Friday, December 7, 2007 - Sew Crafty Friday-Recycled Christmas Cards

 10 things to do with old Christmas Cards

I love Christmas cards.  Not only does it give us a chance to hear from old friends and family, but also the pictures and verses are so lovely.  Being the pack rat that I am, I save the cards every year.  I have been doing this for what seems forever.  When my stack gets to big for the box they are being stored in, we go to crafting and it is a family project.  Even before my younger two were born, my son and I used the cards to make all kinds of things.  For the past few years I have been passing this tradition onto my younger two.  Here are some of the things that you can do with them.

1.  The simplest way to recycle the cards is to make post cards.  Cut the front from the inside.  On the blank backside draw a line down the middle.  Write your message on one side and address on the other. Saves on postage for those overseas.

2.  Another simple use is to make gift tags.  Using the fronts simply cut them the size you want, punch a hole and attach a ribbon.  The back is blank for you to write to and from.

3. Make a paper chain.  Gather some cards about the same width/height and cut into strips.  I use a scrapbook cutter to keep them fairly straight.

4.  Here’s an easy project.  Find two card fronts the same size or trimmed to the same size.  Glue them together back to back.  After the glue is dry, cover both sides with clear contact paper a little bigger than the cards.  Trim the contact paper about ¼ from all edges.  Then cut apart into pieces to create a two-sided puzzle.

Front

Back

5.  Another quick project is to cut circles from cards, cover with contact paper, and trim edges to make coasters.

6. I have made many ornaments over the years.  The easiest ones are made by cutting out your design from the card, punching holes all the way around, and crocheting around the edges.  I usually do a single crochet, chain 3, join in first chain, single crochet in next hole and repeat all the way around to make a picot edge, but any stitch pattern will work. When I get to the end a form a loop of chains for hanging.

7.  We made baskets again this year.  You can go to All Free Crafts-card basket for the template and directions for this project.  The kids enjoyed making these this year and we plan to use them to put bags of goodies into for gifts.

8.  This cute little gift box works up pretty quickly.  I made a template for you to make a small box.  I used a sharp yarn needle and sewed the sides to the bottom, then sewed the sides together, whipstitching over the edges. I did the same for the cover.

Box Template  

9.  This project was the hardest one that we have tried and the results were less pleasing, but I thought I’d share it anyways.  Again, you can find the directions at All Free Crafts-Card Ornaments.  We had a really hard time folding the circles evenly thus the odd shapes that we came out with.  Oh, well.  The kids had fun making them and we got a kick out of how they came out.

10.  This is my absolute favorite use for old Christmas cards-placemats.  These have stood the test of time.  We are still using the ones that my oldest son and I made in 1991 when he was 5 years old.  All we do is cut out the cards in various shapes and glue to a piece of poster board creating a collage.  Then cover both sides with contact paper.  We always write our names and date on the back of them.  We have enough now for a service of eight.

My oldest’s from 1991

 My second son’s from 2006

My daughter’s from 2006

One of mine

I’m sure there are many other things that Christmas cards can be used for if we let our imaginations run wild.

Here are some shots of the kids working on some of there projects this week.

9 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, November 30, 2007 - Sew Craft Friday-Egg Paint and More

Posted in Crafty Corner

This post is three fold:

Sew Crafty Friday

My refrigerator is adorned with this week’s art projects.

This week the kids learned about Giotto di Bondone in art.  They made egg paint and had great fun using it. 

You need:

Colored chalk

Disposable bowl, cup or line a muffin tin with liners

An egg

2 tsp water

Small rounded rock

Paintbrush

Break chalk into small pieces, then grind into powder using rock.

Separate egg.  Add water to egg yolk and beat until frothy. 

Add egg mixture to powered chalk and mix until the consistency of water colored paint.

Paint as you would with any other medium.

When your paintings dry they are a bit gritty and shiny.

 

Here are the kids’ creations.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also written December’s Journal Prompts.  Even though some of us won’t be in school everyday, my kids like journal writing so there is something for everyday.

Here are the December Journal Prompts.

I have been busy this week working on some changes I want to make to my blog for the upcoming holidays.  I will be putting some things on my side bar that will change everyday until Christmas.  I hope to have everything up and running by tomorrow sometime.  Please stop by and check it out. 

 

 

4 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, November 16, 2007 - Sew Crafty Friday-Quilled Baby Frame

Posted in Crafty Corner

   

Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday. 

