Category: Craftiness

General craft ideas, including sewing projects, kid-friendly ideas and VBS inspiration.

A Bunny Banner All Your Own

Posted on April 15, 2014February 2, 2015 by Mama

Yes, Easter is just a few days away, but you still have plenty of time to whip up this cute little bunny banner just in time for the holiday. . . especially if you use an inexpensive roll of burlap as your base. Below you can see the basic supplies I used and some are optional, but the best way I’ve found to create a quick banner is to stay clear of large expanses of material and focus on burlap that is more user friendly.

Materials:

Roll of unwired, unfinished burlap
Liquid Fray Stop
Off-white/white acrylic paint
Pink acrylic paint
Bunny template (pdf file)
Pink Stickles (optional)
Medium white pompons
Twine or jute
Fast drying craft glue
Scissors
Foam brush
Small bristle paint brush

Directions:

Cut five strips of burlap from your roll. My roll was four inches wide, so I made each strip eight inches long (Making your length twice as wide as the width is a good rule of thumb).
Cut a triangle out of the bottom of each of the strips to form the banner shape.
On the back of each burlap strip, run a bead of Fray Stop around all the edges. Don’ put it right at the edge, because you want just a wee bit of fraying to occur.
After the Fray Stop has dried, turn your burlap pieces back over and use your foam brush to apply a light coat of white paint to the front of each piece — do not go all the way to the edges.
Print off a copy of the bunny template (pdf file) on a piece of card stock paper, if you have it. Cut out the template to create a bunny shape in the middle of your sheet of paper.
After your white paint has dried, center your template on a burlap piece and using your foam brush dab the pink paint on to create the bunny shape. (Use light coats of paint and add as necessary, but make sure to use a pouncing motion instead of a brushing motion.) Repeat this step for each of the banner pieces.
After the pink paint dries, this next step is optional but I found that it really helped draw attention to the little rabbits. I used pink Stickles and a small bristle brush to cover the pink area with a bit of sparkle. I chose Stickles instead of glitter just for the ease of use. Glitter tends to stick to burlap in all the wrong places.
After everything is dry, use the quick-drying craft glue to adhere your white pompon bunny tails.
When the tails are dry (yes, there are a lot of “watch it dry” moments in this project), slightly fray the edges of each of your banners.
Lay out your banner pieces with desired spacing and cut a length of twine/jute to span the distance, adding a foot or so at each end for hanging.
Flip over each banner, run a bead of quick-drying craft glue along the top back edge of each banner and lay your twine or jute in the glue to dry. And yes, that’s the last time you have to watch it dry, because you’re officially finished. Just hang and enjoy!

Shared at:
What’s It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants
WWAW @ Green Willow Pond
Pin It Monday @ Pursuit of Functional Home
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
That DIY Party @ DIY Showoff

Easter Egg Wreath is Easy and Inexpensive

Posted on March 25, 2014March 27, 2020 by Mama

I know March is not quite finished and the temperature outside is a brisk 30 something degrees, but Easter will be upon us before we hardly blink. Sooo, as I try to get into the creative Spring of things I decided to whip up an Easter wreath this weekend. “Whip” may not be the most accurate word to use because it took about three hours to make this cute little thing, but it was easy and cheap enough to create.

The wreath cost me about $10.50 to make, minus the burlap ribbon and hot glue sticks I already had on hand – pretty affordable, I thought. The idea came from the Clover House blog, but I’ll give you a few pointers that will hopefully make your project a success without a few of the pitfalls I experienced.

Update: I removed the plastic wrap from my wreath before starting the project, but my mom tried it using these directions without removing the plastic packaging. Her eggs seemed to stay on a bit better, but it could have been her hot glue, skill, etc. . . just a thought.

Materials:

12″ straw wreath
plastic eggs (I used approx. 75 regular sized eggs)
2 bags of paper basket filler
ribbon for hanging wreath (I used approx. 3 feet of ribbon)
glue gun and glue sticks
flat head screwdriver

Directions:

Start by finding the center of your ribbon and hot glue it around the straw wreath, letting the ends lie loose.
Tip: Even if your eggs seem to stay in place with hot glue, about the time you finish your lovely little project they will probably start popping off (been there, done that). Smooth plastic surfaces and hot glue don’t tend to mix for very long, but here’s a way to fix this problem ahead of time. Open up each egg and put a glob of hot glue at the hinge point and close the egg quickly. The hot glue should ooze out the edge and give your new dollop of hot glue something on which to adhere.
Start gluing eggs to your straw wreath using the hot glue. Mix up the orientation and angle of the eggs to get a less-uniform look. Place the eggs pretty close together, but they don’t have to quite touch. You will have larger spaces between the eggs in many spots and that’s okay because we will fill those with the basket filler. Make sure to glue eggs on the outside and inside of the wreath, but not on the back.

After all the eggs are glued in place take small wads of basket filler and start poking them in the gaps between each egg. Use the flat head to do this and stuff each area pretty full. You don’t need to glue the filler in place, because it should just stay where you put it as each spot fills and tightens.
Tie a bow at the top of your ribbon and hang your wreath in its designated spot. That’s it!

I used pastel eggs, brown basket filler and burlap ribbon for my wreath, but you could use whatever you have on hand, opt for a less earthy feel or even color block your eggs to suit your style. It really is an adorable idea for Easter décor and easy to make if you have a bit of time and don’t mind playing with a hot glue gun. I hope you enjoy!

*****

Shared at:
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Through Life
What We Accomplished Wed. @ Green Willow Pond
What’s It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Make a Batch of St. Patty Playing Dough

Posted on March 14, 2014February 28, 2015 by Mama

Last night I gave this very green recipe a go just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. While my son loved the finished product; during the cooking process, I was really beginning to wonder why I emptied a few of my kitchen staples into such a venture. I started out with a gooey, sticky mess that progressively became tougher to stir, but patience won out and I was rewarded with a huge ball of St. Patty playing dough.

The recipe for this big blob of fun comes from Being Creative to Keep My Sanity, but I’m going to expand on it just a bit. It really is an easy recipe and doesn’t take much time; so if you have faith that it’s working, you’ll be rewarded with hours of entertainment.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 cups water
1 cup salt
green food coloring
green glitter

Directions:

Mix all of your ingredients together in a medium saucepan, preferably not the nicest one in the cabinet. It’s not like this process will hurt the pan, but it sure won’t be pretty when you’re finished. As far as food coloring and glitter go, the amount is up to you — add enough to get the color and glitz that’s toward your liking.
Put the pan of ingredients on medium heat and stir as it cooks. You don’t have to stir constantly, but I did give it a good mix about every other minute or so.
As the goo first starts cooking, it becomes a very sticky mess; but as it continues to cook, it will slowly change to a darker color, become a lot less sticky and will ball up a lot more. Cook until it becomes a big ball of dough and most of it is a darker color. Don’t over cook or burn.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of wax paper or plate to cool.
After the dough has cooled, it’s play time! Store your dough in an air-tight container.

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