washcloth bunnies

Petite Planet shows you how to make these adorable washcloth bunnies for your Easter baskets. Choose washcloths in a festive color and bring them to life as cute little bunnies! They may then be used as washcloths for bath time or you can put an ice cube in the little loop you formed for their body and use as boo-boo bunnies to cool any bumps and bruises.

Via Craft: Blog

vintage figurines turned ornaments

I had a few vintage Christmas figurines lying around with no home. They are tiny and really didn't really fit into any of our holiday decor. After seeing the gnome ornament by Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane yesterday I knew just what to do with them. Turn them into ornaments of course! I twisted up some pipe cleaners and with a little glue gun I gave them a purpose.

They are so stinkin' cute, aren't they?!

christmas ornaments

I love creating handmade ornaments to adorn our tree. I blogged last year about the handmade ornaments I have created since 2002. Ethan is still swiping ornaments from the tree this year, I think he has a special place in his heart for them too!

Last year slipped by me and this year I'm cutting it close but, the more I thought about it the more I realized I want to create a new ornament this year and keep the tradition going. There are so many wonderful ideas online for homemade ornaments to create. Shall I choose recycled, re-purposed, beaded or painted?! hmm... I haven't made up my mind yet, although I do know I will be using what I already have around the house mixed with the wonderful ideas I've stumbled upon below.

Recycled Paper Roll Ornament by Regina at Creative Kismet
[via Creative Every Day blog]

Gnome Ornament by Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane
[via Craft blog]

Plastic Toy Ornament by Heather Sitarzewski
[via Craft blog]

Recycled holiday card ornaments
[via marthastewart.com]

Cookie Cutter Ornaments
[via marthastewart.com]


Tree Bling Ornament by Jamie Hogsett
[via softflexcompany.com]

Beaded Snowflakes
[via marthastewart.com]

Pipe Cleaner Snowflakes
[ via marthastewart.com]

holiday wreath

I created a holiday wreath for our front door from an old spring wreath that had seen better days (many years ago) combined with poinsettia and holly flowers I found when going through our Christmas storage. Here is what is looked like before ...

ship's ahoy! father's day card

Ethan and Hudson made this sea worthy card for Bert for father's day. I stumbled onto the ships ahoy! father's day tutorial over at Nini Makes blog and thought it was a perfect card to make with the boys. Hudson painted the ship and flag while Ethan painted the 2 sails and helped glue it all together. I used a scrap piece of cardboard as the card and heavy paper for the ship parts. I'm trying to think up a clever note for the inside in pirate talk ... how's this? Shiver me timbers! We mateys think you be the best captain there ever be!

Happy Father's Day!

bridal party scrapbook

Kelly's maid of honor came up with the awesome idea of giving her a bridal party scrapbook.

She purchased a lovely scrapbook album and asked all of us bridesmaids to create 1 or 2 (12x12) scrapbook pages on our own. What we did was entirely up to us. The final pages were placed them in the album and we all presented it to Kelly at her bridal shower. It was a really thoughtful gift. Each person had totally unique ideas about how to create their pages. Some used old nostalgic photos, some recent photos, some were embellished with her destination wedding theme in mind, some were fun, some were heartfelt, but all were special.

Above is the 2 page spread I created. On the left I have little graphic bodies dancing with heads of me, Katie & Kelly. On the right I used 2 photos of the 3 of us taken at Kelly and Joe's Engagement party. I also placed a little envelope and a note inside with well wishes for Kelly & Joe.

It was such a nice way to say to Kelly, we love you.

rosary beads

With the passing of Easter Sunday, I wanted to share with you the delicate glass and crystal Rosary I created for Bert when his grandmother passed away. May her soul rest in peace. Great care and kind thoughts were put into the making of his rosary beads.

Visit Soft Flex Company for a beautiful Pearl Rosary free project idea to create a Rosary for yourself or a loved one. You may also want to pickup the book, A String & A Prayer by Eleanor Wiley and Maggie Oman Shannon. This book recounts the history and symbolism of prayer beads, teaches basic techniques for stringing beads and found objects, offers prayers and rituals to use these sacred objects every day.

In the Roman Catholic faith, the Rosary is one of the most beautiful, powerful, and sacred prayers. The Rosary offers hope when life can be unbearable. How to Pray the Rosary.

kids art: decoupage fun!

I have been thinking about what to do to spruce up the kids playroom table for awhile. It's a great little table we got at IKEA but the top of the table has seen better days. It needed a little pick me up. Decoupage to the rescue! I'm not sure if I ever decoupaged before. I feel like I must have but, cannot recall. So, I looked online for some guidance and found out how to decoupage at about.com. I also stumbled upon the awesome Etsy shop Bombus, who is saving the planet through decoupage! Really neat stuff. I thought a map, atlas or music sheets were all neat ideas to put in the kid's room. I was getting ready to print some pages out and then it hit me. If I print pages I will lose a perfect opportunity to do my part and help reduce waste. So, the hunt began - what did I have in the house that would look nice and utilize paper we already have.

