Making Owl Pillows

Here are some owl pillows that I am also selling. They are very easy if you follow the tutorial below. 

Here are the 2 pillows I have made so far. I am also going to attempt making my own pattern for other animals. I have one in the works for a frog next. I am selling these for $18 plus shipping (about $7).

Jewelry Making

I know I have been slacking on my blog recently, but I am trying to catch up a little bit. This is part of the reason. I have been busy trying to make jewelry to sell. Here are some of my creations. You can get all the materials and tools you need from Walmart or most craft stores such as JoAnn's and Michael's. I mostly used glass beads and wire. Enjoy! Leave a comment if you have any questions.

Simple Sewing Projects

Here are some sewing projects I've been working on recently. Yes, I decided to pull out the old sewing machine and dust it off.

Bean Bags. You can buy the filling below from Amazon.

Next, I made a pillow for Snugglepuppy and a mini one for his teddy bear.

Last, I made a 10-minute table runner. Admittedly, it took longer than 10 minutes. Some of that was due to technical difficulties, so I think if I make anymore it will be much faster. Here's the video:

Thrift Store Finds

Recently, I have been doing a lot of back-to-school thrift store shopping. Here are just some of my awesome finds.

Most of this was 50 cents or less. The 2 puzzles at the bottom came as a set for .75! Got some geoboards, a few games, xylophone and bowling set for the kid.

Here are my craft finds. Little of this and that. Also found some more scrapbook items for cheap at Ollie's that are not pictured here.

Books galore. Gotta feed my addiction. All these added up cost me only $13.00. I would say that's a deal, how about you?

Happy bargain hunting!

Tutorial Tuesday

Well, I have no guest bloggers scheduled for today, so I thought I would share a couple of tutorials I have posted in the past.

DIY Feltboard

Texture Sequencing Sticks

Fuzzy Caterpillar

Enjoy and have fun creating!

Tutorial Tuesday: Tissue Paper Containers

I have a bunch of these little baby food jars covered in tissue paper around the house that the big kids have made over the years at school. They usually come home with a little tea light candle in them and they usually get made around Christmas time and Mother's Day.

I thought Sammie would enjoy making some of these type of jars, but I don't have any baby food jars here anymore. I'm not sure why I didn't save them from when Austin ate baby food. So we went through our recycling bin and box of recycling items that I have saved to look for suitable containers. We found an empty mayo container and an  icing container and decided to use those We got out the tissue paper squares that we have left over from our tissue paper and glue pictures and our stained glass Canadian flags. Maddie put some white glue in a couple of little dishes and watered it down with a little water. The glue was just watered down enough that it could be painted with.  And since the weather was so beautiful, we took our supplies and did our craft outside :)

I showed Sammie how to paint some glue onto her container and then stick the tissue paper squares to the glue.

She covered her container with the tissue paper and then painted another layer of glue over top of the tissue paper to make sure the tissue paper was completely wet with glue.

Once they were all covered, we set them upside down to dry.

While their first containers were drying, they decided to do a couple more containers. This time they choose some of craft supply containers to decorate. Maddie even covered the lid of her container, making an almost sun shaped design.

All four of their containers. :) The big ones will be used as they originally were, to hold craft supplies, and the little ones will probably be used for pencil holders or maybe flower vases. :)

The girls had fun decorating their containers, although Sammie was getting a little frustrated that she kept getting glue on her fingers. I think I will have to see if I can find either some baby food jars or some other glass jars to make the candle holders like they do at school. They look so prety with the candle lighting them up from the inside :)

5 Cheap and Easy Crafts for Kids

5 Cheap and Easy Crafts for Kids

Crafts don’t have to be expensive to be both fun and useful. With some imagination and inventiveness, inexpensive craft projects can become a work of art. Take crafting to the next level and make it a learning experience too with these five cheap and easy kids’ crafts.

