Diary of a Crafty Lady

Pirate Party 3: Decorations

Pirate Party 4: Games

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Pirate Party Part 4: Games

2012-01-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

So, besides Dressing like a Pirate and Eating Lunch and Cupcakes, the big game at our Pirate Party was a Treasure Hunt.
Very Piratey, don't you think??
The treasure hunt helped them fill their party favor bags to take home too - which I think is way more fun than just handing them a bag filled with treats as they leave.

I wanted each child to have their own treasure map, and actually this was one of the things my daughter specifically wanted months and months ago when she told me she wanted a pirate party. She said that she really wanted a treasure map :)

In Microsoft Word, I took some clip art pirate pictures and arranged them around the page. I added a dotted line, an "x marks the spot" and and the words "Captain Jocelyn's Treasure Hunt."
I printed the maps onto offwhite cardstock - enough for each child to have one.
You can see in the picture above, on the left is the printed page before I distressed it. I cut uneven, wavy edges. On the right, you can see how we inked the edges and wrinkled the whole thing to make it look a little bit more like an old map.

Here they are, all rolled up and tied with a ribbon...

Around the building, I hid little treasure boxes, and next to them, a large image that matched an image on the treasure map.

Below, you can see, I printed the treasure chest onto paper, and taped it on the wall, and the last item on the treasure map, is the same picture.

So, the kids had to find the items on the map in order, and collected their treasure on the way. They used the fabric goodie bags I had made them to collect their prizes...

Some of the treasure included, bouncy balls, candy, harmonicas, and other things I collected from the party supply store.

I also made them each one personalized prize - these "Gold Doubloon Necklaces"

These were so easy, and fun to personalize!
Each was made from a small lump of clay. I used fimo/sculpey clay that gets baked to harden.

Some were made to look like treasure maps (above).
Some were made to look like gold coins (below).

I used the little letter stamps ($1 from the craft store), just like in this project here.
After they were baked, I filled the indentations with a little bit of watered down paint to make the letters stand out.
The two holes were made with a skewer and allowed me to string a ribbon, and have the "medallion" lay flat when they wore it as a necklace.

We also played "Pin the Eye Patch on the Pirate."

I sketched out a pirate face and painted it....

I made each child an eye patch out of construction paper, with their intial painted on it....

They all had a good laugh :)

We also read a few Pirate Stories that I had picked up from the library!
Now, this was kindof a last minute addition/decision - but I am SO GLAD I picked these up!!!
We read all 3, the kids LOVED it - they were all enthralled!! In fact, the Port Side Pirates book came with a CD to sing the words - and it was so fun!
Granted, my voice was shot by the time I read 3 books in a pirate voice - but it was well worth it!!

We ended making fruit loop "jewel" necklaces - which was also really fun. I gave everyone a piece of twirling ribbon with a fruit loop knotted on the end, and they threaded fruit loops on to their heart's content :)

I had the kids for 2 hours, and between all these games, dressing up, and eating, the time was filled perfectly!

If you missed it, be sure to check out:

Pirate Party Part 1: Muslin Drawstring Party Favor Bags

Pirate Party 3: Decorations

Click here for the recipe for these decadent Chocolate Cupcakes.

Have you thrown a party?? Come enter our Party Ideas Linkup!

Pirate Party Part 3: Decorations

2012-01-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

Arrrgg, Decorations .... Honestly, I think they were more for me than for the kids. lol. I mean, what kid cares what the signs say, or how the table was set? And as many of you know, decorations can take FOREVER if you let them!

But still, decorations can make a party great, and add to the ambiance - and some decorations can be quick and inexpensive...and even if they aren't quick, they are still fun!

First of all, I went to town with maps as part of the pirate decor. I LOVE how the maps looked around the room.

I picked up giant old atlas from a pile of books that someone what getting rid of - with the intention that I would use the pages for crafts. It worked perfectly! The pages were thick, and the colors were bright!
Even if you don't have an atlas though - any old maps will do!!

Those signs at the top of the page, I ran through my printer. EASY and so festive!!

The boxes I wrapped in maps to use for the treasure hunt (more on that later)...

And below, I made little scull and crossbones 3D map cutouts to set all over the tables. They looked SO COOL!!!

Here's how I made the 3D scull and crossbones:

I used my Silhouette to cut a bunch of scull and crossbones shapes - but you can use ANY shape you want - as long as it is symmetrical.

Below you can see the steps to make them:

1st) Fold 2 of the shapes in half

2nd) Set them one on top of the other and sew a line down the middle (where the crease is).

3rd) Fold open the shape along the sewn line.

4th step - If you want to make a 3D garland) Sew through as many shapes as you want, down the middle, without cutting your thread. Fold open each when you are done.

Seriously, you can do this with any shape! Hearts, stars, superhero logos, animal faces, whatever fits your theme!!

Here is one of the garlands hanging...

In addition to maps, I made these Jolly Roger Flags and stuck them in mason jars I had filled with dried beans.

I also took glass bottles and stuck Pirate Grog Labels on them - you can see some in the picture above.

Here's how I made the Jolly Roger Flags:

1) Cut pieces of muslin fabric about 4" x 12" - or whatever size you want! (as long as it is a rectangle)
2) Using freezer paper, cut out jolly roger shapes. In the picture below, you can see the shapes I cut with my Silhouette (with the shiny side of the freezer paper down).
3) Iron the freezer paper shapes to the fabric. See the picture below for placement. Since the piece of fabric will be folded in half to form a flag, and I wanted a Jolly Roger symbol on both sides, I ironed 2 Jolly Roger shapes per piece - one on the left, one on the right.

4) Spray paint the fabric black. You only need to spray the side with the freezer paper on it. The spray paint is great too because it makes the fabric more stiff.
5) Peel off the freezer paper.

6) Hot glue a chopstick in the middle of the fabric. Fold over the fabric to line up and form a flag, and hot glue the two sides together - particularly around the edges. (Again, the chopsticks were free from the local Chinese Restaurant!)

I used big pieces of fabric from my stash to line the tables...Here is a picture of a table part way through its decoration...

I also pinned fabric up on the walls behind "dress like a pirate" table - and it looked a lot like sails...

Here is my sweet little pirate, blowing up black balloon "Cannon Balls." We had about 75 of these around the room, and the kids loved kicking them around, and hitting them with their swords. At the end, we let the kids "fire" the cannon balls, and pop them all. They had so much fun!

Cupcakes are the way to go at a party - I have decided :)

I got the recipe from my sister - and I can absolutely testify to their amazing-ness....wonderful-ness....drool-worthy-ness....yah, they are THAT GOOD.
And the wonderful Cupcake Printables can be found here at Cottage Industrialist.

I used a ton of things that I could find around the house. Mason Jars, beaded necklaces, anything gold colored, ropes, even some Halloween decor worked :)

And everybody seemed to love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

There will be more on games and activities to come.

And if you missed it, be sure to check out:

Pirate Party Part 1: Muslin Drawstring Party Favor Bags

Pirate Party Part 4: Games

Pirate Party Part 1: Muslin Drawstring Party Favor Bags

Have you thrown a party?? Come enter our Party Ideas Linkup!

Pirate Party Part 2: Dress Like a Pirate

2012-01-15T18:16:00.001-05:00

Shiver me Timbers! The party was a great success!! The kids had a great time, and there was plenty to do that everyone enjoyed :)

First order of business - we all needed to look like pirates.

1) A hat was a given. There are a bunch of free hat printables around - but these hats from the party store were cheaper than they would have cost to print them.

2) I wanted the "color your own bandanna" because I wanted to kids to spend some time coloring while people were filtering in. That worked out great! Of course, not everyone arrives at the same time, so this was a great first craft, because it could go as long as necessary.

3) I found pirate tattoos, which I thought was pretty perfect for pirate apparel! (Luckily I remembered to bring a little washcloth that I got wet and left at the table, so the kids could put the tattoos on as soon as they came!)

You can see the sign on the table in the above picture. The sign has pictures with each item the kids are supposed to take.

4) I found a great post on a blog called The Fickle Pickle - which is where I got a number of ideas that I used in my party - one of which being these mustaches.

They are SO simple to make! 2 Pieces of felt for each mustache:

Put one on top of the other, and sew around, as close to the edge as possible. Leave a tiny gap, just big enough to shove in some stuffing.

