Make and Takes » Home Projects

Weekend Make and Takes: More DIY Project Madness

Marie — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:44:14 +0000

I’m going coo coo for coco puffs for these fabulous DIY crafts. So inspiring. Isn’t this color quiet book the perfect gift for baby? Even my toddler or preschooler would love it. Have fun making and taking this weekend!

Toddler Color Fabric Book by Everyday Celebrate (pictured above)
Mason Jar Pin Cushion by The Cottage Home
Interchangeable Flip Flop Covers by Make it and Love it
Quick Change Corsage by Polkadot Chair
Textured Wall Art by Oh So Happy Together
Ruffly Shirt Refashion by Ruffles and Stuff
Spring Top Week by Made by Rae

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Easter Candy Made Into Lollipop Flowers

Marie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:25:47 +0000

After we filled our Spring bucket with colored green rice, we filled it with some yummy Easter candy made into lollipop flowers. Don’t you just love the idea of edible flowers?!

Supplies for Easter Candy Lollipop Flowers:

Springtime Bucket
lollipop sticks – any size
Easter candy – Reese’s peanut butter cups and eggs, Jet Puff marshmallow shaped bunnies
toothpick

Instructions:

Place a lollipop stick into the bottom of the marshmallow. You may need to twist it in, go about half way through.

For the peanut butter cups, place a toothpick into the bottom of the candy. This helps make a hole through the tinfoil and candy paper lining.
Insert a lollipop stick into the hole.

Now place each lollipop into your vase or bucket. It’s ready to display or give to someone you love.

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Coloring Rice Green for a Springtime Display

Marie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:29:37 +0000

As I’m itching for Spring, we’re coloring our rice green today, helping to represent green grass. My own grass is now turning from brown to green and I think this Spring project is going to give it a boost. Let’s all say it together, “Stay out SUN!”

Supplies for Coloring Rice:

dry white rice – any kind
rubbing alcohol – this helps rice dry faster
green food coloring
plastic zip baggie
paper towels
tray

Instructions:

Place 2-3 cups of dry rice in a plastic zip baggie.
Pour in 3-4 drops of your green food coloring.
Pour in 1 Tablespoon of Rubbing Alcohol.
Now seal the bag and shake it all together. Make sure each piece of rice gets coated.

Pour your colored rice onto a tray lined with paper towels to dry.

Food coloring can stain, so be careful. You’ll want it completely dry before you start to work with it again, as you don’t want any color to drip. After 20 or so minutes, give it a stir with a spoon. It should be dry within an hour.

For my Spring display, I filled my pink bucket with crunched up paper towels so I don’t have to use as much rice to fill it. Then I poured in my colored green rice up to the top.

Now it’s ready for a fun Spring time display. Check out what we’ve placed inside our cute bucket: Easter Candy Lollipops

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Make Your Own Mixed-Media Lyric T-shirt

Marie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:39:04 +0000

Guest post by Somer of A Little Great

Music and t-shirts are two things we have in abundance at our house. I often hear one of my kids complaining to the other, “You can’t sing that, its my song.” So, I decided to collaborate with them to make t-shirts with lyrics from songs they like. We came up with an image and lyric, and then used a combination of freezer paper stenciling, applique, and embroidery to create one-of-a-kind t-shirts.

The stencils can be used for all different songs. The sun and clouds were done with freezer paper stencils. Download and print the sun and clouds template here: sun and clouds template

For the embroidered words, I used a disappearing marker to free-hand the words. Then using an embroidery hoop and two strands of floss, I embroidered the words.

The “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy” is done in a variety of stitches. The “decided to create a dream come true” is kind of like an interlaced running stitch, with the foundation stitch using embroidery floss and the interlaced stitch (a single weave, not going back a second time) out of 1/4 inch ribbon.

The “Fight” t-shirt has appliqued boxing gloves with detailing done in a back stitch with two strands of black floss. The black words were cut from freezer paper with a Cricut machine then stitched on. Download and print the boxing gloves template here: boxing gloves template

We had so much fun dreaming up combinations of our favorite songs and images. Many more t-shirts will be in our future.

Somer of A Little Great is a creative diva, pattern designer, seamstress, walking idea machine, devoted special-needs mom, artist extraordinaire, and mother to four amazing kids.

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How to Grow Your Own Wheatgrass

Marie — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:40:39 +0000

We’ve grown regular grass before, but this year I wanted to try my hand at wheatgrass. It was very easy to grow, needing only a few supplies. Wheatgrass is known for nutritional benefits, but with this beautiful green color, it’s also a perfect Spring display.

Supplies for Growing Wheatgrass:

hard red winter wheat (found in most health food stores)
container
potting soil
water

Containers: I chose a few different containers, as I’m going to test them all out to see which one works best. I’ve got an egg carton, terra cotta pots, floral vase, Easter bowls, silver tray, and our Easter bunny bucket.

Soil: Fill your containers with potting soil. Leave an inch or so of space for the grass and roots to grow.