1. 1.   Treasure box – Any box will do. Old shoe boxes, gift boxes, any box with a lid can make a great treasure box. Have the kids decorate it with stickers, colorful paper, material, or even macaroni and they have a fun place to store the little odds and ends they pick up.
   2.   Collage- Wall art was never easier. Using old magazines and photos have children decorate a piece of poster board with all their favorite things, people, and places. Include the year somewhere on there and they can make a timeline of their interests and adventures. A perianal activity that will bring back great memories as they get older.
   3.   Journal – A personalized journal is a great way to get kids writing. A plain spiral notebook can be turned into an exciting work of art. Just have kids collage or decoupage the cover, adding their own personality to the notebook.
   4. Storybook – Similar to a journal, a storybook is a great way to encourage artistic expression and creativity. Have children write their own story with illustrations and then bind it together in a book that they created. Thick paper, like construction paper, works best to keep the book together. Simply use a hole puncher and some yarn to tie it together.
   5.   Fun with boxes- A large box can become anything kids desire. A spaceship, a doll house, a car, no matter what they are interested in, a cardboard box can become it. All it takes is some markers or crayons and a little imagination. You can help out by cutting windows and doors, and the box can even become a robot or alien costume in a pinch. Let the kids go crazy and see what they come up with.

With just a little effort and a lot of creativity, kids can make useful, fun crafts with everyday items. Look around and see what you can find. You might be surprised at the inventive crafts you can come up with too!

Author Bio 

Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to become a nanny by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.

Upcycling Beads and Charms

So here is my crafty invention for the week. (Although I'm sure someone has done it before and way better). I decorated a bead and a charm from an old necklace using my Cricut and some Mod Podge.

Let me just start by saying, I have never used Mod Podge before. This was my first attempt. I have been seeing so many crafts online using it, I had to buy some and try it out. I have all kinds of ideas to try, but let's start with one at a time.

First, I cut small designs out of paper(thin purple paper for the stars on the bead) or sticker paper(gold for the charm):

Then I stuck the cutouts to the bead and charm and applied the Mod Podge:

Very simple process. I think the results were... ok for my first time. You can't see the Mod Podge on the bead much, but there are some streaks on the charm. I think it was the type of brush I used. Next time, I would use a softer smoother brush.

I think you could do something similar to this with kids. The Mod Podge would have to be carefully supervised though. I am pretty sure it's toxic judging by the smell of it. Have the children get creative and see what they would want to decorate... a pet rock perhaps :)

What have you used Mod Podge for? Let me know what you think!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Hot Cocoa Craft and Cheeseball Recipe

Here is a craft I made for the neighbors and as a grandparents gift from the baby. I got this idea from here, but I did mine a little differently. I didn't use pieces of fabric. I just printed out lables with the instructions and glued it on and I used mini candy canes as well. Also, instead of buying the hot cocoa mix and marshmallows separately, I just bought the kind that already has marshmallows in it. I think they turned out ok, except I didn't actually measure the hot cocoa, so I hope it's not too much.

Here are the labels I made and printed out:

I thought I would also include a ham cheeseball recipe that my family makes every year at Christmas. Usually with leftover ham, but I had some already, so I decided to go ahead and make it early.

1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup Mayonnaise

2 cups ground cooked ham

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp minced onion

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Beat cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in next 5 ingredients. Cover; chill several hours. Form into ball; roll in nuts to coat. Serve with crackers. 

I like mine better without the nuts, but it's up to you. Plus, I don't always make mine into a ball. This time, I just put it into my Christmas frog dish and used it like a spread. Hope you enjoy!

Click here to see where I link up!

Brain Overload/New Etsy Shop!

So, it was my first day back to work. All I can say is too much info! Lol. There is a lot going on at CDC Head Start this year. Hopefully, I will be sharing lots of things we are implementing in the classroom this year. For more information about the National Head Start Association, click the link.

Also, my shop on Etsy is now open, Cachey Mama's Creations. So far, I just have my wine bottle lamps for sale which make very good gifts. I hope to be adding jewelry and other various crafts soon. Please check out my shop and tell your friends!!!