Stitch Slapped

2011-02-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

It pretty much goes without saying that I am a pretty crappy blogger. When it comes to my list of things I'm motivated to do during the day, updating this blog is probably number 99 out of 100 (with number 100 being scrapbooking). However, checking and updating my Facebook page probably falls at number 4 (after feeding, schooling my youngins, and crafting sweets).

I figure it would be smarter for me to start a fan page for my shop, since I'm on Facebook anyway, and making stuff for my shop is how I spend my free time -- I haven't really been making other crafts unless they are for school. I won't be shutting down this blog since there come a time I feel the urge to blog, I just don't know when.

The purpose of my facebook page will be to share pictures of my newest creations, share some other cool Etsy shops, share Treasuries that feature my goodies, and my favorite part -- host giveaways. I realized I just don't have a big enough following on my blog for decent giveaways, so Facebook will be where the magic happens. Please join me on Facebook, it should be a lot of fun!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Sewn-Sweets/190368050996643

MY Sugar Cookie Recipe and Buttercream Frosting

2010-12-10T08:41:00.001-08:00

I won't call this recipe the best since there are so many out there, but it is MY absolute favorite and I have been using it for over 10 years. This recipe makes nice, thick, and SOFT sugar cookies -- so if you are one of those weirdos that likes thin, cripy sugar cookies, you can just take a hike.

3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Sift dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla. Mix well. Add sour cream and mix well again. Slowly add in your dry ingredients until combined. If your dough is too sticky, refrigerate for awhile to make it easier to handle.

The next part is very important to the quality of your cookies. Separate your dough into two balls (just to make it easier to roll out). Form into a round disk and start to roll out. DO NOT use too much flour when you roll your dough, using too much will make your cookies tough (darn gluten). You can even use powdered sugar to roll out your dough which will not make your cookies tough. Roll out your dough to 1/4" thick - No thinner! Use a ruler if necessary. Cut out your shapes however you like, being mindful to use your dough space as you're cutting wisely. You really only want to roll out your dough twice since working it and rerolling it and adding more flour will start to affect the quality of your cookie.
Your oven needs to be preheated to 350 degrees. Leave about 1-2 inches between your cookies on the sheet. Bake your cookies for FOUR minutes, rotate your pan, then bake for an additional TWO minutes (sometimes my first batch needs 3 minutes after I rotate the pan, but my oven gets a bit warmer the longer I leave it on, and 2 minutes usually does the trick). Take the cookies out even though they may not look done - they are! Do not be fooled. I pity the fool that leaves these babies in too long. Transfer your cookies immediately to a cooling rack, then use your spatula to swat your kids hands away.

Me and my kids can eat these cookies by the dozen just as they are - bare. However, if you must frost, frost with this:

1 cup softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 tbs. whole milk or whipping cream

I start beating my butter and slowly add in the powdered sugar, then vanilla, then milk. I like to warm my milk just a bit so its coldness doesn't affect my nicely softened butter. Whip that up until it is your desired consistency. Frost away.
Pictures are from valentine's day 2009 - we have yet to make these for Christmas yet, but we will, oh yes, we will.

Decorating Idea for the Holidays - Peppermints!

2010-12-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

I love the holiday look of red and white peppermints. I found these ornaments at Kohls and spent about $8.oo on all three (they were 50% off). I knew right when I saw them what I wanted to do.
In true Shana fashion I copied one of my old crafts instead of coming up with something new -- I just changed the colors from my Halloween cardstock circle garland to red and white. These are just paper circles fed through your sewing machine one right after the other. I used 4 different sized circle punches and created strands of varying length of in white, red, and then ones with red and white mixed, sometimes layering the colors together.
My peppermint ornaments had glitter on them so I thought it would be fun to add glitter to the white circles. I liked the effect, but I wouldn't say working with glitter is fun. It's messy and no matter how careful you are - you will spill it. Promise.
I used white sewing thread to hang the ornaments, then attached them to the ceiling with a thumbtack -- please note, the ornaments I used were plastic so they weren't too heavy, be mindful of how heavy the ornaments you choose are or you might have trouble hanging them. The circle strands will only need a bit of tape since they are so light. I have this arrangement hanging over the counter in my kitchen.
This was fun and easy, with the hardest part being taking a picture of the finished product that didn't show my dirty kitchen - you can bet I trimmed that picture above to cut out my messy countertops and sink full of dirty dishes.

Holiday Gift Card Holders

2010-12-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of people dislike giving gift cards as gifts. Something about them being too impersonal or not very thoughtful. I don't mind giving or getting them, but if you do, here's a quick craft to increase your gift card's thoughtfulness.
I am very comfortable with felt. If you prefer a different medium, like fabric or scrapbooking materials -- go for it. This could easily be made with fleece or card stock and scrapbooking embellishments.

I cut two rectangles of felt 4 3/8 x 2 5/8. I found my reindeer pattern online simply by googling 'reindeer outline.' You may have to copy the image into your word processing program to adjust the size. You can add a pre-made embellishment as well - they are sold in a lot of forms at the craft store - felt, foam, paper - use whatever design you like. If you are a scrapbooker, you most likely have something in your stash you could use. If you're a sewer, you most likely could whip up one of those cute yo-yo flowers from your scraps to put on. The possibililtes are endless.
Once I had the front done, I attached them together using a blanket stitch, leaving one end open, then sewing a button on for closure. Scrapbookers - you can attach eyelets for ribbon to thread through and tie in bow.

To add to the gift card, I attached the whole thing to a Scentsy bar (because who doesn't love Scentsy?). You could attach it to your loved one's favorite candy bar or a bottle of their favorite lotion -- any small thing to add to the gift card to make it a bit more personal.
hmmm. . .who could be getting a Joann gift card from me?

Before and After Plus an Easy Halloween Craft

2010-09-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Before...

and after...

This is the area between the living room/front entry and the dining room/kitchen. We got this red side table at a SLC thrift/antique store a long time ago. I have always loved decorating around it. I thought my Halloween tree was a bit bare so this year I shopped around for a new addition, though they were either way over priced or too cheaply made, so I made my own.
I've had this idea in my mind for awhile and I even saw someone selling garlands like this on Etsy for some crazy price like $15.00 for six feet. Boo. All you will need is cardstock, a circle punch, and a sewing machine. If you don't have a circle punch, borrow one from your friend, or use one for free from your local scrapbook shop. Warning - do not attempt this without using a punch.

I choose 6 coordinating colors and punched away. I used the smallest punch I own - a 3/4" circle since this was going on a small tree. If you are going to hang your garland from a mantle or hang a bunch of strands from your ceiling I'd suggest a bigger sized circle punch, it will be quicker. For me, the 3/4" worked best and it took just 10 minutes to sew about six feet.
It is actually really easy to sew paper. It needs very little guidance - once the foot grabs it, you're good to go to feed another circle in. You can choose to space your circles farther apart, or keep them fairly close like I did.

All that was left was for me to string them up on my tree.

Though no sooner had I done so, two crows flew in and took up residence.

I think my Halloween tree is complete. It would be fun to try other color combinations like black, green, purple, and white (witch colors) or go for orange, red, yellow, and brown for fall.

Crows are from Micheal's, on sale now for $2.50 a piece.

Make Your Own Paper Patterns

2010-09-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick how-to for the apples in my previous post. It is quick and easy, and makes a nice, even, almost diecut-machine quality pattern.
You probably used this method as a child to make hearts for Valentine's Day. Just fold your paper in half, draw half of a heart, or half of whatever shape you are making, then cut out. You control the size and shape.
I make all of my own patterns for my shop, and I use this method for a lot of them. Most of my patterns look like this:
Which I use to turn into this:
Or this:
If it is a pattern that you are going to be using over and over again, or one that you are going to let your children use, copy your pattern onto heavy cardstock or posterboard for durability. Sneak peek for next week - I'll be posting some before and after shots of my house decorated for Halloween. Have a great weekend!

'Happy Fall' Wreath

2010-09-19T09:41:00.001-07:00

This was a simple wreath I did with my kids in school to help celebrate the coming season. Apples are ready to harvest in the fall so I thought this would be a fun alternative to leaves or pumpkins for a wreath.

You can also take this opportunity to teach your kids about Jonny Appleseed, an American Legend. Chances are, your kiddos might not know what a 'legend' is, and in this case, Mr. Appleseed is based on a actual person that played an important role in our country's early years.

Another thing this craft teaches, is patterns. So far in my homeschooling, patterns have popped up in Kindergarten - 2nd grade levels. We've been playing with them in our lessons, so it was fun to incorporate this skill into a craft.

You can control your kids involvement depending on their age, either cutting all the apples beforehand, or let your kids do it themselves. We didn't have a lot of time for this craft so I had everything ready for us to put it together, and it only took about 10-15 minutes to complete.

I had everything on hand, and you most likely do as well. You will need construction paper or cardstock, hot glue gun or Elmers, ribbon or string, and cardboard.
Use a plate to draw a circle onto your cardboard to your desired size. I choose to cover mine in strips of felt since I thought it would look better in the end, but it turns out the apples will cover the entire thing. So you can skip this step if you'd like.

