Category Archives: Crafts

Lucky Me!


I used to decorate for all the holidays when my children were little, but since they have all grown and moved out of the house, I do not do as much but I still have to decorate a little bit for the grand kids. St. Patrick’s day is not one that I usually do too much for.  But I decided that I could decorate my repurposed tray that sits on my kitchen counter.  This is what I came up with:

 I made these printables to share with you.  There is one cutsie one, and two modern ones.  You can just print them and frame it like I did here.

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Knitted Dishcloths

When I was a little girl, only 4-5 years old my mother took me to a yarn shop called Hiendselman’s, in Provo, Utah.  They taught me how to knit!  It seems hard to believe now, but I can still remember the lady telling me “In – around – and through” and I remember even at that early age how I loved all the colors and textures of the yarns that were in slots on the wall!  So I guess that I have my mother to blame for all my craft making.  Even though she is no longer here, she started it!  Thanks mom!:)

It seems like every winter that I get the urge to start knitting these dishcloths.  They are the most wonderful  things because they are made with all cotton yarn and they absorb the water when you are wiping your kitchen counters.  They are also a nice big size for washing dishes!  I have made so many different colors and styles, but this is the pattern that I always come back to.  I use the Sugar  and Cream yarn and I can get two dishcloths out of one skein. Although the with new “twist” Peaches and Cream yarn, I could only get 3 dishcloths out of 2 skeins of yarn, even though they are the same yardage and weight, it is a finer yarn. (They are the red and green ones.)

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Card Making Party!

Last week my husband was gone and so I decided to have a card making party while he was away!  My neighbor agreed to teach us some new techniques and tips and so we got some of the girls together for a fun little night out!  I was having so much fun that I really forgot to take very many pictures and the ones I have here have very poor lighting, so you will have to excuse the photographer on this post, but she was more interested in being with friends than the camera! :)

This is my cute little neighbor, who taught our class!

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Valentine Chinese Boxes

I got some Chinese take out boxes at a Gygi’s a while back and they are perfect for putting a treat or small gift in.  You can find them at most party supply stores, restaurant supply, craft store or even your favorite Chinese Restaurant! I love that they are a perfect size for cookies, cupcakes, jewelry, treats like candy, popcorn, or nuts!  So I decided that I needed to make a heart to put on the front of them to give away for Valentines Day!  Here is my version of the love birds!

I made three different styles and they look cute with ribbon tied on the handle or wrapped around the box with bakers twine.  You can decorate as lavishly as you would like or keep it as simple as bakers twine!  I used pop dots on the back of the heart to give it a little bit of dimension, but you could also just glue it directly to the box.

So does anyone want to make some Valentine Chinese Take Out Boxes?

To print, just right click and go to copy, open your favorite program like Word or Presentations, right click again and go to paste.  Then simply print.I hope that you are all having a great Monday.

Thank you for stopping by today!

I Love You Because…

I saw this idea the other day when  I was out shopping for things for our princess party and I fell in love with it.  So I decided to make one for me, and one to share with you!

 I tend two of my grandchildren a couple of times a week and the 6 year old is just starting to read and she laughed and laughed when she figured out what I had written.  For some reason it really tickled her funny bone.  I thought this might be fun to write something different every day.

 You will need a frame with a glass front and a dry erase marker.

I did mine in an 8 x 10 frame, but you can use whatever size you wish.  You do not want to go too small because then there is not a whole lot of room to write the “because”s.    You will need to print it off;

 To print, just right click and go to copy.  Open your favorite program like Word or a Presentations program, right click again and go to paste.
Insert print into your frame, tie a cute ribbon around the frame and tie the marker onto the frame so that anyone can write their special message.

Place it where everyone will see it…like in the middle of all these goodies on the kitchen counter!  :)

Have fun with this and let your imagination and your gratitude go wild!

Magical cookie Wands!

I made these for our princess party and they look so stinking cute in this little pink bucket!  I have been making these for many years.  They are great as a cookie bouquet for someone special or for a fun centerpiece!Do you want to know why they are magical?

Because there is no baking involved!

All you need is the striped shortbread cookies with a hole in the middle, some gumdrop or Ju Ju hearts and wooden skewers!  Push one of the hearts down onto the skewer, then the cookie, followed by another heart. So stinking easy and so cute.Then tie a bunch of ribbons below the gumdrop and you have a Magical Cookie Wand.  If you want to make this into a cookie flower bouquet just add green ribbons or tape silk or paper leaves to the “stem”.  Add a note that says, “Love you Bunches”Put into a container with some floral foam and grasses or moss etc.

It doesn’t get much easier than this to make a “Magical Moment” for someone special in your life!

Winter Blossoms

We have had a very mild winter here in Utah with hardly any snow.  We have had unseasonably warm weather and it seems like it should be spring, not the dead of winter!  But all good things must come to an end and the forecast for the next week is snow and rain almost every day, with winter storm warnings.  Ugh!  I got way too spoiled with the good weather and do not look forward to the cold so I decided to bring some of that spring time feeling into my kitchen.

