crafting101

It’s hard to believe, but August is over! I hate that I wasn’t able to post as many knick knacks as I could, but I hope that I’ve at least helped to steer you in the right direction for finding things out there for you to do.

September is an entirely different month! Wow! It’s the beginning of another school year for many, including us! I have two in school, one third grader and one first grader. Next year, I’ll have a preschooler! They just grow up quick!

In honor of school starting, we are going to honor teachers, secretaries, administrators, PTA presidents and the like by making bags all month. Teachers are always in the need for a bag to carry supplies to and from home to work, PTA presidents and other PTA members have papers to carry from meeting to meeting, principals are always bringing work home. So bags are perfect!

I will differ up my posts, some I will show you have to make a certain bag, other posts will be instructions that others have posted out on the web on making bags. There are so many bags out there, the possiblities are endless! The bags will either be sewn, crocheted or knitted or put together by some other means. I hope to keep you on your toes!

I hope you will join me in making bags during the month of September. As always, I’d love to see what you’ve been doing so feel free to send me pictures of your work. TTFN!

My apologies for not writing! Life got away from me and we had company and then school is about to begin…EEK! But I am back and here’s another knick knack that is lots of fun and easy and quick!

Have you ever thought of doing something neat with some old coke bottles? What about any type of glass bottle that we have lying around? Want a good reason to recycle? This idea is from ThriftDeluxe.com which is a website for do-it-yourself folks like us.

You simply drink or eat the contents of the bottle/jar, wash it out well and dry, then pour some paint in it, rotate the bottle so that the paint is covering it, then pour excess paint back into your jar. Be sure to rotate the bottle every five minutes or so as it dries to make sure it is all covered. Pop a flower in the bottle and you’ve got a cool looking vase!

Now, the website is British and the paint they recommend is PVA, but I’m not sure what kind of paint that is, but I would think that most craft paint would work for this type of project. Be sure and read the label on the paint to see if it would or not. The cool this with this is you’re painting the inside of the bottle, not the outside so you can still see the logo or if you have a clear jar, you can see the paint. Be creative and you could create all sorts of designs on this! Have fun!

Today’s knick knack is kind of neat. It uses items that we all have laying around the house and have no idea what to do with. It’s called a Greeting Card Storage Box. I wasn’t able to find a picture of one of these made, but it sounds pretty easy to do and looks neat too. You’ll need a shoe box, all those greeting cards you have laying around plus some paint and glue.

From their website: “Paint the outside of the shoe box with the desired color, red or green would be great for Christmas cards (you can also use a paper mache box available at most crafts stores). Let the paint dry.

Cut out the picture or scene on the front of several greeting cards. Arrange the pictures or scenes on the sides and top of the shoe box to cover as much of it as possible. You can also try to create scenes with the pictures. Glue them into place and let the glue dry completely.

Using watered-down glue, paint over the box to seal it. You should use approximately 1 part glue to 1 part water. You can also use Mdoge-Podge or any other decoupage medium. Apply 2 - 3 coats, making sure each coat dries completely beefore adding the next.”

Sounds neat, huh? I hope to try and make one of these, but I have to wait until later in the year when I get all the Christmas decorations out. That’s where all my cards are! If you make one of these, send me a photo and I’ll showcase it here on the website.

See you tomorrow!

Knick knacks come in all shapes and sizes and uniqueness. In my surfing the last few days, I’ve come across all sorts of items and this is one that I think I will replicate for Christmas gifts.

I came across Lani’s blog at http://crossrhodes.com/ and found these really cool clocks that she made for relatives and friends for Christmas. You can view her entire post here. I think these are a fantastic idea! You use clocks that you can find at your local Wal-Mart, Michael’s, Target and other discount stores. They don’t cost much, find some neat scrapbook paper, have your pictures and add whatever embellishments you want to and then you’ve got a cool clock!

These are projects that can be done early for Christmas, they are fantastic Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gifts and I’m sure grandparents would love them too!

If you have a knick knack that you’d like featured here during the month of August, be sure to leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to showcase it here!

I have found a cute knick knack for everyone to make for the love of their life or you can adapt it to fit any occasion!  Check out idodiy.blogspot.com for lots of cool creations that she’s done with paper, but this is one that I thought was good to do with felt.

