My Funny Valentine

I looked in the pantry one day last week and saw a whole box of unopened candy canes leftover from Christmas. I'm sure everyone has at least a few candy canes hanging around in their candy bowls...and here is a great way to use them up and make a pretty cute Valentine's Day craft too!

SUPPLIES:

scrapbook paper

colored cardstock

candy canes

hot glue gun

scissors

First, lay your candy canes down on the paper in the shape of a heart. Use that shape to estimate the size that your card will be. Mine ended up being about 6 inches tall by 4 inches wide. Cut both the scrapbook paper and the colored card stock to that size.

Next, run a bead of hot glue down one side of the candy canes and attach them to the scrapbook paper. Trim around the edges of the candy canes so that the only part of the scrapbook paper that you see is inside the candy cane heart.

Then, attach the scrapbook paper/candy cane heart to the colored cardstock.

You can add a message on the front of the card.... ...or on the back of the card.

You could even frame these in cute picture frames with the glass removed.

What kind of Valentine's Day crafts are you working on?

New Toy and New Crafts

I finally convinced myself that I had plenty of thing to make to justify buying a Cricut. So I saved up some Christmas money and a few giftcards that I had won, and I bought it! I've only had it out of the box for about two weeks, and I've only cut out a few things....but I LOVE it!

I can see this being SUPER helpful with all kinds of school projects, birthday parties, and crafts. I can't wait to start using it more...and if anyone has any great ideas or blogs to share let me know.

So far this has been one of my creations:

It is a simple frame from Target.

I used solid color paper for the background and cut out the B on some cute scrapbook paper.

I hot glued the ribbon to the back and tied a bow. Pretty easy to do and SUPER cute!

I also made these:

I am planning on mounting them on a bigger board to hang in my hallway. I also made these so that I can change the pictures up for different times of the year. I am thinking "HOP" for Easter,"USA" for the 4th of July, "BOO for Halloween, and "Joy" for Christmas!

I am having a blast playing around with my new Cricut. Is it sad that I am looking forward to the boys' next school project, so I can use it some more?!?

It's My Party...

and I'll cry SMILE if I want to!

Henry

and

Grant

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Earlier in the week, the boys decorated some SUPER cute red lunch sacks to give their friends at school a few goodies. I {well technically my sister and Jason} cut out some little Christmas trees with a fun shaped hole punch and some multi colored green scrapbook paper. Then the boys glued the little Christmas trees to the bags. Grant made 8 bags for his class, and Henry made 24 bags for his class {and he even wrote 'From: Henry' on all the bags}!

Last night, Jason and I stayed up way too late making the goodies {Christmas tree shaped Rice Krispy treats}, loading the bags, and tying them up with some twine! I think they turned out really cute!

The Stockings Were Hung...

...on our stairs! After I made our new SUPER cute Advent Calendar, I decided that we also needed new Christmas stockings. For one thing, the old ones were just sad...and they also clashed with the pretty Kelly Greens and Christmas Reds in our calendar.

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I used some of the same {polka dot} material, along with some red satin, and white dotty minky material to make some new SUPER cute stockings for Henry, Grant, and Eli!
I used our old {and ugly} stockings to make a pattern. I just traced around the stocking on some brown packing paper!
I cut out two stocking shapes in the green polka dot material for the outside and two stocking shapes in the red satin material for the liner. Then I cut the white dotty minky fabric about the size of the cuff on the old {ugly} stockings and monogrammed each of the boys names on them!
I attached the cuff to the front of the stocking and sewed around all the edges.

Then I attached the two stocking pieces together along the long {non-curved} side.

I did the same thing with the red satin liner.

I layered the two pieces, right sides together, and sewed them together across the top edge. Don't forget {like I did the first time} to add in a stocking hanger too!

I laid the stocking pieces and the liner pieces right sides together and sewed all around them....leaving about a three inch whole in the liner about halfway down the side.

You use that hole to turn the stocking right side out, then sew up the small hole. This is the tricky part if you haven't ever done it or seen someone else do it. Finally, you push the liner down into the stocking and then you have brand new SUPER cute Christmas stockings....

...hanging on your stairs!
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DISCLAIMER: Though our Christmas stockings turned out SUPER cute, I am not currently planning on quitting my day job to become a stocking maker. I didn't really use a pattern {other than what I traced from our old stocking}, and my sewing plan took a few hours of contemplation and ultimately was borrowed from a dress pattern that I have {and only used once}. I am NOT a professional, but if you need help with these instructions {and you really want to make a SUPER cute stocking} send me a message and I'll see if I can help!

