Make and Takes » Home Crafts

Bloomin’ Handmade Greeting Cards You Can Plant

Little Birdies — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:28:59 +0000

You’ve might have seen seed paper recently. It is homemade paper with flower seeds in it. When it is planted in the ground and given lots of TLC it will bloom into beautiful flowers you can enjoy. Here is a tutorial for a project using seed paper.

First, you need to make the paper.

Use paper you have around your house. This is a great way to recycle old scraps. Tear them up into small pieces and place in a blender. Add enough water in the blender so the paper is covered and blend.

When your paper is nice and evenly blended you can add your seeds. Unplug your blender and use a wooden spoon to gently stir the seeds into the paper mush. Do not blend them!

Now it is ready to be shaped. Place a colander in the sink and pour the paper mush into it. If you have large holes in your colander like I do, go ahead and place a towel in it to catch the pulp, but not the water.

Place a towel on the counter and if you have a piece of felt, place the felt on top of the towel. Then gently pour your seeds and paper pulp on the felt and spread evenly out.

Take another towel and press it down on the paper pulp to help dry the excess water. You can now blow dry the paper or let it sit out overnight to dry.

When your paper is dry, cut it out into a flower shape. Make a simple card with cardstock and glue the flower to your card. Feel free to get creative here and draw, stamp, or cut out a stem. If you don’t like flowers, make a cute butterfly or tree. The options are endless and no matter what shape you choose–it will be a hit with the recipient of the card.

Make sure you add a message somewhere on your card to let the recipient know they can plant it!

Little Birdie Secrets are regular contributors to Make and Takes and was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations. Come visit us at www.littlebirdiesecrets.com.

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Weekend Make and Takes: DIY Home Projects

Marie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:52:53 +0000

I love a good DIY (Do-It-Yourself) project! Saturdays are a great day for projects, and below are some really easy and fabulous ideas. I’ll be making this wall art later today, after my trip to Home Depot and the fabric store! What DIY projects are you doing today?

Fabric Wall Art by Blue Cricket Designs (pictured above)
Easy Button Ring Tutorial by Smashed Peas and Carrots
Apron with Built in Hot Pads by The Mother Huddle
Fabric Scrap Coasters by The Long Thread
Side Seam Jeans Tutorial by Freshly Picked
DIY Comic Book Cupcake Wrappers by Momfluential

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Kids Bedroom Decor: A Thrifty Little Birdcage

Kami — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:56:06 +0000

This little birdcage was found at my local thrift store. I knew it would be darling in my little niece’s bedroom, who’s nickname is “birdie”.

Here’s the Before & After. I always love a good before and after (don’t you?!)

To make the little paper birds, I used a Quickutz die cut along with American Crafts’ Blue Skies paper. The birds are stuck two together with a glue dot. The bird cage was sprayed outside (in a cardboard box) with Krylon Bahama Sea (Gloss) spray paint.

One more thing to keep an eye out at the thrift store: bird cages.

Kami Bigler is a regular contributor at Make and Takes. She’s the thrifty maven who runs the blog: no biggie – a montage of her three favorite creative outlets: crafting, cooking, and thrifting. Her interests include portrait and tabletop photography, paper crafts, decorating and experiencing the thrill of the thrift find. You can follow Kami on Twitter at @kamibigler.

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Quick and Easy Sewn Paper Garlands

Little Birdies — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:41:59 +0000

Paper garlands are a beautiful accent for any party or home decor. They are really easy to make and can match any theme.

First, you will need to start with cardstock punched out in your desired shape. You can use punches, die cut machines, a Cricut, or just plain scissors.

Next, you will need to use your sewing machine to sew the shapes together.

You can sew your shapes as close or as far apart as you like.

When you are satisfied with the length of your garland, just snip it off. Viola!

Here’s a sample of a bird garland we made to match a bird themed party. This was a nice accent to our dessert table and really added a pop of color.

Little Birdie Secrets are regular contributors to Make and Takes. They were born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Their mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations.

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Little Pink Mailboxes for Valentines

Kami — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:27:49 +0000

Hi there, Kami here! I’m thrilled to be regularly posting here on Make and Takes. I’m a big fan of Marie and all the goodness shared daily on Make and Takes.

Okay, let’s get to it!

Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like little pink mailboxes with little red flags. As an avid thrifting maven, I’ve noticed that little collections start once you are on the look out. Take for instance: Little Mailboxes. If you see them as they are in the thrift store, it’s hard to see the potential. But once they are all lined up with a fresh coat of Gloss Candy Pink and their little red flags up… behold the cuteness!

