Monday, November 22, 2010

I'm thankful for kit preview...


Posted by Miss Crafty Pants at 8:53 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I'm so excited to have Sarah guest posting today! She is quite the accomplished mommy! 4 kids in 4.5 years? Total supermom!!! She has some fabulous craft tutorials and recipes she shares on her blog. Please be sure to check out her blog. If you like what you see, please become a follower and let her know you enjoy her posts! Thanks Sarah!

My name is Sarah and I'm from a little blog called The Pumpkin Patch. I've been blogging for a little over a year, but I still feel like a newbie. I have been married to Mr. Wonderful for almost 10 years and we have 4 of the cutest little pumpkins you have ever seen. We had all 4 of them in 4.5 years, so it gets a little crazy at our house sometimes. It's a good thing we like crazy! In addition to everything that I do as a stay at home mom, I also teach preschool out of my home 2 days a week and I have an etsy store to go along with my blog. I love to do fun stuff with my kids, decorate my home, crochet, bake, and a ton of other things that I try to squeeze in when I can. The Pumpkin Patch is full of creative ideas to do with kids, home decor, parenting advice, recipes, and a ton of other stuff. I just started hosting 2 different linky parties...Messy Monday and Transform Tuesday. I'd love for you to join in on the fun. Now, let's get crafty!

I have chosen 2 projects to show you. The first one I introduced on my blog a few weeks ago and I have had so many people ask me about it I thought I would share it again. The second one I saw on someone else's blog and I changed it up a bit so it was something that I could use.

Crochet Rosettes
Don't let the name scare you. I have made a ton of crochet flowers, and I think these are SUPER easy. If you don't know how to crochet, then scroll down to the next project. I promise you will love it.

Materials


  • cotton yarn ( you can use synthetic yarn, but I prefer cotton)

  • J hook (use whatever size hook you need to get the flower size you want)

  • yarn needle

  • scissors

  • coordinating felt (optional)

  • tacky glue (optional)




Row 1: loosely chain 51.





Row 2: Starting in 3rd chain from hook, single crochet (sc) across. Chain 1. Turn.





Row 3: Skip first sc. SC in next sc. (Skip sc, 5 double crochet (dc) in next sc, skip sc, sc in next sc.) Repeat from ( to) across. In last sc, finish off, but leave a 15 in. tail.



There will be an extra little bump on one side. It will become the center of the flower.





You can finish this off 2 different ways. I like them both depending on what I am using the flower for.



To finish it off with felt, take your felt and cut a 2 in. circle.





Arrange your flower by spiraling it loosly around itself and cut the tail off so that only an inch or so is left.





Once you get it to look like you want it to, carefully set it down. Spread glue on your felt and put your flower on top. I just used tacky glue.





Quickly make your final adjustmets and press it down into the glue. After it is dry, trim off any extra felt and you are done!





To finish it without felt, take your yarn needle and thread the extra yarn from the tail you left.



Arrange your flower by spiraling it loosly around itself.





Now flip it over and you can see the spiral patter on the underside.





Carefully take your needle and go through each ring of the spiral and come out the other side. Do this several times working your way around the circle.







Once you have it securely stitched together, cut off the extra yarn and you a re done!







What do you do with these little cuties? Whatever you want.







How about gluing a clip to the back of it and putting it in your hair, or making a headband out of it.





How about gluing a pin to it and putting it on your jacket or purse.






How about pinning it to your daughters sweater?





The possibilities are endless.







Ribbon Bows



I first saw these made out of paper at a super cute blog called Christy's Creative Chaos. I loved them out of paper, but wondered if I could do it out of ribbon, so I set to work.







Materials





Cut your ribbon so that you have 8 pieces that are 6 in. long, 4 pieces that are 5 in. long, and the remaining piece should be 4 in. long.





Burn both ends of all of your pieces of ribbon. (Be careful not to let any little fingers get in the way.)



Glue all of the ribbon pieces (except the 4 in. one) so they look like this picture.





Glue the 4 in. piece into a circle.





Glue the ribbon together following these pictures.

















There you have it. Cute as can be right? You can use other ribbon too, it is just easier to start with grosgrain because it holds its shape well. You can also use thinner ribbon. If you use 1/2 in. ribbon, cut the length of each strip in half. It will make a smaller bow. If you want a bigger bow, use 2 in. ribbon and make each strip double the original length. For big bows, wired ribbon works really well.







These would be so cute on birthday presents, in little girls' hair, as a pin on a dress or jacket, as ornaments on a Christmas tree. There are so many possibilities!







Thanks for having me. I hope you like these projects and hope to see you over at The Pumpkin Patch.











