Necklaces!!!

Boutique style gumball necklaces are really popular.  Lots of little girls are wearing them.  My daughters were given a few as gifts.  One necklace had a Batman theme while another had a Princess Leia pendant.  They really wanted more necklaces with all their favorite super heroes and cartoon characters on them.  These trendy necklaces cost anywhere from $10 to $30.  (Remember, they are worth every penny because they uniquely designed and handmade.)  In order to save a little money, I looked into buying the supplies and making them myself.  Many Facebook craft pages have people that sell the gumball  beads for great prices. You can also go to craft stores or Amazon.

If you make the necklaces yourself, you not only save money but you can also make one of a kind items.  My oldest daughter loves Doctor Who!  There is not a lot of Doctor Who merchandise out there for eleven year old girls.  Now that I know how to make these necklaces, I can design something especially for her unique style.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to make these cute necklaces,

First, gather your supplies.

• gumball beads (18-20)
• a decorative pendant
• spacer beads
• jewelry wire
• toggle and bar (for the ends)
  
• crimping bead
• crimping pliers

The crimping bead is that tiny little circle next to the pliers.

Now that you have your supplies, it is really simple.

Figure out how what order you wants your beads to be strung on the wire. This can be just a simple pattern.  I put mine on a cookie sheet.  I placed something under one side so the beads would stay put (it made the cookie sheet tilt at an angle.)

Once your pattern is set, it is time to start placing the beads on the wire.  Cut a piece of wire a little longer than your beads placed side by side on the cookie sheet.  String the wire through the connector on the toggle (the loop).  Then, put the wire through the crimping bead.  Create a loop and string the wire back through the crimping bead. Use pliers to crush the the crimping bead in its place. You should now have the toggle firmly in place on the loop at the end of the string.   

Now you are ready to add the beads.  Add a spacer bead, gumball bead, etc until all the beads are on. 

When you finish, you will add another crimping bead and then the bar for the toggle.  Loop the wire again--just like you did in the beginning.  Trim the extra wire or tuck whatever hangs out back through the beads so it doesn't show.  

Really, that's it. It works out to be about $5 - $6 per necklace (depending on the type of beads and pendant you choose).  It is a lot simpler and cheaper than I thought.  I am sure as I make more, I will come up with more tips to make them better and faster.  I can't wait to make more.  Oh, the possibilities!

Shrinky Dink Craft

   I don't know about your kids, but mine are already getting stir crazy. I wouldn't say that they LOVE school, but they like having things to do. We try and find little things for them to do that will help their imagination. Crafting is a great way to get them to use those little brains and keep them from turning into TV watching blobs.

   Saturday, Hubby and I were out on a date and we decided to hit up the craft store. Now, before you think that we are lame at coming up with date ideas, we had already had lunch and going to a store without the kiddos is a great way to reconnect and have a bit of peace and quiet. Anyway, we were looking around and came upon some Shrinky Dinks Crystal Clear paper.

   The wheel started turning and we decided we would make ourselves some Shrinky Dinks monsters for when we play King of Tokyo. What's more fun than playing with something that you created yourself?

   Last night we actually had a quiet night with nothing going on, so we pulled out some paper and pencils and got to designing. I wanted a Wolverine type monster, but didn't want to just trace one out of a coloring book. Hubby gave me the idea to make a Meeple one, so I ran with it.

   I grabbed the template for my large Meeple and got to work. I looked up a picture of Wolverine and did my best at free handing. I know it isn't the best, but isn't it awesome?

   I taped the Shrinky Dink paper over my paper (had to adjust and make my drawing a bit shorter) and then got to tracing and coloring. The more I colored the more awesome I thought it became. After I was done coloring, I cut him out. Since he was as tall and wide as the Shrinky Dink paper, I had to cut it close to the edge. The claws were a bit difficult since the plastic doesn't bend, but I managed.

   We put it into the oven and watched him shrink. I haven't made one before, so I thought it was pretty cool to watch. I now have the most awesome Shrinky Dink and can't wait to play King of Tokyo with him.

   Until then, he has a nice place to hang out on my nerd shelf!

