On the project to-do list...

"There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do."
-Bill Watterson

I've got a big project in the works (hope to share more towards the end of next week...). But in the couple of weeks before that kicks off full force, I'm hoping to scratch a few projects off of my never-ending to-do list.

A couple of projects that I've dreamed about for years, bought the supplies for, dedicated a good amount of brainpower to, but have yet to accomplish...

And, maybe if I post the list for all to see... maybe, just maybe I'll actually get to them.

1. Modern house numbers :: I've bought the numbers and always have some stain stored away. Need to pick up the paint sticks and get to it! [Idea and image from 4 Men 1 Lady]
2. Gallery wall in the foyer :: I've got a stack of frames sitting in the dining room. I just need to get over the fear of putting holes in the wall. I can always figure out what goes in the frames later. [Image from The Design Files Daily]
3. Project Life photo book :: I kept up with my digital Project Life spreads of my 30th year until April. In the last couple of weeks I've been trying to work my way backward to fill in the gaps. I really want to get this done and printed well before my next birthday. [More Project Life posts]
4. Date with the Genius Bar :: With plans to start grad school this fall, I want to make sure that my laptop is in full working order before I begin. Hopefully the Mac geniuses can help me update my software, set up a back-up process, and generally optimize my system. [Make an appointment with the Genius Bar]

Crafternoon Project #5: Confetti Gift Tags

"I craft so hard I sweat glitter."
-Dina Hafez-Suggs, deliciouslydarlingevents.com

This final Crafternoon project was these Confetti Gift Tags. Because the other projects took so long, some of the guests collected the supplies for this project to take home with them.

My original idea for this project was to use paper hole punches as the confetti, but when I found this shiny confetti with Christmas-themed shapes at Hobby Lobby, I knew it was meant to be.

Confetti Gift Tags
What you need:

• Cardstock or kraft paper
• 1.5" circle punch
• Transparent page projectors cut into 2" squares
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Confetti
• Stamps/stamp pad
• Hole punch
• Twine

What you do:

1. Trace gift tag pattern onto kraft paper or white cardstock and cut out.  
2. Punch 1.5” circles in both ends of the tag, as shown in pattern. 
3. On one end, apply adhesive around the hole, and press transparency pocket on top.
4. Open the transparency pocket, and pile confetti on top of the hole. 
5. Use adhesive around the edges of the transparency, and fold shut, sealing the confetti inside. 
6. Apply adhesive to the other end of the tag, and fold in half, adhering the two sides together.  
7. Use stamps to decorate with holiday message. 
8. Punch hole in the top, and tie ribbon on. 

Crafternoon Project #4: Felt Giftcard Envelopes

"Is that a warm fuzzy, or just a piece of scrap felt?"
-Sara Lanan, CraftSnob.com

The only Crafternoon project that required sewing was the Felt Giftcard Envelopes. I figured that even the least crafty among us could probably handle hand-stitching two straight lines and sewing a button on.

Gift cards are such practical gifts (and usually well appreciated), but sometimes they feel a little bit lackluster. These cute envelopes spice things up a bit and could totally be used later as a little wallet.

Felt Giftcard Envelopes
What you need:

• Different colors of felt
• [Optional] Coordinating patterned fabric
• Embroidery thread
• Needle
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Pinking shears
• Buttons or other embellishments
• Sticky-back Velcro

What you do:

1. Cut one piece of felt using the pattern for the envelope.
2. As shown, mark a dot where the strap will be sewn.
3. [Optional] Cut same size [maybe a tad smaller!] from patterned fabric to fit inside.
4. Cut contrasting felt 3” x 1” for the closure strap.
5. Line up strap with the dot on the felt rectangle, and stitch with a 1-inch “X”.
6. Stack patterned fabric on top of felt with wrong sides together.
7. Fold the long ends towards the middle so that they are equal with about an inch between them, and pin.
8. Fold in half, and pin.
9. With the envelope open like a book, stitch the sides. [It works best to use 1/2 a strand of embroidery thread.]
10. Use pinking shears to trim the sides.
11. Cut small embellishments from felt ... stack a circle on top of a flower shape, cut out a holly leaf & berries, cut out a triangle & a small rectangle for a Christmas tree.
12. Stitch embellishments to the end of the strap.
13. Place one half of sticky Velcro on the end of the strap, and then wrap around and stick the other half on the corresponding place on the envelope.

