DIY Embellishment Clusters From Scraps

Good morning all!

Recently I've been playing with paper crafts! I've always loved to scrapbook, and now I've been playing with cards and happy mail, and having oodles of fun along the way!

One thing I noticed though, was that I have a LOT of leftover pieces. You guys know, Im a huge fan of not wasting stuff, and upcycling, so today Im going to show you how I made some cute little embellishments from scraps!

Today Im focusing on circles. I recently purchased a set of hole punches that make 3 sizes of circles, so it was a good chance to play with them.

I've never blogged anything like this before, so.. Are the descriptions ok? Would you prefer no descriptions and just the photos? Something else I've not thought about? Let me know. I can't wait to share more paper craft adventures!

To make these embellishments you will need:

Scrap paper or cardstock
Glue

A Stapler
Some Bling (I found some stashed in the craft draws, the small silver shapes are about 8 years old!)
Words or phrases. These could be stickers, cut out from magazines or just leftover from other projects. I had a heap left from some cards I'd made (I just printed words onto cardstock, and cut into strips)
Foam Tape

Cluster 1: Position a small circle over a larger one and glue down. Offset a word of phrase to the bottom right with foam tape for height. Add some bling to the top left!

Cluster 2: Cut one circle in half, and cut 2 different length strips. Place the shorter of the 2 strips on the large circle, and attach a half circle on top. Add the longer strip to the right of the shorter one. Cover the strips with a smaller circle. Use foam tape to attach a word or phrase to the main circle, in the middle so it covers the half circle line. Put some bling beside the word.

Cluster 3: Glue one smaller circle to the center of a larger one. Choose 2 words of phrases and attach them to the circle using a stapler. I stapled twice. Add some bling under the staples.

Cluster 4: Cut 2 circles in half. Alternating colours, fan them out over a 90 degree angle, adding glue to adhere them together. Attach a word of phrase to the bottom, and some bling to the left of the word.

See, I told you these were easy! Probably you didn't even need the descriptions! It's a great way to use up all those little pieces of scrap that are sitting around, and can be added to so many things! Scrapbooks, cards, loaded envelopes, flip-books, as paperclip toppers or even used in planners. Oodles of options, all from a few pieces of scrap!

Fluffy Christmas Tree Craft

Way back when I started learning how to crochet, I went yarn shopping. I picked alll the wrong yarns for a beginner! Lots of textured yarns, and chunky yarns, and fluffy yarns. Not the sort of stuff to use when you still haven't mastered the double crochet haha!

I'm a little ashamed to admit that this ball of fluffy yarn has been kicking it in the back of my stash for the past 7 years. Incredible I know! I've been umming and arring for a while now on how to use it, and when I thought about yarn wrapped trees, well it just made sense to make a fluffy one!

Of course you can use any yarn or twine you like! Go wild! This is an easy to do project, and you could easily get the kids in on this one too.

You will need:

1 Styrofoam cone
1 ball of yarn of your choice
Stick on gems
1 small star bead (or star of any type) for the top
Glue

Note: I used 450 clear drying glue by Helmar. You could also use a glue gun, Modge Podge or any other faster drying clear glue. If you use a glue gun, make sure it is a low heat one, or it may melt the Styrofoam.

Add some glue to the base of your cone and attach your yarn to the glue. Start wrapping your cone in the yarn, adding glue as you go to secure the yarn. Keep the strands close together so none of the cone show through. Keep doing this until the entire cone is covered and then leave to dry.

Attach the stick on gems. I actually added some extra glue to these just to make sure they didn't come off.

Glue your star on the top.

See, I told you it was easy! There are so many colour combinations you could try with these. Shake it up and replace yarn for twine. Or use some variegated yarn for a multi-colour tree. No gems? No worries! Use sequins or even beads to add some sparkle. I can't wait to make some more of these. Trees are easily my favourite Christmas decoration.

Enjoy!

Wooden Counting Disks

Good morning all!!

This morning I want to share with you a very super simple project! Wooden countings disks!

Master J loves learning with his hands. He enjoys textures, and being able to get hands on learning is something he really thrives with. Lately we've been focusing more on numbers, and in particular counting to 10.

I was going to print out some flash cards for him, and was hunting in the craft cupboards for the laminate sheets when I knocked over a basket of supplies. Inside was these wooden disks that I'd asked a friend to slice from an old tree branch years ago for buttons, and never got around to finishing.

The idea hit me, that I could turn them into counters instead of printing something and here we are!