If you just have cardboard to attach apples to, Elmers glue will work just fine, but if you're gluing to felt, use a glue gun. I put a dab of hot glue on the wreath, then my boys stuck the apples on in a pattern.
Use ribbon or string to attach a dangling apple for the 'Happy Fall' sign, as well as a ribbon loop for hanging. I just used a sewing pin to attach the ribbon. That's it! I have found that keeping things simple when it comes to kids and crafts is key to both you and your kids having an enjoyable time. Happy Fall!

in the works

2010-09-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

The reason I haven't posted in forever is because I have been saving all my projects until I have a massive collection of them, so many in fact, that when I look at them I get stressed out and back away slowly. Smart, right? I spent the summer making stuff for my shop while my boys played wii, or laying out in the sun while my boys threw water balloons, ran in the sprinklers, and made mud patties. Perfect summer, but now it is back to business. School started for us this week - Kindergarten and 2nd grade. Something about 'back to school' is making me feel like I need to tackle my list of projects. In order to feel productive I took pictures of projects that I want to tackle first. We'll see if I can finish them and post finished project pictures.
This is a vintage puzzle, made in the 1960s or early 70s in Denmark. It was my oldest brother's puzzle and it has definitely seen better days. I saved it from my moms house a few years ago and I haven't had the heart to let my boys play with it for fear that they would lose more of the pieces. I finally came up with a use for it. Magnets. The remaining vehicles will have a magnet glued to the back to become some cool, retro magnets for the fridge - I have always loved that blue bus and red flatbed truck. I figure it's a great way to salvage any puzzle that you or your child loves that has lost a few pieces.

I thought it would also be a good idea to buy a wooden alphabet puzzle and turn them into fridge magnets. I think I have been through 2 sets of plastic ABC magnets. They are always so cheap, either they have very weak magnets and can barely even hold themselves onto the fridge, or they break. Wooden ones would be a much sturdier option. You can buy magnets at most stores.
I found these ceramic cups at Michaels for $1.00 each. They are waiting for candy and a spooky note for some of my neighborhood friends.
I knew I had to have these when I saw them at Joann. Who doesn't need a set of 3 nesting cardboard coffins? They are waiting for a coat of paint.
Not sure what I had in mind with these. I think I had some idea to paint the yard stick and clothes pins, then glue the pins to the stick, then somehow attach the whole thing to the wall to display works of art. Or something like that. It's been sitting around for awhile now.
These stacks of paper are waiting for me to cut circles out for Halloween garland. I'll probably sew the circles together like I did with paper hearts for Valentine's day. I've seen people selling these on Etsy, though if you're any type of scrapbooker, you most likely have all you need for this project on hand and can do if for free.
I found these Martha Stewart favor boxes at Joann. I belong to a book group and I'll be filling these with treats to take to our get together in October. Easy and fun idea for gift giving.
Styrofoam egg shapes. Watch out, these are going to become spider egg sacks.
Finally, the most recent addition to my list of projects, a penny rug pattern I just bought from Etsy a few days ago. What was I doing starting another project? Who knows, I am a glutton for unfinished projects. Hopefully I will get on the ball and be able to feature a few of these finished. Wish me luck!

I spy books, part 2

2010-07-22T10:52:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the ideas Kristina! Everyone should check out those taby trays, they look like they'd fit most any car seat. Not having something hard to color on has always been a problem, as well as not having a tray to keep everything from dropping into the indefinite depths of car seat crevices, never to be seen again.

I previously blogged about some I Spy books I made for my boys last year that they loved. So, with this trip looming I decided to take some more pictures to add to it. I made up a few twists this time though. Here are some pictures if anyone tried this out for themselves and needed some ideas.
This one I call "Man, Monster, or Robot." You have to count how many men, how many monsters, and how many robots are in the picture. Clever, I know. If you have only girls, you are most likely out of luck in recreating this one.
This one is "find the food." I placed a number of food items amongst the buttons. There are cheese nips, cheerios, smarties, funyans, apple jacks, crispix, goldfish, and fruit snacks - pretty much any small food item I had in my pantry.
These are just chipboard scrapbook letters I had left over from my scrapbooking days. You have to find the numbers 1-10, as well as 3 hiddens words. If you have boys, you can make them happy and copy the words I hid - POO, FART, and BUM.
This one is find the items that don't belong. Really easy to create, just open your fridge and stuff it full of things that don't belong.
This is one I did for myself I call it "mom's faves." My favorite color, pink, my sunglasses, candy, lip gloss, and some of my crafting materials. There is also a sneaky picture of me included in this one.
This last one is actually one my 7 year old set up for me. He saw me working on this and got excited and created one of his own. He's a seasoned I Spy buff so he knew he had to hide stuff. Can you find the army guy?

special orders

2010-07-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

I really shouldn't complain about doing special orders for my shop. It means have I business, right? And any business is good, right? Well it usually doesn't feel that way to me when it comes to special orders.

A special orders means I HAVE to make something. Something of someone else's choosing. I have a deadline. Like an assignment, like homework. You see, the way I work, I make what I feel like making, what I'm inspired to create. If I discover I have the perfect colors to make rainbow goldfish crackers, I don't rest until I make them.
Or if I discover the cutest miniature rolling pins at Joann, I get up at 6 in the morning to make miniature sugar cookie dough to go with them.
Another reason I dislike special orders is that my time is limited (hence the 6 am craft wake up call). I have just enough time to make 2-3 items for my shop per week, and if that time is taken up by a special order, that means no new items for my shop, which means no sales usually (and no crafts to post on this blog). Then I begin to loathe the special order and the person who ordered it. Which brings me to the point of this post, to show off some of my recent special orders that I loathe.
This lady (who I really should not be complaining about, since she really is the nicest, most considerate customer AND orders a ton) wanted a whole pizza, plus all the extras like a personalized box. The box was the biggest pain to find, since it needed to be unprinted and the right size.
Here is the customized box - it came with 4 checkered napkins, as well as 4 order forms that I laminated so that they could be written on with dry erase markers. I had barely recovered from this project when she commissioned me for another special order.
This snack set was just a small part of her newest order - some cookies, some strawberries and a bazillion crackers. So glad it is done!

On a side note, we waited a day too long to buy our plane tickets for a trip we're planning and the price jumped a gazillion dollars. I thought I was off the hook for entertaining my boys during travel since the plane ride is only two hours long, but no. I am back to figuring out what to do with them for 13 hours in the car. So, barring any more special orders, I will be busy making/putting things together for their entertainment. We'll see if any of it ends up here, I'm not making any promises. Anyone have any great craft ideas for travel entertainment?

Please stop me from eating this

2010-06-25T09:33:00.001-07:00

Sorry, no crafts this week. I have one project in the works that I haven't even had time to look at lately. So I'll have to leave you this week with some pictures of a new creation. I'm not going to apologize if you have to go out and buy a box of these.

Little Debbie Swiss Rolls

They are about true to life-size - 3" long. They're soft, and since they are not very small, nor do they have any beads or other choking hazards, they're ok for younger tots.
Here they are in Strawberry Shortcake form, also a Little Debbie snack cake. Rolls of cream and strawberry jelly and vanilla cake. I don't think either the real chocolate or strawberry versions have a drizzle on top, but I like it with it. Who doesn't like a drizzle?

Father's Day Gift

2010-06-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone still looking for a last minute Father's Day gift? This is a fun one to do from the kids to dad. It is easy and pretty inexpensive, the hardest part being actually finding a photo booth. There are not that many around, and are usually in pretty random places.

In Utah at least, they used to be in every KMart, though most of them have disappeared in the last few years. Your best luck would probably be in a mall. If you are in Utah, there is for sure one in South Town mall, and someone told me there is one in Fashion Place too. I'd call around first, so you're not driving around forever.
I love this idea for Father's Day, rather than getting a professional picture done. These photo booth pics give you the opportunity to showcase a little more personality in the shots, and my kids loved it - since I was instructing them to be silly and make faces, when usually I am doing the opposite. Plus, they are pretty cheap, usually $2-$3 per session.

My frame came from Joann, all of their frames are 50% off right now. It is a 5x7 frame and I just taped my photos from behind to fit. So easy!

Little Shop Makeover

2010-06-10T08:57:00.001-07:00

Hello! I just enlisted the help of Christie from ChristieMegansMom for some much needed shop updates. I told her what I wanted and after a few revisions she created the perfect logo for Sewn Sweets. She is very talented and I LOVE what she came up with. She has been great to work with, click on the photo to the right to visit my shop to see my new banner and avatar, then tell me what you think!

Pigs in a Blanket

2010-06-04T10:43:00.001-07:00

Two piggies, two blankets....Let's roll...

And snap...Two piggies IN blankets.The end.

Crayon Rolls

2010-06-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

I made these a few years ago for Christmas gifts for my boys and nieces (you can see my original blogpost about it here). I have long thought of making a tutorial for them but then just the other day I saw one on The Pleated Poppy (aka Imperfect), a blog I follow.

Lindsey from the Pleated Poppy actually sells these rolls in her shop for a whopping $18.00. Her tutorial is very detailed and picture heavy, so even inexperienced sewers can manage. You can find it here. You will not regret making one of these - I made mine almost two years ago and I still use them all the time.
The one at The Pleated Poppy is just for crayons and rolls up nicely. I didn't use a pattern or tutorial when I made mine so I just winged it. I included a little notepad. If you wanted to do the same you'd just need to adjust the height as well as how many spaces you sew for the crayons, then leave a space big enough for the notebook you want to include (all of this would depend on the size of notebook you use). I found my notebooks in packs of three for $1.29 at Walmart, so they are inexpensive to replace once your kid fills them up. I think Lindsey's has enough room for 18 crayons, while mine only fits 8 or so.
This is what it looks like folded up (yours will be a roll if you don't include a notebook). I sewed ribbon on to tie it shut, but if I had to do it again, I'd definitely go Lindsey's method of using a hair tie and button. They hardly take up any space in your purse, they hold up great, and they can be thrown in the wash. A lot of times, before we head out to a restaurant, I'll print some coloring pages off the internet to take with us, and my kids are always entertained and are perfect angels ;).

