Craft Test Dummies

Ok, first the disclaimer: I am not from Mexico. I have limited understanding of the culture. But after a dozen visits to Mexico, I am smitten. I love the food, the music, and the bright festive colors. And any excuse to eat guacamole works for me! That being said, here are some ideas for festive Cinco De Mayo crafts.

Let’s start with the “Eyes of God” or Ojos de Dio…

• Basic instructions using yarn and popscicle sticks can be found at AllFreeCrafts.com. Nice, simple instructions, and of course you can gussy them up with feathers, yarn streamers or beads.
• For the “delux” version, try Jay’s Ojo instructions. These use a different weaving technique and really are a version of a mandala. And you know how much I like those! The pic at the left is one of Jays. Gorgeoso, no?

Next, let’s consider the Pinata!

• Family fun has nice step-by-step instructions with pictures. They do a “hot air balloon” version. Cute!
• I like the star shape for a more traditional Mexican look. And there’s NO WAY I’d be banging it up with a stick… but that’s just me. I’d keep it for other Mexican-themed parties. But that’s just me!

How about some festive shakers for the kids? Kaboose has a quick-and-dirty styrofoam cup version that will keep the kiddos entertained for a while….

I’m also a fan of tin ornaments… Enchanted learning has one for making moons and stars out of aluminum baking pans. For more on tin crafts, see my previous post here. PS…that Enchanted Learning link also has some coloring down loads, word-searches, etc. Lots of goodies there!

Lastly, I am a jewelry fanatic, so why not make up some kickin’ Our Lady of Guadalupe jewelry? I saw her everywhere the last time I visited Mexico. Download some images, punch them out into 1″ circles, and then use some Paper glaze to mount them inside of a bottle cap. When it’s dry, use a nail to make 2 holes at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock, then use some jump rings to attach them together. Add a clasp, and you’ve got a cool bracelet!

I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention the Crafty Chica, the diva of all things Latina. Check our her site, too, for many crafty ideas!

Lastly, Martha Stewart has a craft-of-the-day on Picado Papel, or paper cutting. This would also be a fun and simple craft for a kid’s room. Kind of like making tissue-paper snowflakes!

Viva la fiesta!

So I spent this morning raking out beds, uncovering little shoots of spring. My crocus are blooming, and the tulips and daffys are over 1/2 up. It won’t be long until they bloom, too. So with all of this spring springing up around me, my thoughts have turned to garden crafts and yard art. First up: we need a birdbath!

I found a super simple version on FamilyCrafts.com:

Patricia’s Pots also has a how-to, with a slightly different design:

She recommends using liquid nails to hold the whole thing together, and to make sure to seal your pots & saucers before you do your decorative painting. She also uses an oil-based varnish for the insides. Who knew?

Now, if you’re an advanced crafter (ie, SooperCrafty) then you can try the ramped-up version using mosaics. I found some nice step-by-steps at Michaels.com. I’m new to mosaics, so I might wait a spell for this one. But look at the sample- really nice!

Here’s a simple mosaic version. You only have to mosaic the inside, and you use a tomato cage for the base. (Ah, recycling!) However, I wonder how the mosaic will stand up to being underwater all summer. (?) I really like the idea that you can then plant little seedlings at the base, and have some viney flowers adorning your birdbath too! Maybe morning glories?

Finally, I found some instructions on making a cement birdbath on HGTV. This would take a little work and preparation, but really it would be fun embedding rocks, shells, china bits and like in the rim. There are good step-by-step directions with pictures. Yea! This version calls for 2 different sized bowls to act as the molds, but I read somewhere else you could also use the lid of an outdoor garbage can and a bucket to create the well. (And, they also recommended lining the concrete with some metal mesh for added support. Just a thought.)

Well, I think Casa CTD is going to try a simple version with terra cotta pots, and get the kiddos to do the base painting. I have this nice spot in the middle of the yard where the cherry tree used to be, and I need to hide the stump!

Ahhh, Spring! (PS: this would be a nice Earth Day activity, too!)

I was checking out Martha Stewart’s Craft of the Day, and today she was showing off oil cloth lunch bags. Since I’m all for reusable lunch bags, I thought I’d share it here with you.