Then, squish a glob of hot glue on the end of a chopstick, stick it into the hole and pinch the felt around it until the glue dries.

(I got these chopsticks for free from the local Chinese restaurant by the way.)

And my absolute FAVORITE part of the pirate apparel:

SWORDS!

Again, FREE AND EASY! (I told you I was doing this party on the cheap!)
The excellent tutorial can be found here at Alphamom.

These swords are made from 2 pieces of newspaper, rolled on the diagonal and taped. (One end is folded over and taped to make a handle.)

And 1 small piece of cardboard cut into an oval, with a hole in the middle, that gets painted put on the sword to make a hand guard.

And let me tell you - these were the HIT of the entire party!!

Here are all my sweet pirates dressed up and having fun!

Having everyone dressed up made the party very festive!

Soon, I'll show you some of the decor, the games, and more!

And in case you missed it, be sure to check out

Pirate Party Party 3: Decorations

Pirate Party Part 4: Games

Have you thrown a party?? Come enter our Party Ideas Linkup!

Linking up to:

Pirate Party Part 1: Muslin Drawstring Party Favor Bags

2012-01-11T00:31:00.002-05:00

My daughter turned 5 a couple days ago, and we are having a birthday party in just a couple more days!
Many months ago she chose to have a "Pirate Birthday Party" - and a couple weeks ago I started working on the planning. Let me tell you - it is hard to have a child with a birthday so close to Christmas!! One is barely over before you have to be prepared for the other!

Well, in usual Lindsay style, I am going completely overboard for this birthday party. It is the first one I have ever done - so I am a little overzealous :)
As such, I have done so many things myself that I have decided to break this party up into a series of posts - and these Muslin Take Home Party Favor Bags are Part 1.

Part of my goal when preparing this party was to make it as inexpensive as possible. I am making as many things as I can so that I don't have to buy as much. So - most of these posts will feature ideas using things many crafty people probably have around their houses - and even if you don't, the materials are very inexpensive!

Muslin is a cotton fabric that you can find in a specific section of the fabric store. There are different qualities - but to give you an idea, you can get a yard of fabric for $2 - easily. And the width is double the size of a regular bolt of cotton fabric. So, to make 10 goodie bags, I probably used 50 cents worth of muslin.

Each bag will need 2 squares of fabric - mine are 8" wide by 9" tall.
I wanted a design on the front of each bag. So, on 1 of the square of fabric, I ironed Freezer Paper, which I had cut with my Silhouette, to create a stencil.

About Freezer Paper: (Skip if you already know!)
[Freezer paper is found near the tin foil at the grocery store, it is white like parchment paper, but has a slick side that adheres to fabric when ironed. If you are using a cutting machine, put your freezer paper on your sticky mat, shiny side down. Make sure it is stuck to the mat VERY well, so that as it is cut it doesnt slide and get stuck on the blade. Don't cut too much at a time - smaller sections of freezer paper on the cutting mat are easier for you and the machine to handle.
You can also cut freezer paper stencils by hand if you don't have a cutting machine.
To iron, do not use steam, and iron carefully so the little edges are smooth and flat.]

Once the freezer paper is ironed down, paint inside the stencil (I used fabric paint, but acrylic paint works too).

When the paint is dry, peel off the freezer paper (it is very easy to peel away - and no residue is left!)

On each square of fabric, do a zig-zag stitch across the top to keep it from fraying. One thing to remember about zig-zag stitch: keep your presser foot half on and half off the fabric. I have a handy red arrown in the middle of my presser foot - and I keep the edge of my fabric in line with this arrow. This way, the zig-zag stitch will not bunch the edge of your fabric. Only one side of the zig-zag stitch will catch the fabric's edge, but it tightens up perfectly as you continue to sew.

This picture shows the zig-zag stitch across the top of each piece...

Cut two pieces of fabric for the sheaf to hold the ribbon. They should be 1" wide, and the length should be 1" shorter than the width of your square of fabric. My square of fabric was 8" wide, so I made my sheaf pieces 7" long.

Sew 1 sheaf piece to each side of the bag, between 1/4 - 1/2 inch from the top edge and centered between the right and left sides. The right sides of both pieces of fabric should be facing you.
Only sew the two long edges (as shown by the red dotted lines below). You want to leave the ends open to thread a ribbon through. Sew with 1/8" seam allowance.
Sew this piece on both squares of fabric (which make up the front and back of the bag).

Place the front and back of the bag right sides together. Sew around the 3 edges, left, right and bottom, with 1/4" seam allowance.
Both sheaf pieces are inside, facing each other. You want to make sure that you do NOT sew over the openings on the ends of the sheaf pieces as you are sewing the bag together.
Turn right side out when finished.

Cut two pieces of ribbon to use as the drawstring. I used grosgrain ribbon 3/8" wide.
The length is determined by [width of bag] x 2 + [a few inches to tie a knot]
For me, my bag width was 8" x 2 = 16" + 4" extra to tie a knot = 20" long

Using a safety pin, thread 1 piece of ribbon through the front sheaf, and then the back sheaf - ending on the same side, as shown...

Tie a knot to connect the ends of the ribbon.

Take the 2nd piece of ribbon. Thread it through the front sheaf and the back sheaf - begin on the side that does not have the knotted end.

Tie a knot to connect the ends of the 2nd piece of ribbon, as shown.

Your drawstring bag is complete!!

I decided after making them (it was really quick!! From start to finish, all 10 bags took me a couple hours), that it would be fun to personalize them with the names of each child attending the party.
Luckily, I had received RSVPs from everyone so I knew who would be there.
I printed the names onto cardstock, and cut each name out.
I slipped the name in the bag, positioned it where I wanted it, and traced it with a sharpie. The muslin is thin enough that I could see the printed words on the cardstock through the fabric.

I love how they turned out!! Now, each guest will have a personalized bag to collect their treasure in and take home, and I only spent about $1 making all of these!

And remember - these bags are completely customizable!

Add any picture, any words - or use any kind of fabric. Leave them blank even!! The fabric bag is adorable all by itself!

And stay tuned for more Pirate Party posts - I warned you this would be a series :)

Pirate Party Part 3: Decorations

Pirate Party Part 4: Games

Glass Milk Bottle Subway Art - Pen Holders

Have you thrown a party?? Come enter our Party Ideas Linkup!

Piano Key Wall Shelf - Guest Post!

2012-01-07T15:16:00.000-05:00

You are all in for a treat! My very talented and inspirational sister has agreed to do a guest post today on a project she worked very hard on. She is much funnier than I am, so don't get too attached to her - though I am hoping that we have many more guest posts from her in the future!
Take it away Ashley!!

___.__.__.___
Hello Lindsay's readers! I recently worked on a very cool project that Lindsay asked me to guest post about, and I'm so excited to be doing this! I have to begin with a few disclaimers though....
*My pictures are nowhere NEAR as nice as Lindsay's (or any other blogger's for that matter)*
*No working, salvageable piano was harmed in the making of this post (this is especially important to me since I am a pianist and would never purposely dismember a working instrument)*
*I can't spell*

So, now that that's out of the way, we can begin!
I began this project on accident... I was actively looking for a used piano to call my own, and we have this fantastic local website with used listings. I found a beautiful old piano for free, and was fully planning on restoring it to working order...

I somehow got the beast home (seriously, it weighed probably upwards of 800 lbs. Funny side note, it took 2 adult men, 7 teenage boys, and 2 women to lift this monster into the back of my dad's truck... no kidding) and upon closer inspection realized the soundboard (what the strings are attached to and where the sound resonates) was cracked in several places, and while the basic mechanics where all in tact, it wasn't worth the time, effort and money it would take to restore it.
Sooo.... I decided to use the keyboard and platform to make a shelf for my house!

I love the antiqued look this piano has, so I decided not to stain it or paint it, but to just leave the natural wearing.
I took it apart piece by piece, and discovered much about the piano along the way... All I left behind the "shell", if you will.

This is an in-the-process picture of taking it apart. I set the keys on top of the piano with some of the misc. pieces, so it's a little jumbled looking, but that is the inside of an upright grand everyone!

(Another funny story... The screws that were holding the piano together had been in there for over 100 years, and were so rusted and fitted into place that I actually bent a screwdriver trying to turn them out.)