Create your own I Spy Book

2010-05-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

cars

I was searching for a picture to send to a customer and came across these pictures of an I Spy project I did last summer that I had totally forgot about. I made them in anticipation of a 12 hour road trip we took, and I thought with summer fast approaching there are sure to be many of you out there with trips and vacations planned. Keeping your kids busy/entertained is high priority on a road trip.markers and crayons

I bought some little 4 x 6 photo albums from a craft store for just a couple dollars each. Then I began staging photos. These pictures are just a few ideas you can do to create your own I Spy pictures. Obviously these are not as elaborate or creatively done as the real thing, but they were NEW to my kids, which means they were more entertaining than their old I Spy books.

canned goods

For your reading age kids, just write out a little paragraph for what they need to find and slip it in next to the corresponding picture in the album. Neither Schoo or Thatch were reading when I made these so I drew really simple pictures for the items needing to be found.

Knights and Dragons Castle

There are a lot of other ideas you can try out that don't involve doing a lot of staging - some of my shots took awhile to set up and clean up. You can take pictures of:

- The inside of your fridge
- Your kitchen junk drawer
- A messy playroom
- Any collection or group of objects
- Your child's favorite color
- The garden, or yard

- Sandbox toys
Stuffed animals

The fun part was once I had things arranged, I hid little things with them that didn't really belong. If you know much about I Spy, a lot of times there is one thing that is hidden in ALL the pictures. Can you figure out what I hid in almost all of my pictures?

green stuff

puzzle pieces
blue

This was a really fun project to do (there's no sewing involved!) and my kids LOVED it. Even if you don't have trips planned there are always occasions you need to keep your little ones quiet.

The Cake

2010-05-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

This was Thatcher's birthday cake. Looks a little plain doesn't it? Just wait until we cut into it...
Oh, yes, there are six layers in that baby. I have never made a cake this big before. This cake idea came from the Cheeky Kitchen, a really fun food blog I follow.
In the original recipe, each layer has fruit - raspberries, orange zest, lemon zest, lime zest, blueberries, and blackberries - though I left all that out, figuring all that extra work would be lost on Thatch. He was just impressed with the size and color of the cake.
It was pretty tasty even without the added fruit flavors and the frosting was really good too. It had a package of white chocolate chips melted into it - something I've never added to any of my butter cream frosting endeavors.
All in all, it was a pretty easy cake to make, just a little more time intensive with all the layers. I might go get myself a piece right now....

New to the Shop

2010-05-18T11:46:00.001-07:00

Pansy Tea Party Set - two mini vanilla cupcakes with two truffles (a new item for me, plate is included).

Red, White and Blue Star Sugar Cookies (plate included)

Busy Bee and Little Ladybug chocolate mini cupcakes (listed this yesterday in the shop, and sold the same day).

Little Lollies. Another new design for the shop. I'm having a lot of fun making 'candy' sweets instead of 'baked' sweets.

2010-05-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago my computer decided to stop loading pictures. No explanation. Today, it has decided to start again. I'm not asking questions, I'm just happy it is working again. Schoo's b-day has come and gone and he loved the decorations, as well as the shirt I made him. I almost just scratched the whole idea since my first attempt ruined the tee, but I still had Thatch's tee and didn't want one boy to get a birthday shirt, and one not to. That's pretty much how it is around here with two kids, both boys, and close in age - they get a lot of the same stuff. Keeping things even helps keep the peace.
These are the shirts just stuck on with Heat N Bond. I then attempted to zigzag the edges and ruined the blue one. I ended up buying a whole new shirt and fabric.
I didn't get a good close up of it, but you can see it ok in this picture. He told me repeatedly all day long how much he liked it. I made my own pattern by printing a number off of word at around '700' in size. Just remember to use the 'outline' font setting to save yourself ink. You'll need either a fat quarter or 1/4 yd of fabric. Like I said, I ironed mine on with Heat N Bond to keep it in place, then sewed a straight line around the number.
Here is what he came down to on his birthday morning. I already posted about the birthday banner, but never got to the tissue paper pom poms. I am so not a fan of balloons even though kids are crazy for them. They are nothing but trouble if you ask me. These pom poms are from Martha Stewart. They are cheap, and so easy, and so fun to decorate with - you can find the directions here.
The "schooler" part of the banner has come down, and will be replaced with "thatcher." His b-day is tomorrow. Can't wait!

Project #2

2010-05-10T12:33:00.001-07:00

Project number 2 just met its demise via my horrid zigzagging skills. I'm so disappointed. Zigzagging is serious business and I will not be messing with that function on my sewing machine again any time soon. Boo. Here is a picture though that has nothing to do with the deceased project number 2.
The newest creation for the shop. Rainbow colored taffy. I also have finally created pizza though I have no photos to post and I can't list it in my shop yet either. My life has come to a halt with my camera and/or computer refusing to upload photos. Double boo.

Birthday Project #1

2010-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

May is birthday month in our house - we have Schoo's and Thatch's b-days, just 4 days apart. They both ask every day (multiple times a day) how many days until their birthday. I've always done homemade things for birthdays (with the exception of the cake) - decorations, gifts, games, etc. This year is no different, here is the first project I have finished, a 'Happy Birthday' banner.
I also have the words 'Schooler' and 'Thatcher' that I didn't lay out here since the boys were upstairs watching Chowder and I knew I only had 11 minutes to take pictures without them seeing.
For this project you will need:

Cardstock
Printed paper
Thread

The amounts needed depends on the size of your square, as well as how long you're child's name is (if you use it, you can of course just use the phrase 'happy birthday'). My cardstock background is a 6 x 6 inch square. I made the letters by first cutting my printed paper into 4 3/4" squares, then drawing the letters freehand, using up as much of the square as possible.
Then sew the letter on - this was much easier than I anticipated. I thought I'd have to adhere the letter on first to keep it in place, but it's not necessary. Once you start sewing, the letters stay put. Then sew around your square.
I've seen this idea before - using clothing pins to hang letters, and I found these at my local scrapbook store sold individually for .10 each. I got my printed paper from the same local scrapbook store. It is more expensive there than at Joann, especially since Joann often puts their paper on sale, but smaller, local stores will have a better and bigger selection of quality printed paper (a lot of Joann's printed paper is that flimsy quality, like printer paper). You can however, save a bit of money by buying the solid cardstock at Joanns, I purchased mine at 40% off.

There was no way for me to attach this to string and hang it up for pictures without my boys seeing it so finished project pictures will have to wait until after their birthdays, which are 9 and 13 days away. More projects to come!

I need more cowbell!

2010-04-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by the cowbell SNL skit, as well as my husbands usage of his cowbell app during the Winter Olympics to create this T-shirt for him. Jessica, from Running with Scissors, has done many projects using the freezer paper method, and has a great tutorial on how to do it. It might be a little confusing your first time, but after that, it's a cinch. I've used freezer paper only once for another project, so I had some on hand, but you can find it at fabric or quilt shops.
I chose a font on Word, enlarged it, then printed it out. I made the cowbell myself drawing it freehand. Then I traced my pattern onto the paper side of the freezer paper and cut it out using an exacto knife.
Once cut, I positioned it on the T-shirt and ironed it on. Freezer paper is awesome.
Then I painted. I used two coats, letting it dry a couple hours in between. The freezer paper creates the perfect seal to keep the paint just where you want it, then peels off easily once you're finished.
Here it is finished. When my husband saw it, he asked me where I bought it from (ha!). He was surprised I had made it myself. Freezer paper and fabric paint are inexpensive and the possibilities really are endless, you can create any design you want and then paint it onto any fabric surface you like - tees, onesies, backpacks, hand towels, etc. Use the link above to see Jessica's full tutorial to make your own.

Infant Car Seat Cover

2010-04-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends is having her first baby in the next month or so. I am so excited for her and her husband and I knew I had to think of a great gift. Of course it had to be hand made, right? It took me awhile to think of something, but I did. It is hard to tell what this is without actually having a car seat to model it on, but it is an infant car seat cover. They did not have these when I had babies, 'cause believe me, I would have been all over it.
There are two straps that velcro onto the car seat handle so that your baby will be completely covered from sunlight when they are sleeping, prying, germy hands, and the paparazzi.
I found a few tutorials online, but it seemed like the people who made them were just 'winging' it. I found some really great ones on Etsy, but either they were $40 or I didn't like the fabric. I knew I had to take the matter into my own hands. I ended up buying a pattern from EveryDayChic for just $6. I'd seen some on Etsy that had this cool option of having snaps in the front if you wanted to vent the cover or leave it open just a little for you to peek on your babe - but there were no patterns for that. If I wanted those snaps, I was going to have to wing it (crap).
I managed though. Apparently I am a pro at winging it. I had to also make binding to cover my seam and hand sew on the snaps and buttons to cover the snaps. It was a lot of extra work, but in the end it was worth it. I used random buttons from my stash and it turned out so cute.
My friend is so fun and loves bright, bold prints, I knew this bold, pinky, yellowy, orangey print would be sweet and girly enough for a baby without being pastel and cutesy. I love the orange lining on the inside. Hopefully baby Lucy will like it too. I would definitely recommend the cover pattern to anyone else looking to make one either for themselves or a friend. It took me two days to complete, though without my additions, I think I could have finished it in one morning.

