Kids Paint/Craft Smock Tutorial

My middle child loves to paint and do all sorts of other wonderful crafts. One problem. He forgets to not only ask, but even tell me that he's doing these things. Needless to say, when his creativity is at work, I'm brushing up on my laundry skills. A few months ago while making this quilt from Little Birdie Secrets tutorial, I was inspired to use a vinyl tablecloth to make paint smocks for my kids. It was SO easy. Supplies: Newspaper Tape (unless your using a Wall Street Journal) Marker 1 Vinyl tablecloth (really only about 1/3-1/2, but who has that laying around?) 2 pkg coordinating bias tape 1 T-shirt Velcro

How-To:

Lay out your newspaper and tape two pieces together (if necessary) and lay T-shirt flat. Tuck the T's sleeves inside the shirt.

Outline the shirt on the newspaper with your marker. Be sure to account for seams when tracing your shirt. Remember to make the scoop in the front for the neck.

Fold table cloth in half length wise and pin pattern piece on. There should be two identical pieces now.

If you want pockets, cut out a rectangle according to how deep you want your pockets. Lay the T-shirt piece on top and trim the sides to fit.

(Sorry about the sideways picture-blogger did that. It was right in my files)

Now-down to the dungeon where I do all my sewing.

Sew the bias tape across the top of your pocket rectangle. Pin the pocket piece to the shirt piece and baste/sew together using a 1/4 seam allowance.

Determine how many pockets you'd like. Mark how far apart you want them with some pins and sew from the bottom of the pocket to to the top in a straight line.

Take the non-pocket T-shirt piece and cut in half.

Lay the two T-shirt pieces right sides together and pin and shoulders and side seams. Sew using a 1/2" seam.

Pin bias tape around all raw edges and sew. I thought this was going to be difficult on the arm holes, but turned out to be quite easy.

Lastly-add some Velcro to the back for an easy, kid-friendly fastener.

Wood Craft Workshops

We had a little bit of chilly weather last week and I couldn't believe that fall was coming yet. Well, it warmed back up, but it is still almost time for fall crafts. So, if you live in the Salt Lake Valley and want to come and craft with me, this months crafts are... Fall Leaf Trio: Leaves-$5, Stands-$3 (I plan on having different toppers for the stands every month) Acorn: $12 Scarecrow Yard Stake: $20 (This guy is HUGE! and so cute. He will look adorable in your yard or stuck in a bale of straw on the front porch) Owl: $15 (can I just say how much I love owls right now! I think this guy is sooo cute. You may paint him fall colors or you could paint him whatever colors you want. I have a lot of paint colors, but if you want specific colors, just let me know. Also, you could make him hanging if you want. Just let me know and I'll round out the bottom a little more.) Class Dates: Tuesday, Aug. 18th 6-9 pm Wed. Aug. 26th 6-9 pm Thurs. Aug. 27th 6-9 pm

Price of wood craft includes wood, paint, and all the supplies that you need to complete the craft. All you need to do is show up (and bring your money:)

-Anisa (ryanisa@earthlink.net)

A Little Accessory Organization Here

Thanks to Angie's clippie tutorial I decided to make some for my daughter...(I improvised. They are far from amazing). Anyway, right after I made these, I needed a fun place to keep them. Lo and behold. Nanny Goat had the perfect solution HERE. I put my mother (the woman is a garage sale fiend) on the scent for an ornate-looking frame. I think she found a good one. I painted it with regular acrylic paint, choosing not to prime it so that the previous gold of the frame would show through just a bit. I attached ribbon with a heavy application of hot glue. Ribbon is by (l to r) Basic Grey, American Crafts Basic Grey, Offray and Basic Grey. If not yet a fan of Nanny Goat you need to check out their cute craft blog for ideas and inspiration, too! --C

What time is it?

It's craft time:)

Okay, that was cheesy, but I just wanted to post this cute clock that I finally finished! (my big hold up was not wanting to pay $6 for the clock plus $3 for the hands, but I got the clock 40% off so it was just about $7 total for the clock parts)

The process.....

• buy the cute scrapbook paper (this happened to already be this shape)
• trace the shape onto the wood
• cut out the wood (or pay me to cut it out for you)
• stain the wood
• mod podge the paper onto the wood
• adhere stickers (I used my Cricut to cut mine out of vinyl but any stickers would work)
• drill a hole in the center
• insert clock (according to pkg directions)
• hang on wall

So, I need help from our readers....