Once I had the keyboard off, I took off all of the keys (88 in case you were wondering) and began cleaning. This poor guy had been stored in a barn for upwards of 15 years, and had been sorely abused by its previous owners. It was COVERED in spider webs and dirt, and underneath all of that was a lot of crayon, scratches and carvings.
*I shake my fist in the air at the injustice*
Ultimately, I was able to get it looking reasonable again.

What you see above is the keyboard base after the keys are off... each of the 88 keys uses two of those pins you see. The green felt circles there are originally to keep the keys protected against landing on bare wood and chipping or denting as you played.

I used those and a strip of green felt from the back to prop up the keys. When they aren't attached to the hammers anymore (the felt things that smack the strings and make sound), they fall forward and can't be seen from the front, so I re-purposed some material there.

I used my dad's circular saw to cut down the base board right behind that second row of pins, taking off about 7 inches or so. You can see in the picture some lone pieces of silver hardware in the very back... Those are gone too :)

I also have to give a shout out to my good friend Jill... She let me borrow her husband's miter saw. *drool*. This one even has a draw on it!
One day... One day I tell you... I will OWN all of these tools!

I used the miter saw to begin the hair-cutting process of the keys. Each of the keys (after being scrubbed and sanded) was trimmed down to a size that would be manageable on my wall. You can see below how I cut the keys... those five on the right are un-cut and pretty darn long.

So with all the pieces cleaned and cut, I put the keyboard back together.
Below is a view from the back side of the piece, since I'm sure you all wanted to know how the back of a piano's keyboard looked... But be impressed readers! This is something you may never see again!
The keyboard cover is 'up', and the final top piece isn't on yet, but I wanted to show off my nice even cuts using equipment way above my pay grade. And I wanted you all to admire my beautiful plastic counters.

Here is the logo on the key cover... It was luckily still very much intact, and I was so pleased that it could be appreciated.

I was able to use all the original hardware to reassemble it which made me happy, and below is the final product on my wall!

Don't ask how it got up there... I just about killed myself doing it. But it is mounted to the wall on 3 large wrought iron brackets which are screwed into studs. And let me tell you, these studs are super studly... I ended up breaking off my drill bit into the last hole. I couldn't get the leverage I needed, so I had to stand on a chair to put my weight into the drill, and torqued the bit and broke it off.
Ugh. The story of my life.

Anyway, I'm absolutely in love with it. It took ALOT of time, and a lot of dirty work, but I love the way it looks, and the style it brings into my house.

So there you go. Thanks again to Lindsay for letting me post! I really enjoyed doing this project... I don't usually do things quite so involved, but I couldn't let this piano be scrapped, and I love the end result!

Old Window, Big Picture

2012-01-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have finished yet another old window project. I just LOVE them!

This window was another side-of-the-road find...and it is in EXCELLENT condition. The paint isn't even peeling! (At least, not like some of the others I have...)

I have seen a bunch of windows like this used as picture frames, but they always have a small picture in each section. I wasn't too big on that idea - but when I saw this pin on Pinterest - I loved the idea of a large picture covering the whole thing.
And do you want to know something great?! This project cost me a total of $2.11 (!!!)
At Staples - they will make a black and white poster, on regular printer type paper, for $2.11!
I emailed my picture over to the copy center, indicated the dimensions that I wanted it to be enlarged to, and picked it up a day later. So easy! (Wait, isn't that their slogan? :) )

I made a "template" for each section with scratch paper - because each section had its own slightly unique shape. I marked them "upper left", "upper middle", "upper right", etc. and then took them all off.

Then I positioned my poster where I wanted it, to get a sense of where to cut out my sections. I had to put it slightly off center so that the separations weren't right down their noses. For this reason, I had the poster made a little wider than I needed it, so I had the option to move it left or right.

Here is the back side of the step from the picture above. As you can see, the poster is just set on the back and barley taped to hold it in position.
While it was taped this way, I carfully marked the location of each section (just little dashes where each pane of glass started and ended), so I would know where to trace my "templates" from above.

Here you can see it all traced out. The rectangles that go in the window panes are NOT exactly side by side. It would not look correct without accounting for the wood that separates each pane of glass.

Here is one small section ready to install in the window. If I had been really smart, I would have taken a picture of this section, the next section, and the small strip between them that gets thrown away...but hopefully you get the idea :)

Each section was just taped to the window along the back with scotch tape at intervals along the edge. Here it is half way done...

And all taped in!

I hung it on the wall in my daughters' bedroom. It is SO adorable!!

And a major bonus is that for 2 bucks I can change the picture anytime I want!

Have you done any fun repurposing projects lately?? Let me know, I would love to see them!

Top 10 of 2011

2011-12-30T20:33:00.000-05:00

So, I have never done one of these posts before - but I do enjoy seeing these from other people. It is amazing to see all their best projects in a row. And I have been blogging long enough now that I actually have a full year to choose from :)

So, here are my top 10 from 2011 (mostly based on google analytics and pinterest pins).

Pop Can Key Chain

Freezer Paper Stencil T-Shirts

Teacher Appreciation School Supplies Clock

I-Spy/Junk Tree

Holidays Thumbprint Art

Distressed Painted Washroom Sign

Toddler Chair Slip Covers

Vintage Style Painted Cafe Sign

Drift Wood Plaque

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you all have a fulfilling and wonderful new year!!

Handmade Christmas Presents 2011

2011-12-27T19:16:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!!
I have had such a fun, relaxing time the past few days with my family -- baking, watching movies, web chatting with relatives, opening presents....I am a lucky lady!

Now that Christmas is over, I can post about a few gifts I made for family and friends :)

This was a hot item this year :) My sister made a few of these for her extended family, and I made a couple for mine. I had made myself a Roman Numeral Painted Sign a few months ago (you can find the tutorial here), and my sister had the brilliant idea to add the family name over the wedding date.

She also made hers with spray paint, which I have never done before (I always use acrylic paint). So, I made this sign with spray paint. It is faster, but there are two things that make it harder to use (in my opinion) 1) There is no way to touch it up - so if you accidentally peel up some paint when the vinyl is getting pulled off, you are in trouble! 2) Spray paint does not sand down well - so if you want to distress your sign, it is easier to distress acrylic paint. So, using spray paint is great if you are impatient, but be careful! ;)

I made myself a set of Clay Rock Magnets a while back (the tutorial can be found here), and I love using them. They are probably the favorite magnets I have on my fridge right now (and I have quite a few...I love making magnets!)
This year, I made a bunch with holiday themes, and gave little sets of them to friends, co-workers and neighbors. I coupled them with a bag of chocolate dipped pretzels. It was great because the girls helped me make both the magnets and the pretzels, and they were easy to mass produce.

Years ago, I made a "Relatives Book" for my daughter - just pictures of our extended family - often with her in the picture - glued onto pages of a flip book. She has loved it, but over the years it has taken a serious beating. Pages have been ripped or torn out, and it has really been strewn all over the house.
When I saw this idea, to put pictures on CDs, I loved it!! CDs don't rip or tear, they are a great size, and we had a bunch of old CDs around the house that we could use.

I printed a bunch of pictures onto plain printer paper, traced around them with a CD, cut them out, and used spray adhesive to stick the pictures to the actual CD. I put a picture on each side of the CD, and then used a power drill to make a small hole for the book ring to go through.

This idea would be great for a variety of things - Alphabet Book, US Presidents, LDS prophets, Holidays, - and they stand up to babies!! ;)

The big surprise for Christmas this year: we are taking the girls to Disney World in a couple of months!! I wanted some tangible way to tell them we were going, so I made these Minnie Mouse Ear Headbands to give them, along with an explanation of where they could wear them in a few months. They are so excited - and now we'll be able to take the headbands with us :) I found a great tutorial here for making these cute things. (I didn't have foam around, like the tutorial said, so I used a disposable plastic plate to make the ears stand up. Worked GREAT!)

Don't those faces just tell it all? We are excited!

I hope you all have a relaxing and wonderful end of year. I love being able to share all my crafty adventures with you in blogland - thanks for stopping by!!

Educational Decree -> for all Harry Potter Fans!

2011-12-23T23:43:00.001-05:00

Have I got any Harry Potter fans in the house??
We have a really good friend who is 13, and she is way into Harry Potter. For her Bat Mitzvah, we got her "Dumbledore's Wand", and she was ecstatic! She said it was the best gift she got :) (Not bad for our first Bat Mitzvah gift ever!)