Natalie....

2010-04-23T11:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a few different strawberry shortcakes I created last spring. The ones above are all stitched together and the cake part is in the form of a cupcake. The one below, everything is separate so you can build it yourself.
I've been trying to think of a new shortcake style though. I didn't love the whole strawberry sticking up in the top photo, nor am I in love with my strawberry slices. Any suggestions?

Basketful of Berries

2010-04-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

Utah's spring has been full of rain and snow. Boo. We finally started to have a few nice days last week, but now we're back to rain. I can not wait for nice weather so I can start to plant some flowers and reap the benefits of my sister's hard work in her garden :). I especially can't wait for peas and STRAWBERRIES.
Here is my newest creation for my shop, a basketful of strawberries. There are two shades of red, 3 large berries, and 3 small berries, as well as a little basket to carry them in. These will have to keep me happy until it really warms up around here.

What to do with an unfinished wood frame

2010-04-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

I discovered unfinished wood frames a couple years ago. If you're looking for some decorating ideas for your kiddos room they are a very inexpensive option. There are different sized frames and are usually only a couple of dollars.

While at the scrapbook store a while back I found these little cards. I had absolutely no use for them, but I was drawn in by the color - I loved the color in these, and I loved the little sayings on them. Most scrapbook stores have an abundance of this type of thing - sets of paper, doodads, little carstock sayings all in coordinating prints and colors.
Eventually I thought of framing them, I thought they would be perfect in a baby's or little kid's room.
I found a set of 4 - 4x6 wooden frames at Joann for $7.99 (though I used my 40% coupon, if you pay full price for anything at Joann, you're doing something wrong), then picked out some acrylic paint to match.

My painting method for these was pretty simple. I used 3 or 4 coats and then sanded the edges down. I used a clear matte sealant spray to finish and protect them. You can find this spray at craft stores as well, just make sure to use it outdoors.

I used cream cardstock for the backing and very lightly inked the edges of the sayings with brown ink. Like really lightly - I used my finger to dab the ink and then lightly rubbed the edges. Then I used scrapbook adhesive to glue them on. That's it.
This is another project I did a few years ago, so the pictures are dated and the frames are a bit scratched up (my boys have a talent for knocking things off walls), but I used the same wooden frames as above.
I have this hanging in the room my boys share. The big letters are from Joann and are cardboard (I can't remember the price, maybe $3 or $4 each?). It would be cute to do a whole wall of the big letters with your child's entire name, with coordinating picture frames, but I just went with their initials since it would have been pricey with their names having 8 letters each.

These frames are fun to play with since you can do so much with them (and they are so inexpensive). You can pick out printed paper and cut it to fit the frame and then modpodge it on there. Or add some 3-d elements like silk flowers or even buttons. Whatever you like, you can even get your little one's involved to paint and they can be given as gifts for grandmas for Mother's day coming up.

Another Cookie Cut-Out Set

2010-04-15T11:59:00.001-07:00

I really hate those blogs that go forever and ever without new posts. Like my own. I even have some crafty ideas to post, but I am so lazy. And have had sick kids. And been sick myself. So here's something to look at until I get my crafty rear in gear.
A new sugar cookie cut-out set. This time I tried to do something more gender neutral so I went with these cute gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters.
It is the same concept as before with shapes cut out of the 'dough.'
There are 3 girls and 3 boys, all with their own frosting that has buttons and a simple embroidered face.
I just wish it were easier to find good cookie cutters that are not metal (yes, these ones are metal, but they have a coating on them so they are not sharp like the plain metal ones) and also not the cheapy plastic ones. I love the Wilton plastic ones I used for the last cookie cut-out project, but the shapes are very limited and hard to find.

In the mood for some sugar cookies?

2010-03-30T17:21:00.000-07:00

First lets get out some cookie dough. I guess we'll need a rolling pin too.

Then let's roll out the dough, nice and smooth...

What sort of shape should we do? How about a flower and a butterfly. Sweet and springy.

Now to cut out our shapes...

There we go. Mmmm...looks tasty already. (is they getting cheesy?)

Finish cutting out all your shapes, we want enough to share.

They look a little bare, though, right? They're missing something, what could it be?

Ahh. . . Yes, frosting, that's better. And sprinkles.

Get them all frosted. Don't worry, it's easy and mess free. And sugar free.

There you go - Sugar Cookies!

Last Minute Easter Gifts

2010-03-29T09:36:00.001-07:00

I sometimes get discouraged or insecure about my crafting ability when I look through all the amazing craft blogs out there. There are some really, really, really talented people out there. I've come to realize that I need to not compare myself to anyone and accept that I have a FULL schedule and being an awesome crafter sadly falls towards the bottom of my list. I love making things and with my schedule I know I have to keep it simple. Which I hope makes my crafts appealing to those with awesome crafting abilities and those without ;)

With that being said, here are a few simple projects. For this craft I used a clay flower pot, like I did with my Halloween Candy Corn cups.
A few tips for painting clay pots - you will need 4 coats of acrylic paint to get a nice even coating. I'd recommend that you use a foam brush. First paint horizontally - working quickly with plenty of paint on your brush since the paint will dry fairly fast, let dry, then paint vertically, let dry, then repeat, for a total of 4 coats. This is the easiest way to get a nice even coat.

I used the end of a hot glue gun stick, dipped in white paint to get the polka dots. You can use what ever you have on hand, like the end of a pencil eraser.
The grass I used is a paper grass which is soooo much easier to work with than the plastic stuff. You can mold and smoosh it and it will stay put and look a lot nicer. The cardstock flower is glued onto a craft stick I painted green. The little chick came in a pack of 6 for under $2. All supplies for this project can be found very inexpensively at any craft store.

This next idea requires a little less work, though it's still cute. I've mentioned before with my Valentine's Day gifts that Micheals has this great section that always has cute seasonal items (which is where I got those Valentine's cups). It is usually by the Wilton and baking aisle and has an assortment of seasonal baking/gift giving items. I found these bunny dishes (which I didn't get a picture of BEFORE filling and wrapping them. oops).
They're pink with a little bunny face on the bottom. I put these together to give to my little niece and Grandma Lottie. I'm sending these in the mail so I wrapped them in a clear gift bag and tied them with ribbon so they would stay nice while shipping. If you were just going to drop them off at a friends then you could lose the bag. Simple.

I hope everyone has a very happy Easter!

Tell me what you think...

2010-03-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

Plain vanilla cupcakes (aka Plain Janes)

Add vanilla frosting...

Then top with frosting flowers.

This is a set of 4 cupcakes, with 4 vanilla frosting circles and 4 different frosting flowers. My boys like to play with this, but they like everything I make (they're always so supportive). I think my target market would be little girls. You can top the cupcakes yourself with the frosting and then choose the flower top you'd like.

I have been on a quest lately to create some sweets that are a little more interactive, just for something new to add to the shop. If you peruse the play food on Etsy, there is a lot of play food, much of it sweets like mine like cookies, donuts, cake, etc. I haven't seen anything like this with cupcakes though.
Would your tot have fun with this? I have a few more ideas up my sleeve, but I'd like to know if anyone else out there has any ideas or things they'd like to see. Let me know, thanks!

My Peeps

2010-03-05T12:42:00.001-08:00

As promised, I have a free pattern for you all today. I made this pattern for my shop last year and had posted a few sets when I got a notice from Etsy. The peeps at Peeps were putting the kabash on my marshmallow bunnies. Apparently they looked a little too much like the real thing or something and the Peeps peeps were not having it.
I was pretty sad since I was quite proud of them (I drew the pattern freehand) and I had a lot of interest in them. Sad for me, but good for you, however. I'm offering my pattern to anyone who would like to have it. Only thing, it has to be for your personal use only (no selling them! Unless you want the Peeps peeps to come after you).
They are cute and fun and a great alternative to buying your kids a lot of candy around Easter time. I know I am so guilty of this, pretty much for every holiday. My boys are still eating Valentine's Day candy. Maybe I should help them out.

Included with the pattern will be instructions on how to make them, as well as materials needed. You will need to know how to do the blanket stitch and tie a french knot. It is an easy craft and a cheap one as well. You should be able to make a set of three bunnies with one sheet of felt (.35) and one skein of embroidery floss (.37).
Go ahead, make your kiddos (or just yourself) something hand made. Aren't they cute (especially for being under a dollar to make)? Plus they will last year after year and can be a Easter/Spring decoration once your kids are too old to play with them. Who's up for it? Let me know in the comments section if you'd like a pattern and I will mail it out to you. Have a great weekend!

The winner is...

2010-03-05T12:38:00.001-08:00

Lisa! I actually didn't use Random.org like I said I was. With just three entries I figured I could handle writing the numbers 1-3 on pieces of paper and picking one out. Lisa, you are the lucky one today. I'll mail it out to you tomorrow. Thanks so much for entering guys!

Feeling Lucky? - Giveaway Closed

2010-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Do you decorate for St. Patrick's Day? Truth be told, St. Patrick's Day isn't one of my favorite holidays - to celebrate or to decorate for. I only have a few decorations, so with the success of my Valentine's Day banner, I decided to make one for St. Paddy's Day. And, you guessed it, I made one to giveaway.
It says 'HAPPY GO LUCKY' with shamrocks separating the words. If you're starting to fear that this type of banner will be the only thing I giveaway, don't. I happen to have a FREE pattern to giveaway in my next post. That's right. Not just to one lucky person, but to all who desire it.
To be entered to win this St. Patty's Day banner, just drop me a comment on this post. The giveaway will stay open until midnight this Thursday, after which on Friday I'll pick a winner using Random.org. Also on Friday, I'll be posting the free pattern, so make sure to check back!

