The Great Picture Hanger Uppers

One of the great dilemmas in our house is what to do with our children's amazing artwork. The customary location to showcase a young-one's masterpiece, the fridge, does not work. First, the front of our refrigerator does not hold magnets and thus papers require tape. This is messy and problematic... small kids and tape are just not compatible. Also, mom has a problem covering the fridge with papers- the side is covered with photos and cards from our family members, but the front? A lot of cooking takes place in this kitchen and it NEEDS to be clean. Papers on the fridge are just asking to harbor germs! (I can't get past it, sorry.) Thus, we needed a place where kids could hang up their drawings and school projects.

I pondered the problem greatly. My first idea was to hang up a string in the hallway and let them use clothes pins to hold up their works. Allowing THEM the chance to hang up their projects was important. I worried about this plan, however, as a mother of boys... a supply of clothes pins hanging within their reach screams trouble.

Then, one day at Wal*Mart, I came across THIS new product:

Tape strips that can be used over and over and over again? It states on the package that if, for some reason, the strips lose their stick all you have to do is wash it and let it dry. Really!?!

Um, awesome!

I bought a pack and brought them home. The spoil-sport that I am did not rush right into sticking them on my walls and allowing kids to play with them, I read up on some reviews and learned that most people were really happy with the results. One person had a problem with some paint... but the overall reviews were positive.

Then, I had an idea of my own! Why not combine my first idea of using cloths pins AND the new awesome tape substance? That way the kids were not using the fancy sticky tape when/where ever they wanted (again, that could be expensive and dangerous with small children). However, If I were to 'permanently' stick the paper holding devices in various locations- the kids could hang up and change their displays at will. If needed, I could move the location in the future. Yay!

This is what we came up with:

You can see the 'tape' behind the pin.

Art work is hung!

A row of pins, to showcase all the art! (there is another row on the other side as well.)

So far, so good. The kids love having their pictures hung up. They LOVE being able to change them as they want and mom LOVES the fact that they are not falling off the fridge door and kids are not always searching for the tape stash. They just aren't old enough to work it. lol

Cat in the Hat Treats

 Crafting is an obsession of mine. I LOVE to make things... Food is also a bit of an obsession. I LOVE eating things. Combining the two is not only a fulfilling hobby, it can become a medium of art work that can inspire and thrill people to new levels.

Part of the thrill comes from understanding ones audience. Creating a dish for my husband is far different than creating one for my children. My husband appreciates food with deep flavors and can be awed by the food's appearance in a more natural form. This is not always true for my children... they appreciate a more crafted appearance that focuses less on the taste and more on the look of the food. Of course they enjoy a decadent dish, but let's face it- they get pretty excited about mac-n-cheese from a box as well, so long as it has Spongebob or Scooby characters.


Crafting a dish for a child is more about inviting their eyes to the party, bringing something from outside the kitchen that THEY appreciate. Thematic treats or colors that are not completely 'natural'. These are all ways to thrill them and their senses- and a really crafty mom can do this while introducing them to new flavors and better for them recipes. It's all in how you go about crafting the dish.

Classroom treats are one of my favorite ways to showcase delicious goodies. Children are delighted to eat sugary snacks, but are so fun to watch as their eyes light up upon seeing a new looking dish crafted in a way that captivates their imaginations. The joy it brings them, is worth all the time preparing them. And, let's face it- that's why crafters craft! We WANT people to see our creations and be excited by them, no matter how big or small the item... that is the reason for making them.

Last year, for my daughter's first grade class, I made a treat to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. It was simple and yet VERY memorable. A winner in my (and their) eyes.

I started with my FAVORITE graham cracker recipe from Weelicious. An awesome source for simple and kid approved recipes. I've manipulated this recipe so many times to meet my needs- it is the best! For this treat, however, I left it as-is and used a small circle shaped cookie cutter to create enough hat bases as I needed. I had plenty of dough left over and I just cut out bigger crackers for my kids to eat later- no worries, they are quickly devoured around here.

While the graham crackers are cooking/cooling, I painted my marshmallows. Using a food approved paintbrush (I keep mine with my cake decorating supplies... truthfully, I purchase the green Wilton brushes because they are a specific color and have Wilton printed on them. I cannot 'accidentally' misplace or misuse them.)