Here’s a look at some of them before the coat of Gloss Candy Pink. Here is the beauty of thrifting: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

The options are endless with these little pink mailboxes:

Fill them with love notes during the days leading up to the big day.
Line them up as Valentines decor.
Decorate them with little foam stickers.
Deliver them filled with sweets to your sweet.

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Sewn Rice Bags, Warming Our Tootsies

Little Birdies — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:51:55 +0000

It may be a balmy 45 degrees here in Seattle, but we still get cold feet at night! That’s why we made up a bunch of these rice heat therapy bags to keep us warm. These are instructions for a mini bag, but a larger bag for shoulder, back, or leg pain is easy to make, too.

Rice Bag Warmer Tutorial

Supplies needed:

12″x12″ piece of flannel (or any size you choose)
white rice (NOT instant rice!)
sewing pins, matching thread & sewing machine

1. Cut your flannel to the desired size. Mine was 12″x12″, which makes for an approx. 5.5″x11.5″ bag.

2. Fold flannel in half, right sides together. Sew along the entire long side of your rectangle.

3. You now have a fabric tube. Move the long seam to the middle of the rectangle as shown. Sew down one of the short ends. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance.

4. Turn your bag right-side out. Top-stitch along the seam on your short side using a 1/4″ allowance (this is for decorative purposes only–you’ll see why in the next step).

5. Fill your bag with rice. I think I used about 1.5 cups. You don’t want it too full or it won’t conform to your body. Tuck the seams in and pin.

6. Sew along the pinned side (now your end seams match).

Heat rice bags in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until warm. You don’t want them too hot–you will get burned! Heat it up and keep it inside your covers near the end of your bed. Goodbye, icicle feet!

If you’re giving a rice bag as a gift, you can make a decorative tag with heating instructions to tie on with a ribbon.

To make a longer bag for use on sore muscles, start with a longer piece (or pieces) of flannel and complete steps 1 through 3. For step 4, I top-stitched around three sides of this bag before filling with rice for a cleaner look. Next, measure how many evenly spaced pockets you have room for and make a line across the bag with chalk or a fabric pen. Fill the first section with rice (mine are about 1 cup each), then pin along chalk line, being careful to keep rice from spilling into next section. Sew across line. Repeat with remaining sections until the last one. Tuck in ends and top-stitch closed. Easy-peasy!

Little Birdie Secrets is a regular contributor and was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations. Come visit us at www. littlebirdiesecrets.com

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Craft a Children’s Bedroom Door Sign

Marie — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:05:24 +0000

I love this fun Bedroom Door Sign made out of paper mache. It’s bringing me back to my elementary school days when we plastered pastey newspapers onto a balloon and hollowed it out for a bowl. Alice from MAD – Make and Do is here as a guest today sharing a fun way to dress up a bedroom door with this crafty paper mache name sign.

Guest post by Alice of MAD – Make and Do

Supplies for Bedroom Door Sign:

Newspaper
Large piece of cardboard (as a mount)
Strong glue or glue gun
Flour
Water
Tsp of salt (optional)
Plain White paper (optional)
Paints
Paintbrush
Craft knife
Scissors

First, scrunch and twist pieces of newspaper into letters for the name you want to write. Use as much newspaper as you feel is necessary for the size you want – I used a double page spread per letter and half that for the smaller letters. This part is a case of trial and error to create the overall style you’re after so don’t be afraid to rip off bits or add extra scrunches here and there! Once you have done this, glue them down into their letter shapes onto the large cardboard piece.

Mix up a basic paste using a cup of flour and two cups of water – you can add salt to this mixture too if you think it’s necessary to make your door sign a bit more humidity proof! Now take ripped pieces of newspaper and completely soak them in the mixture before plastering them all over your lettering. This allows for a bit of extra modeling ability too so you can begin to shape the letters with your fingers while it’s still wet.

Let this dry for a few days until it is rock solid. At this stage you may prefer to make up some more mixture and add another layer of paper mache this time using plain white paper. This will make a much nicer base for painting and reinforce the door sign’s strength. However this stage is optional.

Now for the fun part! Paint your letters in bold bright colours, I have used some nice thick acrylic but any thick paint such as oils, poster or even wall paint will be fine especially if you opted for the white paper stage. Also if you are doing this as an activity with very young children, you could prepare the door sign for them and just let them do this painting stage. Older children may then wish to glue on embellishments after the paint is dry – such as buttons or beads.