Spring Preview - aka, why I haven't been posting regularly

2010-02-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty busy creating all these new sweets for my shop, getting ready for the Easter and Spring season coming up. It's very soon, probably sooner than you think. Did you know Easter is April 4th? I always hate it when it is so close to the beginning of the month, I feel like it sneaks up on me. I'm working on a little banner for St. Patrick's Day to give away, as well as a surprise free pattern. Have a great week!

Little Towheads Clothing

2010-02-23T12:17:00.001-08:00

Christmas '09

A couple years ago I reconnected with an old friend from my hometown. I'd heard from a mutual friend that she had started an Etsy shop. I was pretty excited to get in touch with her again and discover someone I knew that also had a shop, since at the time Etsy was not as well known as it is today. That friend is Dana, from Little Towheads Clothing.

Dana creates one of a kind clothing for babies and children. I've been to baby showers where I've given the mom-to-be the exact same item of clothing that she opened 5 minutes before, or run into another child at the store wearing the exact same shirt as my own kid. You can bet that won't happen with Dana's designs. She hand embroiders every design and does such quality work. Her stitching really is amazing.

You can pick from what she has in stock or she's very willing to do custom orders. For the past two Christmases I have picked out flannel to make my boys new pj pants for Christmas and had Dana design shirts to go along with them. You can bet there weren't any other boys with jammies like theirs.

Here they are Christmas "08

I have washed these shirts over and over and they are still in great condition. As you can see in the photo above, Thatcher's shirt was a little big, so he has been wearing it for over a year - still looks great. I purchased this shirt below for my cousins baby girl a few months ago. Isn't it sweet?
Take some time to go through Dana's shop. She has a lot of designs to choose from, or if you have ideas of your own, I know she'd be more than happy to work with you. She also does photography and has a number of great prints, bookmarks and notecards, all made from her original photographs. Check her out on Etsy, or you can also become a fan of her page on Facebook, where you can get updates on new embroidery designs, see samples of her work on actual babies, and view her latest photographs.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littletowheads

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Towheads-Clothing/94943215569

Donuts in a Treasury

2010-02-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

If you have no clue what a treasury on Etsy is, you are missing out. It is such a fun way to peruse all the awesome products on Etsy. The Treasury is a list of member curated lists of hand made items. For example, here is a treasury that someone just recently included one of my items:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=114334

As you can see, the treasury usually has a theme of some sort. The member, or Etsy seller usually, hand picks favorite items and arranges them in the format usually seen on the home page of Etsy. There are over 300 treasury pages going on at a time, and they expire after about 2 days to make room for new ones.

Having one of your items picked is a good thing, it draws traffic to your shop, and thus potential buyers. And if you're in a really popular treasury, there's a chance that treasury can be picked to appear on the home page of Etsy - the ultimate place for your item. This set of mine appeared on the front page, and I went from about 50 views to over 600.
The amount of people that 'heart' my shop also jumped by about 35 people. Pretty nice. So put the kids to bed and take some time to peruse the Treasury lists, you won't be disappointed.

I Pod Cozy

2010-02-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

First things first, I did not come up with this Etch a Sketch design. I found it on Etsy for $22.00, but knew that I had everything needed to make it in my stash. It is a cozy. You might know cozies as those crocheted or quilted granny-type things that cover your tea kettle. This is no granny cozy.

I made this for my husband for his I Pod Touch that he got for Valentine's Day. It was so easy to make, even for someone not that crafty. It will fit regular I Pods, and it is very easy to alter the size to fit whatever small piece of technology you own that needs to be kept dust and scratch-free.

This one is simply 4 pieces of felt cut to 5 x 3 1/2. The cut-out for the Etch a Sketch screen on the red piece is 3 1/2 x 2. Cut the gray piece to 4 x 2 1/2 and then sew in place with your sewing machine. The lines and phrase 'i-sketch' are hand sewn. The knobs are white buttons.
Once you have the front finished, then stitch the pieces together using the blanket stitch, leaving one end open of course. This took me about 2 hours to do, though without my boys around, I think it would have only taken about an hour.
You really could do any design you like, or peruse Etsy for ideas. I think I'd do some kind of cupcake design if I had an I Pod touch to keep cozy. Maybe I'll make one anyway. You know, since if you build it, it will come. Right?

Valentine's Day Party

2010-02-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

This past Friday we had our class Valentine's Day party. Having class parties is one of my favorite things to do with my kids in school since I love making the holidays special for my boys (and since it is like a day off for me). Growing up my Mom didn't make a big deal out of holidays. I think I have more than made up for it.

I always feel a little pressure though to make it extra fun, since I know that if my boys were in a real classroom, a lot of the fun would be from the interaction with other kids in class, and with homeschooling they just get boring old mom. It's a good thing kids are pretty easy to please.
I used the die cut machines at my local scrapbooking store to cut out these little paper bags. At the time I cut out quite a few in different colors so I could use them throughout the year for different school events. This time I stuck a pack of Bubble Tape in there. It was a hit.
I also blew up about 20 balloons for the boys to toss around. Why are kids so crazy for balloons? I am not crazy for balloons and I am ready to pop each and every one, but then I look at this kid's sweet face and can't do it. He won't let me give him a haircut.
We also decorated our paper bag mail boxes for our family Valentine card exchange. A tradition we've been doing for the last 4 years. I love creating these traditions and seeing how excited my boys get. I really can't remember any Valentine's Days from growing up, hopefully I'm helping to make some great memories for my kids.

2010-02-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

And the winners are..Steph and Shelly!

Winners were selected using Random.org. Though I secretly was rooting for Lyndsie who was actually using one of my ideas (yay Lyndsie!). I will mail your banners out asap. Don't worry ladies, I have more giveaways planned in the future, thank-you so much for reading and for all your wonderful comments!

A Pea Pod for Seth-Pod

2010-02-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

My husband's little brother, Seth, is here for a visit. While here he asked me to make this for him to give to his girlfriend for Valentine's Day. This is Seth's design. He bought all the materials, drew out how he wanted it to look, and I created it.
It was a bit of a challenge, partly because he wanted it made out of fleece (you know my comfort zone revolves around felt), and partly because I have a hard time letting someone tell me how to craft. I had to just make myself keep my mouth shut, because after all, this was his design, for his girlfriend. Anyway, I think it turned out awesome, and more importantly, Seth is really happy with it as well.
The two main peas come out - one Seth Pea, one Ellora Pea (with bow and eyelashes). The two smaller ones on the sides are glued into place. It is fully lined (a feat for myself) in a cute floral print.

I embroidered this heart with their initials and it is glued onto the back of the pod.

Geez guys! Get a room!

Valentine's Day Banner Giveaway - CLOSED

2010-02-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

I whipped up this little banner with my Cricut machine. I really liked how it turned out and thought others might too so I made two more to give away.
It reads 'HAPPY VALENTINES DAY' with hearts separating the words, and is strung with matching ribbon so you can hang it anywhere you like. I hung mine on the ginormous mirror in my living room.
Yes, that is a pink Valentine's tree. It has long been a dream of mine to own a pink Valentine's tree. Want to make something of it? I snagged it at Micheal's on clearance after Christmas. Here are the other two banners I made:
One's pink, the other brown and I think I like both of them equally. To be entered in the giveaway, just leave me a comment on this post. Your chances of winning are pretty high seeing as I usually have just 2 or 3 faithful readers (thank-you!) that leave me comments. Have I mentioned how much I love comments? I do. I'll close the giveaway Friday, and announce the winners (which will be chosen randomly) on Saturday. Thanks to all of my followers!

Valentine's Day Gifts

2010-02-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

I don't think anyone (in their right mind) would turn down some chocolate. Especially some chocolate in a pretty package. With Christmas, birthdays, Mother's and Father's days around for lavish gift giving, I say keep Valentine's Day simple. And sweet.
I found these cute little decorative cups and bowls at Micheals for just $1.00 (although, I went to a different Michaels to get more and they were $1.29. What a rip off). Buy yourself a few bags of chocolate and you've got yourself a quick, cute, and inexpensive gift perfect for neighbors, girlfriends, sisters, moms, or your kids' school teachers (way better than just that "teacher" valentine card they put in the box sets). Or, if you happen to be mormon, it's perfect for your visiting teaching gals, just drop if off and call that month good ;).
I printed a little message, then glued them onto some Valentine-themed paper, and then onto craft sticks. Actually, my boys did that for me, they're such good little helpers, especially when there are piles of candy involved.
I think I would be quite happy to find this on my doorstep. Now all I need to do is keep everyone's little fingers out of these until I can get them delivered.

FYI, my next post features a giveaway.