Well, for Hanukkah we wanted to give her something else Harry related - and for some reason I got it in my head to make one of these Educational Decree Signs (Actually, they have these for sale on various websites, which is probably why I thought it would be cool)...
These are the things that Dolores Umbridge puts up all over school in book 5 with ridiculous rules on them. Here's a picture of one from the movie:

And tell me, what avid Harry Potter fan wouldn't want one of these in their room?! :)

I had a wooden frame that I had purchased on sale a while back (they are available at the craft store, and are great for painting and woodburning too)...

I only took a picture after I had started staining it, but you can see the shape at least.

On the bottom of the frame a piece of wood is nailed and glued so that it juts out a little bit to create a half inch ledge.

The top of the picture frame looks a bit like a house, as my daughter says. I used a piece of melamine board across the back to hold the "house shape" together. It looked just like this:

Each piece was nailed and glued onto that melamine board: the picture frame, the triangular shape, and the "roof" pieces - so that they were all held together....

By the way, I cut all that wood with my compound mitre saw. I am still in love :)

Here it is all stained. I also glued a little lock onto the side. In the movie the lock is there because it protects the "decree" behind glass. I just found this little lock in the jewelry section of the craft store and thought it added to the charm of the sign.

Then, I created a few different "Proclamations" in Word.
Our friend was born in 1998, so all the decree's I made were "No. 98".
This one I made up so that it had her name in it... not bad, hu?

I also created a white board version!
I cut the black letters with my Silhouette and used some adhesive white board material (looks and feels like vinyl). So now she has a bunch of choices - she can write her own decrees, or use some of the ones I made for her on printed paper.

I was so excited to give it to her, and man was she surprised!! I think she loves it, and I am so pleased with the way it turned out. As usual, I made something that is supposed to look old and weathered, so it allowed for plenty of room for error (and believe me, there was lots of error!) But, I just love how it turned out!!

Altoid Tin Felt Chapstick Holders

2011-12-20T21:42:00.000-05:00

The other day, a friend of mine handed me 2 empty altoid tins and said, "I bet you can find some crafty use for these, hu?"
I was intrigued! I hadn't really thought about altoid tin crafts before - but it sounded like a good challenge.
I have been doing a little advent calendar for my kids this month - and one of the little gifts I had planned to give them was fun chapstick. Turns out that these altoid tins are the perfect size to hold a couple of tubes of chapstick in! So, this project was born...

I cut out felt the same size as the top of the tin, and little shapes and designs to decorate them with.

Each has the initial of one of my daughters - to make them even more personal :)

With regular embroidery floss I did a running stitch to secure the felt decorations together (you could hot glue all the little felt pieces down if you didn't feel like sewing).
I then used hot glue to glue the whole piece to the top of the tin.

For the sides I measured out strips in the correct size and hot glued them down as well. Same for the bottom piece.
Below, you can see that the purple piece that wraps around the bottom edge matches the width of the bottom part of the tin when the lid is closed.

Here they are all finished...

And here they are with the chapstick inside...

My girls were so excited to get these little gifts! (These would be fun last minute stocking stuffers).
The kids have been carrying them around - and love that they have their initials on them.

I love how there is a crafty use for almost any old thing :) Even altoid tins!!

Check out these parties I often link up to

Old Window Stocking Hanger

2011-12-13T19:30:00.000-05:00

Check out these parties I often link up to

Well, what do you think?! I, personally, am smitten :)
We don't have a fireplace in our little apartment, so as soon as we started putting Christmas decorations up, I was charged emphatically by my children to find a place to hang the stockings. As you can imagine, they were quite worried about it :)

Recently, I created this piece of art for our home from an old window that I found on the side of the road, and I have a few more old windows sitting in my basement now. They are so charming, and so fun to work with, that I decided it would be GREAT to hang our stockings from one of the small ones.

Here it is sans decoration. I cleaned it off, and scraped off the bits of flaking paint, but it is in remarkable condition!

Plus, check out this little piece of hardware here that is part of the window... PERFECT for hanging a wreath! I could have cried with happiness :)

I drilled 4 holes along the bottom, and attached some pretty drawer knobs. I had to buy longer screws to accommodate the width of the window frame, but now I can switch them out any time if I want different colors or styles.

And here it is, stockings all hung, next to the pillow covers I recently made. I am in LOVE!

Another tidbit of random information - my mom cross stitched my stocking when I was little, and gave it to me when I moved out of the house...I cross stitched my husband's stocking a couple years ago to match mine...and I made the green stocking from an old shirt, using this idea here from Martha Stewart :) Works for this year!

Christmas Pillow Covers (made with decorated hand towels!)

2011-12-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

Making Pillow Covers is fun, because they add a lot of character to a room, and they can be changed for every season or holiday. On black Friday I picked up a couple of throw pillows at Target for really cheap, because I have been wanting to make some Christmas pillow covers for a long time :)

I have had these 3 Crate and Barrel hand towels for a couple of years, but haven't actually used them as hand towels. They are nice and thick, and a nice bright red color though, and the perfect size for making pillow covers!!

I got the idea for this tree pillow from this etsy shop here. A few triangles of burlap are covered by smaller triangles of fabric.

Then, I zig-zag stitched a quarter of an inch inside the fabric triangles. The words I wrote with sharpie onto scraps of muslin fabric. The muslin rectangles are doubled up, and sewn 1/4 inch inside the edge. And a few buttons added some more texture.

To turn it into a pillow cover, I sewed a simple pocket pillow case. About 1/3 of the towel was folded over, right sides together, and sewn along the top and bottom edge. (I planned the decorations on my cover knowing that the right third would be folded over and end up as part of the back of the pillow.)

The extra towel was cut in half, and again put right sides together along the other edge - so that the finished edge was toward the middle. I then sewed along the top, bottom and outer edge of that side. This left a pocket opening to turn the case right side out and stuff the pillow in.

Since I had 3 towels I was able to make 2 pillow covers that fit perfectly, and on the 2nd pillow cover I sewed ric-rac and mitten and stocking shapes. The words were done the same as the other pillow case, with sharpie and scraps of muslin.

I love how they turned out! After finishing this project, I highly suggest using hand towels to make pillow covers - and there are so many cute holiday ones out there! ...it makes it so much easier to have the finished edges to work with, and the thick patterned fabric!

We're sure getting excited for Christmas around here! Hope you are too :)

I Spy Tree (a.k.a. Junk Tree)

2011-12-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

Everybody has a junk drawer, right? Well, this project puts all those little bits of junk to great use!

Yes, this has been a fun little addition to our holiday decor :) This I-Spy "junk tree" was inspired by my friend's blog post here. This is a fun project for the kids to help with too!

Here's how I made it...

Grab one of these foam cones at the craft store...they come in a few different sizes, so you can choose.

Gather up some junk :) Everything on my tree was found in my house. Below are some of the things we gathered, but we ended up with even more than this.
We raided the junk drawer, the toolbox, the toy box, the office supplies, the change drawer...

And then we hot glued the stuff we found onto the foam cone, as tight as we could get it. Little round beads and buttons really helped to fill in the tiny gaps...

Believe it or not, I even had that star for the top in the junk tub! It was originally a piece of plastic used to keep a balloon from floating away - way to go me for keeping it! ;)
Some of my other favorite things: a mismatched earring, a clothespin, an old key, a dreidel (ha), hair clips, a T token, jingle bells...okay, I am loving it all...

Isn't it amazing how horrible it looks??
But then, when you spray paint it - - - voila! It looks AWESOME!!
Plus, the texture of the foam cone looks really cool when it's spray painted too.

My kids are having a blast playing "I-Spy" and looking for different treasures, and it looks pretty darling with the other Christmas items on the mantel ...

So go collect some junk! You'll have a bit of Christmas decor completely unique and all you!

A couple Antiques I picked up...

2011-11-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before that there is an antique shop in Concord, MA that I adore. They have some amazing things there - and I often can't help but pick up a thing or two when I get the chance to go in. I have purchased antique keys, coins and and buttons from the 1800's.
This sheet music is also from the 1800's, hand written on thick paper - I believe the woman at the antique shop said it is from France. Since I play the piano, I fell in love with it! It was only a few dollars, and it looks really great framed and hanging above my piano! I am contemplating putting a vinyl saying on the glass - but I also really like it as it is.

