crafty mom Archives - Look What Mom Found

Handmade Burlap and Evergreen Tree Craft

December 1, 2014 by Melissa

Are you tired of hearing me talk about handmade holidays yet. There’s something about creating gifts and decor that suit perfectly one’s taste that really appeals to me. Each year the kids and I make ornaments, cards and decorations not just for our home but to share with the grandparents and other family. I still unwrap ornaments Sabreena made when she was little and they each bring a smile to my face. This Burlap and Evergreen Tree is a more recent creation. I took some inspiration from pictures I saw on Pinterest but definitely made it my own.

I had everything I needed to make this; card stock or , felt, hot glue, burlap roll, evergreen clippings from the yard and scissors.

Directions

Create a large cone with your cardstock or posterboard. This particular tree is tall I used a posterboard that was tucked away in the closet. The best cones come from a Pac Man shape rolled tighter for a thinner shape or kept wide for a fatter cone like party hat.
Secure your ends with tape from top to bottom. I then spray painted my coat with a quick coat of brown so that any cone showing through wouldn’t be too obvious.
Measure a length of burlap around your cone base. Cut it, fold in half (tack with glue if needed) and clip 75% up on the folded edge about 1-2 inches apart.
Glue this around your cone and repeat all the way up ensuring there is sufficient overlap.
Tuck in sprigs of evergreen or other greenery, real or fake. Personalize by cover with glitter, holly berries, fake snow or mini ornaments.
Top your tree with a hand cut felt star glued to the top of the cone.
Your tree is ready to display.

Complete this tree in less than a half hour or make an entire forest in a day. These on a mantel, paired with long pillar candles is a subtle but gorgeous display of the season.

I think this would be beautiful made in muslin, lace or even felt. I have another prepared cone waiting for a makeover.

Bow Tie Cupcake Toppers

October 14, 2014 by Melissa

We have 2 very good bakeries in the area where we get cupcakes once in a while. The cake and icing flavors are always a great combination and who doesn’t love a cupcake. Sometimes I like to dress them up a little especially when we get them for company or special occasions. These Bow Tie Cupcake Toppers are just the thing when we needed recently for a big family dinner.

The cupcakes were simple so they could please a crowd. Making the cupcake toppers took them to a new level, giving them a little touch of sophistication. The best part was watching the kids then hold them up as bow ties as they talked in terrible British accents.

Create these for yourself either by cutting them out by hand or using your Silhouette cutting machine. Here is the SVG file for the Bow Tie Cupcake Toppers.Here is the printable if you are cutting them out yourself.

Supplies

Cardstock
Glue Dots, mini size is ideal
toothpicks
scissors or Silhouette

Directions

On your cardstock print the bow tie cut outs or run the file through your Silhouette on cardstock.

Add 1 mini glue dot to the center of your bow tie shape and fold over one end and stick to glue dot. Do NOT crease the bow tie.

Repeat with next side, add another glue dot and fold over to create bow tie shape.

Using the small rectangle strip fold that around so the ends meet in the back and secure with 1-2 more glue dots.

Using 1 more glue dot attach the toothpick to the back of the bow tie and you’re ready to decorate your cupcakes.

Don’t let the cupcakes be the end of your dress up. These can be placed in a cheese tray, fruit tray or even a bowl of olives. The bow ties can also be made to be any color to match your event, dinner or holiday.

Skeleton Key Shadow Box Craft

October 8, 2014 by Melissa

There was a time recently that I had a little obsession with skeleton keys. Rob got me a really pretty necklace a couple years ago through Etsy and I started collecting them from vintage shops and flea markets. So I had a collection of keys. Now what. I wanted to display them, show them off, admire their tarnished and rusty appearance. So this Skeleton Key Shadow Box was made.

I bought the shadow box frame for a few dollars from Ikea I believe. Everything there is so cheap it definitely wasn’t a wallet buster. The keys were bought over many shopping trips but I would estimate I spent $15 on the all of the keys. The scrapbook paper came as part of a gift from ACMoore so that was free.

I spent more time arranging the keys in than anything else. The shadowbox came together quickly.

Supplies

Shadow Box or Frame without glass

Scrapbook paper, old map or music paper

Skeleton keys

Adhesive ( I used E-6000)

Directions

Start playing with the placement of your keys. I had way to many to fit in the shadowbox but was able to fit a good amount in the small space. Play with sizes and direction to get something that is pleasing to the eye. Then play with different backgrounds. Arranging your keys on the glass and sliding different papers underneath makes this step super simple.

