A few crafts for my classroom

I am a teacher by profession. I taught highschool French and Chemistry for 3 years and Jr. High Science fo 5 years. I took a break from teaching to have kids. When we moved to St. George, I decided to try to find a teaching job. I was too late to find a job teaching science, but I found an opening as a study skills teacher.... which I love! My students told me that my classroom was boring... so I thought I'd take care of that!!! I made this adorable bunting to hang across my boring chalkboard... It's always top priority to count down until summer break... ... and no classroom can be complete without a calendar. The dates are laminated and attached with velcro so that I can use different dates for each month. ( I have loved having a laminating machine at my disposal)

I used my Cricut a little, the old-style Ellison die cut machine at the school, and a pair of scissors to create all of these crafts! It was also a fun way to use some of my papers that I didn't think I would use on my scrapbook pages.

-Anisa

Birthday and January Banner

A couple of months ago, I made these cute banners. Well, I need to keep making one for each month. So, here are the last two that I made. The "Celebrate" one is mostly for birthdays. I didn't get it made in time for my hubby's b-day in December, but it was finished for my little boy's birthday in January. My favorite so far is the January banner. I had some fun die cut felt that I was able to use and I did a lot of stitching! I love the colors... red, turquoise and gold... and I love the stitching. A couple of close ups... I've got my paper for February... now let's see if I can some up with something creative to do with it! --Anisa

Christmas Cards

They are starting to come... all of those fun Christmas Cards! I love getting Christmas cards... especially from people I haven't seen in a long time! I used to throw them away at the end of the year.... gasp! But a couple of years ago, I decided to save them. It's fun to see how families change and grow over the years. And it also helps me to not forget someone on my Christmas card list.

I didn't want to put them in a photo album... I wanted to save some space. So, I made an envelope to put them in. I used my Platin Schoolbook Cartridge on my Cricut and cut out an envelope. To make it big enough to hold all of my cards, I actually sewed two 12x12 pieces of cardstock together to make a 24"x12" piece of paper. Then I cut the envelope as big as it would go! The sewing is on the back and it adds a cute effect. Last year I jazzed it up a little by putting my own families photo card on the front. I made a tie closure on the back by using 2 eyelets and a card stock circle. (Up-close view) If you don't have a cricut, you could find an envelope template online or just purchase a manila envelope and decorate it!

-Anisa

Seasonal Banner

I'm really into seasonal stuff... I don't know why. I think it's because I get bored with the same decorations all the time... However, I'm realizing that all of my seasonal decor takes up a lot of storage space... and it's a lot of work to change the decor every month... oh well, I still love it!!! So, our enrichment made this countdown calendar to Christmas. I thought it was an adorable idea, but the countdown was only for 12 days and I do a countdown for all 25 days of Christmas. So I decided to use mine as a seasonal banner. I had made a few seasonal banners before. But I didn't make one for every month. Now, this cute banner is hung up all year and I will just make new cards to go into each pocket. (I ran out of time to embellish my Thanksgiving banner) Here is a close-up of the banner. You can see that what I did was sew together two pieces of plastic .... the kind you use as a table cloth... I have no idea what it's called but you can buy it at Joann. I used a zig zag stitch to sew around 3 sides. The back piece of plastic is about a 1/2 inch taller than the front piece. Mine is about 4" square, but you could make it any size. Then I just hole-punched the top corners and tied them all together with ribbons... I used browns and creams to keep it as neutral as possible. I think it would be really fun to make one that says "Celebrate" for birthdays. It's super easy to just take the cards out and switch them. And the nice thing is that all you have to store is a small stack of papers for each month! Let me know if you have any questions on how to make this banner. -Anisa

I Resolve...

Doing this blog has brought about many great crafts for me, but there are those crafts that I never get finished.

That changes this year! I resolve to eventually get all my craft projects done! Eventually. Who's with me?

So last year I said I would post the finished 'paper quilt' that I applied to a canvas board. I did finish it and just never photographed it.

Well, here it is!

See the original project here. I loved doing it.
If you've got a New Year's resolution to get in shape, maybe you should just do this project. If you punch out 192 squares, like I did, you wake up with sore abs. I'm not kidding.
--C

Santa's Cookie Tray

Santa Cookie Tray

The other day I found an old frame I had purchased at a thrift store with the intention of making it into some sort of serving tray. With Christmas fast approaching, I thought the perfect idea would be a fun tray to leave Santa's cookies and milk on. (I apologize for the glare on some of these. Rotten time of day to get a good picture.) Supplies needed: 1 thrifted frame (with the glass still in) big enough to hold a small plate of cookies and glass of milk Paint-acrylic or spray Scrap paper in Christmas colors/themes Letter stickers, die cuts, or computer to make title Adhesive Trim, stamps, embellishments as desired First rough up your frame for easier painting. I lucked out that the gold trim on this one was just painted gold. :) Next paint your desired color. I used Ebony from Americana paints (which you can find at Hobby Lobby, Roberts Arts and Crafts, etc.) While that's drying, take the cardboard backing and start piecing together your paper. It was easier for me to think of this part as making one giant Christmas card. When you're doing this, remember to leave yourself a slight margin all the way around to prevent your work from being covered up by the frame. I used only supplies I had on hand and got to revisit a favorite technique-embossing. I didn't have any sparkly ribbon so I found a snowflake stamp in my collection. First stamp the image with Versa Mark ink (a clear pigment ink) then sprinkle with silver embossing powder. Gently tap the board over a scrap paper to remove excess powder and melt the powder with a heat gun. Repeat the process for the stars on top of the Christmas trees. When you're satisfied with the way it looks, pop it into your dried frame. When I was finished, I discovered a pleasant surprise. Not only will this make a darling tray to hold Santa's goodies, but will be a fun decoration to use the other 24 days of December! (I bet you could come up with something fun for a cute Thanksgiving tray, too!)