The best thing about this project is you can make as many or as few as you like, in whatever size you want! Plus, it's all made from dollar store items, and FREE items! This entire set cost me a grand total of $2. Now that's what I call cheap play!

You will need some wooden disks. Mine are sliced from a tree branch when we trimmed the trees back a few years earlier, but you could always use some driftwood from the beach, or go for a walk in the park and find a branch that has come out of a tree already. Keep in mind though that the thickness of the branch will play a part in the size of the numbers you can use. Cut your disks about a cm thick using a saw (or if you don't have one, ask a friend!) They don't even need to be the same thickness, some of mine are not. I figure we can talk about the thickness too and discuss which ones are higher and lower.

Next you'll need number stickers, and some paint. The paint I already had, and actually, it's puff paint that I use for my felt pieces, but any paint will work fine. The number stickers I had to go buy. We have a local store called Shiploads, which is a discount/bargain store, and I knew they had a huge range of cheap stickers, so that's where I went. Boy was I right, soooo many stickers! They also had a selection of rub on scrapbook transfers that I wouldn't mind trying later on, but for now I opted for foam glitter stickers. Mainly because I liked the added texture they would give the disks, plus the size looked pretty close to what I wanted. They cost me $2 for a big pack, and I have some to spare!

The rest, is super simple! The foam numbers had sticky backs, but I also added some 450 clear glue to them just to make sure they didn't come off, and positioned them into place on the wooden disks.
Then, I used a toothpick and dotted on some coloured dots for the matching disks. The puff paint also added another layer of texture.

And that, is it! Let it all dry overnight and you'll be done! Master J loves touching these. He tells me how the back of the disk is smooth, how the numbers are rough and the spots are bumpy. Best of all, we're starting to get more familiar with numbers, which is fantastic!

Maybe once he's a little older and we start looking at adding and subtracting, I'll make a few more and some symbols to extend the set further.

This idea would also work fantastic with  shapes and learning pattern sequences!

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know how your little one goes with their disks if you make some too!

Pinspiration - Halloween Mason Jars

Morning all and welcome to another Pinspiration post! WOOHOO!

Actually, this one is an oldy, that I completely forgot to share last year! In October last year I was searching for some ideas of fun and easy decorations to add to the shed display for Halloween, something that would help with subtle lighting in there. I saw this really awesome post over at Adventure In A Box for some really fun Halloween themed mason jars.

I wanted to make some, but realised quickly that I didn't have the right supplies. So, I found another way to do it! Below is my version, inspired by the original post from Adventure In A Box

You Will Need:

Jars
Black paint (for the outside image)
Food Colouring (for tinting the jar)
Modge Podge (or something similar)
Print outs of Halloween images (I just googled mine, look for things in strips so it can go around the jar and print them out)
A Paintbrush
Scissors

Step 1: Cut the images you printed into strips and place them inside the jar, with the image facing the glass so you can see it from the outside.

Step 2: Grab a paintbrush, and using black paint, copy the image. You could also use a sharpie if you like, but the one I had didn't have very good coverage and you could easily see through it, making it streaky. Wait for the paint to dry before moving onto the next step.

Step 3: This is where the magic begins! Did you know, that you can tint Modge Podge? No? Well, you can! Because it dries clear, the food colouring leaves a stained glass look behind! PERFECT! So, mix some food colouring with the Modge Podge. A little at first. I added more as I went for an ombre effect. Use a paint brush and paint the inside of the jar with the tinted Modge Podge. I did about a half inch high, then added more drops of colour to the Modge Podge to darken it. Or in some cases added another colour gradually to fade the layers from one colour to the next.

Step 4: Let it dry!

That's it! That's all there is to it. Now, these won't be waterproof, but I can't see why you couldn't also seal them if you wish. Pop a LED tealight inside for light (not a real flame, you'll catch the Modge Podge on fire) and you have a customised Halloween mason jar!


This would work with pretty much any image, so long as you can paint it. I'm going to do some later in the year for Christmas too!

DIY Christmas (or any other themed) notepads

Good morning lovelies!

Well, here we are towards the end of the month, and the first for the year Christmas themed post!

Christmas 2017 I made up 30 small sized stockings to take to the local community houses and organisations that work with Children. I didn't want to fill them with just junk and after a long hard think about it, I decided on stationary. Kids of all ages like to draw, colour and write, and it was the perfect idea for filling these stockings!

I wanted to include notebooks, but I realised quickly that these small stockings would need equally small notebooks. Larger ones were not an option, all items needed to be contained in the stocking itself, for ease of distribution by the organisations.