Seeds: I soaked my seeds in water for a couple of hours. Then spread a layer of seeds on top of the soil in each container. Spread them full and even.

Water: Give your containers a good soak, but be careful not to let your seeds move around. Pour your water in slowly. For the first 2 days, they need constant water to help the seeds germinate. Once the seeds show a white tail, keep them watered, but no need to soak.

Grow: Set them in an undisturbed area, I just grew my wheatgrass on my kitchen counter where no little hands could reach. Then watch it grow! Here’s what it looked like in only 4 days.

The Results: After only 7 days, here’s how well the wheatgrass grew! And it’s growing more and more by the minute! Check the Wheatgrass Containers post for full results.

We’re having fun displaying our wheatgrass for Spring, giving me hope for warmer weather to come!

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Growing Wheatgrass in Springtime Containers

Marie — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:35:03 +0000

When I grew my own wheatgrass, I chose a few festive containers. I wanted to test them out to see which would work the best. Here’s the results for how each container turned out.

My favorite wheatgrass container: Terra Cotta Pots. These worked out fabulously. I love how the orange from the pot contrasts so well with the green from the grass. I think I’ll be making more of these and giving them to family and friends.

Runner-up: Silver Tray. I also love this silver tray with the grass as a beautiful display. It’s perfect for decorating a living room side table or a kitchen table centerpiece.

Fun container to watch it grow: Glass Floral Vase. With a glass container, you can really see what’s happening as the wheatgrass grows.We used this Etched Glass Vase to grow wheatgrass. It was fun to watch as the wheatgrass made roots and grew grass.

Festive for Easter: Easter Bowls and Easter Bunny. For the Easter bowls, I bought these ceramic bowls from Target a few years back and have previously filled it with candy. I thought it might be fun to try grass. It looks really fun and festive. But as these containers are not very deep, they are losing soil. The roots are taking over and floating the grass right out of the bowls!

I also used this Easter Bunny Bucket for a container. This is a fun one for my kids, as they’re hoping the real Easter Bunny might hide some eggs inside!

What didn’t work at all: The Egg Carton. It was a fun idea to start with, but every time I watered it, the carton would soak up all the water, leaving the soil with none. I was having to pour more and more water, making a big wet mess on my counter with lots of towels. Sorry no photo, it got tossed back into recycling after 3 days.

What containers have you had success with growing grass or wheatgrass indoors?

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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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Have You Ever Used Steel Wool for Cleaning?

Marie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:55:01 +0000

Every year for Christmas, my Mom gives each child a gift bag full of little odds and ends. And there’s usually our annual steel wool scrubber. It must be something from her generation, because I don’t know too many people who use these. But they are a great cleaning tool, perfect for scrubbing off those brown stains on your glass pans!

To Clean Your Glass Pans: Using a little mild soap and water with your steel wool scrubber, scrub the entire surface of your glass pan. The brown rusty looking stains should come right off, leaving your glass pan as clean as when you first bought it!

Warning: Steel wool can scratch some surfaces. Use with caution and first test on a small area.

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What’s Curing Your Dry Rough Cracked Hands?

Marie — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:08:20 +0000

My poor hands. Living in Utah is great, but with the dry Winter weather here, my hands suffer. I’ve been applying all kinds of moisturizer and thought I’d share what’s been working for me.

Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream: I like this, but really only for everyday use. It’s not as hard core as I want it to be to relieve my major damaged hands. But I do like this one for my kids. We put it on their hands at night and it’s mild enough that it doesn’t sting their hands, as some lotions can.

Aquafor Ointment: This one is my favorite. I smother it on and let my hands rejuvenate overnight. It is VERY greasy, so wear gloves or stick with something more mild if you’d rather not get the oil in your bed. But I’ve found Aquafor to really help heal my finger’s cracks.

Super Glue: Speaking of finger cracks… I use super glue to relieve the pain of finger cracks (the kind that come right near the finger nail and hurt when you type or write). Super glue really helps seal them up! It’s probably not the safest, but it does the trick, just be careful when you use it. My sister let me in on this tip a few years back, as she uses it on her cracked heels during the summer months too. Gorilla Glue’s super glue has been my favorite brand.

Burt’s Bees: Burt really puts those bees to work to make a great moisturizer. I really like the purple hand repair creme above. And it smells fabulous, helping put me to sleep when I wear it at night.

Eucerin Intensive Hand Cream: This one is great. It’s not too oily, so I feel like I can wear it throughout the day, as well as night. But I do tend to stick with the Aquafor when they are bad enough for some major hand therapy.

Moisturizing Gloves: Eh, I’m not in love with these, sorry Jordan! They are super soft, but they make my hands hot. You’re supposed to wear them to bed overnight and I always end up taking them off after just a couple of hours.

Petit Elefant’s Homemade Sugar Scrub: So simple and easy, I love this stuff. It’s great for all day. I rub it on, wash most of it off, and it leaves just enough of the oil to keep my hands feeling great. And it smells like cookies with the brown sugar and vanilla!!

What types of moisturizer do you use that have healed your Winter weathered hands?

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