Product Challenge: Buckets

Our product challenge this month was buckets! (I can't lie to you, I was super excited because I already had a project done with buckets that I hadn't posted yet). So all I had to do was take a picture. Do you love the dollar section at Target as much as I do? Well, they often have buckets. So, awhile back I bought several buckets at Target to keep my ribbon in. I made a template out of paper for the bucket, then used my scraps of scrapbook paper and covered the buckets with every color of the rainbow... and then some! I then tied little scraps of ribbon on the handle of each bucket. This helped organize my obsession with ribbon (well, at least the smaller pieces. I have the full rolls of ribbon just in a cupboard... I really like ribbon). Hey, let me know if you want to see pics of my whole craft room sometime and I'll try to clean it up to make a post!!! Just leave me a comment.

So, the ribbon ones are totally cute, but you can't forget my favorite bucket of all..... my thread bucket. I love this thing. I keep it next to my sewing machine so when I clip off the thread I have a quick place to throw it!!! -Anisa:)

My bucket project ended up not being a craft but an organizational project. I had been reading Pretty Organized Palace's blog and one post in particular caught my attention. She was sharing some fun ways to cozy up the home for fall and winter. With my inspiration starting there, I headed to my local Hobby Lobby and purchased this large bucket/basket. At home I filled it with all my yummy yarn for crocheting (and one day hopefully knitting) and placed it by the fireplace. I love how it makes my family room just that much more comfy cozy with the bonus I have yarn storage in plain sight.

-Ang

Check out these darling buckets that one of our readers... Shellie... sent into us. Super cute storage. Here's what she says about them,

"Here is what I have been doing with buckets. I only have 3 done. I still want a ribbon one and thread etc… I just bought some for a couple of dollars and spray painted them, cut out vinyl on my Cricut for the letter."

Way to go Shellie!

Twilight Party

Angie and I had wanted to have a Twilight party since the DVD release back in March and finally made it happen last Friday. If you're going to have a party based on a movie, then you've really got to go all the way with it, right?

We did a lot of prep, too bad we waited til Friday to find out how much fun it was to do it together.

We did a lot of playing around with food and had some fun games.

We made party bags for everyone that included special necklaces (tutorial tomorrow!) that they could wear that night as well as to the midnight showing of New Moon (for which we all had tickets already). It also had mini packages of New Moon edition "Sweetarts," some butterscotch candies (Edward's eyes), a package of "dazzle" gum and a few other things to use for our games.

First, we played Sculptorades (a la Cranium) and it broke the ice for everyone and they had a blast! The prize for the winners was Edward truffle bars. The losers got Jacob truffle bars. We did three rounds of quote chases. (Everyone brought a copy of Twilight). Each time a person found the quote they got a string a fish to represent Charlie, Bella's dad.

We used 12" dowels with clear thread, wire and large Swedish fish. The person that guessed the final quote received a bottle of La Victoria salsa (representing Victoria).

While we watched the movie, we'd occasionally stop it and ask about the differences between the scene just viewed and the book. The first person with the correct answer would receive a small bag of gummy bears representing Emmett Cullen. They would also be able to hold the gorgeous pillow with Edward Cullen's photo printed onto it that Angie made. If, during the movie, you pointed out any additional differences, then you could steal the pillow. That was so much fun! The person holding the pillow at the end of the game got to keep it. Our final game revolved around the food at the party. As stated before, the food was all character based. Each guest was given a blank list where thirteen characters and their corresponding foods could be written down. The person with the most correct answers would win the grand prize of a black scarf made by Cami. The person with the least correct got stuck with a box of Newtons.

(this was pasted to a package of Fig Newtons)

More examples of Twilight related food (keep scrolling for the entire list):

(this was wrapped around a bottle of Dr. Pepper)

Here is the awesome Twilight cake our friend Tiffany did to represent Alice Cullen

The list:

1. ice-Rosalie Hale
2. Dr. Pepper-Carlisle Cullen
3. Popcorn (base)balls-Esme Cullen
4. Lil' Smokies-Jacob Black
5. Swedish Fish-Charlie Swan
6. bread sticks-Bella Swan
7. Sweet and Sour Chicken-Jessica Stanley
8. Fig Newtons-Mike Newton
9. Gummy Bears-Emmett Cullen
10. Cake-Alice Cullen
11. White Hot Chocolate-Jasper Hale
12. La Victoria salsa-James and Victoria
13. butterscotch disks/apples/cold mint gum-Edward Cullen

One of our guests, Crystal was our big prize winner, snatching up both the Edward pillow and the scarf, but she surpised us, by showing us this amazing Jane cape she made to wear to the New Moon premier. She didn't use a pattern at all. Amazing! We'll have to keep an eye on Crystal's creations!

