Felt Pumpkin Tutorial- kids can change the face of the pumpkin anytime!

This is a really easy, and really fun little craft for you to make for your kids leading up to Halloween. The idea came from last year's Halloween pumpkin fiasco. We let our son paint one pumpkin, and help choose the template for carving the rest. Well after all the pumpkins had been carved, he wanted them changed. Yea, that wasn't going to happen. So I've come up with a solution. A felt pumpkin with lots of different eyes, noses and mouths that he can play with to make different faces. It was so easy and cheap to make, and I got it done super fast! Here is how I did it...

What you'll need:

-Felt squares in orange, green and black (or whatever color pumpkins you want to make!)
-A roll of velcro (you can find this for cheap at your local craft store)
-Scissors (because no craft is complete without cutting something you didn't mean to!)
-Hot glue gun





Next, using the orange cut out the shapes of some pumpkins. Then cut out some different shapes for eyes, noses and mouths using the black (or again, whatever colors you want to use for your pumpkins!).

Then using the green cut a little stem for the top of the pumpkin. While you're at all this cutting, go ahead and cut some of the velcro into small strips.

Using the hot glue, attach the stem to the top of the pumpkin and let it dry while you get on with the next task.

Now glue all of those velcro pieces onto the cut outs of the eyes noses and mouths. 

And VIOLA! Once all the glue is dry it's all done and ready for it's face!

or this...

And your kids will love putting all the different shapes on the pumpkin to make different faces!

And there you have it, a really incredibly easy, super frugal craft your kids are going to have so much fun with for Halloween!

Have fun! ~ Miranda

Small Apartment 'Mud Room'

Recently my family downgraded from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment. One of the biggest challenges, especially when you have kids, is the lack of an entryway to put your shoes and bags. This is how I solved my problem:

*First I got frames from Ikea for $1.99 each! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80188456/
I used these as dry erase calendars for the family to remind them of upcoming events. They're perfect for dry erase boards because their plexi and not glass. Instead of putting a picture inside, I used dark scrapbook paper so my dry erase markers would stand out. It's hard to see but it's really cool paper with a light chevron design. Finally I wanted some cool colors so I got a pack of neon dry erase markers from Target.

*To mark who had which calendar, I got wooden letters from Michael's and painted them the color of my choice. For easy removal, I put them on the wall with velcro.

*For our key's I used reusable plastic hooks with double sided tape. These are perfect for apartments because they don't destroy the wall!

*I used 3 Robe Hooks that I found at Target for hanging up belongings like diaper bags and purses. I chose robe hooks because they hold 2 items per hook and are also meant for heavier things.

*AND finally my husband has to have somewhere to put his phones and wallet so I purchased a frame shelf from Ikea. It's perfect for small things because it's like a shelf with a lip at the the end so nothing falls off and it's not too deep :)


That's it! Not a lot really and it's completely transformed the way we organize our things we we come in. For shoes, which are our biggest clutter issue in our house, just put a basket or boot holder on the floor beneath!

Happy Crafting!

-Kelsey

Nap Time Library Bag Tutorial- Guest post

The following post was submitted by Shannon with Sweet Panda Boutique.



Hello readers! My name is Shannon, WAHM behind Sweet Panda Boutique (Sweet Panda Boutique ). I'm delighted to be guest blogging for my new friends, Miranda and Kelsey.

My daughter and I went to story time at the local library last week, and saw some kiddos with super cute library totes! What a great idea. Totes give preschoolers ownership over their responsibility to take care of and return their borrowed books. When the books live in the tote, it's easy to keep them separate from a home library as well. Of course, it's also an excuse to use some cute fabric, or up-cycle an item that isn't getting much love. This tote came from curtains that no longer match my daughters décor.

I named this tote “Nap Time Library Bag”, because it can be reasonably sewn in under an hour (unless you rip a lot of seams like I do during experiments). A beginning sewer can make this bag, so give it a shot! Bear with me, it's my first tutorial and original design.

The Nap Time Library Bag

Supplies:

• 1/3 yard of an inner fabric (woven cottons work nicely)
• 1/3 yard of an outer fabric
• Coordinating thread
• Double Fold Bias tape for outer pocket (optional) Length = 1 width of your chosen bag size.
• Fusible interfacing (1/3 yard, optional) (I used interfacing to make the bag a bit more stiff, but your bag will work fine without it. My bag has a front pocket, and you can choose to omit or include that as well.)

