Kid Craft: Mixed Media Hearts

I got the great idea of having my 4 year old daughter make 40 of these hearts for Valentine's Day. And when I say great, I really mean absurd because what 4 year old has the attention span to make 40 of these? For that matter, what adult has the patience to make 40 of these? Not me. That being said, it's still a craft worth sharing. It's a fun art project that gives a child complete creative freedom. To me, that's the best kind of kid craft.

Supplies:
Paper
Scissors
Glue
Embellishments: beads, jewels, lace, stickers, or whatever you have around the house.

Cut out hearts. Place the glue out along with all the embellishments. Let them glue to their heart's desire.

Now, what to do with the 40 hearts that need to be decorated by tomorrow????

* Update: I shared in the comments what I did with the 40 hearts if you're curious.

Thinking Outside of The Heart Shaped Box

Sakuranbo - Cherry in a flavored gelatin

If you're looking for something different to give for Valentine's Day this year, consider some Japanese sweets. I purchased this Sakuranbo confection at J. Sweets in the Mitsuwa Market. Not only do the confections taste good but they're also beautifully wrapped. Now, I realize many of you don't live close to a store like this. In that case, see what other specialty food stores are in your area. You never know what you might discover.

Box of Yuzu Goromo

Yuzu Goromo - Candied yuzu filled with sweet an

Rockin' Valentine's Day Cards

Here at the Okui household it's all about the video game Rock Band 2. My son particularly is obsessed with the game. I find him making microphones and singing E-Pro. He even has a new nighttime ritual of brushing his teeth to "Eye of The Tiger", never saw that coming. So when it was time to make his Valentine cards, I knew just where to look for inspiration.

Supplies:
Hear Shaped Lollipops
White Card Stock
Scissors
Hole Punch
Double Stick Tape
Click on image to make it larger, right click, copy and save the clip art onto a document such as word. It's designed to fit on a landscape (11 x 8 1/2) page. Print out on heavy card stock.


Cut out the cards and punch a hole in the center of them, refer to picture.

Fold in the packaging of the lollipop and tape down. This will prevent it from showing once the card is attached.

Place the card onto the lollipop stick. Using double stick tape, attach the bottom corners of the guitar together. Rock out.

Upcycle: Heart Clips

I've said it before and I'll say it again, inspiration can come from the most unlikely sources. For example, this heart clip was inspired by. . .

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a plastic bread clip! One day I was looking at the plastic clip and began wondering what it would look like bigger. Then I threw in the idea of a shape. And before I knew it, I had a full blown craft project on my hands. The next question was what to use for materials. I dug into the recycling bin, pulled out a plastic container, and got to work. Here's how I made it.

Supplies:
Clear plastic from packaging
Heavy duty scissors
Staz On ink pad
Rubber stamps
One plastic bread clip
Permanent markers

Cut out a heart from the plastic.

Trace the inside of the bread clip onto the plastic heart. Cut out the hole with a pair of scissors.


Stamp the heart with any image you like. The most important thing is to use an ink made for plastic such as Staz On.

Twist your bag and attach the clip just like you would a bread clip.

Other ideas: Make other shapes, squares, circles, etc. Color in stamps with permanent markers. Write directly on the plastic with permanent markers. Skip the bread clip part and punch a hole in the plastic and tie with string.

Valentine's Day Crafts

It's hard to believe that I've created enough Valentine Craft tutorials, to put together a round up. I suppose that's what happens when one has been blogging for four years ( yikes).

Just click on a picture to go to the tutorial.

Glitter, Doilies, & Hearts, Oh My!

My latest creation is this glitter heart doily. I've been experimenting with doilies over the past week and got the idea of covering them in glitter. I plan on using the hearts for Valentine's Day Cards. But until then, I thought I would share how to make the hearts. Simple directions below.

Supplies:
Scissors
Glue
Doilies - the more lacy, the better
Glitter
Paint brush
Toothpicks

Cut out heart shapes from the lacy part of a doily. Paint glue on the top. Cover in glitter and shake the excess glitter off. Let dry. Poke any holes with a toothpick that got filled in with glitter. Done.

* The hearts look better in person. The pictures just don't do them justice.

Craft Project: Doily Bookmarks

Here's an easy bookmark to make for Valentine's Day or just because.

Supplies:
Heavy Weight Doily
Scissors
Exacto Knife

Here's the doily I used to make the bookmark. Any doily will do, you don't need the same one.

Outlined in black is where I cut the doily. Just work with the pattern of your doily to cut out a shape.

With an exacto knife, cut in the center of the doily. Once again, where you decide to cut will depend on your doily pattern.

Place on page.

I just finished reading "Fortune's Rocks" and have now started reading "Son of A Witch" (sequel to Wicked). What's everyone else reading? Recommendations welcome.

Craft Tutorial: Kewpie Valentine

Today I've been experimenting with cupcake holders for Valentine cards. I cut out paper cupcake holders into different size hearts and stacked them together. Then I glued the cupcake holders to some kewpie clip art hearts I found via Pokey Patch. I like how the Valentines ended up having a vintage feel to them. I could see these used to adorn packages or made on a smaller scale for a brooch. Lots of possibilities.

Japanese Wrapping Book

Last weekend I got a chance to visit the Kinokuniya Bookstore. And of course, I couldn't leave the store without buying at least one craft book. I purchased the book pictured above "Wrapping Book" (ISBN978-4-415-30519-6). What sold me on it were two craft projects. The first one you can see on the cover of the book. It's a squirrel glued to a glass jar filled with nuts. There's also grass paper wrapped around the jar. Clever no? The second project that made me take this book home was a brown bag decorated to look like a house. In fact, I already gave the project a try and took some pictures to share.


Wouldn't this make a sweet treat bag for Valentines Day filled with cookies?


To make the roof I used a striped card stock to resemble an awning. In the book they used a plaid print. Really just about any print would look good.

Craft Project: Sequins Bookmark

Today I'm contributing over at Blissfully Domestic. You can find the full instructions on how to make the sequins bookmark here. Hope to see you over there.

Clip Art Craft: Valentine Card

Valentine's Day is approaching soon which means it's time to start making Valentine cards. Each year I like to make an original Valentine to pass out. When I started brainstorming, I knew I wanted to incorporate a snail (don't ask me why). After a little thought it occurred to me that a lollipop would make a cute shell for the snail. So, if you want to give out snail valentines this year, clip art plus simple directions below. Enjoy.

1. Right click, copy, and save the clip art to a file. The clip art should fit on a letter (8 1/2 by 11) size page. You should get four snail valentines per page.

2. Print on heavy card stock and cut out images.

3. With an exacto knife cut a slit in the center of the snail. Place a lollipop in through the slit (refer to picture). You can also use a hole punch instead. Tape the lollipop stick to back of the paper. Done.