Neighborhood Craft Night - Teacher Gifts

When I hosted my first neighborhood craft night in October I knew it would be something fun to do on a Friday night, but I couldn't have imagined how much I would look forward to this "girl time" or what a bond I would feel with these women - many of whom were essentially strangers when we first started. My December travel schedule was a little hectic and with the holidays coming I wasn't sure I'd be able to fit one in (or if anyone would have time to come) - so when all of my "regulars" not only came but brought three new people, I knew we had something special.  This month's project - teacher gifts!  All photos (except the crappy one at the bottom) courtesy of Busy Bee Photography.

We created altered notebooks and post-it note holders using the GORGEOUS Teresa Collins Vintage Finds collection and - of course - my Xyron machines. You can find a quick tutorial on how to create your own notebook (with the lovely Teresa herself) here: 

and I created the post-it note holders using two pieces of 3x3 chipboard covered in patterned paper (and we made our own binding using a smaller piece of paper), but of course AFTER craft night I found an ENTIRE Pinterest page with tutorials that were MUCH easier.  Live and learn!  :)

Bizzy - the official mascot of...well...everything.  :)  She is like the "Where's Waldo" of craft night!

I got so wrapped up in the fun of it all that I forgot to ask Rachel to take a picture of the post-it note holder, so here it is - in all its low light, crummy camera blurriness.  I made it nice and big so you can revel in the awesomeness of the photo.  Ha!

Happy Crafting everybody!  Can't wait to see what the new year will bring!

How To Build A Headboard From An Old Door

FINALLY!!!! Don and I have been talking about these headboards for months, but our schedules and the weather made this much more than a weekend project! We are SO thrilled with the results and wanted to share this how-to with you, so without further ado I am tickled to welcome my first guest blogger...my husband Don!

Hey everyone, this is my first attempt at blogging, and it shows due to my lack of pictures of the process.  Regardless, I hope that you find this blog helpful in putting together your own recycled door headboard.  You can find the instructions here, and if you are unable to download it from the link just contact Beth at aintshecrafty@gmail.com and she can email it to you directly. Please let me know if I can answer any questions if you are thinking about building your own headboard or need some help along the way. Good luck and happy building!

We had been looking for headboards for both our guest bed and our own bed for quite a while. Beth loves catalogs like Pottery Barn and we both like antiques, but we aren't crazy about paying the sometimes ridiculous prices. Beth pinned this headboard several months ago, and after looking at the Anna White Queen Headboard plans that the original poster used we headed out to a local salvage yard to find some reclaimed wood.  What we found was something even better (albeit a little more challenging), some old doors with great distressing and character. We brought them home and after cutting them down to size (remember to see my instructions for detailed information and measurements for each step of the project) I built the legs and cap around the door.

After building the frame, the next step was painting. Since these are headboards that are pressed against a wall I only painted the front facing side, which was much easier and a big time saver because I could just lay it on the ground and paint one side. I painted the entire queen headboard black...

but for the king headboard we wanted to retain some of the original color and distressing, so I masked off the panels with painters tape and some of Beth's scrapbooking cardstock.

After the paint dried it was simply a matter of mounting the headboard to the bed frame - and we had some beautiful new headboards for a fraction of the price we would have paid for buying one.

Thanks for checking out my first blog post, I look forward to your comments or questions. I hope you enjoy building your own headboard! --Don

Kids Crafts Saturday - Potato Painting for St Patrick's Day!

Looking for a fun and easy St. Patrick's Day crafts for the kiddos?  A potato, some paint and paper, and a little creativity makes for the perfect project!

SUPPLIES
potato
knifewhite cardstockmarkersWRMK Crop-a-Dile (or hole punch)ribbon
washable craft pain
paper plate/bowl 

Cut the potato in half, then carve your shape on the exposed edge (we used a chipboard heart for a template but you can also cut your shape freehand).


Use a bowl (or plate with raised sides) for the paint, so excess can be wiped off before stamping the potato on to the paper.

To create a clover - get paint on the potato, stamp the heart, then rotate 45 degrees for each leaf.  The kids used their fingers to create the stems - their favorite part!




Working with younger kids?  Don cut out a "handle" on one of the potatoes by cutting away the sides of the potato about halfway, then cutting a hole through the center.






To complete the project, let the kids write their names on the paper, then punch holes at the top, tie with ribbon, and set aside to dry.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sparkly Snowflakes - Kids' Crafts Saturday

No...today isn't Saturday, but we made these on a Saturday - does that count?  :)

Actually - I call it Kids' Crafts Saturday because Don and I volunteer at the Fascinate-U Children's Museum in Fayetteville, NC on the second Saturday of every month (sponsored by Xyron - yay!).

We create fast and easy craft projects and have a BLAST doing it! I'm going to start sharing these projects here with you - maybe on Saturdays, maybe on other days, but I hope you'll be inspired to make these with some of your favorite little ones!