This week has been a flurry of events.  Monday morning was spent at the repair shop getting a new circuit board put in for the car radio.  The lights had gone out, but now I can again see the time and the station.  Thank goodness it was covered under a special warranty.  That afternoon, my daughter had ball practice. Tuesday, about 12:30, just as we were getting ready to head out to ice skating, my oldest son called.  He had been in an accident.  He wasn’t hurt, but the front of his truck was mangled.  Wednesday was fairly peaceful, only Boy Scouts in the evening. Yesterday, daughter had ball practice again and right after that we had Girl Scouts.  Today, my oldest is coming to dinner, (turkey legs cooked on the grill); daughter has yet another ball practice, and my other son has a camp out with the Scouts.  Of course all the events are in addition to our schoolwork and household responsibilities.  Needless to say, I didn’t get much done on my cross-stitch project.  What I did do I had to take out because I missed a row.  UGGGGH!  So I put it aside for the rest of the week. (I did do a bit of computer crafting for our schoolwork, which you can check out in the previous post below.) 

I thought I’d share a picture of something I made about 2 years ago for a dear friend’s baby shower.  If I had to pin down my absolute favorite craft of all time, it would have to be quilling or what some call paper filigree.  I like to design then create the projects.  I’ve probably done a dozen or so framed wedding invitations and another dozen or so miscellaneous other projects for gifts but don’t have any good pictures of them. I did get a decent picture of this one though. This was the first quilled frame I had done for a baby and I really like the way it turned out.

 

 

6 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, November 9, 2007 - Sew Crafty Friday-Cross Stitch Clock-part 1

Posted in Crafty Corner

 

Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday. 

After the hours spent on last week’s costumes, I have no newly completed projects to share, so I thought I’d show you what I am currently working on.  I have to admit, I began this project so many years ago I don’t remember when I started it. I can tell you this though, it was before I had found software for designing cross-stitch patterns.  This design was done the old fashioned way with graph paper and colored pencils.  If you click on the picture, I made a PDF of my design to share.  It is a bit crude with my pencil scratchings all over it but it can be followed.  When this is completed it will be a simple clock face with a sun in the center having its rays at the hours, trees from the four seasons at 12, 3, 6, and 9, and the Scripture “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

 

 

Here is how much I have finished so far.  It is slow going because my eyesight is not what it used to be.  (One of the many reminders that I’m not as young as I think I am. LOL)

 

 

A close up of the finished summer tree. Sorry it's a bit fuzzy.

 

 

When working on cross-stitch, I wear a thin cotton glove on the hand holding the hoop so I don’t get the Aida cloth dirty.  I use a metal board to hold my pattern with magnets and another magnet to mark my place. The almost empty container holds the flosses that I am using on current projects.

 

 

As you can see, my sorting compulsion spreads through out my life.  All my DMC flosses are sorted by number, thus explaining the spaces in the containers.  If you think that’s bad, you ought to see my seed beads.

 

 

9 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, November 2, 2007 - Sew Crafty Friday-Costumes

Posted in Crafty Corner

Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday. 

This week has been a very busy week.  While the kids were doing their school assignments, I was working on costumes for the Fall Festival. Between sewing sessions and schoolwork, we ran errands, went to a tournament, church and ball practice.  It took me 4 days to complete 2 outfits.  My son’s costume only took a few hours, but my daughter’s took three days.  I had made a yoked dress before but this one was a little more time consuming.  The apron took just as long as the dress to make.  I am very pleased with the results. My son won first prize in the costume contest dressed as Father Time.  This is the 4^th year in a row that he has won.  Last year he was a scarecrow, and the 2 years before, an astronaut.   I just love the way my daughter looked in her costume.  I thought that she could easily pass for Laura Ingalls.  She was a bit disappointed when she came in second to Pocahontas.  She really loved her costume and thought that she should win.  I may be a bit on the biased side, but I thought she should win also, but Pocahontas was great, too.  The little girl that won is part Catawba and was wearing traditional dress. I told my daughter that she could wear her outfit whenever she wanted.

Father Time before the Festival.

 

 

Father Time winning 1st place in the 13 and up age group.

 

 

This is the pattern I used for my daughter's costume. 

 

 'Laura Ingalls 2007'

 The back of her costume.   

 Just a sweet picture of my 'Laura'. 

'Laura and Pa' 

 

 

Both the kids.

The kids had a great time at the Festival and have enough candy to last until next Fall Festival. 

 

6 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, October 26, 2007 - Sew Crafty Friday-Skating Skirt

Posted in Crafty Corner

 

Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.

