Eggs

 Have you seen these super cute eggs made of embrodiery floss? They are all over pintrest right now and I really thought that it would be a fun idea to do with the kids. These eggs were from crafts-for-all-seasons.com and she has instructions on that web site also. She suggested using fabric stiffener which I didn't have on hand so I opted to use good old Elmers Glue and I think I got the same results.

 First I started by rounding up all of my string. I think the thinner the better on this but we did use a variety of sizes. I cut it into manageable strips about 18 inches or so but it doesn't need to be exact by any means.

 Second, round up some helpers. It is a little bit of a task to get the string dunked in the glue and then nicely on the balloon with out too much dripping on the table but it was fun.

 Once you get the desired amount of string on the balloon, Or your kids start to lose interest,  you let the glue dry. We let it dry a few hours before popping the balloon. Now I read somewhere that someone used large balloons and they made these amazing huge eggs. this did not turn out so well for us. The string was not strong enough to keep its shape once the balloon popped it pulled it all in with it.  So the little water balloons are definitely what worked best for us.

Here is our finished project.....

I loved how they were perfect egg shaped and the fun colors that we made. Happy Easter!

Lisa

Tricked out Treats!

 Every Halloween we have a family Halloween party and my favorite part is the food. It is so fun to make the spooky creepy menu. What a great excuse to play with your food. This year we had ordered pizza for the main dish (it easy) but the fun came in the side dishes. The labels are a must - even if it is a everyday item that you are serving it is fun to get creative and turn it Spooky!

BONES - Breadsticks

 

BLOOD - Marinara Sauce to go with the Bones

BEATLES - Olives 

LEPROSY 1/2 LEFTOVER PARTS - Salad

BLOODY GUTS - Tomatos

FINGERS - Carrots

 BATS BREW and SPIDER CIDER - Sprite and Root Beer

 For an Neighborhood party I made some WITCHES HATS. I found this recipe online at Myrecipe.com There are millions of fun ideas out there, I had a blast just searching through some very fun Halloween ideas.

Last year we focused more on the Halloween deserts. Here is some BUG COOKIES. I made the chocolate bugs with melted chocolate and M&M's. And bunt CAKE with spiders on it.

EYE BALLS - white doughnuts with green M&M's and red gel frosting and EYE BALL COOKIES with peach jelly rings, brown M&M's and red gel frosting.

What fun... I'm already making plans for next years menu!!!

Lisa

Halloween Fever

Have you been hit by the Halloween bug yet? This is my very favorite time of year I love Halloween. I haven't been able to jump in to the Halloween Ghoulish Spirit as much as I want to yet but I will.
So to kick off the holiday, I spent this last weekend with my friend Brie getting all creative. She found these very cute block signs at The Wood Connection. First, we painted the SPOOKY sign, and had so much fun that we got together again that evening to do the BOO sign. This was something I really needed. It felt like it had been FOREVER since I did a craft. Thanks Brie for sharing with me.

On the SPOOKY sign we painted the letters, then mod podged paper on top. Finally, we added Sparkle on the Bats and Eyes to give it a little bling.


On the BOO sign, I wanted it to be a darker look to it (not so bright and fun). We did the same by painting the letters and then mod podgeing (is that a word - well it is now!) paper on top. After I added a black glaze on each letter to darken it up and to make the wainscoting on the second "O" to stand out more.

Lisa

Summer Wreath

Now that is is summer I wanted to bring on the festivities with a fun fourth of July wreath. My friend Brieanna found a wreath she loved online. It was just a plain white but looked really elegant (sorry I don't have the link). But we wanted to try and use the same idea but make it festive for the summer holidays.
This is what you need. A total of 2 to 2 1/2 yards of felt. (depending on how tight you put your circles.) a floral wreath, and a lot of push pins.



We cut tons 3" circles from each color, about 55 per color so a total of 150 circles!
To fold them it is really simple. First fold the circle in half, then in half again so you have a quarter circle. You'll put the pin in the bottom corner, and then pin it in the wreath.


Just keep adding and building them as you go around. I redid this part about 20 time I swear. I didn't like it in rows. It is best to try to be random in placing them around.
This is the finished product!

I think it turned out awesome. So fun and just perfect for the summer months. Check out how I made the AMERICA sign here.


Lisa

Spring Wreath

According to the calendar Spring should be here. But we only get a small glimpse of it every few days. So I wanted to make something that would really bring some fun bright colors in to my home. I found a zillion ideas for ribbon wreaths back in December when I was looking for my Christmas wreath. So I filed this idea away for the future. I thought this would be a prefect ways to bring all things Spring inside and just in time for Easter.

