Affordable) Wall Art
August 20, 2008 by Emily · 41 Comments
This was my posted article for Posh Mama today and I simply couldn’t resist telling you all about it too. This is definitely a MUST SEE project!
I absolutely love finding affordable and artistic ways to add a hint of glamour to my home. Recently, as I was thinking about what I could do to make my walls more colorful, I saw this fun and affordable little wall art project that I thought looked like the perfect solution.
Isn’t this gorgeous? I figured that since I was so excited about it, you may like to know how to make this wall art display for your home too.
What you Need to Get Started: (All materials may be obtained at your local craft store)
Styrofoam: 1″ x 12″ x 36″ blocks of Styrofoam
Other Materials:
Scrapbook paper: 12″ x 12″ (or 12″ x 12″ Photos or 12″ x 12″ squares of fabric)
Ribbon, 1″ or 7/8″ matte ribbon (you will probably need about 12 yds)
Ruler
Sharp pencil
Serrated knife
Thick, white craft glue or Elmer’s Cement Glue
Straight pins (optional)
Nine Sawtooth picture hangers or foam adhesive squares
1-2 hours to complete
{Photo Steps by DIY Maven from Curbly}
- If you want to include photos in your collage, decide which photos you want to use and then crop them to 12″ x 12″ at 300 dpi. You can also go to a photo lab if you need a little help getting your pictures formatted just right. Coordinating colors, black and white photos or sepia tones seem to work best so that your colors do not clash.
- Choose matching colored designer scrapbook papers at your local craft store. (Or visit these links to find cute paper: Luxe Classic Black or Black Berry Paper).
- Buy 12″ x 36″ x 1″ blocks of Styrofoam and cut them into 12″ x 12″ blocks with a utility knife, be sure to keep the lines as straight and perfect as possible. You may want to use foam board for this instead, but if you like the depth, Styrofoam would be best.
- Set the photos and papers how you want them. Spread white craft glue on the foam square (or Elmer’s cement glue may be better - this is supposed to help keep your paper from rippling), center your 12″ x 12″ paper or photo, and adhere it to the foam. Repeat, covering all foam squares. Once you have glued, press the Styrofoam upside down against a flat surface to obtain good adhesion.
- Pin or glue your ribbon around the edges. You’ll want to pull it as tight as possible and once you pin it, you may want to color the pins to match the ribbon.
- Finally, after it’s dry, attach it to your wall: You can either use a small saw-tooth picture hook for the back of each Styrofoam block, or if you want to skip the nails altogether you can attach foam adhesive squares to each corner and press them onto the wall. Foam corners don’t adhere very well to Styrofoam, so you may need to glue them to the Styrofoam for extra strength.
My inspiration and tutorial information for this project came from two helpful sources. The top photo is courtesy of Myra from We Make Three and Moon and Back Studios. I loved her personal touch to this wall art collage with her family photos included and I thought that her hands-on tutorial was really thorough. The second photo comes from Dow Crafts, where they also include a basic tutorial and list a variety of additional craft projects that you can make out of Styrofoam.
P.S. If you do this project at home, I would LOVE to see your pictures too.
DIY: Italian Baby Shoes
August 4, 2008 by Emily · 2 Comments
Make these darling Italian baby shoes yourself! With Crea Baby Shoes ”Do It Yourself” Kit, you will receive pre-cut shoe templates {complete with instructions} to craft them yourself for a special little person in your life. They are easy to make, come in a variety of styles and colors and of course give you bragging rights about your awesome handy skills. Priced at about $31.
Featured Shoppes
