Earrings

I made some earrings for a party and then I forgot to put them on before we left! But I still like them, so I'll post them here. I also kinda like my earring stand---a coffee cup!

Sleeping bag for an 18-inch doll

I made a sleeping bag for Ellie's American Girl doll. You can buy a sleeping bag from them for $26 here:

American Girl sleeping bag for beaucoup bucks

Or you can make one from fabric you have on hand and $3 for some ribbon here:

Here are a couple of other pictures of the sleeping bag, including one with the lovely Julie enjoying it.

Ribbon roses

I've been making fabric roses recently, but I've lost my camera (again!) so I can't post pictures of them yet.

In the meantime, here is a link to the BEST technique for making fabric roses that I have found. These instructions are on the DIY Network website, but there are other sites that show this technique and others. This one is a little tricky to get used to, but I think it makes the prettiest and most realistic flowers.

Here's an example of the rose you'll get once you've mastered how to do it:









I'll post some of my own creations soon...

Now where is that camera....

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/rb_embellishments/article/0,,DIY_14218_2268357,00.html

As promised....

... duct tape creations!

First, the wallet that I mentioned in my earlier post. (Yes, this does mean that I found the camera! Yay!)




Second, a business card holder made from awesome Elvis-pigs-on-bikes fabric that I covered with clear duct tape.

Earring

Here's an earring of my own design and creation. It conjures up a lot of Christmas images for me, even though that wasn't where I was going with it at all. I was hoping to post a better pic of it, but our camera is temporarily lost.

As soon as we find it, I will post a pic of the blue duct tape wallet I made. I think I will never buy another wallet again!

Here are a couple of tree of life pendants I made. For some reason, I had a hard time getting good shots of them, but I think you get the idea. The first one is my first attempt at making the tree and also at creating the circle around it. (I made the circle out of coat hanger wire.) The second one turned out better both in design and execution. I think of the second one as being like a cherry blossom tree.

Princess Cupcake

Here's the beautiful princess we made out of cupcakes and half a Barbie doll. The other doll heads we were going to use didn't work--they looked like oompa loompas--so we just left it with her.

Here's a shot of Cupcake and another of her posing with the designer of her gown. Haute Couture!

The hoodie

Here's the before and after hoodie.

Before: A plain hoodie, sized for a kid.

















After: Butterflies and a lacy collar! Embellishments chosen by me. Designed by Ellie. Sewn and ironed on by me. Worn by Ellie!

Top Five Crafts that are Good for the Environment

We all know the mantra: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Recycling is the easiest. It's not only no trouble, it's downright gratifying to drop that soda can into the blue bin. Reducing, on the other hand, is almost asking too much. I want to save the environment as much as the next person, but I want an iPod, too.

In the middle is Reuse. This is where we can all do better without much sacrifice. And lucky for me and my creative compatriots, crafting and reusing were made for each other.

So in the spirit of conservation and the need for all of us to keep instead of dump, I have created a list of my top five crafts to make, use, and reuse. These are all generally disposable items that, if we only turned them into reusable items, we would keep a lot of garbage out of the landfills.

1. Coffee sleeves

If you want to keep blisters off your fingers when you pick up your coffee, those sleeves that fit over your cup aren't an indulgence--they're a necessity. But they don't have to be disposable. Make a few sleeves with your leftover fabric, take them with you to the coffee shop, and you'll be environmentally friendly and pain free.

Check out this tutorial from blogger poppytalk here.

2. Sandwich bags

Kids everywhere go to school with a sandwich tucked into their lunch box, and that sandwich is almost always stuck inside a Ziplock bag. That's a lot of plastic going into the environment. There are, thankfully, places you can buy reusable sandwich wraps, like here. But if you're crafty, why not make them? In fact, with some leftover placemats and some velcro, you can make reusable and recycled sandwich bags.

3. Produce bags

Many of us are already bringing a few grocery totes to the store to cut down on paper and plastic bags, but what about the bags in the produce section? You can go through 8-10 bags by the time you've gotten all your produce. Why not make some lightweight bags to throw the apples and carrots into and save some more plastic from going into the dump? Here are some plain white ones that are being sold, but you can easily make ones like that and prettier.

4. Napkins

Here's something that everyone used to reuse just a few generations ago. Cloth napkins are not only environmentally friendly, but they are beautiful and they add elegance to a table. They are easy to make, fun to embellish with trim or embroidery and an immediate heirloom. Here's a tutorial from a crafter who made a napkin set with a matching pouch to store them in.