My next find was also in Concord, but this one was at an antique yard sale. Each year, over 1 weekend, these people have a yard sale - and I happened to be driving by at the right time!
When I saw this bucket, I pretty much fell in love with it. It is obviously old, and used - it is very sticky, even after a good suds bath.

The colors of the flowers are bright, and I just love the shape of the handle. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but as soon as my mom saw it she said, "I bet it's a well bucket," and I think she is right. I have no idea how old it really is, but it is a fun thing to have around the house. I put newspaper in the bottom half, and filled the top half with cinnamon scented pine cones for the holiday season, and it makes the living room smell great!

Are you guys as much of a sucker for antiques as I am??

Handmade Paper Bag Gift Tags

2011-11-26T19:46:00.001-05:00

Yes, I went black Friday shopping :) It was crazy, but fun, and I got a few Christmas gifts crossed off the list! And since some of them are for out of state family, I started wrapping already!
I realized as I was wrapping though, that I had no gift tags....
Then, I remembered seeing these gift tags here at Sugar Bee Crafts - made by The Gunny Sack.
I thought these were so clever!!!
And look how awesome my gift looks:

Would you believe that these are made with brown paper bags?? I love stuff like this. Here are the images I printed onto the brown bag pages - including the "to" and "from" back side of the tag...

I cut them out by hand, matching a front and back piece together.
I actually sewed my two pieces together - just matched up the paper, wrong sides together, and stitched around the edge.
My stitch was set pretty wide, so that it didn't completely perforate the edge.

Then, I punched a hole in each tag, and tied really long pieces of raffia through the hole, so that I could wrap them all the way around presents and tie them (instead of using ribbon).

Man, are they cute!! I found a bunch of images online, and there are a million more you could find (I even made a few Hanukkah ones for my Jewish friends!). I love adding another element of decoration to each gift - it makes it so festive :)

I hope you will go cut up a few brown paper bags and make some! Your friends will be so impressed :)

Family Definition Vinyl on Vintage Window

2011-11-23T19:59:00.000-05:00

Have I told you how much I love living in New England?? Mostly for the reasons you could imagine - but also for some reasons that only a crafter would consider :)

One of those crafty lady loves is trash day (and old houses).

Yes, I was rather giddy when I picked up this beautiful old window from the side of the road on trash day. I now have about half a dozen in my basement - one other with a full, unbroken pane of glass like this one - others with 6 panes of glass - all with beautiful rough, shabby, peeling edges that make a girl like me swoon!

I have some ideas milling around in my head for the windows with multiple panes of glass, but this huge window with a big blank piece of glass (25" x 19"!) was just begging to have vinyl put on it (and of course, the vinyl can come off if I ever want to do something different).
I chose to put a sweet definition of family on the window...

And here it is propped on top of my piano (which I use pretty much like a mantle since I don't have a fireplace).

It is nearly impossible to photograph since the wall, frame and vinyl words are all white - but it looks beautiful, shabby, old, and it really makes me smile!

So, I am curious, how many of you live in towns that have unlimited curb side trash pickup like we do, and just can't help but pick up "treasures" from the side of the road?? (Much to my husband's chagrin, even my 5 year old daughter hollers out, "Mom, a treasure!" when she sees wooden goodies on the road on trash day...I've trained her well :) )

What kinds of things do you look for and pick up?

Grateful Frame

2011-11-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

As I said before, I do not have many Thanksgiving decorations. I make a huge dinner, don't get me wrong, but I always seem to just gloss over the holiday in general in between the excitement of Halloween and the magnitude of Christmas. So, I have kept my eye out this year for a few things I could do to add to my Thanksgiving decor, and consequently, my Thanksgiving spirit.

When I saw this Grateful sign over at Catherina's Creative Corner I FELL IN LOVE!!!

This project combines the best of so many worlds. It is easy. It is meaningful. It is simple and stylish.

For the background, I used a brown paper bag, and I wrote on it with a fine point sharpie. The {Grateful} was cut in vinyl with my Silhouette (although stickers would work for this if you don't have a cutting machine) and the frame was repurposed - brought to life with a little spray paint.

Each member of my family (including my little ones) sounded off things they were thankful for as I sat writing this out. It was so fun! I could envision making this a Thanksgiving day activity - because to be honest, I think I will keep this out all year!! And perhaps next year, I will ask my family members again what they are thankful for, and we can make a new list to put in the frame.

I have seen many ideas that involve having family members express what they are thankful for, and then displaying them, but this one was by far my favorite!! And it looks so cute with my (humble but slowly expanding) Thanksgiving decor...

And just so you all know - I am Grateful for you too :)

Yarn Ball Christmas Wreath

2011-11-18T17:48:00.000-05:00

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Last spring, my daughter and I had fun making a wreath together for her bedroom door. It's been there ever since - and we figured it was time for a new wreath, more fitting for the season :)

When I saw this wreath at Two Junk Chix, I fell in love! Plus, it looked like something my daughter could help me make...

The whole thing is really simple - different colored yarn balls, and some sparkly Christmas decor all glued onto a wreath form. The result is a great combination of textures and colors and we love it!

To save on yarn, we rolled up newspaper into balls in a bunch of different sizes, and used them as the middle of the yarn balls...

My daughter helped me wind the yarn until all the newspaper was covered...

Look how many we made! And all this was less than 3 skeins of yarn (we didn't even use a full skein of each color)!
She is such a sweetie:)

For the wreath form, we used a piece of foam tubing from the plumbing department at the hardware store, just like I saw in this pin here on Pinterest. Brilliant!

I contemplated spray painting the foam white, but the dark grey looks fine if you happen to catch a glimpse of it underneath.

With a glue gun, I glued the yarn balls on, trying to evenly spread the colors and interlock the sizes so that it looked good and full. I glued the yarn balls both to the wreath form, and to each other, but I was very careful to make sure strings and globs of glue didn't get anywhere that you could see them.

I also let my daughter pick out some sparkly things from the floral section at the craft store to jazz up the wreath a little more. We took these things all apart, and interspersed them throughout the wreath, hot gluing everything together.

I absolutely love how it turned out! The colors are warm and bright for the holiday season, and I really love when I can involve my kids in these kinds of crafts.

Places Painted Sign

2011-11-13T21:56:00.001-05:00

My friend Ellen recently commissioned me to make her a sign. She saw the idea here originally, to make a sign with the places you have lived - and she wanted one for her place.

Isn't this such a cool idea?!

This is a great big piece of 18" x 24" piece of wood that I painted white with acrylic paint.

I used the same method as I did here on this sign, with vinyl lettering covering where I wanted to keep the white paint.

Here is a close up - you can see the pencil lines I used to make sure my words were straight...

Then, the whole thing got a few coats of black acrylic paint...

And the vinyl was pulled off to reveal the beautiful white letters...

Just a bit of touch up required, and then the whole thing got a few coats of protective spray.

This is the first sign I have made that was really crisp... most of the ones I make are sanded and distressed.

I am really happy with the way it turned out - and so is my friend:)

Shabby Apple Giveaway Winner! (and Facebook)

2011-11-13T00:52:00.001-05:00

The winner of the Shabby Apple Necklace is

Comment #5 - Jennifer from Diary of a Working Mom

Congrats Jennifer!

P.S. I have finally put Diary of a Crafty Lady on Facebook!

Feel free to "like" my page to keep up with even more craftiness that I don't always post on the blog :)

Have a great day!

Scrappy Fabric Turkey Tutorial

2011-11-10T18:58:00.001-05:00

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When visiting my friend the other day, she had this little turkey sitting on her living room table, and I LOVED it! I don't have a whole lot of Thanksgiving decor, and this was just too floppy and cute to pass up!
I came home and made myself a pattern, and whipped out a few the next day...

These little guys are great, because they can be made with scraps of fabric, and you can really use any color scheme!

Want to make one (or ten) of your own??
Here is the tutorial:
Print off the pattern by clicking this link here.
You will cut 2 of each pattern piece.
To do this: Trace each pattern piece on to a piece of fabric twice, once with SIDE A up, and once with SIDE A down! The pieces are not symmetrical, so this detail is important!

Cut out all the pieces. I used a different color of coordinating fabric for each pattern piece.

Cut out a tiny gobbler from red felt - as shown below.