My daughter loves to skate, but skating costumes in her size don’t quite fit right and aren't as modest as I prefer.  I made her this skirt a couple of weeks ago because she wanted something that flared out when she did spins. This was the first time I had made a circular skirt and I learned two things.  One thing is that I probably won’t make a circular skirt again.  What a pain it was to hem.  The second was that I will probably avoid sequined material in the future.  It gunked up my needle and broke the thread constantly no matter what size needle I used.  I spent more time re-threading the machine and getting the stickiness off the needle then actually sewing the skirt. But my daughter was so pleased with the end product in her favorite color, so it was worth the frustration.

 

 

Here she is in mid spin enjoying her new outfit.  We bought leggings to wear underneath and she wore a black jacket to stay warm. 

 

 

6 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, October 19, 2007 - Sew Crafty Friday-Scarecrow

Posted in Crafty Corner

 

Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday. I thought I’d join and share one of my favorite pastimes and some of the projects I have created.

I love to craft and always have.  As I previously mentioned in one of my tags, I do all kinds of crafts.  I usually give everything I make away as gifts.  For many years, Christmas at my house was more like Santa’s workshop.  I would make a list of all those we would be giving gifts to, and plow through all the patterns and ideas I had collected, choosing just the right projects for that year. I would begin work in the summer and would probably be still working on something right up to Christmas day. The other members of my family would often pitch in when they could.  It gave me such satisfaction to give a gift that I put my heart into.  Over the past few years, as my time has been whittled away with other activities, there have been less and smaller homemade gifts going out.  I always make something for my children, no matter what.  Last year, I bought these huge travel bags and sewed all the patches they had from Scouting and other things onto them almost covering the bags completely with them.  This year, I have a few things in mind and one in progress, but I won’t be able to share them until after the holidays. (My family actually reads my blog), so I thought I might share some pictures of projects from the past until then.

I made this guy about 10 years ago.  It is a pattern from Family Circle magazine.  I used an old pair of blue jeans and the shirt is made from an old pair of maternity pants.  I even cut out the “Welcome” sign myself.  He adorns our front door every fall.  If you are interested in the directions, e-mail me and I will send you a copy. (Don’t think I can post them here without infringing on copyright laws.)

 Here is a close up of his face. 

 

7 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - Homemade Bulletin Boards

Posted in Crafty Corner

We have several homemade bulletin boards in our home.  One wall of our classroom has a 4’X8’ board we use for displays, and the kids each have their own 15”X 4’ boards above their desks.  My daughter has a matching fabric covered one in her bedroom. These are simple to make and fairly inexpensive.

 

You will need:

1 piece of foam board (insulation board for the outside of your house) from home improvement center (@$8 for a 4’X8’ sheet)

3 yards felt in color choice (@ $3-$5 yard) (other fabric can be used, but we prefer felt)

Staple gun with ¾ staples

 

To make the large board, lay the felt on a flat surface, making sure to smooth out any wrinkles.  Place the foam board on top of the felt, centering as much as possible.  Pull the felt over the edges and staple every 2” or so to secure, pulling tight as you go around.  We wrap the felt around the board like wrapping a gift, folding the ends in to create tight corners.   That’s all there is to it.  We hang these on the wall with screws.  Foam board is easy to cut with a razor and you can make any size you wish.  We use straight pins to hang things on them because they make smaller holes. 

(It was hard to get a good picture because the room is so narrow, but you get the general idea of what the larger and smaller boards look like.)

 

2 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - Easy Tie Dye

Posted in Crafty Corner

Materials:

Something made of white material

Permanent markers of different colors

An eyedropper

Alcohol

Disposable cup or bowl (a smaller cup seems to work the best but larger ones create larger circles)

Rubber band to fit over cup or bowl

 

Be sure to cover work surface to protect from the alcohol.

Place fabric over the top of cup or bowl and secure with a rubber band. (This is our makeshift hoop) 

With a permanent marker make little dots or small lines within the middle of the “hoop”

(don’t put to many marks because they will spread and bleed into each other)

Using an eyedropper, drop a few drops of alcohol into the center of your marks.  You don’t need to drench the fabric.  A few drops will give you good results.

You will see the colors begin to run and mix together creating a kaleidoscope design.

Wait a few minutes for all the bleeding to run to the edges, then remove the rubber band, find a new spot and do it all over again to your heart’s content. 

When the project has completely dried, before washing it, throw it in the dryer for about half an hour to set the colors.  (Wash separately just in case. Colorfastness depends on the fabric and I’m not sure which is which.)