Would you buy this clock? Is it cute enough? How much would you pay for it? I am thinking about making clocks for a craft boutique or to sell on Etsy. Please leave a comment and help me out!

-Anisa

P.S. We are now on FACEBOOK and TWITTER! Click on our links on the side bar to be our follower or friend.

P.P.S. We got our pics taken today by Kristen Spencer Photography. Look for our smiling faces on our side bar soon!

Why Should Teachers Have All the Fun?

As reported earlier...it is back to school time for our kids due to a year-round school schedule. This time of year just happened to coincide with the over-due over haul of my crafting room. As any true crafter knows, the best way to clean up the craft room is to finish at least 5 of your unfinished projects.

I did that.

Up next on the old to-do?

Examine odd items I've been holding on to then use or toss in the trash.

The first thing I saw was a long rectangular frame that my mom picked up at a garage sale. The frame had a maple look and the picture was paper-pieced flowers and bees. Not uncute, but too outdated, too cute for me.

I took the frame, removed the glass and painted it black with acrylic craft paint.

Next I saw this large roll of cork paper (3 mm thickness) and I decided to make them into a bulletin board with unusual dimensions.

I took the glass from the frame and used it as a pattern to score the cork paper. Cork paper isn't very thick so I did this three times to create enough support for anything I wanted to stick in there.

The paper only needed a light scoring and then it was ready to break easily along the lines.

I layered the three pieces of cork paper and replace the backing on frame sans glass.

I finished off this cute project with a cork paper flower. This cork paper is 1 mm thick and slips easily into a paper punch (EK Success made this punch).

The red button finished it off nicely and then it inspired another idea! I needed pins for my cork board. I used a wire cutter to remove the pinhead off a regular sewing pin (seems I have an abundance right now (may be they multiplied on there own when they saw what great homes I had made for them). Next I found two identical buttons, stuck a glue dot (I use the Glue Dots brand) on each of them and sandwiched the pin in between. Here they are on the board. Simple practical and I didn't have to buy anything new for any of it!

Fabric Flowers

I have seen different versions of fabric flowers all over the blog-o-sphere and have tried some. This one from Pink Paper Peppermints , however, is my favorite so far. It was so easy to whip up and a fun addition to anything-bags, pins, magnets, clothes. Having little girls though, my favorite use is for hair accessories. Like these sweet little darlins' I made for a friends new baby girl. Get the how-to here. Instant craft gratification. My favorite! (One small note: My flowers here are half the size of the tutorial. For this particular friend, small and delicate was the better option.)

July Product Challenge... Pompoms

We have started a new feature where every month we will give our readers a challenge. It may be a theme, product, pattern, etc. July's challenge was the product challenge of Pompoms. Here is a cute burp cloth that one of our readers sent in for the challenge.

Bonnie said,

"Hi:

My name is Bonnie Gonzalez (Puerto Rico). This weekend searching I found your blog and absolutly love it. This will be my first interaction with any blog.

I saw your product challenge and found it interesting "pom poms". I sent you a picture of a burb cloth I made for my daughter few years ago. I made it very simple with a kitty applique. I hope to see it posted in your blog. It will really make my day.

Thank you and will keep on reading.

Bonnie"

Thanks for sending a picture to us of your cute burp cloth!!! If any of our other readers out there have anything with pomspoms that they've made, we would love to see them!!! Just send them to our email at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com or send us a link to your blog.

I made a pillowcase dress for my niece that was trimmed with the pompoms. Love it!!!

Isn't she cute?:) With the extra pompoms, I thought I make a page for my baby T. I love the hot pink pompoms and I don't even think it's too girly for a boy page!!! -Anisa

Pre-school Mini Album

I don't know about this whole year-round school thing. For most kids on most tracks, school started today. My oldest will be in Kindergarten so he starts a week late. So, for the craft blog, I thought I'd post a mini album that I made for his last year of Pre-school. I had been wanting to do a mixed media mini album for awhile and this gave me the perfect opportunity.

I used my Cricut to cut out a template of the shape that I wanted the album to be. Then I simply traced the shape on acrylic, felt, chipboard and cardstock to make my pages.

My front page was acrylic with just a title and a few simple embellishments. Then I did a few pages of different type of products. I used quite a bit of stitching on the pages... and of course my favorite thing right now is gathered ribbon that is stitched on.

It turned out really cute and my little boy loves it!!!

To view the complete album visit our Flickr site.

-Anisa