Crafternoon Project #3: No-sew T-shirt Scarf

"There's great satisfaction in seeing a thing take shape and form under one's hands, especially if they are made from oddments into something worthwhile."
-Nella Last, Nella Last's War

The Crafternoon project with the trickiest directions was the No-sew T-shirt Scarf. I positioned myself near this station throughout the afternoon, so that I could walk everybody through the steps and help them with the tedious cutting. If you find the written directions below confusing, check out this similar tutorial with photos from Max & Me Designs.

Even though the steps seem complicated at first, everybody was thrilled with how these scarves turned out. Many people mentioned that they were going to make more for teacher gifts and friend gifts. It's the perfect mindless activity to do with a football game or movie going on in the background.

No-sew T-shirt Scarf
What you need:

• Extra-large t-shirt with no words/graphics below the armpits
• Scissors
• Hot glue and glue sticks

What you do:

1. Cut T-shirt in a straight line, just below the sleeves.
2. Cut off the bottom hem.
3. Cut the remaining rectangle into 16 strips... I found it best to cut in half four times.
4. Set one of the loops aside.
5. Stretch the loops... they stretch better if you do them one-by-one, but make sure they stay about the same length.
6. Cut the loop you set aside into five equal pieces.
7. Tie one of the 5 pieces tightly around the15 loops.
8. Cut this bunch of15 loops close to the knot, leaving enough room so that the strands don’t come loose. [It should look like a long ponytail.]
9. Separate the 15 strands into three groups and braid down from the knot... Braid doesn’t have to be super tight. You probably want to braid almost halfway.
10. Tie another of the short pieces tightly at the end of the braid.
11. Untangle the strands and gather the ends... tie another of the short pieces around the loose ends.
12. Cover the ends with hot glue and then push them together.
13. Take a short wide strip and wrap it around one of the knots. Adhere with hot glue. Repeat for other knot.

Crafternoon Project #2: Dry Erase Frames

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.”
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Crafternoon project that surprisingly took the most time was the Dry Erase Frames. It was tough to find just the right color scheme and embellishments.

In the weeks before the party, I scoured thrift stores looking for cheap frames. One afternoon I hit the jackpot... and two coats of spray paint later, I had an assortment of different frames for my guests to choose from (and stayed within my budget!). I pulled out my scrapbooking paper stash, printed up some vellum templates [Menu, To-Do List, and Calendar], and let everybody have it.

Dry Erase Frames
What you need:

• Picture frames with glass and back
• Vellum templates
• Scrapbook paper and embellishments
• Scissors/paper cutter
• Double-sided tape
• Dry erase pen
• [Optional] Sticky back Velcro

What to do:

1. Pick a frame.
2. Pick a vellum template (or not!).
3. Trace the outline of glass onto the back of paper of your choice.
4. Cut out outline so that it will fit in your frame.
5. Use double-sided tape to attach other papers and embellishments, if you wish.
6. Fit in frame.
7. Draw on glass with the dry erase pen.
8. [Optional] Attach one side of sticky-back Velcro to the dry erase pen... and attach the other side of the Velcro to the side of the frame.

Crafternoon Project #1: Burlap Garlands

"Crafting your heart out makes room for your soul to grow."
-Sara Lanan, CraftSnob.com

For whatever reason, I've considered these burlap garlands to be the main event at my Crafternoon party. They didn't end up being the biggest or the most complex project of the afternoon, but I think these shabby chic garlands would look dandy in any home... as a festive Christmas banner or a year-round decoration.

To allow time for the paint and glue to dry, I suggested that my Crafternoon guests work on the burlap garland project early in the afternoon. We used long pieces of wax paper to keep the paint and glue from seeping through the fabric and to help transport the garland to the foyer or patio to dry.

Burlap Garlands
What you need:

• Burlap fabric cut into triangles... here's a trick for cutting burlap in straight lines
• Twine
• Scissors
• White fabric paint
• Foam brushes
• Letter stencils
• Wax paper
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• [Optional] scraps of fabric or ribbon

What you do:

1. Gather the correct number of burlap triangles, a sheet of wax paper long enough to stretch the length of the whole banner, and a length of twine long enough to extend past the ends of triangles.
2. Hot glue the twine to the top of the burlap triangles, folding over the edge to help keep it in place.
3. Place banner on a long sheet of wax paper before beginning to stencil. [The paper will catch the excess paint that goes through the holes in the burlap.]
4. Place letter stencil in the center of the triangle. You’ll want to be careful with the parts of the stencil that are hanging on, especially as they get wet.
5. Carefully dab (don’t rub) the paint around the stencil with a foam brush.
6. Carefully remove stencil, and use foam brush to tidy up any areas, make paint darker, etc.
7. [Optional] Tie scraps of fabric at each end.

