Halloween Goodie Box

In preparation for tomorrow, Stephen and I bought a huge bag of Halloween candy. I'm not sure how many trick-or-treaters we'll get since we live at the end of a street that no one knows exists, but we're prepared! Anyway, I don't have a festive bowl or spooky cauldron to put it in, so I decided to make a few of these boxes. Yes, I realize it's totally impractical to make these for trick-or-treaters, especially for those of you that get hundreds of them, but they'd be super cute for your kids or to give them to friends and family. All you need to do is print, cut, fold and tape and voila you've got a handy little goodie box!

☛ DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE ☚

Halloween Bunting Banner

Where has fall gone? The other day we went to a RSL game and it started snowing! I was surprised that it had gotten so cold so fast! I'm not going to lie, we're kind of excited for snow! Stephen will get to ski and I will enjoy turning on the fireplace and sipping hot cocoa while it comes down outside! It seems so much nicer when you don't have to walk to school or classes in it! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to our fireplace (we've never had one before), not only because it's going to heat part of our home, but because we get to decorate the mantel for holidays! I'm such a girl, I know. Right now it's adorned with pumpkins and pictures, but I thought it needed something more... like a banner. That's when I came up with this printable. I made several copies of it so that it would reach across the length of the fireplace, I cut/hole punched them and then strung them up with some really cute twine. I love the touch it adds, and I hope you will too!

☛ DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE ☚

A Simple Superhero Cape

Earlier this week I made a little superhero cape for Will. He had been pretending like his sister's dresses were capes and would throw them over his shoulders and hold them by the sleeves. I figured maybe it was time for the real deal, although when I gave it to him it took a while for him to realize what it was and actually put it on. Anyway, this project only cost about $6 and took less than 30 minutes to make. Here's what you'll need:

 1. To begin, start by tracing the letter you want onto the paper. I used a 2" ruler to do this. Once you have it drawn, cut it out and pin to the yellow felt. Cut out. Lay the yellow letter onto the red piece of felt and pin. Cut around it to make a shape that looks nice with whatever letter you have chosen. It doesn't have to be perfect.

 2. Next, pin around all edges of the yellow letter. Sew as close to the edge as possible. Make sure you topstitch with yellow thread and use blue thread for your bobbin (it will look better on the back). Once you have stitched that, place it onto the blue fabric, making sure to center/level it. Topstitch around the edges with red thread, keeping the blue thread as your bobbin. Once the letter is securely attached, begin to work on finishing the raw edges of the cape.

 3. Take the two side edges (left and right) and fold in ¼", press. Fold the bottom edge in ¼", press. Return to the sides and fold an additional ¼", press. Then turn up the bottom 1" and press. It should look like the picture below. Pin in place and stitch around the inner edges to keep in place.

 4. Now lets finish the top. Since I had a selvage I was able to just fold it over ¾" and sew along the edge, but if you don't have a selvage, fold the raw edge ¼", press and then fold over ¾", press. Stitch the folded edge at ¹⁄₈". That way you have a casing for your ribbon or string to go through. In order to get your ribbon through, you may want to consider pining a safety pin to the edge and using that to guide you through. Once you have the string through, gather evenly on the edges of the cape (you want the leave the middle section ungathered so your letter doesn't get messed up). Once they are even and the string is even at both ends, stitch in place vertically before the gathering begins and right where the seam is at the edge of the fabric. This way the gathering stays in place and it will always look nice and even.

5. To finish, trim all threads, press any wrinkles out and make sure the edges of the ribbon or string are finished so they do not fray (sew, use fray check, heat treat it). Then you're done! Now you can make them in all sorts of colors!

You Are My Sunshine- I Spy/Taggie Toy

 Several months ago I stocked up on felt and bought some of the items to make little I spy bags. Just yesterday I came across the box I had tossed the materials in and decided it was time to make something of it all. I had this idea of making them into cute little shapes (fish, turtle, whale), but then I thought it would be cute to combine the felt with scraps of ribbon to make an I spy bag/taggie. If you would like to make one, here is what you need:

Materials

1-2 bags of clear craft beads (any shape)

Alphabet beads, sequins, decorative buttons, any other little trinkets

Clear vinyl (1) 7x7" square (can be found in the home decor section at JoAnn Fabrics,

just take that giant roll up to the counter and have them cut you off a big strip)

Felt (2) 7x7" squares

3 different colors of ribbon (15" of each)

Thread, scissors, pins

Fabric Marker or Pencil

2 circles to trace (1 big, 1 small)

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The size of your felt and vinyl will depend on how big the circular items you trace are.