I went with a 6X6 map with a vintage feel. It fit the area that I planned on hanging this and to me felt like the best fit. Wedding music or a favorite poem would be great choices too.

Take a picture of your arrangement then using a quick drying glue start placing your keys in their spot on the paper. Let the keys set for 1 hour then put your frame back together and hang.

I love old thing but I have to find ways to incorporate them into my cookie cutter home. This shadow box can be done with anything you’re collecting.

DIY Refrigerator Letter Magnets #kidsinthekitchen

October 3, 2014 by Melissa

My kids are older so we’ve passed the stage of singing letter magnets on the fridge. We still have lots of magnets but we’ve upgraded to ones that have memories, are handmade, and do double duty (like powerful rare earth magnets that hold everything from the school menu to a half-open bag of rice! Those “classic” primary color letters don’t really fit our style anymore. What does a crafty mom and crafty kid too then, they DIY Refrigerator Letter Magnets.

We wanted to make them so it would allow us to leave little notes to each other. Making them small allowed us to make many of them, a couple alphabets worth.

Refrigerator Letter Magnets

1/2″-3/4″ clear glass, flat gems (found in floral arranging section)
old magazines, junk mail, brochures
clear drying school glue
super glue or hot glue
scissors
disc magnets 1/2″-3/4″

Leaf through old magazine, seek out bright and fun headlines and titles. Determine if they’ll fit behind your marble by simply placing the gem on top and making sure you can see the letter, number or symbol clearly.

Apply clear drying school glue to the back of the marble, press firmly to the letter/page. Let completely dry for up to 1-2 hours.

When the glue has completely dried carefully cut/trim paper away from glass gem so paper does not stick out from behind gem. Using hot glue/super glue attach the magnet and to glass gem, pressing firmly.

Magnets will be ready to use in 10 minutes.

*****Keep careful watch using hot glue or super glue around children.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara, Kate of Busy Bee Kate & Jeannette of Eco Incognito each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

You’ll find these and many more ideas for healthful and unique food fun on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.

Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sugar Skull Pencil Toppers #halloween #craft

September 23, 2014 by Melissa

When particular holidays and seasons creep up it gets my creative mind going. Halloween is one of them. I love everything about things that are fun scary not gruesome scary. Sugar skulls are part of the Day of the Dead celebration in the Latin American and Mexican culture where family and friends show remembrance for those that have passed away. Day of the Dead (dias de los muertos) is a joyous festivity with music, parades, flowers and even gifts left on burial plots starting on November 1st. In honor of this day I created these Sugar Skull Pencil Toppers.

While we don’t celebrate Dia de los Muertos I’m in love with the creativity, color and vibrancy of the sugar skull. Sugar Skulls are nothing to be feared. They are part of the celebration, a gift for both the living and the dead.

These sugar skulls are just as colorful but on a much small scale. These pencil toppers were made to give to Shae’s class for their fall party along with some more neutral pumpkins and ghosts. Making them was a bit tedious. The first one alone tool almost 2 hours as it was my guinea pig. The rest of them took less than an hour each and I see it going faster and faster as I make more.

Supplies

Felt, various colors
needle
thread, various colors
buttons, sequins, beads
fabric glue
cotton balls
pencils
scissors, I suggest small sharp fabric scissors
cardstock cutout of skull shapes if your free hand isn’t up to par (mine isn’t)

Directions

Using your skull cut outs trace a front and back of your skull shape.
Determine the shapes and embellishments you want on it’s face. Place them to make sure everything fits.
Using a tiny touch of fabric glue tack on your features where you want them. This keeps them from sliding or falling while you sew.
With a basic needle and thread (color of choice) stitch your pieces on your skull face. Skip stitching on some or all of your pieces and just use glue if you prefer.
When your sugar skull face is complete add the back to your topper and stitch the pieces together leaving a small opening on the bottom. I like the look of the whipstitch but it would be find to use a running stitch too.
Stuff a fluffy 1/2 cotton ball into the skull with a touch of glue then slide in the pencil with another touch of glue.
Set aside to dry.

A jar full of these is an adorable centerpiece for a party or even on a desk for the Halloween season. Watch them disappear as their happy smiling faces quickly draw people in.
This isn’t necessarily a child’s crafts but can be modified to include children by precutting shapes and using glue instead of a needle and thread.

DIY Animal Ring Holder Craft

June 17, 2014 by Melissa

Deep down I’m really a #craftymom. I scour Pinterest, crafting sites and magazines all the time for new ideas for ways to make projects my own. My struggle is with time. I have ideas and supplies but have a hard time putting aside the hour or so needed to devote to something fun. I found this latest project and knew I could have it completely done in a day. The Animal Ring Dish was very simple but like usual real life got in the way.