Christmas Advent Calendar

I have been wanting a cute advent calendar for a few years. We had the cheap felt one from Walmart for a few years, but it wasn't nearly as cute as it could have been....so I decided to make my own. I did a little research online, and I got a ton of inspiration from other blogs and from Etsy! I took a few of the ideas that I found and mixed them all up and came up with my own advent calendar.

I hit up Hobby Lobby for

a canvas

wedding favor tins

scrapbook paper

and

a painted star

I already had some stuff at home

fabric

rick rack

mod podge

and

hot glue

I started by cutting out a lot of circle...48 to be exact. 24 without numbers for the inside of the tins.

24 with numbers for the outside of the tins.
I applied a thin layer of mod podge to the inside of the tin and to the inside of the lid. Then I place the unnumbered circles inside the tins and mod podged them in place.
I put the numbered circles in the lids {with the paper and number showing through the plastic} and then mod podged them into place. I cut out a Chrismas tree from leftover fabric and used spray adhesive to attach it to the canvas. I finished off the edges by hot glueing on some white rick rack.

After everything was dry, I put the lids on the tins and hot glued them to the fabric Christmas tree.

Starting on December 1st the boys will get to remove the lid to one tin a day and get a special treat that is inside. I also placed small pieces of paper with special Christmas activites {bake cookies, sing Christmas songs, wrap presents, watch a Christmas cartoon, read the Christmas story} for us to do in some of the tins.

I also made the boys some SUPER cute shirts to wear this Christmas! I used all left over fabrics for their shirts this year...so the only thing I bought was the actual shirt that was $3.50 at Walmart!

Christmas Crafts and a Cutie!

I am in a crafty kind of mood this week!
Yesterday, we took a trip to Hobby Lobby to get supplies for a few Christmas crafts. I am going to start working an Advent calendar soon, and I need to get busy making the boys' Christmas shirts so that we can take some SUPER cute pictures for Christmas cards. I also bought a few wooden cut outs for the boys to Mod Podge since they had so much fun with our pumpkins!

And here is a picture of Eli...just because he was being SUPER cute laughing at me through the gate while I was working on some crafts!

Monthly Craft Challenge: Photo Projects

I am participating in Heidi's {@ Blue Eyed Blessings} Monthly Craft Challenge.
This month challenge is Photo Projects.

Apparently I am not very creative when it comes to photos because I only have one project to share this month.

Photo Gift Tags

I made these last Christmas using the boys' Christmas picture.

But you could also use them for any other occasion....birthdays especially.
They are SUPER easy to make.

All you need is a picture, some scrapbook paper, ribbon, a circle cutter, hot glue gun, and a hole punch.

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To make the Photo Gift Tags:

Cut the photo of your choice with the circle cutter

Then cut a circle of scrapbook paper larger than your picture

Hot glue the picture to one side of the scrapbook paper circle

Then write TO: or your message of choice on the other side

Punch a hole in the top and thread some ribbon through the hole

These Photo Gift Tags are SUPER easy to make and SUPER inexpensive too! Plus, everyone loves how personal it makes their gift seem...and at the holidays they can double as a SUPER cute keepsake!

Just a Little Messier Than I Was Anticipating...But Still SUPER Cute!

This is how our project ended:

Despite the major mess and the {now} dry and scratchy carpet, our Thanksgiving/fall pumpkins turned out SUPER cute!

Just in case you want to make a HUGE mess and some SUPER cute pumpkins...here is the list of supplies and steps we followed to make them.

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Plastic pumpkins {mine were $1 at Walmart}

Scrapbook Paper {8 sheets for $1 at Target}

Mod Podge

Paint Brushes

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Tear scrapbook paper into small pieces

Attach the paper to the pumpkin and continue to coat it with Mod Podge until all the paper is wet and stuck to the pumpkin really well. This is the messy part, because the only way to make the paper stick really well is to work it with your hands! Eli and I worked on some painting while Henry and Grant were finishing up their pumpkins. These SUPER cute and oh so chubby handprints are going to be turkeys and leaves once I get my paintpens after them! Just a little hint....be careful when painting with brown paint, because your kiddo might think it is chocolate and try to lick it off his hand! :)

Then use a foam paintbrush to apply a coat of Mod Podge all over the pumpkins and let them dry. 

Our pumpkins {coated with Mod Podge} drying on the table...picture taken by Henry {because I still had a two inch layer of MP on my hands}!

Our finished Thanksgiving/Fall Pumpkins!