My Corningware lid was a little bigger than 6" in diameter.

1. To get started, cut two squares of felt (measure the diameter of your biggest circle and add a 1/4"). Trace and cut both squares of felt into two large circles. Then take one and cut a smaller circle into the center of it. This will be the piece with the vinyl window. Cut the vinyl to match the size of the large circle.

 2. Take the ribbon and cut into (3) 5" pieces. You should have a total of 9 pieces of ribbon. Fold over the ribbon and pin the raw edges to the top of the solid felt circle. About 1/4" of ribbon should overlap the felt. Grab the circle with the hole, lay it on top of the vinyl circle and pin in place. Stitch closely around the inner edge (pictured below). Place the piece with the vinyl window on top of the piece with the ribbons. One pin at a time, remove and re-pin so that the pins are on the surface of the circle with the vinyl window (but are still holding the ribbon in place). Sew together leaving a 1 1/2" gap so that you can fill it up. Layer in objects and beads. Leave enough room so that the items can move around and so that you can sew it up without having anything in the way. With your machine, stitch over the gap, making sure to backstitch or "fix" at both ends. Examine edges to make sure there are no holes.

3. Remove any unwanted threads or excess vinyl around the edges. If desired, press ribbon edges to flatten. It's done!

Shortly after making the sun I realized that I had some brown and green ribbon left over from our wedding- score! So of course I had to make an apple. As you can see, you can make pretty much anything. Happy sewing!

P.S. I'd love to see your creations... if you make one, comment and leave me a link!

This tutorial is currently being featured over at Nap Time Crafters.

Past St. Patrick's Day Projects

This past week has been a little weird to say the least. Stephen is off school and I've had 3 classes and Cub Scouts this week. I guess were switching things up? Along with the schedule change I've been trying to spring clean, finish sewing projects and shoot/edit photos for homework. Needless to say, I'm feeling a little worn down. I thought spending an afternoon at the beach would be the cure, but things have only worsened since then. Maybe it's the warmer weather + pollen + wind (allergies perhaps?). I don't know. I've just been tired and with the usual sore throat stuffy nose. So unlike last year and all of it's St. Patrick's Day crafty gloriousness... this year I made cookies. And that is it. Sorry to disappoint. However, if you need some inspiration, I put links to past projects, so check them out.

1. Clover Garland

 2. Pots of Gold

 3. Potato Clover Stamps

 4. Button Necklace

 5. Felt Clover Pin

 6. Rainbow Cupcakes

 7. Rainbow Jello

 8. Lucky Charm Bars

9. Green Eggs and Ham Cups

10. Festive/Favorite Recipes

Tutorial: Heart Gift Bag

This morning I was running errands and suddenly remembered that I needed a bag for Stephen's Valentine's Day present. Being that it was so last minute, the only bag I could find was this really plain brown bag. So when I got home I grabbed some acrylic paint that I had laying around and whipped up this little beauty. You could do it any color you want, any size and you could even use glitter paint- I think he will thank me for not doing that though :)

What you'll need: A gift bag, some paint (it can be glittered), a paint brush, painter's tape, pencil, scissors and a piece of cardstock. To start, fold the cardstock in half, draw half of a heart on the cardstock. Cut out with scissors and open. Make sure you leave room at the top and bottom of the cardstock so that you have a full stencil.

 Tape the stencil to your bag, making sure it is flat (also you will want to gently press down the tape so it doesn't end up ripping part of your bag off when you remove it). Then press the stencil down with your free hand and paint around the edge of the heart. Once the edge is of the heart is finished, fill in the center. Carefully remove the stencil and touch up any rough edges. And voilà, you'll have a perfect heart!

Tootsie Pop Valentines

Katie and I put together these valentines for Emme to give to her friends + classmates at school. Katie found the idea over at Eighteen25 (their site has a lot of cute ideas for 3D valentines). They were pretty simple to put together, the hardest part was trying to get a 3 year old to stick her hand out exactly where it needed to be/ look at the camera simultaneously. But once we got the shot we added a message to it in Photoshop and had the image printed as a 4x6 at Costco. Then all that was left to do was mount the photos on the cardstock and cut two slits above and below her hand to put the tootsie pop through. These are quick and easy to make, and certainly one-of-a-kind.