Hanging Hearts

2010-01-30T18:17:00.001-08:00

This was an incredibly simple craft. All it involves are some paper hearts and your sewing machine. I had a crazy amount of paper hearts from a time I went a little nuts with the diecut machines at the scrapbooking store awhile ago. I was partially inspired by my hanging cotton ball snowflakes. Here is what I came up with:
If you don't already happen to have an abundance of pre-made hearts you can cut them yourself, or your local scrapbooking store most likely has diecut machines you can use for a small price (or some places they only charge you the cost of the paper).
To make these, just sew down the center of the heart and at the end, lift up the foot and needle, pull the thread to your desired length, then start a new heart. All my heart placements and thread length were random, so no measuring needed.
Once you have a string of hearts you will need to trim one of the threads (the bobbin one, it picked up more slack when I made this and didn't look right when I hung it). It helps to use two different thread colors so you don't trim off the wrong thread.
It took me about 20 minutes to sew all of these so it goes really fast. Just hang them anywhere you like, I think they look especially cute hanging in a window. I suppose if you don't own a sewing machine you can just tape the hearts to a length of thread and achieve a similar look.

I have two packs of these paper hearts from Creative Memories that are just itching to find a new home. With one pack you will get more than enough hearts to create this craft (the only size not in this pack that I used is the smallest heart). The first two lucky ladies to request one in the comments section will receive a pack of hearts. Any takers?

How not to paint a wooden mailbox

2010-01-28T17:13:00.001-08:00

As I painted this I kept coming up with ideas on how it would be easier, after I had just done it the hard way. So this will be more of a 'how NOT' to instead of a 'how to.' ;)
I've had my eye on this wooden mailbox at Joann for a long time now (retail $7.99, but I used my 40% coupon so it ended up being about $5), I knew I had to have it for a Valentine's Day decoration. My husband's mother is way into decorating for every holiday/season and it is from her that I truly got into it myself. It is from her that I got the tradition of everyone in the family decorating some kind of bag/box to be their Valentine's mailbox. Then everyone can make cards for one another and/or deliver treats to their 'mailbox' on Valentine's day.

This is them making their mailboxes last year

My original idea was to get 4 of these mailboxes, one for each one in our family, and to let everyone paint it themselves to replace the paper bag idea. However, I started to worry that my boys might not be happy with the paint job they did this year in another 5 years. Anyway, I ended up with one mailbox that I painted myself to be a decoration.

First I removed the flag, then started taping. If you have the blue painting tape on hand, use that by all means. Masking tape just barely does the job. What I wish I had done, was paint the whole body the lighter color pink, THEN tape just once to paint the darker pink

You can see I chose to do it the hard way.

To write our last name on the mailbox I just chose a font I liked, increased it to the desired size, printed it, and then cut it out. Then I taped it to the box, traced it, and then spent a LONG time very carefully painting it. It was at this point that I started to think of ModPodge. It would have been so much easier to modpodge the letters right onto the box. If you have a cricut (which I do! and I still didn't even think to use it), you can just cut the desired letters out on carstock and then modpodge those babies right on. It would be so much easier.

After I had it all painted I realized there was something bothering me about my color scheme - I had recreated a Victoria Secret bag. They are pink striped, just like this, with black lettering. Nice. If I had to do it over again, I would choose two red tones instead of pink.
That little cupid guy is just a diecut I had that I traced on and then painted. Over the next few weeks I will sneak little treats/crafts/goodies into the mailbox and then put the flag up for my guys to discover.

Chunky Crayons

2010-01-19T12:31:00.001-08:00

I have seen recycled crayons like this on Etsy, though making them yourself for free is so easy and fun. If you're like me, then you have mountains of well-used and broken crayons lying around.

You'll need:

Crayons
Cooking spray
Muffin tin

Just peel the paper off the crayons and break them up. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and then arrange the broken crayons into the tins however you like. Mix and match to create new colors.
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and melt for 7-8 minutes. Once melted, CAREFULLY remove them from the oven (you do not want to clean up melted crayon wax).
If you'd like, take a tooth pick and swirl the colors a bit. Allow to cool before removing from the tin. Some of the colors look like they completely mixed, though you will have a surprise when you pop them out. Getting them out wasn't too hard, though some needed a little coaxing.
Aren't those the coolest? My boys were ooohing and ahhing every time one popped out.
I'd say these crayons worked better for the big coloring pages like these ones, since without a pointed end like regular crayons, your accuracy isn't as good. The boys had a lot of fun coloring with them and loved seeing how the colors mixed. We will definitely be doing this again.

Paper Snowflakes

2010-01-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago we made paper snowflakes in school and they were a lot of fun. I had all the paper precut into squares and folded so we'd be all ready. Then I gave the boys pencils so that they could design their snowflakes. This is the same route a lot of parents go with for carving pumpkins with little kids - letting them draw on the face they want, and leave the carving up to an adult. Much easier than letting your child wield a sharp object.
As you can see, they really tried to challenge my cutting skills with pretty intricate and crazy designs.
The boys really got into 'designing' their snowflakes. It was so cute to watch them watching me open up the snowflake to see how what they drew turned out. At one point Schooler said as I opened up one of his flakes "I designed that? I'm an artist!" Here is one of Thatcher's snowflakes. Unlike most days, he was wearing three shirts.
One of Schoo's snowflakes (he's only wearing 2 shirts):
Here's a tip for you folks to get nice flat snowflakes. All you'll need is an iron.
Once finished just turn your iron onto a low setting (without steam) and gently iron the snowflakes. They will flatten out really nicely and look better once you hang them.
Here's one of Schoo's, mine, and Thatcher's designs.

It's Snowing!

2010-01-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

All these crafts have been turning our house into a winter wonderland and the boys have been loving it. Even though we live somewhere that gets a decent amount of snow and there is even some on the ground, we have the worst air quality in the nation. It is not advisable to go outside. It has been this way for awhile, and will probably stay this way for anotherwhile (I just made that word up).

So, to make winter more wonderlandish (instead of smoggish) we made it snow inside the house. We used cotton balls again and it was really simple. You can either just do white, but I had this idea to make pretty light blue and purple snowflakes mixed with the white. It didn't work out exactly like I imagined, but it was still fun to do.

In a small container place some water and food coloring and mix it up.
Maybe if I had put some vinegar in there as well the colors would have stayed better. Anyway. Dip the cotton balls into the colored water, gently squeeze, and place on a paper towel covered plate. It will look like this:
I put the plate on a heater vent overnight and this is what they looked like the next morning:
Again, not exactly like I had imagine, but no one around here minded. Using a long sewing needle and some thread we strung them up and taped them to the ceiling. String some up in groups of 3, 4, or 5 to vary the hanging length. Try to ignore the really ugly chandelier hanging in the middle.

Day 2 - Painting Snowmen

2010-01-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

These wooden snowmen were one of my craft store clearance finds (I think around .60 a piece). They're normally not that expensive and craft stores carry a variety of shapes/styles all year round. It's not a very crafty craft on my part, but my boys love it and it keeps them entertained for about an hour. A whole hour. Of quiet painting. Did I mention the quiet?
Have you ever given your child a palette full of paint? If not, you must. Tape down some paper towels and let them have at it. Most of the fun in painting these things usually ends up in mixing the paint and creating new colors. These plastic palettes are usually around $1.
This guy could mix colors for hours. Some of the colors, according to him, that he made this time around were 'swamp green' and 'caramel brown.' He isn't just topless for painting. If you read my blog on a regular basis you'll notice he is shirtless in most pictures. He prefers it that way.
Here is Schooler's finished product:
After they dried I glued magnets to the back and we hung them on the fridge. Anyone else out there doing winter crafts with their kids? Come back tomorrow, I will have day 3 of winter crafts.

WinterWonderland, Day 1

2010-01-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

For the next week or so the weather forecast is 30 degrees with smog/haze. Fantastic. Horrible for playing outside, but great for the winter unit we are doing in school right now. My boys love doing crafts and it is a great way to break up the day when both you and your kids are starting to go a little crazy being cooped up in the house.

If you are a sucker for sales then do not go to Joann or Michael's right now. You will go home will way too much stuff. I know this from personal experience. In my opinion Michael's had a way better selection of Christmas items on sale (80% off). But Christmas items were not what I was after. It works in my favor that even though winter has just begun really, all winter/snow related crafts go on sale after Christmas as well. Now is the time to stock up if you too are cooped up.

So today begins a flurry of winter related crafts for you and your tots. The first is a classic, and despite all my ramblings about craft store sales, it requires no purchases. That's right, it is the cotton ball snowman.
I did this last year too and my boys love it. All you need is a piece of paper, glue, and a bag of cotton balls. What I do is lightly draw the outline of a snowman so you will have a guide to follow as you glue. Also, jumbo cotton balls may be too big (like mine) so you can easily tear them in half and roll gently in your hand to reform into ball form.
Once all the cotton balls are glued on, let your tot draw on the stick arms, and cut the nose and hat out of construction paper. Simple and classic. This is a great craft, even for toddlers. Mom just needs to pipe the glue onto the snowman and then let your little one stick on the cotton balls.
Please ignore the messy hair and shirtlessness. I'm sure I was still wearing my pajamas. You would get lazy too if you homeschooled :)

Where have I been?

2010-01-04T17:43:00.001-08:00

Christmas came and went so fast as usual. I did quite a few crafts with my boys but most of it failed to make an appearance here. Oops. Once I finished up Christmas orders for the old shop, and let the boys out on vacation from homeschooling my production level pretty much dropped. Oh well, here is a sneak peak at one of the many sweets I have ready for the shop - my conversation hearts. Also coming up, snow/winter crafts to do with your kids. Hope everyone had a great holiday season!

Kiss on the Cheek, not on the Lips!