The only problem? Martha doesn’t give a pattern. But Jumilla Bugs did! This is her version:

i made a cardboard template that is a little ragged but still works. the bag is a very simple 6 pieces:
back / flap - about 61/2 by 14 inches
front - 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches
sides - 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches
bottom - 6 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches
it is stitched wrong sides together. starting with attaching the front and back pieces to the bottom piece; then the sides to the bottom; then joining these to the front and back, starting the stitching at the bottom.
i put a strip of velcro (hook) horizontal, about 2 inches from the top edge of the back piece, on the wrong side
i put two shorter strips (loop) vertically on the right side of the front piece (to attach to the piece on the back, which folds over to the front when the bag is “closed”.
i also add a little pocket to one side, which you can kind of see here with the bag on the far left. i also add a strap at the top.

If you follow her link to the finished ones, you’ll find some super-cute monkey lunch bags… just great for wee ones or hip chicks! I really couldn’t tell you which ones I liked better.

Now, a few words on oilcloth: if you haven’t used it before, here’s the low-down. It’s really a cotton fabric that has been embedded in vinyl. It’s pretty durable, not too crunchy, and wipes clean. Please don’t throw it in the washing machine, or try to iron it. Bad news. But the fabric doesn’t fray or  stretch, and you can make a cute edge by using your pinking shears or scalloped rotary blade. You can even leave your seams to the outside for a fun look. Use a denim needle on your sewing machine & regular thread. For more tips, visit Sew,Mama,Sew.

Who thought a boring old sack lunch could be so cute?!

You can file this one under “sewing Easter baskets for Dummies”- it’s that easy. These are made from placemats, a little webbing, and a whole lotta crafty! Click on over to J Caroline Creative! and get the tutorial. These would be so cute customized for each child with their favorite color, initial, or character. (My Sweet Boy would love a Spider-man Easter basket.) Thinking of it that way, these could then be reused as tote bags. What fun!

I love to read to my kids. I especially love to read books that have great illustrations. I have two to share with you today.

The first is “Tar Beach” by Faith Ringgold. Faith is a painter who began painting and storytelling on quilts. (Yum. How fabulous is that!?!) Her artwork hangs in major museums, and she’s an art professor at U of C in San Diego.

But better than her bio is her books. This one features illustrations taken from her story quilt of the same name. It’s a beautiful snapshot of city life in the summer, where kids and families go up to the “tar beach” on the roof. My son was captivated by the idea that some folks live in apartment buildings, and can’t go 2 blocks north to go to the beach. Or would picnic on their roof. It was was a beautiful read, with good conversation afterwards. (BTW, my son is 7, just for reference.)

The second book is Alphabet Atlas with illustrations by Adrienne Yorinks. Each letter of the alphabet is depicted by a quilt representing a country. Some of the countries represented my son had never heard of (hello? Qatar?) and that also was a nice shift from some of the countries he’s familiar with. The illustration of each country depicts it’s place on the map - but the area surrounding it tells more about the country: it’s crops, exports, culture, etc. We had fun reading the text by Arthur Yorinks, and then seeing if we could find those little bits of information hidden in the quilt. Almost a little scavenger hunt for us!

I’m a big believer that books should have good stories and beautiful illustrations, and we should buy them (and give them) on principle. These are two which will be taking up permanent residency on my studio bookshelf.

To read by review of Children’s Books with Polymer Clay Illustrations, click here.

So, OK, I’m obviously on a kick here. But as I’m surfing around, I’m finding that there are lots of folks who are as obsessed with candy conversation hearts as I am!

I ran across a blog: Ramblings of a Crazy Woman, who had two absolutely cute ideas for candy hearts! The first is making bingo game with them! You know, make a grid and put the sayings on the hearts in the squares. Then pull hearts and read them to cover up your squares.

How Craftastic is this???!!!???

She also suggests gluing the candy hearts to the outside of a glass votive candle to make cute little decorations. (I guess that’s better than eating all fo them!) I wonder if they hold up year to year?

Another Craftastic idea.

I found an Etsy artist by the handle of “Luaricsales” who embeds candy hearts in resin and makes pendants. That’s also a novel idea with the left-overs. Resin can be a little fussy, but even newbie crafters can be successful with it.