Take a Moment to Make a Memory: Fun Christmas Crafts

It is that time of the year again--the Christmas season is upon us.  That means decorating, shopping, cleaning, and celebrating all on top of all the stuff we already have to do.  I hope your holiday preparations are going great and that you are taking a few minutes to experience the JOY of the season.  Today's post includes activities that are simple and easy and won't take too much of your time. In a just a few minutes, you may make a memory that lasts a lifetime or start a beloved family tradition. Here are some ideas:

• Paper snowflakes: These are beautiful and easy.  Once you teach your kids how to make these, they can be busy for hours because no two paper snow flakes ever turn out alike. :)  The creativity is endless. If you aren't sure how to do this or are a little rusty learn how to make them here.
• Make Christmas cards: Children will love to create hand made cards for their friends, teachers, and loved ones.  They can use crayons, markers, paints, googly eyes, stickers, and scrapbook paper--whatever you have on hand.
• Recycle old Christmas cards: Use old Christmas cards to make book marks or Christmas collages.  To make a book mark, cut the cards into one inch strips and put a string through the top.  To make a collage, cut out words or pictures from old cards and glue them on a piece of paper in whatever design you would like.
• Make a Nativity Season diorama:  You can print pictures to color here. Let your children design a manger scene and backdrop inside a box.  They will love displaying this!
• Puffy Paint Window Clings: Who doesn't love festively decorated windows?  Get designs and instructions on how to make  your own window clings here. These are very easy and even the littlest hands will enjoy making the designs!
• Craft Stick Activities:  Hours of entertainment can be found in a box of craft sticks and a bottle of Elmer's glue.  Kids can create Christmas trees, snowflakes, picture frames and more.  Here's a great tutorial for craft stick Christmas tree ornament.  
• Play snow: Whip of a batch of this snow for kids and they will love you.  It won't melt or freeze their hands so that is a bonus too. 

I don't know about you but my kids always want to do Christmas crafts.  They would do them everyday if they could.  This is a list of fun and easy crafts that require few materials.  If  you have a few free minutes, you can enjoy doing these with the kids.  If you don't, many can be done on their own too.  Most of them are made with materials you probably have on hand!  

Please take a minute to enJOY the season.  As I was watching my husband and 10 year old daughter the other day, I was reminded of the day he carried her in our home the first time.  10 years goes by so fast--that's 10 Christmases we've had together.  I want to make sure this Christmas season I take a moment to make a memory.  It's not hard, it's not expensive, and unlike the exciting toys, fancy wrapping paper, and sweet treats, it will last a lifetime. 

Perler Bead Projects

   If you've been following my blog for a while, you know we enjoy doing Perler Bead projects as a family. We've made both Settlers of Catan and Hive out of them.

   Recently I decided I wanted to try using a cross stitch pattern as a Perler Bead pattern. I got on my trusty Pinterest and did a little search. I settled on a cross stitch pattern of the main Supernatural characters.

   If you've never used Perler Beads, they are these little beads you put on a peg board. They come in all sorts of colors. The peg boards come in many different shapes.

   Lay out your design on the board. You can use a pattern or your own imagination. I followed the cross stitch pattern but also mixed it up a bit. I guess it was mostly a guideline. Just make sure you leave a row of beads all the way around your project or else it will melt together. This includes diagonally.

   If you buy a kit, it comes with some type of paper you lay over it and then use an iron and melt them together. Be careful during this part. After you are done ironing, the beads will still be hot.

   You can carefully peel the beads off and lay it on a table or counter and do the same thing to the other side. Make sure you melt them as evenly as you can. If you miss a spot, they will fall apart. If you want to keep them flat, put them under a book or something while it cools. Otherwise it will curve a little.

   Once it's cooled, you can do whatever you'd like with them. You can string them up and put them on your Christmas tree. Give them to an older child to play with or put them on display. I have a nerd shelf that I have mine displayed on.

   If you want to try something a bit harder, I also found this pattern to make a TARDIS out of these beads. It was quite a project, but I couldn't help myself. It's a lot taller than I thought it would be. I changed a couple of things. I used yarn for the black part instead of embroidery thread. I also glued it together on the inside, she sewed it together. The top does come off, so you can keep stuff inside. I'm rather pleased with it!

