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Monday, May 20, 2013
So You Think You're Crafty
Hi everyone! Just popping in to tell you that I'm auditioning for So You Think You're Crafty this week! It's a 10 week craft competition with a new theme each week. The winner of each round makes a tutorial, and the loser "goes home." Fun! I can't tell you which project is mine, but I can tell you that it's awesome! :) So go on over, vote for your favorites, and see if you can tell which one is mine. After the results are in, I'll be sharing my project here.
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Friday, May 17, 2013
Kitchen Crafts - Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake
A couple nights ago I made this Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake for dinner. I'm adding it to my dinner rotation because it was so good! After much persuasion to "at least try it," the kids even decided they liked it. Score!
It was really easy to make too! I didn't change a thing, so check out the recipe here on Saving Money & Living Life. Got a recipe that you think I will like? I'd love to hear from you!
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It was really easy to make too! I didn't change a thing, so check out the recipe here on Saving Money & Living Life. Got a recipe that you think I will like? I'd love to hear from you!
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Garden Signs
After building our raised garden bed, we had some leftover pieces of fence pickets that we used for the sides. What to do? Make some signs for the garden! For Mother's day, I made my mom one that says "flower garden."
I made a simple one for myself that says "garden" in a lighter grey vinyl.
I wouldn't use fence pickets for anything that you want to have a nice, smooth finish, but it worked great for the rustic look I was going for. I sanded the boards down a bit to avoid splinters, and applied some coats of of primer and paint. I sanded the edges again to make it look weathered. Here's how it looks in my garden. Look, stuff is actually growing! Side note: If you are looking for a way to keep the neighborhood cats out of the garden, chicken wire with holes cut in it for the plants works great.
I cut out the letters for the signs with my Silhouette Cameo of course. It's seriously my favorite crafting tool! (By the way, the Silhouette chipboard promo ends today). It can cut any font that you have installed on your computer. I just discovered the awesomeness of downloading free fonts from dafont.com (I am not affiliated with them in any way). It's not just word fonts that you can download either! They have a lot of "dingbat" fonts with different shapes that you can use to cut on your Silhouette. The flourishes that I used on these signs were from the font Soft Ornaments Three. In case you don't know how to install your downloaded font, I will briefly show you how. Just do a search for your "fonts" folder.
Open the folder, and just click and drag your new font file (the one with the TT on it) and drop it into your "fonts" folder. Now you can use the font on any program on your computer!
One last thing, make sure to varnish your signs with an outdoor clear varnish to protect it. I got mine in a small bottle at the craft store. A couple coats, and you are good to go!
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I made a simple one for myself that says "garden" in a lighter grey vinyl.
I wouldn't use fence pickets for anything that you want to have a nice, smooth finish, but it worked great for the rustic look I was going for. I sanded the boards down a bit to avoid splinters, and applied some coats of of primer and paint. I sanded the edges again to make it look weathered. Here's how it looks in my garden. Look, stuff is actually growing! Side note: If you are looking for a way to keep the neighborhood cats out of the garden, chicken wire with holes cut in it for the plants works great.
I cut out the letters for the signs with my Silhouette Cameo of course. It's seriously my favorite crafting tool! (By the way, the Silhouette chipboard promo ends today). It can cut any font that you have installed on your computer. I just discovered the awesomeness of downloading free fonts from dafont.com (I am not affiliated with them in any way). It's not just word fonts that you can download either! They have a lot of "dingbat" fonts with different shapes that you can use to cut on your Silhouette. The flourishes that I used on these signs were from the font Soft Ornaments Three. In case you don't know how to install your downloaded font, I will briefly show you how. Just do a search for your "fonts" folder.
Open the folder, and just click and drag your new font file (the one with the TT on it) and drop it into your "fonts" folder. Now you can use the font on any program on your computer!
One last thing, make sure to varnish your signs with an outdoor clear varnish to protect it. I got mine in a small bottle at the craft store. A couple coats, and you are good to go!
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Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day!
Joe asked me what I wanted for breakfast in bed this mother's day. :)
Almost as bad as the birthday cake he made for me a few years ago.
I think I have a problem! Oh well, happy Mother's Day! Did you get breakfast in bed?
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Almost as bad as the birthday cake he made for me a few years ago.
I think I have a problem! Oh well, happy Mother's Day! Did you get breakfast in bed?
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Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Chipboard Earrings
Did you know that Silhouette sells chipboard? What is chipboard, you ask? It's a very lightweight cardboard that you can use to make boxes, tags, cards, etc. I decided to think outside of the box (wink wink... get it... because I'm not making a box) and make earrings out of the chipboard!