 

 

We have made Joseph’s coat this way using an old white dress shirt we got at a thrift store, socks, and bandanas.  When the kids get bored doing it, we put it away and come back to it another day.  (Joseph’s coat took a while. I wish I had a picture to show, but it has disappeared)

 

2 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, May 18, 2007 - Paper Chain Timeline

Posted in Crafty Corner

I came across this idea the other day and we have started to use it.  We have had a time trying to fit all the historical events we studied on a traditional wall timeline.  The kids each have a notebook timeline but we like to have one visible in our classroom. We always seem to run out of space in a time period when adding pictures, never mind that sometimes we come across events a little out of sequence.  Using a paper chain seems to make it easier to add new events without having to make the pictures fit into a specific amount of space.

The idea is that you make a paper chain, using different colored paper for the different time frames.  We have finished World History and are beginning the History of America, so we have chosen to use red, white and blue strips to form our chain (in that order). On the white strips we are writing the year.  Then we are taking a smaller rectangular piece of paper, punching a hole in the top, gluing our picture and information to that, then attaching it to the right year with a piece of yarn.  Now we are free to add as many events as we like to the same time period.  We can also add another link easily if we find we need. The only draw back I see is that it will be a bit bulky for storing when we are finished with it, but I figure we can eventually flatten it out.  I thought this would be a great visual way to see the way historical events ‘connect’ to each other.

(Note: I'll add some pictures when the chain gets a little longer. We just started this method this week.)

1 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Friday, April 27, 2007 - Porcelain Look Clay

Posted in Crafty Corner

This is a really cool recipe to make a clay that when it dries it looks like porcelain.  Use it to make small items.  We have used it to make tiny animals and delicate flowers.

 

1 slice of white bread, crusts given to the birds

1 tablespoon tacky glue

Acrylic paint in desired color

Small disposable container

Craft popsicle stick

(Optional: cold cream)

 

Break the bread into small pieces and put into a small disposable container.  Add the glue to the bread and mix with Popsicle stick until a coarse ball. 

Making sure your hands are very clean, as the dirt will transfer to the clay, knead the mixture for about 5 minutes or until smooth and pliable.  If the clay is still too coarse, add a little more glue.  When the clay becomes smooth it will no longer stick to your hands.

 

To color the clay, split the clay into separate balls for each color desired.  Flatten a ball in your hands, then make a little well in the middle.  Add a small amount of acrylic paint and then knead the clay until the paint is completely incorporated.  If you need a deeper color, add more paint, a little at a time, kneading in between until desired color is achieved. 

 

Store each color in a separate plastic bag.  Can be stored in the refrigerator over night.

 

Use clay just like another clay.  For fine details, the thinner you flatten the clay, the more porcelain-like your project will be. 

 

Let project air-dry. This sometimes takes a few days to be completely dry depending on the thickness of the project. The effect is pretty cool.

 

Special notes:  I have always used tacky glue and have no idea if regular school glue could be substitued.  If you try it, please share your results.

Making this clay doesn't take long but it is a very messy, gooey, and sticky process. If you coat the tablespoon with a thin layer of cold cream, the glue seems to come off easier.  Also, coating your hands helps the clay not to stick to them as badly, and it believe me, it will stick!

Once the clay is fully kneaded and colored, it becomes very easy to use and is worth the mess.

1 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Thursday, April 12, 2007 - Craft Medium Recipes

Posted in Crafty Corner

Here are a few basic craft medium recipes. I’m sure that most have these, but just in case:

 Paper Mâché

 1 part flour

2 parts water

pinch of salt (to prevent molding)

 or

 2 parts white glue

1 part water

 or

 1 part liquid starch

1 part cold water

 

Mix ingredients together to a consistency like thin glue, trying to get rid of lumps.  We use our hands for this. Dip newspaper strips into mixture and remove excess mixture. Apply to the mold you create out of things like inflated balloons, chicken wire frames, rolled up newspaper, old light bulbs, paper towel or TP tubes, or anything else or combination of things you have used to create your frame.  Place as many layers as needed to get desired results. Let dry completely, them paint and decorate as desired. We have made all kinds of things with this; the world, piñatas, and models of all types. Stetches the kids' imaginations when they are trying to make the forms to place the paper mâché on.

 

Modeling Dough

 

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

water

 

Mix ingredients together, adding water to make dough pliable.  This dough will air-dry to harden or can be baked at 300° for about an hour, depending on how thick the project is.

Paint and decorate as desired. We have added plastic trees and other items to our projects before they have air dried with pretty neat results.

You can tint the dough with food coloring or tempera paints, but we don't usually because of the staining.

If you don’t want the dough to harden add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to the mixture and store in airtight container or bag in cool place.

We use this alot for Geography, making 3-d models of each continent that we study.

0 Comments Post A Comment! Permanent Link

Page 2 of 2
Last Page | Next Page