To make the 'paint' I simply add a few drops of food coloring to a bit of Caro Syrup. Some people are against corn syrup- but it is all about moderation. Paint the tops and a few stripes. If you have trouble holding onto the marshmallow while painting them, pop them onto a kabob skewer! (Be sure not to go all the way through.)

After the crackers are cool, I dipped each one in white chocolate and placed them on my cookie rack to harden. After dipping, place one big marshmallow upon the melted chocolate- the chocolate will 'glue' the marshmallow onto the cracker.

Simple to make.
Fun to look at.
Educational?

It's all how you look at it!

Fairy Tea Party Invitations

My daughter recently turned 7, and like her mother, got a little crazy in her ideas as to what she wanted to happen. I felt a twinge of pride as she told me her birthday party 'vision' and yet cringed at the monster I knew that I was responsible for creating. We had a lot of fun planning, and I had a lot of work to do to fulfill her wishes. It was a lot of fun, a lot of crafting, and lots of great blogging ideas to share.

To begin with, we needed to invite her friends to the party. We needed something special in order to set the pace for the rest of the event. It was going to be girly, full of fairies and a beautiful good time. We chose two different prints of 12x12 scrapbook paper, one a splotched design of darker pink and the other a white paper with light pink ribbons running through the paper. The wonderful thing about 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper is that they come in an array of colors, textures and prints. You can fall in love with a piece of paper, and craft around it as the main eye catching work of art. This is what we chose to do, let the paper do most of the work for us!

We began by cutting the paper into 12"x6" pieces. This gave us 2 cards per piece of paper. A 6"x6" piece of white card-stock and a 24" piece of coordinating ribbon were also used to create the base card.

 

To create the opening doors of the front, fold the sides inward so they meet at the center. If your paper is cut properly, this should be 3 inches from both sides.

Most scrapbook paper is not thick enough to hold itself up as a card, and requires a bit of help to strengthen it. On the inside, I used a glue stick to affix a 6"x6" piece of white card-stock. No need to put card-stock on the front flaps, that could make it too heavy or bulky to work with. A simple square will do the trick. Choose a color that will enhance the scrapbook paper. I kept it white, because it looked best overall.

 

Mark a line centered along the entire length of the card, should be 3" from both top and bottom. Carefully erase the line roughly .5" from the center folds. You will run a very thin line of glue along this line, but in order for it to tie correctly it has to have a bit of room at the end or it will rip.

When the glue is completely dry, you should be able to tie the ribbon while it remains in place.

Because we decided to let the paper we chose be our overall focus, the ribbon color was chosen to enhance its design. This also meant that we were free to embellish our paper, but didn't need to go overboard. It was time to highlight the theme of our card, and create a sense of our 'fairy' themed tea party that was being announced.

We began embellishing with simple sparkly rhinestones at opposing corners.

We added a butterfly, cut from a contrasting color and pattern. The body was embellished with black puff paint, to give it depth, and the antenna's were drawn onto the paper using a black fine-tip pen. Opposite the butterfly, we formally 'invited' the guests to the party. The words, You're Invited, were printed on a matching piece of card-stock and framed by a contrasting color. In this case, we chose a matching cream because it was similar to that of the faint design printed on the paper, and the contrasting white was also used inside the card. When the ribbon was tied closed, the card appeared as it would in its finished state.

Opening the card would reveal the actual invitation inside,

The invitation inside used a fun poem found from the web which fit perfectly for our use. We gave the important details, as to the time and place. It was printed onto cream colored tracing paper, printed out and trimmed to fit.

Overall, the cards took only a few minutes each to assemble (minus glueing time for the ribbon, be certain to allow time for the ribbon to dry.) We first created each card to the point of allowing the ribbon to dry, then moved on to working on the printer. Once we assembled the outside invite and the internal invitation, all ribbons were ready to move onto the next step.

Thus, we had beautiful hand crafted party invitations... the first step in creating a wonderful fairy tea party.