You read that right, these are made of chipboard! Evan my husband was amazed when he saw what I made them out of.
Silhouette is having a great promotion for their machines bundled with chipboard, dust covers, and download cards! Awesome! Want to be your mom's favorite child? Buy her one of these for mother's day! :) Here are the bundles you can get:
Now on to the tutorial! Open up the shapes in Silhouette Studio and size them to 1.5 inches. You can, of course, make them bigger or smaller.
Shapes used:
Flower Lace Filigree
Round Spanish Lace
Change your cut settings to chipboard. Notice that this will make your machine do a double cut.
I was a little worried that the small details wouldn't come out, but the chipboard cut PERFECTLY! Look at that detail!!!
Put the pieces on a flat, sturdy surface that you don't mind getting dirty. A piece of thick cardboard works great. Coat both sides of your shapes with a couple layers of acrylic paint. Let the paint completely dry on one side before you flip it, and make sure to get all of the edges.
After the paint is dry, the pieces will still be a bit flimsy. Flatten them out the best you can and apply a thin coat of Dimensional Magic. This will stiffen the shapes and give the a shiny, glass-like surface. Try your best not to get it in the cutout parts of the shape.
If you get any of the Dimensional Magic in the cutout parts, take a pin and swirl it around in the middle to clear the area. You can also use the pin to pop any air bubbles. The shapes will start to curl up a bit, but don't touch them. For me, they just flattened out on their own as they dried. After one side is completely dry, turn the shape over and coat the other side with the Dimensional Magic.
Wait for the second side to dry, add a couple jump rings and some earring hooks, and you are done! Use some more chipboard to make an earring holder and maybe a pretty box, and you've got a fun gift for a friend!
Cutesy Crafts is an affiliate of Silhouette America and will recieve a comission if my promo code is used. As part of Silhouette's promotion, I was given a free product to use. All opinions are my own. To read my full disclosures click here.
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You read that right, these are made of chipboard! Evan my husband was amazed when he saw what I made them out of.
Silhouette is having a great promotion for their machines bundled with chipboard, dust covers, and download cards! Awesome! Want to be your mom's favorite child? Buy her one of these for mother's day! :) Here are the bundles you can get:
- 1 Silhouette CAMEO®, 1 pack of chipboard, 1 natural dust cover, 1 $25 download card: $269.99
- 1 Silhouette Portrait™, 1 pack of chipboard, 1 grey dust cover, 1 $25 download card: $129.99
- 1 pack of chipboard, 1 $25 download card: $19.99
Shapes used:
Flower Lace Filigree
Round Spanish Lace
Change your cut settings to chipboard. Notice that this will make your machine do a double cut.
I was a little worried that the small details wouldn't come out, but the chipboard cut PERFECTLY! Look at that detail!!!
Put the pieces on a flat, sturdy surface that you don't mind getting dirty. A piece of thick cardboard works great. Coat both sides of your shapes with a couple layers of acrylic paint. Let the paint completely dry on one side before you flip it, and make sure to get all of the edges.
After the paint is dry, the pieces will still be a bit flimsy. Flatten them out the best you can and apply a thin coat of Dimensional Magic. This will stiffen the shapes and give the a shiny, glass-like surface. Try your best not to get it in the cutout parts of the shape.
If you get any of the Dimensional Magic in the cutout parts, take a pin and swirl it around in the middle to clear the area. You can also use the pin to pop any air bubbles. The shapes will start to curl up a bit, but don't touch them. For me, they just flattened out on their own as they dried. After one side is completely dry, turn the shape over and coat the other side with the Dimensional Magic.
Wait for the second side to dry, add a couple jump rings and some earring hooks, and you are done! Use some more chipboard to make an earring holder and maybe a pretty box, and you've got a fun gift for a friend!
Cutesy Crafts is an affiliate of Silhouette America and will recieve a comission if my promo code is used. As part of Silhouette's promotion, I was given a free product to use. All opinions are my own. To read my full disclosures click here.
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Friday, May 3, 2013
Kiddie Crafts - "All About Me" Books
One of the mom's from our preschool group had a great idea for mother's day gifts... "All About Me" books. For the days that we taught preschool, we made things that the kids could put into the books. I don't have Audrey's final book yet, but I wanted to show you the pages that we made on the days that I taught. (Sorry about the bad photography... I was in the middle of teaching preschool... enough said.)
Since it was a Mother's Day gift, I thought I would have them answer some questions about their moms. I found this printable and made my own version. She came from the store???? Not sure what that's about, Audrey. One of the kids said her mom is good at doing somersaults. Hahaha.
I made this page for each of the kids that included all of their family members.
