Canvas Brushless Art with Kids

We had a blank wall in our hallway and I really wanted to do one large artwork to add some color unfortunately there was two problems.

First I didn’t want to fork over the $$$ for a large piece of artwork

and

Secondly I’m not much of an artist so I couldn’t paint one myself.

Voila! 

Let My Kids Be The Artists!!!

Here’s how we made it:

I made the frame from scrap pieces of wood by cutting two long pieces and then two smaller pieces about half the size of the long ones.  I also one more small piece that would fit snug between the two long pieces for more support.  (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the frame before I put the canvas over it)

I purchase a white twin size flat sheet at Wal-Mart for about $5.  I cut it so the sheet was about 4 inches wider than the frame on all sides.

Then I let the kids have at it doing whatever they wanted.  It didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped so a couple days later we had another go at it but will a little more direction to create an actual scenery. 

I asked the kids what they wanted to make, then I squeezed out the paint to resemble the item, and they spread the paint out.

Flower TreeSun The big thing I would change here is I would make a light outline of the frame so that we could keep the bulk of our picture on the part of the fabric that will actually be seen.  As you can tell we lost most of the flowers and rainbow in order to keep the tree with the handprint apples!!!

After the paint has dried just line up the frame where you want and wrap it around to the back of the frame and staple it in place.  Be sure to pull tight.  I recommend working on one end then move to the opposite end and then work on the sides.

 

It was definitely a five star ***** project in my book!!!

Fun, Easy, and Cheap!!!

Plus we can easily make another painting to change it up if we like.

I think the next one we make will have a beach theme to it!!!

Pom Pom Turkey

All you need is a large pom-pom, one medium pom-pom, orange pipe cleaner (chenille stem), orange mini pom-pom, wiggly eyes, 3 feathers, and hot glue.

Glue the medium pom-pom onto the large pom-pom.  Then glue the wiggly eyes and the mini pom-pom on the medium pom-pom.  Then glue the 3 feathers to the backside of the large pom-pom.

Take about a 4 inch strip of pipecleaner and fold it to make three toes for the feet.  Now glue the feet onto the bottom of the large pom-pom.  A fun and quick little craft the kids can help with to dress up your Thanksgiving Table or you could even use these for place holders just have the piece of paper with the guest’s name rest on the feathers.

No-Sew Stockings

I just launched a new product in my Etsy Store. I am so excited to introduce to you my No-Sew Stocking Kits. I also have the stockings available already made.

They are really simple to make. If you can tie your own shoes you can make this stocking.

They come in two sizes:
Regular $10 (3 or more $8 a kit): finished size is approximately 9" wide by 16" long
Mini $6 (3 or more $5 a kit): finished size is approximately 4.5" wide by 8.5" long

Each kit includes:
2 pre-cut pieces of Holiday printed fleece
1 ribbon length of approximately 36"
1 ribbon length of approximately 12"
1 safety pin
Instructions Page.

The instructions include the directions for both styles.

You can purchase them at my Etsy Store or by emailing me at: krafymum03 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you email me I will send you an invoice through PayPal. Be sure to include how many you want and of which print you would like. Shipping will be calculated.

Prints I have available:

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Are Cute Spiders possible?

YES they are and your kids can help to!!!

Here they are:

What I used:

Plastic cups for the body

Pipe cleaners for the feet(chenille stems)

Buttons for the eyes

Fabric Flowers

Colored Foam for the neckties

Red Yarn for the mouth (for the spider above I used a red paper clip)

Black Paint (for the spider above I used a sharpie)

Hot Glue

Tutorial:

Paint the cup

I only painted the bottom portion. Cut the cup down in size keeping the bottom portion.

Cut the Pipe cleaners in half and the fold them in half. Hole punch 4 holes on each side of the cup for a total of 8 holes. Feed the Pipe cleaners through two hole at the same time.

Put a little hot glue around the Pipe cleaners on the inside of the cup to give the legs more stability.

Bend the legs to your liking.

Add the eyes, mouth, and flower or bowtie.

Here’s where they have invaded for right now!!! Just an FYI I think I like the way the spider that I used the sharpie on the best (the spider in the very first picture). I like how it’s shiny.

Participating in Thrifty Thursdays go check it out!!

Technorati Tags: Spiders,Halloween,Chenille,Pipe Cleaners,Children,Activity,Kids,Buttons,Recycle,Plastic,Cups

Freezer Paper Stencil

Sorry I haven't been very good to my devoted 6 Followers, but I'm hoping to make up for that over the next few days as I have several projects to post. So, if you are not already one of my devoted followers click the link on the right side to start following me!!!
So to start off I wanted to jump on the bandwagon of using freezer paper for stenciling (scroll down a little bit and you will find a link to a PDF file for a tutorial). I really wanted to bleach the design into the shirt. So I created a design, and using Sure Cuts Alot I had my Cricut cut it out on the freezer paper. Unfortunately mid way through the 24 x 6 inch design my computer decided to restart itself and therefore my cutting process stopped. So I had to peel the paper off the cutting mat, put a new strip of paper on, and restart the design. It worked out great, except I didn't get the freezer paper that is suppose to go on the inside of the shirt down very well and so the bleach leaked leaving me with this:

So I then decided to try the design again only this time I used fabric paint and this is how it turned out. My husband modeling his new shirt for me. I was making a cheesy smiley face at him so he would smile for me!!!