Today in a nutshell

This morning we got up, Stephen started studying and I went off to the Mac store to find someone to help me with my iPhoto disaster. Luckily everything is back to normal and all of my pictures have been restored- hooray! Then it was off to JoAnn's and Target. Can I just say I love Target during Christmas time?! I was pleasantly surprised to find that "muddy buddy" mix I mention in a previous post and a few other fun things including this ornament...

... which just happens to look a lot like the KitchenAid I have :). Stephen and I are continuing one of my family's traditions of picking out a vintage glass ornament each year that represents us in some way or another. So far we've got a pretty fun collection. I think it will be cool to see what it looks like in a couple more years. Anyway, after going to the stores I headed over to Katie's house to help make some mason jar "winter wonderlands" like we made here. 

I made some snowman ornaments I saw at Target and decided it would also be fun to try to make other "festive" ornaments with those handy dandy clear ones. So Rudolf it was.

Once Emme woke up from her nap she joined in on the craftiness by playing in a bowl of fake snow, ringing jingle bells and making little foam Christmas trees. 

When we were done I headed back home to see how Stephen was doing. We were both really hungry so for dinner I made a lightened up lasagna. I was a little worried about putting raw zucchini and squash in it, but I baked it a little longer than I normally would and it turned out great- husband approved.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients

1 (10oz) package frozen spinach, thawed according to directions on package

1 zucchini, sliced into thin rounds

1 yellow crooked neck squash, sliced into thin rounds

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (14.5oz) can tomato sauce

1 (6oz) can tomato paste

1 c. part skim ricotta cheese

1/2 c. low fat cottage cheese

1 c. low-moisture part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp. oregano

1 tbsp. fresh basil (I use the Gourmet Garden squeeze tubes)

1 tbsp. fresh parsley (I use the Gourmet Garden squeeze tubes)

2 tsp. salt

1 (10oz) package lasagna noodles

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring pot of water to a boil. Place lasagna noodles in and cook until al dente (they will finish as they bake).

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan over low heat, saute 1/2 of the minced garlic and 1/2 of the diced onion. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and 1 tsp. salt. Bring to a low simmer.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, cottage cheese, 1/3 c. mozzarella, beaten egg, oregano, basil, parsley and remaining salt, garlic and onion. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. 

4. Begin assembling by spooning a small amount of sauce over the bottom of a baking pan. Arrange noodles, overlapping if necessary to cover bottom.

5. Place half of the sliced zucchini and squash over the noodles. Then spoon cheese mixture over. Place remaining vegetables on top, covering them with a layer of sauce. Cover with remaining noodles and spoon remaining sauce over. Sprinkle with 2/3c. mozzarella and place into oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Cub Scout gift #2

For our second and final gift, we made these really simple ornaments-

Stained Glass Ornaments
Materials:
Acrylic paint (2-3 colors)
Glass ornaments
Ribbon

Directions:
1. Remove top. Pour small dabs of paint into each ornament. Swirl.
2. Allow to dry for 7-10 days (or however long your paint requires).
3. Re-insert top. Thread ribbon through loop and tie a bow.

During my search for ideas, I found some cool ornaments on...

... West Elm's website...

... and on apartment therapy...

... and on Better Homes and Gardens...

... and of course, on Pinterest.

But really, clear glass ornaments can be filled with just about anything.

Cub Scout gift #1

                                                 Ours: $6                                                                          Anthropologie's: $38

The first gift that we made for Cub Scouts was this Christmas "Winter Wonderland" snow globe. I got this idea the other day when Stephen and I were walking through Anthropologie. They had just put out all of their Christmas decor and I thought these were cute, clever and perfect for their achievement. If you're interested in making one, here's what you'll need:

Winter Wonderland Snow Globes
Materials:
1 large mason jar with a ring and seal
1 bag of craft snow or fine white glitter
1-3 trees
Super glue (I used Gorilla Glue)
*small pinecones, optional
Directions:
1. Glue tree(s) to the back of the seal. Allow to dry completely.
2. Pour craft snow or glitter into jar (you'll need about 1 cup)
3. Place seal on top and securely fasten seal.
    (if you think kids are going to take it apart, you can put a line
    of glue around the seal so it cannot be opened)
4. Turn over jar and shake snow down to bottom.

Mitt Romney Pumpkin

Stephen has been working on a pumpkin for our friends Katie and Bill. 

This is what it looked like when it was almost finished...

Almost finished

And this is what it looked like finished!