Upcycle: Laundry Detergent Shakers

We have no sink in our laundry room which means I have to hand wash clothes in the bathroom. I'm always dragging the giant laundry detergent container into the bathroom. Anyone else do this? I know there are worse inconveniences but it just seems silly to do this all the time. So, I converted one of my empty spice jars into a laundry detergent shaker. Now when I need to hand wash something, it's right there waiting for me to use. I just sprinkle a little detergent in the water and start washing. Problem solved with a little craftiness.

1. Clean out spice jar. Remove label with soap and water.

2. Choose a coordinating paper that matches lid. Cut paper to fit jar. Glue on. Let dry

3. Add a self-adhesive white mailing label. Done.

Get shaking!

Kid Craft: Quarter Rubbings

All school year my son's class has been learning how to count money. Besides learning the value of the coins, they also need to be familiar with all quarters for STAR test purposes. So, I came up with this idea of quarter rubbings. Many of the kids don't have quarter book collections or even access to money. This project allows kids to see the coins, interact with them, and keep a record of all the different quarters available.

Below you'll find five templates for the quarter rubbings. I also share some tips on how to get the best results.

Click on a template to enlarge image, right click, copy, save, print in landscape. You might need to adjust the scale of the image. All templates are designed to fit a 11" x 8 1/2" paper.

Place quarter under paper. If the child has trouble holding it down, try using a removable glue dot to hold in place. Using a colored pencil (works better than crayon) color over the quarter in a circular motion making sure not to press too hard. Soon the quarter's image will appear like magic!

Craft Book Review: Beasties

Beasties by Diana Schoenbrun

I was recently sent of the book Beasties by Diana Schoenbrun. Diana is a stuffed animal artist and children's book illustrator. You can find more of her work on her site, Diana Schoenbrun.

Beasties is a book compiled with 22 softie monster patterns. But they're not just any monsters, they're legendary mystical monsters from around the world. Some of the creatures include, Adaro from the Solomon Islands, Ccoa from Peru, and Chonchon from Chile. You'll also find a chapter dedicated to sewing basics which includes sewing terminology and illustrations for sewing stitches. All the patterns are rated easy, medium and advanced. However, I would recommend this book to intermediate sewers simply because the directions are in written form opposed to photos/illustrations.

What I like about this book is that the softies can appeal to all ages, boy and girl. When my seven year old son saw the cover his exact word was, "cool!".

Some Beasties you will find in the book.

My personal favorite beastie, Baku, the Japanese monster that consumes your nightmares so you don't remember them.

Upcycle: Valentine Heart Pouches

Want to take a guess at what these heart pouches are made of? Here's a clue, usually someone sends them to you. Still not sure what they are? Here's the answer . . .

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envelopes!

These hearts are very easy and addicting to make. I've got a whole bunch of them lying around the house just waiting to be decorated. All you need is an envelope and a pair of scissors to get started. Directions below.

Cut the corner off the bottom of an envelope.

Cut out heart shape as pictured above.

Done! You now have an heart pouch to fill with love notes, candy, etc.

Decorate them anyway you want. You can even seal the top edges with a little glue to make a packet.

Craft: Origami Heart Valentines

As promised, here's one of the valentine projects I've been working on. It's a really simple craft, just a lollipop covered with an origami heart. I could picture the hearts set up on a dessert table, Amy Atlas style. Or, use them as a unique valentine for kids.

Supplies
Origami paper - I used 6" x 6" washi paper that I stamped with hearts
Lollipops - any kind that are small - I used dum dums
Hole punch
Double stick tape

Fold heart with directions above. Click on image for a larger view.

On the back side of the heart, lift the flap up. Punch a hole in the bottom of the corner pocket. Make sure the hole doesn't show through the front.

Add the lollipop. Close flap back down and tape closed. Done! Both pictures are the back side of the valentine.

Optional - write messages on the back of hearts before adding lollipops.

Brainstorming

While brainstorming ideas for Valentine cards, I came up with the concept of a simple crumpled paper with a sweet love note and something shiny in it. For some reason I just love the idea of a castaway crumpled paper secretly holding a precious gift. Thus, the inspiration for the photo.

In the off chance there are any men besides my husband reading this blog. And, the really off chance that someone wants to use this idea, may I make a suggestion? If you're going to try to pull this off, there needs to be a nice piece of jewelry in there. Lets say, oh I don't know, just off the top of my head... the Chanel Verdura-inspired cross pendant necklace from the spring/summer 2011 collection. Just a thought.

Valentine craft projects coming soon, promise.