I found this on a new mail order craft site. The site is done well, the projects are gorgeous but they are way out of my price range for craft projects and supplies. I knew I could do it cheaper and just as well. For these animal ring dishes I only needed to purchase 1 thing, the dishes. I walked the craft store for 30 minutes and I found flower pot dishes that were a perfect size. I spent approximately $1.50 for 3 of them. For years we’ve been collecting these Safari Ltd Animal Toobs so I had no shortage of those. I also have a collection of spray paint and paint pens and a bin full of glues.

First I spray-painted the animals. I stuck a large saftey pin in them and gave them a quick coat from all angles. Then came the dishes. I started with the bottoms, 2 coats then gave the tops 3-4 even coats. This is what took the most time. I started late in a day and it carried over into the next day to get all the coats of spray paint on.

Then the weather was bad and we started a new project that lasted 2 weeks so the dishes sat on a shelf waiting for the next step.

It ended up working out. Painted items work best when they’ve had time to cure; set up. 2 weeks isn’t necessary but that’s what happened here.

Then with a toothpick and some E-6000 glue I attached the animals to the dishes.

I choose animals that stood tall or had a long neck or tail. This batch included a lizard with its tongue sticking out, a giraffe and a skunk who I didn’t paint because I was afraid he’s just end up looking like a cat.
I set them out to dry for 2 hours and it’s done.

This would be an amazing craft night project if you were using paint pens. I would suggest painting all of the dishes ahead of time.

I think i’m going to make some more but add some pattern to the dish or dress it up with beads or rhinestones.

The lizard is for my friend Kelly. I thought of her the first time I saw this project. The giraffe is sitting near my kitchen sick to hold rings while I wash dishes or clean.

Painted Ceramic Owl #upcycle

May 22, 2014 by Melissa

I’m always on the hunt for inexpensive decor items for my home. It’s only recently that I realized what a huge difference art and sculptures and glassware can do to make a difference on a boring shelf. For a long time I decorated with photos. While I still have tons of photos in my house I’ve starting incorporating more trends like this Painted Ceramic Owl #upcycle.

I spotted him in a thrift store for $3. I hated the color of him but loved the size the shape. He was small enough to fit anywhere and had a good look.

I took him home and scrubbed him clean and set him on a shelf for a couple days till I decided what I wanted to do. I went with simple. I gave him 3-4 coats of bright white glossy spray paint.

It took most of the day to get all the coats on with a good amount of drying time in-between then another 2 days of him sitting on a shelf to completely cure and then he went on a small shelf along with some picture frames and a simple candle holder with candle.

Sometimes he takes up residence on a shelf in the kitchen. He’s adorable with his new coat of paint.

If I had decided on moving him to our bedroom he would’ve gotten a coat of Tiffany Blue to match our end tables.

This is an easy and expensive way to add a little something you didn’t know that you needed. See more of my crafty projects and upcycle ventures.

End of the School Year Lunch Box Notes #Printable #kidsinthekitchen

May 15, 2014 by Melissa

There’s a ton going on in our home. The weather is gorgeous so we’ve been spending lots of time outdoors. We’re using the fire pit and smoker to make dinner. Shaun is super involved in sports 3 nights a week. This means less time in the kitchen working on traditional meals. But that means I’m working on different ideas for #kidsinthekitchen like these Lunch Box Notes geared towards the end of the school year.

We occasionally do notes in their lunch. I like it to be an unexpected treat to bring a smile to their face. These notes will hopefully give them a little boost to get through the rest of the day because the end is near. The last day of school is coming up quick.

This is a printable so just click on the image and print. I’d recommend printing on cardstock.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Sarah of Play to Learn with Sarah, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

You’ll find so many more ideas on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.

Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

An InLinkz Link-up

Jelly Bean Tree Centerpiece plus Giveaway

April 14, 2014 by Melissa

For the last few months I’ve been enjoying making some DIY home decor that fits the seasons and holidays. There was the Valentine’s framed Key to My Heart and the Christmas Card Display board. For Easter and spring it’s no different. I created this adorable Jelly Bean Tree Centerpiece for the dining table.

I’m hoping it lasts till June honestly. For the week it’s been up I’ve lost 1 tiny branch holding 1 jelly bean and that’s because I hit it by accident.

Materials
vase, jar, flowerpot, basket
stabilizer for wide mouth container (styrofoam, marbles, dirt)
branches
jellybeans of your choice
glue gun
polyurethane spray (optional)

Directions
Clean off your branches of dead leaves, buds and dirt.