The solution is a simple one, but oh so pretty at the same time. Also, totally customisation! You could make these for all sorts of occasions, and even print out your own paper for them too if you like! They are also super cheap, which is important when your making bulk lots of things on a budget.

I picked up a stack of 10 pads in Shiploads for $2 The pads were all connected together and so I had to pull them apart before starting. I used my craft knife to make this job easier, and avoid ripping any of the paper.

You will need:
Paper pads, or make your own by cutting paper to the right size and stapling
Cardstock in your chosen print/colour/theme
A craft knife or something to score cardstock with
A ruler
A glue stick

1: Separate your notepads (or make them if doing your own) and measure how big they are in width and length.

2: Grab your cardstock, and mark the width you need on it. If you are using small pads and 12x12 cardstock you should get 3 rows. Add an inch to the measurement for length, so you have enough to fold over the edge of your pads, and mark that on the cardstock too. Cut out your pieces, you should have something like this, with the cardstock being an inch longer in size than the pad. The cardstock is the bottom piece. I ended up getting 6 covers from one 12x12 sheet of cardstock.

3: Lay the notepad on top of the cardstock and score the cardstock at the same height as the pad.

4: Add some glue to the top section of the cardstock, and fold it over the edge of the pad so it sticks to the back of it.

5: Press down firmly to make sure the cardstock is both stuck and in place and that's it, you are done!

These little notepads worked great for the stockings, but I can see oodles of potential here. They would make awesome personalised save the date or thanks for coming gifts, you could use photos in place of cardstock, or get super creative and decorate some plain cardstock to use for covers. 

Upcycling Jars into Halloween Props

Good morning all!

Yesterday I posted on my Facebook page asking if everyone would like to see the other crafty endeavours I get up to, and happily, the answer what an astounding and overwhelming YES!

So today I want to share some pieces I've been working on this week.

Halloween is coming, YAY! Here in Australia it is slowly gaining momentum. Last year we took the kids trick or treating and they had OODLES of fun. This year, I gave them the choice. We could go out again, or we could stay in, decorate and scare the pants off of everyone else.

Of course, the girls LOVED the idea of dressing up and decorating, so this year, we're staying in!

My girls are HUGE Five Nights At Freddys fans (horror game series) and originally we wanted to theme our area with that, but with so much else going on, I simply didn't have the hours or supplies to make what we wanted.

So instead we're opting for "Anything Creepy" I jumped on Pinterest to check out cheap and easy prop tutorials. Guys, there are thousands. Seriously. I think I got lost for a few hours in Pinterest. It's insane! I've pinned a bunch to work through for the next few weeks, so we'll see how they go!

Today Im sharing with you our spooky jars. These are upcycled, which is also right up my alley, and super cheap to make, another winner! In fact, I had everything I needed already! YAY for cheap crafts!

I used tutorials by Magia Mia and Fynes Designs for the jars. Of course, I didn't follow exact. I never do!

The eyeballs in a jar was super easy. Ridiculously easy! I used an old mayonnaise jar for this one. Then it was simply a case of printing out some eyeballs from Google, cutting them out and Modge Podging them to the back of the jar, with the coloured side down (so you can see it "inside" the jar). The lid was just some old twine I had laying about and a hot glue gun to attach. Fill it with water and your done! Not counting the drying time (because I let it sit overnight to fully dry) this jar took me less than 10 minutes to complete. Told you it was easy peasy!

The solid jars took a little longer, because I had to wait for drying time. But aside from that they were again very simple. The hardest part was picking my "ingredients" We opted for Bats Blood, Eye of Newt, Poison and everyone's favourite, Troll Snot! To be honest, the troll snot is my fav one ;)

For these I started off by using my glue gun to write the words and draw the images onto the bottles. I did one layer, then let dry and did a second. I wanted the words very raised. For the poison bottle I added some drips with the hot glue, and likewise with the troll snot, some glue bubbling out the side. Don't worry about the stringy bits of glue that go everywhere, it adds to the charm!

From there I gave all 4 a coat of black chalkboard paint, but I wasn't impressed with the coverage so once dry I did a second coat. Then when that dried I mixed some silver paint with an orangy/rust colour and sponged it over the entire area. Then with a fine brush I went back in to do the coloured details.

That's it! Super easy and very effective. My poison and bats blood bottles were originally wild turkey bottles, the troll snot was a jam jar and the eye of newt? That one was an empty spice jar! I was super lazy and didn't peel off the labels either, just gave them a wash and went with it.

So there you go, the start to what Im sure will be our ever growing Halloween prop collection!