Category: Craftiness

General craft ideas, including sewing projects, kid-friendly ideas and VBS inspiration.

One Last Patriotic Project — The Jean Banner

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Mama

Happy Independence Day, y’all! I hope you get to celebrate our stars and stripes in good old down-home fashion with food, fireworks, friends and family. We are headed out to our friends’ lake house later today, but only after the local parade, carnival and naps. . . oh, and of course we’ll stop for fireworks along the way.

This is definitely one of my favorite holidays of the year and I love decorating our home with loads of red, white and blue. I just had to share one last patriotic project that I finished this weekend, using a pair of old jeans, cheap material, a bit of jute and a few wooden stars. I knew I would eventually do something with that stash of jeans in the corner of my craft room.

I simply cut pieces of jeans and fabric using my triangle stencil and sewed them together along the top to create a pocket for the strand of jute. In the meantime, I used my large Crop-a-Dile to poke two holes in each star to mimic buttons and painted the stars white. Before I moved on, I popped the sewn banners in the washing machine and dryer to fray the edges just a bit. After a quick ironing, I sewed the star “buttons” onto each of the banners, ran the jute through the tops and strung it up to my mantel.

Enjoy your Fourth and let a veteran or service person know he/she is appreciated!

I Take My Coffee With a Sharpie Shamrock Mug

Posted on March 11, 2016March 12, 2016 by Mama

Okay, I’ve wanted to try this Sharpie technique for quite some time now, so with a Michael’s coupon burning a hole in my pocket I picked up a Sharpie oil paint marker in the perfect St. Patrick’s Day shade of green and went to work on one of our white coffee mugs (we have an ample supply, which drives my husband crazy. . . but that’s another story).

I was so excited that this Sharpie shamrock mug project turned out like the picture in my head, and it even made it through the dishwasher cycle as I held my proverbial breath. When my husband walked in and called it “cool;” well that just settled it, I had to share. So here’s how this cute little project goes..

Materials:

Coffee Mug
Sharpie Oil Paint pen
Contact paper
Rubbing alcohol
Scissors or Die-Cutting Machine with shamrock cartridge
Pen and shamrock shape, if you don’t have a machine that will do this for you.
cookie sheet
aluminum foil

Instructions:

Wipe down a clean coffee mug with rubbing alcohol to take off any soap residue or finger oils. Let dry.
Trace and cut out your shamrock shape on the contact paper, or if you happen to own a die-cutting machine and appropriate cartridge you should definitely go with that. I used my Cricut machine and Small Talk Frames & Tags cartridge (ha, just like it was made for me) set at 3 inches to cut out a contact paper shamrock.
Stick the shamrock shape on the mug in your desired location, burnish the edges with your finger to make sure all the edges adhere to the mug.
Prime your paint pen per manufacturer’s directions and practice making dots before you start on your mug. The pressure you use will determine the size of your dots.
When you’re ready to start painting your mug, start making dots with the paint pen all the way around the edge of the contact paper first. You will want a solid line of dots around the entire edge so that when you remove the sticker you will see a perfect outline.
Continue making dots to fill in gaps and work your way outward. This is where you get to use your creative license, because you can make your dots as far apart and away as you want. Just keep going with the dotting until it looks right to you.
When you are finished painting, remove the contact paper and allow your mug to dry for 24 hours.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place your mug upside down on the foil.
Place the cookie sheet and mug in the oven, set it to 425 degrees and start baking. It’s important to put your mug in the over before it starts heating; otherwise, your project might crack.
After the temperature reaches 425 degrees, bake for 30 minutes. Remove the VERY HOT mug using a pot holder and set it on the stove top to cool or just let it cool in the oven if you’re not making dinner anytime soon. Let it cure for 24 hours, and it should be ready to go.

I decided to test the durability of my shamrock mug by washing it in the dishwasher after a couple of days, and it actually held up pretty well. I think a few dots washed off (probably because there were so many layers), but it held up pretty well. I since have hand washed it in warm soapy water and it seems to be holding up well. The back of the mug just has a hand-written saying that held up really well in the dishwasher, but I’m just saying automatic wash at your own risk. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the outcome and durability of this fun little project. This is one you might want to give a try.

Kid-Friendly Canvas Valentine Craft

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Mama

There’s still time to make a little Valentine craft with your kids this year, and this easy child-friendly canvas and paint project may just be the ticket. With the aid of a few other moms and teachers, I helped sixteen preschoolers create their own fingertip heart prints yesterday at my son’s school party, and each child’s unique take on the project was a success. Some went with the dotting method, some picked the smearing approach, and then some just went all out freestyle; but they all used their fingertips to paint, and on the back of every canvas was this sweet saying I penned ahead of time:

I made this little heart with fingertips of mine,
just to say I Love You and Happy Valentine.

So here’s how we put this Valentine craft together.

Materials:

4×4 cardboard mounted canvas (I purchased mine at Michael’s, $4.99 for 4 plus a coupon discount)
vinyl paper (or other material that will stick to the canvas. Note: contact paper did not work.)
scissors or die-cutting machine
hole-punching device (I used my Crop-a-dile)
washable paint
ribbon
blow dryer (optional)

Instructions:

Punch two holes at the top of your canvas board, one at each corner.
Cut a heart out of the sticky paper using your scissors or die-cutting machine. I used my Cricut since I had to make so many.
Peel the backing off the heart and stick it to the front of the canvas. Make sure you press down the edges well so that paint doesn’t seep under it.
Using just a pointer finger, have your child paint the canvas. The idea is to make dots, but some children may not find this fulfilling, so freestyling may ensue. Whichever method makes your child happy, encourage him/her to paint completely around the heart, overlapping the sticker edges.
Let the canvas dry. You can use a blow dryer to speed up the process.
Pull off the sticky heart to reveal the white canvas under it.
Write or print out and place the little fingertip rhyme above on the back of the canvas.
Thread ribbon through the holes in the top of the canvas, tie knots and hang.

My son had such a good time making this Valentine craft that we just might make some more. After all, I do know a couple of grandparents who might like to have their own.

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