Carol from “In The Nest” blog came up with this idea for topiaries…. she’s go full instructions on her blog. Looks easy and cute!

Or how about making Candy Heart Tacks for your bulletin board? Found this step -by - step on OffBeatLiving.com.

And, lastly, but not leastly, I have a YouTube vid for you about making a non-edible pretzel wreaths.

I think I need to go have a snack!

Yesterday was a busy day…. it was my dear sweet girl’s third birthday, and she wanted a “Butterfly Party.” I couldn’t find any butterfly decorations at our local stores, so I whipped up a few paper butterflies to hang on our chandelier for her party.

Here’s how they turned out:

First I cut out a butterfly shape from plain cardstock. Then I took decorative card stock and folded it in half (to get mirror images) and cut out some hearts, paisleys and teardrop shapes. I glued them with gluestick on both sides, them trimmed them with some Elmer’s 3-D glue, to make it shimmer.

Not too fancy, but I used what I had in my studio. When I go to hand them in her room, I have to rig them up with some fishing line so that they “float.” Oh, the fun of crafting for little birthday girls!

I love book time with my kids. And what I love even more is a children’s book with rich, visually stimulating illustrations. Ones that are really works of art.

I stumbled across these books by Marian Berkes and Jeanette Canyon while searching for children’s books that utilize song lyrics- and found Over in the Ocean and Over in the Jungle The words are re-vamps of a preschool song (something about a mother duck, as I recall) and retooled to fit the themes.

What makes the books FABULOUS, however, are the magnificent polymer clay illustrations. Sumptuous. Detailed. Stunning! I can only imagine the zillions of specialized canes it took to make that seahorse!!!!

I heartily encourage you to zoom on over the Amazon and take a look inside the pages, but have a napkin ready- because your mouth with drop and you will drool. Really.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I do have an affiliate account with Amazon. And I am encouraging you buy it… but really, I don’t care who you buy it from. But if you can, buy it. Because it supports the amazingly talented artist/illustrator who created such magnificent artwork.

It will inspire you…. whether you have little kids in your house- or not.

I’m setting aside extra copies for future nieces and nephews. Because mommies and daddies are nice enough to read to their children deserve great pictures to look at, too.

To read my review of children’s books with fiber arts illustrations, click here.

So I wrote about the Family Fun felt chair covers project earlier this week…and I had some morning time to myself today, so I thought I’d try them out. I decided to go with the “pocket” version (not in the instructions, but here in my head.)

I simply measured the widest part of the chair and added 1 1/2 inches for seam allowance. Then I measured the height of the chair from seat to top. I measured that length up the felt and made a small mark…. then pinned up the excess. to make a pocket on the out side. It kind of looked like an “N”…. Turned the whole shebang wrong-sides to, made two seams up the sides, turned it right-side out, and PRESTO! Chair covers with only 2 seams. I decided to add a “divider” in the pocket, so I put a seam in the middle. (Ok, that one was 3!)

Now I consider myself a sewer, but today I was lazy. I hot-glued the hearts onto the back. Why not? Maybe for the next set I’ll be fussier. In the meanwhile, I think they are as cute as anything, and hopefully they will keep the kids from scraping the wall with their chairs!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

For a quick and inexpensive project, this gets a big thumbs up– Craftastic!

Sometimes I just get on a tangent, looking around…. so today’s topic is “Tin.” I was harkening back to the school craft where we would cut open a soda can, flatten it out, and then punch a design with a hammer and a nail.

Guess what? Folks are still doing that. But it looks way better the way they do it! (What do they know that my 8th grade art teacher didn’t???!!!

Allison does handcrafted shutters and screens. This falls under the “I could do that” category… given the time and inclination. I especially like some of the patterns she uses.

This site of African Tin Crafts is fun. Using tin cans, they cut them and craft them into whimsical animals. Fun, and in the true spirit of crafting- using what you got to make what you don’t.

And Cynthusia had this photo of an altoid tin pincusion. Now I’m all over that- the ladies in my quilt guild will go ga-ga for them.

And if you just want to give up on baking altogether, why not make that muffin tin into a shrine or piece of collage art? This tutorial from HGTV can get you going.

If you want to try something easy and functional, Martha Stewart has a step-by-step tutorial on making faux-tin napkin rings- using an aluminum baking pan.