2009-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

I read somewhere that the person in charge of etiquette in England (yes, there is such a person) recommended that with the flu going around this season, that when encountering someone under the mistletoe, to kiss on the cheek, not on the lips, to avoid spreading germs. Pretty good advice, especially if you've got one of these hanging around:
I found the idea for this bad boy online somewhere and knew my kids would love it. It is so simple, and is a fun replacement for mistletoe if you don't happen to have any. All you need is a bag of hershey kisses (or you could go with the hershey hugs, if you're more of a hugging person), a styrofoam ball (found at any craft store), hot glue gun, and a ribbon or strong string to hang it with.
First you will need to arrange a way to hang it. I punctured mine with a super big needle, threaded ribbon through it, and then tied off the end to keep it in place. If you don't have a needle, you can use anything else that is relatively sharp and narrow, like a screwdriver. To put it together with kids, I held the ball and put a generous dot of hot glue on the ball, and let my boys stick the kisses on, one by one, until the entire ball is filled up.
I'll admit, it is sort of wacky looking, but everyone around here really likes it. I had already found that mistletoe ball thingy at Joann but wasn't very happy about. It's sort of ugly I think. Thatcher claims that when he is 10, he will be tall enough to reach the kissing ball and he will eat all the chocolate off of it. Sure...

Want s'more?

2009-12-07T12:32:00.001-08:00

Super Cute Holiday Wreath in 10 minutes

2009-12-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

I really wish I had paused long enough to snap a 'before' picture but I just didn't think to. However, just imagine this wreath with nothing but the pinecones and one of those fake velvet red bows on it - that's how it came. We got it at Lowe's when we got our Christmas tree for about $13.00. I was fully prepared to leave it as is and call it good. Until. Until I passed through the floral department at Joann's.

As a general rule I steer clear of the floral department. I have no business there. Frankly, it frightens me a little with all it's foam, spanish moss, and sparkle dusted fake foliage. This day however, I was in need of a wreath hook to hang said Lowe's wreath. I happened upon an entire aisle of what I will call "doodads" for lack of a better term.
Christmas doodads - holly, snowflakes, leaves, berries, fake candy, little trees, letters, snowmen, sparkly balls, assorted foliage, and more. Despite my lack of floral arranging skills I found myself snatching up a few items. All 50% off. I spent $4.80 on the doodads, and $2.00 on a spool of ribbon, came home, and spent 10 minutes putting it together. Not too shabby. I think I might have to visit the floral department a little more often.

Bowl Full of Blueberries Ornament

2009-11-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

A buyer on Etsy contacted me with a random request. Who doesn't love random requests? Her 18 month old LOVES blueberries and was wondering if I could make her an ornament involving a bowl full of blueberries. How could I say no?

This is what I came up with. The buyer was really pleased with the results as was I. Hopefully her daughter likes it as well. I had never made a bowl before, but I thought, how hard could it be? This girl can make just about anything out of felt (except for you 'scoop of icecream.' I'm still bitter over my failed endeavors to make scoops of ice cream).

ANYWAY, I made it this camel/brown color so that is sort of looked basket-ish. It was a nice change of pace for me, I always enjoy special orders.

Candy Cane Ornaments

2009-11-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of people are interested in helping their children understand the true meaning of Christmas. And if somehow, in doing this, I can involve crafts and sweets, well, it's right up my alley.

My mother-in-law gave me this book, "The Legend of the Candy Cane" a few years ago that explains the meaning of the candy cane shape and colors through a really touching story. It would be a nice book to share with your children during the Christmas season, and to add to it, you can do this candy cane craft along with it.

Though I came up with this idea myself, I'm sure I am not the first to think of it. These are simply chenille pipe cleaners you can find at any craft store, twisted together, and then bent into the candy cane shape.

Pretty simple craft, even for preschool age. If you're making these for a large tree, I would use two of each color twisted together, it looks a little better (see photo below). Though if you're looking to decorate a mini tree, then cut your pipe cleaners in half and twist one of each color together.

Looks pretty cute on the tree, right? Your kids will love that they made the ornaments themselves.

Tree Skirt for your Mini Christmas Tree

2009-11-17T09:18:00.001-08:00

I am not one to get the Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving, but I do make an exception for Christmas crafts. Christmas time can get a little busy so getting a head start on your projects is always a good idea.

A lot of people have these little fake trees now, but if you don't, they are fairly inexpensive, and fun to decorate. I got mine at Smith's Marketplace (Utah's version of Fred Meyer) for about $5.00 a couple years ago. Mine came with a really ugly base, pretty much it was the plaster/cement mold they stuck the tree in the get it to stand up. What was a crafty girl to do? That's right, make a mini tree skirt.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, my sewing skills are mediocre, so ANYONE can make this, it is so simple. I know a lot of people that have sewing machines but never use them, claiming they don't know how to sew. Forget about it, you can make this.

Here's what you'll need:

3/4 - 1 yard Fabric of your choice
3/4 - 1 yard Quilted Batting
Matching thread
Matching ric rac
Glue Gun

First you will need to decide how big you want your skirt to be. This will depend on your tree size and personal preference. You want the skirt to be proportional to your tree, so laying your fabric out around your tree you can get a general idea for how big you'd like it to be. My tree is only 2 feet tall, and as it turns out, giving the skirt a 2 foot diameter worked out best.

Once you decide on size you will need to make yourself a pattern. In this case, your pattern will consist of a piece of string and a marker of some sort. Take your string, tie it to a marker, and measure out half of whatever you decide the diameter is for your tree (my diameter was 24", so I measured out 12"). Lay out your fabric and quilted batting (wrong sides together). Mark the middle of your fabric. Place the string in the middle of your fabric, holding it down with your finger, and mark a circle on your fabric. This should create a nice big, even circle. Go ahead and pin your fabric and batting and cut the circle out.

Once you have your circle cut and properly pinned, sew the pieces together along the outside edge, being careful to stay as close to the edge as possible.

This is what I meant by "quilted batting." I'm not sure if that is the actual name of the product, but it's pretty much a thin layer of batting, with a finished side.

Once sewn together, go back to the mark you made in the center of your circle. You will need to create an opening for the base of the tree to come through. This too will depend on the size of the base your tree has. I just eyeballed mine. First I drew a circle with a 2" diameter and cut it out. Then I cut a 4" slit from the circle. At this point, it would be a good idea to test to make sure the opening is big enough for your base.

If so, pin together and sew again, like before, staying as close to the edges as possible. It won't look really pretty, but it will do the job and will not be seen once you have the skirt in place under the tree.

To finish the rough edges around the skirt, I glued ric rac the edge. If you're not comfortable using a glue gun, or don't have one, Tacky Glue would work as well, just make sure you let it dry completely before you use the skirt.

On a side note, I mentioned above that my base was some kind of cement mixture. It was a rough, scratchy surface. Not only was the dining room table in danger of getting scratched, but my skirt was snagging on the rough surface when I'd put it off and on. So I took a circle of felt, set my base on it, and brought the felt up and around the base and used my trusty glue gun to glue it in place. Love my glue gun.

Advent Calender

2009-11-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd better get my butt in gear and get this Advent Calender posted in case there was anyone out there that wanted to tackle it. This pattern came from an old magazine that I don't know the name of, so I can't give credit. I got my hands on a copy of it from my sister-in-law who was also making it at the time (Aubrey, is yours finished yet????).

So here is my plan - in lieu of writing out a long and drawn out tutorial, I will post pictures of my finished product to get you inspired to create, and then I will mail you a pattern and set of directions. Just drop me a note in the comment section if you're interested and I will be more than happy to set you up to make your own. Here is the finished product:

This pattern is great, as you can change it up a lot of different ways to suit your needs and sewing skills. I used wool felt and the total cost for the wool felt was about $15.00, though if you wanted to use acrylic felt, your cost would most likely be half of that (maybe even less, as Joann often has their acrylic felt on sale).

The calender in the magazine used red and white as their main colors, though you can truly make this any color you'd like. I choose two reds, two greens, with accents in brown. The calender has a very basic set up, with 5 rows, each with 5 pockets totaling 25 days for your countdown, and a simple design above.

The numbers, as well as the reindeer/snow scene is all stuck on with iron on adhesive (I prefer Heat 'n Bond Ultrahold), so once you have them cut out, they go on pretty fast. I simply enlarged numbers on my computer, printed them out to the desired size, and cut them out for a pattern.

Now, if you're feeling lazy, you can stop here and simply fill up the pockets with candy for each countdown day. OR, if you're feeling crafty, you can whip up some felt ornaments.

I will include the pattern for each of these ornaments with the calender directions. I have one of those little mini fake trees that I use, so that each day, my boys can get an ornament off the calender to put on the tree, and by Christmas day you will have decorated the tree. I have 25 ornaments, one for each day, though since I have two kids, I put two ornaments in each pocket (so they each get to hang one) and fill the rest of the empty pockets with candy.

You will need basic sewing skills, but that is it. The required sewing is all pretty simple (just straight lines!) so anyone can tackle this. The ornaments are either hand stitched, or stuck together with Heat 'n Bond. It took me two weekends (about 4 or 5 day) to finish this so you have plenty of time to make one for your kiddos before December 1st.

Who's going to make one????

Next up? Tree skirt for your mini tree!

Sewn Sweets Three Tiered Cake

2009-11-13T09:01:00.001-08:00

Sewn Sweets Three Tiered Cake

I made this cake about a year ago for my shop, and then never again until a friend and fellow etsian requested it. I was a little afraid since I had thrown out the pattern I'd made for it, but I think I managed to make it even better than before. Go ahead - click on my picture - check out my stitching, this baby is completely hand sewn. Sometimes I am just in awe of my skills ;). The three tiers are not sewn together so you can stack them up yourself. There are a total of 9 flower (3 sizes) that stick naturally to the cake (felt likes to stick to felt).