Happy Twilight!! Come back tomorrow for a movie necklace tutorial (we're wearing ours, if you look closely).

1 Craft 3 Ways: Little Monsters

I was a little nervous doing something with monsters for October. Not that I'm scared of them. ;) I couldn't think of anything to make that had to do with monsters. Until this morning. My kids and I were hurrying home from running errands so we could play with a little friend of ours. A playdate....hmmmm....(Can you hear the wheels starting to turn?) The light bulb went on-a way to get my craft done and entertain the kids. They would do my monsters for me! Brilliant!

First I had my son and his buddy each draw me a fairly large and simple monster. This is what I got:

Next, I opened my overflowing box of felt scraps and started cutting, sewing, and adjusting as needed.

Let me introduce you to Fire Dragon and Hem:

And Fire Dragon with Hah (Hem's other side):

The boys loved them. Using the kids art work to create crafts was such a fun way to capture their little imaginations for a long time! Ang

I was so excited to do Monsters. I just recently bought monster bedding from Target for my little boy's room. But I hadn't gotten to the decorating part yet. So, I thought I'd do a little paper piecing.... It's not like I haven't done it before! -Anisa

I've got a couple of monster projects going on at the moment, but this is what was done in time for our post today.

Do you remember those ATC cards I mentioned a bit ago, checking for interest? Well I found an excellent site that regularly does card swaps and I joined a few of them. This is my first card for the theme of Monsters. It's a baby monster's first portait. How nice it is to kill two birds with one stone! I might toss another one of my monster-themed crafts onto the blog later this month, but in the mean time, come up with your own! October is an awesome month to immerse yourself in creepy-crawliness. --C

Checking for interest in a new idea: Art Trading Cards

I learned about Art Trading Cards (ATC) a few years ago and was fascinated by the idea of random people trading bits of their own artistic souls to each other. The basic rules of the game of ATC is the cards must measure 2 1/2" by 3 1/2". After that, what you create is only limited by your imagination. You can use traditional art media: ink, paint, colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, stamping techniques, etc. You can embroider, layer objects, decoupage, USE YOUR COMPUTER AND PHOTOSHOP (and the like), paper piecing...the sky is the limit. What I am wondering is if there is enough interest out there for me to set up ATC swaps. Is there? See a gallery of examples of ATC here , here or here (the list to the right)

If there is, this is how it would work: I would set up small groups of probably four people. You would create four Art Trading Cards and mail them in to me as would the three others in the group. I would then divide the cards up amongst the four in the group (you'd get one of your own back) and mail them out with postage that you would have provided when you sent them to me in the first place.

If you are very, VERY intersted then email me at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com or leave a comment. If you think this is something you might like to do this then please click the "Gotta Try It" box below.

What I'm really hoping for is that a handful of people will join me on an initial swap and then you'll all be able to see how fun it is and then we can do more groups in the future. I'd really like to have younger ages participate in the future, like a 7-12 year old group and a teen group.

I know this is a little more arts than crafts, but I hope you'll let me know what you think. I would love it if you'd consider participating. --C

Use your Stash! (oh, and contest winner!)

And the winner is.....

Jamie Lovell said...

Dress forms have been around since the time of the pharaoh and have kept peasants and royals busy designing or mimicking the latest ‘envogue’ designs for ages. I have considered Egyptian names, and names like Florence, and Marie Antoinette all of whom used dress forms, but couldn’t get them to fit. I also considered naming her Threads or Silk, but those both seem to trendy, but Poly as in polyester. That is a name that has staying power. Although most of us would admit to having a love/hate relationship with polyester, this little synthetic fiber really is amazing. Since 1941 this tacky, heavy duty fabric has been repelling stains, keeping us iron free and covering everything from kid’s knees to floors. Did you know that polyester can be worn for 68 days straight without needing to be ironed? So with that verbose bit of commentary added to your lives, I think that you should lovingly call your vintage dress form “Poly”. Happy Name Hunting.

September 7, 2009 9:23 PM

I have to say that I Love the name Poly Ester. And I didn't even vote! And it was fun to finally read the comments and learn a little bit about dress forms along the way. Thanks, Jamie. Send me an email at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com with your mailing address and I'll get that apron to you asap.

Sally, you were neck and neck with Brown Sugar the whole time. I am coming up with a small 2nd place prize so, leave me your mailing address at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com and I will mail it to you as well.

Now, on to my post.... Here is a great way to use your stash and some super cute gift wrap. DVD cases (cd's, wii games, etc.) are the perfect size to be wrapped in a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper. I have a lot of papers that are still cute, but I've already used them enough or I don't LOVE them anymore. They are great for gift wrap. Add a little tulle and you're set!!!

-Anisa