5. Maxi pads

I've saved this one for last so that you can stop right here if you are too daunted by this idea. But for those intrepid few who might want to turn this disposable item into a reusable one, yes you can make and use your own maxi pads. If you're intrigued, check out this tutorial. If you're completely grossed out, don't worry. This aint for everyone.

More ideas?
I'm always looking for more ideas on ways to turn disposable items into reusable ones, and if it's something I can make myself, that's even better. So comments and ideas are welcome!

Preview post

My next craft will be a ......


.............Hoodie embellishment!

Stay tuned....

My Top Five Crafts to Do With the Kids

My house is Craft Central, so when my daughter invites her friends to play, they're pretty much guaranteed to go home holding something they've made.

So I've decided to put together my top five crafts to do with kids. Of the many crafts I've done with kids, these are the easiest and most fun, and they provide (almost) instant gratification. You can find the things you need to get started at a craft store like Michael's, a fabric store like Joann's, a big-box store like Target or Walmart, or any number of smaller crafty shops.

Without further ado...


1. Shrink Plastic

Take an 8x10 sheet of plastic, draw a lovely picture all over it with markers, punch a hole on top, stick it in the oven for a few minutes, and voila! Your work of art has shrunk down to about a third of its size and now you have a beautiful pendant to wear around your neck. Or don't poke a hole in it--just glue a magnet on the back and hang it on the refrigerator. It's great fun, gives you quick results, and it doesn't cost a lot of money. Shrinky Dinks is the brand name that I associate with the craft, but I've seen other brands in the stores recently.

You'll need: Shrinky Dinks(TM) or other shrink plastic kit.

2. Beading

For me, making jewelry has the biggest payoff for the effort of any craft. There are thousands of options for beads, and so many of them are simply beautiful. Your kids (and you, too!) can create necklaces, bracelets and even earrings that are just as lovely as the ones in the store. And it takes less than an afternoon to create a whole set of jewelry. For smaller kids, buy the thicker plastic string and plastic beads with large holes. Older kids will have fun with the smaller beads, and you can all experiment with the many types of strings available, such as hemp, metal, and fiber.

You'll need: Beads, string, hooks

3. Sculpting Clay

Build on your kids' love of play dough and let them create more permanent sculptures using polymer and other types of sculpting clay. You'll find lots of options for types of clay, including ones that cure in the oven, ones that will dry and harden in the air, and ones you can sculpt and then paint. Prices can be steep, depending on how much you need and which type you buy, so start out with a small amount and see if your kids take to it.

You'll need: Sculpting clay (e.g., polymer, modeling, earth), sculpting tools (optional)

4. T-shirt Painting

What is the first thing you want to do after you've made something new? Run straight out your front door and show it to everyone who will look, of course! And what better way for a kid to show off a brand new creation than to wear it? Kids can paint a picture free form, use stencils, explore their inner splatter painter, or even tye dye the shirt. Once you've spread around the newspapers or, better yet, set up your studio outside, just let the kids go wild. Then let them wear it proudly.

You'll need: T-shirt, fabric paint or tye dye, brushes, stencils (optional), water and rags for cleanup

5. Embossing

Here's one you might not have heard of, but believe me, the ease-to-wow ratio is huge. I first read about embossing on the Craftster website. (See the link to them on the righthand column of this blog.) A quick tutorial: Find a picture or photo that has a lot of color and looks fairly vibrant. Cut out the picture and glue or tape it to something sturdy. A piece of cardboard will work well, and so will a magnet. The magnet has the extra advantage of being able to hang on your fridge, and this is a great use of those magnets that businesses give out for free as advertisements.

Now that you have the picture fixed to a sturdy backing, cover it with tape. You need super-sticky double-sided tape like Terrifically Tacky Tape(TM). Then turn your sticky picture over on top of a tray filled with tiny, transparent embossing beads. What you get is a dazzling, shimmery picture that looks like a stained glass window or a mosaic. The kids will be amazed that they created something so beautiful. Check out a few that my daughter and I made here: http://craftinca.blogspot.com/2008/07/pretty-magnets.html

(I found embossing beads in the scrapbooking aisle at Michael's. These are not the same as the beads used for beading jewelry. They are tiny and have no holes.)

You'll need: A picture you are happy to cut up, a magnet, piece of cardboard or something sturdy, super-sticky tape, embossing beads.

I hope this has given you some ideas of fun crafts to do with the kids. Thanks for reading!

Over the Rainbow

My first swap on Craftster is done and I've sent off the goods to my swap partner. I planned to wait until she got it, but I think it's okay to post what I made to the blog. Especially since I haven't posted in so long. The swap theme was The Wizard of Oz.

