Spooky Banner Craft Kit

It's a new Halloween Spooky Banner! I don't think I've ever had a banner with so many different things going on at once...

We have a boy Jack-O'-Lantern, Bride of Frankenstein, Skull and Crossbones (this one happens to be a girl, but you can make a boy as well), 

A Ghostie, Frankenstein's Monster, And Candy Corn (it's spooky because it will rot your teeth! Ha!)...

And a Spider (okay, this one's also a girl - I can't help it! - girls are more fun to accessorize - but any of these can be made into boys), a Mummy, and a girl Jack-O'-Lantern...

And a Witch, and a Bat, and Dracula!

I KNOW! It's a lot. Are you overwhelmed with all the possibilities? 

Well. It gets better. 

Each little scrapbook paper decoration you see - Pumpkin stems, Bride of Frankenstein's hair, Frankenstein's Monster's hair, Dracula's hair, Witch's hat and hat band, Spider legs, Skull and Crossbones' bones, and Bat wings - comes in 3 different paper variations in the kit. So, not only are there lots and lots of paper choices, if you decide you want to skip the Skull and Crossbones and Bat and make 3 spooky Spiders instead, go for it! The paper supplies are there. And they are awesome.

And then. It gets even better.

This kit has tons of decorative ribbon (I mean, I didn't actually weigh it, but I'm pretty sure it's about a ton), and crushed tulle for the Ghost...

And muslin Mummy wrap, orange flowers, hand-punched rosy cheeks and eyelashes and curls and ghost eyes (I hand-punched each and every one!)... 

And wiggly eyes and colorful sequins and black buttons! Oh, and I even include a pencil so your little one(s) can draw sweet or spooky little mouths onto the faces. It does not get any cuter than child-drawn mouths!

Oooooh.....Spoooooooky!

And it all comes packaged in a cute little box...

Happy Halloween Crafting!

Father's Day Frame 2012

It's Father's Day Frames Time!

We've done these for 4 years in a row! You can see the other years AND the How To here and here.

I really, really recommend this craft. It doesn't take all that much time, or effort, or money. It's super personal and my kids love making them every year.

I think they mostly love it because I leave all the major decision making up to them.

I drag a bunch of photos from the current year into a folder (about 15-20 per kid). Then I let them each choose 10. Not all pictures will work because of the placement of people in the picture and the shapes of the letters, so 10 seems to give us enough good options. BOTH kids wanted to keep all their leftover pictures. I'm telling you, they love this stuff!

This time, Ella decided that she didn't want any black lines of the letters showing. When we cut the letters without the black lines, we had a little bit of extra space inside the letters. So she decided to pack two pictures into each of the D's. I love it! They look really cute! She also decided to back each letter with colored paper, just like she did last year.

Check out the bottom of the second D - Happy F-Day. "It stands for Father's Day!" she told me. Obviously.

Although... when I see Happy F-Day, it's possible I think something else. AM I THE ONLY ONE?



Peyton wanted the black lines of the letters showing, but he liked Ella's two-photo idea, too, so he did some of that. He did not want colored paper on the back, just like last year, so I backed the letters with some light cardboard to give them more stability. It's funny, I didn't even show them last year's frames, but they both still picked the same backing as they did last year. I wonder if they remember, or if it's just their personal aesthetics coming through? It's adorable either way.

Check out the Y - To: James. You know he did that just because this is really important to him and he wanted to be very serious and proper. So sweet. Oh, and the third D. He wrote Peyton J W Jr. He's not a junior, obviously, his dad's name is James. I guess because he is his father's son? I didn't want to call him on it because he was just so proud.

I just LOVE these! Simple traditions are the best!

Happy Father's Day!

Patriotic Stars Banner Craft Kit

It's new craft kit time! Happy red, white, and blue! It's a Patriotic Stars Banner Craft Kit!

Perfect for 4th of July decorating, parties, family reunions... go ahead... have everyone in your family make a star... you happy little American family, you!



Here's what you get!