After your paint is dry, all that is left to do is trim off the cardboard mount. To do this I used scissors for the surrounding and a craft knife for the fiddly bits such as the hole in the ‘e’ and the ‘a’. Incidentally, these will also be what I use to hang the sign on the door using tacks. However if your name doesn’t work so well for this then the flat cardboard backing can have a hanging attachment added. Et voila! The finished door sign.

Alice of M.A.D., is a nursery nurse and part time early years student, blogging and doing crafty bits and artwork are her hobbies – when she have the time for hobbies! She lives in Bristol with her fiance John and two crazy fur-ball cats, Dolly and Jasper.

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We’re Making a “Snowman on the Go”

Marie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:59:09 +0000

Snowmen everywhere are just waiting for the snow to fall so they can come alive with this Snowman on the Go kit. I first saw this idea in the Better Homes and Garden’s Holiday Craft magazine and thought it was way too cute. I added branches and some rocks for coal to it give my own touch. Now it’s ready for some winter snow. Do you have some near you?

Supplies for Snowman on the Go:

bucket or pail
2 branches
carrot
black rocks
fleece scarf
snowflake stickers
white paper confetti

First you’ll need a bucket or pail. You could use a sand pail, but buy them in the summer as they’re a lot cheaper. My clear plastic paint style bucket came from a craft store Roberts, but I bet Michaels or JoAnns would have it too. I like that it’s clear and you can see the orange carrot!

The branches I got from my mom’s house, as her yard is full of oak trees that needed to be trimmed. The black rocks are just smooth marbled rocks I found in the floral section of the craft store. The fleece scarf is just a scrap piece of fleece I had measuring 45 x 4 inches, with cut ends in 1/2 inch sections just to finish it off nice.

I added snowflake stickers to the outside of the bucket for a fun decoration and the white paper confetti to the bottom of the bucket to make it look like snow.

Then I wrapped the whole thing in cellophane and tied it with a ribbon. And it includes a typed up a list of what was inside, letting them know it’s got everything you’d need for a snowman, well except for the snow!

Now this kit is ready for winter. But if you don’t live near any snow, try tying white fabric or blankets in a big ball. Or it could even work for a sandman!

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Decorate with Festive Gumdrop Trees

Marie — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:27:41 +0000

We’re decorating our house for Christmas with these fun candy gumdrop cones. They’re a perfect festive craft for the Holidays. You just need a few candy gumdrops, toothpicks, and a styrofoam cone or ball. But try not to eat too many candies as you craft, save some for the tree!

Supplies for Gumdrop Trees:

styrofoam cone or ball
gumdrop candies, 2-3 bags
toothpicks

First, you’ll want to separate your gumdrops into their own colors. Unless you buy a package that comes in a solid color, or Christmas colors, you’ll have to pick each one out. You can see we used mostly Christmas colors to craft with and are eating the purple and orange ones as we go.

For the toothpicks, you don’t need the whole piece. You can easily break them in half with your fingers. Then place the broken end into the gumdrop. You’ll want the pointy end facing out, ready to be pressed into the styrofoam.

Depending on what you’re going to make, pick out your colors and get the toothpicks on. Then press your gumdrops into the cone or ball. You can make this a pattern or be very random about your placement, it’s up to you. And it will take a lot of gumdrops to make a tree. There are a few bare branches with my son’s gumdrop tree.

As you can see with my daughter’s below, her ball is very random. In fact, she says it’s a turkey. So we’ll have to save it for next Thanksgiving.

Have fun decorating with candy gumdrops this Christmas!

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Simple Holiday Potpourri

Little Birdies — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:03:44 +0000

Here is a simple (and inexpensive) gift that is sure to warm the homes of anyone that is lucky enough to receive it.

Just take the ingredients above and add a few more items and you have yourself sweet smelling holiday potpourri.

First, gather up the following:

One large apple

One large orange

One large lemon

3 cinnamon sticks

6 or 7 cloves

6 whole allspice berries

2 pieces of fresh gingerroot (this is optional)

Wrap these all up in cellophane and attach a holiday bow. If you want, you can also add a sprig of evergreen and some fake berries. Next make a tag with the following instructions:

Holiday Potpourri
1. Cut fruit into 1/2-inch thick slices.
2. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cover with water.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer uncovered, adding water throughout the day as needed.

*Please never leave simmering potpourri unattended

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