Here's what my partner was going to get in the mail, before the U.S. Postal Service stomped all over my creativity by making it prohibitively expensive to send.

Yes, the dog was supposed to be Toto and the basket was supposed to be Dorothy's. I didn't make Toto or the basket, but the other stuff in it is what I made and there is a bracelet around Toto's neck that I also made.

Since it was too expensive to send and I also was not allowed to send it in the Jose Cuervo box I had, I had to shift the contents to a padded envelope.

I made a messenger bag, lined with rainbow fabric (my swap partner loves rainbows):




And I made a picnic setting with placemats and napkins:



I didn't get a shot of the rainbow bracelet that's around Toto's neck, but it's cute. I hope my swap partner loves it!

New shoes

This is not as crafty as it is solution-to-a-problem-y.

I bought these shoes at the thrift store for $6. They are way cool shoes, even if Greg thinks they are too bowling-shoe looking. I still love them--they are imported from Italy and they are made with really nice, sturdy leather. And it was too cheap to pass up.

The only problem is that they don't fit me. They are too small, of course, for my size 10 clown feet. I bought them and tried walking around for awhile, but my toes were most certainly getting squished.

I considered going Cinderella's stepsister's route and cutting off my heels, but I decided to go a different way. I cut off the shoe's heels! Behold:












I think with black socks and long pants, no one will notice. And if people do notice and think it's weird that I hacked into my shoes, I don't care! My toes are no longer squished!

What's this bear doing on my chest?

I am thinking about making something like this. Really. I hate my seatbelt, it drives me nuts. But even if I don't, I think you all should check out this product because it's freaking hilarious. And apparently it is a real product--no joke.

Shrinky dinks!!!!

More kid-friendly crafting going on. Ellie and I have been making shrinky dinks, which I remember very fondly from my childhood. Greg said he's never even heard of shrinky dinks. Now that is a gaping hole in his upbringing. I blame his parents. :)





Here's Ellie's signature ladybug design.





















And here's a picture of Ariel, which I traced and Ellie colored.


















Then I did my own tracing of Paddington Bear, which I colored in too dark so now it looks a little muddled.

Eggtastic

We had another fun crafternoon last week! (No, I didn't make up that word. I read it on a blog somewhere.) Ellie and I decided to paint eggs. So we pulled out a few eggs and a bunch of paint, glue, glitter, markers, etc. After we finished a few, we ran off to the store and bought two double-size egg cartons (it was buy one get one free) and ran back to paint more. I nearly gave myself an ear infection blowing the insides out of 12 eggs and then we painted them with a different kinds of paint, rolled them in glitter, drew pictures on them, and generally gussied them up. We put them back into the egg carton and I had plans to decorate the egg carton as well, but I haven't done that yet. I'll post pictures in a bit.

Magnets

These magnets are embossed with tiny glass beads that are clear, so they take on the color of the picture underneath and create a shiny, mosaic-like appearance. I did the lady with the hat and then Ellie picked out the picture of the kids sitting down to dinner and helped me make the magnet. The pictures don't capture how shimmery they are, especially at night with an overhead light on. I love the old-fashioned look to the pictures and the beads, but the pictures underneath aren't brightly colored enough. Next I'm going to search for some bright pictures, but hopefully some that still have fancy, old-fashioned images.

These magnets are great because they are quick to do and the materials are so easy to find. Now I'm going to be saving every advertisement magnet I get!

Mimi

My latest poppet. She's much prettier than Luella, but I still have a soft spot for that freaky alien-lookin thing.

This is Mimi. Mimi followed the Dead for a few years back in the '80s and now she's a hairstylist in her own salon. She doesn't have any kids, but she's been married for 10 years to a guy who has three kids from a previous marriage.

Jewelry box

I've got the cord back, so I have some crafts to share! I'll try to show them in the order we made them. Here's the box that Ellie made, before she painted it.

No pics, but I've been busy

I'm too scared to do my quilt, so I'm putting that off. (I know, after my big excited post about it and everything.) I have done quite a few other crafts, including painting glass with stained glass paint, making more jewelry and making some craftsy containers with recycled materials. Ellie has been doing a lot of the crafts with me and she made a box with glitter glue and gems that she copied from a demo version in Michael's. In fact, she brought her box in to Michael's to compare it to the demo and the woman at the store thought it was theirs.

I would post pics of all of this, but I can't find the cord for the camera to upload to the computer. As soon as I locate that, I'll post pics of our amazing creations.