Cute Cards and Matching Tote

Today's craft is a a set of cute note cards and a matching tote to store them in.  One of the best features of this craft is that it only uses one piece of patterned paper.  The rest of the craft can be made with solid card stock. I was able to use many of my paper scraps from a previous projects as accent pieces. This project can be given as a gift or you can keep it so you always have a hand-made unique card to give to a friend.

Materials:

• Paper cutter 
• One 12 x 12 piece of solid colored card stock
• Six 8-1/2 x 11 pieces of colored card stock (in the same color or a coordinating color as above)
• One12  x 12 piece of patterned card stock or paper (two sided is fun but optional, make sure it coordinates with the solid card stock colors)
• Colored card stock that coordinates with your pattern for accent pieces (I was able to use scraps from another project; some were solid and some had patterns)
• White card stock
• Scissors
• Scorer (or ruler and butter knife)
• Quick dry adhesive
• Pencil
• Corner punch (optional)
• Brads or staples
• Stamps, ink pads, or decorative stickers
• 
  

Part 1: Cut the Patterned Paper

Cut your patterned piece of card stock like the template below.  To do this, cut it into vertical strips (4 in., 1/2 inch, 1/2 inch, 3-1/4 inch, and 3-3/4 inch.)  Then cut each strip into specific pieces as shown.  You may label each of the pieces with the appropriate letter. (Use a pencil and write lightly.)

I marked mine with the letters and laid them out like this to make them easier to find later.

Part 2: Make the Tote

Step 1: Cut vertically at 8.5 inches from the left side. Set the smaller piece of paper aside.

Step 2: Using the larger piece of paper, trim one inch from the bottom. Discard.  You should now have an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

Step 3:  Cut two one inch wide strips off the small piece of paper. They should be 1 x 11.  Discard the extra piece. When you are done, it should look like this.

Step 4: Get the 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.  With the 8.5 inch side at the top, score paper 1.25 inches from each side.

Step 5: With the 11 inch side at the top, score 4.5 inches from each side. 

Step 6:  Cut the short score marks at the top and bottom of the paper.  

Step 7:  Fold the other score marks and glue the tote like this. I used a quick dry adhesive.

Step 8:  Cut a piece of white card stock that is 4 3/4 inches by 4-1/4 inches.  Corner punch its edges and piece A if you like.  Glue piece A to the the white card stock.  

Step 9:  Glue to the front of the tote.  Glue the E pieces to the front of the 1 x 11 solid card stock strips you made earlier.  Attach them to the bag using brads or decorative staples.

Feel free to add any embellishments you'd like.  I did 3-D butterflies.  You could also add a stamped image, quote, or stickers.

Part 3: Making the Cards

I have included a picture of each card and a materials list.  I suggest cutting the materials for one card and making it before moving on to the next one.  This way you won't get all the pieces mixed up.  Most cards have a piece of white card stock for a stamped image.  You can substitute your own stamps here (depending on the size) or add stickers or embellishments.  

Card 1:

Materials:

The paper labeled as C from part 1

1-3/4" x 3-1/4 inch card stock in a color that coordinates with the tote and paper C (to back stamped image)

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

1-3/4" x 5" card stock in white (to back paper c)

1-1/2" x 3" white card stock (to stamp image)

ribbon

Put materials together as seen below.  Substitute your own stamps or use decorative stickers.

Card 2:

Materials:

The paper labeled as D from part 1

1-3/4" x 3-1/4" inch card stock in a color that coordinates with the tote and paper D (to back stamped image)

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

2-3/4" x 5" card stock in a color the coordinates (to back paper D)

1-1/2" x 3" white card stock (to stamp image)

ribbon

Put materials together as seen below.

Card 3:

Materials:

The paper labeled as E from part 1

Note card or 8-1/ " x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

3-1/2" x 2-3/4" card stock (to back paper e and stamped image)

3-1/4" x 2-1/2" card stock  (to back paper e)

3" x 2-1/4" white card stock (to stamp image)

Put materials together as seen below.