Posted by Miss Crafty Pants at 7:34 AM 0 comments

Friday, May 7, 2010


Over at The Dating Divas we are a group of 12 girls learning how to continue dating our spouse after marriage.  Each week we take turns posting a super fun, creative, and inexpensive date. As well as sharing tips and tutorials for things that are helping us in our marriages.





I sometimes have a hard time remembering to think about my husband and his needs because I am so caught up with taking care of my daughter and myself, that I often times forget to take care of my husband. :/  I am trying to change this and am now constantly thinking about ways I can show my love to my husband.





My husband's 'Love Language' is words of affirmation and I thought a good way to show him how much I love him, would be to leave him little random love notes more often.  To help me do this I decided to make a 'love notes' pad to stick in my purse.  Every time I see it I will be reminded to leave him a love note, whether it be on his car windshield, or on his pillow, or in his lunch box. etc... I want My hunzy to know how much I love and appreciate him ALL THE TIME.



I created these blank notes.


download the NOTE PAD PAPER I created

cut them up,


glued them together just at the top 1/2inch,




stuck them to a cardboard box and trimmed off the extra cardboard,



folded the top of the cardboard over a 1/2 inch at the top


 covered the cardboard with craft paper and stickers,



and Wal-Ah, I have a 'love notes' pad



and then I stuck it in my purse.


problem solved!


*make sure to remember a pen.

For more great ideas, check out all of the Divas over at thedahlingdatingdivas.blogspot.com.
We post a new date every Monday and are constantly sharing tips and advice.  



Posted by Miss Crafty Pants at 9:29 AM 0 comments

Thursday, May 6, 2010

I am so excited to be guest blogging on Miss Crafty Pants! Thank you, Erika, for inviting me!

I have a super-fun tutorial and an opportunity for Miss Crafty Pants readers to earn extra entries in my CSN Store Giveaway! So I'll be quick to tell you a little snippet about me, and then we'll get down to business!

My name is Amanda, and I blog over at Looking Glass Jewels! I share crafts, my love for thrift stores, and my attempts at decorating, as well as reviews and giveaways! I have a ton of really amazing giveaways lined up, stuff you'll really want, so stay tuned! I also have a sweet little Etsy shop, LookingGlassJewels, where you can find my other addiction, making beautiful and unique jewelry!


Anyway, enough about me, let's get to what you're all here for: a great tutorial!


Today we are making a fun and easy
Phone Caddy!


Sometimes when I'm frantically digging through goodies shopping at Dollar Stores, I buy stuff that I'm pretty sure I'll use in a craft project... someday. And then there are the finds that I know exactly what I want to do with them and can't wait another moment to transform them.


This is one of those finds:



Ain't she a beauty?


In all honesty, the pictures make it look better than it does in person. It's not painted well and the image on the front is washed-out and cheap looking. Which, well, it WAS cheap. But who cares if it's ugly, we're gonna fix that right now!

Time to head out to the garage to spray paint! One last pic before the transformation begins:


Pull out that black spray paint and start spraying!

Better already. Ahhhh.

Now here's the part where I realize I forgot to take a pic of the box after it was painted. I hope the plethora of pictures to follow will make up for that.

Now that the ugly garden print is gone, let's put something pretty in it's place!

Grab some fun scrapbook paper and cut it to size!



I am in love with turquoise lately. It's everywhere these days, and I can't resist peer pressure. I am weak to the turquoise. Unfortunately there is almost no turquoise in my house. Until now! Hooray!

Another fun trend is the use of letters in decor. Again, I cannot resist. I am on the monogram bandwagon and lovin' it! So to add a letter, I found a typeface I liked and printed it on plain ol' printer paper with plain ol' ink.



Grab these tools: cutting mat, straight edge, scissors, razor blade, and a black sharpie! Cut that letter out!

While in Graphic Design school, we had to cut eleventy billion things with our razor blades. We cut out letters, shapes, mats, everything. It took a while, but eventually I became a razor blade pro! There are simple tricks to making your finished piece clean and crisp:


  1. When cutting, don't apply too much pressure. You'll have a tendency to tense up and press down much harder than is needed for a thin sheet of paper. Light and steady is the key.

  2. Never ever drag your blade through the paper. Cut straight down or at a slight angle. Dragging the blade even slightly from side to side will almost always cause tearing or ragged edges. Be dedicated to your cuts!

  3. When cutting a curve, let all the motion come from your wrist, and press down a little harder, just enough to bend the blade just a little bit. That may sound crazy, but the metal of the blade is actually very flexible and will do a lot of the work for you. Let the blade slice around the curve. This may take practice, but trust me, it works.

  4. If you need to cut a straight line, use a straight edge. Even on the itsy-bitsy straight lines. If there is a straight line that approaches a curve, cut right to the edge of the curve using that ruler! It will make all the difference in the cleanliness of your project.