This arrangement sits right behind my kitchen sink and I love how much it brightens up that corner!  Every time I walk into my kitchen this is the focal point.

My next door neighbor and great friend, Susan, works at a greenhouse and she lets me know what is blooming and when to plant different plants and how to fertilize etc, etc, etc. I really do not have the best green thumb but with her help I am learning a lot about different plants and how to take care of a lot of different flowers.

She told me about this pink plant and that it was in bloom right now, so I went down to see her at work and I got this “cyclamen” flower.  Isn’t it beautiful?  The blooms do not last for very long so I will have to enjoy it while they do.  There are several new buds coming so I should be able to enjoy it for a little while.

I also saw this fun heart topiary and thought how cute they would look together for Valentines Day! 

I tied a couple of ribbons into bows and made a vinyl with “Hugs & Kisses” to put on a tile to finish off this little winter arrangement.

I love the sunlight of the morning coming through my south window in this picture, it really does make me happy!  Now I just need to look at this picture during the coming week when all the snow storms are here (Ugh) and remember that spring can be here in my kitchen!

What do  you do to chase away the winter blues?

Headband Tutu’s

I saw these made up at a boutique last fall, and thought what a cute idea it would be for my three granddaughters!  They love to dress up and pretend that they are princesses, so I thought they might love to play in these little tutu’s.

They were really fun to make and you could do any color combination that you would like. There is also no sewing involved!  So, who wants to make a tutu?

First, you will need one of these stretchy elastic headbands or you can just buy the elastic and make it into a headband.  I found white and pink ones.

Then you need whatever color tulle you like.  I chose white, light pink, and dark pink.  I just used the tulle that comes on a bolt and all I had to do is cut the lengths that I needed.   My granddaughters are still fairly small, so I used a 36 inch length and when they are tied they are about 17 inches long.  The skirts are also are pretty full, so they are not quite that long when they are wearing them.   You can make them as long or as short as you would like.  Fold the length of tulle in half and put the loop through one of the holes like this:

Then put the ends, through the loop:and pull tight like so.

I skipped every other hole and tied a different color in it,

repeating until I had gone all the way around.

Then do one more row of tulle.  I went directly above the first row and tied the same color as I had on the bottom row.  You can mix it up if you wanted to, but I like the look of the colors being a little bit more grouped.

Then I went in between the rows of tulle and tied different lengths and colors of ribbon the same way as I had tied the tulle.  Tie the ribbons all the way around mixing the different ribbons as you go.  You could add flowers or beads or buttons on the ribbons at this point but I felt like these were great just the way they were.

So cute and no sewing!

We are going to have a Princess Tea Party this week, so I will show you what they look like on the little girls after we have our party.

 

Valentines Subway Art

Is it too early to put out Valentine decorations?  I know the stores had them out the day before Christmas, but that is just plain crazy!  I know that there are a few of these already out there in blog land but I wanted to create my own version of a Valentines subway art.  It was fun to create and I think that perhaps I shall have to try my hand at this for Easter!

I found this frame at the dollar store and I spray painted it with a Krylon, red gloss paint.  The color really adds to the overall look of this project.

Here is the printable for you to use!  Just right click and go to copy, then open your favorite program like Word, or Presentations and right click again and go to paste.  The original is 8 x 10, but you can re-size it to whatever you would like.  I had mine printed on glossy card  stock and I think it looks great!

I have mine on my kitchen counter and it really brightens up my kitchen on these cold, dreary, winter days and makes me happy! :)   These would be a great little gift for teachers, friends, sisters, SELF etc!

Ruffled Scarf

My sister gave me this darling ruffled scarf for Christmas and I love it, with the flower pin and all!  Our winter this year in Utah has been extremely mild and I find myself just grabbing a scarf when I go out the door instead of a jacket, so I have loved wearing this one with all the ruffles! I think it makes me look oh so pretty. :)

My sister made this scarf and so of course I wanted to make some more, because I love how cute the ruffles are and how easy it is to make!

So do you want to make one too?

First you will need 1/4 yard of the ruffle fabric like this:

I bought 1/2 yard, so that I could make two scarfs, so I had to cut the fabric in half.  Just cut right along the line in between one of the rows of ruffles so that it is 1/4 yard wide. (9 inches)  If you want a little bit fuller scarf you could also use 1/3 yard. (12 inches)

Fold fabric in half  with right sides together along the long side and sew a 1/4″ seam.  You do not have to pin the ruffles down because you are sewing along side of the ruffle. Just make sure you tuck them in, so you don’t catch them in the seam.
Then simple turn your tube inside out!  

You are done, there are no hems because the fabric does not fray and already has a finish on it. Wasn’t that Easy Peasy!

I tied knots in the end and look at how it finishes off the look of my jacket!

I love these scarves and think that perhaps I might need one or two other colors.  We got the fabric for these scarves at Hobby Lobby.  They have a few solid colors, but if you want a striped fabric like I used on my ruffled skirt, you will have to go to a fabric or quilt shop.

So are you now ready to go make a scarf or two?  I think that this pink one is perfect for Valentines Day, or perhaps a red one would look great!  Or I could put a red and white one together!  Oh what possibilities!