The Advent Calender post is still on its way, just waiting for my camera to charge, so stay tuned!

Mini Muffin Tins

2009-11-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

Aside from the obvious, intended usage, I found quite a few educational uses as well with these cute little muffin tins. This mini size is pretty popular right now so you can find a mini muffin tin almost everywhere, though I'd suggest getting a Wilton one from Micheal's, since you can use one of the 40% off coupons they send out each week.

I'd made these mini cupcakes for Sewn Sweets when a regular customer of mine clued me in that they happened to be the exact size for the mini muffin tins. She ended up ordering a dozen mini cupcakes of mine to fill up the tin for her granddaughters. Nice grandma, huh?

So of course I had to go out and get one for myself. Look how fun that is - I would have loved to play with these as a little girl. Once I started homeschool with my boys this past fall I discovered other uses for this tin. Children are natural born sorters. Or so I think. Why else would my kids love to sort the laundry (a chore I generously allow them to do)? Here's one of my ideas:

I did this one for Thatcher who is 4 and is in preschool. I gave him all my buttons and let him sort out the colors. Pretty easy for him, but it kept him entertained. Another idea is to number each section 1-12 and then let your kiddo put the correct amount of buttons (or beans or whatever you have on hand) into each well. Good counting practice. This one I created for Schooler:

For our unit on money I cut out little circles with amounts written on them and stuck them to the bottom of each well. Then he had to put the correct amount of change into each section. As your child progresses in their knowledge you can switch out the change amounts for more difficult amounts. It is a fun, hands-on way to help your kiddo learn about counting and coins.

Or, you can just make cupcakes.

Off-Season Crafting

2009-11-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

I am quite the fan of off-season crafting. Not familiar with the term? That's ok, I just made it up. You know how you start a craft, and it takes forever to finish, and before you know it, you sort of start to loathe your project and can't quite make yourself work on it anymore and finish it? This problem can be compounded if your project happens to be seasonal and the season floats on by with your craft sitting there all lonely and unfinished. I know you know what I'm talking about, you all have unfinished projects. It's ok.

Back to off-season crafting. A few Januarys ago I started a small decorative wall hanging quilt with gingerbread men on it that required hand quilting. Gingerbread in January? Yes, I know I was out of season, I'm daring that way. I worked all of January on it and probably into Febuary, but I hand-quilted the heck out of that thing and boy was I tired of it. It was so nice to stuff the thing away in the closet and forget about it until the next Christmas season. Nicer still, to pull it out FINISHED and finished in time for the season.

This past summer I started a wool applique wall hanging for Halloween called Gourdy's Gang.

Halloween in summer? It hardly seems right, though it felt so good (sorry that was lame). But seriously, consider it folks. Go out there and check out the Halloween crafts that are on clearance right now. If it's too soon for you, wait until January to work on it. Why don't you try this:

If you can cut and glue, you can make this. It was really fun and simple and I had all the necessary items in my stash to make it (if you scrapbook, you probably will too). I had this idea last year, but never got around to making it. This year I stumbled on these directions and knew I had to do it. The directions from the Polka Dot Chair are great though I would suggest you make a triangle template for each triangle size and then trace them onto the black cardstock and patterned paper. This way, you will get more triangles out of your paper (3 per 12x12 paper with the larger triangle, and 4 per 12x12 with the smaller triangle). If this sounds confusing at all, read The Polka Dot Chair's directions and you'll get what I'm saying.

If you're doing this for a fireplace mantle, the saying "got candy?" would be better since it is shorter and a better fit for a mantle. I have no fireplace so length was not an issue and I went for the full "happy halloween." Sorry the pictures are bad. Daytime light behind the banner made it hard to photograph during the day, so I was left with artificial light at night (not my favorite lighting for taking pictures).

Or, if you're looking for a craft for the coming seasons you can always just change the wording to "Give Thanks" or even "Merry & Bright." Either way, it is a fun (and easy) craft that can be finished in a day.

Coming up next? Advent Calender!

Doll Quilts/Buddy Blankies

2009-10-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Let me first say that my experience with quilting is very limited, and I am not a very good seamstress. Even with my skills lacking this was still a project I could tackle. I first saw this tutorial for doll quilts over at Girls Gone Craf-T. Katherine discovered the tutorial and had whipped up a few little quilts in one weekend. If you'd like to see her results, go here (http://girlsgonecraf-t.blogspot.com/2009/01/doll-quilts.html) she made some pretty cute doll quilts for her girls, as well as one for a friend's little boy.

Katherine's boy quilt inspired me to make some for my boys. While they don't have any dolls they do have a multitude of buddies (what they call stuffed animals) that join them each night when they go to bed. I followed the tutorial and here is how mine turned out:

Don't they look all cozy in their little blankies? My boys like wrapping up their buddies in bed with them at night. I went the easy route with the binding and quilting parts and just used my sewing machine since I knew my boys would not care.

Tired of Thomas fabric, I decided to make one for my niece Lucy. The original tutorial calls for these tiny little squares that took forever to sew together and became hard to keep straight, so for Lucy's I increased my square size and quilt size and added the pillow. The quilt top went together much quicker with larger squares.

For the quilting, I used a scrapbooking chipboard flower and traced it on my squares with a diappearing ink pen, then used my sewing machine to quilt it.

Hopefully this little quilt will be keeping Lucy's dolls and buddies warm this Christmas.

You can check out the fun tutorial on Crazy Mom Quilts if you'd like to make one or two yourself. If you know what you're doing (or not really, like me) it's pretty easy to change up the quilt size to suit your needs. This is a great gift idea for any little one in your life that enjoys playing with dolls or even just pretend play like my boys. Just don't call them DOLL quilts. They're BUDDY blankets.

Play Dough and Erupting Volcanos

2009-10-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever made play dough? If not, it is high time you did. Even if your kids are too old for it, you have no kids, or are a kid yourself, you must experience it. My kids are experienced Play-Doh players, yet making and playing with this dough was almost a completely new experience. There's nothing like kneading warm, smooth dough and watching as the colors get worked into it. Here is the recipe I use, it is very easy and you probably have all the ingredients on hand.

1 Cup flour
1 Cup warm water
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 Cup salt
Food Coloring

Directions: Mix all ingredients except food coloring in a medium saucepan over medium heat. It will be wet and goopy.

Stir until a dough forms. Remove from heat. Divide dough into however many colors you want. Add food coloring and knead until incorporated.

Now that you've got some dough, how about you make some volcancos? And while you're at it, make them erupt as well (we've been learning about volcanos in school). Here's what you'll need, and again, you'll most likely have everything you need on hand.

Small container like an empty yogurt cup (Iused old play-doh cans)
Plates
Tape
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Play Dough
Food Coloring (if desired)

Tape your container to the plate. This will make it easier to form the volcano.

I used red and green food coloring when making my dough to get brown.
Form your volcano with the dough, making sure to overlap the top so that the lava will come up and over the sides.

Pour 1/4 cup of water into the cup and stir in 1 Tablespoon of baking soda. Stir to dissolve. At this point you can add red food coloring if you'd like your lava to be red. Last step, pour 1/4 cup vinegar into the cup and watch what happens.

The eruption won't be explosive or long-lived, but my boys loved it and requested it be done over and over again. And then again. Until I ran out of vinegar.

Neighbor Gifts

2009-10-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of neighbor gift-giving is reserved for Christmas, but why skip Halloween? I saw this idea in a magazine long ago. It is a fun, easy, and versatile craft that anybody can do. Here's what you'll need:

Clay pots
White, Yellow, and Orange acrylic paint
Paint brush
Cellophane treat bags
Craft Sticks
Treats of course!

If you're a regular crafter you'll most likely have all the supplies you'll need for this project (with maybe the exception of the clay pots). You can find clay pots at all craft stores and they'll run about a $1 a piece (though it depends on the size you want) but you can find them on sale or use the coupon craft stores send out weekly. There's no need to draw lines or line with tape to get exact edges, though you're welcome to if you'd like. I just eyeballed the candy corn lines, and it worked out pretty well. You will have to do a couple coats of each color. Be sure to allow to dry between each coat.

I used Wilton's clear cellophane bags, though any will do. Put the bag into the dried pot first, THEN fill with candy. Trust me, it's just easier that way. Once full with treats, tie with a twist tie, or ribbon. For the sign, I simply printed out a little message on the computer, then glued it to patterned paper, and glued it to a craft stick. And you're done! Now go and make these for your friends and neighbors. We could all use a few more sweets, right?

Welcome to Stitch Slapped

2009-05-07T13:43:00.001-07:00

If there is one thing that I've learned about myself over the years, it's this: I am addicted to making things. Anything. Crafts with my kids, sewing, painting, needle crafting, scrapbooking, paper crafting, quilting, etc. I love the process of creating, from beginning to end, knowing that I made it with my own two hands.

I've dreamed of a place where I could brag about all my creations and all those I love would come and adore them. Well, here it is - welcome to my craft blog, Stitch Slapped. If you'd like to thank the creative mind that came up my awesome blog name, you can thank my sister Lori.

I'll be posting ideas, tutorials, items I make for my Etsy shop, links to other cool craft sites, and what ever I happen to craft up.
I hope you'll come back often.