12 large stars - 6 red and 6 blue. You and your kid will cut them out - don't worry! They're preprinted. And it's great scissor practice!

Red, white, and blue!... and burlap! (I love the burlap!).... solid and patterned!... medium and small paper stars. So you can layer colors and patterns to your heart's content. Oh, you'll be cutting those stars out, too. Hey! Don't be whiny. A little star cutting never hurt anyone. Except me. It would probably hurt me if I had to cut out all the stars from the millions of Star Banner Kits I'm planning on selling. I have big dreams. BIG DREAMS!

Sparkly rhinestones and shiny sequins and sweet buttons...oh! and stickers, too! 

Seriously. How cute is that little red heart button? SO CUTE! Dude. This banner is all rockin' the Americana Sweetness. 

7 feet of jute - twice! - so you can double up your banner. It's extra fancy that way. And lots of colorful decorative ribbon...

Love it!

All packaged up like so...

Cute! Cute!

Ella and Peyton wanted to make one before I even finished creating the kit. Holy Crafting Pride, Batman! I love those kids!

Ella's is the red, Peyton's is the blue.

Ella broke all the rules. Trouble maker. You see that eyeball? Yeah. You won't be getting that in your kit. But she made up for all the troublemaking with what she wrote on her star...

Family. With a heart. By Ella.

Lordy. That's sweet.

Eyeball.

Happy 4th of July!

And I Was Kung Fu "Pin"spiiiiring!

So I have 3 "Pin"spired projects(-ish) I just completed, wanna see?

1. Hanging Jars

So I pinned these, knowing full well that I would never make them exactly like Good Housekeeping did. Because I currently have no babies in my house, and therefor no baby food jars, and there was no way I would buy baby food just for this project. And I would have to attach wire and I really, really dislike working with wire. 

And then I saw the cutest little hanging jars in the Target Dollar Bins. $2.50 for 3! They're sweet, right? All rocking the Fleur de lis, and colorful, and already equipped with hanging wire. I bought 6. I should have bought many, many more. But when I went back to Target they were sold out and I haven't seen them since. 6 will have to do! I filled them with super colorful springtime flowers from my garden that I grew myself (read: I went to Michael's, bought some cheap fake flowers and added them to some Dollar Tree fake flowers I already had). 

I strung them with ribbon and hung them from white hooks. I did not hang them from the bright green tack you can see on the right hand side down there. Because the jars were too heavy. What!?! Doesn't everyone leave their bright green tacks stuck into the wall randomly around their homes? Well, they should.

I hung them in my dining area. Because you KNOW I like to hang crap there. Like these Stained-Glass Hearts and these Snowflakes and Paper Hearts. I'm a sucker for crafty, inexpensive window treatments. They catch the light and they're so happy and Spring-y. I love them! And they don't die and I don't have to replace the water when it gets old and nasty and has little tiny bugs floating it it like I would have to do if they were real flowers. So there.

2. Makeup Vases

I pinned this cute little makeup brush holder. I used dollar vases from the Dollar Tree and dollar rocks from the Dollar Tree. And now I'm fancy as All Get Out - not like the Dollar Tree.

The vases in the back are a little taller than the front vases. I really like that they are not all the same. The back vase on the left holds face makeup. The back vase on the right holds eyeshadow. The front vase on the left holds mascara and eyeshadow brushes. The front vase on the right holds foundation and blush brushes. I don't feel like I have a lot of make-up supplies. Do you have more? Less? I don't even store my lipstick here because I own exactly 3 shades and I keep them all in my purse. So I guess I'm not all that fancy, but when I look at this, I feel very glamorous.

I put all the vases on a mosaic tray I made long, long ago. Along with some Ikea bamboo, my favorite body spray of all time - Cucumber Melon, and a gold bird from Hobby Lobby.

I'm slowly redoing my master bath in a spa-like theme - white, black, bamboo-light-brown, green, and gold. The rocks and clear vases are perfect. And the tray makes it all seem more deliberate. 

I love this!