**Suggested Words**
Family, Love, Joy, Be Merry, Last Name, Hope, Faith, Home, Mr & Mrs, J Loves R, Believe, Blessed, Rejoice, Welcome, Let’s Eat, Celebrate, Shine

Christmas in "July" Crafternoon Recap!!

"What you create doesn’t have to be perfect."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

For over a year now, I've been pinning ideas related to crafting parties on my Craft-ernoon board. Saving ideas until I had enough local friends to invite over for a similar shindig.

I've been so blessed this last year to become close to gals both at church and at work. So on a whim a couple of months ago, I decided just to bite the bullet and send out a Facebook invitation for a Christmas in July Crafternoon get-together two weeks later. The response was really positive, but the date didn't work out. So after comparing our calendars, we moved it back... to Saturday, September 7th.

Since then I've had to push away my doubts about whether I was up for hosting such a big endeavor, but I'm so glad I took the leap and put myself out there. [Momentum at work!]

I've been scouring sales, digging through thrift stores, and hoarding craft store coupons to buy all of the supplies. Since I asked my guests to bring $10 to help cover the cost of supplies, my budget was $2 per person per project, and I think I got pretty close to meeting that goal (although I stopped keeping track towards the end).

I planned five stations with Christmas-themed crafts: three that could be given as gifts and two that could be used as Christmas wrapping. I hope to share more details about each project in the next few days. The project list:

• Burlap garlands
• Dry erase frames
• No-sew t-shirt scarves
• Felt giftcard envelopes
• Confetti gift tags

Although I originally thought the party would last from 1-3pm... we ended up crafting for hours. The last guest left around 6!!

To keep us fueled for our crafting endeavor, I had a few snacks on hand, including turkey crescents, tortellini and pesto skewers, and yummy cupcakes. One of the highlights was the custom labels for the water bottles... what an easy way to take your party up a notch!

I think everyone had a great time. An afternoon away from husbands and kids to be crafty and creative. As I had hoped, some of the guests took the project ideas and made them their own. And, even the self-proclaimed "non-crafters" were super proud of their creations.

I hope that this becomes a tradition we want to continue... although maybe next time I can delegate the food prep and the hosting!!

Everywhere Fun Fair wrapup, part 2

"Together, together, we're coming together. Celebrating the love of God in every way. It's the love, it's the joy, it's the faith that we share. Come On! It's an Everywhere Fun Fair!"
-Cokesbury's Everywhere Fun Fair theme song

In the last post I showed how we decorated for this year's VBS, the Everywhere Fun Fair. But decorations alone do not a Bible School make.

In recent years, my church has scheduled VBS from 5:45 to 8:00 pm on Monday through Thursday, with a finale performance and church-wide supper on Friday. However, the Cokesbury program is designed for five days, so we had to leave out one of the days [Day 3 in this case].

We divided the kids up into five groups, based on their grades. We had about 35 kids each night. After the opening group session in the sanctuary, the elementary groups rotated around four stations, each for about twenty minutes: Music, Story, Crafts, and Games/Snack. The preschoolers went to the Music station first, but then went to their own room to spread out and go at their own pace.

The theme, story, and country focus for each day were determined by the Cokesbury curriculum. Our wonderful kitchen leader, Michelle, organized the snack for each day, and I organized the craft project (although luckily found someone else to lead it!). Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to make a note of the games that were played in the recreation station... to be honest, it looked a bit like chaos all week, but I'm sure the kids had fun!

Here was our plan... 

Day 1 – Monday
Theme: Neighbors are Friendly!
Story: Sarah and Abraham
Country: Japan
Craft: Celebration Kites similar to the carp kites flown on Japan's Children's Day [following this tutorial]
Snack: Pretzels and edamame toothpick kebabs (similar to this) with soy sauce for dipping

Day 2 - Tuesday
Theme: Neighbors are Giving
Story: A Widow gives Cheerfully
Country: Zimbabwe
Craft: Decorating flowerpots with buttons and markers, and then planting a succulent to give to a "neighbor" (some groups focused on the flowerpots on Tuesday, and then planted on Thursday)
Snack: Sweet potato chips

Day 3 – Wednesday
Theme: Neighbors are Forgiving!
Story: Zaccheus
Country: Australia
Craft: Decorating totebags in the style of aboriginal dot paintings [using q-tips and fabric paints for the dots, following this tutorial]
Snack: Fairy bread

Day 4 – Mexico
Theme: Neighbors are Welcoming!
Story: God welcomes Everyone
Country: Mexico
Craft: Decorating foam door hangers with Everywhere Fun Fair-themed foam stickers to welcome "neighbors" [similar to this]
Snack: Tortilla chips and salsa with sopapillas

The preschoolers used Bingo markers to decorate their totebags. Here you can also see some of their decorated door hangers.