Spray with a clear coat. I did this to get rid of the dusty look but there is nothing wrong with leaving it the way it is. You might be able to see that I use a paper towel roll to hold the branches but keep my hands free of over spray.

Arrange your branches in their container. I rubber-banded mine together very low so they spread out slightly.

I keep these marbles on hand for just these kind of projects. They are strong enough to keep the centerpiece in place but it’s not permanent. A block of floral styrofoam would work well. This can be topped with shredded green paper or Easter grass too.

Using your hot glue gun add small dabs of glue to your branches.

Then add your jelly beans. Do this one at a time. Hot glue is the best option as it dries FAST and clear. I DO NOT suggest adding the glue to the jelly bean because of the small surface space and the risk of fingertip burns. I speak from experience.

I went with jelly beans that had a vibrant color, I actually don’t like the way these taste. Coordinate your home and tablescape with jelly beans of any hue or just one color.

This was created with a vase I already had on hand, marbles I’ve had for many years and branches off a bush that hasn’t bloomed yet in my side yard. My only expense was a bag of jelly beans and I didn’t even use the whole bag. I though about adding more to the branches but I thought it would start to look more like a child’s craft.

With just 6 days left until Easter, many of us are planning what to serve or bring to the big dinner, as well as how to decorate and add the extra touches that make our holidays memorable. Colleen of Souffle Bombay and Heather of Real: The Kitchen and Beyond decided to gather 26 bloggers to share some of their Easter Entertaining Ideas with you! From Jelly Bean Trees to a Giant Deviled Egg, we’ve got you covered! To make this even more memorable we have some amazing giveaways as well from John Boos (crafter of incredible cutting boards, butcher blocks and more) , The Spice House (THE online source for incredible spices), Wilton Armetale (maker of both beautiful & finctional serving ware), Divine Chocolates (a fair trade, farmer-owned chocolate company) & The Tree Hut (natural body products that do what they say) for a few lucky readers! Follow along via #AllThingsEaster on social media this week and visit our Pinterest Board “All Things Easter” for more ideas. Now if only we had a magic formula to make all those dishes disappear, Happy Easter!

Ideas for Leftover Easter Eggs

Giant Deviled Egg | Souffle Bombay

Easter Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Easter Breakfast Casserole | How I Pinch A Penny

Baked French Toast | O’Boy! Organic

Dutch Baby | The Naughty Mommy

Easter Dinner Recipe Ideas

Scallion & Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes | Musings of a Housewife

Baked Cheesy Broccoli & Rice Casserole | We’re Parents!?

Cheesy Potato Casserole | Coupon Cutting Mom

Easter Dessert Recipe Ideas

Peanut Butter Eggs | Real: The Kitchen & Beyond

Toasted Angel Food Cake Parfait | What the Heck’s a Bonbon?

Allergy Friendly Cookies | Chockababy

Individual Lemon Meringues | Pandora’s Deals

Peeps in the Pond Trifle | Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Rice Krispie Pops/Chocolate Covered Pretzels | A Grande Life

Easter Cocktail Recipe Ideas

Raspberry Beer Float | Teaspoon of Spice

The Peter Cottontail Cocktail | Can’t Google Everything

Bunnytail-tini | Mommy Snapped

Easter Decorating Ideas

Easter Printable | Diapered Daze and Knights

Easter Centerpiece | The Vintage Mom

Jellybean Tree Centerpiece | Look What Mom Found

Easter Gift Ideas

Allergy Friendly Non-Toxic Easter Basket | Mom-Blog

Naturally Dyed Wooden Easter Eggs | Inspired Family

Sugar Free Easter Basket Ideas | philly fun 4 kids

Easter Fun

5 Easter Activities for Kids | Mama Teaches

Pretzel Fun for Family | Homeroom at Home

Taking Great Easter Photos | Life with Kaishon

Frugal Easter Basket Ideas & Menu

Frugal Easter Ideas | Centsible Life

Easter Egg Pass | A Life in Balance

John Boos for the beautiful maple cutting board, The Spice House for their spice and baking gift sets, Divine Chocolate for their luxuriously rich Fair Trade Chocolate gift basket, Wilton Armetale for the elegant egg plate, and Tree Hut for the body scrub and lotion.

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Ideas for Leftover Easter Eggs

Easter Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Easter Dinner Recipe Ideas

Easter Dessert Recipe Ideas

Easter Cocktail Recipe Ideas

Easter Decorating Ideas

Easter Gift Ideas

Easter Fun

Frugal Easter Basket Ideas & Menu

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