Crafting with Stripes and Chevrons

Every once in awhile, I'll be able to browse a craft/stamp store in peace, on my own.  I love having quiet time to peruse, linger and let the inspiration just wash over me.  I was in Impress recently, one of my favorite stamping/paper stores.  There was a time when I was doing a lot more crafts with stamps and card making.  Impress continues to be one of my favorite sources for notecards and adorable trimmings. 

(via impressrubberstamps.com)

I immediately fell in love with these adorable chevron envelopes.  They come in a hot pink too!  Hmm.. I wanted to get a pack in every color.  I'm still thinking of when/where I could use these, but love these!

Coincidentally, these envelopes reminded me of this craft that I also ran across from Oh Happy Day.  

Umm... how cute are these?!  Best thing... you can download the striped paper at the end of this post for free and get started... Now I just need an excuse to start planning a party.  Too fun to resist!

Have a great and creative weekend!

A Snowman Sock Craft - Too Cute!

When I was teaching, there was a kindergarten teacher who made these adorable sock snowmen every year for Christmas.  This year, I thought that would be our special Christmas craft too.  After a quick internet search, I came across this wonderful tutorial here.  Amy's snowmen were the cutest out of all the ones I saw, and her tutorial is awesome.  Very easy to follow!

So... I dug around the house and found several old tube socks that we were going to donate.  Amy was right, Target carries a ton of cute ankle socks in all sorts of patterns for just $1.  I used my little girls' hair elastic which worked great and we just needed a few buttons, googly eyes, beans/rice and we were good to go!

Here are the inspiration snowmen from here:

Here are our snowmen!

10 little snowmen in all!

We had a great time and I just can't help but smile when I look at these lil' guys.  Seriously, super easy, fast, affordable and you get a great finished product.  They make wonderful gifts!  Click here for the how-to.

Here are a few more pictures of our day:

Our supplies.  Socks, elastic ties and rice/beans. 

Of course, working over a rimmed baking sheet helps to keep all the rice and beans contained!

 Everyone was so proud of their little creations!

Fab. Advent Chain Idea



(image via spelloutloud.com)


I discovered this awesome advent chain idea idea here.  Spell Outloud is a blog written by Maureen, a Christian homeschooling mom of 6 and former teacher.  I've loved reading all her wonderful ideas. 

There are so many ways to celebrate the days leading up to Christmas and there are a ton of fun advent calendars that you can make or buy.  And I mean a TON!  This one is different from all the ones that I've seen.  I love how it really points back to the real reason for Christmas and the idea of reading a short verse from the bible that is relevant to this season. 

It's a free printable and is so easy to use.  It also made for great patterning and counting practice.  We can't wait to start this tomorrow!

Here's ours:

November Crafts for Kids

I can't believe we're only a week from Thanksgiving and I've hardly gotten a chance to get down our Halloween stuff.  Honestly, I just tossed our pumpkin today!

Well... I admit, I don't think we're going to get around to doing any Thanksgiving decorating around our house.  I think this year, we're going to slide right into Christmas decor... hopefully sometime soon!  :)

In the meantime, here are some fun craft ideas I rounded up from familyfun.com.  I featured some crafts last month, in October, and I thought this might be a fun monthly feature that hopefully you find helpful.  There are a TON of great craft ideas out there and I thought it might be nice to be able to go one place for just a few fun ideas each month.  Just click on the name of each craft for a direct link to the directions.

Button Indian Corn Napkin Ring

Corny Cookies

(a great way to use up some left over Reese's Pieces from Halloween!)

Tiny Tom

Turkey Napkin Holder

Turkey Place Markers

Village People

(how cute are these guys?)

Lastly, I love these Thankfulness tags from Jones Design.



(via jonesdesigncompany.com)



October Kid Craft Round Up

We are full into the fall season with shorter days, a chill in the air and regularly falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.  I love doing crafts with my kids.  It's so much fun and teaches many great skills:  listening, following directions, patience, perseverance, imagination...etc..  I'm always on the look out for EASY projects where I can use things I already have.  Few of us have the time or budget to be running around for exotic supplies.  Here's a round-up of some of my favorites for October.  These are all from Family Fun.com




(all images from familyfun.com)

 1.  Spirit Jugs
2.  Personalized Nature Pals
3.  Leaf Mobile
4.  Bat O Lanterns
5.  Squash Softies
6.  Jar O Lanterns

Nicole, over at MeOhMy, also posted some adorable and easy Halloween craft ideas.  I think I'll be making the cute banner and wreath!



(image via meohmymama.blogspot.com)



IKEA FRIDAYS - Happy 4th and Meet NORDEN

Happy 4th of July Weekend everyone!  This week I'm picking the NORDEN dining table for $279.00.  I saw this over at a friend's house and loved it.  They're using it as a craft/game table in the basement.  It is so great for kids (and adults) to have a great big table to spread out games, projects, or crafts.  The NORDEN comes into 2 sizes, the smaller one for $279 which accomodates 4-6 and a larger one for $399 that accomodates 8-10!  Both with removable leaves.  My friend has the larger one and it's huge!  Great if you have the room for it!

