Beaded Safety Pin Bracelet

 

The Klutz book strikes again.  A fun project to do while watching tv.
Haven’t had the opportunity to wear it out – not sure what to wear it WITH!

Rocks, er... Paperweights with Melted Crayons

It’s a long story involving someone’s 50th birthday and her obsession with rocks.
This craft involved heating rocks in the oven (yes, the very oven I cook food in) and then pressing crayons onto it.  I see some interesting possibilities for making giant gold nuggets and earths if one is patient enough.
I don’t know what the birthday girl did with her new rocks….

Teacher Gifts

Well, since I homeschool my kids, we don’t make Teacher gifts.  We make AWANA Leader gifts. 

These squatty pillar candles are dressed up with pushpins and sewing pins.

Mason Jar Sewing kit

Fridge Magnet

Flowery Clock

I made this years ago for the kids’ room out of fun foam scraps, stickers and a clock mechanism. 

No Sew Pillow

From FamilyFun Magazine. 
No-sew fleece pillow -- a Christmas gift for Great Grandma

Shh... A secret book

Ingredients:
Book Cover (no pages)
Decorative Scrapbook paper + White Glue
Watchmaker tins (found in the bridal favor aisle at the craft store) + glue gun

Felt Food -- Cookies

Chocolate Chip cookies!

 White cookies with "sprinkles"

Frosted cookies with sprinkles!

Award winning Fresh Baked Pies

Kid2 made these magnets for 2009 County Fair. 
She won First Place, Judges' Favorite, and Best in Class (Youth Recycle Category). 

Chinese New Year Red Envelope projects

I think I’m a 4th-generation Chinese-American.  Lots of things get watered down or forgotten.  Such as….
I’m not sure what the protocol on the red envelopes are.   I do know you’re supposed to receive it with two hand, look the giver in the eye, and say something appropriate.  I thought I read somewhere that it is bad luck to rip and/or throw the envelopes away.  I don’t know if there’s a policy on reusing the red envelope, but I’ll admit to doing so.  And always make sure the red envelope is appropriate for the occasion.  It helps to have someone who can read Chinese or know what the pictures mean.  Rosemary Gong’s book “Good Luck Life” is a basic reference guide for the befuddled Chinese-American. 
The top two projects were copied from Grandma’s assisted living facility.  They do great crafts.  (If no one is inspecting the handiwork closely, a stapler works great.)
The square was made using the same technique as explained in this link.
The lower right hand project was a squatty, stunted goof of the more round one. 

Battery-operated Tealight Cakes

We give these to friends celebrating birthdays.  It's a great way to use up the odds and ends of our sewing box and paper scraps.
We love those little LED tealight candles!

No Sew Tutu

If you know me well, you know two things about me:

1.  I love upcycling

2.  I avoid sewing whenever possible.

What does this tutu have to do with these confessions?

1.  I had to ask around if anyone had any tulle because there was no way I was going to BUY tulle to make a fluffy project that no house resident would wear.  Marie and her amazing garage of wonders had some tulle left over from a Anica's baby shower. 

2.  A No-sew project -- yay!  Wait, I lied.  I had to sew the ends of the no-roll elastic together.  A *Mostly* no-sew project!  All you need to know is how to do a lark's head knot (and I bet you do). 

I'm also trying to find cool, usable gifts that the kids can make themselves.  This one can definitely be done for little girl cousins who like fluffy things.