Simple USA Wall Hang

Before this year, I had minimal Fourth of July decorations; this is a minor tragedy because the Fourth is my FAVORITE holiday. I LOVE everything about it; patriotism, the colors, BBQ, swimming, parades, fairs, fireworks (professional and not-so-professional). This is actually the holiday when my husband met my parents for the first time (and asked my Dad for my hand), I think you get the point that I love the holiday.

Not decorating for it felt like a crime, so I dusted off my thinking cap and came up with a fun, easy and inexpensive door hang for our laundry room door (it must be passed by anyone entering/leaving our house---high traffic area).
Disclaimer: Excuse the pictures of the random steps in the process. I'm still getting a hang of the whole document-while-crafting thing. :)

Gather It:

• 3 wood stars
• Acrylic Paint
• 1 11x17 foam sheet (they're 1.99 at any craft store)
• 3 in wide ribbon, 29 inches long
• 1/2 wide ribbon, 3-5 inches long
• patriotic scrapbook paper and solid cardstock
• Red, White, and Blue Tulle (I got the 6 in' wide rolls at Hobby Lobby) you need 3 24 in strips
• Glue Gun, Mod Podge, and a couple felt scraps

Create It:

1. Before I start any explanations, one of the reasons I LOVED this idea (besides the fact that I came up with it) is that it is very versatile. Depending on your decor (and budget), you can do do one color of paint, tulle and scrapbook paper or you can do what I did and alternate it. It would be cheap to do the first option--- but the choice is yours!
2. Paint your stars. I know it sounds like a cheesy song title, but do it anyway.
3. While the stars are drying, trace and cut out circles in the paper and foam craft sheet. You'll need three paper circles and six foam circles. I used a kitchen bowl to find the circle size I wanted; it was 5 inches wide. Cut out the USA letters by either tracing them onto the cardstock or use your craft cutter (I used my Silhouette and used the "Lumos" font).
4. Attach the paper circles to the foam circles using Mod Podge; wait 10 minutes to dry. Apply Mod Podge to the back of a letter and put one on each circle, then seal the whole thing with a top coat of Mod Podge.
5. Now's the time to break out the glue gun. After the stars and circles are dry, apply glue liberally to the back of the foam circle and attach to the center of the star.
6. (Reminder: I had a method to my color combinations. I had Red, White, and Blue in each star section. For example, the top star was Red with blue scrapbook paper and white lettering and tulle. Then White Star-Red paper-Blue lettering/tulle and Blue Star-'White' paper-Red lettering/tulle. You could just do all the stars one color, paper another and lettering/tulle the last, but I really liked the affect mine created).
7. Next, glue the stars to the 29 in long ribbon. I started by taking a scrap piece of regular ribbon and scrap felt to create the loop to hang the creation. Then, about half way down the star, I applied hot glue TO THE STAR and attached the beginning of the ribbon. My stars were 4 inches apart from bottom corner to top point. In order to put the glue in the right place, I traced the ribbon down the middle back of the star and applied hot glue in that section. Repeat the same process with the third star.
8. If you want, you can stop here. Hot glue the other foam circles to the back of each star to secure the ribbon and your done. I thought it needed something extra, enter the tulle. If you want to add the tulle, don't glue the back foam circles just yet.
9. Take your 24 inch strips and cut them into 4 sections... that's 6 inches each. So you should have 4 6x6 squares of tulle for each star. At this time, cut a few more scraps of felt too. You need the felt to secure the tulle. See, I told you random picture of felt...
10. Take one square and fold it accordion-style all the way across. Then, fold the square in half. Place your tulle in one of the four corners of the star and apply hot glue to the bottom of the tulle. Then, CAREFULLY apply the felt piece to secure the glue and tulle. Seriously, I had a few HOT moments because I decided to leave my finger on the felt a little too long. Repeat until each corner has a piece of tulle. Add the back circles and admire the extra Patriotic flare you gave your special high traffic door!

Signed Book Giveaway

Our Aunt is celebrating her {blogoversary} by giving away a SIGNED copy of {Uncommon Criminals} by {Ally Carter}. It's the second book in Carter's {Heist Society} series. In the time that I don't craft, I read (who really wants to clean their house anyway?) and Heist Society is a fun, fast read. I highly recommend it.

If you want to enter the giveaway, go {HERE}.

Also, stay tuned here because I've got a WHOLE bunch of crafts from the past few months to show y'all!

We LOVE Frames

Looking for a fast Father's Day gift? Or just a unique way to tell Grandma or Grandpa that the kiddos are thinking about them? Check out these:


The We LOVE frames. We (I say we because my kiddos did the painting behind the cardstock) made one for Daddy and the two grandpas for tomorrow, however the possibilities are ENDLESS. I can't remember if I've seen this around or not, but I LOVE the possibilities (I think I already said that...)