Place each set of fabric pieces wrong sides together (so that the right side of the fabric faces out on both the front and the back).
Sew around the outside edge with 1/4 inch seam allowance, and leave a 2 inch hole in the bottom for stuffing.
When you are sewing around the turkey's head, sandwich the gobbler between the fabric about 1/3 way down (as shown below) so that you catch it in the stitching.

Stuff each piece VERY LOOSELY. Use the bare minimum amount of stuffing that you can - just enough to make an even layer. Then sew the opening closed.

Sew a button eye onto both sides of the turkey's head.

Layer the pieces, starting with piece 1 on the bottom, all the way to piece 5 on the top. Line up and center the bottom edge on all the pieces. (You will end up with the largest piece on bottom progressing to the smallest piece on top).

Thread a needle with a long piece of thread, and tie a big knot in the end.
Starting in between the layers, so that the knot is hidden, sew back and forth through the middle of all the layers a few times - but not too tight!! If you want your turkey to stand up straight, it needs to be loosely sewn together. To finish, sew to a middle layer again, and knot the thread so that you can cut it and the knot will be hidden.

And that is it! So quick, you can just make more and more and more!

These little turkeys would make a fabulous Thanksgiving gift...you could give them to a friend with a little note about how thankful you are for them :)

These would also be fun to use as place cards at the Thanksgiving Table...with each person's name on a string around the turkey's neck...

I hope you all have a Happy Turkey Day!

Paint Stick/Paint Chip Color Matching Game

2011-11-05T18:42:00.000-04:00

If you have kids - and are addicted to Pinterest, like me ;) - then you may have seen this pin floating around.
I thought it looked so clever, so I decided to make one for each of my girls.
This is one of those awesome projects that is quick, easy and FREEEEEE!!! Okay - not quite free - but Really Inexpensive.
All you need is a paint stirring stick (free), paint chips (also free), glue (really cheap), and clothes pins (also really cheap). All the supplies came from the local hardward store. The clothes pins were only $2.50 for about 30 of them.

I painted the stir sticks white (totally optional) - and then used mod podge to glue the squares of paint chips to the stir stick (which I had cut to the size I wanted). I glued the paint chips onto both sides of the stir stick (18 different colors in all), and a coordinating piece of each color paint chip to one side of a clothes pin.
I left one end of the stir stick white - with no paint chips glued onto it - to use as a handle.

I had to help my 2.5 year old squeeze the clothes pins open, but even my 4.5 year old loved matching the colors up. I love having these kinds of activities to take in the car or to church, and if for any reason they get beat up, or clothes pins get lost, it is easy to make more!

Shabby Apple Jewelry GIVEAWAY!!!! - CLOSED

2011-11-04T19:36:00.001-04:00

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

So, you have all heard of Shabby Apple - the online boutique that sells beautiful woman's dresses....

But did you know that the same Shabby Apple also sells....

Fun and funky art...darling belts...totes and bags...

sexy lookin' fitness clothes...killer shoes...

and JEWELRY!?

Shabby Apple has all these fun and beautiful items - and even more - and today they are

giving away a piece of their vintage style jewelry to one Diary of a Crafty Lady reader!

This unique piece of jewelry called "Through the Looking Glass" opens up like a locket to hold a tiny treasure inside!

The glass bauble has a fish-eye magnifying effect and with a little 4mm space inside, you could showcase a dried flower, a tiny picture, a little charm...

you could go crazy with all the things you could put inside!

You could change it for every season...think of putting tinsel and a little "Peace" or "Noel" charm inside for Christmas :)

Valued at $68 it hangs from a 24" sterling silver chain - and it would look amazing on you!

So, do you want to win one!?

There are 5 different ways you can enter:

(leave 1 comment for each entry)

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1) Visit Shabby Apple, and tell me what your favorite accessory from their site is. (1 entry)

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2) Be a Diary of a Crafty Lady follower. (1 entry)

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3) Like Shabby Apple on Facebook. (1 entry)

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4) Blog, Tweet or Facebook Post about this giveaway. (1 entry each)

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5) Purchase something from Shabby Apple from now until the end of the giveaway. (Don't forget to use the 10% off code "craftylady10off"!)(5 entries!)

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1 comment for each entry. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only - no exchanges for the winning piece. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Giveaway will be open until Saturday, November 12th at midnight E.T.

Shabby Apple is also offering our readers 10% off their purchase!

Use the code "craftylady10off" at checkout -- sweet!

Have fun shopping around!

Our Toy Story Family - Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:37:00.002-04:00

Well, we had a spectacular Halloween! The girls have about 10 pounds of candy each! We trick or treat in downtown Boston - at Beacon Hill - which is a beautiful, afluent part of town that goes all out for Halloween :) It was a very pleasant night, and the costumes held up great!

Since we had Jessie and Buzz Lightyear, it was only fitting for Sean and I to be Toy Story characters as well.

I made this Mrs. Potato Head costume out of felt. The ears are stiff felt. The "accessories" are sewn around the edges, with a little stuffing inside to make them stick out a bit. The best part - it was warm!

Bullseye is a hoodie with felt sewn onto it. I used the same method to sew the mane and tail that I used when sewing the dragon hoodies here.
Then, I added ears, eyes, and a saddle with felt, some of it stuffed to make it 3-D as well.

We had fun together, and got lots of nice comments. As usual, it is hard to get a good family photo - but here we all are together at a party a few nights ago.

Happy Halloween - as Buzz would say, "To Infinity, and Beyond!"

Felt Trick-or-Treat Bag - Pizza Planet!

2011-10-29T09:41:00.000-04:00

So, I just posted about the Etch-A-Sketch trick our treat bag that I made for Cowgirl Jessie Doll - but I hadn't quite finished with this one yet - for my younger daughter.
So, you get another felt trick or treat bag post :) This oneis for another Toy Story Character: Buzz Lightyear!

I had some grand ideas for the design of Buzz's bag, but I needed to finish this one quickly for a Halloween party we had last night, so I made simpler embellishments - with Pizza Planet as the theme. (For those of you who may not know, Pizza Planet is a restaurant that the characters visit in the Toy Story movie).

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Again, everything is made from felt. I print off letters on the computer, trace them on to felt and cut around the tracing....
This time I sewed everything down. You could use heat-n-bond, but you have to be really careful with the iron - this kind of felt made from plastic bottles will melt!!

The full tutorial for the shape of the bag can be found here.

Here is a side view - with the green stripes...

And the back of the bag - a little rocket with the Pizza Planet initials...

Buzz(ina) loves her bag - and it looks GREAT with her costume! So, don't worry that it is only 2 days until Halloween - you still have time to make one ;)

Felt Trick-or-Treat Bag - Etch A Sketch!

2011-10-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

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I have loved making custom trick or treat bags for my kids the past few years.
They are quick, they can be tailored to any theme, and I think they add so much to the costume :)

When my daughter decided to be Jessie from Toy Story, my awesome sister gave me the idea to make an "Etch A Sketch" bag - since Etch is another Toy Story character...brilliant!

I created the basic tutorial for this bag here - when making this "Doggie Treats" trick or treat bag last year:

With this pattern you can make any design to match your child's costume!

I used grey embroidery floss to stitch "Trick or Treat" on one side of Etch, and "Boo!" on the other side - just as it would look on a real Etch A Sketch. The words at the top were painted on with a stencil I made with my Silhouette.

Here is my little Jessie Doll with her trick or treat bag. I love how it completes the whole outfit!

Cowgirl Jessie Halloween Costume

2011-10-23T18:15:00.001-04:00

Is she a darling Jessie doll, or what?!
My daughter asked me a month or so ago if she could be Jessie, from the movie Toy Story, and I thought to myself - I could do that!

We have the collection edition Jessie doll at my house - and I used that little doll as my model to make a pretty darn good replica for my daughter's costume...

And lucky for me - she loves it! She makes a great cowgirl!

I didn't take as many in progress pictures as I sometimes do - but here are a few quick pictures to give you an idea of how I put it all together...
A white button up shirt from Old Navy got some yellow fabric on the top. I cut the yellow fabric the right shape, with enough extra on the top and sides to fold it under. The part along the buttons is folded into the shirt. I used bias tape for the red trim. I also used heat n' bond to hold the fabric to the shirt before I sewed all around the edges. I had to re-cut the button hole and re-sew on the button where the yellow fabric covered.

