Satin Flower Hair Bows

Is she the sweetest thing in the world, or what? :)
And she makes a great bow model!

The other day I did some crafts with some friends, and these satin flowers were one of the crafts.
I have seen and admired them before, but this was the first time I had made them.  I wish I had done it sooner!  They are pretty, and super simple!

It takes a small amount of satin fabric to make one bow.  Cut 5-8 rough circles, big to small, so that you can ultimately stack them. 

Run the entire edge of each circle through a flame.  Suggestion: hold the edge above the flame.  It is hotter than in the flame, and keeps the satin from burning, or getting scorch marks. 

Here is what they look like with pretty melted edges. 

Stack the circles to make the flower:

Stitch a few times through the center of all the circles to hold them together.  I sewed a button into the middle, but you could also hot glue beads or whatever embellishment you want into the middle. 

I hot glued a clip onto the back of one to use on my older girls. 

I made a few other flowers into headbands with ribbon and elastic for my baby. 

And here's another shot of ultimate cuteness!

I saw someone make these into pins, which they put onto a colorful scarf.  They looked AMAZING that way too! 

So run and get yourself some satin, and make a bunch of pretty flowers!

Monster Valentines

Happy Valentines Day!

I had the fun of making Valentines with my daughter for the first time to hand out to her Kindergarten class!
I had so many ideas for her (she wanted candy with it of course) - and somehow we decided on these monsters.

The inspiration actually came from a Halloween post at The Fickle Pickle - where they have these eyeballs you can print out...

We taped them on to chocolate kisses, and put a few into plastic bags.

I made these pictures and sayings in word - "I only have eyes for you, Valentine!", and printed them onto cardstock so that they could be folded over and stapled to the top of the plastic bag.

My daughter had a great time coloring the monsters and writing her friend's names.  It was so sweet how thoughtful she was.  She made some monsters look like ninjas for the boys who liked ninjas, and some look like cats for the girls who liked cats, and some were her friend's favorite colors.  It was a great project for her, and she can't wait to hand them out!

An ART Birthday Party

My little sweetie just turned 6 years old!

We had a small party at home, with a few friends, and lots of color and art projects...

I designed an invitation on the computer.  Each was a simple 1/2 page, folded in half and cut into the shape of a paint palette.  

Below is the progression of how I made it, and above is a picture of the cover, which I let my little 6 year old paint with water colors before we mailed it out.  

I wasn't kidding when I said everything was colorful!  

My daughter and I decorated the wall by the craft table with a colorful paper collage. 

The bright tablecloth was the background for construction paper place mats and a paint chip table runner.  Paint chips were used liberally in our party - because they are colorful and FREE!!!

We made little easel place cards for each guest out of popsicle sticks and paint chips.  The popsicle sticks are hot glued together, and my daughter wrote her friend's names before we glued those on.

The first thing the kids did when they arrived was decorate their goodie bags -- we had stickers, stencils, crayons, and colored pencils available for them to use.

One of the things we put in their goodie bags were these little notebooks.  Surprise, surprise - paint chip covers :)  Check out my inspiration here.  I have access to a machine that does the spiral binding, but you could use rubber cement glue to make a notepad - like I did here.  

We also made paint chip bookmarks.  I cut these down from larger paint chips, glued two together back to back so there was color on both sides, punched a hole and tied a string through it.  The kids decorated these with stickers too.

The highlight was, of course, decorating cupcakes.  I made frosting in 5 different colors, and let them each decorate a few (1 to eat and 2 to take home) with a ton of different toppings.  

We also ate colorful goldfish and these jello cups that I made by layering a bunch of different colors/flavors of jello.  The opaque layers have cool whip in them.  Word to the wise: start this project a day or two in advance of the party.  You have to wait for each layer to set before pouring on the next, and waiting takes a while ;)

We did play pin the paint on the palette - even though I thought it might be a bit too young for them.  My daughter really wanted to though.  Sure enough, they were all really smart, and felt for the top edge, and one after the other stuck their paint splatter on top of everyone elses :)  At least it was fun to make everyone dizzy first!

I got some ADORABLE pictures at our little photo booth.  I cut circles out of paint chips, and sewed them together in strips for the background.
The mustaches were left over from the Pirate Party LAST year!!  The beret is two pieces of felt hot glued with cardstock in between to hold it straight.  The sticks are chopsticks.
And the gold frame I had around from something else.
The little chalkboard is made from an old picture frame also - with chalkboard paint on the glass.
I'm so glad we took these!  The kids had fun rotating through the props, and I sent a few pictures home to each child along with our thank you notes.

We ended the party playing with playdough on the floor (at this point, the table was seriously messy!).
They played until their parent's came, and they also took some colorful playdough home in their goodie bags.  Here is my recipe for perfect playdough - just add tons of food coloring!

We had such a great time doing art projects and playing with a few friends.  Not pictured here, we painted little accordion books with watercolors, which they also took home.  

I have to give a big shout out to my friend Vanessa - who threw an art party for her daughter last year.  I borrowed liberally from her ideas - so creative!

I also have a "Birthdays" Pinterest Board with some other great ideas.  

All in all, I think it was a success!!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Easy Handmade Gifts

Here is a final roundup of little Christmas gifts I made this year....