Ah-ha! I have a stack of wonderful preschool projects Ethan has done all sitting in a draw. I can display his work proudly, recycle paper and make a beautiful piece of art - it's a trifecta!

Ethan & Hudson chose some artwork, I cut and glued down the papers. Ethan was out for his day with Nannie by this time so, Hudson happily helped me apply the glue medium.

Just a few more coats of glue!

TaDa!

The boys have a fun new playroom table created with Ethan's school work and Hudson's help!

handmade ornaments

We decorated our tree last night and I just love ornaments. (Ethan apparently does too as he has been sneaking a few into his room). Every year, we get to admire these little works of art as we place them on the tree and remember of when, where and who we received them from. And, of course, I enjoy making and giving ornaments as gifts for the holidays. Here are some of my past handmade ornaments that now adorn our tree!

hand sculpted moon and star ceramic ornament ~ 2002

hand etched ceramic ornament ~ 2002
I took a ceramics class at a local community college that year and hand sculpted about 10 ceramic ornaments in all shapes and sizes. These 2 I kept for myself. I wish I would have thought to photograph them all before giving them away as gifts!

hand painted glass ball ~ 2003
This was my first holiday as a Soft Flex employee. I knew the owners of Soft Flex loved ornaments as well so, I wanted to give them a hand painted gift. I kept my first draft shown above and gave them a more polished final draft.

hand painted star photo ornament ~ 2004
This was Ethan's first Christmas so, naturally I wanted to give family and friends a photo ornament. I picked these star frame ornaments up at Michaels, painted them and used glass beads and artistic wire to complete the hook.


hand painted dragonfly ~ 2005

hand painted flower ~ 2005
During the 2005 holiday season I was a vendor at the downtown phoenix public market selling painted home decor. Therefore, I created a bunch of colorful hand painted wooden ornaments for sale. The dragonfly and flower ornaments above are 2 styles I kept for myself. If you've never visited downtown phoenix public market it is fantastic and well worth a look, they sell all made in az products from local farmers, foodies and artists. Great place for your holiday shopping!

beaded ornament ~ 2006
This Christmas Hudson was just 2 months old. I didn't have much time for creating but, did manage to whip up a couple of beaded ornaments using glass beads and artistic wire.

pine cone ornament ~ 2007
Last year I got Ethan involved in crafting our ornament gifts. Ethan and I painted pine cones in multiple colors. Then we dipped them into cinnamon for a sweet smell an sugar for a frosty look, we glued a bow and a loop of natural twine for hanging.

With only a few weeks till Christmas I have yet to figure out what we will create this year. I realized when posting this blog that I have created a new ornament every year since 2002! Which is pretty cool. I better start searching for ideas for my 2008 ornament.

Don't miss this great DIY ornament project my friend Jamie created at Soft Flex company.

paper arts: blessings

Here is my first scrapbook project. I think it turned out sweet. I decided to pay homage to Bert and I as kids and used some of our favorite childhood photographs. Below are 6 pages from this cute little 12 page book.

This spread is a tribute to Bert:

And, this spread is a tribute to me:

On this spread and placed photos of both of us together. Left side has portraits of us and the right side shows us on our first day of school.



This project began as a mother's day idea. I wanted to give Cindy, my mother-in-law, a scrapbook kit. She has boat loads of photographs and I thought it may be a nice hobby for her to learn and treasure. I wanted to help her get started so I bought myself a kit as well from my friend Krista who sells Creative Memories supplies and we took a little workshop together at Krista's to get going. I am happy with how my turned out. I haven't seen Cindy's finished book yet but, I do know she bought another kit! It may turn out to be a fun hobby for her after all ;)

paper arts: cards

I went to my first meetup last night with the "Not Your Grandma's" Super Hip Chic Craft Club and it was a blast! This is a group of 200+ crafty superstars in Arizona that make time for learning new crafts while meeting up with friends new and old. Last night was taught by Linda Ross, a very talented paper artist and there were 12 club members there. Linda had 8 card assembly stations setup with all sorts of goodies like stamps, ribbon, buttons, ect. I only had a chance to finish 6 of the 8 cards (see my cards in the photo!) but, they were nice enough to let me grab the needed materials to finish the other 2 on my own at home. It was a fun night of crafting! Linda's designs are beautiful and she made the whole process really easy. I have not dabbled with paper crafts too often. It was enjoyable to learning something new all the while chatting with some wonderful people. I can't wait to send these cards out to my family & friends!

kids art: lightening boltz

I picked up a new book The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule from the library last week. This book was recommended by Tiffany from her nature moms blog. I was just a few chapters in when I saw the "freezer paper stencil" project for creating your own t-shirts. This sounded fun and the supplies were simple, bonus! That same day my eldest son, Ethan saw someone wearing an AC/DC shirt on TV and immediately took to the lightening bolt. He thought that was really cool and wanted a lightening bolt shirt for himself. The aha! moment struck and I thought this was a great opportunity to try the fun "freezer paper stencil" project talked about in the book. A day later I gathered all the supplies, cut out the stencils and both Ethan & Hudson painted the fun new shirts you see here!