Gather It:

• Regular weight paper
• Paint
• Frame
• Cardstock
• Exacto Knife, Cricut or Silhouette

Create It:

1. Let the artists have some "paint time." Personally, I just let the kiddos paint whatever they want.
2. While the masterpieces dry, create the cardstock mat. I used my Silhouette to type and cut out the right size. However, if you don't have a cutter, type it up in Word (or a similar program), print out on the cardstock, and cut out what you printed with the Exacto knife.
3. Once the kiddo art is dry, cut it out to fit the frame. Since I have two kids, we bought double-frames: one frame is art from Knight and the other from Princess. :)
4. Now, here comes the hardest step, put the cardstock and art in the frame and enjoy everyone's 'hard' work. ;)

Mother's Day? = Everyday and a FREEBIE

Getting back into the blogging habit may take some time, but I'll figure it out. I'll just blame the whole directing a HUGE production thing for getting me out of the habit. Luckily, I started creating things again and, with luck, I'll be able to show y'all what I've been up to.

Onto to Mother's Day... I know it's a month late and Father's Day is a couple days away, however, I may argue (being a Mom myself) that you don't need a holiday to give Mom's a gift. Here's a list of what I made for Mother's Day:

Let's start off with a FREEBIE I made, I found this poem somewhere on the blogosphere. Since it was anonymous, I copied it to use as a Mom's gift for friends. If you ever have a friend who has a bad day, this would be perfect to share.
We made Handprint Flower Magnets for all the grandmothers (greats included). Found it {HERE}. Really simple all you need is: fingerpaint, laminating materials, E6000, glue gun, clothespins and the tongue depressor/popsicle stick. Make the prints, let them dry, laminate, glue stem and flower together. Then, glue in this order: stick, clothespin, magnet. IMPORTANT: let the glue dry between each step. I loved these so much, we made a set for me for Mother's Day! ;)

My MIL is really into gardening so we made her {THESE} plant markers.

(The picture is from the website I completely forgot to take a picture of the ones I made). Really simple, we even made her a strawberry marker since she LOVES to grow strawberries (she is Californian after all).

My other MIL (yes, I have TWO) enjoys her coffee so she got three new {coffee cozies}.
Really simple and really personal. Just click on the link to get a picture (because I forgot... again).

We went to Disneyworld with my parents shortly after Mother's Day(it.was.awesome.), so I made my Mom a tote to take with her. I basically cut out fabric Mickey ears, sewed them on and the {freezer papered} the writing onto the bag.
A few of them got this tile...
Oh boy, do I love my {silhouette}. It's just a 5x5 tile with vinyl adhered to the front. If you have a silhouette, I'd be more than happy to email you the document.

And I may have gone a little crazy making a bunch of {these} bracelets.

Some for me, my daughter, friends, and my mom; because everyone deserves new bracelets now and then. {HERE} is a video tutorial for you visual learners. ;)

Now, I know Mother's Day just passed, but I think any of these presents will excite 365 days of the year.

Poison... Poison Ivy

This is a gift I made for my cousin. She's totally into Batman, especially the girls. Her favorite is Poison Ivy. I'm pretty happy with how she turned out. This was my first venture is yarn hair for amigurumi. Now I know how much time and yarn it takes to do. I realize it's pretty thick but I figure Poison Ivy likes lush plants so why can't her hair be? I may use this body patter to do other people in the future, definitely girls with long hair. You can't really tell but there's 30+ leaves individually sewn onto her. That's how I did the bodice.

And on a side note, this is the 50th amigurumi I've put on dA! Who knew?

(LOL! Emotes transfer over from deviantART!)

Crocheted Bags

I actually finished this bag before I finished the Mickey Mouse Amigurumi. I had originally planned to type out the pattern but I don't think that's going to happen now. There's lots to do at the end of the semester including packing, studying, and taking the finals. Anyway, this bag is mostly made out of puff stitches and single crochet stitches. When I finished the crocheting part 3 days after starting (I got really fast suddenly. O.o), I knew that it would need a lining. It was made to keep things in the bag and to prevent it from stretching too much. I found a purple fabric for the out lining and used the left over black and white that I used in a kanzashi and dress. I really like how it turned out.

I finished this one this past Monday. I signed up for the Ward Talent Show to display some art and wanted to show this with all of that. Originally, I had planned on adding Mickey's face to the bag but I decided that it was more iconic this way. I also did braided yarn for the strap so it wouldn't stretch too much. The bag closes like the bag above but with two smaller buttons. I like how it turned out and I know it'll be fun to wear around Disney World this summer. =D

Mickey Mouse Amigurumi

In honor of going to Disney World this summer for an internship, I made Mickey Mouse! I love this amigurumi. You want to know my favorite part of him? The gloves. I finally figured a way to make hands that were convincing that I could crochet and no stitching together. There are some felt details on the bottom of the feet to represent soles for the shoes, but you can't see them very well in this shot. I like him a lot. He may become my little pal when I'm out at Disney World. He'll probably show up in some pictures that I take there. I haven't quite decided. ;)