These packets of goodness are quick and easy, and they make particularly good fillers for gift bags and boxes.  Cut circles out of a brown paper bag, sew two together, 3/4 of the way around, put a few pieces of small candy in through the hole and then sew the hole shut.  If you want, stamp a word onto the paper bag before you fill it with candy.  Yum!

The tutorial for these luggage tags can be found here at 2 Little Hooligans.  The tutorial is easy to follow, and makes a sweet gift for any traveler.  I even made a few out of old ties...

I've posted about these before, but I wanted to show you the new ones I made.  These are fun gifts for the young people in your life.  They are whimsical and funny, and adding the ribbon for hanging it from the bedpost makes it really easy for the Tooth Fairy to come :)

Take a look at the other ones I made here - along with the link for the original post about them. 

Happy Gifting!

Harry Potter Weasley Family Clock

I have a few Harry Potter fans in my life - as is evident by the numerous Harry Potter craft items I've made in the past (like these Halloween costumes, this Educational Decree Sign, and this T-shirt).

So, when it came to making a few holiday gifts this year, I decided to go with the Harry Potter theme again.

In case you don't remember - the Weasley family has this wonderful clock that tells the location of each family member.  Locations include things like "mortal peril", "lost" and "quidditch" - which I think are very funny.  So, of course I thought it would be fun to make a working clock, with pictures of the gift recipients. 

Saw Clock - from a Circular Saw Blade

Do you need a unique gift idea for a guy in your life?  Well, I have the perfect one for you - because what is more manly than a saw blade? ;)

This is a really simple project.  I made this one for my dad to put in the garage/workshop. 

1) Pick up a circular saw blade at the hardware store.  There are quite a few 7.5" options for under $10!

2) Pick out things to use for the numbers.  I went to the antique store and found a bunch of little metal numbers.  I also grabbed some nuts and bolts from my toolbox.  Any little metal items, particularly tool items, would be great!

3) Mark where each number should go.  I used a larger clock face to help me.  I set my saw blade on top of the clock and marked each number location with a permanent marker dot. 

4) Use e6000 or Amazing Goop (really strong glue) to adhere your items over the dots you made. 

5) Buy clock parts from the craft store and assemble them through the existing hole in the saw blade.  (see, I told you this was easy!)  I also glued zip ties to my clock hands to complete the "workshop" look. 

Tip: Try to even out the weight of the items you use for numbers.  My left side was heavier than my right, so I glued a heavy bolt onto the back of the right side of the clock so that it would hang straight. 

Now sit back and admire your work!  A fun, unique, manly clock perfect for a garage, workshop, or man cave!

Christmas Photo Thank You Notes

I think it is fun to write Thank You Notes - and my girls got some really nice things from friends and family for Christmas this year.

The day after Christmas, I decided to take pictures of the girls holding or wearing the gifts they received from each person, with a "Thank You" sign beside them.

I love my old window turned chalkboard - and I have fun changing it with the seasons.  It worked perfectly to write a generic Thank You message on.  You could also write a note on poster board or a white board.  Something big enough to read easily in a 4x6 photo.

A tip for chalk board writing: 1) Design your message on the computer in the font and size you want 2) print the page 3) rub chalk on the back of the page where the writing is 4) set the paper against the chalkboard and trace over the letters, leaving a faint chalk mark on the board 5) use a chalk pen to write over the chalk marks you made

I got the pictures printed and wrote a personalized note on the back before mailing them off. 

I think this one is my favorite.  The girls were taking a picture of me, while I was taking their picture :)

So, next time you are having a birthday party, or your kids receive presents, try a photo thank you card like these ones!  The giver will love to see their gift in use - and you will have a great set of photos to remember all the favorite gifts your children received!

Yard Stick Magnets

In case you didn't know, I love magnets.  I've made polaroid magnets, bottle cap magnets, clay rock magnets, (to name a few) and now Yard Stick Magnets!

I love how they turned out. 
I got my inspiration from this great post at Modge Podge Rocks - and used these as a teacher gift for Christmas!  I also made a few for friends and family - because you can never have too many magnets.  Especially when they are this cute!!

I used my mitre saw to cut approx. 1.25" lengths of yard stick (because when you can use a heavy duty power tool, why wouldn't you??). 

Then, I followed the tutorial to sand them and paint them, and added a little flair of my own.  As you can see below, I added texture with things as mundane as bubble wrap and patterned paper towels - and they turned out great!

After painting the squares with Sparkle Mod Podge I added embellishments.
I used hot glue to secure ribbon to look like a present:

I had these chipboard heart stickers around - and they worked great:

Everything was made with things I had laying around the house, including these snowmen which were made from cardstock, a little paint, and a scrap of red rick-rack:

I had never used Sparkle Mod Podge before, but it was a MUST for this project.  The glitter shimmer absolutely makes these!  Now I've used the Mod Podge for a few other things too - so glad I have it! 

Last thing, I hot glued a magnet to the back of each.

I stuck each set of magnets onto a canning jar top - they are great for magnet presentation - and put them in little cellophane bags with some ribbon.  So festive and fun!  The great part is, my daughter helped with these, so she felt proud giving them to her teachers. 

So, next time you are looking for a magnet project, or need a nice, simple gift idea, grab a yardstick and go to town!  These are a hit!