Sock Animals

I have a group of girls that I get together with and we do a little craft. We just started trading off who's going to host it and basically they come up with the craft that we are going to do and then let all of us know what we need to bring. This last week we were getting together to make sock monkeys. I decided to give it a try before going and as I was making one out of a green pair of socks I decided I wanted to try and turn it into a sock frog instead. So here he is:

Basically I just followed this sock monkey tutorial here on Craftbits.com, except after creating the legs I did this: (Sorry I didn’t take any pictures so you’ll have to settle for my beautiful drawing)

I then used DMC floss and an outline embroidery stitch to create the mouth and attach the felt tongue. For the eyes I embroidered white felt circles and then I just made a few loops from top to bottom near the center of the circles.

After I finished the frog which was for my son, I asked my daughter what animal she would like and she said giraffe. So I went searching online for ideas and I found this one here and used it for my inspiration. Here’s how I made him:

Create the legs just like in the Sock Monkey tutorialThen find some yarn, thread it onto a needle, with the yarn doubled tie a knot in the end and insert it through the hole between the legs. I followed the crease line that was already in the sock and near the top of his head I pulled the yarn through. Then I cut the yarn about 1 inch from the sock. Now tie a knot in the yarn that is still attached to your needle and do it again. I created 2 rows one on each side of the crease line.Then on the other sock I made the tail similar to the monkey tail only shorter and I gathered about 6 yarn strands that were about 4 inches and tied a knot in the end. I then inserted the strings in the bottom of the sock so the know was sticking out. Then I stitched it. Here’s a close-up of the knot sticking out. What the tail looks like after you turn it inside out. After cutting the tail out of the sock this is how you will cut the remaining pieces. Follow the sock monkey tutorial for creating his arms. We are not using the heel for his nose instead we are using to toe portion of the sock. This makes for a larger snout.I created a half circle out of felt to go above his nose. I used DMC floss and did a quick embroidery stitch to hold it in place. Then I pinned his nose in place. *Pinning the items in place really helps keep them where you want them as you hand stitch them down. **I also hand stitch around all of my pieces twice. It makes for a more finished look and also holds them on better.** Here’s the ear. You make these out of the same section of sock as you would make the ears for the sock monkey. I can’t seem to find my template, so I’ll draw up a new one and post it. Tim the excess off. I didn’t put any stuffing in the ears. I liked the more floppy look. Pin them in place and hand stitch. Attach the arms and tail. I made little horns out of two pieces of felt sewn together. I then stuffed them a little and then stitched them on. I just used the same stitching method to create his eyes as I did for the frog. You can also use buttons but I prefer to embroider them on so there’s no choking hazard.

I am currently working on creating an elephant, but his trunk isn’t looking quite like I want. I also have planned to make a zebra, horse, dinosaur, pig, and a dog.

I’ll be posting pictures of my other creations later.

Technorati Tags: Sock,frog,giraffe,monkey,animals

New Purpose for Washers and Scrapbook Paper

I got this idea from here: Soooo Cool Washer Necklaces

After searching everywhere to find the "Diamond Glaze" and not finding it but finding "Triple Thick Glaze" I gave it a try. I then invited some friends over and we made some more together. I decided to make a matching bracelet and the girls had a great idea of making some into earrings too. I will warn you though the smaller the washers you use the harder it is to hold them as you are trimming the edges. The girls also gave me a great idea to cover the front and the back, so if it flips over you don't just have a silver ring. After wearing my bracelet for a little while I will be taking it apart and doing the other side as the washers like to flip over a lot.

Super Kids

The kids like to have me tie blankets around them like capes so I decided to make them each one. I just used what I already had in my fabric stash! To make them I just measured the width of their shoulders and then added 1 inch for the top. Then I measured how how long I wanted the capes to be and I just slowly increased the width as I went to the bottom. Basically making an "A" frame shape. Then I applied the applique letter (these ones I used an adhesive and then did hand sewing around the edges). With right sides together I then sewed the two sides together (be sure to pin the ribbons between the two layers at the top before you sew them together). I left a small opening so I could turn the cape inside out. I finished with a stitch around the outside edge. As always if you have any question leave a comment and I'll try and answer them!

I even made one for the new baby to wear when he gets here. For now Teddy is sporting his cape!

Jean and T-Shirt Quilt

I've been wanting to do this project for a while and have been storing the jeans and t-shirts in a tub. We've been doing some de-cluttering lately and that motivated me to get this project done so I can use the tub for something else. Basically I just used old t-shirts and jeans to piece this quilt together. I made it queen size for our bed and used a fleece sheet for the back. The large squares were 12 x 12, the small squares were 6.5 x 6.5, and the rectangles were 6.5 x 12 (everything is in inches).

Snowman Bottle

As I was giving my son some juice I took a look at the bottle and decided it would make for a cute little snowman. For this project I used juice bottles, cotton balls, maroon beads (didn't have any black ones), tumbleweed sticks, orange toothpicks, and red yarn. First I stuffed the inside of the bottle with newspaper and then topped it with Elmer's glue and one cotton ball. Then I took several cotton balls and pulled them so they weren't balls anymore. I covered the top half of the bottle with Elmer's glue and then proceeded to cover the glue with the cotton. Then I did the bottom half. I stretched another cotton ball out without making it loose it's circular shape and glued it in placed on the top, for his head. After they had dried for a little while I trimmed the tumbleweed sticks to the size I wanted the arms and attached them to the sides with a hot glue gun. I then used 3 maroon beads for each eye attaching them with Elmer's glue. For the nose I cut off the tip of the orange toothpick and placed it on the face using Elmer's glue. I then cut 3 strings of red yarn to the same size. Holding the three strings together I tied a knot at each end. Then I tied the strings around the snowman's neck. Tada, I have 5 cute little snowmen! Now I can't decide what to use for a hat or if I should leave them without hats? Hmmmm... anyone?