Then I had them cut pictures out of magazines that looked like their family members. This was fun, and also pretty funny. Audrey's was surprisingly accurate.
I traced their hands, and we stamped all of their fingerprints.
Apparently Audrey is 3-4 inches taller than all of the other preschoolers.
I also took photos of their profiles and turned them into silhouette cutouts.
And the funniest answer came from one of the boys. This is a sheet that they did the previous week. Haha.
The books also included painted handprints and footprints, self portraits, and drawings of their families. Everything is going to be put into page protectors and slipped into folders. Something that the mommies can treasure forever!
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Since it was a Mother's Day gift, I thought I would have them answer some questions about their moms. I found this printable and made my own version. She came from the store???? Not sure what that's about, Audrey. One of the kids said her mom is good at doing somersaults. Hahaha.
I made this page for each of the kids that included all of their family members.
Then I had them cut pictures out of magazines that looked like their family members. This was fun, and also pretty funny. Audrey's was surprisingly accurate.
I traced their hands, and we stamped all of their fingerprints.
Apparently Audrey is 3-4 inches taller than all of the other preschoolers.
I also took photos of their profiles and turned them into silhouette cutouts.
And the funniest answer came from one of the boys. This is a sheet that they did the previous week. Haha.
The books also included painted handprints and footprints, self portraits, and drawings of their families. Everything is going to be put into page protectors and slipped into folders. Something that the mommies can treasure forever!
Like what you see? Don't miss a post, click here to subscribe!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Dry Erase Treasure Map
My kids love to go on treasure hunts! Usually our hunts consist of scrap pieces of paper with pictures or maps drawn on them. I thought it would be fun to make something a little more permanent that still had an erasable line to follow. It also needed to roll up like any good treasure map should.
I made the map using white vinyl fabric (found in the home decor section) and clear contact paper. Mine is 16" x 20". No, the dry erase markers do not erase perfectly off of the contact paper, and you will need to use a little bit of soapy water, but I actually kind of prefer that. I don't have to worry as much about the marker rubbing off onto the carpet or furniture when the kids are dragging it around the house. **edit: A reader suggested using "wet erase" or overhead markers. I might just try that!** First thing you do is draw your map (floor plan) onto the shiny side of your vinyl fabric with permanent markers. I only drew in the larger, permanent furniture. The kid's rooms are empty since those will probably be moved around soon. And yes, I suck at drawing cars... and furniture... and pretty much everything on this map looks kinda scary. Oh well, the kids don't care.
I even added a little compass to help the kids learn about directions.
Once your map is drawn, cover it with the clear contact paper and smooth out all of the air bubbles.
To make sure that the contact paper doesn't peel up, I sewed a 1/4" seam around the edge.
Trim off any excess contact paper.
Now comes the fun part! Draw a line or whatever you want all around the map. I made sure to include lots of fun twists and turns and, of course, an X to mark the spot where the treasure is.
Roll it up and give it to the kids.
Surprisingly, Evan did a pretty good job reading the map and figuring out my horrible drawings.
You must follow the map exactly!
It's always fun to make them go outside!
And the treasure at the end... fruit snacks of course!
So much fun!
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I made the map using white vinyl fabric (found in the home decor section) and clear contact paper. Mine is 16" x 20". No, the dry erase markers do not erase perfectly off of the contact paper, and you will need to use a little bit of soapy water, but I actually kind of prefer that. I don't have to worry as much about the marker rubbing off onto the carpet or furniture when the kids are dragging it around the house. **edit: A reader suggested using "wet erase" or overhead markers. I might just try that!** First thing you do is draw your map (floor plan) onto the shiny side of your vinyl fabric with permanent markers. I only drew in the larger, permanent furniture. The kid's rooms are empty since those will probably be moved around soon. And yes, I suck at drawing cars... and furniture... and pretty much everything on this map looks kinda scary. Oh well, the kids don't care.
I even added a little compass to help the kids learn about directions.
Once your map is drawn, cover it with the clear contact paper and smooth out all of the air bubbles.
To make sure that the contact paper doesn't peel up, I sewed a 1/4" seam around the edge.
Trim off any excess contact paper.
Now comes the fun part! Draw a line or whatever you want all around the map. I made sure to include lots of fun twists and turns and, of course, an X to mark the spot where the treasure is.
Roll it up and give it to the kids.
Surprisingly, Evan did a pretty good job reading the map and figuring out my horrible drawings.
You must follow the map exactly!
It's always fun to make them go outside!
And the treasure at the end... fruit snacks of course!
So much fun!
Like what you see? Don't miss a post, click here to subscribe!
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