Card 4:

The paper labeled as F from part 1

Note card or 8-1/ " x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

3-1/2" x 4 -3/4 card stock (to back paper F)

2-1/4" x 3 1/4" card stock (to back stamped image)

2" x 3" white card stock (to stamp image)

Ribbon

Card 5:

The paper labeled as G from part 1

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

1-3/4" x 2-1/4" card stock (to back stamped image)

3-1/2" x 4-3/4" card stock (to back piece G)

1-1/2" x 2" white card stock (to stamp image)

Card 6:

The paper labeled as H from part 1

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

3-1/2" x 4" White card stock

Ribbon

Card 7:

The paper labeled as I from part 1

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

1-1/4" x 3-1/4" card stock (to back stamped image)

1" x 3" card stock white card stock (to stamp image)

embellishments (optional)

Card 8:

The paper labeled as J from part 1

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

3-1/2" x 4" card stock (to back stamped image)

3-1/4" x 1-3/4" card stock(to back stamped image)

3" x 1-1/2" card stock (to stamp image)

Card 9:

The paper labeled as K from part 1

Note card or 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card stock folded in half

2-1/4" by 4" card stock (to back piece K)

2" x 2-1/2" card stock (to back stamped image)

1-3/4" x 2-1/4" card stock (to back stamped image)

1-1/2" x 2" White card stock (to stamp image)

Now your project is complete.  Enjoy crafting!

Felt Activities

   One thing my kids love to play with is felt boards. A couple of years ago, we were going to go on a 10 hour drive to my aunts house for vacation. Having three small boys, we needed ideas of how to keep them occupied so we would all survive the long drive. I started looking up ideas, and found someone that had done felt boards for their kids. I thought that was a wonderful idea, so I made some. They were a huge hit and the boys still play with them to this day. They are great for those days when you just need a little bit of quiet time.

   To begin, I searched online for a template of what I wanted to make. This time, I wanted to make a gumball machine to help my three year old count.

   You can either cut out the pieces of the template to trace, free hand it, or do what I do and tape the paper to a window so you can see through the felt and trace it that way.

   Once you have it all traced out, cut out the pieces. If you want to sew or glue them together, make sure you leave extra around your cut outs. For example, the white piece can be a complete circle and then sew or glue the red pieces onto it. I decided making the machine could be part of the fun.

   You now have a gumball machine.

   To make the gumballs, pick out the colors you'd like to use. I wanted to make twenty gumballs so I grabbed five colors. Scraps of felt are perfect for this part.

   Decide how big you want the gumballs. I used a soda lid to trace the circles.

   Cut out all of your gumballs

   Next, I printed off the numbers on a piece of card stock. This will help the numbers be a little more sturdy.

   Cut out out all of your numbers. If you have a straight edge cutter, it makes this job a lot easier.

   To get the numbers to stick, hot glue the numbers onto another piece of felt. The color doesn't really matter since you won't see it anyway. Be careful when doing this, hot glue on fingers is rather painful! Once they are all glued on, cut around the edges of the card stock.

   You now have a felt gumball machine to help with counting!

   Some other ideas you can do are:

   You can make a little city or even just a road with some cars. Cut out strips of black, add some yellow lines (I glued mine on for ease of play) and cut out however many different cars and trucks you'd like.

   My kids used to be really into potato heads. Cut out some brown potato shapes and then use your imagination.

   I don't know about your kids, but my oldest LOVES anything space right now. That includes Star Trek. So this summer, on a day when there was "nothing to do", I decided I would make him some new felt cutouts. He was beside himself with excitement. These didn't take too long to do and you can make them as detailed as you'd like. I cut him out a yellow circle he could use as either the sun or a planet and a couple of red circles. I added a little touch to the red circles so they would look a little more planet like.

   And lastly, don't forget about games. Tic Tac Toe is a great game for kids. It's easy to learn and not hard to make. Just cut out four strips and a few squares in two different colors. Now you have a game for on the go.

   Felt activities are a lot of fun and you can take them anywhere! They are pretty easy to make depending on how detailed you want to get. The boards we made for in the car was just a piece of felt taped to some cardboard. You can get as fancy as you want with making a board. Sometimes my kids just play with them on the table without any felt under it at all. Use your imagination and most importantly, have fun with it!