My friend Brie loved the idea too and wanted to make one also. We started with a 12 inch floral hoop from JoAnn's $4.99 (used a 40% off coupon) = $3! And then I bought tons of ribbon. You honestly need about 24 to 25 YARDS of ribbon to to make sure you cover it well. I also used up any old ribbon I had around the house, So I spent about $15 in ribbon. Buy it in bulk if possible. I bought most of it at Walmart and searched for the rolls with the most yardage for the same price. My friend also got about the same amount of ribbon and we mixed the colors for more variety.


We cut the ribbon into about 18" strips, nothing scientific just depending on the thickness of the ribbon as to how it would tie around . Then we started to tie the ribbon on the hoop. Starting with the thicker pieces to cover the whole loop, then moving on to thinner ribbon to go on top. It took a couple of hours all together but it was sure fun to do with a friend. Doesn't it look so festive and fun.

It really did take a lot of ribbon but if you are like me and hang on to a zillion of little scraps, this is a fun way to use them up. I think the Ric Rac and the cute flower ribbon really add a fun punch.

How are you welcoming in Spring?

Lisa

Wreaths

I have been working on many holiday crafts lately. I just had to make these amazing wreaths. I have made two different ones so far, in my searches I have found many more I just will have to make through out the year.

The first one I made I got the idea from All Things Thrifty Lima Bean Wreath. I fell in love with it and wanted to make me one. Once I decided I wanted to hang it on my french doors I decided I needed two. While shopping at JoAnn's, I was inspired to try and make a square wreath instead. Who ever said they had to all be round??? I purchased 2- 12x12 pieces of Styrofoam, about an inch thick, for $5 each and used a 40% off coupon.
I cut out the center of each square to make a 6inch square in the middle. Then I also trimmed a little of the corners so it was rounded and not so square. (just a side note... I hate the sound of Styrofoam, so this was difficult for me to get through.) But I'm sure glad I did.

The example used Lima beans, but I have a million Pinto beans lying around (honestly I wont be cooking them anytime soon). Since I plan on painting the wreaths anyway, it will be no big deal. Pinto beans - FREE! I hot glued them on at a 45 degree angle.

It took just a little less then a 1 lb. bag of Pinto beans to do each wreath. (I will have to think of another project for the other 20 bags I have been storing.) It was pretty tedious work and took about 4 hours for the first one and about half the time on the second. Minus the 15 minute break when I burned my finger so bad that I sat there wanting to cry. But I did make it through.

I wanted to paint my wreaths Red. It has to be one of my favorite colors. So first I sprayed it with white Primer which really made all the dumb glue strings stand out. Then I sprayed it with the Red. Which helped re-hide some of the glue and the white cracks between the beans. Tied it up with some ribbon that I also purchased at JoAnn's for a few dollars.
And here is the finished project.


I really think it turned out awesome. They fit in the space perfectly and just add a fun look to the glass doors. Both wreaths were about $10 together!!!

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Another wreath I made was based on function more then just aesthetics. I have really wanted a fun way to display all of those Christmas cards from family and friends. In years past I would just tape them on the door but It looked pretty bad. So I searched and searched for inspiration on an idea. I knew I still wanted it on the door because of lack of space to put another object and I wanted it where we will all see them. After, a couple different trips to different craft stores I found the wire wreath frame for about $4 and this block "W" for $5. I painted the "W" green with paint I had on hand. Then, I bought a package of clips for $3 and the ribbon was some I already had. I Think it turned out great for about $12!!! It makes all the cards look amazing and it is fun to have a place for them all to go.



Lisa

Halloween Fun

I love Halloween. I love decorating for Halloween. I just want to show you a few of the things I have made for the holiday this year. This is my book shelf in our Office.
I got the pictures from the internet and put them in frames. It is hard to see the one in the top corner but it is of a skeleton riding a bike which I thought was pretty cool, and very fitting for our home.
My favorite project was the potions. I bought the 4 different bottles at World Market all for $16. There are tons of cool labels to put on bottles I got theses from Love Manor (They really know how to do Halloween.) There is tons of different labels to use. I put them on with Mod Podge so they will last and it wouldn't matter if they get wet. Once we had the labels on I let the kids in on the fun of making the potions. They thought it was so fun to come up with the colors and creations.
I used the Bottles as a table decoration for our family Halloween party too.
I also made these cute Halloween plates with the use of my friends Cricut machine and glass etched in the design. I bought the plates at Target 4 for $7.


Lisa