Supplies:
foam shapes (we got boxes of these snowflakes for a RIDICULOUSLY low price because all the stores were clearancing out holiday stuff)
markers
Xyron 5" Creative Station (also known as the 510)
glitter
tupperware container
scrap paper

Set out your scrap paper, markers and foam shapes on your craft space. (Tip - if your foam shapes have punch-outs in the middle, do NOT punch them out until after the glitter process. Trust me.)

Let the kids color on the foam shapes to their little hearts' content! (Another tip - if they color it TOO much the adhesive won't stick as well because the foam will be saturated.  We had more than 50 kids come through and it was really only an issue for about 4 of them - we solved that by just putting glitter on the non-colored side.)

 

Run your foam shape through your 510 (of COURSE I don't have a photo of this part!) with the colored side facing down. The 510 is easy enough to use that kids can help crank the handle! Peel off the top film, then peel the foam shape from the backing and place adhesive side down in your tupperware container filled with glitter.  You need enough glitter in the tupperware to make sure the bottom of the container is completely covered.

Help the kids move the foam shape around in the tupperware to cover the foam shape with glitter.  The beauty of Xyron is that if you pick it up and realize that you missed a spot - you can just stick it back down in the glitter!

And voila!  Sparkly snowflakes!  You can keep the foam shape intact,  or punch out the center for a cool shape.

Oh...and uhh...I held a snake.  :)  This has absolutely nothing to do with crafts - but it sure was awesome!

Happy Crafting Everybody!

Flat Kurt

This is our friend Kurt.

Kurt is a funny friend, easy roommate (he accidentally lived with us for six months last year), great husband, wonderful father, getter of Dairy Queen after dinner, dog lover, motorcycle rider, and soldier.

Next week he is leaving for a year to Afghanistan.

His wife Shealyn is also funny and fabulous and I would do anything for her, so when she sent me this message and photo:

Hey crafty lady, if I were to send you a good photo of Kurt, could you use your sticky goodness to make me a few of these so Daddy can go everywhere with us?

I was in.  I have been lucky enough to have Don home with me for the past year and it is a blessing I do not take for granted. So while I would make a million of these if it would help some of my fellow military families make deployment even a tiny bit easier, I wanted to post the instructions here (even if you don't think you are crafty it is VERY easy) for anyone who wants to make their own.

DIRECTIONS:

First, I took Kurt's photo and cropped it as tightly around his head as I could.

Then I printed out several copies on to 8.5x11 photo paper.

Now...here is where I am revising my original instructions - which were to cut out the face, put it on the chipboard, then cut it out again.  Why do it twice?  So sort of ignore the fact that the face is already cut out in some of the photos.  :)

I ran the 8x10 photo through my Xyron 9" Creative Station*,

adhered the 8x10 on to a piece of chipboard (you can use an empty cereal box in a pinch)

and cut out the face - for the FIRST time. (to quote Don: "Kurt needs to shave his head.  I can't cut out all these little pieces of gelled hair.")

Then I just took a paint stirrer (they are free at any home improvement store), added a little glue, and let dry!

*if you don't have one of these you can use a glue stick or a tape runner - just be sure to cover all of the edges as smoothly and evenly as you can.

I had to put these in the mail ASAP - Don was having a little TOO much fun with them.  Our dog - as you can see - was not.  :)

So these Flat Kurts are on their way to Texas - to two precious children who will spend the next year doing what military children have done for generations - growing and learning and playing and loving all while waiting for the day that their daddy is home to give them bear hugs and tuck them in at night.  If you have a friend, family member, neighbor or co-worker getting ready for a deployment with small kids, ask for a photo of their soldier and make a few of these. What a wonderful gesture and tangible way to let them know you are thinking of their family.

Love you Kurt and Shea and James and Sammi - already waiting for the day Kurt is back home safe with you.

2 balls + 4 t-shirts = halloween genius!

Thank you Pinterest, for the world's greatest Halloween costume idea.

Thank you organized craft room,  for letting me find a long enough piece of pink felt.

Thank you beachballs.com, for existing. (Have you ever tried to find a beach ball outside of the state of Florida in October?)

Thank you husband, for being man enough to be called "a giant boob" and letting other dudes fondle you all night.

Thank you said fondling dudes, for being aware enough to know what the pink ribbon stands for and thinking it was "pretty cool of you to put that on your costume" before going back to your jokes about motorboating.

Thank you Christy and Dave, for having a Halloween party. Apologies for our giant boobs knocking both plates and people to the ground throughout the evening. It was Don's fault - he doesn't know how to handle his boob.

Thank you Mom Jones, Karin, my Conyers, Lisa and all the other warrior women who remind us what strength and beauty really mean. Love the ta-tas!