Step 1: Wash, dry, and iron your fabric. This is always good to do, as finished items wont shrink when washed, and you'll get rid of the nasty chemicals from fabric production.

Step 2: Cut your fabric. You may choose sizing based upon your needs. I wanted my toddler to be able to handle the bag, so it is small. You can modify and make the straps longer if you choose as well.

Cut 2 for outer, 10 x 12

2 for inner, 10 x 12

2 strips for straps, 3 x 12

Cut 2 pieces of interfacing, 9.5 x 11.5

If including the pocket:

1 length Bias tape, 10 inches

1 pocket outer piece, 10 x 7

1 pocket inner piece, 10 x 7

Fuse the interfacing to the outer fabric pieces per manufacturers instructions. Leaving 1/4” of fabric on each edge

Step 3: Sew the straps. Fold the strips lengthwise and iron. Using a 1/4” seam allowance, sew up the raw edge, end to end. Don't forget to backstitch when you start and stop. Turn inside out, and iron again. Now topstitch 1/4” from both sides, creating a finished strap. Repeat for 2nd strap and set aside.

Step 4: Prepare the pocket (if you aren't using a pocket, go to step 5). Place your inner and outer pocket pieces together, right sides out. Choose a 10” edge and slide bias tape over it. If you look at the tap, on side will be slightly shorter than the other. Put the shorter side in front, where you'll be stitching. Pin in place. Straight stitch near the fold on the bias tape, catching the other side as you stitch. This finishes the top seam of your pocket.

Step 5: Sew your outer shell. If using a pocket, pin the pocket piece to the bottom of your front fabric piece. Make sure the pocket raw edges line up with the outer raw edges. Your finished edge will cross the center of the piece. Pin the back outer piece to the front piece, right sides together. Start sewing from the top left corner to the bottom left corner, using a 1/4” seam allowance. Put your needle down 1/4” from the end, lift the presser foot and turn fabric 90 degrees. Continue sewing across the bottom, turn at corner, and finish at the top right corner. Be sure to leave the top open. Clip the bottom corners. Finish with zig zag stitch or serger.

Step 6: Repeat step 5 for the inner lining pieces.

Step 7: Using 1/8” seam allowance, stitch the straps to the inner lining. Take one strap piece, pin one edge 1.5” from the seam, and the the other edge of the same strap 1.5” from the opposite seam. Be sure the strap is not twisted, and the raw edges from the strap and inner piece match up. Do the same for the 2nd strap on the 2nd lining piece.

Step 8: Sew the inner and outer bags together! Turn the lining bag right side out and the outer bag wrong side out. Place the inner bag inside of the out bag. Right sides will match up. Pin at the side seams to ensure they match. You will need to leave a 2-3” hole to turn the bag when finished. Start sewing with a 1/4” seam allowance at the inside edge of 1 back strap. Continue all the way around the top of the bag until the inside edge of the other back strap. Back stitch. This will leave and open seam at the center back.

Step 9: Turn bag and iron. Using the open edge, pull the bag through until your fabric is right side out. Your project now resembles a bag! Line up the top seams and iron around the opening for easy top stitching. At the opening, turn the raw edges in and iron so they mimic the sewn seams.

Step 10: Top stitch. I like to start at the beginning of the open seam to get that out of the way. Sew across that seam with a 1/8” seam allowance and continue all the way around the top of the bag. Back stitch at beginning and end.

You now have an adorable tote for your kiddo to carry his/her library books in!

Firecracker crayons! Easy kid craft to celebrate the 4th of July!

This is a super easy, fun and frugal way for your kids to celebrate the 4th of July. Chances are you already have everything on hand to make these little firecracker crayon cuties!

You will want to start by peeling the paper off some crayons breaking them up and putting them in a microwave safe bowl. This is where the kids can help. My little guy had a blast peeling the crayons and even more fun breaking up the crayons. With each little snap he giggled and said "YAY!". 

*fact- snacking while crafting makes it even more fun!*

Save the paper from the crayons! You never know when you may need them or find a fun craft or project you can use them for!