  5. Don't cut away too much of your background paper all at once. Leave some paper to help you hold the piece steady as you cut the small or tricky areas. Cut the easy stuff last, but always be gentle to avoid ripping that perfect curlicue that you just spent 15 minutes cutting.

  6. Move your piece around! Find the best angle before you cut. Keep your arm, wrist, and hand relaxed - tensing up leads to trouble.

  7. Use scissors to clean up any wiggles or bloopers. I like to turn my piece over - often you will see things on the backside that you won't notice right away on the front.

  8. Cheat! Absolutely cheat! When I cut out the letter for this project, there were places you could still see the white paper around the edges of the black letter. Instead of trying to re-cut a minuscule sliver of paper off of my fragile letter, I pulled out my trusty black Sharpie and just touched up the edges. This trick SAVED MY SANITY in college.

I hope those tips help you on your next cutting project! Sorry I was long winded there.

Whew! Let's get back to our Phone Caddy!


This will be so pretty! Pull out that elixir of the crafting gods, Mod Podge!


Mod Podge the surface where your scrapbook paper will go.


Stick your paper on and Mod Podge over the surface, squishing those pesky bubble out as best you can.

Now wait it for it to dry.
Ha.
Who are we kidding? Fidget for about 15 seconds, and stick your letter on.
Throw on another layer of Mod Podge.


Now you'll have to wait for it to dry for real, because the next step involves drilling a hole into the back of the caddy for the charger cord to go through.

Unless you planned ahead and cut it before you painted it. Which, yeah... notsomuch.

Cut a hole in the back before you spray paint your caddy.

Or do what I did, and force yourself to wait for the Mod Podge to truly dry, then wake your husband up late at night and ask him oh-so-sweetly to please come help your poor little self.

Mark the size of the hole, big enough to thread the end of your charger.


Admire your husband's sexy arms and thank him profusely for helping you.




My husband used his fancy drill press, but you could use a regular drill as well. I'm sure I could have used one of our several hand drills all by myself... but I didn't want to. Just don't mention that to him, 'kay?
Check to make sure your charger will fit.

Success!
Handily, the iPhone charger is bigger at one end than the other, so the part that plugs into the phone itself will not fall out of the caddy every time you unplug your phone. I'm betting that almost all chargers are similar, so just make sure that the hole is sized appropriately.

Perfect! Good job, husband, love ya, now you can go back to sleep.

Here's the part where I almost ruined the whole piece. I decided that the scrapbook paper was a little harsh and needed some distressing. My spray paint was almost gone and was just spraying fuzzy little splatters. "Perfect!" I thought. "I'll just spray a little around the edges of my scrapbook paper, wow, this looks great, I love how this is turning out... OH NO!" The spray paint came back to life with a vengeance. Sprayed a huge solid streak across the top of the paper. ACK! I ran to the kitchen and wiped it off with a paper towel as best I could.

Fortunately, this mistake made the look SO much better! Don't you love when that happens?

UN fortunately, I was all freaked out and forgot to take pictures. Sorry.

What saved this piece was the Mod Podge. (Gotta love it.) There were several layers of Mod Podge between the paper and the spray paint, so I sanded the mess until it looked aged, instead of blobby. As I was sanding the paper, the black letter started showing the white underneath the black printer ink. It looked great, and it's something that never would have happened had I not had the spray paint blob accident. Win!

I also distressed the edges of the caddy so that white peeped through the black paint. I then gave it another coating of Mod Podge, this time over the entire caddy.

Finally, a picture!
Here is is, all finished!



Can you see the still-wet Mod Podge in the corners?

I was too eager to take pics for you! I couldn't wait anymore!





I will love having this on my nightstand! Now I won't have to worry so much about the pesky cat knocking a glass of water onto my phone. Also, with something this cute, I will (probably) remember to charge my phone more often. (Maybe)

Here's a before and after:


Much better!

I am so happy with how it turned out!


I hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I enjoyed making and sharing it with you!

There are so many other possibilities for a caddy like this - I am planning on making another one, but this time lining it with felt to hold a pair of glasses! It would also be great for leaving on the entry table for my husband to drop his wallet and keys into when he walks in the front door. So many crafty options for a one dollar investment!

Thank you for sticking with me to the end!

As an extra thank you, anyone who leaves a comment here will get an extra entry in my giveaway!

Now, turn up your speakers and secure your speaker stands, 'cuz I am about to shout:


I am giving away a $40 gift card to CSN Stores!

Leave a comment here, then come over to my giveaway post and tell me you commented here for an extra special chance to win!

Posted by Miss Crafty Pants at 8:25 AM 0 comments
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