After tracing the swirl patter I sewed down some pretty red ribbing that I found at the fabric store.

The cuffs were a piece of yellow fabric, folded in half and sew together into a circle. To sew it together I pinned the cuff right sides together at the short ends, and stuck white ribbon loops facing in.

Here the cuffs are, attached to the shirt:

The chaps are slightly different than the real Jessie's outfit - but I didn't want to ruin a pair of jeans by sewing through them. So, I made my chaps so that they would be held up through the belt loops.

I cut the shape of each leg out of the only cow fabric I could find at the fabric store, and some denim material I had leftover. With the cow fabric and denim wrong sides together, I sewed black bias tape all the way around the edge.
After that, I sewed on elastic at thigh level and calf level - so that they would stay wrapped around the legs. I also sewed the white ribbon loops on. Finally, I folded over the top part to make a loop that the belt would thread through.

This hat is foam - from the craft store. I spray painted it red, painted the white strip around the middle with acrylic paint, and hot glued the white ribbing around the edge.

I also punched holes all around the edge to loop the white ribbing through...

Finally, I hot glued some hair combs onto the inside of the hat. I needed a way for the hat to stay on my daughter's head - and they work great!

My daughter was very involved in the supervision of her costume :) She insisted on a pull string in the back, just like the realy Jessie doll...clever girl. (She even counted the number of white ribbon loops I put on the chaps to make sure I had put the right number on!)
The pull string is a little bracelet from her play clothes box, attached to the loop in the back of her shirt with a string.

Look at those cute cowgirls! Whew! I am glad to have this done in time for Halloween. And I even made her a coordinating trick or treat bag - which I will post about soon.
Now, I just have to figure out costumes for the rest of our family! :)

Halloween Countdown Block Calendar

2011-10-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

I just made a really cool costume for my daughter (pictures to come), and every day now, she has been asking how many more days until Halloween - because she can't wait to wear it!

After about 5 days of explaining how many days there were left, I decided that I had better make her a Halloween Countdown Calendar...

I think you can find these unfinished wooden kits at the craft store - but mine actually came from the Kid's Workshop that they do the first Saturday of every month at Home Depot. If you have kids - I definitely recommend trying out the workshop! It is free, and out of the house, and they can paint and glue and hammer to their heart's content (without you having to clean up!)...

I painted mine with acrylic paint, and sanded the edges to distress it. I also glued on the wire and bats to add some height and make it more Halloweeny :)

The wording and numbers are made from vinyl - and if you are making your own block countdown calendar, it is good to know that with only 2 blocks you have to put the numbers in a very specific order! One block has the numbers 012357 and the other block has the numbers 012468 (and the 6 becomes a 9 when flipped upside down).

Besides being a really cute Halloween decoration, it is helping my daughter visually learn the progression of time and days, and she loves finding the right numbers each day :)

We can't wait for Halloween!

Fall Stick Wreath

2011-10-13T20:24:00.001-04:00

Well, I am starting to catch the wreath fever :) It seems like wreaths are pretty much a staple of every craft blog - and I have had an itch to make a fall one for my house.
When I saw this pin on pinterest - I loved the simplicity, the earthiness, and the low price tag! I also knew exactly where to get a bunch of straight long sticks - the apple orchard!

New England has great apple orchards, and my kids love picking up the sticks from the ground. This year, I employed them to find as many as they could for me, and I ended up leaving with an armful of beautiful straight sticks.

I followed the tutorial at The Painted Hive Blog, and added a few burlap and fabric rosettes around the middle with a hot glue gun. The whole thing was made with a hot glue gun - and I love it because it is fast!

It was so big, because even though I cut my sticks to approximately the same length, I kept them so long that I hung my first wreath on the outside of my house. It looks really great on my porch!

I had enough sticks leftover to make a smaller one for my door...

For this one, I glued dried and flattened leaves that I have collected from years past around the middle, and hung the words "Happy Harvest" which I had cut out of paper and distressed with ink...

Seriously, this project cost me almost nothing (even the "wreath form" was made out of a cardboard box!) - and I love how it makes the house feel instantly more festive. I definitely suggest making one :)
Happy Wreath Making!

Personalized Note Pad

2011-10-11T23:10:00.000-04:00

My daughter recently went to a little friend's birthday party. We love giving art supplies as gifts, and got her some magic writing markers, and some other small things.

Instead of including a coloring book, I thought it would be fun to make a personalized pad of paper! At their age, it is so fun to see their name in print - and my daughter loves to make her own pictures, instead of always coloring in a coloring book.

And, these are really easy to make!

1) I took some nice thick paper and printed "made by [name]" on the bottom of both halves - so that I could cut my paper into 2 pieces...
I made this pad of paper tall and skinny, but you could make any size pad of paper - even really small pieces would be fun. I just typed the words into a word document in the correct place based on where I wanted to cut the paper...

2) Line up the stack of pages and clamp them tightly together. You could use binder clips for this too.

3) Buy rubber cement (I found this at Target in the office supplies aisle).

4) Paint 3 - 4 coats of rubber cement on the top edge of the stack of papers. Let the glue dry completely before painting the next coat.

And it is that simple! The paper stays together and each page rips off the stack cleanly and easily.

So go make a little friend happy with their own personalized pad of paper - or make one for your girl friend for her birthday, with a pack of colorful pens - or just make one for yourself! They are addicting :)

Dragon Hoodies

2011-10-02T21:47:00.001-04:00

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Perfect for cooler fall weather, and the Halloween spirit, this weekend I made my girls these fabulous Dragon Hoodies! (Or dinosaur - whatever floats your boat)

I was a dinosaur (or dragon) for Halloween last year, and made these dragon tails which now go with these hoodies perfectly. When I saw these hoodies with a tutorial here at Just Sew Sassy - I knew I wanted to make some for my kids.

I found inexpensive hoodies at Target, and used scraps I had around the house for the rest.

For my younger daughter, I used the purple fleece, and for my older daughter I used the pink flannel (I even sewed ricrac on those pink scales!) I would say though, that the fleece looks better when all is said and done. It is thicker and stiffer - and stands up better. I had the flannel on hand though - so I used it, and it is still cute :)

This project took me seriously - 20 or 30 minutes. That's it!! So, if you are in one of those moods (like me) where you want to complete a quick and satisfying project - try this one!
The kids won't take them off :)

Halloween Directional Wooden Post Sign

2011-09-29T23:07:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to make a directional Halloween sign for a long time. I have been brainstorming the places to put - like Pumpkin Patch, Grave Yard, Transylvania, Haunted House, Halloweentown, Sleepy Hollow, Salem, MA, Ghost Town...and I am sure I could think of a million more.

It wasn't until I got this beauty here for my birthday though, that I finally got around to making it...
Can you believe how lucky I am!? A compound miter saw, just for me! (Okay, so maybe I will let my husband use it too :) )

I picked up a bunch of wood from the scrap pile at Home Depot (which I highly recommend). All the wood for this project only cost me $2.50!

And look at all these beautiful 45 degree angles I cut :)

I wanted a really distressed look, so I painted all the wood roughly in orange...

Painted over that with white...

Sanded it all down for a distressed look...

Stenciled on the words (using vinyl cut from my Silhouette)...

Gave it another quick sand...

And nailed it all together....

Each board is about 14" long... The post down the middle is a square piece, probably 4 feet tall...

It is SUCH a fun Halloween accessory - for outdoors or in! And really, this would be fun to make for any holiday - or birthday - or wedding...
So go hit up the scrap wood pile and make yourself one!

Halloween Spider Clock

2011-09-24T09:00:00.002-04:00

I have been coveting this clock for a long time - ever since I saw it last year here on this blog.
It is so clever, and spooky, and festive!!

When a friend was getting rid of this clock...I snatched it! I love the shape, and the depth, and I knew immediately that I wanted to use it for this Halloween clock project!

After a bit of sanding, and a bit of paint, all I had to do was add the vinyl spiderwebs and glue on the plastic spiders.

You can find the clock workings at the craft store - and seriously, I have seen people make clocks out of ANYTHING... so don't be afraid to try it!

I just love how spooky it is! Happy Halloween!

P.S. Want to make a Halloween Spiderweb Clock, but don't have a way to cut vinyl??