Spring Shoes

Sometimes I have to share a good thing when I see it and these shoes are just that, a good thing. I purchased them at Target which I'll admit isn't that special in itself. However, pair that with a cute flower print, a child size shoe and an excellent price, now we're talking! At first I didn't even consider buying them because they were kid shoes. Then after a little shopping I had my "aha moment" as Oprah would say. I thought, "I have small feet, I can fit into kid shoes, I can buy these! (slight cackle)". And then I did just that, figured out my size (4) and bought them. My only regret, they didn't have them in my daughter's size (oh, the irony).

Craft: Clothespin Magnets

Here's a little handy craft for the kitchen, clothespin magnets. These clothespins can hold up notes or heavier items such as tea towels. Place them on the fridge or an office idea board. Directions below.

Supplies:
E6000 glue
Clothespins
Heavy duty magnets - can be found at the hardware store
Decorative paper
Glue
Clear embossing powder
Scissors
Wood carving tool - or any other carving tool

Trace magnet on the back of clothespin. Carve out hole to fit magnet. I actually used my linoleum cutter to do this. Make sure magnet fits. Set magnet aside for later, don't glue yet.

Cut out paper to fit the top of the clothespin. Glue. Let dry.

*Craft tip - cut up basic kitchen sponges for spreading glue. They're a great substitute for those craft sponge brushes.

Cover with clear embossing powder. Make sure there's an even coat covering the entire clothespin. Place on tinfoil and put it in the toaster oven. Take out when the powder melts. This only takes about 30 seconds so don't take your eyes off it!

*other option - substitute this step for diamond glaze


Once cool, glue your magnet inside the back of the clothespin. Let glue set up for an entire day.

*You'll notice that the metal part of the clothespin showed through a little on the clothespins (click picture for a better view). To avoid this, I'd cover the metal with plain paper before gluing on the decorative paper. I figured this out after I took the pictures.

New Year, New Look

You may have noticed I've been making some changes to the blog. I added a new banner, added some side buttons and took down the BlogHer ads. I was desperately in need of a change. I still might tweak a few more things over the next week or so. The content will remain the same. Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

best,

Jessica

Superhero Family Caricature

One of the fun things about having a blog is that you never know what opportunities will come your way. In this case, ABC offered to create a caricature of our family as a part of a promotion for their TV series, No Ordinary Family. We even got to pick are own superhero powers. I chose super speed, my son picked shooting fire with his hands and my daughter wanted to fly. As for my husband, he didn't pick a power so that's why he's just standing there. I think they did a pretty good job with the caricature minus one little mistake. My husband is Japanese, not white. I came up with the idea that his power is shape shifting like Mystique in X-Men but he's not buying it.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with a craft. Our house has been plagued with some awful flu bug which means no energy for crafting. Boo, hiss.

Kid Craft: Comic Books

For the past couple months my son has really been into making comic books. And when I say "really" I mean obsessed. He even asked for a stapler for Christmas so he could make them look more professional. The more he created the comics, the more detailed they got. First I noticed the words, "an epic novel by" on them. Then he started adding a chapter page. And like the true life cycle of a product, they eventually had a price tag. He even tried to sell them to family members!

So, I dedicate this craft to my little author.

The inspiration for this craft, one of Evan's comic books.

Supplies:
Card stock
Copy Paper
Stapler
Templates - all templates were created with a half inch border minus the cover. Right click, copy, save and print template on landscape size (11 x 8.5) paper.

Print out one cover on card stock paper.

Print as many inside pages as desired. Print on both sides of paper.

Print one chapter page and an inside page on the opposite side.

Assemble: Place cover page face down. Place chapter page face down over cover page. Place all inside pages on top of chapter page. Staple down the center. Fold book in half.

Start writing!

Shape Up Your Sticky Notes

The flowers above were made with basic square sticky notes from the office supply store. I got the idea from some standing dog shaped sticky notes I saw at Kinokuniya. It was obvious they were just folded sticky notes so it got me thinking about what else I could create with the concept. Below are a few ideas of what I came up with along with some simple instructions.

Supplies:
Sticky note pads
Die-cuts
Stamps
Scissors

To make the sticky notes in the top picture, slide one sticky note paper in the die cut. Turn the die-cut over to make sure the bottom of the image overlaps on the sticky part. Punch out. Make a ninety degree fold and stick to any surface.

Here I just punched out a shape from one sticky note and added a second sticky note behind it.

Save the date.

Dress up a treat.

Other ideas:

Place sticky notes on top of a gift in replace of the standard gift tag.

Use as a fun, easy place card holder.

One More Japanese Craft Book

ISBN978-4-415-30506-6

Here's the other Japanese craft book that I shared about in an earlier post. The craft book is all about creating cards. What appealed to me most was that many of the cards were made out of scraps from magazines, food packages, airline tickets, etc. It has inspired me to start collecting paper scraps that would normally be tossed into the recycling bin. I hope you will find some of the images as inspiring as I do. Below are a few pictures of my favorite cards from the book.