I printed each country's name/flag on a printable label. Before the closing program each night, the kids received the sticker from the country du jour to stick in their VBS passports. 

At the finale performance on Friday night, as the kids "graduated" from VBS 2013, they received their personalized totebag full of VBS goodies, including the rest of their crafts, their nametag, their passport, their photobooth photo as a magnet, a certificate of completion, a handout describing all of the things they learned this week, copies of some related workbook pages, and a brochure about the children's activities available at church throughout the year.

We ended the fun-filled week with a hot dog supper, homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert, and a slideshow of photos from the week.

I'm so glad that I was able to help plan VBS this year. Everyone agreed it once again was a great success!! But, I have to admit, I'm glad that it comes around only once a year!

2012 Crafty Gift Guide

Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.
-Dale Evans

Knowing who my most faithful blog readers are, I can't share many of my craftiest Christmas gift ideas yet. They just might be wrapped up with one of their names scrawled across the tag, waiting patiently to be opened Christmas morning.

But, here are a few of the "handmade" gifts that are sitting under my tree this year:

Totebag for science books | For my nephew, the third grader
He is a good reader but needs all the motivation he can to actually read in his spare time. I filled it with Franny K. Stein's Crate of Danger and a science experiment book which hopefully will inspire him. Wanna make a cute tote of your own? I used this great tutorial from Dana Made It.

Monogrammed cookie jar | For my sister-in-law who recently renovated her kitchen. 
As I've mentioned previously, I love a good glass etching project. Take a $6 glass cookie jar, and poof, it becomes a trendy, custom kitchen accessory. I cut the stencil with a Silhouette machine (at the local scrapbook store for only $1.50!!) and then went at it with the Armor Etch.

Racing bib holder | For my husband, the cycling enthusiast
Along with a several of other cycling-related paraphernalia, I made Rob a display plaque for his bib numbers from races. I was inspired by these from Running On The Wall's Etsy shop.

If you don't have the wall space for hanging, my mom is also working a scrapbook-like binder for her significant others' race bibs---hopefully she'll post on her blog once it's done!.

Math clock | For my brother-in-law, the algebra teacher
When I was teaching math, I kept a similar math clock on my wishlist. Now that I'm out of the classroom, I knew exactly what I would make my brother-in-law who is a first-year teacher. (This, plus plenty of worksheets, resources, and manipulatives that I haven't been able to part with.)

However, this process was so easy, you could personalize a clock with any idea you please. I found the clock at Big Lots and had the design printed as a photo poster from Sam's. A quick turn of the screwdriver, and I was able to remove the back of the clock and replace the original numbers with my poster.

Let's Eat, Y'all!

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious."
-Ruth Riehl

When my mom was here a couple of weeks ago, we were able to realize several projects that I had been dreaming of but hadn't yet found the inspiration for.

I have a tall blank wall in my kitchen across from the island. It was begging for something big and graphic. I was inspired by this, this, this, and this, as well as the giant utensil art I had in our last house (still available at Hobby Lobby, I think).

We picked up some white beadboard from Home Depot and set out to distress it a little before hand-painting the letters. You can see more specific steps and photos from the process over on my mom's blog.

I think I might be in love.

However, seeing it in photos makes me want to paint the wall behind it a fun accent color. I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to a full-fledged color scheme yet. Any thoughts?

Canvas Photo Tutorial

"Love is when you can be your true self with someone, and you only want to be your true self because of them."
-Terri Guillemets

Want to see what my husband's getting for Valentine's Day?? You have to promise to keep it quiet for a couple of more hours until he gets home from work.... pinky swear??

My tradition is to make my Valentine's Day gifts for Rob. And, sometimes that's tricky, given that we're not a super-duper, lovey-dovey, smooshy-mushy couple. Here are a couple of ideas that I've used previously: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008.

This year, I spiced up a favorite photo (from our 2010 Washington trip) with a favorite sentiment and then took advantage of a project I had been wanting to try: canvas photo art. There are lots of tutorials out there, but I thought I would show you what worked for me. Despite my initial apprehension, it turned out great. Just need a house with walls to hang it on!