Email me at craftyladylindsay@gmail.com. I'll sell 3 black vinyl spiderwebs, (one 5", one 4" and one 3" in diameter) for $12 - including shipping anywhere in the U.S.!

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape!

2011-09-14T19:18:00.000-04:00

My daughter loves Harry Potter. I seem to be saying often how much she loves things :) What can I say, she is a sweet 4 year old who really gets into stuff!
We have let her watch a couple of Harry Potter movies, she plays Harry Potter Lego with my husband on the Play Station, and she has her own wand that my husband made for her out of a stick....she is a serious HP fan :)

When I saw this shirt pinned on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one for her.
If you don't know the reference, check out the Potter Puppet Pals, here on Youtube...a must see...
my children can often be heard singing the song from that video.

I used the Freezer Paper Stencil method again, as I did here...which is to cut the freezer paper (I used my Silhouette) and iron it onto the fabric...

I painted it with black fabric paint, so that it was not quite perfectly covered, to look a bit worn and weathered.

She LOVES it! The shirt was only $5 at Target - and so easy to make. So next time you see a t-shirt that you like, especially ones with just a few words on them, try this out!!

Burlap Wrapped Glass Holiday Silhouettes

2011-09-08T19:45:00.002-04:00

Halloween projects already! Wow!

Well, I normally don't have it together 2 full months before a holiday - but I have had this project in mind for a while. A loooonnnnngggg while :)

Back in February, I made this Valentine Wreath with a picture frame. The project left me with a homeless piece of glass.

Then, in March I made some teacher appreciation clocks. Making 40 clocks, some were bound to not work - and I was left with round glass too....

I just couldn't throw the glass away - so I decided to repurpose it!
The edges of the glass are sharp, so I wrapped the edges in burlap. I took 2 inch wide strips and hot glued them along all the edges of the rectangular frame - leaving raw edges for texture:

The round glass was wrapped in burlap too:

To provide a way to hang them, I added black ribbon, glued to the back of the burlap frames. I used black to complement the black vinyl:

Finally, I used my Silhouette to cut black vinyl into a couple of Halloween scenes, and stuck the vinyl to the glass.
I create my own images, or create them from clip art I find in google - so unfortunately you can't buy these exact images anywhere.
I am willing to share the files though if you have a Silhouette and you really want them :) Just email me at craftyladylindsay@gmail.com....

I hope you are all looking forward to Halloween, because I, like most of blogland, will have a few more Halloween and fall projects over the next two months :) So here's to a Happy 1st Halloween Project of the Season!!

Sewing Machine Cover

2011-09-03T19:04:00.000-04:00

My poor sewing machine has been sitting out too long without a cover. I dearly love my sewing machine - so I decided it was finally time to show it the love, and make it a pretty cover!

I very loosely followed this tutorial here, however I could not get the measurement link to work - so I had to wing it...

I erred on the side of too big, because I figured that having a loose cover was better than having a tight one - don't you think?

So, I measured my sewing machine at its widest points, and pretended that it was a perfect rectangle - when in actuality it gets skinnier at the top (don't we all).

I cut one big piece to go over the front, top and back.
With the measurements you see above (which were already generous) I added together 12" for the front, plus 12" for the back, plus 7" for the top, and 1" for seam allowance. So, my big piece of fabric was 32" long by 17" wide. (17" is the width of the sewing machine, as seen above).

I cut two side pieces in a coordinating color, 7.5" wide and 12.5" tall (the extra .5" on the width and height account for the 1" seam allowance I added to the big piece).

I also cut lining fabric and interfacing in the same dimensions.

So, to recap:
1 big piece of fabric (for the outside) - 32" x 17"
2 coordinating pieces of fabric (for the outside sides) - each 7.5" x 12.5"

3 pieces of lining fabric - 1 piece: 32" x 17", 2 pieces: 7.5" x 12.5"

3 pieces of fabric interfacing - 1 piece: 32" x 17", 2 pieces: 7.5" x 12.5"

Below is a picture of the outer fabric, with the interfacing ironed on:

Sewing the big piece to the sides is done like so:

1) Mark the center of the big piece of fabric, along the long edge, with a pin.
2) Mark the center of the side piece of fabric, along the short edge, with a pin.
3) With right sides together, match up the center pins and pin the pieces together.

4) Sew (using 1/2" seam allowance) the two pieces of fabric together, however DO NOT sew all the way to the edge of the side piece. As you can see in the picture below, you want to leave just under 1/2" unsewn on each edge.
5) Use your scissors to cut a small line, slightly less than 1/2" down, and right next to the side fabric.

5) This little cut allows you to easily turn the edge of the side piece to meet the remaining long edge of the big piece (review the picture beneath step 3 to see what I mean).

6) Pin the edges together and sew with 1/2" seam allowance.

The picture below shows the top and one side sewn together...
You will want to do the same with the other edge of the side piece.

Then repeat steps 1- 6 for the 2nd long edge of the big piece of fabric.

You will want to sew the lining the same way - however LEAVE A 2 - 3" gap in the seam along one side.

Below is a picture of the gap I left so I could eventually turn my cover right side out:

Turn the outer cover right side out, and leave the lining inside out. Put the lining over the outer cover, so that right sides are together. Align the bottom edge and pin all the way around. Sew all the way around the bottom edge with a 1/2" seam allowance.

Turn the cover right side out through the hole you left in the lining. You can see my hole in the picture below. Once it is all turned right side out, sew the hole closed either by hand or with your sewing machine.

Here you have a choice. You can iron your cover so that you can't see any of the lining, or you can iron your cover as I did, with the lining sticking below the seam a little bit. I like the contrast in color that it adds.
I ironed it with about 1/2" of the lining showing, and then I sewed around the bottom edge again, through the lining, right next to the seam.

I am delighted with the cover - it suits my sewing machine very well! With this simple pattern, it took very little time to make, and was very forgiving!
So be sure to show your sewing machine some love (if you haven't already) and protect it from the dust, grime and filth of the outside world with a pretty fabric cover ;)

Drift Wood Plaque

2011-08-27T17:39:00.001-04:00

I have been admiring this saying for a while
"If you want to know how much I love you, count the waves"
- which I originally found on Pinterest (don't you just love it!? (both Pinterest and the saying!)).

When we were recently visiting family in Oregon, we went to the coast and had a fun, cold time :) With the help of my kids, we picked up some beautiful driftwood and flat rocks, because there are always neat crafts to do with these sorts of things, and the sentimentality of picking them up while on a vacation to my home state is an added bonus!

If I had had the space to pack it back, I would have picked up a bunch more driftwood to make something like this driftwood planter box. But alas, this was about all I could fit home....

I made some fun rock art for my kid's room a while back, and I may do more of that at some point - to commemorate rocks we have picked up from different states. I do have a few rocks left over from this trip.
But this was a really fun project, and it doesn't have to be for the girls' room only. I think it is pretty sweet for any room in the house :)

Here's how I made it:
I printed the words in a font I liked, rubbed pencil on the back of the paper, and traced over the words to leave an impression on the wood...

I took some black paint and traced over the pencil lettering until it looked like this:
You could also use a sharpie I think - but I personally like the texture and shine of the paint on the wood.
I also drilled 5 tiny holes in the wood across the bottom - you can see them here in this picture - to put the wire through.

I took some nice round rocks, in different shades, and painted a wave on each one. (By the way, whenever I talk about painting anything - I am always using acrylic paint unless I tell you otherwise.)

Here is the wire I picked up at the craft store...20 gauge.

Leaving myself some length at the top, I wrapped the wire around the rock a few times until it was secure enough to hang. I just tucked the end in the back so you can't see it when it hangs. They are all different and I like that they aren't perfect...

Then, I stuck the wire through the holes I had drilled, from back to front, and twirled the ends into little spirals. The spirals keep the wire in place in order to hold the rocks up, and add a nice decorative element...

Now, I just have to figure out how to hang it! In this picture it is resting on a nail - and that seems to work just fine (although I would use 2 nails to make it less likely to tip). I am sure I could add a sawtooth hanger on the back, but first I have to decide exactly where I want to put it.

I do love the natural, beachy feel - and of course the saying is so sweet. I am very pleased with the outcome of this quick project.
If you lived near the coast, this would be a perfect addition to your decor...If not, a beachy summer mantle would love a little something like this :)