Not only could you do a project like this for Valentine’s Day, but it’d be perfect for Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and any holiday or special occasion in between. My kids would love making these for the grandparents and if you printed out a picture of the kiddos to put in the middle, you could make a nice frame out of it.

This project just needs scraps of felt, some embroidery yarn, a needle and some glue to help keep the items in place while you stitch them. You can use sequins and buttons to embellish it as well. Have fun!

So in the spirit of the Olympics, I have found a website that has different crafts for kids (and parents) to make to celebrate the Olympics. I thought it’d be cute and neat to make an Olympic torch. You just need some construction paper, glue, tissue paper and tape. Very simple!

You can also make an Olympic flag to wave while watching the different sports.  All you need is some construction paper, tape, drinking straws, crayons and a cardboard tube to trace rings. Super simple!

This website has loads more ideas for you to use with your kids.  You can make gold medals, first place medals, games, swimming goggles and more. If you make something, send me a pic! I know my kids will be making some of these things, only wish I had found them earlier! But we’ll have to have some races so we can give out medals!

Again we are going to visit Molly Chicken’s website for today’s knick knack. She has some cute ones! Today is for one that she did as a Mother’s Day gift , but it could be done for anyone really as a cute gift. It’s great for holding all sorts of knick knacks itself.

She has complete instructions on her blog for making the house. Lots of embroidery, but this is simple and you can use embroidery thread for that or thin yarn.

This picture to the left is one you can make as well and I think I’m going to make this one tomorrow. This one doesn’t open like the house does, but it’s a cute gift for a little baby. You can use felt for this and you can also use thick fabric or a couple of layers of thin fabric and you use batting to fill it.

LMK if you make one! I love to see what others are doing. I will also update our list of completed projects for everyone and if you have any ideas for other projects or if you find a knick knack you’d like to share, leave me a comment and I’ll check it out!

For today’s knick knack, I found something really cute, but there’s no pattern for it online anymore! I was very sad, but will try to make it myself soon, but I wasn’t sure about what the exact ingredients are, well, you’ll understand in just a second!

Here’s what I found. Isn’t it cute! I love it! It’s a small bird filled with lavendar that is a pillow that I found over at Sew Mama Sew. Unfortunately the link she had to it no longer went anywhere, but I had to share it with you.

I can imagine something like this to be in a drawer or on a dresser, some place that will make the room look cute and smell good! Lavendar is good for helping people settle down and fall asleep.

Now I’ve searched online to see if I could find the pattern or one similar, but couldn’t, but I wanted to show you the item because I think it’s really cute and something that people can try to make. I am going to search some more because I would love to make these, but I’m not sure what kind of lavendar you put in there. If anyone knows, LMK! Enjoy!

I found the neatest thing today while looking through other people’s blogs. It’s amazing what you find on the internet. I was looking for another item, yet found this one instead. Thank you to the Molly Chicken blog for the idea. Today’s knick knack is a made with scraps of fabric that I’m sure we all have lying around. (I told my husband there’s a reason to save these, yet he didn’t believe me!)

But I didn’t have a ton of fabric scraps so I used all the plastic handles that I had from cutting up my plastic bags. I keep them in a ziploc bag tied together and I usually use them for fringe on my plastic bags, but I thought I’d use them for this cute project.

After finishing, I realized I probably could have used about five more feet of the plastic just to make it thicker, but I think it turned out neat! I used fabric to tie it together and then hung it up by my desk with a knitting needle. It was quite easy, took me less than thirty minutes to complete. Try it out! Send me picks if you try it so I can see all the different ones that are out there!

Hello everyone!

Here’s the first knick knack that I found to make. They are super cute!! I found it over at eSnips.com , a website I’ve never been to before. Feel free to check them out!

The pattern is for some miniature kitchen items. Here’s the link to the page: Cute Kitchen Knick Knacks . The only problem I had was half of the pattern was missing! The pattern is originally from Annie’s Crochet Newsletter Jan/Feb 1984 issue. I have found it online to purchase, but not where it’s available for free. I found out the pattern was only part there when I went to make the teapot and it wasn’t there! I was very sad. But I made the bowl and the plate and it turned out too cute!

I tried to find something to reference it so you could see how tiny it was, but everything else so so big, you wouldn’t be able to see the plate and bowl! That’s how small it is! I would guess that the plate is about the size of a half-dollar. The bowl is probably about the size of a dime. They are so small and too cute! Enjoy!