The Daisy Purse

My daughter is a Daisy... for those of you unfamiliar, that's the youngest of the Girl Scouts. So far, she loves it. I am enjoying myself in its honor as well. Volunteering my crafting skills to a good cause. Most recently I have devoted myself to making the girls their own Daisy Purses... in lieu of some cheesy felt purses that we an option. I wanted them to have something better and thus, 10 Daisy Purses were crafted.

I didn't want to buy a pattern, as it didn't seem that difficult. I spent some time looking on the internet, scoping out ideas that others have shared. My version is an accumulated mixture of ideas that seemed to suit my needs best. The purpose of the purses is for the girls to earn their responsibility petal. They are supposed to remember to bring their bags to each meeting filled with their required materials. I designed the bag with a blank square on the front for the girls to decorate with fabric paints. The rest of the bag is a gorgeous daisy pattern in the perfect Daisy blue.

To begin I cut-

From Daisy Materials:

3- 9"x9"
1- 10"x3"
2- 7"x3"
1- 10"x2"
1- 2"x15"

From Blue Material:

1 6"x6"

__________________________________________________
**Always pre-wash and iron materials before beginning, this ensures that material is in the best form to work with and will not shrink incorrectly later. All seams were sewn to 3/8 of an inch.**
___________________________________________________


I use a rotary cutter and board to ensure that my pieces are perfectly squared and the correct size. I love this tool set and use it for far more than just sewing.

Begin creating the front piece by joining the 3"x7" Daisy material to opposing sides of the 6"x6" Blue square. The Daisy pieces are longer than the blue square, so they allow for extra room to wiggle around while joining them.

Iron the seams cleanly on the back. This step is important and should not be skipped, ever. It ensures that the squares are properly aligned, correctly sized and wrinkle free. It will also remove any lumps from the final product. It might seem easier to sew all the pieces together and then iron, but if it is not done in step, the final square will not be aligned correctly.

Now trim the extra material, ending with a final product of 6"x9".

Follow the same steps in order to attach the 10"x3",

and then the 10"x2". Trim the final product to a clean 9"x9" square.

Combine the newly made 9"x9" square with another 9"x9" Daisy square, right sides together and the smaller of the daisy bands facing the top. Stitch along the 2 sides and the bottom. It is recommended to sew all three sides separately, beginning and ending each with a back-stitch. This ensures that if any on side comes undone, not all sides will follow. You now have the makings of a real bag...

The other 9"x9" squares need to be joined together. Sew along two opposing sides, then along the bottom stitch 1/3 of the way, back-stitch, leave 1/3 as an opening and then continue to sew the remaining 1/3. This whole in the middle will allow you to turn the right sides of the bag out, creating a seamless look between the outer casing and the lining.

Next, begin creating the strap. Fold the 2"x13" piece in half, sewing along the full length and one end.

Flatten the strap so that the seam centers down the strap with the iron. This is important, again because it will allow the strap to lay flat when complete and not bunch up.

Using a pointed object (my favorite is a fat paintbrush) flip the ironed material right-side out. Iron flat, again, ensuring that the seam is directly in the middle of the strap. Run a stitch along both sides of the strap to keep it from moving around after the project is finished. I placed my foot right along the edge and positioning the needle to the left.

This purse has only one strap. I positioned the strap just to the right of the left seam, flipped the purse to the back and repeated. Make sure you check that the strap will be correct and not twisted. I also left a bit extra over the edge to make sure it didn't miss while sewing. Pin securely in place.

Insert the outer casing inside of the inner-lining, which is turned inside-out.

Line the seams closely and pin along the top. Sew along the top, unpin and flip the material.

Close the hole at the bottom of the inner lining and tuck the lining inside the outer casing.

Carefully iron the last seam, ensuring that the seam is lined up along the top. Run a finishing stitch that will keep the inner casing tucking inside. I decided to attach a centered ribbon along the back, forming a loop, and a matching Daisy button centered in the front. This will keep the bag closed, if needed, and made it look a bit more finished.

Final product, which I'm rather proud of...

Each one did not take very long to make- and in three evenings, I made all 10. If I had the ability to work continuously and uninterrupted by children and a husband, it wouldn't have even taken that long- but, I must craft around my regular life.