Crayon Hearts DIY
1. Peel paper from crayons
2. Preheat over to 230 degrees
3. Break crayons and put a mizture of colors into a silicone heart shaped tray. I bought mine at Jo-Ann's.
4. Bake for 15 minutes
5. Allow to cool and then pop them out of the tray.
Each of my kids received a handmade gift from me for Christmas this year. Since Bijou is a bit clothing obsessed right now, I guess the tween years start around 7, I decide to customize some American Apparel clothing for her.
I added some bright yellow knee patches to these striped leggings. To make, simply cut an oval shape from a small piece of freezer paper, iron into place on the legging, paint a few coats of fabric ink, allow to dry and peel the freezer paper off. I used my Speed-ball screen-printing ink but any fabric paint will suffice.
I used the very same technique to add a bright pink faux-pocket to this otherwise kind of boring jersey dress.
The heart I painted freehand with some black acrylic ink and a thin paintbrush. After the paint dries, heat set it with a hot iron.
Bijou insisted that her purple crystal be a part of this photo. It's so challenging to capture a candid photo of this kid. She just loves to pose for photos.
I saw this DIY cutting board project on Design Sponge a while back and sent it to my Dad who has both the skills and equipment to handle a project like this. I was pleasantly surprised to find not one but 3 of these lovely cutting boards made from a beautiful piece of walnut when I opened my secret Santa gift during our family's gift exchange. I plan to keep one at my studio for use during craft night, which I have promised myself to host in the near future, one for daily chopping use, and the last one all nice and pretty for parties and such.
Thanks Dad! I love them.
With an upcoming move and entering into a time of transition it seems logical to try to minimize the purchases over the next few months. We will be limited to take just one suitcase each and may ship a box or two but shipping costs are astronomical so for most things it will make sense to buy them when we get there. For the above project, I dug through my fabric scrap box and came up with this fabulous citron linen, some cream felt and white embroidery thread and went to town making this new set of coasters for the studio.
To Make:
1. Cut 5" squares from the linen and felt.
2. Top stitch a 1/2" border around all 4 sides.
3. Using zig zag scissors trim the edge to prevent fraying.
4. Use embroidery thread to top stitch a simple design.
They are easy to make and could be a great gift for a friend.
Growing up, my mom had a Danish friend who taught us how to make these sweet Danish hearts one holiday season. I was reminded of this fun Danish craft when these same hearts started showing up in my Pinterest feed this month.
How-to instructions can be found in this post on radmegan's blog.
I won't lie, the first heart took about 45 minutes to make and some swearing may have taken place but the remaining hearts took only about 5 minutes a piece. In addition to making great ornaments, they would be great gift toppers or small sweet advent calender envelopes.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Traveling with the kids over Christmas complicates things a bit. This year the kids had a few large sized items on their wish list and I had also made them a few things that were too big to pack into the car for Tahoe. So my scam plan is unfolding as seen above.
My homemade felt board has been liked and used a few times this week but still took a back seat to the new red barn and farm animals Wilder got from Santa, and the new drum set for Eero. Oh well, at least I like the felt board so even if it lays around for a while it isn't a total eye sore like most of the primary-colored riff-raff cluttering my living room.
Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brings everyone what they want tomorrow morning.
I love the excuse of a holiday or birthday to make a gift for a friend. In the past, I've stamped journals, given screen printed tea towels and most recently made a friend a collage for her birthday and framed it in a simple Ikea frame. This year, I decided to take a stab at jewelry making and rather than signing up for a $40., 3-hour weekend class, I picked a non-busy weekday morning and asked a sweet salesgirl for assistance. She was quite helpful and after sharing my ideas for what I wanted to make, helped me find all the supplies and showed me how to assemble it. All of the supplies were purchased at Baubles and Beads in Berkeley, you can find their on-line store here.
I'm giving the gift of relaxation this year to all 7 of my children's teachers. I know they certainly deserve it after spending the good part of most of their days with 20 little bundles of energy. I made each an eye pillow filled with flax and lavender to help them get much rest during the holiday break. I made an extra one that is still for sale in my shop. However, if you are looking for a crafty project during the holiday season, I have how-to make an eye pillow instructions here.
For packaging, I chose brown lunch bags (seemed appropriate), my favorite winter-themed Instagram photos and binder clips. So simple to recreate for your small holiday gifts this season.
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I saw this shelf on Pinterest and loved the asymetry of it and thought it would be a nice addition to Bijou's room and perfect for her inherited shell collection we had recently brought out of storage.
The seashell collection came from Doug's grandmother who enjoyed collecting things from her travels, some near and some far. She lived the last quarter century of her life at the top of Nob Hill in San Francisco and would often ride the cable car down the hill to browse the seashell shops at Fisherman's Wharf. After each purchase, she would write the type of shell and where it was from onto a little piece of paper and tuck it inside like a little fortune. These little notes are treasured by us and her great-grandchildren, whom she never had the chance to meet.
Bijou and I did a 30-day drawing project over the last month, each choosing one shell to draw (or paint) each day. Both are displayed on the shelf, Bijou's in the top left corner. I loved the simplicity of her painting on day 12. It was such a nice way to connect and wind down from our busy days. I admit, we did cheat a few times, missing a day and playing catch up the next night. I totally encourage you to try this with your budding artists in your household.
The shelf was spotted on Pinterest but knocked off by Grandpa. Thank you Grandpa! It was fun spending the day with him in his wood shop even though I really didn't participate in the building of the shelf very much. In my spare time, I snapped photos of the junk treasures laying around and played dress-up with some of the safety gear.
I was honored to be asked to contribute a guest post over at the lovely lifestyle blog, Poppy Haus, curated, crafted and written by my sweet and talented friend Heather. Please check it out!
A crafty mom of four, designing and sharing tips and tutorials at Picnic.
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