Supplies needed: photo printed to size (I used a 12x12 matte photo from Persnickety Prints), canvas, acrylic paint, Mod Podge, foam brushes.

Step One: Paint the edges of the canvas with dark acrylic paint. Make sure to blend the color over to the front and back edges of the canvas.

Step Two: Trim your photo to size... be careful because canvases are not always exactly the dimensions they say the are. I trimmed enough so that the image was just the slightest bit (I mean, less than a millimeter!) smaller than the canvas. Just enough so that it didn't overlap!

Step Three: Paint an even layer of ModPodge on the back of photo. You want to completely cover then page. Turn over and adhere to the canvas. Lightly rub a clean cloth (or your sleeve!) over the surface to remove any air bubbles.

Step Four: Even after my coat of ModPodge, I found that the edges didn't stick very well, so I peeled up the edges to reinforce the corners. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Step Five:  Carefully paint a thin, even layer of ModPodge over the top of the photo. Make sure to go in the same direction and to avoid globs of glue or little crumbs of dried glue. This is the part that had me scared... it goes on milky white, but I promise it dries almost clear.

Step Six:  I wasn't totally happy with my coverage the first time around, so a couple of days later, I added another coat of ModPodge on top. After this dried, all of my "problem areas" were fixed, so I'm really glad I took that chance with the second coat.


And, a Valentine's Day gift from me to you... the boot photo for your own use. Maybe you use it as your desktop background, print it for a frame, or maybe even make a canvas of your own.

To download the photo, right-click the image below, and click "Save Image As."

Love mailbox...

"To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever."
-Henry Drummond

Alternative title for this post: "I love the Dollar Spot at Target!"

My favorite part about Valentine's Day in grade school was decorating a "mailbox" or "mailbag" to collect all of the cards and goodies from my classmates. So, when I walked into Target last week and spotted these adorable metal mailboxes on the shelves at the Dollar Spot, I knew one would jump into shopping cart. Well, to be honest, I really wanted to buy 3 or 4, but with no kiddos at our house yet, I couldn't justify it. (And, even at $1 apiece... we're on a pretty strict budget these days!) But, I had great plans for the one I did bring home.

Materials needed: metal mailbox, wrapping paper (my "LOVE" paper is also from the Dollar Spot), ric-rac, matching scrapbook paper, glue dots and/or adhesive squares, ruler, pencil, scissors

Step 1: Trim a sheet of wrapping paper to match the width of the mailbox. Measure and cut a slit/hole in the side of the paper to fit around the mailbox flag.

Step 2: Trace the edges of the mailbox and cut out two of those shapes. Cut out small squares that fit the top of the mailbox flag as well.

Step 3: Use glue dots and adhesive squares to adhere the paper to metal mailbox. Around the curves, it takes a little bit of guess-and-check to see where the adhesives are best placed.

Step 4: To kick the craftiness up a notch, add matching ric-rac around the edges of the body and cut out a heart from matching scrapbook paper to add to the front.


Here's another adorable tutorial for decorating mailboxes that I found on Pinterest. I love the candlestick stands. They're making me wish I had splurged on more than one mailbox!

Valentine's Mailboxes from the anderson crew

And, if you're wondering what goodies you should hide inside these cute mailboxes, stay tuned! Later this week, I'll be sharing some ideas!

A lovey dovey round-up...

"Love makes the wildest spirit tame, and the tamest spirit wild."
-Alexis Delp

Did you know that Valentine's Day is a mere 11 days away? Did you know that approximately one billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually?

In honor of this lovey dovey holiday, I've got a week of Valentine's Day projects and tutorials planned. To kick-off the week, I've gathered a round-up of some of my favorite projects that I've spotted in the blog world.

Valentine's Love Notes Garland by Bugs and Fishes

LOVE mini-quilt tutorial from kelbysews via Sew Mama Sew

Felt heart garland from Betz White via Craft

Simple Valentine's Heart Banner from simple as that

Valentine's Wheel printable from Martha Stewart

Valentine's Goody Bags from That's My Letter

Matchbox Valentines from inchmark

Love Pillow tutorial from Ucreate

I Love Everything About You printable from tried & true

Painted heart bag from V and Co.

Valentine's Treat Bags from Twig & Thistle

What other inspiring Valentine's crafts have you seen lately? Leave a link in the comments!!

And, don't forget to come back tomorrow for more projects!!