After peeling and breaking up all the crayons put the bowl into the microwave. Microwave for 1 minute or 1 1/2 minutes and stir (I used a wooden skewer). Continue this process until the crayons have melted. Please don't forget to use an oven mit while handling the bowl. The melted crayons are hot and the bowl is too. It's best that the parents be in charge of this process while the kids watch.

Here is a chance to get creative. While the crayons were melting I used a knife and shaved some red, white and blue crayons into the mold to add extra spark since these are firecracker crayons. 

After the crayons have melted, and while using an oven mit- pour the mix into your mold. And don't worry if some of the mix pour over like this...

Just quickly use another stirrer to scrape away the overflow before it hardens.

Now you wait for the crayons to harden. This amount of time depends on the size of the molds. You can always put them in the freezer to speed up the process. It took ours a couple of hours. How you want to spend that time is totally up to you, but...

Once the crayons are hardened pop them out of the mold. Your kids can help with this, as long as you are sure they are completely cooled!

End result-

These would also be a fun idea as home made gifts. With the large variety of molds these days your possibilities are endless! 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

~ Miranda

Snow in the Summer- super easy kid fun!

My little guy has been having a hard time recovering from a surgery he had recently, and unfortunately has not been allowed to be outside and run around and enjoy the summer. So we've been left to find ways to occupy our time and hold his interest when the toys are fun anymore and we've watched all our movies at least 3 times. Time to get creative!

We came up with snow in the summer- and it's so simple and easy. You probably already have everything you need in the house. 

My son received some 'shaving cream' as a Christmas present and has never used it. So we busted that out and sprayed it all over the back of a large poster board we didn't need anymore. We smushed the the 'snow' all around, made snowmen and pulled out some cookie cutters to use in it as well. 

Then we splattered some finger paint into the 'snow' and used a straw to swirl all the colors around.

*i love this goldfish crumb face kid!*

This was a simple, easy but fun project for my little guy. I hope you enjoy it too!

~ Miranda

Water Play Tray

My poor little girl is sick! We usually just mope around and watch movies when we're down with the yucks but I can see that she wants something more today and I don't blame her. So here's what we came up with:

All we needed for this project was a finger painting tray, sand sifter beach toy and some large river rocks (much too large to swallow). All of these things I got at Michaels for $9 and it could be cheaper if you have one of their awesome coupons.

I laid the river rocks out in the bottom of the tray, poured a couple inches of water on top and threw in some different small toys as well for different textures that would interest her. That's it! Just let them splash and discover and switch out the toys often for new discoveries. The best thing about this is that each purchase can be easily used for something else:

-The finger painting tray is obvious, just use it for what it was intended!

-The beach toy can be used on vacation or at the park or even in the bathtub

- & if she gets tired of the river rocks, just use them for decoration!

Happy Crafting!

-Kelsey

Craft Dough

Father's Day is sneaking up quickly and if you have a husband like mine, he won't want you to spend any money! Now how am I supposed to show love without money? Just kidding of course, we all know it's the thought that counts...

For this Father's Day I decided a fun project would be a hand-print ornament made from craft dough. It's super simple and fun for the little one too!

Craft Dough:

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of salt
3/4 cup of water

Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes

(This will make a lot of craft dough for multiple projects)


Mix all of the ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and knead until it forms like play-dough.

You can now roll it out with a rolling pin or pinch a piece off, roll it into a ball and then squish it on a flat surface. The latter may be more fun for the little ones :)

I decided to just use the organic shape that was made to have more of a 'kid' feel but you can use cookie cutters or a cup to get cool shapes or a perfect outline.

It's hard to see in the picture above but, yes, that is a hand-print! My little one is too tiny to put a lot of power behind her squish but we can fix that when we paint it! No worries if you have the same issue.

Fact: PB&J covered kids have more fun when crafting

Ok! Now it's time to bake. Set the oven to 300 degrees and I recommend putting these discs on wax paper because they can be hard to remove. Let cook for 25-30 minutes. They should be golden brown like a cookie. Let them set for 10 minutes so they can harden before you start any painting.