This table is a workhorse.  It is so versatile.  The crisp white finish and the clean lines will work in any room and with any decor.  What I would also add is a plexiglass top to protect the tabletop from stains, scratches and spills.  I'm all about getting plexiglass cut at your local hardware store.  Cheap and so practical!




(all images via marthastewart.com)


Before I sign out for the weekend, I had to share some of my favorite ideas from the "queen", Martha Stewart.  Most of these are pretty self explanatory, no recipes or directions needed.  My favorites:

• Bandana Table Runner.  Pick up Bandanas at the party store and lay out on table!
• Colored Sand Votive Holders.  Great one for kids.  Get colored sand at craft store and pour!
• Pretzel "Sparklers".  Dip pretzels in white chocolate and roll in sprinkles.
• 4th of July Sundaes.  Berry sorbet with whipped cream and blueberries.  Sorbet can be prescooped into cups.  :)

Fireflies

(via ohdeedoh.com)

How cute are these? Fireflies that actually light up!  This craft project was posted on ohdeedoh yesterday. I love it, especially because it uses those plastic easter eggs that I never know what to do with. I'm thinking this would be a great camping project or for a little unit on bugs/insects this summer. Hmm... the wheels are turning!

Click here for the full post.

Bulletin Board Revamp

Last week, I happen to stumble across this post from one of my favorite blogs, Little Green Notebook.  I love how casually Jenny presents her fabulously cool ideas.  She makes it easy to live beautifully!  Be sure to check out her whole post to see more pics!

via Little Green Notebook

Once I saw this bulletin board, I knew it would be the perfect way for me to update mine.  The fabric and colors would work perfectly in my office!  So I found the fabric on amazon and I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival!  I only need 1 yard, and it was less than $10!




Waverly Lovely Lattice in Lagoon
via amazon.com


I'll be heading out to Jo Ann's to find some red or yellow trim.  Can't wait to share the finished product with you!



Isn't this a gorgeous workspace?! 



A Table Lamp How To

Thanks for your great comments about my HEMNES shoe cabinet finale.  Here's a how-to for the lamp I made.

It started with these Meridian Lamps from Lights Up that I've admired for a long time.  I love the fabric choices and the soft glow that they give off.

They start at $100 and I just wasn't ready to make that investment, especially since I'd want to get 2 like in the photo.  So... I went to my local Joann Craft Store to see if I could find something I could do myself.  I was so excited when I found this kit by Conso.  It's about $20 and I had my 40% coupon!  Now what to cover it with?

The possibilites are endless.  Of course fabric, but I was really drawn to some papers I saw at Paper Source.  Paper Source is one of my favorite places for color and pattern inspiration.  Walking through there is like a candy store for me.  I really like the patterns on their own PS line of papers.  Check these out.

The actual steps to completing this project is very simple.  You just want to remove the paper covering the adhesive.  You can use the paper to measure and cut your paper/fabric to the right length.  Then you simply start at one end and start working your way around, being careful to stay straight and not to get too many air bubbles.  Thankfully the adhesive is quite forgiving.  Then, voila you're done! 

A few pointers:  It's probably easier to do this with fabric as the adhesive would be less sticky with fabric.  Also, if I were to do it again with paper, I'd use a piece of fabric and go around the adhesive first, just to remove some of the tackiness. 

Now, I have some of this fabric laying around... hmm.. this may be my next one.  :)

Trays

Here's a great project straight from our inspiration room from Monday.  Can you believe this is made from a regular rimmed baking sheet?  This is another one that's going on my project list.  Click here for full directions.

(via marthastewart.com)

Here's some more great trays, all for under $20.  I think trays, dishes or bowls add such a nice touch to a home.  It's the little things like these that really give your home some sparkle and pop.  They immediately elevate any table scape or anything you choose to put on them,  kind of like a beautiful frame for your table.

West Elm has some beautiful ones right now and for GREAT prices.


(West Elm Soap Dish and Trays)



(West Elm Gold Porcelain Trays)

 

(West Elm Hammered Trays)



(West Elm Butterfly Glass Decoupage Trays)

Lastly, here's 2 more from a great blog, Isuwannee and her shop, Furbish.



(Isuwannee La Fiorentina Tray)

 

(Isuwannee Flamestitch Tray)



IKEA FRIDAY - MEET EFFEKTIV, ASKER and LERAN

This week's IKEA FRIDAY picks come from our inspiring craft room photo from Monday.

This room is jam packed with IKEA goodies!  The lower cabinets are the EXPEDIT shelving unit that I've talked about before and here are some of my other favorites.

First meet EFFEKTIV, this office series is incredibly versatile.  I really like the idea of mounting cabinets onto the wall.  It clears up valuable floor and wall space and keeps those office supplies handy, but not something you want visible.  $60 for the doors and $35 for the frame.
 

Second, more wall storage, meet the ASKER storage system.  This is a great way to get stuff off of your work surfaces.  Works just as well in the office as it does in the kitchen.

The mounting rail is $9.99 and the containers are $5.99 and 6.99

Lastly, meet the LERAN pendant.  What I love most about this piece is the scale.  This pendant will definitely add  interest and texture to any space.  $89.99

This room and these items are certainly going into my inspiration folder for my own craft/work area! 

Have a great weekend!  See you Monday!