3. Enchilada Casserole

I pinned this recipe because I love All Things Mexican Food. I changed only a couple of things. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. I hate doing that, but I do it anyway because it's more healthful. And boring. But the casserole was still yum yum delicious! Oh, and I also used corn tortillas instead of flour because I disagree with flour tortillas in casseroles. That's right. I said it.

Oh, and it definitely isn't in the directions, but having a Storm Trooper spatula definitely adds to the happiness factor while serving the casserole. I know. He's awesome.

Serve away, Storm Trooper. Serve away.

And then I had to smother that thing with all my favorite Mexican Food toppings - cilantro, shredded lettuce, green onions, avocado, tomatoes, sour cream, and Tapatio! I like the extra freshness and texture it all adds. Plus, this way I don't have to serve a salad or vegetable on the side. As if I would ever do that anyway. 

And, just as a side note, you can't just say Tapatio in my house, you have to yell it. Like this: TAP A TIOOO! Do it. You'll like it. It's totally fun. 

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Don't forget the jalapeños!

Seriously delicious.

3 projects down, 5,000 to go. Take that! And that! And that! Yes, I do still have the karate skills from the class I took when I was 5 years old.

Way to go, Pinterest. I love you.

Spring Canvas - Easter Style

It was finally time to change up the Spring Canvas. One week before Easter because I'm super on top of things this year. Judge away.

So I stripped off the hearts...

And got out some eggs...

And rainbowed them up...

Who's making all that noise because I'm not paying any attention to her while I take pictures? Oh yeah, this one...

Oh, Penny. Stretch away, Cuteness.

Then I threw the canvas back up above the mantel. Ha! I'm so cavalier about it. Let's pretend like that's reality. Like I didn't string and restring fifty different combinations of eggs across that thing.

What's that? You really love that Easter Egg Banner that's strung across my mantel? You really wish you had one for your very own? Hmmm.... I REALLY wish I could help you out. Oh, wait, I can! ShaBam!

Anyway. Back to not plugging my own stuff. You KNOW I have a hard time buying holiday things that are not on after-the-holiday clearance or that I don't have a coupon for. But! Just look at that little lamby! He came from Pier One. This year. Before Easter. Without a coupon. I did exchange something for him, but still! This is a big deal for me. He's totally top-heavy and falls over at least once a day. Totally worth it. I love him.

Those little eggs in the vase are from The Dollar Tree. I got them today. Because I wanted to take pictures of my canvas and my mantel and I really just needed a bit more color. So I ran down there, spent two bucks on eggs, and ran back (or maybe I drove - it's all a blur). For you! Because that's how much I care! I just cut off the little hanging loops that they came with. And then I piled them into a Dollar Tree vase that I had Gorilla Glued onto a Dollar Tree candlestick holder. Super easy and cheap and I love the color! 

Cute Cute Cute! Good little eggs all lined up. At least something is neat and orderly around here. It's okay. I'll take what I can get.

 Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Banner Craft Kit

My Easter Egg Banner Craft Kit just got a remake! Now it's extra, extra fancy just like we always knew it could be - putting forth its best effort and living up to its potential and all that.

Kids love it, grown-ups love it, I love it, and I know for certain that the Easter Bunny will leave more presents in your basket if he sees this thing Easterfying your house. It's a known fact. Or, at least, it is in my house. Although our Easter Bunny brings things like paint, so that might not be what you're going for. I just want you to be able to make an informed decision on such an important matter.

But LOOK!



Look how pretty!

Would you like to know about the supplies that come in this kit?

WELL! You get:

12 brightly colored card stock eggs (egg templates, actually. A little extra scissor practice is good for you and your kid!)...



And lots of fancy paper strips...

And rick rack and skinny decorative ribbon...

And buttons and sequins...

And rhinestones and hand-punched paper flowers...

And, of course, enough tacky glue to stick on all the fanciness...



And lots and lots of banner ribbon to string up your eggs in a happy manner. Like so...

All packaged in this cuteness...

Potential achieved!


Happy Easter Crafting!!!