I used leftover spray paint from my lamp project: (http://2momsandablog.blogspot.com/2012/06/lamp-shade-re-do.html) and then painted the hand-print with washable purple paint. To finish it up I sprayed it with a spray paint finishing lacquer that I picked up for $3.75 at home depot. You could also let the kids paint it with non-toxic washable paints and then lacquer it!

Don't forget that there is blank space on the back for more coloring or messages...

Happy Crafting!

-Kelsey

Color suds

It can be exhausting keeping a toddler entertained all day. When he has gone through every train, car, coloring book and spoon in the house I have to dig deep to find something that will hold his interest. 

One thing that never fails- bubbles. So how could I top bubbles?

COLOR BUBBLES!

Well, technically these are colored sudsy bubbles made 

from dish soap. Still awesome!

Here's what you do-

Pour some dish soap into a plastic tub 

(I used a larger sized Tupperware container)

Pour water into tub until there are lots and lots of suds

Pour most of the water out until you are left with just mostly suds 

(I had to fill and pour a couple of times to get the amount of suds I wanted)

Put a drops of different food coloring into the suds

Stir, play, enjoy!

*You may also want to put some type of gloves onto yourself and kids- we learned the hard way and had hands and arms that looked like the Hulk for a couple of days after we did this project. But the green eventually came off*

~ Miranda

Lamp Shade Re-do

My little family is currently moving so we're (should I say 'me'?) trying to update our new home without breaking the budget. Now, I picked out a color scheme for my new bedroom that I loved but nothing I already owned worked with my new ideal colors! Would I need to go buy all new things!? I don't think I could convince the frugal hubby that was a necessity so it was time to get crafty. Never fear, lamp shade tutorial is here:

I found this scruffy looking lamp shade/lamp base (a matching set, actually) for $5 which was a total steal because they were just ugly not broken. I then went to my local fabric store which happened to be Joann's and found the perfect fabric for my new bedroom. Now, these lamp shades are large so to be on the safe side I got them to cut 1 1/2 yards.

If I had a drum shade, which is a perfect circle, I could just wrap the fabric around the lamp shade and glue but I have a classic lamp shade and that's a more complex shape.

What I did is made a pattern with tracing paper and it's easier than it sounds:

1. Take tracing paper (OR any paper that can bee seen through like newspaper) and lay it against the  lampshade and tape with scotch tape.
2. Keep taping tracing paper all the way around the shade until it is completely covered.
3. Make sure to tape all of the pieces together so when you pull them off it's all in one piece
4. Take a marker and trace the edges of the lamp, top & bottom.
5. Carefully pull the tracing paper off and secure further with tape if needed.
6. Cut out the pattern but cut and inch or two outside of the lines to give some lee-way.

Phew! That was a lot of explaining!

Now what you should have is a semi-circle:

Ok, now all that's left to do is warm up the hot glue gun (fabric glue would work just as well) and pin your pattern to your fabric.

After pinned, cut it out and adhere it to the lamp shade with your glue of choice, making sure to leave a little overlap of fabric on top and bottom so that you may fold it over the shade for a clean edge.
*You may not line the fabric up correctly at first or need to get out some wrinkles, in other words, it's perfectly normal to do some adjusting. I know I did!*

Here is my finished product:

I spray painted the lamp too! It's 'Rustoleum Metallic: Satin Nickel'

Happy Crafting Y'all!

-Kelsey

2012 Summer Bucket List

Typically when you think of a "bucket list" your mind can go in a direction that can leave you feeling down. But when I saw people putting a new spin on it, I decided to jump on board. 

A Summer bucket list!  

A list of all things you want to do, or in my case, my family wants to do before the summer end.

So our list goes a little something like this:

*make stick airplanes (done!)
*zoo
*make a kiddie carwash
*make homemade lemonade
*ice cream party
*Family BBQ
*have a campfire cookout
*See the waves
*play with water balloons
*watch the sun set
*put our feet in the sand
*watch the fireworks on the 4th of July
*build a sand castle
*play putt putt
*have a picnic
*ride on a boat
*make sno cones

After we've done one of the things on our list, we will drop that clothes pin in the bucket.

I placed the bucket in our living room, so I will see it every day to remind me that this summer is about having fun as a family, and to motivate us to do all the wonderful things we want to do!

I will be updating on our progress as the summer goes on. 

~ Miranda